Young Head to Young Hero

by fishynygma

Summary:

Somewhat of an AU where we follow the story of Henshizo Sesshada, the son of a ruthless yakuza boss who tries to follow the path of light. He joins the usual cast of MHA taking Mineta's spot and Yanagi is in 1-A instead of Koda. Can he walk the path of the hero and be on the straight and narrow? Can you take the boy out of the yakuza but not the yakuza out of him? Will his past haunt him? How will he impact the story?

Notes:

This is merely an introduction to Henshizo and other OCs for this story. I modeled it like a wiki page sort of. More will be revealed in the story of course, but this will be a good baseline.

Chapter 1: Henshizo Sesshada intro

Name: Henshizo Sesshada
Height 6’ (182.9 cm)
Birthday November 1st
Appearance: He has black hair with white swirls in it, piercing green eyes, his hands are scarred and he has a dragon tattoo on his back.

Family: Only child to Dokuon Sesshada, former head of the Yakuza group Surōdesu. Dokuon’s quirk is toxin. He can create and secrete any poison or venom from his skin. Henshizo’s mother is unknown.
Sanae Ikari (Foster mom) quirk- growing touch: can adjust the height of plants and grows them
Goji Kin (Foster brother) quirk- midas: he can touch anything and turn it to gold
Hinata Utan (Foster sister) quirk- music: she can play any song she hears from her mouth perfectly
Daiki Hagan (Foster brother) quirk- steel fingers: self-explanatory he has steel fingers
Honoka Jinku (Foster sister) quirk- fortune: can either grant good or bad fortune for 24 hours by saying the person’s name and touching something of theirs. Can only use it once per day.

Quirk: changing touch, using his skin cells he can change any object his skin is touching into another object he has previously touched. The change is permanent or until he changes it into another object. The new object is an exact replica and keeps the status of the object as it was when he touched it. For example; he could copy Izuku’s notebook but if Izuku were to write a new page, then the notebook Henshizo makes would not have this new page. Cannot make food directly, but found a loophole that lets him make packaged food fine ex. box of cereal. Works best when it is a 1:1 change effect ex. pen to pencil or one jacket to another. The larger the size difference the longer it takes, if change is interrupted then the object reverts back to its original form. Can only change one object to one object currently. Overuse of his quirk will result in severe irritation and could even result in the skin going away. He has a special lotion to help mitigate and recover lesser overuse.

Attributes and abilities-
Immense pain tolerance: due to the nature of his quirk, Henshizo’s skin has little to no feeling, his upbringing and training have also increased the amount of pain he can tolerate.
Marksmanship: Henshizo is an excellent marksman with a variety of firearms.
Heightened intelligence: Henshizo is both smart academically and street level, the latter being where he is smarter.
Hand to hand combat: Henshizo was trained by Knuckle duster as payment to Dokuon for the elder Sesshada being able to procure medicine for Knuckle duster’s daughter. As a result, Henshizo is a highly skilled melee combatant with or without weapons.
Enhanced strength and Stamina: His training has given him well above average strength and stamina.
Heightened reflexes and senses: His training has given him fast reflexes and his childhood has caused him to develop a sixth sense for certain things.
Stealth: Henshizo’s childhood has allowed him to be very good at stealth and deception.

Chapter 2: From Darkness to Light

Summary:

We begin follwoing Henshizo the night/morning his father is arrested and his world is turned upside down. We meet some new and old faces, while also having some cameos. A bit of unmentioned time skipping. Basically, the first day we follow him is the same day the sludge villain incident takes place and then a time jump to the entrance exam happens.

Henshizo Sesshada sat in the interrogation room staring at the table blankly, through the observation window detective Tanuma watched him as detective Tsukauchi came up to him. “Dokuon has been processed. What do we want to do with the kid?” He asked looking at the teen in the room. “Henshizo Sesshada, son of Dokuon and technically the young head of the Surodesu.” Tanuma said sighing. “He was sleeping so he didn’t fight back and Jeanist easily constrained him. He hasn’t said a word the whole time.” Tanuma said looking at the folder in his hands. “Technically speaking we can’t charge him with anything, we have no evidence directly tying him to anything, and none of the others arrested are saying anything.” He said closing the folder. “The statute would let us.” Tsukauchi said pointedly. “And any lawyer would point out he’s a minor and can’t be held accountable for his father’s actions. At least not unless we can prove he had a direct hand in it.” Tanuma said sighing and opened the folder back up and showed Tsukauchi a picture of Henshizo’s back which had a dragon on it. “This is the closest thing we have, but it’s not enough.” He said straightening his back. “Let’s talk to him. See if we can shake something.” He said, and the two detectives walked into the room and sat across from the teen.

Henshizo glanced up at them and his eyes were cold, but he looked back down at the table. “Going to be honest Sesshada, despite being 14 we have enough to try you as an adult and you’ll be behind bars until retirement age.” Tsukauchi said firmly and Henshizo didn’t react. “Now… you could help us and help yourself. We can tell the prosecutor you were forced by your dad. Just tell us what he had you do.” Tanuma said in a lighter tone. Henshizo stayed quiet and began fidgeting with the quirk suppressing collar. “Your dad can’t hurt you, we can protect you.” Tanuma said pressing him. “Stop protecting him.” Tsukauchi said getting into Henshizo’s face. Henshizo stopped and looked up at Tsukauchi blankly. “Lawyer.” He said robotically. The two detectives sighed and stood up. “Sure kid. Need anything else?” Tanuma asked, but Henshizo went back to staring at the table. They left and closed the door.

“I don’t like having to collar a kid.” Tanuma said quietly. “Well with his quirk it’s necessary.” Tsukauchi said as they walked back to the window. “Yea, it’s one hell of a quirk.” Tanuma said opening the file and reread the information on him. ‘Henshizo Sesshada 14 y.o. Quirk-changing touch: Using his skin cells, he can change any non-living object into an object he has previously touched.’ Tanuma looked at the quirk and back at Henshizo. “He’s basically a human copy machine and who knows how they’ve exploited it.” He said glancing at Tsukauchi. From behind them a woman covered in blue scales walked up to them. “I take it the young head isn’t talking.” She said looking at Henshizo. “No chief, and we have no evidence he’s directly done anything that we charge him with.” Tanuma said as they saluted them chief of detectives. She sighed deeply. “Get in contact with social services, he is a minor with no known guardians. He has to be placed into the system.” She said. “You’re letting him go?” Tsukauchi asked curiously.

 

“We’ve got a huge win tonight. Arguably the most dangerous yakuza has been taken out of commission. This Sesshada can go.” She said turning her back on them. They looked at each other and shrugged. After a hour Tanuma went back into the interrogation room with a young man in a suit. “Sesshada. This is Mamoruin from the department of social services. He’ll be taking you to a foster home.” Tanuma said as he unlocked the collar and Henshizo rubbed his neck and stood up. He lightly nodded. “Just follow me.” Mamoruin said politely and lead the teen out of interrogation. Tanuma leaned against the door playing with the collar ‘Hope we don’t regret this.’ He thought, going to his desk to fill out paperwork.

Henshizo got into the back of a sedan and Mamoruin began driving them away from the station. “The foster home you’ll be staying at specializes in teens.” He said glancing back at Henshzio in the mirror, who simply nodded. They drove in silence, Mamoruin not wanting to provoke Henshizo. They arrived after 25 minuets and a woman with light green hair done up in a bun was at the front door. “Here we are.” Mamoruin said stopping the car and getting out. Henshizo got out and walked silently up to the woman. “Hi deary my name is Sanae Ikari. You can call me Sanae if you’d like.” She said with a smile on her face Henshizo nodded and walked inside the house and looked around. “Your room will be up the stairs, third door on the right.” Sanae said gently. “He’s only said one word since being taken in. Thank you.” Mamoruin muttered to her as Henshizo walked up the stairs and saw the names on the doors except the one that was now his.

“It’s not even close to the worst first interaction.” She said sadly as she took a folder from him. “You know the drill Ikari, but with him, even the slightest hint of illegal behaviors let us know immediately.” He said seriously. She nodded and he left. Henshizo crashed onto his new bed and closed his eyes. After a few hours loud voices coming from downstairs woke him up and he blearily went downstairs and saw 4 other teens, 2 girls and 2 boys around the table in the kitchen as Sanae was at the stove with 6 plates of eggs beside her. “Ah, Sesshada. Guys this is Henshizo Sesshada.” Sanae said as the kids went quiet at the new boy. Henshizo’s tall frame filled the doorway, and he brushed his black hair with white streaks out of his eyes, and his almost neon green eyes looked around. The other 4 all waved politely but didn’t know what to think or say. Henshizo grabbed a plate and a fork and sat down. “What am I doing today?” He asked quietly as he began eating. “You’re going to go to school. They know you’re coming.” Sanae said and Henshizo lightly nodded and went to eat silently. “In the closet in your room is a spare uniform that’s your size.” She said and he nodded again. “You’ll be in class with me and Goji.” One of the girls said, she said pointing to the boy with golden hair. “He’s Goji, and the other idiot is Daiki.” She said and the other boy who had metal fingers raised a hand. “My name is Hinata.” She said smiling. “And this is Honoka.” She said nodding to a girl with spiked pink ponytails. Henshizo nodded lightly and finished eating. He went back up and touched the uniform in the closet but simply changed the clothes he was wearing into the uniform. He went back down and the kids were at the door and Sanae handed Henshizo a school bag. “They’ll have things for you.” She said gently and he nodded and they went out the door and walked to a bus stop.

Henshizo ignored the four and when the bus arrived, they got on. Henshizo sat in silence and when they got there, he followed Hinata. The teacher saw him and sighed and motioned him up. “Welcome to Nabu middle school. Here are your books and papers, honestly you came at an interesting day, the students will be submitting their applications for high school today.” The teacher said and Henshizo nodded and took the stuff and sat in an open desk in the back. He wrote his schools down on the form, and began going through the other forms and books.

At the end of the day the students turned their forms in and Henshizo was last and put it on the teacher’s desk. “UA, Shiketsu, and Ketsubutsu? You want to be a hero?” She asked looking up eyebrows raised in shock and then cleared her throat. “Not the only one here aiming for heroics here. Be sure to take your studies seriously then. Since you don’t have prior academic records, you’ll have to work extra hard.” She said seriously and Henshizo nodded.

*time skip to day of entrance exam*

Henshizo was looking out the window of the car, and Sanae looked over. “We’re almost at UA, are you ready?” She asked gently. Henshizo nodded and Sanae looked sadly over at him. In the 10 months since he had been at her place he had hardly spoken, apart from when the cops showed up for an interview as part of the arrangement. They arrived and Henshizo got out. “Good luck!” She called out and he walked the gates. Up ahead he saw a boy with green hair almost fall but a girl with round cheeks stopped him and he floated for a moment. He walked past them and into UA. He followed the signs to a classroom, and it filled up with some of the examinees. They did the written portion of the exam, with Henshizo quietly confident he crushed it. They then were instructed to go to the assembly hall for directions for the practical exam. Henshizo sat down with the other boy from his school trying to get into UA, some boy who looked like he hadn’t slept in a week with his purple hair sticking up. Neither of them spoke to each other and the lights went out except for a spotlight on a teacher.

“What’s up listeners?! Who’s ready to take the practical exam?!” Present mic called out to the silent room, well silent except for some mutterings coming from somewhere to Henshizo’s left he couldn’t see. “We’ll be dividing you up into 7 groups in urban settings to face off against faux villains.” Present mic said and the boy next to Henshizo let out a quiet sigh. “Look at the cards in front of you and see what you field you’ll go to after I drop this mic and you all change into something a little more battle friendly.” He said and Henshizo picked his card up ‘field D eh? Fine.’ He thought. “Let’s go over your targets. There are three types of targets for you, and you’ll earn points based on their difficulty so choose wisely. Your goal is to use your quirk to destroy these targets and earn points like a mid-song guitar solo. But make sure you’re keeping things heroic, attacking others is a no-no and will result in immediate disqualification.” He said and suddenly a boy in the middle stood up and raised his hand. “Excuse me. On the printout you list 4 villains. With all due respect why would UA...” the boy continued but Henshizo zoned out ‘Is this guy’s quirk boredom?’ he thought. “That fourth villain listed is worth 0 points and serves more as an obstacle to be avoided. Each arena has one, but there’s kind of no point in taking them down so feel free to ignore them.” Present mic said. The boy sat back down after bowing. “Right that’s everything, go get changed and then board the buses that will take you to respective testing zones.” Mic said. They all stood up and began leaving the hall and turned left to go to the changing area, however Henshizo went right to the exit and when he walked outside and changed his uniform into a leather jacket with a gold imprinted dragon on the back, with a shirt and tie under it with loose pants, an outfit synonymous with Yakuza. He got on and sat down, when more people showed up on the bus they ignored him, talking to each other, eventually some girl with gray hair sat down beside him and glanced over but her hair covered half her face and he looked out the window. They arrived after a short drive and got off, and it was when he stood up and got off the bus that he heard others whisper and he caught some of what they were saying.

“What is he doing here? Why did UA let him try?” and similar phrases that Henshizo ignored as he walked up to the gate. Most stayed back from him with the exception of the gray-haired girl, a big guy who looked like a beast and a guy with a bird head. Henshizo bent down and picked up a rock as people waited. The gates opened and a horn sounded, and everyone rushed in, Henshizo sprinting ahead and had slowly changed the rock into a grenade launcher and went around a corner and saw a 2-point robot and blasted it without a second thought, it exploded and Henshizo ran ahead and continued blow robots up.

As Henshizo was taking the test, the judges were muttering watching him. “Not exactly conventional but he’s being careful with his shots.” One said as Henshizo didn’t fire at one that a girl with orange hair and giant fists was beating up, but hadn’t destroyed yet. “The son of a villain, let alone one as notorious Dokuon, how do we know this isn’t some ploy?” Another asked. “We’ll have to see, he clearly embraces his yakuza style, but we all know not to judge someone based on their surface.” A third said as Henshizo blew a three pointer up. Eventually time expired and Henshizo changed the launcher into a marble and pocketed it. He heard more mutters from the others but ignored them and they got back on the bus and were taken back to the main campus. Henshizo got off and went to the main gate where Sanae was waiting.

“How’d it go?” She asked as he got in. “Good.” He muttered and she smiled that he actually responded and drove away. A week later Henshizo was in his room doing pushups when there was a knock at the door. He got up and opened it and Sanae was there with an anxious look on her face and she held out a letter that had UA’s logo on it. Henshizo took it and closed the door, he walked over to the bed and sat down, his hands shaking. He tore the envelope open and a letter and a hologram disc fell out and the disc powered on a rat, bear, thing, was being projected on.

“Hello young Sesshada, I am Nezu, the principal of UA! I am here to say that you have been accepted into the hero program! Your entrance exam score had you placed fourth out of all applicants. The letter attached will have all information you will need to prepare and how to accept this invitation. Once we receive your letter of intent to enroll, we will send a follow up letter with important first year information. Thank you choosing UA and we can’t wait to have you go plus ultra!” The hologram shut off and Henshizo picked up the letter and had the biggest smile on his face as he read it. He quickly wrote out his letter of acceptance and he opened the door and not only was Sanae there, but so were Goji, Hinata, Daiki, and Honoka. “I did it.” He said happily and they all screamed in joy and hugged him, and he let them.

After another week and he got his uniform and more details, he was going to be in class 1-A. He trained more until it was the first day of school, he went down to the kitchen and had breakfast, he was the first of the kids up since he had the furthest trip on the train to school. Sanae was up making breakfast. “Morning Henshizo, here you go.” She said handing him a plate of pancakes. “Thanks.” He muttered and sat down and quickly ate them before he stood up and changed his clothes into the UA uniform. “I’m proud of you, do your best.” Sanae said smiling with tears in her eyes. He nodded and he grabbed his bookbag and left. He rode the train and walked to UA, he took a deep breath at the gate and walked in. He walked around and found 1-A and opened the door, not many people were in, some blonde boy with his feet up on his desk, a boy with red and white hair and a scar on his left side, a girl with black hair in a ponytail, the gray-haired girl, and a boy with bright red spiked hair. He walked in and sat in front of the black-haired girl and beside the gray-haired girl in the far-left row. He looked out the window and the first bell of the day rang.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed the first step in Henshizo's journey. Questions, comments, critiques are all welcome

Chapter 3: First Day and Quirk Assessment Test

Summary:

Chapter title is pretty self explanatory. Henshizo's first day at UA. Will anyone know him? How does he deal with the 1-A shenanigans?

“Get your feet off that desk!” A tall boy with glasses shouted at the blonde boy. The two began bickering back and forth and Henshizo rolled his eyes at the argument. The tall boy stopped when he noticed that the boy with green hair Henshizo had seen floating before the exam was in the door. “Oh it’s him, the one who took the 0 point robot out with one punch.” He said walking over. ‘One punch? That big ass robot, he took it down with one hit?’ Henshizo thought looking over. He caught the names of the tall boy, green hair boy, and brown hair girl, Tenya Iida, Izuku Midoriya, Ochako Uraraka. The three suddenly went silent and looked at the ground. “It took you 31 seconds to quiet down, that won’t do.” A voice said from the doorway floor. Henshizo was confused and saw a disheveled man stand up and step out of a sleeping bag. “Hello I’m Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher.” He said walking to the front of the class. He rummaged in his sleeping back and pulled out a gym uniform. “Go put these on, and meet me at the P.E. grounds.” He said and the class left and went to the locker rooms. Henshizo saw his name on a locker and opened it and a uniform was in it. He touched all of it and, after taking his items out of his pockets, changed without taking any clothes off. He pocketed most of the items, except his phone and wallet, and left the locker room. He walked down to the field and Aizawa was already there but was a little surprised Henshizo had been so quick.

“Sesshada, I am going to be blunt with you, you were admitted after heavy debate and I’m sure you understand.” Aizawa said sternly and Henshizo nodded as he had expected it. “I suspect the debate at Shiketsu ended differently.” He said calmly and shrugging. Henshizo fiddled with the marbles in his pockets as the rest of the class began getting there. “Now that you’re all here, we can begin. We will be conducting a quirk assessment test, that way I can see your benchmarks, and if you deserve to be here at UA.” He said looking around, Uraraka raised her hand. “Sir, what about welcome ceremony?” She asked tilting her head. “I don’t believe in wasting time with pointless activities when it comes to heroics.” He said slightly glaring. “UA allows teachers freedom to do whatever we think is necessary to ensure we produce the best possible heroes. You’ll be competing in eight tests; softball throwing, standing long jump, 50 meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side to side stepping, upper body, and seated toe touch. Bakugo, how far could you throw a softball in middle school?” He asked.

“Sixty-seven meters.” Bakugo said and Aizawa tossed him a ball. “Not bad, now use your quirk.” He said pointing to a circle. “Just stay in the circle, anything is fine.” He said in bored tone as Bakugo warmed up. “Die!” Bakugo said as he threw the ball with an explosion and Henshizo’s hair fluttered in the wind caused by it. “It’s rational to know our limits and this we’ll use to see what kind of heroes you will become.” He said showing them Bakugo’s score of 705.2 meters. “We can use our quirks for real, the hero course is awesome!” The invisible girl said, and most of the class agreed. “Awesome? You’re hoping to become top pros after three years and you think it’ll be fun and good times? Fine. The one who places last will be deemed hopeless and be expelled.” He said and the class stood in shock and most were filled with fear.

They began the test with the 50 meter dash. Henshizo was paired up with the invisible girl and after consideration changed his shoes to jet boots and got a 4.08 seconds. “What? How’d he?” the bright yellow and black haired boy cried out as Henshizo changed the boots back to his tennis shoes. He kept to himself and watched everyone. The toe touch test and sit ups he couldn’t use his quirk to any effective use but still did very well on the situps. For the long distance running he again went with the jet boots and apart from Iida, no one could keep up with him. For the grip test Henshizo made a special glove that gave him a 381.4 kg of force. For standing long jump he timed his jump with the jet boots and he cleared the sandbox. Finally, it was the ball throw and right before him Uraraka got an infinity score and the gray-haired girl got a score of over 3000 meters. Henshizo walked up and considered his options and made a grenade launcher, causing most of the class to take several steps back, unloaded the grenades, changing them to marbles and pocketing them, so for the first time the class got a good idea of his quirk, and he loaded the ball in and launched it for 689.3 meters. “Disappointing.” He muttered as he changed the launcher back to a marble. The class was looking at him with a mixture of awe, fear, and confusion. He watched as Midoriya walked up and appeared nervous. He wound up his throw and Henshizo could tell there was going to be power behind it but when he threw it the ball only went 46 meters. “Huh? What happened?” Midoriya said and they looked at Aizawa and his hair was up and his scarf was floating. “I erased your quirk.” He said sternly. “Erased? Oh those goggles! I know you, you’re the erasure hero Eraserhead!” Midoriya said and Henshizo raised his eyebrows ‘Eraserhead huh? You took down one of my dad’s biggest shipments of fake goods.’ He thought looking at his homeroom teacher as he scolded Midoriya. “You’ve got your quirk back, now get it over with.” Aizawa said walking back and pulled out eye drops and wet his eyes. Midoriya gripped the ball and began the wind up again, and he threw the ball so hard wind blew their hair back, surprising Henshizo with his raw power. He scored 705.3 meters, better than the explosive blonde. Henshizo fixed his hair and noticed how Midoriya’s finger was discolored ‘guess all that power comes at a cost’ he thought.

“Deku! How the hell did you do that?” Bakugo shouted and Henshizo rolled his eyes as Aizawa caught him in the binding cloth and erased his quirk. After Bakugo’s temper tantrum Aizawa had them gather around. “Your scores have been calculated and it’s just easier for me to show them all.” He said lazily and projected their scores. Henshizo saw him in 8th place overall and they all looked at the last name and saw Midoriya had placed 20th. “No one will be expelled, that was just a logical deception to get you to give it your all and not hold back.” He said and most of the class was unamused and cried foul. “You believed him?” Momo Yaoyorozu said looking at them. ‘Easy for first place to think that.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “We’re done here, papers about curriculum and everything else are in the classroom. Midoriya take this to the nurse’s office.” He said handing a note to him. The class went back to the locker room, Henshizo changing the PE uniform back to his uniform and simply got his phone from his locker. He went back to the classroom and began going over the papers. Apart from heroics it was mostly a normal class load and schedule. The class got back from changing, minus Midoriya, and then they had to sit through English class. Halfway through Midoriya came back in and sat down in front of Henshizo When the lunch bell rang Henshizo packed up and looked up and saw Midoriya looking at him with a notebook out and pencil in hand.

“How does your quirk work Sesshada? It seems so cool, can you make anything? How much can you make?” He asked writing stuff down while looking at him. Henshizo slung his bag over his shoulder. “My quirk works how it works.” He said quietly standing up and began walking to the door. “Sesshada wait, would you want to sit with us?” Midoriya said walking behind him. “Not particularly.” He said sighing as they walked to the cafeteria. Henshizo got a tray of food and left the cafeteria and went up to the rooftop. He picked up a rock and turned it into a bench and sat down. He began eating his gyudon bowl in peace when he heard the door open and glanced over and saw Reiko Yanagi carrying a food box and she looked at him.

“Apologies, I presumed that I would be able to consume my lunch in solitude here.” She said looking at him with her one visible eye. “It’s fine, you can sit on the bench if you’d like.” He muttered, putting his food in his lap. “Oh I wouldn’t want to be bothersome Sesshada.” She said walking towards a vent. “Please I insist, you using it justifies me making it.” He said shrugging, and she looked at him and lightly nodded and sat on the other end. They ate in respective silence, broken only by the sounds of eating and putting their drinks down. “Weather permitting will you be coming up here for lunch?” He asked her as he finished up and put his stuff together. “I will probably be eating here yes.” She said looking at him. “I’ll just leave the bench then, worst case I have to make a new one.” He said shrugging. “Sound logic.” She said nodding, he raised his hand saying bye and walked back down. He took the tray and bowl back down but kept the chop sticks and changed them to marbles and pocketed them. He walked back to 1-A and sat at his desk and began preparing for the next class. The rest of the day went along and the day ended and he packed up, but as he was walking out the door, Tenya Iida put his hand on his shoulder stopping him.

“Apologies, but may I ask a question?” He asked as other students walked past them. “You just did, but I assume that’s not the one you have in mind.” He said looking blankly at him. “I suppose that is a question.” He chuckled a bit. “But my actual question is; are you related to the villain Dokuon Sesshada?” He asked quietly and Henshizo kept blank faced. “Don’t know him.” He said simply as he shrugged Iida’s hand off his shoulder and walked away and left UA and went to the train station, changing the uniform into casual clothing ‘Tenya Iida, younger brother of Ingenium, of course he’d know of my dad. Iida and Todoroki would be the two most likely to know. Have to be weary of them.’ He thought to himself as the train pulled into the station. He got on the train and stood as it took him home. He got off at his station and began walking back to his foster home. He opened the door and walked in and saw his four foster siblings in the kitchen eagerly looking at him. “How was it Henshizo?” Goji asked excitedly and Henshizo shrugged. “It was alright, nothing exciting really. Did a quirk assessment test and I placed eighth. My classmates are, uh, something that’s for sure.” He said walking in and then looked at Honoka. “You didn’t do anything right?” He asked raising an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes. “No, I’m honoring your request.” She said sighing. “Good, I want everything to be my doing.” He nodded as he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of juice. “So who are your teachers? Did you have All Might today?” Daiki asked excitedly. “My homeroom teacher is Eraserhead, Cementoss, Snipe, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, and Midnight are my subject teachers; and no I didn’t have All Might today. He teaches heroics, which I’ll be having tomorrow.” He said drinking some of his juice and the back door opened and Sanae came in. “Ah Henshizo, how are you? Everything go well? Did anyone…?” She asked and was wondering if people connected the names. “I’m fine, and yea it went well. Also yea, one of my classmates asked. The guy is Ingenium’s younger brother so I’m not shocked, that family is a multi-generational hero family.” He said shrugging as he drank more.

“And what did you say?” she asked as the four other kids looked at each other awkwardly. “That I don’t know the prick. Not like it’s a lie.” He shrugged causing Sanae to sigh. “So long as I don’t have to go to UA because someone tried to do something.” She said as she set the basket of vegetables on the counter. “Don’t worry about that. I won’t cause anything.” Henshizo said finishing his juice and changing the bottle to a candy wrapper that he then pocketed. “I already have homework to work on so if you excuse me.” He said walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs causing the others to look at each other. “He must be in a real good mood, we had a full conversation with him.” Goji said grinning. Henshizo went into his room and got his school work out and breezed through the homework. He then began working out in his room for a bit. As he was jump roping a knock came from his door and he hopped back from the walk in area of his room. “Come in.” He called out continuing to jump as Goji and Daiki came in, Goji sitting at the desk and Daiki sitting on his bed. “So Henshizo, tell us. Any babes in your class?” Goji asked grinning and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “There are girls in my class yes, but I wasn’t checking them out.” He said exasperated. “Hey that’s fine.” Goji said raising his hands up. “But in the ten months you’ve been here we know a bit about you.” He said smiling. “Yea, we know you’re really observant so any girl catch your eye?” Daiki asked grinning and Henshizo sighed as he stopped jumping. “Well this one girl…” he said and they leaned in grinning. “Is completely invisible.” He said and they groaned and hung their heads. “Who would’ve thought you had a sense of humor.” Goji grumbled standing up. “Dinner’s in ten minuets.” He said to Henshizo as Daiki stood up and Henshizo nodded. They left and Henshizo went to the bathroom to wipe down as he took a washcloth to his face he thought back to lunch and how he left the sun reflected off Yanagi’s hair making it shine. He sighed and set it down as he turned to grab the towel to dry off and the dragon tattoo stared at him in the mirror.

Notes:

First day in the books and someone on his mind already. Also seems to be coming out of his shell more at home. Good for him. As always any and all thoughts are appreciated

Chapter 4: Heroics Class

Summary:

The first heroics class for 1-A. How does Henshizo do and more importantly, what's his costume like?

Henshizo woke up in the morning and worked his way down the stairs to the kitchen, setting his book bag on the floor near the front door, where everyone else was already having breakfast.

“How can you be the last one up and have the longest commute?” Hinata asked teasingly and the others snickered as Henshizo ignored them and poured himself coffee and sat down as Sanae set a plate of sausage and eggs in front of him.

“Thanks.” He muttered and began digging in. “You have heroics with all might today right?” Goji asked smiling at him and Henshizo nodded. “God I’m jealous of you. He’s the best and coolest there is.” Goji said excitedly. “What do you think you’ll do?” Honoka asked tilting her head and Henshizo shrugged as he finished the last sausage on his plate.

“Something involving heroics.” He dead panned causing Daiki to laugh. “Really? And here I was thinking All Might would be teaching you drivers ed.” He said causing everyone to laugh and even Henshizo smirked as he finished his breakfast. He stood up and placed his plate in the sink and then walked over and picked his bag up. “See ya guys.” He said as he changed into his UA uniform there. “God that saves so much time.” Honoka muttered jealous. They all waved and Henshizo left and got his bag and made his journey to UA.

He arrived and went to homeroom where Aizawa gave a more in depth breakdown of their quirk assessment test and then Japanese occurred followed by Math, and before lunch grammar lessons. Henshizo found the lessons boring but easy. At lunch he retreated back up to the roof after he got his food and Yanagi was already on the bench and glanced over at him.

“Salutations.” She said as she took a bite of her sandwich and Henshizo nodded back and sat on the other side of the bench. “Glad they didn’t get rid of it, it’d have been annoying to make a new one.” He muttered as he broke his chopsticks apart. “I agree, it would both a disappointment and annoyance.” She replied looking out towards the woods. “Sesshada, after this is heroics, are you apprehensive?” She asked and he shrugged as he slurped his noodles. “No use in worrying about something we don’t know what we’ll be doing.” He said calmly and she nodded. They ate in respective silence and finished at the same time.

“I’ll see you back in 1-A.” Henshizo said and Reiko nodded as they went opposite ways at the bottom of the stairs. He took his bowl and tray back to the cafeteria. Henshizo sighed as he did, ‘Heroics, my first true test if I can do this.’ He thought to himself and then he walked back and the class slowly filed back in. Most were talking excitedly and the door slid open and the class went quiet.

“I am here! Walking in like a normal person.” All Might said posing in the doorway and everyone lit up. “It’s really him.” Kirishima. “He’s wearing his silver age costume.” Tsu said as all might walked to the podium. ‘He took down the guy my dad took over from in that costume.’ Henshizo thought to himself.

“Welcome to the most important class at UA. It’s basically heroing 101. Where you’ll learn what it takes to be a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good. Let’s get into it, today’s lesson will pull no punches!” All Might said holding up a card that said ‘Battle’ on it.

“Fight training.” Bakugo said with an odd mix of excitement and anger. “But one of the keys of being a hero is… looking good!” All might said pressing a remote and from the wall cases appeared. “These were made for you based on your quirk information form and requests submitted before school started. So suit up and meet me at field beta!” All might said excitedly. “Yes sir!” the class called out and they grabbed their cases and went to their locker rooms.

Henshizo opened his case up and looked at it and for the first time at UA smiled. He took out the black suit jacket, gray button down, black vest, black tie, white scarf, black pants and black boots that the bottoms looked like dress shoes, and using his quirk put them all on. “Sesshada is there a reason you don’t change?” Ojiro asked curiously as he slipped his top on. “Faster this way.” Henshizo said shrugging. ‘That and I’d rather not show my back off.’ He thought putting his assortment of marbles and other small items in his pockets. He waited and when everyone was ready they walked out and joined the girls entering field beta.

“They say clothes make the pros and you are the proof. Take this to heart, from now on you are all heroes in training!” All Might said looking at them, and he privately noted how Henshizo clearly stuck to a mobster look with his costume. “You all look so cool.” He said smiling at them and then the grin went wicked a bit. “Now let’s get started, you bunch of newbies.” He said smirking at them. “Sir, this is the same fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean we’ll be doing urban combat?” Iida said and Henshizo had admit, his costume looked cool.

“Not quite, I’ll be moving you two steps ahead. Most of the battles you see on tv take place in public open areas. However, most of the fights actually take place in non-public areas. Home invasions, back-room deals, underground lairs.” All might said looking at them. ‘Yep, familiar with those last two.’ Henshizo thought playing with the pocket watch he had attached to his costume. “For this exercise you’ll be split into teams of two, one team acting as heroes, the other will be the evildoers. This is real combat.” He said and the class began barraging questions, both legitimate questions and not so legitimate. “Listen up!” All Might called out and he took a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘A script really?’ Henshizo thought.

“Here’s the scenario, villains have hidden a stolen nuclear missile on one of the floors in the building. The heroes have ten minutes to either capture both villains or the device. Meanwhile the villain team wins if they capture both heroes or time expires.” All Might said and the class nodded. “Time’s limited so we’ll choose the teams by drawing.” All might said suddenly holding a box out. ‘Where was he keeping that?’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Isn’t there a better way?” Iida asked and Midoriya, who Henshizo thought looked a bit silly with his light green costume that made him look like a rabbit, turned to him. “Think about it, heroes often have to team up in the field on the spot.”

“I see, yes life is random. Forgive me.” Iida said bowing to all might. “No worry. Now draw!” All might declared and when it was Henshizo’s turn he stuck his hand in and pulled out a ball with C on it. He looked around and Momo walked up to him. “Seems we’re partners.” She said to him, holding up her C ball. “Seems so. You make things right?” He said tilting his head and she nodded. “Heh, our quirks are similar.” He said smirking. “But we can’t strategize too much right now, we don’t know what role we’ll be in.” She said and he nodded. “All business huh? No complaints.” He said shrugging.

“Right first round will be this!” All might declared and team A would be the heroes and Team D would be the villains. ‘Bakugo as a villain? That’ll be easy against Midoriya.’ Henshizo thought. “Villain team go in and prepare heroes what for the signal to enter. The rest of you follow me.” All might said and the class followed him to a monitoring area.

They watched the first fight and Henshizo was struck by both the sheer power of Midoriya and Bakugo, and also their sheer recklessness. “Bakugo’s good, but he’s too dominated by his emotions.” He muttered crossing his arms. “And Midoriya is powerful but it’s a double-edged sword.” Kirishima said standing beside him. The three who didn’t need medical attention came back. “That match’s mvp was… young Iida!” All might said and Iida was shocked. “Can anyone explain why?” He asked and while Momo explained Hemshizo had his own thoughts ‘because while tacky he wasn’t a dumbass. Using those big moves inside which could’ve detonated a real bomb. Gotta work on his evil laugh.’ He thought as Ojiro and Hagakure left to prepare as Shoji and Todoroki were chosen as heroes. They watched and Henshizo’s jaw fell open seeing the scale of Todorki’s ice attack. ‘Heat too? The hell Endeavor?’ He thought seeing Shoto melt everyone.

After that he watched as Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to keep Kirishima and Sero occupied, allowing Tsu to touch the bomb. “An excellent performance by you all.” All might said to the four. “And now our fourth match. The hero team will be team G and the villains will be team C.” All might said as he pulled the balls out of the boxes. “Heh.” Henshizo muttered and smirked as he and Momo began walking out.

“Sorry Sesshada, it was luck.” All might muttered to him as he walked past and Henshizo shrugged. They got to the floor their bomb was on. “We should barricade.” Momo said beginning to make something from her chest.

“Nah. I say we go on the attack. What’s her name, Jiro, will walk in and use her quirk to find us. Kaminari’s electricity can go haywire… can you make a lightening rod?” He asked looking at her as he pulled a marble out in each hand and began changing them.

“Yes. Why? Oh. Absorb his attack so he’s nullified, smart strategy.” She said smiling at him and a lightning rod came out of her chest. “Go put it in the stair well by a window.” He said as he finished making a huge speaker and put it against the wall and also made a portable electric generator that he turned on and plugged the speaker into. He turned it on as Momo left and did that, he then made a music player and plugged it into the speaker and had the volume cranked up.

Momo came back in to the room. “Isn’t that a bit much?” She asked and he shrugged. “It won’t deafen her permanently.” He said changing his shoes to insulated boots and he walked over and did the same to her boots. “Don’t worry, I can change them back.” He said calmly as she started to protest. “Mind making some noise cancelling headphones?” He asked and she nodded again and a pair fell from each of her arms. Henshizo walked over and held the music player in his hand as Momo put the headphones on.

“The hero team may enter.” All might called out, and Henshizo slipped his head phones on and then counted to 5 slowly and then hit play sending a loud blast of music throughout the building. Jiro had had her earphone jack in the wall and she cried out in pain, retracting it and began rolling on the ground in pain and Kaminari went over to her.

“What a despicable maneuver.” Iida said watching it. “Not despicable, he merely countered her quirk in a way that was offensive as well as defensive.” All might said watching as Henshizo left the room. “I’ll deal with Kaminari, safe guard the bomb.” He told Momo who nodded and Henshizo walked out and began going down the stairs, touching the lighting rod as he did. He pulled a candy wrapper out and changed it to another lightning rod.

Kaminari was still tending to Jiro. “Just calm down. Geez. I can’t help with you moving like this.” He said trying to hold her still. Henshizo made it down to the first floor and followed her cries of pain, he saw them and he calmly walked over and Denki turned his head and started to charge up but Henshizo tossed the lightning rod and it landed beside Jiro.

“Try anything you fry her.” He smirked as Kaminari powered down and glared at him. “Yea well, I can still kick your ass for hurting her!” He cried out and charged at Henshizo with a fist raised, Henshizo easily dodged his attack, and made a bat from a pencil he had in his pocket and cracked the side of Denki’s head with it, knocking him out. He took the capture tape and tied Denki’s wrists together and then walked over to Jiro.

She tried to attack but he stopped her jacks from going into her boots. “Sorry.” He said and he then smashed her face into the wall and captured her with the tape as well.

“Damn… that was brutal.” Kirishima said. “The villain team wins!” All might called out. Henshizo tore the tape off the two of them as medical bots came in and loaded the two students up. “Sesshada certainly had a look on his face as he walked up to Kaminari.” Sero said shakily. Henshizo and Momo came back for their debrief, Henshizo changing Momo's boots back to her costume's boots.
“Brilliant work you two. You made excellent use of both of your quirks, came up with an effective strategy, worked together to defeat your opponents, just an overall plus ultra performance.” All might said, giving a thumbs up. “Sesshada was a bit brutal, with his attacks.” Mina said raising her hand and Henshizo shrugged.

“Given the scenario I acted like any villain guarding something important. Villains don’t care about a hero’s well-being.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Yea but they’re your classmates!” Toru cried out.

“Enough. Sesshada embraced the exercise and did well. He’s also right, although try not to be so malicious to your classmates in the future.” All Might said looking between everyone. “Last battle, team E will be the heroes and team F will be the villains.” All might said Henshizo watched as Yanagi and Sato went ahead into the building while Mina and Aoyama waited outside. Yanagi and Sato won, thanks to Sato making debris for Yanagi to use to overwhelm them and the time expired.

The teams walked back, Aoyama covered in cuts and welts with Mina sporting a black eye. “Great combination of quirks.” All might said to Yanagi and Sato. “You two, work on how to neutralize opponents strategies.” All might said looking at the two beat up students. “Also go to recovery girl and get patched up after class.” He said. “Now to the exit!” He called out and lead them to the exit of field beta.

Henshizo was staying quiet and kept glancing at Yanagi in her costume, both cool and comfortable looking. ‘Stop it, she and no one else will be interested in you.’ He thought to himself and looked away.

“You all did fine work for your first class. You all have much room to grow, but you also have taken an excellent first step at being heroes. I am going to check on young Midoriya, and impart one final lesson. Watch how a pro exits, like he’s got some place to be!” He called out and dashed away.

“All Might is so cool.” Kirishima said, and the class walked back to the locker rooms. Henshizo changed his costume back into his uniform. “Aren’t you going to clean up Sesshada?” Ojiro asked. “Nah, didn’t break a sweat.” He said shrugging and walked out.

“That guy has a screw loose or something. Did he seem almost too comfortable in the villain role to you guys?” Sero asked quietly. “Enough talk of that, his style may be unorthodox to us, but as All Might said, it was effective.” Iida said scolding them. They nodded and began leaving school.

As Henshizo was walking out he saw Jiro walking down the hall and he walked up to her. “Sorry about yanking your jacks.” He muttered. “Nah, don’t be. It was a fight and you did what you had to do.” Jiro said dismissively. “Right.” He nodded and left. He left UA and got on the train back, he walked home and walked in and once again was greeted by his foster siblings and Sanae waiting in the kitchen.

“Hey.” He said dropping his bag by the door and walking in. “So? How was all might? How was heroics?” Goji asked excitedly as Henshizo opened the fridge. “He’s big, I know that you guys know that, but seeing him in person is something else.” He said pulling a bottle of juice out.

“And heroics?” Sanae asked gently and they leaned in. “We did some two-on-two fights, heroes and villains. I got put on the villain team, and don’t worry, it was luck of the draw. I won my fight.” He said drinking his juice while the others smiled but Sanae couldn’t help but worry about him being on the villain team. Henshizo finished his juice and left them in the kitchen as he took his bag up to his room. He took his stuff out and sat at his desk briefly thinking about Yanagi, before shaking his head and getting started on his homework.

Chapter 5: Past and Future Darkness

Summary:

Henshizo deals with both his own personal darkness while new threats emerge. He also has the chance to seize power by becoming the class representative, will he seize it?

A younger Henshizo got out of the back of the car and walked with a guy whose skin was dark red into a warehouse. While they were walking in, they heard the shouts and pleas of an argument happening in the back office. They walked in and Henshizo saw a guy with snow white hair tied to a chair, his face swollen, clothes torn, blood dripping from numerous cuts. Henshizo’s father turned and smiled at him.

“My boy, you know what we have here?” He asked pointing at the man and Henshizo shook his head. “We have a rat. He tipped the heroes off to our shipment from China, almost got me captured.” He said and he punched the guy in the jaw and the guy coughed as blood came out. Henshizo looked at the rat with a mixture of anger and sadness. “You know what must be done with rats right Henshizo?” Dokuon asked grinning, his bright green eyes matching Henshizo’s.

“Ex-exterminated.” Henshizo said quietly and Dokuon smiled wider. “Good boy. Now you just turned thirteen, so now it is time to show everyone who you are.” Dokuon said and Henshizo looked at him confused. Dokuon reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a white pistol that had gold engravings on it, he motioned Henshizo over and Henshizo stood beside him. Dokuon put the pistol in Henhshizo’s hand. “Do it.” He said forcefully pointing at the man.

“Wh-what?” Henshizo asked looking up at Dokuon, his lip trembling. “You heard me boy. Kill him.” Dokuon said, painfully grabbing Henshizo’s wrist and pulling it up so the gun was pointing at the man. “Now just pull the trigger.” He hissed into Henshizo’s ear. Henshizo’s hands were shaking and he was breathing rapidly. “I said pull the trigger.” Dokuon said hitting him upside the back of his head. Henshizo grunted in pain and raised the gun back up, still shaking at the man and a gunshot rang out and Henshizo sat up in bed, panting and sweating. He stayed sitting up, silently weeping for a bit before settling back down.

Henshizo went down to the kitchen and groggily made himself coffee. “Not sleep well?” Hinata asked looking at him concerned. “Not particularly.” He grumbled as he began sipping his coffee. Sanae looked at him sadly, she knew he would have nightmares sometimes. During his first week there he had woken up screaming one time, but he never talked about it. She set a plate of pancakes down for him and he sat down. He ate breakfast and left without saying a word, and they all knew that meant a bad nightmare.

After he got off the train and began walking to UA he noticed a bunch of journalists asking students questions. He reached into his pocket and took a candy wrapper out and made it into a wig that he put on his head, while using a car mirror to make sure it looked good. He made his way to UA and some of the journalists turned to him and stuck a mic by him. “Are you in the hero course? Tell us what did All Might have you do?” The female reporter asked him and he glanced at her.

“I’m sure UA can give you a statement concerning All Might.” He said shutting her down. He walked in and after he entered the building took the wig off and changed it back to a candy wrapper. Ojiro walked up to him with a hand raised. “Hey Sesshada, survive the press? Why the wig?” He asked tilting his head.

“I was very official with them, and the wig is… because I’d rather not be recognized in the press.” He said looking away and Ojiro was even more confused. “I’m sure Aizawa is thrilled with the media being here.” Henshizo said walking ahead to 1-A.

“Why’s that?” Ojiro asked curiously. “Eraserhead is notoriously anti-media. He avoids them at all cost.” Henshizo said chuckling as they walked in and sat down. The class slowly filed in and Aizawa walked to the podium. “Decent work yesterday. I watched the videos and reviewed your assessments. Bakugo, you’re good. So try not to act like a child due to your loss. Grow from it.” Aizawa said and Henshizo had to try really hard not to laugh. “Midoriya, try not to take yourself out of action every fight. It’s getting old hearing you complain about you not being able to control your quirk.” He said and Henshizo had to bite his tongue to stop himself from snickering.

“Anyway, looking ahead this morning we’re going to do something that will decide your futures.” Aizawa said and a chill swept through the class. “You need to elect a class representative.” Aizawa said and the class immedietly started going wild with people trying to be the representative.

‘No thank you. Nope, don’t want to close to a leadership spot right now.’ Henshizo thought to himself bitterly and looked out the window.

“Enough! The only way to decide is to vote.” Iida called out. ‘Whatever… who should I vote for?’ Henshizo thought to himself looking around. He settled on his choice and voted. Once all the votes were counted Midoriya was chosen as class representative and Momo was vice-representative. ‘Who the hell voted for me?’ Henshizo thought confused seeing a vote by his name. His vote for Reiko Yanagi was her only one and the two elected officials went to the front.

“R-right. Um, thank you for entrusting me to be your representative.” Midoriya said nervous. ‘Who the fuck voted for him?’ Henshizo thought and with that Aizawa left and Present Mic came in for English. Morning classes dragged by and Henshizo was happy to hear the lunch bell. He got up and got a chicken ramen bowl as well as rice and went up to the roof where Yanagi was already there.

“Hey.” He muttered sitting on the other side of the bench. “Salutations.” She said as she ate her sandwich. They ate in their usual silence for a while. “I can’t help but ponder who cast their ballot for me.” Reiko said and he glanced over. “You didn’t vote for yourself?” He asked quietly putting some rice in his mouth.

“No. I must admit that my vote went to you.” She said and he snapped his head looking at her. “Why?” He asked curiously. “Well, you’re the only one in the class who’s lead people before right?” She said and he went pale. “Nope.” He said looking away.

“No need to lie or posture. I know who you are, or rather who your father is.” Reiko said calmly and Henshizo just looked out over the roof. “How?” He asked quietly. “Your surname and your iris colors are the exact same. I had faintly recalled the Sesshada name and I researched the name and saw his mugshot.” She said calmly and he sighed deeply. “I figured that this would happen. I guess I was a fool for wanting to escape the past.” He said sadly, playing with his noodles.

“We can change a lot but not the past.” She said calmly as he continued to sit in silence. “I guess I should tell the class then. I can’t change it, but I can control how it’s perceived now.” He said looking up with determination in his eyes. “That would be advisable.” She said looking at him with the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. He nodded and suddenly the bells and alarm system went off and they stood up.
“Warning level 3 security breach, please evacuate the building.” The automated voice spoke and Henshizo went to the edge of the roof and looked around. “Did the bells deafen you? We have to evacuate.” Reiko said going up to him. “No. We’re safer here, besides… looks like the press really wants their all might story.” He said pointing down to the main yard where the press were harassing Present Mic and Eraserhead.

“You’re calm under duress.” Reiko said watching the scene. “Not really, I just assess the situation. I can guarantee the hallways are a stampede right now. Human nature.” He said shrugging as over the wall he thought he something black poke above the wall but he blinked and it was gone. “We should stay up here until things settle down. I doubt we’ll get in trouble for being late.” He said leaning against the railing. She nodded and went back to the bench and sat down.

After about ten minuets the police arrived, Henshizo squeezed the railing tightly seeing that many cop cars, and the press was escorted away. “Right, let’s head down.” He said as the alarm shut off. They walked down and back to 1-A, the class came in and sat down. Aizawa came in and settled in the corner in his sleeping bag. ‘Gotta get me one of those.’ Henshizo thought looking at it as Midoriya and Momo walked to the front.

“Right, um, our other class officers. We need to decide them, but first, I’ve been thinking. Tenya Iida should lead us, thanks to his actions at lunch to calm the hall down.” Midoriya said and the class murmured in agreement. Iida stood up. “I am honored by your faith in me. I will not let you down.” He said as he walked up and Midoriya sat back down. Henshizo leaned forward. “Let me guess, you just didn’t want to be leader.” He whispered in Midoriya’s ear.

He turned around and nodded. “Truthfully I didn’t think I deserve it.” He muttered and then the class decided the class officers. “Right that’s all the business we have to do.” Iida said shuffling the papers he had and Henshizo raised his hand. “Yes Sesshada?” He asked and Aizawa opened his eyes. “If it’s ok I’d like to address the class about something.” He said and the class was curious and Iida nodded. “I don’t see why not. The floor is yours.” Iida said and Henshizo stood up and walked to the front and looked at the class and took a deep breath.

“First I need to apologize to you Iida for lying.” He said and Iida was surprised but nodded to accept it. “I don’t think there’s a… nice way to say this.” He said glancing down. “My father is, was, a villain. Dokuon Sesshada, the poison of the underworld. That’s what the press called him.” He said and the class gasped not sure what to say or think. He balled one hand into a fist. “With my quirk, you can imagine a yakuza boss exploited it. It was worse that it was my father. Because of his greed and lust for power, I’m partially responsible for so much suffering. Which is why I’m striving to be a hero. To balance the books and make sure others don’t suffer. I know I can’t make you accept me, but I can assure you all; I am not him, I hate him, and I’m solely focused on being a hero, that is my only intent.” He said firmly looking around at them.

The class stared back at him quietly before Iida stood up. “We appreciate your openness and honesty, would you mind answering questions?” He asked and Henshizo looked at Aizawa who gave a nod before going back to sleep. “Uh sure, just know that I won’t answer some of them.” He said glancing to the side; most of the class raised their hands. “Ojiro.” He said nodding to the tailed boy. “Is that why your costume is designed that way?” He asked and Henshizo chuckled. “Yea, I grew up with that style and trained in it. So it just made sense.” He said shrugging. “Ashido He said nodding to her. “So, even though your young, do you have tattoos?” She asked and he sighed and undid his uniform enough to show them his dragon tattoo. “Oh wow.” Kaminari said looking at it. “That must have hurt getting it.” Kirishima said as Henshizo got dressed. “No, my pain senses are incredibly dulled, I’ll still feel pain, but what’s a two to me on the pain scale would be like a five or six for you guys.” He said shrugging.

“So, you would have been the young head right?” Shoji asked. “Yea. Technically number two.” He said glaring at nothing particular. “So you know villains then right?” Ochako asked and he nodded. “My dad kept me clear of serious people, but the petty criminals yea.” He said shrugging.

The end of school bell rang and Aizawa stood up. “While I appreciate Sesshada being honest, it’s time to go. Rest up, you have a big day tomorrow. Oh, and for the record, UA knew about his past and it was extensively debated, but UA is confident in Sesshada.” He said which reassured the students.

Henshizo went back to his seat and grabbed his bag and get most of the class on him. “I’m not answering more. I can tell we’re getting close to the territory of questions I can’t answer.” He said straightening up. “But one final thing, unlike the rest of you I have to carry many sins, which means I’m going to work that much harder, so stay out of my way.” He said walking past them.

He left the room and the class began muttering. “He certainly went up in cool factor.” Mina said grinning. “And scary factor, he’s connected in ways we can only dream of.” Kaminari said. “No wonder he was so brutal with his attacks.” Jiro said rubbing her ear jack.

“Guys, it’s rude to talk about him behind his back. We must also realize he’s probably burdened more than any of us, so as his classmates we must be there for him to help.” Iida said and they nodded but Midoriya was writing in his notebook. “Guys, given how I think his quirk works… he’s a walking black market.” He said seriously looking at them.

“What do you mean Midoriya?” Momo asked tilting her head. “If it’s anything he’s touched he can make again, that means ANYTHING. Weapons, supplies, clothing, gear.” He said and the class went wide eyed. “Holy crap.” Toru said sounding both awe struck and fearful. “In theory he could supply a military in a week.” Iida said stunned and Midoriya sadly nodded. “Makes you wonder, what he’s done.” He said sadly

Henshizo got home and Sanae was waiting for him. “Oh Henshizo I’m glad you’re ok. I got an alert that a security incident happened.” She said going over to him. “Hardly, the press somehow got in to the school. Triggered the sensors.” He shrugged.

“That’s good. The others are in their rooms, I didn’t want them overwhelming you in case something happened.” Sanae said looking at him and he looked back. “Relax, anything remotely ‘bad’ that happens at UA I can handle it.” He looked to the side. “I told my class.” He said looking at her and her eyes went wide. “Why? I thought you didn’t want to.” She said gently.

“A girl knew my past, so to get ahead of more people finding out I just ripped the Band-Aid off. They somehow didn’t hate me.” He said quietly and she smiled. “I knew they wouldn’t.” She said putting a hand on his shoulder. “Just be sure to show them you truly are the great person I know you are.” She said looking up at him and he sighed.

“Yea sure. Well time for homework.” He said walking away and up the stairs and he went to his room and closed the door, leaning against it and he let out a deep breath. ‘Hopefully they don’t.’ He thought to himself and he went to his desk.

Notes:

I like Ojiro, sue me, so that's why I'm getting him involved so much.

Chapter 6: The USJ

Summary:

Rescue training, what could possibly go wrong? How does Henshizo react with villains and how will people react to Henshizo?

Notes:

Yea this is a long one, so buckle in.

Henshizo woke up and got all of his school work together and went down for breakfast. “Morning Henshizo doing alright?” Daiki asked. “Yea.” He said beginning to make his coffee.

Sanae set the omelette down for him. “Let me know how today goes. If your classmates give you grief.” She said seriously and he sighed, nodding. “What would they give him grief for?” Hinata asked curiously. “Oh! Did you tell them?” Goji asked and Henshizo nodded again. “How’d they take it?” Daiki asked curiously. “They were curious, asked questions, the usual.” He said shrugging.

“Are you worried about anyone?” Honoka asked and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “Not in my class, but word will spread and I have no idea if any other students are victims of my dad in some capacity. So how they react is unknown.” Henshizo said shrugging as he sat down. “Well, I know you can handle yourself.” Goji said grinning and Henshizo began eating. “Just be careful.” Sanae said gently. “I will.” Henshizo said glancing at her.

He finished his breakfast and left the house and enjoyed his usual peaceful commute to UA. He got there and went in and Ojiro walked up to him. “Morning Sesshada.” He said waving and Henshizo nodded briefly in greeting. “Now I get why you didn’t want to be on camera.” He said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “Yea, although it was more for UA’s sake than my own.” He said shrugging and Ojiro nodded. They got to homeroom and got settled in for the day. Between homeroom and history, Henshizo read a news story of how All Might had rescued a family from Vihara Head-Gear on his commute to UA. Morning classes breezed by and at lunch he went up to the roof after grabbing his food.

Reiko was already up there and turned to him. “You were courageous yesterday.” She said as he sat down and he scoffed. “Like I had that much of a choice between you knowing and other’s already suspicious.” He said beginning to spin his noodles around his chopsticks and she frowned. “I humbly apologize, I did not wish to coerce your confession to the class.” She said and he sighed. “It’s fine Yanagi, no hard feelings.” He said slurping his noodles and she nodded and they ate in silence for lunch and then went back to 1-A as the class filed back in from lunch. Aizawa came in and stood at the podium.

“Today’s heroics training will be supervised by three of the staff. Myself, All Might, and a third teacher.” Aizawa said and the class got curious as to what they would be doing that would require three teachers. “You’ll be training to rescue people during disasters.” Aizawa said holding out a card that had rescue on it.
“Oh wow this is going to be great!” Kirishima said excitedly. “Hopefully water rescue, that’s where I’m strongest.” Tsu said and Henshizo had to give it to her. ‘Yea, I’d hope a frog quirk is strong in water.’ He thought as Aizawa activated his quirk to quiet everyone down. “Don’t look ahead, you may not want to wear your costumes if they’re not rescue friendly, but it’s your call. The location for the training is far enough away we’ll be taking a bus so get ready.” He said and the class took their cases to the locker rooms and Henshizo actually changed into his costume, his tattoo on full display.

“Now I get it.” Ojiro said looking at the tattoo. “Yea, I typically have a reason for doing things.” Henshizo said getting his costume on. They all left and got to the bus. “Please sit in relation to your seat number.” Iida said and they bordered the bus but it wouldn’t be possible so Henshizo sat next to Ojiro in the back by the window. He listened in while they were talking about who’s quirks had the best pro material and felt slighted slightly when they didn’t mention him, but he ignored Bakugo angrily yelling at people for saying he was angry and yelled a lot. “Hey settle down we’re here.” Aizawa barked back and the bus stopped and they filed off the bus and looked at the building in awe. They went inside and saw a huge area filled with different geographic features and smaller domed structures.

“Hello everyone, I’ve been waiting for you.” A woman in a spacesuit like costume said. “Thirteen, the premier rescue hero.” Midoriya muttered excitedly. “I had this building constructed to help train students in most natural disasters you can encounter in hero work. Fires, landslides, squalls, those types of things.” She said gesturing around. “I call this building the unforeseen simulation joint, or the U.S.J.” Thirteen said as Aizawaa walked up to her and quietly discussed something involving all might and she held up three fingers.

“We can begin with the two of us.” Aizawa said turning back to the class. “If I can just say one thing, or two things, actually three things, wait make that four.” Thirteen began rambling. “Right. As you may know my quirk is blackhole, anything that gets sucked in gets turned to dust.” She said holding her hand up. “Perfect for rescue.” Midoriya said. “While true, it’s also dangerous and can easily kill. Almost all quirks can kill if used improperly, and in disasters the possibility of a mistake is even higher. So, keep that in mind; thanks to the quirk assessment test you know how strong you are and All Might’s battle training has hopefully clued you in on how quirks can be effective against people. But now we’re going to use them to rescue people.” The class was pumped and some gave polite applause at her speech.

“Right, to begin…” Aizawa began but trailed off as the lights around them went out and something weird appeared at the fountain in the middle and a portal opened up and Henshizo felt his muscles tense up. “What’s that?” Kirishma asked and Midoriya moved forward a bit. “Stay back!” Aizawa snapped at them and they watched as people came out of the portal. “Those are villains.” Aizawa said seriously putting his goggles on. They watched as dozens of villains came out of the portal, ending with a guy covered in hands, a massive bird monster thing, and the portal itself became a standing figure. Henshizo looked at all the villains.
“Why aren’t the alarms activating?” Toru asked and Thirteen looked up. “Good question, probably a quirk of one of the villains.” She said looking back at the approaching villains. “Just Thirteen and Eraserhead. All Might isn’t here like the schedule said he would be.” The mist guy said. “Maybe he’ll come if we kill some kids.” The hands guy said and Henshizo remembered the black thing he had seen yesterday.

“Is this their only target or is the whole school under attack? Either way while foolish these villains clearly have a goal in mind. An isolated building during a class. It’s a part of something.” Todoroki said. “Most of these villains are just thugs and opportunists.” Henshizo said and the class looked at him and he shrugged. “Former customers.” He said simply.

“Thirteen take the students and evacuate. I’ll hold them off.” Aizawa said seriously. “Go now!” He shouted and began running down the stairs at the villains. The class began to run back to the exit as they heard the sounds of fighting. Suddenly the warp guy popped up in front of them. “Pardon for the intrusion. We’re the league of villains, and I know it’s impolite but we let ourselves in here to say hello. Besides, it’s a fitting tomb for All Might don’t you think? He was supposed to be here but things must have changed. It doesn’t matter we still have a plan.” The mist guy said and Bakugo and Kirishima lunged at him as Henshizo had put a marble into his hand and the smoke from Bakugo’s explosion hid the villain.

“You live up to your school’s reputation, but you’re too careless and someone will get hurt.” He said and his mist started going around them. “Get out of the way!” Thirteen called to Kirishima and Bakugo but the class was enveloped in mist before she could do anything. “I’ll send you throughout this building to meet my friends and your ends.” His voice rang out and Henshizo couldn’t see anything and suddenly his vision came back and he was falling and landed in water. He began swimming to the surface and changed the marble into a harpoon gun and saw Tsu beside him and she wrapped an arm around him and they saw a villain swimming face to Midoriya, so Tsu shot over and Henshizo fired the harpoon gun, spearing the guy right in the shoulder and then Tsu kicked him away. She wrapped her tongue around Midoriya and got them on the boat. The two boys coughed as they caught their breath.

“Nice one Tsu.” Henshizo panted as he helped Midoriya up. “Your harpoon shot was impressive, but I fear it’s only angered them ribbit.” Tsu said and they looked in the water and saw sixteen villains rise up from the water. “You bastard! I’ll enjoy tearing your flesh from your bones.” The one who had the harpoon lodged in his arm shouted out. “Yea but it saved Midoriya, for the time being.” Henshizo said looking at the villains. “So they’re here to kill All Might? They must be confident that they have a way to.” He said tapping his foot. “Yea but we should focus on ourselves right now. You heard that warp guy and they have no problems killing us.” Tsu said seriously and the two boys nodded. “The villains had a plan, but it’s not perfect. Since you’re here Tsu.” Midoriya said and the two looked at him confused.

“They could plan for who was here, but not us specifically. Why would they drop Tsu here if they knew her quirk would be good here.” He said and the two nodded. “They’d have dumped me in the fire zone.” Tsu said and Henshizo smirked. “The idiots don’t know our quirks.” He said and Izuku nodded. “So they’re being careful, for now. Which means they won’t take us lightly, but it’s giving us time.” Midoriya said looking over the edge. “Time to plan.” Henshizo said and the two nodded.

“I vote for escaping here.” Tsu said and the two nodded and Henshizo pulled a marble out. “We have to be smart; they won’t hesitate on any mistake.” He said seriously. “Not only escaping them, but we should try and neutralize them.” The other two nodded. “I have a plan, I can use my quirk on the water, suck the villains in and the Tsu jumps with us to land. Sesshada can you make something that would capture them?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo rolled his eyes up thinking. “Yea I got something.” He said changing the marble to what looked like a tear gas container. Suddenly the boat shook as it got chopped in half by a huge wave of water. “Time’s up kids, time to die!” A voice called up to them and the three nodded to each other as it was now or never as the boat began to sink.

Midoriya climbed up onto the rail and then leapt up and Tsu wrapped an arm around Henshizo. Midoriya sent a huge thing of wind pressure into the water, and the villains cried out in surprise at the attack and as they began to get sucked in to the center of the whirlpool the attack created. “Tsu! Sesshada!” Midoriya cried out and Tsu jumped and wrapped her tongue around him as Henshizo pulled the pin, watched the crowd and then tossed the canister down and right as it got to the center where the villains had gotten together it exploded and covered them in bluish goop. “Riot control suppressant, water proof of course. It’ll wear off in a few hours, but they’re not going anywhere in the meantime.” Henshizo said as the ball of villains got launched into the air and splashed back down and they hopelessly struggled against it.

“Not too bad guys.” Tsu managed to say while she guided them down to the edge of the water and they splashed down again. They popped up and looked around. “We’re in the clear, you ok Midoriya?” Henshizo asked seeing his finger and thumb messed up and he nodded. “I’ll be ok.” He said and Henshizo took two strands from his scarf and changed them to finger splints. “Those should hold for now.” He said sticking them on and they looked around again. The looked to their right and saw the dust and heard the shouts of Aizawa’s battle. “We can cut to the left, head to the exit, avoid the fighting Aizawa is in.” Henshizo said pointing.

“True, but… his quirk isn’t good for drawn out fights.” Midoriya said causing Henshizo and Tsu to look at him. “Maybe, just maybe we can lighten his load a bit and then run.” Midoriya said and the two weighed the options. “Let’s just see how he’s doing, stay hidden, I mean, I can maybe do some stuff at range, but I don’t want to put you guys at risk.” Henshizo said seriously and Midoriya nodded. “Helping Aizawa would be what heroes do, let’s see if we can.” Tsu and the three sank down in to the water and made their way over slowly and quietly and got to a point they could watch. Despite the duration he had to have been fighting they saw villains laid out all over the place and he was still fighting. Henshizo’s eyes went to the hands guy and the giant monster, something about the monster freaked him out. “Hands guy seems to be the leader.” He barely breathed out his comment to the two and they watched as he suddenly ran towards Aizawa.

They watched as it seemed Aizawa landed a hit on the guy, but then watched in horror as Aizawa’s elbow seemed to decay away until his muscles were exposed. Despite this horrific injury they watched him still take out more villains. “Sesshada do something.” Midoriya whispered urgently and Henshizo took his scarf and made it into a rifle. “By the way hero, I’m not the final boss.” The hand guy said and the monster attacked Aizawa, sending his goggles and blood flying and the three froze watching the brutal display. “A bio-engineered anti-symbol of peace, but you can call him nomu.” He said chuckling. The warp guy appeared after they watched Aizawa’s arm get smashed and broken.

“Tomura Shigaraki, Thirteen has been dealt with but unfortunately one of the students I couldn’t disperse escaped.” The warp guy said and Shigaraki began scratching at his neck. “Damn it Kurogiri, if you weren’t are exit I’d kill you now. Ah well the end boss isn’t here, a shame. But let’s hurt his pride.” Shigarki said and with surprising speed he dashed to the three and Henshizo tried to raise gun but he disintgreted the barrel and his other hand he reached out to Tsu but stopped. “You really are so cool. Eraserhead.” He said and they saw Aizawa raising his head and erasing his quirk but the Nomu smashed his head down. Henshizo changed the non disentigrated part of his gun to a bowie knife and Midoriya leapt out of the water and went to punch Shigarki as Henshizo went to stab him. Midoriya’s hit landed and a huge amount of dust got kicked up obscuring everyone’s vision, but Henshizo felt the, sadly familiar, feel of the knife blade plunging into flesh. What was odd to him though, was he didn’t hear a scream of pain, and as the dust cleared he saw his blade in the hand of the Nomu and also Midoriya’s arm wasn’t broken and he had punched the Nomu, but it hadn’t reacted.

‘They must think they have a way to kill All Might.’ He remembered Tsu saying. “That smash is pretty powerful, are you a disciple of All Might? And using a knife? How unheroic. Whatever, I’m done here. Nomu.” Shigarki ordered and Nomu grabbed Midoriya and also jerked Henshizo towards Shigariki who reached out with his hands toward Henshizo and Tsu, Tsu trying to reach out to save Midoriya with her tongue and Henshizo trying to touch something of Shigarki desperately as he heard Shigarki laugh and his hand get closer to his face.

Suddenly the massive entrance doors were smashed open and everyone stopped and looked as dust formed and they heard the sounds of footsteps. “Have no fear students, for I am here.” All Might called out and Henshizo couldn’t help but smile. “Looks like our game is getting a continue.” Shigarki said looking towards All Might and he stood up and away from the three in the water. “He’s not smiling.” Midoriya said looking at All Might. Henshizo wanted to try to take Shigarki down, but knew that Nomu would stop any attempt like he already had. All Might suddenly seemingly vanished and took out some villains that Aizawa hadn’t been able to finish and held Aizawa in his arms. He then seemingly disappeared again and Henshizo felt himself get yanked out of the water and he was looking at the ground as All Might held him, Tsu, Aizawa, and Midoriya and got them away from the villains.

“You three, get back to the main entrance and take Aizawa with you.” All Might ordered. “Right.” Henshizo said and he took his pocket watch out and changed it to a stretcher that he and Tsu then put Aizawa on to. “You can’t All Might that brain took one for… I punched him and didn’t break my arm.” Midoriya said and Henshizo tilted his head confused. “Don’t worry young Midoriya. I go this.” All Might said, flashing his trademark smile. “Let’s go Midoriya, can’t get in his way.” Henshizo said picking one end of the stretcher up. Midoriya nodded and walked along side them as Tsu picked the other end up. They began walking away and looked back seeing All Might brawl with the Nomu and then grab Nomu and tried to drive him into the ground and huge plume of dust went up.

“All Might’s got this, we need to keep going.” Henshizo said continuing to carry Aizawa along. “He’s so amazing.” Tsu said and they heard shouts from their classmates at the entrance way. They looked back and the three stopped in horror seeing that All Might was caught and in a bad spot. “Guys, take Aizawa.” Midoriya said and he began to run back. “Midoriya wait.” Henhsizo called out and growled lightly, he couldn’t leave Tsu to take care of Aizawa by herself. They watched as Midoriya leapt towards the warp guy, but he opened a portal up and just as Midoriya was about to go through it, Bakugo appeared and blasted the warp villain and tackled him to the ground “Stay out of my way Deku!” He shouted at Midoriya. They saw ice appear and cover half of the Nomu and then Kirihsima tried to take out Shigarki but he dodged back. “Figures those guys would get involved.” Henshizo said and they heard Aizawa take a rattling breath.

“We need to hurry.” Tsu said and he nodded and they went back to carrying Aizawa away.

They walked along and heard a voice calling down to them. “Tsu! Sesshada!” They looked up and saw Uaraka waving at them. “Hey, come and help us!” Henshizo shouted up, and then her, Sato, and Sero worked together to help get Aizawa and the two up. “We’re glad to see you guys are ok.” Uaraka said and the two saw Thirteen laying on the ground, the back of her suit ripped open and Henshizo began picking up bits of her costume and began changing them into more medical supplies. “Don’t do much, put take these splints to Aizawa’s arms, Ashido here are some bandages for Thirteen.” He said calmly handing the supplies out.

They nodded and began treating their teachers. “When the other teachers arrive, it will be dangerous you should hide.” Thirteen said straining herself. “Don’t worry Thirteen, we’ll take care of ourselves.” Henshizo said calmly, the class nodded and continued to tend to their teachers to the best of their ability. They watched from a distance as All Might started going all out against the Nomu and they watched as he sent the monster through the roof of the building, causing an explosion, and the building to shake.

“That bird villain just went flying.” Sero said. “That’s All Might for ya.” Sato said smiling. “Number one for a reason.” Henshizo muttered. They watched as Shigarki and Kurogiri were staring at All Might and they heard steps coming from the door. Suddenly the villains began rushing at All Might and Midoriya leapt with great speed to defend All Might, and Henshizo saw Shigarki’s hand get close to his face but smiled as he saw Snipe pull his revolver out and shoot the hand away.

“Sorry we’re late, but I got the teachers here as soon as I could.” Nezu said on the shoulders of Vlad King. They heard the villains yell and the sound of gunfire, but Present Mic yelled and then Ectoplasm sent his clones down the stair ramp to take out more villains. They watched as snipe shot Shigarki in the arms and legs. “We need someone who can capture them from here.” Snipe said “Let me.” Thirteen said, so Sato, Sero, and Sesshada picked her up and she tried to suck Kurogiri and Shigarki up, but they watched, frustrated, as they disappeared. “Take Thirteen and Aizawa outside and stay outside you guys. Us teachers will help the other students here.” Nezu said and they nodded, Shoji and Iida picking Aizawa up and the three boys helped carry Thirteen outside.

Eventually police showed up and the remained of the class, minus Midoriya, were gathered outside. A detective walked up and Henshizo’s eyes widened seeing who it was. Detective Tsukauchi walked up with a paper and began counting everyone, he stopped seeing Henshizo. “Detective.” Henhsizo said calmly and the class looked back and forth between the two. “Sesshada, I had heard you would be at UA…” He trailed off his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Don’t even give me that crap, I had nothing to do with this.” Henshizo said clenching his fists and glaring at Tsukauchi, who after a moment of staring nodded. “Let’s get you kids back to the main campus.” He said and the class began talking about what they had experienced.

“Ojiro, I heard you were alone and kicked butt, that’s so cool.” Toru said and Henshizo walked over. “Yea, I was alone. Just did hit and run tactics.” He said smiling lightly. “Effective, glad to see you’re ok.” Henshizo said nodding. “Where’d you wind up Hagakure?” Ojiro asked. “The landslide zone with Todoroki, he was so powerful and amazing. You should’ve seen it.” She said pointing at the dual-colored hair boy.

Henshizo walked towards Reiko. “What happened to you?” He asked gently. “Tokoyami and I were transported to the squall zone. We were able to dispatch our foes quite easily.” She said looking at him, and he nodded happily. “Yea, that’s good.” He said smiling lightly at her.
“Sir. What about Aizawa and Thirteen?” Tsu said hopping over to him. Tsukauchi pulled his phone out and called the hospital. “Eraserhead’s arms are splintered and he sustained facial fractures. No severe brain trauma which is good, but his orbital floor is destroyed and we won’t know how his eyesight will be until after he wakes up.” The doctor on the other line side. “You heard him.” Tsukauchi said.

“What about Thirteen?” Mina asked worried. “There’s nothing to worry about there, despite some severe back lacerations, Thirteen will pull through no problem.” He said relieving the class. “What about Deku?” Uaraka asked “How’s Midoriya?” Iida asked. “Midoriya? Oh, he and All Might are in the nurse’s office. Recovery Girl’s quirk should be all they need.” He said gently “We don’t need to interview you guys now. Officer Sansa I’ll leave the escorting to you, I have business in the nurse’s office.” He said a guy with a cat head saluted him. Henshizo and Tsukauchi stared at each other again before Tsukauchi left then Yanagi and Ojiro walked up to him.

“I take it you two have run into each other?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo nodded. “He was one of the detectives involved in the arrest of my dad, he and his partner interrogated me at the police station. They didn’t have any evidence against me though, so they had to cut me loose. And clearly, they still don’t and he probably views me as a fish that got away.” Henshizo said looking at the back of Tsukauchi as the class loaded up on the bus. Ojiro and Yanagi looked at each other and got on with Henshizo. They rode back to UA and Vlad King was in charge of them.

“Go to the locker rooms and change, obviously school is cancelled for the rest of the day and tomorrow as well. UA will be offering counseling if you need it.” Vlad King said and Henshizo bit his tongue from trying not to laugh.

They got to the locker rooms and changed back in to their uniforms and began to leave. As they got close to the main doors, they saw the media outside the main gate and Henshizo sighed and made another wig and put it on. “Why?” Mina asked curiously. “My past.” He said simply and they understood and left. “There they are.” They heard a female reporter call out and the cameras turned to them and the lights started flashing. “Just say no comment and that we want to leave.” Todoroki said and the class nodded and the class did just that. Once the class got through the herd of press, they began going their separate ways.

Henshizo made it home and heard the TV from the living room. “This type of attack is unprecedented; students being targeted is horrid.” The voice from the TV was saying but it was shut off and the five came dashing out and Sanae hugged Henshizo who stood there awkwardly. “Your ok.” She said and he looked at the other four who had faces of worry and relief. “Yea don’t worry, I’m fine.” He said calmly.

“They sent all schools home early as a precaution.” Goji said smiling a bit. “What happened? They aren’t saying much.” Hinata said worried as Sanae let go. “Um, one of the villains had a warping quirk or something and opened up a portal which all the rest got through. That villain then separated us and I got dumped into the shipwreck area.” Henshizo said recounting what happened while sparing some of the details that would make them worry. “I shot a villain with a harpoon gun, a skilled shot if I say so myself.” He said and the four grinned. “After that myself and two of my classmates used a combination of our quirks to get away and capture them. After a bit All Might showed up and saved the day.” He said lightly.

“The news said the teachers and a student were hurt, will they be ok?” Sanae asked worried. “My classmate was injured because of his quirk, not because of the villains. Thirteen will be ok. Eraserhead got it worse but he’ll live.” Henshizo said a bit sadly. “Not surprisingly I don’t have school tomorrow.” He said shrugging. “Lucky.” Daiki said and Honoka smacked him upside the head. “Don’t worry, I’m ok. Both physically and mentally.” He said gently, he looked at his hands which weren’t irritated.

“Ok, I’ll get dinner ready anything you want?” Sanae asked smiling lightly. “Nah, nothing special. For what it’s worth this is what I signed up for, just didn’t expect it so soon.” He said shrugging and he went up to his room and flopped onto his bed, his first trial as a young hero behind him.

Notes:

Thanks for reading. Any and all types of comments appreciated.

Chapter 7: Fallout from the USJ

Summary:

Henshizo and others deal with the effects the USJ had on them. Plus, more is revealed of Henshizo's past.

Henshizo was woken up early the following morning from the USJ attack by a knock at his bedroom door. He gave a loud grunt indicating he was awake. “Hehnshizo, a detective is here to interview you.” “Fucking dick head. I know he chose to interview me early” Henshizo muttered as he sat up in bed. “I’ll be down in a minute.” He grumbled through the door yawning. He slowly got out of bed and didn’t bother changing or fixing his hair. He went downstairs and saw Tsukauchi sitting on the couch.

“Morning Sesshada, we’re interviewing everyone who was at the USJ yesterday.” He said and Henshizo said nothing and sat down in a chair across from him. “I know you weren’t involved. But I also have to be more suspicious about you than anyone.” He began taking down notes.

“Is this an interview of a victim or an interrogation?” Henshizo asked him coldly. “Right now an interview.” Tsukauchi replied coolly. “Now, when you got to the USJ did you notice anything suspicious?” He asked and Henshizo shook his head. “Everything was fine until that warp guy, Kurogiri I think is his name, opened the portal up and the villains came through.” Henshizo replied calmly.

“And yes before you ask I recognized some of the villains, not all of them, but a decent bit. However Kurogiri, that monster thing, and the leader, Tomura Shigarki, I’ve never seen or heard of them before. Nor the name ‘League of Villains.’” Henshizo said and he was a surprised to see a flash of disappointment go across Tsukauchi’s face.

“I see, honestly you were my best hope of finding something out.” He said sighing before sitting back up. “You were separated and dropped into a zone right?” He asked and Henshizo nodded. “Yes, the shipwreck zone, with Asui and Midoriya.” He said plainly.

“One of the villains there had a harpoon wound. That was your doing right?” He asked getting an icy glare. “Yes. I was defending Midoriya’s life as the Harpoon was the best option to stop the villain from attacking and in all likelihood biting Midoriya’s head off. Pursuant to code five, section three part one. I used my quirk one the defense of myself or another person when a pro hero was not available to do so.” He said calmly and Tsukauchi smirked lightly.

“You always knew the law, so you could toe it but not get in trouble.” He said calmly. “Being knowledgeable isn’t a crime. I then used my quirk to make a restraining agent, and got the villains contained.” He said and Tsukauchi looked at him. “Yes. How did you acquire the ability to copy that?” He asked and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “One time when I was seven or so the cops had taken my dad in for questioning and were showing me around the station. Not a crime.” He said shrugging and Tsukauchi let out a long exhale.

“I also used my quirk in an attempt to save Asui from Shigarki, but that monster stopped me, after that I was strictly making medical supplies to tend to Aizawa and Thirteen, also Midoriya.” He said calmly and Tsukauchi wrote things down and then looked back at him.

“Would you happen to know anyone who may know something about the league of villains?” He asked and Henshizo paused thinking. “From what I saw people just had what they usually wore and stuff. I can’t think of anyone that would be able or willing to help.” He said shrugging and Tsukauchi sighed again and stood up.

“Thanks, I guess. The fact you that you don’t know anything does help in a way. I guess keep up the good work.” He said pocketing his notebook. “Thanks detective.” He replied in a neutral tone. “I apologize for treating you harshly. You deserve a second chance.” He said lightly bowing and Henshizo smirked. “Happy hunting for the League. For what it’s worth they seem like trouble, so I hope you find them.” Henshizo said calmly as he stood up.

“Thanks for the heads up.” Tsukauchi said and he went to the door. “Take care.” He said and he left and Henshizo growled lightly. “Take care my ass, I know you were hoping to get me.” He grumbled going to the kitchen where Sanae had made him breakfast. “I’m proud of you, I know you two have history, but you set it aside.” She said gently as she set the omelet in front of him. “Thanks.” He muttered and picked up the knife to begin cutting it and he thought back to the knife plunging into Nomu’s hand.

Of course he also thought back to a night when he was fourteen and stabbed the knife down into leg of a rival gang member, trying to find their drug lab. He shook his head and began eating. “I have work, so just stay here and do what you want.” Sanae said picking up her purse. “Don’t worry, I didn’t plan on going out.” He said drinking some of his coffee she had made.

“Call me if you need anything.” She said as she went to the front door and left. He sighed and finished off his omelette. He stood up and went back to his room and got into bed when his phone pinged and he looked at it confused and saw a message from Ojiro.

‘Hey man, checking in. Listen, can we hang out today? I kinda want to talk and I feel like you can relate.’ The message said and Henshizo was confused. Confused as to why Ojiro wanted to hang out with him. ‘Um. I guess, we can meet at Shinrin park, it’s not too far from UA. Say meet there in 2 hours?’ He sent back and he walked to his dresser and got some clothes out.

‘Sounds good.’ Ojiro replied and Henshizo sighed and got dressed. ‘You know how I said I wasn’t planning on leaving the house? Well one of my classmates wants to meet up and talk. So, I am leaving. We’re meeting at Shinrin Park.’ He texted Sanae as he went to the bathroom and showered. ‘Ok, have fun. Be safe.’ She texted back as Henshizo was drying off. He worked on some classwork for a bit and then began the trip to Shinrin Park. He got there and waited for Ojiro, by doing some stretching and light exercise.

“Sesshada!” Ojiro called out raising a hand in greeting and Henshizo nodded towards him. “What’s up Ojiro?” Henshizo asked as Ojiro walked up to him and Ojiro’s face fell. “Well, you know how I was alone in the fire zone right?” He said as they began to walk and Henshizo nodded. “Yea, and you handled yourself well from what I heard.” He said quietly and Ojiro looked down. “I guess, it’s just that I know that the villains would kill me if they caught me. I, just don’t know how to wrap my head around it.” He said quietly and Henshizo put a hand on his shoulder.

“Not all ‘villains’ are like that. Honestly most don’t want to fight heroes. The league clearly gathered some of the more violent ones.” He said calmly and Ojiro looked at him. “How could you handle dealing with villains like them?” He asked and Henshizo stiffened up a bit. “Mostly my father dealt with them and since I was his son it meant I was protected. People knew not to fuck with me because of him.” He said in a hollow tone.

Ojiro nodded sympathetically. “Were you scared?” He asked quietly and Henshizo let out a long exhale thinking. “When Shigaraki was about to touch me. I was worried and that Nomu… thing had me unnerved.” He admitted quietly. “That was it, I wasn’t scared scared, but I was freaking out… ya know.” He said looking at Ojiro who nodded.

“You going to be ok?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo smirked and nodded. “Not the first time I’ve been threatened and almost killed or maimed. Won’t be the last.” He said matter of factly. “Heh, I guess it wouldn’t be. At least you’re sort of familiar. Not that that’s a good thing.” Ojiro said and panicked thinking he had offended Henshizo.

“Oh I’m used to it. I’m the most… experienced in dealing with villains that’s in the class.” Henshizo said shrugging reassuring Ojiro he wasn’t upset. “I guess that’s something you can’t teach in the classroom.” Ojiro said and Henshizo shrugged.

“Facing villains who have no problem killing us is something we technically signed up for. So it’s nothing we won’t be dealing with later on in life.” Henshizo said calmly. “True. What would you have done if you were able to do anything?” He asked and Henshizo stopped. ‘Kill them all’ he thought to himself and shook his head. “Whatever I would have to do.” He said quietly and Ojiro nodded and understood.

They walked in silence for a bit before heading back to the park entrance. “Thanks Sesshada, this has helped me put things in perspective.” Ojiro said smiling lightly and Henshizo nodded. “See you tomorrow, since it seems we’re going to be coming in.” Henshizo said glancing towards UA. “Seems so, take it easy.” Ojiro said and they walked separate ways. Henshizo got back home and decided to surprise his foster family with some food, he made Ankake meatballs and had just finished pouring the sauce on when the door opened, and he heard the sounds of his foster siblings coming in.

“Something smells good.” Goji said coming in “I was bored so I decided to make you guys something.” Henshizo said nonchalantly as they walked in to the kitchen and saw the meatballs. “Really?! You made these?” Honoka asked looking at them.

“This may be the nicest thing you’ve done.” Honoka said and Henshizo looked at them. “If you don’t want them.” He said picking them bowl up. “No! We want them!” They cried out and he set the bowl back down smirking. “My trainer taught me this recipe. So, I actually have ok memories with it.” He said sighing as they each took one and put it in their mouths.

They all made sounds of satisfaction as they ate. ‘I wonder how he’s doing, that postcard from Hong Kong after my dad was arrested was the last, I heard of him.’ He thought sadly as he watched them eat. “You doing ok Henshizo?” Hinata asked and he looked at her. “Yea, just thinking.” He said getting off the counter he was leaning on. “You said trainer, who were they?” Daiki asked curiously and the three looked at Daiki sternly and Henshizo lowered his head.

“He was cool. He didn’t want to, but he still trained me with everything he had. Training me in how to fight and how to train.” He muttered remembering the brutal training fondly. “He was a… eh, he was a badass who did things his way and would do anything.” He said smiling, surprising them. “He left the country a couple weeks before my father was arrested. Something about hunting down a drug ring. I fucking miss him though.” He said nostalgically

“He must have been a good trainer. You’re so strong and talented.” Goji said smiling and Henshizo smirked. “Yea, ole Knuckleduster was awful, but the good kind of awful if that makes sense.” He said and they slowly nodded.

They enjoyed his meatballs and the front door opened and Sanae came in. “Sorry I’m late, a customer needed help loading her car.” She said coming in and the four smiled at her and she saw the meatballs. “Who made these?” She asked walking over smiling lightly.

“Henshizo.” Honoka said and Sanae looked at Henshizo smiling. “What? I was bored.” He shrugged. “I appreciate it.” She said taking one and trying it. “Oh, wow this is good.” She said smiling more. “Thanks.” He said rubbing his neck. “Henshizo was telling us about his training.” Daiki said and Sanae looked at Henshizo with just the slightest bit of concern.

“Don’t worry, it was actually something I enjoyed. So, I can talk about it.” He said raising a hand, calming her nerves. “That’s good. Did you have a good time with your classmate?” She asked taking another meatball. “Yea. He just needed help processing yesterday and he turned to me.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“Look at the anti-social Henshizo being social.” Goji teased and Henshizo flipped him off. “Not in the kitchen.” Sanae said sighing and Daiki snorted in laughter. Henshizo walked out into the entrance way and proceeded to flip both Goji and Daiki off causing Sanae to sigh even more. ‘At least he’s being sociable.’ She thought looking at him.

“I’m going to get ready for school tomorrow, let me know when dinner is ready.” He said heading up. He got schoolwork out and made sure all homework was done and decided to train in his room with some hardcore core exercises. His day ended a good dinner, going to bed, and dreaming of killing Shigarki.

Chapter 8: Sports Festival Prep

Summary:

The lead up to the sports festival. Just a touch of Henshizo backstory.

Henshizo woke up the next day and went down for breakfast. “Morning Henshizo, I can’t believe they’re having school today.” Sanae said as he walked in and poured his coffee. “Only one day off? Lame.” Goji said taking a bite of his food.

“It’s for the best. We can’t get too far behind and besides we’re all physically fine.” Henshizo said shrugging. “It’s not the physical part people worry about.” Hinata said and Henshizo shrugged. If it were any other course besides the hero course, I’d agree. But we’re the next batch of heroes, so more is expected of us.” He said calmly as he sat down taking a plate of rice cakes from Sanae.

“Just be careful ok? We were all insanely worried when the news broke.” Honoka said quietly. “Relax, it’ll take more than that to get rid of me.” He said lightly smiling at her. They ate and after Henshizo finished and was ready for the day he left for UA. He got there and was thankful that no media was outside. He went to homeroom and got settled in to his seat.

After a bit Iida went to the podium. “Class is about to start, everyone take your seats.” Iida said but everyone was already sitting. “We’re all seated.” Uaraka said. “You need new glasses?” Henshizo asked at Iida defeatedly went back to his seat. “So, who’s going to be our homeroom teacher?” Mina asked and Henshizo thought that that was a good question.

The door slid open and they were all shocked to see the heavily bandaged Aizawa come in, limping up to the podium. ‘Guy has to be super stubborn.’ Henshizo thought as he went up to the podium. “I’m glad to see you’re all right sir.” Iida said as Aizawa got to the podium. “My wellbeing isn’t of concern right now, after all, your fight and journey isn’t over.” He said and the class was confused.

“Our fight?” Bakugo muttered and Henshizo glanced outside to make sure everything was fine. Aizawa’s eyes, which were the only part of his head not wrapped, looked sternly at them all. “The UA Sports Festival is coming up.” Aizawa said and the class erupted in cheers. “Wait Mr. Aizawa. Is it such a good idea to have it so soon after the attack?” Denki asked and most of the class lightly glared at him. “The school wants to show that the threat has passed, although we are having additional security compared to past events. This festival is for the whole school though, and it’s arguably Japans most popular sporting event. The administration doesn’t want to convey the idea that the top hero school could be scared of some petty villains.” Aizawa said and the class nodded.

“As you all know, pro heroes watch the sports festival and then, depending on your performances, will offer you internships that will begin your careers as pro heroes. One festival a year, three times in your life to make an impression. Make the most of it.” Aizawa said sternly “Yes sir!” the class responded. “Good, it’s in two weeks. So don’t slack off on your training. That is all for this morning.” Aizawa said and he limped out and Present Mic came in for English. The morning classes breezed by and after fourth period the class got to talking about the festival.

“Sure the USJ kinda sucked, but the games have me excited!” Kirishma called out as the class broke into groups. “This is why I’m here.” Sato said as Henshizo packed his bag up and Midoriya turned to him. “Are you excited Sesshada?” He asked and Henshizo looked at him and smirked. “Yes. This is a chance for me to show the world I belong here.” He said with a wicked grin as he slung his bag over his shoulder. ‘Everyone is gunning for gold eh? Good.’ Henshizo thought watching how Uaraka showed some intensity. “Sesshada a question.” Tokoyami said walking over to him. “Huh? Sure what is it?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“Did you watch the sports festival when you were younger?” Tokoyami asked and people glanced over curiously. “Oh every year. Villains watch it like everyone else. Scouting the next pains in the ass, as one of my dad’s guys once said. Of course, the ‘family business’ also had huge gambling days during the sports festival. When I was old enough, I was entrusted with counting the money.” Henshizo shrugged. “Makes sense, that people would gamble on it.” Midoriya said in a tone of that he hadn’t thought of it before. ‘Also oddly enough explains why he's so smart.’ Midoriya thought looking at him.

“So could you make odds for the festival?” Sero asked curiously and Henshizo smirked. “Who’s saying I haven’t already made odds?” He chuckled and walked to the exit. “Wait! Who’s the favorite?” Kaminari called out but he ignored them and went to the cafeteria for lunch. He grabbed his lunch and went up to the roof where Reiko was already on the bench. “You were exceptionally conversational after class.” She said as he sat down. “Eh, I guess being attacked by villains makes us closer which lets me open up a bit.” He said shrugging as he began picking his chicken apart.

“You still carry much of your past.” She said and he looked at her from the side. “I mean, basically my whole life, it’s hard to get rid of things. Plus it’s not all bad.” He said calmly. “I suppose that is true. Asui told me about your harpoon shot. Quite impressive.” She said and he smirked. “I suppose.” He said and he put a bite of his lunch in and chewed it. “So, how do you think you’ll do in the festival?” He asked her and she sighed. “Not sure honestly. Depending on the events I may do well, although I dread one on one match ups.” She admitted and he raised his eyebrows in shock at her admission.

“Why? Your quirk is insanely powerful.” He said and she sighed again. “It’s my limits. I can’t lift more than the average person, and the range I have. Once I control an object I have a vast range, but the range to control is relatively small.” She said sadly. “And I can’t lift people themselves.” She said even sadder and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “Well it sounds like rules and if there’s one thing I’m good at it’s finding ways to bend them.” He said smirking and she looked at him. “Are you saying you’d be willing to assist me despite the fact we’d be rivals at the festival?” She asked shocked and he shrugged. “Nothing wrong with helping a classmate where it may be a nuisance for one day but a good thing the rest of them.” He said shrugging and she lightly smiled.

“I would appreciate that Sesshada. Do you have an idea?” She asked and he nodded and finished his lunch and stood up. “Use your quirk on my shoes.” He said and she tilted her head confused. “If the object can’t weigh more than a person, than it should be no issue.” He said and the dawn of realization went across her face. She looked down and picked his shoe up, picking his leg up with it. “Heh, ok. Now pick me up in the air by my shoe.” He said and she nodded and managed to do it, flipping him upside down, but even upside down he could see the huge smile on her face.

“It’s so simple I curse myself for not realizing sooner!” She said and he smirked at her. “Like I said, I’m good at finding loopholes.” He said still hanging upside down. “Now would you kindly make me the right type of vertical?” He asked in a dead pan voice and she nodded and turned him around and set him down. “My thanks Sesshada, I feel better now.” She said smiling at him and he nodded. “Just keep that under wraps until the festival, also practice with it.” He said shrugging and she nodded. They finished lunch and went back for their afternoon classes.

Afternoon classes came and went and they packed up for the day and Uaraka got to the door first, but when she opened the door, it seemed almost all of the other first years were outside the door. “Um, why are you all here?” She asked and Henshizo hung out in the background. “If you have business with us that’s fine, but please don’t block the doorway.” Iida said and Bakugo walked past them towards the crowd. “They’re scouting us you morons. We’re the class that survived a villain attack.” Bakugo growled and got up to the group of students. “Take a good look, because this is the face of a future pro you bunch of extras.” He growled and 1-A panicked and tried to calm the situation down.

“So this is the hero course? How disappointing to see such a jackass in it.” A boy with purple hair said pushing his way to the front. “Is everyone a jackass?” He asked and the class shook their heads. “It doesn’t matter, because at the sports festival, I’m going to show you arrogant hero course students up. They say if a student in another course does well enough, they get transferred into the hero course, of course they’d have to kick someone out.” He said and Henshizo smirked. ‘Everyone will be gunning for us. Good.’ He thought as he shouldered his bag.

“These people don’t matter. What matters is that I beat them.” Bakugo said and Henshizo lightly nodded. ‘At least he gets it.’ He thought as Bakugo left. The students outside dispersed after that letting Henshizo leave and go home. He got home and the four siblings welcomed him home. “So, what really had them drag you back in for one day?” Goji asked teasingly. “To tell us the sports festival is in two weeks and also how everyone is going to be gunning for us.” Henshizo said and their faces lit up with excitement. “Oh yea the sports festival! We actually have the day off of school for it.” Hinata said smiling happily. “Good, because you’re going to see me kick ass and show the world who I am.” Henshizo said making a determined fist.

“You got it. We know you can do it.” Goji said smiling. “And don’t worry, I won’t use my quirk.” Honoka said smiling. “Thanks.” Henshizo said nodding. The door opened back up and Sanae walked in. “Hi guys, everyone have a good day?” She asked.

“Henshizo has the sports festival!” Daiki said and Henshizo tilted his head to the side acknowledging it. “You got this Henshizo.” Sanae said smiling. “Let me know if you need anything.” She said and he nodded. “It’s in two weeks, so I’m going to be training a lot. I’ll do my laundry because I’m sure I will go through extra clothes.” He said and she smiled at him. “Ok, sounds good.” She nodded and he went up and changed and began to train. His training was a mix of physical training, fighting training, and going to stores and touching items he thought may be useful. He also carefully watched other classes to get a gauge of quirks. Soon enough the two weeks flew by and it was the day of the festival.

They were at UA stadium, huge crowds were gathered and milling about the grounds. Henshizo and the rest of class 1-A were in a locker room. “I wish we were in our costumes.” Mina said sadly. “But it’s fair for everyone.” Ojiro said and Henshizo was leaning against the wall. The door opened and Iida came in. “Game faces, we will be entering the arena soon.” Iida said and some of the class tensed up. “Midoriya.” Todoroki said walking up to him.

“What’s up Todoroki?” Midoriya asked as Reiko shuffled over with her arms up by her side like a somewhat zombie to be by Henshizo. “Objectively I’m stronger than you. But you have All Might in your corner. Make no mistake, I will beat you.” Todoroki said fiercely. “Let’s cool it with the declarations of war guys.” Kirishima said getting up. “No he’s right. Todoroki, you have the most potential out of us probably. And all the other courses are aiming for us. We’ll all have to fight to stand out. And I’m aiming for the top.” Midoriya said and Henshizo and Bakugo both narrowed their eyes in anger.

“It’s time, let’s go.” Iida said and the class walked together down the hallway as Present Mic’s voice filled the arena. “Alright ladies and gentlemen make some noise! Get the cameras ready. We got some of the best competition in sports festival history coming up. Now, are you ready?!” He asked and the crowd roared as the students lined up in the tunnel entrance. ‘Now is my moment.’ Henshizo thought determined looking out into the arena.

Notes:

Yea, I ended it in a weird spot, but it'll make sense with how I do the rest of the sports festival arc.

Chapter 9: Obstacle Race

Summary:

The Sports Festival kicks off with the obstacle race. How will Henshizo fair in the race? Does he place well, or does he even qualify for the next round?

“You already know them as the class that claimed victory over a bunch of villains. From the hero course, class 1-A!” Present Mic shouted as 1-A walked out into the arena to the roar of the jampacked crowd. “So many people.” Midoriya muttered and Henshizo glanced around at the crowd. “It’s a lot of pressure, but just another aspect of being a hero.” Iida said looking around as well. “This is a lot, you good Bakubro?” Kirishima asked. “Of course you idiot, you’re just nervous.” Bakugo growled as the class walked along. “They haven’t been in the spotlight but they’re just as good, the hero course’s class 1-B!” Present Mic said and the other twenty students in the hero course came out looking determined. “Let’s hear it for general studies classes C, D, and E!” Present Mic shouted and Henshizo saw the boy with purple hair leading the pack. “And the support courses classes F, G, and H! Finally business course classes I, J, and K!” Present Mic shouted and all the first years grouped together in front of the stage that had been built and Midnight was on the stage.

“Damn, the first years are lucky with Midnight as their official.” A spectator said as Midnight cracked her short whip. “Silence! To start the ceremony a word from the student pledge. Katsuki Bakugo from the hero course!” She announced and Henshizo deadpanned hard as Bakugo walked up. ‘You have to be kidding me. Him?! Well so long as he doesn’t blow out the speakers.’ He thought crossing his arms. “I just have one thing to say. I’m going straight to the top, and using all of you as stepping stones to get there.” Bakugo said before he walked off the stage. ‘Now that’s unlike him, somewhat.’ Henshizo thought as he walked back in. “Now, let’s get the festival started with the preliminary round.” Midnight said gesturing to a video board and a spinning wheel graphic popped up. “Many dreams and desires are destroyed in this stage. Will your dream rise or fall I wonder.” She said smirking lightly and the wheel stopped on ‘Obstacle Race’.

“An obstacle race around the stadium!” Midnight shouted and the crowd roared. “Students from all classes will go around the outside of the stadium, dealing with hazards along the way, and come back in. I don’t feel like restricting the students too much, so long as you don’t leave the course you can do whatever you like!” She declared and Henshizo smirked. “Now take your places!” she shouted and the students lined up at the starting gate and the lights above it started counting down until the race started. “Begin!” Midnight shouted as the last light went out and all the students rushed forward. A huge crowd formed in the narrow entrance way making it almost impossible to progress. Henshizo got to the side and jumped up, changing his shoes to special sticky boots that allowed him to run along the wall.

“How about some commentary mummy man?” Present Mic asked Aizawa who was in the booth. “It seems one of your students already breaking away from the pack.” Mic said as they watched Henshizo run along the wall. A chill filled the tunnel and Henshizo was able to dodge a Todoroki ice attack by jumping and using his hands to cartwheel on students and he landed on the ice and changed the boots to mountain climbing boots that had spikes on the bottom. “And just like that Shouto Todoroki has frozen most of the competition.” Present mic yelled out as Henshizo, Bakugo, Momo, Aaoyama, and Tokoyami gave chase. ‘I can’t use my jet boots on the ice, I’d have no control.’ Henshizo thought bitterly as he continued to run to the best of his ability along the ice. They raced along, Henshizo getting closer and suddenly they were stopped by a bunch of the robots from the entrance exam.

“And just like that the students have run into the first obstacle of the race. A robo-inferno!” Mic shouted and Henshizo reached into his pocket and pulled out a soda tab and began changing it. Todoroki launched a huge ice attack, freezing the bots and he began running under, but Henshizo stayed back as the frozen bots fell down. More bots came up and Henshizo ran forward, raising a grenade launcher up and he blew a robot up enough that he was able to dash past it and he changed the grenade launcher to a flashbang and tossed it behind him as more of the class got past the robots. “Your class showing no hesitation, how are they doing it?” Mic asked Aizawa as Henshizo made his jet boots and began running ahead.

“They’ve learned to act, it’s only something that comes with experience.” Aizawa said as he had to slow down and stop as he got to the next obstacle, Todorki and others going along wires between the edge and several tall pillars. Henshizo changed back to his regular shoes and began cartwheeling along a wire, going faster than most of the others. ‘Who would have thought Sesshada had moves like that.’ Midoriya thought as he began to go along a wire. “And now we’re at the last obstacle, watch where you step, it’s a mine field. Oh, and don’t worry folks, the mines a mostly for show, just powerful enough to make you wet yourself!” Mic shouted and Henshizo ran ahead. ‘Damn it, I have to go slow.’ He said seeing Todoroki go slowly through and Bakugo began blasting towards him. Henshizo smirked and reached down and picked up a rock and began changing it into a jetpack and put it on and he flew over the field, albeit not that fast. ‘Wish I could get a faster model, but it beats watching my step.’ Henshizo thought as he watched Bakugo and Todoroki fight.

Suddenly a huge explosion occurred behind him and he looked back and saw Midoriya flying above him using a bit of a robot like a sled and he sailed past Todoroki and Bakugo. Todoroki putting down a path of ice that Henshizo landed on and began running again using the jetpack for extra propulsion. Midoriya slammed the robot bit down causing another explosion which knocked Bakugo, Todoroki, and Henshizo off kilter and the four began running towards the stadium. “Your class is insane Eraserhead. How’d you get them like this?” Present Mic asked him. “I didn’t teach them anything, they’re being driven by their own passion and strength.” Aizawa said and at home Henshizo’s foster family was going crazy cheering him on. Henshizo tried to change his shoes, but Bakugo’s blasts kept interrupting the change and they ran into the tunnel.

“And in first place, it’s Izuku Midoriya!” Present Mic shouted as Midoriya came back in first, followed by Todoroki, Bakugo and Henshizo. ‘Damn, I was so close.’ Henshizo thought panting as the other students came running in behind them. The scoreboard counted the first forty-two students, ending with Aaoyama. “Only the first forty-two students move on to the second round, but don’t worry everyone, we still got plenty of side games.” Midnight said and the losers walked off. “And just like that we’re on to the next round.” Midnight declared and the video board began spinning the wheel again. “Will your wildest fantasies come true? What could it be? The waiting is torturous.” Midnight said as the wheel continued to spin and it stopped on calvary battle. ‘A team game? Great.’ Henshizo thought bitterly as people began to mutter.

“Let me explain. Players will make teams of two to four people, similar to a playground game but with one big difference.” Midnight said smirking at them. “Each player has been assigned a point value based on the position they finished the race in. Those points will be combined for each team. The points start at five and go up by increments of five. Five points for forty-second, ten for forty-first, and so on. And the student in first place is worth ten million points.” Midnight’s voice rang through the stadium and Henshizo turned to Midoriya and grinned wickedly. ‘Price of being at the top. I’m taking that.’ Henshizo thought as everyone had the same thought and Midoriya went pale. “A chance for those at the bottom to overtake those at the top.” Midnight said grinning.

“Each team will be assigned a head band with the teams’ total point value. To score more you have to take another team’s head band. Stolen headbands have to be worn neck up. Don’t worry if you lose your headband or take a fall. You’ll be able to stay in the game until time expires. Although you’ll still have to follow rules, make a team fall on purpose and you are disqualified!” She declared and both Bakugo and Henshizo went “tsk.” “You can use your quirks in any other way though.” Midnight said as a fifteen-minuet timer appeared on the board behind her. “You have fifteen-minuets to form your teams and come up with a plan. Good luck.” She said and the timer began to count down.

People began forming teams and Henshizo sighed as he hated it, of people he wanted to team with he could count them on one hand. He looked around and saw Ojiro with the purple haired boy as well as two guys from 1-b, they all seemed unfocused but Henshizo could tell a team was formed. That was when he felt a poke at his arm and he glanced down and Yanagi was there. “Perhaps we should team up. I fear I am unable to communicate with many others.” She said quietly. “Honestly, I was hoping to team up with you. Our quirks can work well with each other.” Henshizo said nodding and she gave a very brief smile up. Henshizo looked around. “It seems people are set in their teams so it’s just the two of us.” Henshizo said sighing. “I concur, so we should strategize.” She said and he nodded. “Easy thing first, you’re the rider.” He said and she nodded.

“I am the lighter person and you’re the more physically gifted one of the two of us.” She said and he nodded. “I can make objects to defend us and use as offense, then you can control them.” He said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bunch of candy wrappers and paper clips. She nodded and he pocketed them again. “Midoriya is the big target, but it won’t just be the top team that advances. So, we should try to get as many points as possible.” Henshizo said and again she nodded. The continued to strategize and after time expired Cementoss came around giving the teams their headbands and Henshizo knelt down and she got on to his back with their head band, of 280 points, on her head. The large video boards around the arena showed them at ‘Team Yanagi’ and he saw all the point totals. The two got ready, and knew he’d never hear the end of teaming up with a girl from his foster siblings or Sanae for that matter. “Look at Henshizo, being so chivalrous to that girl.” Goji said chuckling as the camera cut to the two of them.

“All teams have been formed! Let’s start the countdown!” Present Mic shouted and the crowd roared. “Three!” Henshizo held a candy wrapper in either hand and he got ready. “Two!” Reiko held tightly as she got ready. “One!” ‘I can’t let her/him down.’ They thought at the same time. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Henshizo began running forward.

Notes:

Yep, another somewhat awkward ending. But the calvary battle is next chapter.

Chapter 10: Calvary Battle

Summary:

Calvary battle time, who does Henshizo team up with to try to advance in the sports festival? Will he be able to work with others and advance or will he come up short?

Henshizo changed the candy wrappers to shields and Reiko then floated them so that they were constantly orbiting them. “With thirty minuets there’s no point in wasting energy right now. For now, defense.” Henshizo said seeing most of the groups go after Midoriya’s team. He watched as Mirodoriya flew up using a jetpack. ‘Note to self, touch that.’ He thought as he easily dashed out of the range of the purple hair boy’s team. “You must consider yourself lucky, to be in such a prestigious course, don’t you?” the purple haired boy said and Henshizo got Reiko out of Ojiro’s tail range. ‘I wish I was lucky.’ Henshizo thought bitterly and he looked over and saw Todoroki throw a blanket over him. “Yanagi, shield under my feet now and float us high.” Henshizo said and she did that and they were able to dodge Kaminari’s electric attack, Henshizo changing his shoes to non-conductive boots to be safe. They watched as Todoroki froze some of the other teams in place.

“Astute observation and reflexes.” Reiko said calmly as she set them back down on a non-ice-covered part of the arena. “Todoroki with a nice move to take out the competition. Team Yanagi with the sweet moves to escape it. This is amazing stuff!” Present Mic called out and the crowd roared. “Let’s get some of these easy points up for grabs.” Henshizo said and Reiko nodded and used her quirk to get a candy wrapper to him. He changed it to a hook and she used that to take team Rin’s and team Tsunotori’s head bands to give them an additional 195 points, giving them 470 points, placing them fifth. The dashed over and used a shield to protect themselves from some guy from 1-b’s glue quirk and used the hook to take Team Kodai’s headband worth 130 giving them an even 600. They continued running around unable to grab any additional headbands, while playing cat and mouse with team Monoma from class B and avoiding team Bakugo.

“And with just ten minuets left it’s team Midoriya still in first, but team Todoroki has him trapped.” Present mic said and Henshizo looked around. “Damn, no easy pickings left.” He said as all the bands were on non-frozen teams. “Yes, and we need more points.” Reiko said as they were sitting in fifth place. Henshizo ran toward team Monoma and their three head bands, but stopped seeing team Bakugo prepare an attack. “Let’s see.” He muttered as he ran away from Bakugo’s blasts and had to dodge a tape attack from Sero and he landed one foot in the glue from the 1-b student.

“Fuck!” He cried out unable to pull himself free. He got pissed and cut his losses and changed his shoe into a bit of cardboard and began running again with one shoe. “We have to go. Where are the points.” He said desperately and saw a large ball of vines that he recognized as the quirk of a girl from 1-b. “Living thing, I can’t do anything.” He muttered angrily and looked to the ice wall. “Yanagi float us up and over!” Henshizo cried out and she began doing so, but couldn’t focus all her energy on it as she had to fend attacks off from Sero’s tape and Bakugo began blasting up and over.

The duo got over the wall and Henshizo glanced at the scoreboard. “Aim for Todoroki!” he shouted and she nodded and began flying them towards Todoroki as Bakugo blasted over and started making his way towards Todoroki too. “Icy-hot!” he shouted as Team Midoriya also went for Todorki. Just as they all got close a horn sounded. “Time is up!” Present Mic shouted and Reiko landed them roughly on the ground and he set her down.

Pulling a candy wrapper out of his pocket he made another shoe and slipped it on before staring at the ground, fists shaking. Bakugo was on the ground pounding his fist into the ground as his team ran up to him. “And now let’s see who the top four teams are. In first place, team Todoroki!” Present Mic said and the crowd cheered loudly. “In second place team Bakugo!” and Bakugo let out an angry yell. “In third place team shio- team Shinso?! There’s a surprise.” Present Mic said “And the last team, Team Midoriya!” Present mic shouted and Henshizo looked at the scoreboard and saw that only forty-five points had separated them. “Damnit.” He muttered angrily.

“Now let’s take an hour lunch break before the final round of the tournament!” Present Mic called out and Reiko walked up to him. “I apologize. We couldn’t advance due to my mistakes.” She said sadly and he shook his head. “It’s my fault, should’ve been more aggressive.” He said clenching and unclenching his hand. She placed a hand on his back. “We gave it our best, and it was observed by everyone.” She said and he calmed down just a bit. “Hopefully.” He muttered and he walked off to grab lunch.

“Henshizo was so close, three more seconds and they would’ve gotten a headband.” Hinata said sadly. “Yea, the two did great for a two-person team.” Goji said sadly. “Yea, I kinda don’t want to watch the rest.” Daiki said crossing his arms. “You can do something else. I still want to watch, his classmates are fun to watch and I’m sure he would want you to watch.” Sanae said gently and they nodded. “But it is lunch time, so I’ll make some sandwiches.” Sanae said standing up and they ran to the kitchen. Henshizo had grabbed his food, a pork ramen bowl and made his way to a quiet part of the stadium. He also took a candy wrapper out and changed it into what looked like a bottle of lotion and he put some on his hands and let out a sigh as his skin began to itch briefly.

“Hey Sesshada.” Ojiro said walking up to him looking confused and upset. “Hey Ojiro, congrats.” Henshizo muttered playing with his noodles. “I guess. What’s the lotion?” Ojiro asked curiously. “It’s a special kind, made exclusively for me to help with my quirk.” Henshizo said slurping some noodles. “Oh, that nice. Can I ask for advice?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo lightly nodded. “When you feel used and feel like you don’t deserve something you’ve been given. What do you do?” He asked and Henshizo was horribly confused as to why he was asking this. “Hmm, honestly I wouldn’t want anything to do with it. If I felt like I was used and given something I wouldn’t want any reminder of it.” He said tilting his head in a thinking way and Ojiro nodded. “That’s what I’ve been thinking. Thanks man.” He said and walked off and Henshizo shrugged in confusion as to why he was asking.

Henshizo finished his lunch and walked back in to the arena. He walked to a tunnel entrance and walked past Todoroki who was talking back to Midoriya. “I will defeat you only with my right side.” He said looking back at Midoriya, and Henshizo walked past him and Midoriya and back in to the tunnel, passing Bakugo and they ignored each other. Henshizo and the other non-finalists walked back in to the arena. “We’re close to the last round, but don’t worry students. This is a sports festival so we have some mini games for you.” Present Mic announced and while some played scavenger hunt and other side games, Henshizo was angrily watching them. Eventually the side games were over and all the students gathered together again.

“Now that the side games are done, let’s move on to the final round!” Presnet mic shouted and Midnight was on her platform. “The sixteen participants from the top four teams will compete in one-on-one fights to crown the winner of the sports festival!” Present Mic announced and a bracket appeared on the video boards. Midnight pulled out a box from behind her back. “The ways to advance are to knock your opponent out of the fighting area, knocking out or incapacitating your opponent, or having them give up. You will draw lots to determine who you’re facing. I sure hope you have enough stamina to last.” She said smirking. “I’ll start with the winning team.” She said starting to walk off but Ojiro raised his hand. “Um, I’m sorry, but I wish to withdraw.” He said and Henshizo snapped his head at him. “Ojiro why?” Midoriya asked confused. “It just wouldn’t be right; I don’t remember anything from the last round except the last moments. I don’t feel like I’ve earned this chance.” He said and a short boy raised his hand too. “Nirengeki Shoda from class B, I also wish to withdraw for the same reasons.” He said and more gasps went up.

“This is unexpected.” Present mic said in a confused tone. “It’s Midnight’s call, she’s the referee.” Aizawa said. The students waited to see what Midnight would say. “This kind of talk is incredibly noble and it turns me on. Ojiro, Shoda you’re out!” She declared ‘Did she say it turned her on?’ all the students thought. “I’m only staying in to represent class B. a boy said and Henshizo recognized him as Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu “Hmm, we need to move two students up from the fifth-place team and Henshizo raised his hand, his calm face not giving away that he couldn’t believe what was happening. “Yanagi and I were in fifth place as a duo.” He said and Midnight smiled. “Then it’s decided. Yanagi and Sesshada have advanced to the finals.” Midnight said and the crowd cheered but some voices from the crowd could be heard.

“Sesshada? Like that yakuza guy? No way. Sesshada, UA wouldn’t let the son of a guy like that in.” People in the stands said as the students drew lots. “And now here is how the bracket boys and girls.” Midnight said and the first round was revealed. Midoriya vs Shinso, Sero vs Todoroki, Kaminari vs Henshizo, Iida vs Hatsume, Ashido vs Yanagi, Tokoyami vs Yaoyorozu, Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu, and Bakugo vs Uaraka. ‘Kaminari huh? Well, I can change my clothes to make myself shock resistant.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “At this time all students can go up to their class’s designated sitting area or the waiting rooms.” Midnight said and they began to file off. “Time for payback for heroics training Sesshada.” Kaminari said grinning.

Henshizo ignored him and went up to the box they were put in. “Go Henshizo you can do it!” his foster family shouted at the TV as his photo came up for a versus graphic. “I didn’t use my quirk.” Honoka said happily. “This is where he can excel, he’s going to kick ass.” Goji said grinning. “Language, but I hope he does well.” Sanae said smiling. Henshizo sat down between Ojiro and Yanagi. “I hope Midoriya beats him.” Ojiro said clenching his fists as Cementoss was introduced as an umpire for the finals as well as Midnight. “His quirk the reason why?” Henshizo asked and Ojiro nodded. “I went to middle school with him.” Henshizo said suddenly remembering him. “Really?” Ojiro said surprised. “Yea, I wasn’t paying much attention to things at the time so it slipped my mind. His quirk… how is he not in the hero course?” Henshizo muttered and Reiko was confused. “What is his quirk?” She asked and he looked at her with a serious face. “Brainwashing, you respond to a question of his.” He snapped his fingers. “He controls you.” He said.

“And now let’s get the finals started!” Present Mic shouted and the versus graphic for Midoriya vs Shinso popped up. “Oh wow, he looks nervous in that picture. From the hero course, it’s Izuku Midoriya!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd roared. “Versus Hitoshi Shinso from general studies, who could’ve seen this coming?” and the crowd roared again. “Brain versus brawn, a classic matchup.” Henshizo muttered. “Ready? Begin!” Present Mic yelled.

Chapter 11: First Round Fights

Summary:

On to the finals of the sports festival, where Henshizo has been given a second chance and now has the stage to show off. Will he be able to take advantage of the chance given or will he squander the opportunity?

“Begin!” Present Mic shouted and they watched intently. Midoriya ran forward and Henshizo watched the video board and saw Midoriya open his mouth and he suddenly stopped running and stood there with an out of focus look on his face. “Gah! I told him not to talk to him.” Ojiro said standing up, putting his hands on his head. “Game over.” Henshizo muttered as they watched Midoriya turn around and slowly start walking to the edge of the arena. “What?! Midoriya is obeying Shinso! What is this crazy power?” Present mic called out. “Deku no!” Uaraka said standing up. “He steps out and it’s over.” Iida said frantically. They all watched in confusion and despair seeing the end. Right as Midoriya got the edge of the play area a huge gust of wind kicked up and Midoriya stopped barely in bounds, but in bounds nonetheless.

“Izuku Midoriya has stopped himself! What a twist!” Present Mic shouted and Henshizo noted that Midoriya’s index and middle fingers were broken. “Oh my. I nearly had a heart attack there.” Ojiro said relieved, clutching his chest. “Go Deku!” Uaraka cheered and the crowd roared. “That’s Midoriya for ya, pulling something out at the last moment.” Iida said. Henshizo watched as he could tell Shinso was yelling at him but Midoriya covered his mouth. ‘I didn’t think it was possible to break his brainwashing like that. Just how powerful is Midoriya?’ Henshizho thought to himself crossing his arms. He watched as Midoriya started running at Shinso and Shinso kept yelling at Midoriya and Midoriya tackled into him and began pushing Shinso out of bounds, Shinso punched him in the face but Midoriya ate the punch. “Come on Midoriya, finish him!” Ojiro shouted and Shinso punched Midoriya’s bad hand and turned the tide of the pushing match and got Midoriya close to the edge.

At the last moment Midoriya grabbed Shinso’s arm and performed the same hip toss that he had delivered to Bakugo during the first heroics class and Shinso’s feet landed out of bounds. “Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya wins!” Midnight declared. “Gah that was close.” Uaraka said sitting back down. “With that expertly delivered throw our first victor of the finals is Izuku Midoriya! Admittedly a bit tame of a match kids, but I’m sure we got much more exciting action to come!” Present mic exclaimed and the two opponents paid respect in the middle of the ring. “As the next particpants prepare, we’ll have the second match of the first round after this break!” Present Mic announced. ‘Oh yea, TV, I guess now they can run ads in a more traditional sense.’ Henshizo thought and he looked at Ojiro. “I take it you wanted a bit of payback by proxy.” He said and Ojiro awkwardly smiled. “Uh, yea. A bit selfish.” He said and Henshizo shrugged. “It’s fine just don’t ever get blinded by your desire for revenge. You often lose sight of things.” He said looking out around the arena.

Ojiro nodded and Henshizo stuck his hand in his pocket and changed a wrapper to a pen and and then adjusted in his seat. As the next match was close to getting started Midoriya got back to the box. “Deku come sit down.” Uaraka said and Iida pointed to a seat by them. Ojiro gave him a thumbs up and Henshizo glanced back at him, their eyes meeting before Henshizo looked back down at the arena floor as Sero and Todorki were in the field.

“Enough standing around, let’s meet our next players! He’s got some wicked skills at the expense of weird looking elbows, from the hero course Hanta Sero!” Present mic yelled. ‘That was brutally honest, wonder what he’ll say for me.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Versus, an early front runner in the competition, way too powerful for his own good. Clearly him getting in on recommendations was warranted. It’s, Shoto Todoroki!” Present mic yelled and the crowd roared.

“Over under on match time is 45 seconds.” Henshizo said bluntly and most of the box looked at him. “What do you-?” Jiro asked but was cut off by Present Mic. “Begin!” Sero quickly shot tape out and wrapped it around Todorki and began swinging him to the edge of the field. Suddenly Todoroki sent an ice barrage at Sero so powerful it shook the arena and reached out and above it.

‘What the actual fuck.’ Henshizo thought as he leaned back in his seat since the ice was so close. Todoroki broke free of the frozen tape. “Be honest Sero can you move?” Midnight, who was half frozen herself, asked. “N-no. I’m freezing.” Sero cried out. “Sero has been immobilized, Todorki wins.” Midnight declared and he walked up and began thawing Sero out. “Nice try!” The crowd cheered out for Sero. Henshizo stood up and walked out the box. “Good luck Sesshada.” Reiko said quietly but he heard her.

He worked his way down to the player waiting area and sat down in a chair and kicked his leg up on the table. After a while a knock came at his door and he got up and an ectoplasm clone was there. “The ice is thawed.” He said and Henshizo nodded and walked out through the tunnel and onto the field.

“Apologies for the wait but the ice is thawed and it’s back to the finals. In the third round it’s the boy with the electric personality. From the hero course, Denki Kaminari!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd roared. “Versus, the walking factory. Also a hero in training Henshizo Sesshada!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd was notably not cheering as much and even some boos and hisses could be heard.

“Poor Sesshada. These people are judging him by his name.” Ashido said. “It’s outrageous.” Iida said as he stood up to prepare for his match. Henshizo didn’t seem to pay attention to the crowd and put his hands into his pockets. “Begin!” Present Mic yelled. “Hope you’re ready!” Denki shouted and he charged up and Henshizo changed his shoes into the non conductive boots and pulled from his pocket the pen and changed it into the lightning rod and tossed it up into the air and Kaminari’s attack got sucked up into it and Henshizo walked dashed forward, showing surprising speed.

“What a counter from Sesshada!” Mic shouted as Kaminari’s brain fried, leaving him defenseless, and Henshizo delivered a running spinning back elbow between the eyes, knocking Kaminari out instantly as he crumpled to the ground. “Kaminari is knocked out! Sesshada advances!” Midnight declared and the crowd again cheered and booed as Henshizo walked off the field.

“Let’s go Henshizo!” Goji shouted as they were all jumping up and down for him as the winner graphic flashed up on the tv. Henshizo made his way back to the box and Ojiro was giving him a thumbs up. “Nice one man, though did you have to use such a brutal move?” Kirishima asked and Henshizo shrugged. “I could’ve ended it dozens of others ways, I went for speed and least amount of energy wasted.” He said calmly and sat back down.

“After that devastating knockout let’s move on to the fourth match!” Present mic yelled and the crowd roared. “He’s the kid with engines in his legs, the class A representative, Tenya Iida!” Present Mic announced and the crowd roared very loudly. “Versus, from the support course gadget dynamo, Mei Hatsume!” And the crowd cheered again. ‘Support items can turn the tide in fights, I should know with so many at my disposal, this could be trickier than people think.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Uh, what is Iida wearing?” Sato asked and Iida had a few support items on.

“Hero course students can’t use support gear unless they have to.” Midnight snapped at Iida. “Aoyama could wear his belt, I didn’t know it was a rule. And Sesshada used support items.” Iida said frantically. “Aoyama turned in the paperwork, and that’s part of Sesshada’s quirk so it’s allowed.” Midnight said and Hemshizo smirked a bit. “I apologize ma’am. It’s just that my opponent wanted to this to be as fair a fight as possible so she gave me these items. I was moved by her spirit and passion, so I agreed. That’s why to honor her, I’d like to wear this gear.” Iida said proudly. “Oh such youthful vigor!” Midnight squealed. “I’ll allow it.” Midnight said, cracking her whip like a gavel.

“Huh? Wonder why.” Present mic said. “Since both competitors are fine with it, I guess it’s allowed.” Aizawa said just as confused. “Uhh, since everyone is on the same page, the fourth match shall, begin!” Present Mic shouted and Iida began running at Hatsume. “Bet you love how fast that gear makes you, huh Iida?” Mei said into a mic that filled the arena. “Oh you have to be kidding me.” Henshizo muttered. “I made those legs to help the users speed and mobility!” Mei sand and as Iida got close a pole shot from her backpack thing and got her out of the way and tripped him.

“Fascinating.” Henshizo said and he watched intently as Hatsume used Iida to sell her inventions and self to support companies. ‘Note to self, stop by the support course studio.’ Henshizo thought. When she was done she calmly stepped out of the ring. “I’ve shown everything I want to.” She said happily. “Uh, Hatsume is out of bounds, Iida advances.” Midnight declared. “I can’t believe I let you trick me!” He shouted. Henshizo got up and left the box and worked his way down stairs, Reiko following him.

“Good luck in your match Yanagi.” He said smiling at her as he walked around and looked around a lot. “Thank you. Congratulations on advancing. I aspire to do the same.” She said and went towards the entrance tunnel and Henshizo saw Hatsume down a separate hall packing her gear up. “Hatsume!” He called out and walked up to her and she turned to him.

“That’s my name. Do I know you?” She asked and he shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Say, I really loved your babies.” He said and she leaned in. “Thank you!” She said excitedly as she pulled her gadgets back out. “These are all the ones I could show off with certainty.” She said and he pointed to the net gun. “How do you load that?” He asked inconspicuously. “Like this!” She said, and she pulled a magazine out and put a new one in that was fully loaded and she loaded it. “Fascinating. Both simple and amazing.” He said taking it for a moment to admire it. “Thank ya! Now if you excuse me.” She yanked it out of his hand. “I have to go see if support companies want an up-close look at them.” She said and walked off carrying the box.

“No, thank you.” He muttered smirking and he walked to a tunnel entrance to watch the next match. “Let’s get right into the fifth match now!” Present mic yelled and the crowd cheered. “Let’s see if she can scare up a victory. It’s Reiko Yanagi from the hero course!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd cheered and Henshizo found himself clapping for her. “Versus, is there a point to the things sticking out of her head? Also in the hero course, Mina Ashido!” Mic introduced her. ‘This will be an interesting matchup, Mina may have the range advantage.’ Henshizo thought.

“Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Mina began skating around the ring as Reiko pulled a bunch of rocks, bolts, and small objects from her pockets and began flying them around, attacking Mina. Mina did her best to either dodge the objects or melt them with her acid, while Reiko was calmly walking forward. “Check out Yanagi with the all direction attack!” Present Mic shouted but Henshizo was getting worried for her as Mina melted more and more of her objects. When most of the objects were melted Mina began sliding towards Reiko. “Now for my finishing move.” Mina said getting ready to deliver a move. “An upperc- woah!” She shouted as she went for an uppercut and Reiko showed good reflexes ducking down and reaching out and suddenly Mina was floating upside down and Reiko calmly stood up and began floating Mina to the out of bounds. “Woah! Yanagi with the sweet move and now Ashido is caught in her quirk.” Present mic shouted and Henshizo smirked as Mina tried desperately to free herself, but Reiko dumped her outside, rotating her enough so she didn’t land on her head. “Ashido is out of bounds, Yanagi moves on to the next round!” Midnight declared and the crowd roared.

“Yes.” Henshizo muttered to himself, pumping his fist. “And with that win, the second chance team have both moved on to the quarter finals, truly making use of it! And what good sportsmanship!” Present mic shouted as Reiko walked off the field after helping Mina up. She walked to the tunnel Henshizo was standing in and he gave a light smile to her. “Congrats.” He said lightly and she nodded. “I was almost too slow with the counter, however I succeeded.” She said in her usual monotone voice but Henshizo picked up on the happiness in it. They walked back up to the box and sat down. “Where’d you go? Yanagi had her match but what about you?” Ojiro asked him.

“Wanted to stretch my legs.” He said simply as the video board flashed up the graphic for the next fight. “Alright folks let’s get ready for the sixth match of the first round!” Present Mic shouted as Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu walked on to the field. “The dark samurai and his darker shadow, specializing in both offense and defense. It’s Fumikage Tokoyami!” Present Mic shouted and the crowd roared. “Versus, the great creator. She got in to UA based off of recommendations and it’s clear to see why. Also from the hero course, Momo Yaoyorozu!” Present Mic shouted to more cheers.

“So Midoriya, how do you think this will go?” Ojiro asked leaning forward as Henshizo glanced down and saw him writing in his journal. “Timing, if Yaoyorozu can make things fast enough, she stands a chance.” Midoriya replied. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Tokoyami immediately sent out dark shadow and Yaoyorozu seemed surprised and quickly made a shield on her arm and held it up to block the attack, getting pushed back some from the hit. Dark shadow came back around for a second attack and she held up the shield again and got pushed back some from the force and it knocked the shield from her arm. She made a second one and got hit a third time on the shield and pushed back more. Momo braced herself but no attack came and she made a metal pole. “Yaoyorozu. You’re out! Tokoyami advances!” Midnight said and Momo looked down and saw that one of her feet was out of bounds.

“What an overwhelming victory for Tokoyami! Dark Shadow may be the best quirk ever.” Present Mic and Henshizo looked at Momo who seemed to be on the verge of tears as she walked off. “She never stood a chance, Tokoyami’s just too strong.” Midoriya said and Reiko shifted in her seat as now she’d be facing Tokoyami in the second round. Henshizo leaned over to her. “You’re strong too.” He whispered into her ear and she nodded and settled down. “You have pages on everyone don’t you Midoriya?” Henshizo asked and Midoriya gave a start in his seat. “Um, yea. It’s just something I’ve always done.” Midoriya said turning to Henshizo’s page and showing him. Henshizo glanced it over and looked at him. “Very incomplete.” He said smirking as he leaned back in his seat as the flames at the edge of the fighting area roared up.

“And now let’s have the seventh round. First, we have a passionate, manly fighter made of steel. From class 1-B, it’s Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd roared. ‘Really? Same names?’ Henshizo thought dead panned. “Versus; a passionate manly fighter made of rock. From 1-A Ejiro Kirishima!” Present Mic announced and the dead pan face of Henshizo became even more dead panned. ‘Not exactly creative.’ He thought as the fight began and the two hard heads began exchanging blows. Henshizo stood up and stretched. “This is probably going to take a while.” Henshizo said as he settled in and closed his eyes. “Yea, I’m going to head down and check on Uraraka.” Midoriya said standing up and leaving. ‘Oh yeah, she faces Bakugo, that’s the most lopsided first round match up.’ Henshizo thought as he listened to the yells of Kirishima and Tetsutetsu fighting back and forth.

Eventually the two delivered simultaneous knockout punches and Midnight walked up. “Both competitors are knocked out. It’s a tie!” She declared as Henshizo opened his eyes and stretched. “Once both competitors have recovered, the tie will be broken with arm wrestling!” She declared as the two boys were taken off by medical bots. Midoriya and Iida came back in to the box as Uraraka and Bakugo walked out. “And now ladies and gentlemen let’s gear up for the final first round matchup!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd cheered. “This matchup is so disturbing.” Asui said. “I don’t know if I want to watch.” Jiro said rubbing her arm.

“So what was the plan you had for Uraraka?” Iida asked Midoriya. “It wasn’t much honestly. Kachan is highly skilled and his quirk allows great power and some range. But all it takes is one opening and she can get him to float and then float him out of bounds.” He said as the fighters took the stage. “He was kind of a big deal in middle school, and has been a front runner this whole festival. From the hero course, Katsuki Bakugo!” The crowd cheered and Bakugo had a determined face on. “Versus, the girl I’m personally rooting for. Also from the hero course, it’s Ochako Uraraka!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd cheered. “You’re supposed to be unbiased.” Aizawa said to Mic. “I am, and now the last match will begin!” Present Mic shouted and Uraraka began running towards Bakugo while sticking low to the ground.

Bakugo blew her back with an explosion that sent up a bunch of smoke. “No mercy from him.” Jiro said covering her eyes. “Expected, but it’s not a bad thing.” Henshizo said shrugging. “What do you mean?!” Jiro said a bit upset. “Two things, for Uraraka villains won’t hold back just because she’s a girl. For Bakugo, you never underestimate anyone regardless of gender. Trust me, there are some vicious women villains.” He said shrugging and the class looked back at the field. As Bakugo blasted what he thought was Uraraka but it was just her jacket and she appeared behind him. “Woah! A distraction from Uraraka, using her jacket!” Present Mic shouted and she got close to his back, but with insane reflexes he delivered a turnaround hook and blew her back with another explosion, tearing the ring up, sending debris flying and Henshizo glanced up and smirked. Uraraka kept rushing at him, only to constantly meet explosions and getting knocked back.

“Just end this match!” Someone shouted from the stands and the crowd began booing Bakugo. “The crowd is booing Bakugo! Honestly I kind of agr-” Present Mic said but was cut off but the sound of a thud. “Ow! What was that for?” Mic shouted as Aizawa took the mic. “Who started this chant? Are you a pro? If so, get out, go home, and hang your boots up.” Aizawa said firmly. “Huh? What is he talking about?” Midoriya muttered. “Bakugo’s not holding back because he recognizes his opponent’s strength and knows that she deserves to have made it this far. His fierceness is an acknowledgement of her power.” Aizawa said and Henshizo chuckled. “Bakugo has been forced to focus on Uraraka so he gets a pass. But any pro worth a shit should have seen what was happening.” He said looking up and a huge amount of debris was floating above the stage.

Uraraka released them and the rocks started falling down and she ran towards Bakugo, who straightened his one arm out and raised it up. “A meteor shower!” Present Mic shouted Uraraka lunged towards and was a couple of inches away from touching Bakugo when he unleashed a huge explosion, that was so powerful the wind from the blast blew the classe’s hair, blowing apart the rocks and sending bits of the rocks out of the arena. Uraraka got blown back hard and hit the ground rolling back. “What a blast.” Sero muttered and Henshizo narrowed his eyes, seeing Bakugo’s hand unusually tense and stiff. ‘He hit a limit.’ Henshizo thought as Uraraka looked on in despair from the ground as her attack had been blown away.

She shakily stood up and took a step towards Bakugo but her body gave out and she fell to the ground, Bakugo stopped himself seeing this and Uraraka tried to crawl a bit towards him and Midnight walked out between them to check on Uraraka and she lowered her head. “Uraraka has been knocked out. Bakugo advances to the next round!” Midnight declared and the crowd cheered tepidly. “Poor Uraraka.” Iida said sadly. “Bakugo’s just too powerful.” Ojiro said. Midroiya left the box since his match with Todoroki was next. Kirishma and Tetsutetsu came out and Cementoss made a small table and two stools from cement and the two began arm wrestling.

After a while Kirishima got the win, thanks to Tetsutetsu’s metal giving out. “And with that win our quarter finals are set! Let’s take a look at the bracket!” Present Mic shouted and the video board showed the updated bracket and quarter final matchups. Midoriya vs Todoroki, Sesshada vs Iida, Yanagi vs Tokoyami, and Kirishima vs Bakugo. “Those matchups are bound to give us some intense fights and exhilarating moments. I can’t wait to see them, so hurry up Cementoss!” Present Mic shouted and Cementoss shot a glare up at the booth while he was fixing the ring. When he was done, he went back to his ring side seat.

“Oh good, the match hasn’t started yet.” Uraraka said as she came back in to the box her eyes puffy and red. “You need to see recovery girl.” Iida said worried, but she sat down. “I’m fine this is from something else.” She said watching as Midoriya and Todoroki walked out into the arena. “Ah, I would be frustrated too.” Iida said. “One can’t wallow in despair, use this fight for inspiration.” Tokoyami said and the two nodded. ‘Assuming I get past Iida I face the winner of this fight.’ Henshizo thought.

The flames roared up. “I can feel the anticipation in the stadium! Because the first fight of the second round is bound to be epic!” Present Mic shouted as the crowd cheered. “It’s the boy who won his first-round match in a landslide and literally left half the audience frozen. From the hero course, it’s Shoto Todoroki!” Present Mic said as Todoroki walked onto the stage. “And this kid almost walked out in the first round, but came back with some impressive moves. Also from the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!” The crowd cheered as the two stared at each other intensely.

“How do you think this match will go Tokoyami?” Iida asked as Henshizo leaned forward intently. “If Midoriya gets in close he has a chance.” Tokoyami said coolly “And that’s the problem, how can Deku dodge the ice?” Uraraka said and Henshizo saw Endeavor, Todoroki’s father, watching intently from the stands. “Both of these heroes in training have been front runners this entire tournament, but only one can advance to the semi-final round! Prepare for Midoriya vs Todoroki!” Present Mic shouted as the two got into fighting stances. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted to start the second round and the fight.

Notes:

Yes, this was a long one. But I just didn't see the point in breaking up the fights into different chapters and I wanted to have Henshizo's commentary on them all.

Chapter 12: Quarter Finals

Summary:

Henshizo has moved on, but now faces Iida in a much bigger challenge. Will he beat Iida or will Iida speed past him? How does Henshizo react to the other quarter final match ups?

“Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Todoroki immediately sent ice at Midoriya who flicked his fingers and a shockwave was sent around the stadium, with a cold chill thanks to the ice, as the ice attack broke apart. “Midoriya stopped the ice attack!” Present Mic shouted and Henshizo tilted his head as he saw Midoriya’s finger once again appeared broken. Todoroki sent another ice wave at Midoriya and Midoriya once again smashed it away, at the price of another finger. ‘He can’t stop hurting himself with his quirk.’ Henshizo thought to himself and Todoroki sent a third ice wave at him and Midoriya stopped it at the price of his ring finger.

The sound of running footsteps came from behind them. “Crap I’m missing it.” Kirishima said. “Congrats on making it to the second round Kirishima.” Kaminari said smiling at him. “Thanks man, I get to take Bakugo down next.” Kirishima said grinning. “I’ll murder you.” Bakugo said flatly back and Henshizo’s head twitched just a bit hearing that. “Yea right, you wish. But it’s crazy how you and Todoroki have moves that shake the whole stadium. Must be nice.” Kirishima said putting a hand on his hip. “And you don’t have to pause between attacks.” Sero said annoyed. “It’s not that easy. Overuse your muscles, you tear ‘em. Sprint to much, out of breath. Quirks are physical abilities too, and they can get worn out too.” Bakugo said and Henshizo glanced his way.

‘You’re not the moronic hothead you display yourself as. Eh Bakugo?’ He thought as Todoroki finished getting the ice chunk pile off of him and then sent a fourth wave of ice at Midoirya who smashed it away, so now all the fingers on his right hand were broken. ‘He’ll sacrifice his body so willingly, I can relate.’ Henshizo thought as Todoroki began rushing at Midoriya on a column of ice and Midoriya smashed it away with his index finger on his left hand, but Todoroki leapt from it and tried to land on Midoriya who leapt backwards and Todoroki sent ice after him in mid-air from the ground. It snagged Midoriya’s ankle and Midoriya panicked and smashed the ice attack with a much stronger attack sending a massive wind gust to half the stadium and sending Todoroki clear across the ring.

‘His arm. It’s broken, both hands are fucked.’ Henshizo thought seeing the discoloration and messed up arm of Midoriya. Todoroki slowly got out of the ice rubble again and after a bit of talking, that Henshizo couldn’t hear from up in the box, Todoroki launched another ice wave at Midoriya. ‘Well that’s game.’ Henshizo thought, putting his hands on his knees to stand up, but a huge shockwave occurred sending Todoroki sliding all the way back and stopping himself with ice just in time. ‘He used a broken finger?! The fuck Midoriya?’ Henshizo thought seeing the right index finger even more mangled. Midoriya began talking, somehow making a fist with his extra screwed up hand, and the end of his sentence could be heard around the stadium. “Come at me with everything you got!”

Henshizo could tell Todoroki was getting pissed and he started running at Midoriya, but Henshizo noticed how he seemed to be running slower. ‘He’s getting close to a limit. The cold has to be slowing him up.’ He thought watching as Todoroki leapt towards Midoriya. As soon as he did Midoriya lunged towards him and managed to land a gut punch sending Todoroki flying back, but not before Todoroki covered his left arm in ice.

“Midoriya with the punch to Todoroki! That’s the action I like to see.” Present Mic shouted and now all of Midoriya’s fingers were extra broken on his right hand. Todoroki stood up and sent an ice attack at him, but it was slower, so Midoriya could dodge it and the two ran at each other, dodging attacks before Midoriya used his finger again to launch a wind attack, sending both of them flying. ‘He’s so messed up he may not make it to the next round if he can pull this off.’ Henshizo thought to himself as Midoriya continued to fight. The two brawling in the middle, dodging each other’s attacks.

Todoroki once again sent ice at Midoriya and out of desperation Midoriya stuck his thumb into his mouth a bit and smashed the ice away and sending Todoroki back a bit, slamming into an ice wall he made. ‘How is Midoriya still going?’ Henshizo thought as Midoriya still ran at Todoroki and said something and Todoroki froze up, allowing Midoriya to land a lunging headbutt right into his sternum. Todoroki stood up and the two again engaged in conversation and Midoriya got into Todoroki’s head again allowing him to land a punch to the chest sending him back several feet in the air. Todoroki got to a knee and was struggling to stand, and Midoriya got visibly frustrated. “It’s yours! Your quirk not his!” He shouted at Todoroki and it reverberated around the stadium.

A look of realization came across his face and everyone watched as suddenly a huge tornado of flames engulfed him. “He’s using his fire!” Uraraka shouted and Henshizo could feel the heat in the box as he watched as he could see the frost melt off his body. “Yes Shoto!” Endeavor shouted drawing everyone’s attention. “Have you finally accepted your purpose? Good. This is the dawn of a new era for us! With my blood in your veins, you will surpass me. You will live up to the reason I created you!” He shouted and Henshizo grew stiff and angry hearing that. ‘Don’t forget Henshizo, I made you to take over for me and rule the underworld.’ Dokuon’s voice echoed in his head.

He watched as the two began to seemingly charge up attacks, the wind around the field swirling. Cementoss slammed his hands on the ground and Midnight ripped the sleeve of her costume as the two tried to stop the match. A tidal wave of ice went towards Midoriya who lunged over it and was zooming towards Todoroki who flared his left side and raised his left hand as Midoriya cocked his good arm back for a punch, but before their moves could land Cementoss put up five concrete walls, stopping them, but the attacks caused an explosion that sent hurricane like wind around the stadium and debris everywhere as everyone braced themselves against the wind.

The wind died down and Henshizo looked down and couldn’t see anything on the field due to smoke. “What the heck was that? What is up with your students?” Present Mic asked. “The air around the ring was cool and then rapidly heated up, causing the air to expand.” Aizawa said calmly. “That’s what caused the explosion?! I can’t see anything, is it still going on?” Present Mic asked as the smoke began to clear. Revealing Midoriya against the arena wall, out of bounds, and unconscious. “Midoriya is, out of bounds. Todoroki wins!” Midnight declared and Todoroki was standing there with half his shirt burned off.

“That was a spooky battle.” Yanagi muttered as medical bots came out for Midoriya. “It was something alright.” Henshizo muttered as he stood up, as did Iida, and the two opponents left the box and went to their separate waiting areas to wait for the ring to be repaired. Henshizo watched the replays that were playing on the tv in the waiting room of Todoroki and Midoriya’s fight. Henshizo grabbed a napkin from the snack table and began tearing it up and he put the tiny bits into his pockets and stretched a lot as he waited. Eventually there was a knock at the door and Henshizo walked over and opened it and walked past the clone to the tunnel entrance.

“Apologies for the wait folks, but after that battle the stage needed a lot of tlc. But now we’re set for the second match in the second round!” Present Mic yelled and the crowd cheered as Henshizo and Iida walked on to the stage. “He’s got the specs and will kick your butt in high gear. From the hero course, Tenya Iida!” The intro was to resounding cheers. “Versus; from second chance to second round, the cunning and ruthless, Henshizo Sesshada!” Present Mic yelled and the reaction was mixed but with even more boos now.

Henshizo had his hands in his pockets and was staring coldly at Iida. ‘He’ll want to get this over with fast, not give me time to make objects.’ Henshizo thought getting ready, as Iida took at track runner pose. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Iida took a moment and then started dashing at Henshizo super quickly. “Recipro boost!” He shouted but that moment to start it was all it took for Henshizo to change the bits of the napkin into dozens of marbles that he tossed out in front of him on to the ground, and Iida had to break his run and jump over them.

Henshizo went to grab him but Iida was still too fast and dodged him and went for a kick, which Henshizo was barely able to get his arm up to block in time, but that was all he needed. Iida’s shoe connected to Henshizo’s arm, and Henshizo was able to turn his shoe into a brick, which when he landed his foot onto the ground, crushed his toes.

“What a fantastic counter by Sesshada! Turning his defense to offense!” Present Mic shouted as Henshizo used his good arm to pull a pen out and he changed it into Hatsume’s net gun and fired it at Iida, who was hobbled due to the brick, and once again was ensnared in the net. “That’s my baby!” Hatsume shouted from somewhere in the arena. Henshizo then ran up as fast as he could and delivered a punt kick to the side of Iida’s head who went limp in the net. Midnight walked up and examined him. “Iida is knocked out. Sesshada advances!” Midnight declared and more boos rained down.

“Let’s go Henshizo!” His foster siblings cheered loudly jumping up and down even more excited as Sanae was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue because she was so happy for him. “Poor Iida.” Uraraka said sadly. “Yes.” Ojiro said quietly, pumping his fist. “Man, Sesshada is a nightmare opponent. Doesn’t matter the range, he can get you.” Sero said and Kaminari nodded, rubbing the spot between his eyes.

“A brutal kick takes down Iida, sending Sesshada on to the semi-finals, where he’ll battle Todoroki.” Present Mic said into the mic but the sound of the mic being grabbed could be heard as Henshizo walked off the field. “Booing him for his name for his father is disgusting. He is not his father; he is his own person. If you are pro, you need to look in the mirror.” Aizawa said growling in mild anger.

‘So, it’s a matchup of ‘masterpieces.’ Henshizo thought bitterly as he walked into the tunnel, not noticing that the crowd had fallen into shamed silence. “Your talent is enviable.” Reiko said walking up to him snapping him out of his thoughts. “Huh? Oh, thanks.” He said rubbing his neck lightly. “Good luck against Tokoyami.” He said lightly smiling at her. “I sincerely appreciate it.” She said nodding. They looked into each other’s faces for a moment and walked away from each other. Henshizo going up to the concourse level and he stepped out to watch the fight.

“We’re halfway through the quarter finals and our next match is sure to be a fright. He’s got darkness in him but he’s going to bring light as hero. From the hero course, Fumikage Tokoyami!” Present Mic shouted as Tokoyami stood still. “Versus; the girl who will lift up everything including spirits. Also from the hero course, Reiko Yanagi!” Present Mic shouted and Reiko had her blank face fixed on Tokoyami.

“Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Tokoyami instantly unleashed dark shadow who charged at Yanagi, who floated herself up and tried charging at Tokoyami whose eyes widened surprise. She got close to be able to take control of something of Tokoyami’s when dark shadow smacked her out of the air and she rolled to the edge of the ring but stopped herself.

“What a hit, they’re giving it their all!” Present Mic as Reiko floated her self and barley dodged dark shadow again and tried to glide beside him to get closer to Tokoyami and again got close, causing him to hop backwards, and Dark Shadow grabbed her ankle and threw her out of bounds.

“Damn.” Henshizo muttered sadly. “Yanagi is out of bounds, Tokoyami advances!” Midnight declared and Yanagi stood up and shuffled off the field. Henshizo tested the arm Iida had kicked and it was fine, so he made a bottle of his lotion and put it on his hands, and felt the itch. He stayed on the concourse level to watch the final quarter final match. “Now on to the last match in the quarter finals!” Presnet Mic yelled as Kirishima and Bakugo walked on to the field. “His explosive quirk is only matched by his heated drive and passion. From the hero course Katsuki Bakugo!” The crowd cheered as Bakugo looked at Kirishima intensely. “Versus, a boy that goes as hard as his quirk makes him. Also from the hero course, Eijiro Kirishima!” Present Mic introduced him to even louder cheers. “Begin!” He shouted and Kirishima hardened up and ran at Bakugo.

Bakugo tried blasting him but it didn’t hurt Kirishima who threw a punch, that nicked Bakugo’s cheek and Bakugo started having to rapidly dodge Kirishima’s assault. ‘I wonder what explosive force he typically exudes.’ Henshizo thought to himself watching and heard someone come beside him. “Kachan and Kirishima, that means…” Midoriya came up and glanced at the video board with the bracket. “I missed them darn.” He said and Henshizo cleared his throat. “Oh! Sorry Sesshada, um, congrats on your win.” He said going red in embarrassment.

“Thanks.” He said turning back to the match. “I’m going to fucking kill you.” He said bluntly and Midoriya went white. “Wh-what for?!” He asked panicky. “Beating in to Todoroki he can use his fire during combat. Makes him that much more difficult to beat.” Henshizo said blankly. “Oh, I suppose it does, sorry.” Midoriya said as Bakugo hit a blast and Kirishima winced. “I can’t believe Kachan was on the defensive for so long.” Midoriya muttered. “You and Bakugo must know each other well, to have names for each other.” Henshizo said glancing at Midoriya as Bakugo started an explosion barrage on Kirishima, who’s hardening cracked.

“Um yea, since we were little.” Midoriya said sheepishly. “Any weaknesses?” Henshizo asked as Kirishima fell to the ground. “Not many, he’s stronger as matches go on because he sweats more.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded. “Kirishima is unconscious, Bakugo wins!” Midnight declared and Henshizo cracked his neck. “Time for the battle of ‘masterpieces’” Henshizo muttered darkly and left Midoriya there, Midoriya looking at him as he walked away, a worried expression on his face.

Henshizo walked down to the waiting area, making some athletic tape and putting it around his hands like a boxer then left the room, and as he walked down the hallway Endeavor came from around the corner. “Oh, you. The next obstacle for my Shoto” Endeavor said, almost in a disgusted tone and Henshizo glared at him. “Try to put up a fight, I know Yakuza thugs are low ranking, but you have a grain of potential.” Endeavor said and Henshizo clenched his fists and walked past him. “Word of advice Enji.” He said looking back and Endeavor’s flames flared in anger. “Most ‘masterpieces’ hate their creators.’ He said matching the intensity of the flames.

Endeavor scoffed and left and Henshizo got to the tunnel entrance and walked out as did Todoroki. “And now the semi-finals! It’s a battle of two competitors who have left their opponents worse for wear. First, the boy who’s nearly torn the stadium down in both his fights. From the hero course Shoto Todoroki!” Present Mic introduced and the crowd cheered. “Versus, the knockout artist and boy of a thousand objects. Also from the hero course, Henshizo Sesshada!” Present Mic said, to more cheers but still some boos and hisses, but both boys were focused solely on each other. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted and the battle between two boys conceived by the lust of power began.

Notes:

Not as long as last chapter, but still fairly decent. Again, didn't see the point in breaking the fights up between different chapters. Thanks for reading, any and all comments appreciated

Chapter 13: Sesshada vs Todoroki

Summary:

A matchup between boys, who were made because their fathers wanted a strong kid to take over for them. Does Henshizo beat Endeavor's masterpiece or does Todoroki put Henshizo's tournament run on ice?

“Begin!” Present mic shouted and Henshizo began changing his shoes into the jet boots and was able to change them just in time to dodge an ice attack from Todoroki and he began running at Todoroki who sent more ice at him but Henshizo easily dodged the ice but now the ice had cut off his side routes, so Henshizo dashed at Todoroki and did a running long jump towards him.

“Sesshada with the quick moves to dodge Todoroki’s ice attacks, and now he’s on the attack!” Present Mic shouted as Todoroki had to leap back to dodge his kick but as Henshizo was in the air, he had been changing a soda can tab into a stun gun and fired at Todoroki, who had to use his ice to form armor to stop the prongs from getting in him.

Henshizo yanked hard, snapping the cords, and he changed the stun gun into a mace and charged at Todorki and thrust the mace into his gut, landing a hit but Todoroki froze it and Henshizo had to drop it or else the ice would get to him. “Sesshada with the gut hit onto Todoroki!” Present Mic yelled and cheers were there with some boos still.

Todoroki sent ice at him but Henshizo dodged it by jumping over it and going for a thrust kick which connected, but Todoroki grazed his foot and ice began creeping up, but Henshizo just changed the boot into a smaller shoe and the ice, with nothing to cling too, fell to the ground. “Sesshada with the hit and counter to Todoroki’s ice! He may be as slippery as that ice.” Present mic exclaimed.

“Woah, that’s one way to counter it.” Uraraka said watching it in the box and Midoriya nodded. “Sesshada and Todoroki are very similar, they’ve both been extensively trained in combat, honestly they may have the highest battle iqs in the class.” Midoriya muttered and people nodded except Bakugo who growled.

Henshizo made the jet boot again and charged at Todoroki. “I feel your pain Todoroki.” He said as Todoroki had to side step his charge and sent ice after him, which Henshizo dodged and pulled a marble out of his pocket and began changing it. Todoroki stared at him with a mixture of anger and sadness. “I was about to say how, but I suppose you could.” He said as the two looked at each other intensely. “You may carry the expectations of being number two’s son, but that’s just more the reason to beat you.” Henshizo said as he pulled the pin out of the flash bang grenade and tossed it at Todoroki, who had to put up an ice wall to block it, but Henshizo used that distraction to dash around the wall and delivered a running gut punch, and it was revealed the flash bang was a dummy.

“Sesshada with the distraction! Todoroki hasn’t been able to crack his code.” Present Mic shouted as Henshizo grabbed Todoroki’s uniform and tossed him towards the out of bounds, but Todoroki got an ice wall up to stop himself. Henshizo sighed and ran at Todoroki again and Todoroki put up a second ice wall and Henshizo had to stop himself from running into it and Todoroki then sent ice from the wall and Henshizo jumped back and dashed away, but it caught his foot again and crept up his leg and cocooned his body minus his head.

“Todoroki using defense and turning it into offense!” Present Mic shouted as Henshizo struggled against the ice. “Sesshada is-” Midnight began. “Wait!” He cried out and suddenly the ice around him started getting smaller and melted and he was able to get out of it, and on his hands instead of the tape were metal hand like objects with a glowing red light in the middle.

“Woah! Sesshada escapes Todoroki’s ice! Who could’ve seen that coming?” Present Mic shouted and the crowd was muttering and cheering. Todoroki glared at him and Henshizo gave a shaky smile. “Going to take more than that. What is it you said? You only wanted to use your mom’s quirk? Must have been nice knowing her!” He screamed and there was a slightly crazed look in his eyes.

“Too bad that won’t be enough!” He said and using the jet boots dashed at Todoroki and then as Todoroki sent ice at him he dodged to the side easily and Todoroki had to dodge him. ‘The ice is slower.’ Henshizo thought and smirked. “Sesshada knew what could happen thanks to the match with Sero, so that’s why he wore that athletic tape like that. His planning is off the charts.” Midoriya muttered. “Go Henshizo!” His foster siblings cheered loudly, as Henshizo delivered a back thrust kick to Todoroki’s left side.

“Don’t you dare talk about my mother.” Todoroki said angrily while coughing. “Oh I’m not. I’m just saying I’m giving it my all. Haven’t you heard their boos?!” Henshizo shouted around the stadium pointing to the crowd, changing the heating gloves back to the tape. “I have to prove I belong here! And I will, by beating you!” He shouted even louder and he dashed at Todoroki, pulling a candy wrapper out and holding it in his hand.

Todoroki waited for him, and Henshizo saw the frost on his right side. Todoroki waited until Henshizo was close and tried sending ice to limit his reaction time, but Henshizo propelled himself with one leg up a bit and kicked through the top of the ice and used the momentum to tackle Todoroki to the ground hard.

“Wasn’t pretty but it was effective!” Present Mic shouted and Henshizo delivered a right hook to Todoroki and rolled off him as Todoroki tried to freeze them both, his right side well over half way covered in frost now. “I have to prove I’m a hero, so I won’t back down!” Henshizo shouted as he changed the tape gloves into brass knuckles and began rapidly trying to punch Todoroki, landing some body shots, and Aizawa recognized his style.

‘Don’t tell me… Sesshada was trained by that vigilante. No wonder he’s so good.’ Aizawa thought. “Todoroki and Hemshizo exchanging blows, but right now the edge is to Sesshada.” Present Mic shouted and Endevaor was fuming. “You must really hate your old man, I get it.” Henshizo muttered to Todoroki trying to throw him off. “Yes, I reject him, but… I don’t reject my quirk.” Todoroki said and Henshizo saw steam coming from his body.

Flames erupted again around Todoroki and Henshizo smiled and began changing his uniform into a fire resistant suit. He completed this as Todoroki finished melting the ice off and used his flames against Henshizo, but the suit protected him, although he still felt the heat and he ran through the flames and delivered a knee to Todoroki’s stomach, surprising Todoroki, and everyone.

“Sesshada even has a counter for Todoroki’s fire! This is unreal!” Present Mic shouted as the flames went to a simmer on Todoroki and Henshizo deliveries a kick to his face, but now the suit was working against him as he couldn’t land a true hit. Todoroki got sent back and shakily got up and Henshizo changed the suit back to his uniform and ran at Todoroki, brass knuckles still on his hands, and Todoroki ran forward and dodged the head punch attempt, but ate the gut punch and he coughed and threw up a little.

However he managed to grab Henshizo’s uniform with his right hand and began freezing them both in place, while using his left side to keep himself from getting encapsulated. Eventually Henshizo was frozen in the middle of a large cube of ice and Todorki staggered back. “That has to be it right?” Present Mic asked and Midnight was hesitant to call it due to earlier.

Everyone watched and slowly they watched in shock as the large ice cube changed into a large tent and Henshizo walked out of it, shaking in cold, but now his skin was visibly messed up and the crowd cheered and some gasped seeing his skin. “This must be a drawback of his quirk, so his quirk probably uses his skin cells.” Midoriya muttered as Henshizo stood shaking and Todoroki couldn’t believe it. “Sesshada does it again! He can’t be contained!” Present mic shouted.

“I’m not going to quit!” Henshizo said and he charged at Todoroki who sent fire at him, and Sesshada gritted his teeth and ran through it, without the suit on shocking everyone. But what was even more shocking was he got through the flames and landed a punch to Todoroki’s face which sent him staggering to the ground and stumbling around.

Henshizo was standing there, panting, smoke coming off him as his uniform was partially burnt and he patted his hair to put it out. “Why?” Todoroki asked looking at Henshizo with his left eye swelling up. “Because, I want to be a hero!” Henshizo shouted and he had had to change the boots back to his shoes due to the fire damage. His skin was seemingly missing in places and Cementoss put up a cement wall to stop him.

“No! I can fight!” Henshizo shouted and changed one of the brass knuckles into a power glove and punched through it but another wall went up. “What is with your class Eraserhead?” Present Mic asked as Henshizo desperately continued punching through the walls panting. “They are all motivated by their passion and drive to be the best and Sesshada is also being driven by his desire to show he can be a hero.” Aizawa said.

Reiko was watching with her fists curled, and his foster family were watching scared for his health. Henshizo glared at Cementoss, panting as he kept putting walls up. Midnight walked up holding her hands up to both Todoroki and Henshizo and examined Henshizo and turned her mic off. “You can still go and be able to not have long term damage?” She asked and he nodded. “This isn’t even top five.” He said angrily and she nodded, a spark of sadness in her eyes. She nodded “Ok, but much more and I’m calling it.” She said sternly and walked off, Cementoss lowering the walls.

Todoroki began setting up for flash freeze heat wave again, and Henshizo made his his jet boots again and turned the tattered remains of his uniform into a swat officers outfit and charged at Todoroki. Todoroki was able to get it off, but Henshizo managed to punch him in the face as the move went off sending both boys flying. “Another explosion courtesy of Todoroki! Who’s standing?” Present Mic shouted and the smoke cleared and Todoroki had put up an ice wall to stop himself from going out of bounds, while Henshizo was trying to push himself up, out of bounds.

“Sesshada is out of bounds. Todoroki wins!” Midnight declared and Todoroki took a couple of steps before falling to his knees. “Damn it.” Henshizo muttered as he tried to get up but fell to the ground. “Todoroki advances, but Sesshada gave him an absolute war.” Present mic said and the crowd was cheering for both of them.

Henshizo changed back into his uniform and his skin was missing in parts, on his hands mainly and the remain was all red and raw. “He gave it is all to win, and maybe if he wasn’t interrupted by the teachers checking on him, he may have.” A crowd member said and as Henshizo was put on a stretcher by the medical bots, the crowd was cheering completely for him.

“Sesshada may have lost the fight to Todoroki, but he won the fight to prove himself.” Eraserhead said as he was carted off. “Sesshada is impossible to game plan for, because you only have a very slight idea of what items he has at his disposal.” Midoriya said quietly and both Ojiro and Yanagi were sad and stood up and left to go to Recovery Girl’s office.

“I am talking to Nezu about getting a raise.” Recovery girl grumbled as both Todoroki and Henshizo were brought in. She kissed Todoroki’s cheek first to heal him. Henshizo grabbed a tissue and saw he didn’t have skin on his hands so he put it against his stomach and made his lotion. “Relax deary, let me handle it.” Recovery girl said coming over and examining the lotion. “Lotion first, it helps my skin.” Henshizo said as Todoroki looked at him. Recovery girl nodded and applied it all over him and Henshizo lightly moaned as the two watched amazed as his skin seemingly grew back, albeit tinged pink.

“How?” Recovery Girl asked curiously. “My father had it made for me, I don’t know what makes it up, but if I had to guess it has some regenerative abilities.” He said as he looked at himself. Recovery Girl kissed him to heal anything that the lotion couldn't. “It only works on me, I’ll leave you this bottle if I come back in the future and can’t do it myself.” He said standing up and stretching.

“Sesshada.” Todoroki said standing up. “You are more than worthy of being a hero.” He said extending a hand and Henshizo took it and shook it. “Thanks.” He said as the door opened and Ojiro and Yanagi came in. “Sesshada are you- you’re ok.” Ojiro said and he nodded at them. “It’s one of those things it looks much worse than it actually is.” He said shrugging as Todoroki left.

“I was mortified, but I’m relieved now.” Reiko said and he smiled lightly. “Yea I’m ok.” He said as he left the bottle of lotion on recovery girl’s desk. “They had to repair the field again.” Ojiro said as the three walked back up. “No shocker. Thanks for checking on me guys.” He said and as they were walking up Iida ran past them with a worried look on his face.

“What’s his problem?” Ojiro asked curiously and Henshizo shrugged and they made their way back to the box and sat down, noticing worried looks on Midoriya and Uraraka’s faces. “Hey Sesshada, woah, glad to see you’re ok.” Sero said. “That was crazy, you’re awesome.” Kaminari said. “You won the crowd over.” Jiro said twirling her earphone jack and Henshizo nodded to them both and settled in to his seat.

“How is your skin already healed?” Midoriya asked turning around. “Secret recipe, nah just some lotion specially made for me that regenerates my skin. I’m sure you figured it out, my quirk uses my skin cells, so eventually I run out of them sometimes.” He shrugged. “Right. And early in the match, you said something about your mom.” Midoriya asked and Henshizo went stone faced. “Maybe I did. Doesn’t matter.” Henshizo said stiffly and Midoriya turned back around sensing he messed up.

“Calm down man.” Ojiro said putting his hand on Henshizo’s shoulder and he relaxed slightly. “Whatever.” He muttered and crossed his arms. “Henshizo got screwed, if the teachers hadn’t stopped him.” Goji said angrily and shaking his head. “Hey, don’t act like you weren’t worried for him seeing him like that. None of us have.” Hinata said rolling her eyes at his anger. “But I do feel bad for him.” She added sighing in sadness. “Now now, you heard the crowd at the end. He proved himself which is the most important thing. Plus he’ll be on the podium.” Sanae said smiling sweetly. “True, big bro Henshizo bringing home a medal.” Daiki said grinning.

“I can make it gold for him!” Goji said smiling and Sane smiled and lightly shook her head. “I think he would want to keep it as is. Now let’s watch the other match.” Sanae said looking back at the TV. Henshizo settled in up in the box and wanted to watch this next match closely. “Sesshada, will you be ok?” Yanagi asked him, Henshizo picking up concern in her voice. “I’ll be fine, next year I’m taking gold.” He said determinedly as Tokoyami and Bakugo walked on to the stage.

Notes:

Hope y'all enjoyed it, a bit more Henshizo' backstory came out. Never knew his mom and the first time we see the drawback of his quirk. Any and all comments appreciated

Chapter 14: End of the Sports Festival

Summary:

Bakugo versus Todoroki and awards ceremony time. Time for Henshizo to be awarded for his efforts.

“And now it’s time for the second semi-final matchup! He may have a dark shadow, but he’s no dark horse. From the hero course, Fimikage Tokoyami!” Present Mic said to cheers. “Versus, the boy who’s been lighting everyone up with his explosions. Also in the hero course, Katsuki Bakugo!” Present Mic said introducing the hot-headed blonde to cheers as the two serious students stared at each other. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted and Tokoyami immediately sent out dark shadow, Bakugo blasting up to dodge the creature. Dark shadow gave chase but Bakugo’s agility beat dark shadow’s and he started blasting towards Tokoyami.

Dark Shadow partially retracted himself and took a blast from Bakugo, both Bakugo and Henshizo noticing dark shadow got smaller a bit after the blast. Bakugo continued attacking dark shadow with explosions. “Come on Tokoyami you were doing so good earlier.” Ashido said and Henshizo sighed. “It’s a bad match up it seems. Dark shadow is well, a shadow. And what drives away shadows?” He asked out loud. “Light.” Jiro said as Bakugo did a big one-handed blast to dark shadow. “Huh, and Bakugo would exploit something like that.” Kirishima said and Henshizo glanced his way. “Any one would exploit a quirks weakness. Villains do it to heroes and heroes do it to villains, it’s just good fighting.” He said as Bakugo did a big flashy explosion and had Tokoyami pinned to the ground with one hand while constantly emitting explosions with his other to stave dark shadow off. After a little bit. “Tokoyami submits. Bakugo wins!” Midnight declared.

“Woah folks such a display of strength, setting up must see finals.” Present Mic said as the video boards lit up with the Todoroki vs Bakugo image. The two left the field and Reiko lightly tugged at Henshizo’s sleeve with her quirk and he looked at her. “In my opinion it should be you versus Bakugo.” She said quietly so only he could hear it and he lightly smiled and shrugged. “It is what is. I appreciate your sentiment though.” He said and she developed just the slightest tinge of pink to her face and looked back out. “So, who do you guys think will win?” Hagakure asked them. “Todoroki has the range so I’m giving it to him.” Sero said and a few nodded. “Bakugo’s too fast though, and he gets in range, it’s over.” Kirishima said and others nodded.

“I can’t say this without coming off a bit egotistical, but we also have to factor in this, Todoroki had to go to recovery girl, so he’s not going to be one-hundred percent.” Henshizo said and everyone nodded. “Yea, you took more out of Todoroki then Tokoyami did Bakugo.” Ojiro said and Henshizo leaned back in his seat. “Regardless though, it’s going to be intense.” He muttered as there was a lengthy video recap of the entire games playing for the fans. While this was playing Tokoyami came back in to the box. “Bakugo figured out and exploited my weakness, I commend him, and now I know where to improve.” He said sitting by Uraraka and Midoriya before turning to face Sesshada.

“We have tied for third place, so once the final is over, Midnight wants us to head down to the waiting area and we’ll do the award ceremony when they’re ready.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Thanks Tokoyami, they’d need to fix up and clear the stage after this fight anyway so we’d have time.” Henshizo mused and a few nodded. After the recap ended Bakugo and Todoroki waked out onto the field and stood on opposite sides of the stage and the flames erupted in the corners to very loud cheers from the crowd. “Welcome to finals ladies and gentlemen! In just a moment we’ll find out which first year wins the whole thing, so let’s jump right into it! From the hero course, it’s Shoto Todoroki! Versus his classmate Katsuki Bakugo!” Present Mic shouted and both were ready and in fighting stances already. “Begin!” Present Mic shouted to start the end of the festival.

Todoroki sent a huge ice wave at Bakugo who started doing rapid explosions and soon the whole side Bakugo was on was covered in ice. “What a strong opening move from Todoroki! Do we have a winner already?” Present Mic called out, but some ominous sounds were coming from the ice. “Bakugo sure doesn’t go down easy does he?” Henshizo muttered as Bakugo exploded out the other side of the mini-iceberg. “He tunneled through the ice like an explosive mole.” Sero said shocked. “They’re crazy.” Kaminari said as Bakugo lunged out of the ice and blasted himself towards Todoroki.

Todoroki goes to grab him but Bakugo blasts out of the way and grabs Todoroki’s left side and throws him towards the out of bounds with an explosion boost, but Todoroki puts up an ice wall and surfs across it to keep himself in. Bakugo dashed out of the way of the ice and lunged at Todoroki, but Todoroki grabbed him with his left arm. “That’s it, keep using your left side. Do it Shoto!” Endevaor called out in his booming voice, but Todoroki simply threw Bakugo away from him and the two landed on their feet. “What you don’t think I’m worthy of your flames? Like Deku and Yakuza?!” Bakugo shouted out and Henshizo deadpanned ‘Yakuza? That’s my nickname?’ He thought annoyed. “Bakugo has done his homework and timing his explosions, while Todoroki is doing well, it seems he’s lost his edge after his battles with Midoriya and Sesshada.” Aizawa said in the mic. “I don’t want there to be any doubt that I’m the best student here! So come at me with everything like you did against those losers!” Bakugo shouted at Todoroki and Henshizo tilted his head in confusion as to why Todoroki wasn’t using his flames.

“Show everyone you want to destroy me, or I’ll kill you!” Bakugo shouted and started going after Todoroki, while Henshizo’s eye twitched again at the comment by Bakugo. However, as Bakugo charged at him Todoroki just stood still clearly lost in thought. “Come on Todoroki do your best!” Midoriya cried out as Bakugo jumped up and started blasting in a spiral towards Todoroki and Todoroki melted the ice from his body and raised his left hand with flames covering it, aimed at Bakugo, but before Bakugo got in front of him, Todoroki lowered his arm, extinguishing it. “Howitzer impact!” Bakugo shouted and a huge explosion roared through the arena, smoke coming from the field. “Bakugo using speed and power to turn himself into a human missile, but no fire from Todoroki!” Present Mic shouted as the smoke cleared.

They all saw Todoroki, unconscious, on a pile of ice out of bounds and Bakugo pushing himself up in bounds. Bakugo got up and slowly walked towards and then ran towards Todoroki. “This isn’t a real win for me damn it! You need to try harder!” Bakugo shouted holding Todoroki by his shirt but then he fell unconscious as a purple has surrounded him, Midnight having torn a bit of her sleeve, using her quirk on Bakugo. “Todoroki is out of bounds, meaning Bakugo is the winner!” Midnight declared and the crowd roared. “And there you have it. The winner of the first-year class of the UA sports festival is Katsuki Bakugo from class 1-A!” Present Mic yelled as Tokoyami and Henshizo stood up and left the press box.

“I wonder why Todoroki didn’t use his flames against Bakugo like he did against you and Midoriya.” Tokoyami said as they walked down. “No idea. Maybe because he could relate to me, he was able to use it, maybe because in his mind he could view me as a villain but not Bakugo. Only person who knows is him. Not that any reasoning will satisfy Bakugo.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes. “True. Hopefully he can calm down enough for the ceremony.” Tokoyami said as they got to the waiting room. After a bit Todoroki came in with Recovery Girl at his heels. “After the day is done you have to rest and eat a lot young man, so much damage.” She said and Todoroki nodded. “I will, thank you ma’am.” He said lightly bowing and she sighed. “You all push yourselves so much. Just be more careful for my sanity.” She said walking back to her office.

The three boys looked at each other and just sat in silence, Todoroki looking at his left hand, Henshizo checking his skin out, and Tokoyami putting his feet up on the table and closing his eyes. Eventually a knock came at the door and the three went to it and an ectoplasm clone was there. “Please follow me.” He said and the three did just that, following him to a door that he opened and it took them down a flight of stairs where a staging area was, C ementoss and Midnight restraining Bakugo to a concrete pillar in the middle, causing Tokoyami and Henshizo to let out exacerbated sighs. “Icy hot! You fucking bastard! I didn’t truly win, get back out there so I can prove it!” Bakugo shouted and Cementoss lowered his head, shaking it, and he picked up a muzzle and the two of them were able to muzzle him.

Henhsizo had to bite his tongue hard to not burst out laughing seeing the chained-up Bakugo. ‘He’s like an angry Pomeranian.’ He thought looking at the writhing Bakugo. “Todoroki on this side please.” Midnight said gesturing to the platform on Bakugo’s right and he walked over and got on it. Tokoyami and Henshizo easily figured out to stand on the other platform and got on it. “Oh, I love it when they take initiative.” Midnight said grinning and the two boys glanced away. “Just hang tight here boys. I’m going to go up and start the introductions, Cementoss will lift you up when it’s time.” She said and they nodded, well the three did Bakugo was still thrashing about. She left and the only sound was the chains and Bakugo’s muffled screams and curses.

After a little bit fog came out above their heads and sunlight came down and their platform was being raised up they were raised back up into the arena, blinking at the sunlight briefly and they looked out to see the rest of the first years and several press members taking photos of the podium boys. “Now it’s time go award the medals! Of course, there’s only one person befitting to award these medals.” Midnight said and All Might’s booming laugh echoed through the arena “I am here! With the medals!” He said at the same time as Midnight said “Our hero All Might!” She said as he landed on the ground. “Sorry my timing was off.” Midnight said to All Might as he stood up.

All Might walked over to Tokoyami and Henshizo and pulled out two bronze medals, going first to Tokoyami. “Congratulations Tokoyami, your toughness and grit are immeasurable.” All Might said putting the medal around Tokoyami’s head before lightly hugging Tokoyami. “To deal with unfavorable matchups work on yourself so you don’t have to rely on your quirk as much. Train your own strength and your potential will continue to grow.” All Might said to Tokoyami who looked at the medal. “I shall.” He said resolutely and All Might turned to Henshizo. “Congratulations Sesshada, you showed everyone what we already knew. That you have the heart, passion, and drive to be a hero.” All Might said putting the medal around his neck before lightly hugging him as well. “Keep showing everyone what you’re capable of as a hero. And you will erase bias.” He said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “I won’t ever stop; I have much to atone for.” He said looking at the medal determinedly.

All Might smiled, but also worried slightly. He then walked over to Todoroki with a silver medal. “Congratulations Todoroki, I’m sure you have your reasons for not using your fire in the finals.” He said putting the silver around Todoroki. “I’ve just been confused since the fight with Midoriya, and then seeing what the flames did to Sesshada, I got even more conflicted.” He said and Henshizo nodded, a reasonable reason for faltering to use his left side and All Might gave a gentle hug to him too. “I can tell you’re thinking about a lot, but I won’t pry. But I know that you can come to a decision without any doubt.” He said as he let go of Todoroki who nodded.

“And now Bakugo! My this is a bit much.” All Might said looking at the bound Bakugo. “Let’s take care of this. And I must say, you called your shot.” All Might said undoing the muzzle and remembering Bakugo’s proclamation at the beginning where he said he would win. “All Might.” Bakugo growled. “I don’t want this piece of garbage medal! This award doesn’t mean anything because I didn’t prove myself!” Bakugo shouted and All Might tried putting the medal on him. “Hold still, there!” All Might shouted getting in to hang from his mouth as he had a murderous look on his face. All Might turned back around to face everyone smiling.

“And there you have it ladies and gentlemen, this year these four rose to the top but take note everyone. Every single one of these students could’ve been on these standings. As we all saw all of the students laid it all on the line at the festival. The next generation of heroes will show off very well in the near future. And on that note, one more thing!” All Might said and everyone readied themselves. “Great work!” All Might said but everyone else said “Plus Ultra!” “Oh come on that was the best time for it.” People cried out Henshizo looked at the bronze. Eventually the festival ended and all of the audience left, but the class was instructed to go to their classroom. They all walked in, many carrying the wounds of the festival and Aizawa walked in.

“Good job class, you not only have the weekend but Monday off too. Allows you to recover and pros to go over everything and make some of you offers.” Aizawa said and they nodded. “Go home, rest. You all earned it.” Aizawa said and Midoriya looked over at Iida’s empty desk and Henshizo did too. Now he knew why Iida had left, the news had broken that Iida’s older brother, Ingenium, one of the most respected heroes out there had been attacked and severely wounded. Ingenium joining the long list of heroes either killed or wounded by the Hero Killer: Stain, someone that he knew even those in the underworld were wary of.

The class all left and Henshizo worked his way back home. He walked in the front door and the lights were out and it was quiet, and he cautiously changed a candy wrapper to a gun and turned the lights on. “Congratulations Henshizo!” his foster family shouted jumping out and he managed to quickly change the gun to a small book and smiled at them. Sanae was holding a cake in her hands while each of the kids were holding different food items. “We figured you’d be hungry and deserved something great for your performance.” Sanae said sweetly. “I appreciate it.” Henshizo said as the kids were looking at his medal. “Man you got screwed, you were totally going to beat that Todoroki.” Goji said and Henshizo shrugged.

“Possibly. But can’t dwell on what ifs.” He said calmly. “Are you ok? I didn’t know your skin could get like that.” Hinata asked. “Yea. We have recovery girl so I’m just a smidge tired but that’s it.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Good. Let’s celebrate!” Daiki said and they went into the kitchen and ate the food and they asked all sorts of questions.

“So that girl you teamed up with… ya like her?” Goji asked smirking and Henshizo glanced at him. “I rank her higher than most of my classmates, but I don’t like her like that.” Henshizo said calmly causing Goji and Daiki to roll their eyes. “You know Henshizo, when your uniform got burned off a bit that was the first time we saw your body, how do you have that?” Hinata said and Daiki snorted. “Those two couldn’t take their eyes off you.” He said and Hinata stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well my training serves a purpose.” Henshzio said shrugging and Goji chuckled. “I have Monday off, and then we’ll find out what pros want us for internships.” Henshizo said and their eyes widened. “Any you hoping make you an offer?” Honoka asked and Henshizo tilted his head. “In terms of notable ones, Best Jeanist. He was the one who arrested my dad. So interning for him would be salt in the wound.” He said smirking.

“I’m sure you’ll have lots of offers, just pick the one you think would be best.” Sanae said gently and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll pick the one that I think I can learn the most from and who is a competent hero. I’d rather not learn what NOT to do.” He said chuckling as they started in to the cake. “Let us know your options.” Hinata said, wiping her face with a napkin. “I’ll probably get a big ass list, so you can see.” He said shrugging and they smiled. Henshizo stood up stretching. “I’m beat, so have a good night.” He said walking to the stairs. “Night!” His foster siblings said but Sanae got up and followed him up.

“Henshizo.” She said quietly and he turned to her. “The TV mics picked up all the conversations said during the finals. Are you ok?” She asked and he realized she was talking about the comments he had made about his mom and turned back from her. “I’ve made peace with it.” He said, mildly sad and she nodded, knowing not to press it. “If you need anything I’m here for you.” She said gently and he nodded. “Thanks Sanae, night.” He muttered and went into his room and crashed onto his bed and he fell asleep for a while. He sat up in bed sweating, having dreamt him and Todoroki being beaten by their fathers while their fathers laughed and ridiculed them. Henshizo shook his head and went back to sleep.

Chapter 15: Code Names

Summary:

The class gets back together and learn what pros want them as interns as well pick their hero names. Who wants Henshizo? What does Henshizo choose as his hero name?

After the extended weekend, which Henshizo spent mostly at the gym and training, Henshizo was walking to UA, holding an umbrella he had made from a gum wrapper, as the rain came down around him. One thing he learned that he didn’t like about the sports festival, was that now there was the much higher chance people recognized him. On Sunday, he had been approached by two guys in the gym congratulating him on his performance at the sports festival and Henshizo was now on heightened alert, constantly watching out for people when out and about. He walked in to UA and changed it back to a gum wrapper and pocketed it. “Greetings Sesshada.” Yanagi’s voice came from behind him and he turned around and she was wearing a light gray rain jacket that was dripping onto the floor. “Morning Yanagi.” He said as she walked to her locker and took the jacket off, floating it with her quirk and ringing it out before folding it into her locker.

“My weekend excursion to the cinema was made interesting by another patron recognizing me from the festival.” She said and he could tell she was annoyed by it. “Yea, I hear ya, I was at the gym and people came up to me. And now every time I go out, I’m on high alert.” He said sighing and she looked at him sadly. “I suppose you have more to worry about than anyone else here.” She said and he nodded. “Yep, got to worry about villains either wanting to silence me or get back at my old man. Plus, the common issue of being a hero course student at UA.” He said shrugging as they walked down the hall to homeroom. “I never considered what you face, I apologize.” She said and he waved his hand dismissively. “I knew this would happen, I’ve made my bed, so I gotta lay in it.” He said calmly and she nodded lightly as they walked in and went to their desks.

The class were all talking about how they were getting recognized thanks to the sports festival. “A bunch of kids recognized me, and you know what they said?” Sero said exasperated. “Nice try?” Asui asked and he sadly nodded. “There are worse things to have people say to you.” Henshizo said shrugging. “We’re like rockstars now.” Kaminari said smiling. “Yea, you got known for getting your face smashed in.” Jiro said and he went red and Henshizo smirked as the door opened.

“Good morning students.” Aizawa said walking in, no longer mummified, although he now had a solid scar under his right eye. “It’s good to see you’re recovered.” Asui said and Aizawa scratched his face. “Recovery Girl went overboard with her treatment. Now, today is an important class. Hero informatics.” He said and the class got tense trying to figure out what he meant. “You need code names, time to pick your hero identities.” He said and the class cheered. “This rocks!” Kirishima said happily and Aizawa activated his quirk and the class calmed down. “This is due to the internship draft nominations that was previously mentioned. Interest may dry up, but the more experience you gain and ability you show off will help you keep it. Of course, these offers can be rescinded at any time.” He said and some of the class gulped.

“So we have to constantly prove ourselves.” Hagakure said and Aizawa nodded. “Correct, and now I’ll show the tally for formal internship offers.” Aizawa said and he pressed a remote and on the board behind him popped up a list of the students who had formal offers, with Bakugo and Todoroki blowing the other nine out of the water. Todoroki having 4,123 while Bakugo had 3,556 offers. Henshizo was third with 394, while Yanagi had 333. “Usually the offers are more even, but this year is an anomaly.” Aizawa said and the class couldn’t believe the offer count nor that people like Midoriya had gotten zero. “For what it’s worth Midoriya, it’s bullshit you don’t have any.” Henshizo whispered to him.

“Thanks Sesshada.” Midoriya mumbled. “It’s odd that Todoroki got the most offers despite finishing second.” Kirishima said confused. “Probably because some pros wouldn’t want to work with the boy who was muzzled and chained up.” Kaminari said. “Shut the hell up, if they’re a pro and I scared them they’re weak.” Bakugo snapped at them. “Or some pros would want to avoid a public relations headache.” Henshizo said smirking. “Shut it yakuza, I’ll kill ya.” Bakugo growled and Henshizo’s eye twitched again. “Enough. Don’t worry though you’ll all be doing internships.” Aizawa said and the class lit up. Really?” Ashido asked and he nodded. “You guys have already experienced real villains at the USJ, so forty agencies from across the country have agreed to take you on.” He said looking around.

“So for that we need code names.” Sato said from the back. “This is going to be a great class.” Uraraka said pumping her fist. “Take this seriously. The name you pick now can be temporary, however you can get stuck with it.” Aizawa said and the door opened. “And you’ll have hell to pay later.” Midnight said strutting in. “Midnight will have final approval for your names, it’s not my thing.” Aizawa said picking up his sleeping bag. “Yea, Eraserhead isn’t exactly a good name.” Henshizo thought. “The names you come up with need should represent how you want to present yourselves.” Aizawa said. “Think of All Might as an example.” Midnight said as she handed out white boards to the rows and they were passed back to everyone.

‘Codename huh. I had one in mind if I had followed my dad, but now… that won’t work. Shame, son of sin is badass, but not a good hero name. Vigilante maybe.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he tapped the marker to his board thinking. The room filled with the sounds of people thinking and writing on the boards. ‘Got it.’ He thought and wrote the code name down. After about ten minuets Midnight smiled at them all. “Ok, who is ready to share?” Midnight asked and people in the class got nervous and Aaoyama walked up to the podium. “Prepare to be dazzled by name. I can not stop twinkling.” He proudly proclaimed and the entire class deadpanned.

“Not bad, just get rid of the I and shorten it to can’t.” Midnight said and Aaoyama nodded. “Perfect mademoiselle.” He said, and the class was stunned. “You’re not really French right?” Sato asked confused. “I’ll go next.” Ashido said going up. “I’m Alien Queen.” She said happily. “You mean like the monster from that horror movie, that’s a no-go.” Midnight said and Mina dejectedly went back to her seat. ‘Yea, son of sin probably wouldn’t be approved.’ Henshizo thought as Asui went up. “The rainy season hero, my name is Froppy.” She said and Midnight put her hands together. “Perfect it makes you approachable and everyone will love it.” She said and most of the class started chanting Froppy. After she sat down Kirishima went up. “I’m the sturdy hero Red Riot.” He said fiercely. “Interesting, paying homage to the chivalrous hero Crimson Riot. Right?” She asked and he nodded. “He’s my idol, and I hope to live up to it.” He said and she nodded. “Anytime you name yourself after someone you put that much more expectation on yourself.” She said and he nodded. “I’ll do it.” He said smiling.

After Kirishima went back to his seat Henshizo raised his hand and Midnight waved him up. He got to the front and looked at them. “For a lot of my life I had a different moniker in mind to call myself. But now that I am here it wouldn’t work. So that’s why I’m going to go by this.” He said turning the board around. “Yahata.” He said determined and Midnight smirked. “The god of war, such a strong name, for both civilians and victims to be thankful to say and villains to fear.” She said giving a thumbs up and he went back to his seat. “Man that’s a badass name.” Sero said as Henshizo walked by. The rest of the class went through their names some more creative than others.

“The martial arts hero, Tailman.” Ojiro said and Henshizo felt a pang of disappointment at the lack of creativity, with the same pang for Hagukre’s ‘Invisible Girl’, Jiro’s ‘Earphone Jack’, Ashido’s ‘Pinky’, and Sato’s ‘Sugar Man’. He liked Sero’s ‘Cellophane’, Shoji’s ‘Tentacole, Kaminari’s ‘Charge Bolt’, and was amused in a weird by Todoroki going by his first name, Shoto. Henhsizo was impressed by Yaoyorozu’s ‘Creati’, Tokoyami’s ‘Tsukuyomi’, and Urarka’s ‘Uravity’. “King explosion murder.” Bakugo said and Midnight sighed. “I’m saying that’s too violent.” She said and he turned to her. “Are you kidding me?!” he shouted and went back to his seat. “Hm, this is going by quicker than expected. Just need Iida’s, Yanagi’s and Bakugo’s redo, oh and Midoriya too.” She said looking around the room and Yanagi stood up and walked to the front. “Emily.” She muttered holding the sign up. “Nice and simple while also extra protecting your real name. Good.” Midnight said giving a thumbs up and Yanagi went back to her seat.

Iida went up and had his first name, Tenya, on the whiteboard, but Henshizo noticed eraser marks and made out what looked like ‘I’ and ‘N’, but couldn’t be sure. After Iida took his seat Midoriya walked up and showed the class his board. “You sure man?” Kirishma asked and Deku nodded. “I used to hate it, but someone made me realize it can have a different meaning. So now I like it.” He said smiling. “Deku, that is going to be my codename.” He said and Henshizo had his eyebrow raised at it. ‘Points for trying to change the meaning of something.’ He thought as Midoriya came back to his seat. Bakugo went back up “Lord Explosion Murder.” He said and Midnight sighed again. “That’s basically the same thing.” She said and he went back to his seat, eventually just going with Bakugo.

“Right now that you all have your codenames, let’s get back to talking internships.” Aizawa said getting out of his sleeping bag and producing a huge stack of papers. “Like I previously stated. About 40 agencies have agreed to take members on who didn’t receive formal offers. Those who did receive offers will look through the list of offers and select one. These will last a full week, so choose wisely. Turn your forms in by the end of Thursday.” Aizawa said as he rolled his sleeping bag up after passing the papers out. “Think of it this way, if you want to be a rescue hero like Thirteen, you’d choose an agency that specializes in rescuing.” Midnight said and Henshizo looked at his offers and it was a lot between the few sheets of paper he had. “Right so hurry up and choose, but be smart. You’re dismissed.” Aizawa said as he and Midnight left letting them look through the offers briefly before classes.

Classes came and went and now it was lunch time, but many stayed in the room. “Guys, have you decided where to go?” Ashido asked looking at her list of forty. “I’m clearing out where I’m not going.” Henshizo said, crossing another name off. “Yea, with that many it’d be smart to narrow it down.” Yaoyorozu said looking at her smaller list sadly. “I have mine picked out.” Uraraka said coming over. “Really who?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo glanced at her. “Gunhead, the battle hero.” Uraraka said pumping a fist. “I thought you want to be a rescue hero, why a fighter like him” Midoriya asked curiously. “Get a new viewpoint and get better at fighting. My fight with Bakugo made me realize I need to work on it.” She said smiling.

Ojiro came up and looked at Henshizo’s list. “Even after eliminating a lot you still have a crap ton of options.” He said as Yanagi came up floating her papers. “I have decided as well.” She said in a matter of fact tone. “Who are you going to?” Ojiro asked curiously. “Kamui Woods offered me the opportunity and I believe he is one of the best pros to help me improve what I want to work on.” Yanagi said and people looked at her. “He’s one of the fastest growing pros, that’s so cool.” Uraraka said smiling at her. “What do you want to work on?” Henshizo asked curiously. “Controlling my quirk while moving and my own reflexes, both of which he excels in.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded.

“Hey Deku, why have you been shaking all class?” Uraraka asked curiously, and Henshizo was curious as well, dealing with it all class. “Oh, exercise.” Midoriya said and Henshizo leaned to the side, and noticed he actually wasn’t in his seat. “Points for creativity.” Henshizo said and he went back to looking at his offers. “Sesshada, perhaps a luncheon will help you decide upon your internship.” Yanagi said and he looked up at her and shrugged. “Can’t hurt. There a few that have jumped out to me.” He said standing up and putting his papers into his bag. “Hey guys, I’ve noticed you’re never in the cafeteria. Where do you go?” Ojiro asked walking with them. “First day I made a bench on the roof. Yanagi and I eat up there.” Henshizo said shrugging. “It provides quite the calm and quiet setting.” Yanagi said nodding.

“Nice, mind if I join you guys?” Ojiro asked and both of them shrugged, indicating neither had a problem with it. They went and got their lunches and then went up to the roof and sat on the bench, Henshizo in the middle. “Hey Sesshada, what was the original name you had in mind for yourself?” Ojiro asked curiously. “Son of Sin. I know my father did horrible shit to whoever my mom was, so I was born of sin.” He said looking down at his food. “Shit man, sorry.” Ojiro said and Henshizo shook his head. “It’s ok Ojiro. I’ve made peace with it.” He said and Yanagi looked at him. “Have you ever tried finding out who your mom is?” She asked and Henshizo nodded. “Of course, but he always kept details to himself, no matter the reasoning. The best shot I thought I had was pointing out I need to know about genetic history for risk factors and stuff. But he said they already knew there weren’t issues.” He said sighing.

“That’s sad, he’s in Tartarus right?” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded. “Then I hope he rots there.” Ojiro said angrily and Yanagi nodded in agreement. “Thanks, but there’s a lot I’ve come to terms with so it’s ok.” He said smiling lightly to them both but they still looked worried and sad. “Anyway I need to go through these.” Henshizo said pulling his offers back out. “You mentioned some jumped out right? Like who?” Ojiro asked looking at the papers. “Well really just two.” He said pointing at Shishida and Gang Orca. “Oh wow!” Ojiro said looking at the two. “Both are very intense pros.” Yanagi said looking over his shoulder. “Yea. I’m going to think between them. I want someone good who can teach me. I’ll sleep on it tonight.” He said putting the papers back in to his bag.

The three ate lunch and went back for afternoon classes, which breezed by and they packed up for the day, the roof lunch trio going to their lockers to get the rain gear, well Ojiro and Yanagi since Henshizo didn’t need to store anything. “See you guys tomorrow.” Henshizo said as they parted ways, stealing one last glance towards Yanagi before going to the train station. When Henshizo got home he took the papers out and went into the living room where his foster siblings were watching TV. “Hey, you guys wanted to know my internship offers right?” He asked holding the papers up and they scrambled up and he set the papers on a table, Hanata picking them up first and the four went through them. “Holy crap, Gang Orca? He’s number ten!” Goji said awe struck. “He’d be cool, plus he’s also badass looking.” Daiki said and Henshizo remembered that Gang Orca was third place on the heroes who look like they should be villains list.

“I’m picking him. Not only is he strong, he can probably help me deal with things beyond my control.” Henshizo said, both to them and to himself. “Gah that’s so cool interning with number ten.” Goji said and Henshizo shrugged. “I won’t be here for all of next week.” He said and they got sad a bit. “That sucks, but you’ll be doing hero stuff which will be so cool.” Hanata said and Henshizo nodded. “I’m heading up to my room, gotta take care of homework.” He said taking the papers back from her. They nodded and he left and went up to his room, filling out the form indicating where he wanted to go. ‘Hopefully this works for me.’ He said sighing and got to work on homework.

Notes:

Just a bit of Henshizo backstory in this chapter on top of everything else. Hope you enjoyed, any and all comments appreciated.

Chapter 16: Day 1 of the internship

Summary:

Henshizo's internship with Gang Orca, what does the number 10 hero have in store for him? What drives Henshizo?

Henshizo turned in his internship form the following day and the week flew by until it was time to start their internships. The class met at UA on Saturday, got their costumes and then boarded a bus for the local train station. Once there they gathered on the platform and Aizawa turned to them. “Remember, you don’t have permission to do much at your internships, and don’t lose your costumes.” Aizawa said seriously. “Gotcha!” Ashido said “Be formal. It’s yes sir here and at your internships Ashido.” Aizawa said sternly. “Yes sir.” She replied sadly. “Be respectful to the pros and everyone else, go plus ultra. Now get to it.” Aizawa said seriously. “Yes sir!” The class called out and people began shuffling towards the trains that they had to take. Henshizo walked along and boarded a train along with Asui. “Where you off to Tsu?” He asked sitting across from her. “The south coast of Kanigawa, and you’re going to the main city right?” She asked putting a finger to her lips.

“Yea, you’re doing your internship with Selkie right?” He asked settling in to his seat as it was going to be a long train ride. “Yea, I must admit I’m jealous of you, doing yours with Gang Orca.” She said and he tilted his head. “I know that you’ve got a lot of potential to be a great hero.” He said calmly and she lightly smiled. “Besides, Selkie once took a drug shipment from my old man, so I find it amusing.” He said chuckling and she did too. “How long until your stop?” She asked and he checked his watch. “Two and a half hours.” He said sighing and he set a timer on his phone. “I’m going to nap, you should do the same.” He said closing his eyes. “Sesshada can I ask something?” She asked and he nodded, not opening his eyes. “Despite your upbringing, you know a lot about heroes and hero work. How is that?” She asked cautiously and he opened one eye. “It’s like I’ve said, villains scout heroes and they know how heroes work to exploit them. Heroes, for the most part, live by the same code and it makes them predictable.” Henshizo said closing his eye.

Tsu nodded and rested as well. After a little over two hours Henshizo’s timer went off and the two woke up, Henshizo’s stop being the next one. “Good luck with your internship Tsu.” He said standing up and grabbing his case from the overhead compartment. “Thanks. Ribbit. And good luck with yours.” She said as the train pulled into the station and the doors opened. He stepped out and he started following the instructions that had been given to him. “Right six blocks west.” He said finding his direction and after a bit he got to an impressive ten-story building and he went in to the lobby. “Finally here?” Gang Orca said walking up to him and Henshizo looked up at him. “Yes sir.” He said standing at full attention.

“I have to say Sesshada, when I first saw your name at the sports festival, I was shocked. The son of a notorious villain at UA?” Gang Orca said and sparks of anger flared in Henshizo’s eyes flared up and Gang Orca smirked. “Well then I watched the festival and I recognized you want to show the world who you really are beneath something you can’t control.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “This week I’m going to show you what it takes to be a real hero. See if you truly have what it takes.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded again, Gang Orca thinking back to a phone call he had received from the head of the hero public safety commission.

“Both our investigation and UA’s have shown the younger Sesshada seems to have clear intention to be a hero. However, the older Sesshada is known to have backup plans for his backup plans. Watch him closely, he has a powerful quirk and we’d be better off him being a hero.” The president had said seriously and he looked into the piercing green eyes. “Get dressed, we’ve wasted too much time.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo changed his uniform into his hero costume right in front of Gang Orca and he tossed his costume case behind the front desk in the lobby, causing Gang Orca to smirk. “Right time to go.” He said and the two walked out and began walking around the city. “Patrols are most of a hero’s work. Special operations don’t happen often.” He said as they walked along. “Special operations like the raid that took down my old organization.” Henshizo said calmly and Gang Orca nodded. “Typically a special request will come in from the police to assist in apprehending a particularly tricky villain or to handle a situation they cannot as easily handle.” He said and Henshizo nodded.

“But rather than sitting in your office, you prefer being out here where people can see you.” Henshizo said glancing around. “Yes, it helps provide assurance to citizens and typically allows a faster response time.” Gang Orca said as people glanced over at them some smiled, a few waved, but Henshizo also saw people whispering to each other. “This isn’t my first time here.” He said looking up at Gang Orca, who glanced down at him. “Often came here to meet people who smuggled stuff in by boat.” He said calmly and shrugging. “I see, you know Sesshada, you’re fairly unique for a hero. Not many have the experience and insight you have. That’s not a bad thing, many heroes would do a lot to have the knowledge you have.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo shrugged. “My past is a double-edged sword.” He said calmly as they continued to patrol.

“Only in the sense that you already have enemies.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo sighed in agreement. “But don’t let the past control you or dictate your actions. You’re your own person, and being your own person is what won people over at the sports festival, and it will win them over out here.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll show everyone that I can be a great hero.” He said putting a fist in his hand. “So, what do you know about hero work already?” Gang Orca asked curiously. “I know of the hero network, although I’m not sure how it works. I know that for every incident a hero is involved in you have to fill out paperwork, and that some people in suits decide how much money you get for each incident.” He said thinking and Gang Orca nodded. “A bit crude, but a good basic understanding.” He said smirking as they walked along.

“Pros also do non-hero work that they can be paid for. Like commercials, brand deals, or running an aquarium on an island.” Henshizo said glancing up causing Gang Orca to look down. “I see you’ve done a bit of homework on me.” He said mildly impressed and Henshizo nodded. “If I’m going to spend a week with a pro hero, I’m going to know as much about them as possible. Of course, I already knew a decent bit from before.” He said calmly and Gang Orca nodded. “I know you’ve been trained extensively, and also have some real-world experience, outside of the USJ incident.” He said and Henshizo walked along not denying anything and he glanced across the street. “Drug deal, three o’clock.” He muttered and Gang Orca nodded as the dealer quickly walked away from them. “Want me to disguise myself and follow the dealer?” Henshizo asked. “Yes, the dealers are the issue and we can work our way up the chain from him.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and ducked into an alley way, changing his costume to raggedy clothing and a bottle to a wig and put it on. “Just follow for now, report to me where he goes.” Gang Orca said handing a communicator to Henshizo.

“Right.” He said and he began walking back, crossing the street and he managed to see the dealer after rounding the corner. Henshizo tailed him from a good distance, for several minuets until the dealer ducked in to an abandoned looking factory. “Tracked him to an old concrete factory in the Naka district.” Henshizo said peeking around the corner. “Good job, I’m on my way. Do not engage, just watch.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo changed his wig into a mini drone and a bottle cap from the ground into a controller and flew the drone up and looked down, observing the building. The drone high enough it couldn’t be heard. Gang Orca came up and Henshizo showed him the screen. “Hasn’t come out from what I’ve seen. No one else has come in, but of course secret passages could exist. Plus, it doesn’t mean he’s alone in there.” Henshizo said calmly. “Straight to business.” Gang Orca nodded in approval and Henshizo flew the drone around the building. “Besides the door on the east side he went into there’s four loading bay doors on the north side, two doors on the west side and a big loading dock on the south side. Although those doors seem to be locked and rusted shut.” He said pointing and Gang Orca nodded.

“I’ll take the east; you watch the west if people try getting out the back. Do not physically engage if you can avoid it.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, bringing the drone back and changing it and the remote into Hatsume’s net guns. He walked over to the west side and waited. “In position.” He said to Gang Orca over the communicator. “Going in.” Gang Orca said and the sound of a metal door being knocked off its hinges could be heard. “Get down on the ground, you’re under arrest for suspected distribution of narcotics!” Gang Orca called out and the sounds of crashing could be heard and Henshizo readied himself. “Got three, but one’s coming your way.” Gang Orca said over the communicator and the door burst open and a guy who had rubber legs burst through and Henshizo fired one of the net guns and caught him easily, causing him to slide along the ground.

“What the?!” The man cried out and he tried getting out of the net but Henshizo walked over and guessing the man make his whole-body rubber, began dragging him back in. “Got him no problem.” He said as he went up to Gang Orca, who had the other three tied up with a conveyor belt. “Well done, Yahata.” Gang Orca said nodding in approval and began dragging the four dealers outside. “I’ll contact the police, and you secure the scene until they arrive. I’ll babysit these plankton.” He said and Henshizo nodded, beginning to walk around and he examined the set up they had. ‘If I had to guess this stuff was made else, it’s too high quality for a crew that’s otherwise so low quality.’ Henshizo said, glancing around the very basic and dirty ‘business’ they had set up. “Sir, there’s no way these clowns could make the stuff they were selling. It’s way too high quality from what I can see.” Henshizo said reporting in to Gang Orca.

“Got it.” Gang Orca said leering down at the four dealers, intimidating them. “Today’s one of your lucky days. Whichever one of you tells me who your supplier is will have a nicer time than the other three.” He said growling, and the rubber quirk man was shaking. “I’ll talk, please. I just needed cash, I didn’t want trouble.” He said whimpering and the other three glared at him. Gang Orca nodded and two police cars showed up. Gang Orca dragged the crew over and handed the three tied in the conveyor belt to one of the officers. “This one is willing to provide details, so ensure his protection.” Gang Orca said handing the guy in the net to a different cop who nodded and the crew were placed in separate cars. Gang Orca lead the other cops in and Henshizo was standing there, arms behind his back.

One of the cops put a hand on his gun, given Henshizo’s costume it was easy to think he was a villain, but Gang Orca put a hand on the cop’s shoulder. “This is my intern for the week, Yahata.” He said, Henshizo nodding his head to the officers. “Right, apologies.” The cop said glancing to the side. “From what I was able to observe this was used more as a meet up spot for the dealers. All electronics are locked, and the scene is safe.” He said calmly and Gang Orca nodded. “I’ll submit my report this evening, I want to be kept in the loop of this investigation.” Gang Orca told the police who stood at attention. “Yes sir.” They both said at once and Gang Orca walked to the door, motioning Henshizo to follow him. “Not bad, for a newborn calf.” He said and Henshizo ignored the orca word pun. “Thank you sir, what next?” He asked curiously.

“Lunch.” Gang Orca said simply and Henshizo nodded. They walked back in to the main part of city and went to a noodle shop, Gang Orca having to duck his head a bit to get in. The people inside smiled and waved at Gang Orca while glancing at Henshizo, a couple politely waving as well. “Police will investigate and if the investigation leads anywhere they’ll notify me and if it’s during this week I’ll want you involved.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked up and couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Thank you sir.” He said happily as they got up to the counter, Henshizo ordering a pork noodle bowl, Gang Orca ordering a shrimp noodle bowl. They took the bowls and sat down. “I’m sure when you were younger, you may have heard those around you mocking this aspect of hero work. Community appearances, speeches, that stuff.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, putting noodles in his mouth.

“Sometimes it is silly and the… jokes have validity to them. But it does a lot of underlying, not easily seen good. It helps show citizens that we’re just like them, it can help businesses and shops out, it can deter criminals or lift spirits of citizens, and most importantly it improves relations between the hero and the community they’re protecting which can be very beneficial. I’ve had dozens of cases that I’ve resolved thanks to tips from community. In fact this very noodle shop the owner has provided information on fighting, drug, and theft rings.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “My father would forbid everyone from discussing business in public places like this. A couple times people did, they didn’t after he punished them.” Henshizo said, his voice growing quieter as he went along with his sentence. “You didn’t testify or really cooperate against your father. If you want to be a hero why didn’t you?” Gang Orca asked seriously and Henshizo looked up at him. “Because the mountain of evidence they had against him, I wasn’t needed. Also stuff I know he did can’t be corroborated with any actual evidence so it would’ve been pointless. Plus… I want to get something from him.” He said quietly looking down into his bowl, causing Gang Orca to mildly tilt his head in confusion.

“What could he possibly have that you want?” Gang Orca asked confused and Henshizo played with his noodles. “He knows who my mom is. Everyone else who knew isn’t able to talk. So if I ever want to find her… I have to try and get the information from him.” He said sadly and Gang nodded his head slowly. “I see, but haven’t you considered just running your dna against missing persons and see if a match occurs?” He asked and Henshizo looked back up at him and nodded. “Yes, but with him I can’t be sure my mom was ever reported missing. And even if she is in the database, he’s the only one who knows what happened to her. So sure I might know, but at the same time I would then go from not knowing who she is and what happened, to knowing who she is but not knowing what happened, which is even worse to me.” He said looking back down, blinking rapidly to get rid of tears. “I’m sorry.” Gang Orca said quietly and Henshizo shook his head.

“It’s ok sir. But I appreciate you seeing why I didn’t fall out of grace with the prick.” He said quietly, clearly still upset. “Because of everything you’ve been through, your skills, and what you put on for people it’s easy to forget that you’re just a kid.” Gang Orca said calmly and Henshizo sighed and put some pork in his mouth. ‘For now I’m satisfied he’s not scheming something. Just a confused kid who’s trying his best with a crappy hand.’ Gang Orca thought looking at him. “When we’re done here we’re going back on patrol. Today we’re doing patrol together and tomorrow I want to see more of your fighting so it’ll be a training day for my agency.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Even though they may be called sidekicks don’t forget they are also pro heroes and you have to treat them with respect.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo again nodded. “I’ll treat them with respect, but just because I’m fifteen I hope they don’t underestimate me.” He said simply and Gang Orca smirked.

“I’ve trained them to not underestimate anyone, but it’s possible. Plus, I feel like you weren’t showing everything at the sports festival.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Well, I couldn’t exactly use my marksmanship skills very well there without sending the crowd into a panic, while also I just used items, I thought were appropriate.” He said shrugging and Gang Orca nodded. “How many items do you have at your disposal?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo shrugged. “Honestly I have no clue, it’s thousands but I’d have no hope of listing them all.” Henshizo said finishing his lunch. ‘I could list about 80% or so.’ Henshizo thought to himself and Gang Orca nodded and stood up. “Let’s go back out there.” He said firmly and Henshizo stood up nodding, and they left the noodle shop.

They patrolled for a hour and a half with no incident but then they heard a scream from a block ahead of them. Henshizo changed his shoes to his jet boots and dashed ahead, with them he had the speed advantage over the taller pro. He ran up and got through a gathering crowd and a woman was crumpled on the ground. “Some maniac hit her with his car and just kept going.” A man said as Gang Orca caught up. “What does the car look like?” He asked. “Sky blue, and it’s like a muscle car.” The man said and people nodded. “Yahata chase after it, I’ll call for back up and render first aid.” Gang Orca ordered and Henshizo nodded and began running again, weaving between cars. ‘I shouldn’t leave him alone, but she needs help and he can catch the car.’ Gang Orca thought as he called on his sidekicks to come and assist in the search.

Henshizo was rapidly looking around and after going through four intersections he looked to his right and saw the sky-blue car driving along and he went after it. He got close and it started speeding away again. “In pursuit of the car, right behind it.” Henshizo said into his communicator. “Just passed the Gojin bus stop.” He called out as he was thankful for the traffic meaning the car couldn’t go as fast as it wanted, but also worried about a massive accident. Henshizo reached into his pocket and pulled a marble out and began changing it into a grappling hook gun. ‘Come on.’ Henshizo thought frustrated waiting for the perfect time and the went to make a left turn and he smirked shooting the grappling hook into the side of the car and he reeled himself in and jumped up onto the car and making a power glove he punched down on the engine block, and the car hopped off it’s rear wheels and skid a bit before coming to a stop.

“Car stopped.” Henshizo said and the driver door opened and a teenager just a couple years older than him fell to the ground. Henshizo hopped off and changed the power glove to handcuffs and secured the teen. “Suspect detained.” He replied and after a few minuets Gang Orca came up with two sidekicks. “No collateral damage sir.” Henshizo said as he picked up the teenager. “You’re crazy!” The teen said as one of the side kicks came up and took him. “What happened? Gang Orca asked looking at the car. “I ran from the scene from the hit, looking around and I spotted the car, I started running up and he started driving faster trying to escape me. I used a grappling hook gun to get myself up and then I got on top of the car and used the power glove you saw me use to smash through the concrete at the sports festival on the car.” Henshizo said shrugging and Gang Orca nodded.

“Good work, let’s head back to the agency. I’m going to teach you the most exciting part of being a hero. Paperwork.” Gang Orca said and the side kick chuckled, and Henshizo nodded. “Sounds fine sir.” Henshizo said and the two left as the sidekicks waited for the police. “How’s the woman?” Henshizo asked looking up at Gang Orca. “Broken leg, dislocated shoulder, and probably a concussion, but she’ll live.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “That’s good at least.” He said as they walked along. “Our suspect was a little younger than I would’ve guessed.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo shrugged. “Anyone of any age can be capable of anything. Youth doesn’t mean lack of experience and age is no guarantee of wisdom.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

“Seems you have both.” He said smirking causing another shrug from Henshizo. “So five arrests, and a traffic accident requiring medical aid. How much paperwork is that?” He asked and Gang Orca chuckled. “Well thanks to you the damage was limited and only one medical report will be needed. So should only be about twenty pages. Don’t worry, about two-thirds is just fill in the blank stuff.” He said as Henshizo raised his eyebrows. “Oh wow, I can only imagine the paperwork from the USJ attack.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca chuckled. “Yes, fortunately for everyone involved there were so many pros that the paperwork would’ve been easy to get through.” He said and Henshizo nodded. They got back to the agency and went up to Gang Orca’s office, Henshizo letting out a low whistle at the massive fish tank.

“Nice office.” He said as they went to his desk. “Thanks, so this is what a report typically will look like.” He said sliding a finished report to Henshizo from across the desk, and Henshizo picked up the paper. “Guy broke into a sex shop and got stuck in the bondage gear?” Henshizo asked with an incredulous look and Gang Orca chuckled. “Yea, it happened a couple years ago, but I keep it in my desk as a laugh.” He said and Henshizo went over the report, more taking note on the layout of the paper than the actual content. “Right.” He said as Gang Orca pulled out blank reports and motioned for Henshizo to stand behind him so he could watch. “Police submit their own reports which will include biographical information on the people arrested. We fill out the events that occurred.” He said beginning to write everything from the drug arrest. Once he was done writing everything down Henshizo looked at it.

“Will you be writing the same thing for the other three?” He asked curiously. “Yes, even our talkative friend will have the same report.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo touched the paper and then he touched the other report papers and almost like magic the report Gang Orca had written appeared on the next three pages. “That’s a very beneficial use of your quirk.” Gang Orca said nodding in approval. “I do need you to sign on these lines.” He said pointing and Henshizo took his pen and signed where needed. Gang Orca filled out the hit and run paper and Henshizo signed off again. “Well, that concludes day one of your internship.” Gang Orca said standing up. “You didn’t drown, congratulations. But let’s see how you do in deeper waters tomorrow.” He said smirking and Henshizo stood up. “I look forward to it sir. Uh, where do I stay?” He asked and Gang Orca motioned to follow him and they went down a couple of floors.

“Agencies as big as mine often have living accommodations, even the most basic have sleeping accommodations.” He said as he opened a door and showed Henshizo what resembled a hotel room with a bed, desk, tv on a dresser and walk in bathroom. “Thank you sir.” He said nodding up at him. “I expect you down in the lobby at seven a.m. if you’re late there will be consequences.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “See you in the morning.” He said and he left, closing the door. Henshizo’s smile dropped and he pulled a marble out of his pocket and changed it to an object that looked like a remote and he pressed a button and began going around the room, checking for cameras or mics, something he did when he first arrived at his foster home.

Finding none Henshizo sat down on the bed and changed the device to a bottle of his lotion and put it on, ensuring a full recovery. He checked in with Sanae, just letting her know he was fine, showered, and laid in bed thinking of being here. He also couldn’t help but think of his conversation at lunch, and he let out a deep sigh of sadness. “I know you’re out there mom. I’ll find you.” He muttered before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Notes:

More Henshizo lore, giving explanations for why he does certain things. He's constantly play 4-d chess so everything he does serves something for him. And yep another decently long chapter. Sorry for the wait, life be busy.

Chapter 17: Fighting the Sidekicks

Summary:

Henshizo is asked to spar with some of the sidekicks in different types of combat as Gang Orca wants to see just how good Henshizo is. Does he impress or is he simply a wannabe?

Henshizo woke up a little before six and did his morning warmup routine, he got dressed in his costume and went down to the lobby at 6:40 where Gang Orca was already there. “Good, breakfast is there.” He said pointing at the reception desk where a tray of bagels sat. Henshizo went over and took one and ate it quickly. “We’re going to physically train in the morning, and then do combat training after lunch.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, once all the sidekicks were down and ate breakfast Gang Orca lead them to a very state of the art gym that had a swimming pool in the middle and a track on the outside. ‘Probably non-chlorinated.’ Henshizo thought glancing at it. “Sesshada, we don’t use quirks here, obviously I mean activating quirks.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Right guppies, twenty laps!” He shouted and everyone began going running around the track, which Henshizo guessed was the size of an indoor Olympic track, so they’d be running about 2.5 miles which would be no problem for him. After a little over twenty minuets they were panting, except a couple of sidekicks, Gang Orca, and Henshizo. “Sesshada with me, everyone pair up for weights.” Gang Orca ordered and they paired up and began lifting. “Do your sets first, since I’m stronger.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, not that he wasn’t weak, but in terms of pure natural strength he paled in comparison to the pro.

They did weights for over 2 hours and everyone was drenched in sweat. “Alright time for the finish you chum buckets.” Gang Orca said smirking and he took them over to a bunch of backpacks and tossed them at everyone, Henshizo getting the wind knocked out of him when he caught his. “Forty laps with these hundred-pound bags.” He said putting one on him and Henshizo strapped his on not showing any feeling of dread. They did this and surprising even Gang Orca Henshizo finished ahead of a few of his sidekicks, this time they were all panting and breathing heavily. “Hit the showers, rest, eat lunch, and then meet in the shark tank. Our training area one floor above.” Gang Orca said sternly, glancing at Henshizo for the last sentence. “Yes sir.” They all called out and they went to the locker room, Henshizo following behind them.

“Haven’t had that finisher in a while.” A side kick whose hair was a forest green said taking his costume off. “Yea, big fish was probably putting on a show for the intern.” One with pure black eyes and shark teeth said looking at Henshizo, who was taking his costume off and folding it up on the bench, since he didn’t have a locker. “Gang Orca does always have a soft spot for the kids who are complicated.” A third said and he was plain looking, and they all looked over as Henshizo took his last top layer off, showing them the dragon tattoo. “Complicated? I suppose that’s one word to describe me. Beats villain.” He said calmly as he walked to the showers and once he was in the sidekicks muttered. “A back tattoo like that? I’m not sure whether to feel sorry for him or to worry.” The plain looking one said and the black eyed one nodded. “No wonder big fish wanted him.” He muttered and they also went into the showers. Henshizo came out and put his costume back on, although he used his quirk to make a clean version of it and he went up to the lobby, where Gang Orca was at the front desk looking at the mail that had been delivered.

“Can I leave for lunch?” Henshizo asked walking up to him. “Yes, and keep your costume on. No quick changing or disguises.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, turned, and left to get lunch. He went to an Udon restaurant and got a to-go bowl, and noticed whispers from a couple of the patrons glancing at him as he waited for his order. The cashier handed him a bag and he left, ignoring the looks and whispers as always. He went back to the agency. “What time do you want us to report to the shark tank?” He asked Gang Orca who had just sent a guy with glasses out the door after taking a file from him. “One o’clock.” He said, looking down over the file. “Right sir.” Henshizo said going past him, glancing at the file and saw one of his father’s mug shots. Henshizo glanced away and went up to the lounge where some of the sidekicks were sitting, including the forest green hair one, the black eyed one, and the plain looking one. He set his Udon down at a table and took it out of the bag.

“That tat of yours, rite of passage right?” The black eye sidekick asked and Henshizo slurped his noodles. “You can call it that.” Henshizo said quietly, looking at his Udon and the plain looking sidekick shot a glare briefly at the black eye sidekick. “We won’t pry, we know you’ve been through some stuff.” The plain looking one said and Henshizo nodded, again slurping his noodles. “We watched you in the sports festival, have to say, your moves ain’t bad.” The black eyed one said smirking and Henshizo shrugged. “I need to train more.” He said simply, the sidekicks noting how he had his guard up. “You can relax here.” The forest green haired sidekick said and Henshizo simply ignored him. He finished his Udon and left the break room and went down to the training area, stretching out planning ahead in his head.

As it got closer to one o’clock the sidekicks began to arrive and lastly Gang Orca came in. “Sesshada, get in the ring.” He ordered, pointing at a boxing ring which Henshizo went into. “First I want to see you fight against someone, no quirks.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, while lightly smirking. “Tata. Get in there.” Gang Orca said and a side kick with a three-spiked purple haired mohawk nodded and walked over, getting into the ring. He was as tall as Henshizo and his costume displayed his toned physique. “Any rules?” Henshizo asked and Gang Orca rubbed his chin thinking. “Anything goes, so long as it’s not lethal or could cause permanent injury.” He said and Henshizo nodded and Tata smirked. “Let’s see what you can do against someone actually trained in fighting.” He said confidently in his ability, as Henshizo got into a fighting stance. “Begin!” Gang Orca said fiercely and the two began circling each other.

Tata shuffled close and went to grab Henshizo and Henshizo blocked his right arm with his right hand and punched Tata hard in the chest with his left hand, forcing him back, throwing in some flourish for the jeering sidekicks. Tata snarled and cleared his throat as Henshizo looked at him with a bored expression, while getting his legs in position. Tata charged at him and Henshizo jumped up with and thrust his knee forward, smashing it right into Tata’s face with a crack, he then grabbed Tata’s hair and slammed his head down into the ring. Henshizo put him in a headlock and raised his legs back to start kneeing the top of his head. “That’s enough!” Gang Orca called out and Henshizo let go, revealing Tata was unconscious on the mat.

“Damn, that didn’t take much.” The black eyed one said smirking. “Impressive work, your striking is acceptable, but your style is what got you the win.” Gang Orca said as Tata slowly woke up. Henshizo nodded and helped up Tata, who’s nose was broken. “Oh, here.” Henshizo said, snapping Tata’s nose back into place, causing him to scream out. “Tata, head to the clinic to get fully patched up.” Gang Orca said and he nodded, pinching his nose with one hand, and offered a fist bump to Henshizo with the other. Henshizo lightly fist bumped him and the injured sidekick left. “Right so you’re a decent fighter, but let’s see how you handle a pro using their quirk.” Gang Orca said pointing to an area of the room that resembled the fighting area from the sports festival.

Henshizo walked over to it, “Momo.” Gang Orca said and the jet-black eyed sidekick walked forward. “Same rules, nothing to cause permanent injury or death.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded as he had his hands in his pockets. “Begin!” Gang Orca shouted and Henshizo pulled them out but suddenly his vision went completely black. ‘So that’s his quirk, render someone temporarily blind. Very well, I’ll use it to my advantage.’ He thought as he kept a marble in his hand and began changing it and he listened as Momo came charging at him, and he rolled forward, to the side of Momo, placing a flashbang on the ground. Henshizo rolled away again, covering his ears and Momo turned around and got flashbanged, as did most of the other sidekicks.

“Gah!” Momo cried out in pain, clutching his eyes in pain and Henshizo’s vision came back to him. ‘Must work like Aizawa’s quirk.’ He thought as he quickly dashed forward, changing a marble in his other hand to a police baton and cracked Momo in the knee, dropping him down in height, and then delivered a spinning back elbow to his face, like Henshizo had to Kaminari at the sports festival and Momo fell back to the ground out cold. “Was a flashbang really necessary?” one of the sidekicks said rubbing his own eyes and Henshizo shrugged. “Needed to get my vision back, well didn’t need to but I prefer to be able to see.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca gave a slow clap. “I don’t think any first years could handle being blinded, but not only did you handle it, you turned the disadvantage into an advantage.” He said walking up lightly smirking. “Only someone who’s trained a lot could handle something like that.” Gang Orca said seriously and Henshizo shrugged.

“I was trained everyday by lots of people in different aspects of fighting. My mentor though, he taught me the most. Not just fighting techniques but how to strategize, analyze, and react” Henshizo said with a hint of pride for his mentor. “I see, he must have been a good teacher.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo chuckled and shrugged. “As much as a coerced person can be as one.”He said and Gang Orca nodded slowly. “Right, since you seem so good let’s see how you do against a different type of quirk. Hami.” Gang Orca barked out and the forest green haired sidekick came forward smiling. “Momo is one of my newest sidekicks, let’s see how you do against a more experienced fighter.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded as the two got into stances, Henshizo holding the marbles in his hands. “Begin!” Gang Orca shouted and Hami turned himself into a human tree and charged at Henshizo slashing at him with his branches with one hand and shooting a bunch of leaves at him with the other branch, which Henshizo dodged and saw lodge into the floor behind him.

‘Defense, offense, with a wide range.’ He thought as he continuously dodged Hami’s attacks, thinking of how to counter him noticing Hami was having trouble keeping up with his more rapid movements. ‘Speed it is.’ Henshizo thought, lunging backwards out of Hami’s reach and he turned his shoes into his jet boots and dashed at him. “Mistake kid.” Hami said and he sprouted leaves all over his branches and formed a wall in front of himself, Henshizo didn’t stop however, and he jumped over the wall, the boots propelling him over. Henshizo then delivered a spinning overhead heel kick to the top of Hami’s head and had made a long pipe that he used to wrap under Hami’s chin and flung him over, crashing him into the ground and not stopping the assault, hit the top of Hami’s head with the pipe like a golf swing and then jumped away as Hami tried to grab him.

“Not bad kid.” He said standing up and rubbing his head. “Too bad you can’t reuse your tricks.” He said and he sent more leaves at Henshizo who easily dodged them and changed the pipe as he was running, into a beanbag shotgun and started firing it at Hami who raised his arms up to block them. Henshizo smirked and tossed the shotgun up into the air, ever so slightly distracting Hami as he glanced up and Henshizo slid under the branches and leaves and grabbed both of Hami’s shoes and turned them into concrete blocks, encasing his feet in them and then he grabbed the rest of Hami’s costume and changed it into an iron tunic and catching the shotgun as it fell, just clubbed him in the back of the head as Hami struggled to move. Hami fell to the ground and Henshizo then leapt back as Hami expanded his arm branches and flailed them around to hit Henshizo.

“He hasn’t taken a single hit.” Tata said as he came back into the fold watching. “Yea, this kid is a damn good one.” A sidekick who had ocean blue eyes and lips said smiling. Hami tried pushing himself up, but Henshizo ran forward, jumping up high into the air, changing the shotgun to a line launcher and shot the ground right in front of Hami’s head, distracting him, and Henshizo used it to propel himself down, driving his foot into the back of Hami’s head, and that forced Hami’s face into the ground, knocking him out. Henshizo rolled away from him and everyone noticed some tiny cracks in the ground. “Sorry, the jet boots had me go fast.” Henshizo said changing his boots back to his normal shoes and Gang Orca smirked.

“Not a problem, he’s fine.” Gang Orca said as Hami stirred on the ground groaning. “Right everyone else get together and work on your weaknesses. Sesshada with me.” Gang Orca said and the sidekicks paired up. Henshizo stuck to Gang Orca. “You’re undeniably a strong student, but what would you say are some weaknesses?” He asked and Henshizo gave thought. “Speed of changing items can always need work.” He said calmly and thoughtfully. “Work on that then.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded pulling out a candy wrapper and began working on trying to improve his speed of changing items. “I’m going to show you another aspect of hero work tomorrow.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo raised an eyebrow. “We’ll be doing night patrol.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “So that’s why we’re taking today as a training day, so we can rest up and be up all night.” Henshizo muttered and Gang Orca nodded. “Good deduction.” He said smirking but couldn’t help but look at Henshizo a bit sadly.

‘How much training did he receive to be this good at almost everything?’ Gang Orca thought to himself sadly as he watched Henshizo change a knife to a pencil, and the pencil to a frying pan. They trained until five o’clock, Henshizo’s hands now blistering at slight overuse of his quirk. “Good work today, tomorrow night we have night patrol so rest up.” Gang Orca said seriously. “Yes sir!” they all called out and began heading out. Henshizo went up to his room and put the lotion on his hands and let out a long exhale, feeling his skin grow back. Gang Orca went up to his office and picked up his office phone, dialing a number and waited. “Gang Orca, is this about Sesshada?” The president of the hero public safety commission said in her monotone, but slightly inquisitive voice. “Yes. I’ve had many interns and he stands out from all of them.” He said and he could hear her nodding her head. “Is that a good type of standing out or bad type?” she asked keeping that same tone. “Good, he’s a natural fighter no matter the type of circumstance. Whoever trained him was excellent but his training has also stunted him. He always seems to be business oriented and he’s a kid who doesn’t seem to know how to have normal fun.” Gang Orca said seriously.

“But he doesn’t have any villainous inclinations?” The president asked, not caring about his suffering. “No, at most he’s just a bit more brutal with his attacks, but that’s it.” Gang Orca said and there was silence. “Brutal is acceptable, just keep monitoring him.” The president said hanging up and Gang Orca sighed, rubbing his temple. ‘Monitoring is all I can do, he hasn’t put all his cards on the table for me. Not even close.’ Gang Orca thought to himself, angry because he didn’t like not being completely honest to Henshizo, but the commission had given an order and he followed it. He brought up the lobby security camera stream and watched as Henshizo left, presumedly to get dinner. ‘Although, with him, how does one know if something is genuine?’ Gang Orca mused to himself.

Henshizo walked for a while, looking for a good takeout restaurant and found what he was looking for, a soba place that the takeout bags were brown. He went in and ordered tsukimi soba to go, and walking further up the street he walked into a more dilapidated part of the city, and stopped outside an apartment complex. Picking up a broken bottle from the ground, he changed it into a key and unlocked the door and went up the stairs, carrying his food in one arm, and he went outside apartment twenty-seven and unlocked it, walking in. The inside was dusty and it reeked. ‘Guess the landlord hasn’t cleaned the fridge out.’ Henshizo thought, setting his food down on a kitchen table. Henshizo walked into the bedroom, where a thick layer of dust covered the bed and he opened the closet. ‘Thanks for the fifteenth birthday gift father.’ Henshizo thought mockingly as he squatted down and revealed a hidden safe that he punched the code into, taking out several thousands of dollars in cash, and putting the money into his costume.

He also saw a gun and grabbed it, changing it into a marble and left it in the safe. He sighed and closed it up and left the apartment with his soba, walking back to the agency. Henshizo went back to his room and got the soba out of the cup, eating the egg first, and when he finished up he went over to his hero costume case and opened it up, and it was empty. Henshizo took the money out of his pockets and lined the case with all the money and closed it up. “Late night tomorrow. Let’s see what he’ll want to do.” Henshizo muttered and he left his room, going up to Gang Orca’s office level, knocking on the door to Gang Orca’s office. “Come in Sesshada.” Gang Orca called out and Henshizo walked in. ‘Must have a camera or two in the hall.’ Henshizo thought. “Sir, I know you want to do night patrol tomorrow, so what does the schedule look like?” Henshizo asked tilting his head slightly.

“Day will start at noon, so sleep in as much as you can. Oh, we’re going to be traveling a bit north for patrol. I’m taking you to Hosu.” He said and Henshizo’s eyes went wide at that. “I’m sure you know of the hero killer.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “He has a pattern, and he’s likely to strike again in Hosu.” Gang Orca continued and Henshizo nodded sadly. “He attacked the older brother of one of my classmates.” Henshizo said quietly. “That’s right, Ingenium’s younger brother is in your class.” Gang Orca said nodding. “Anyway I owe Ingenium for something so catching the villain who attacked him will be a good way to honor him. My sidekicks can watch this city for one night, Stain is a different animal.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “If that’s the case, why do you want me to come with you?” Henshizo asked curiously.

“Two reasons; one, you’re my work study and you’re under my care.” He said raising a finger and emphasizing the ‘my.’ “Two, you may just be able to help get into his head or just pick something up most heroes can’t.” He said in a tone that was clearly trying to be nice about Henshizo’s past. “Right sir.” He nodded and turned to leave. “We’ll drive to Hosu, it’s only about forty-five minuets, we’ll leave here at seven tomorrow evening.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo glanced back and nodded. “Yes sir.” He nodded and left the office going back to his room.

‘May as well stay up late so I can sleep and get just a bit prepared.’ He thought to himself, taking his costume off, going down to his underwear, and began doing some calisthenics in his room. ‘The hero killer, Stain. A fundamentalist nutjob that my father wanted nothing to do with. Crazy people like him, never stop.’ Henshizo thought as he was doing push-ups. ‘Doesn’t matter, he needs to be stopped like all other villains.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he continued to workout in his room. He eventually showered and went to bed at two in the morning, getting ready for night patrol in Hosu.

Notes:

May be wondering why Henshizo is so powerful. First he's my oc of course I'll make him powerful. Second, in terms of canon logic, as previously mentioned he was trained by knuckleduster and in this chapter he says he was heavily trained by others as well. He's been trained longer than some of these sidekicks have been pros. So yea, any comments and feedback is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 18: Hosu Incident

Summary:

Henshizo and Gang Orca travel to Hosu city and all hell breaks loose. How does Henshizo handle the chaos and what does he do in the face of evil?

Henshizo woke up just past ten o’clock, got dressed, and went down to the lobby where Gang Orca was already at. “Hope you’re well rested, it’s going to be a long day.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll be fine. So, you’re after Stain.” He said looking blank faced at Gang Orca who nodded. “Like I said, he helped me a few years ago and now I want to help him by bringing the man who attacked him to justice.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Something to do with those instant villains five or so years ago?” Henshizo asked and Gang Orca smirked. “No, but I’m impressed you know about that.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo shrugged. “Not shockingly my father had his finger in it. Not directly dealing in the crap, but supplied one of the key ingredients.” He said glancing to the side sadly and angrily, Gang Orca noting it easily pieced together that Henshizo had been the one to make that ingredient. “Why do you want to be a hero?” Gang Orca asked him and Henshizo looked up, a bit surprised at the question, before closing his eyes sighing. “For most of my life I was used to further my father’s interests and his interests were peddling misery and death for money and power. Hell, I was born because he wanted a heir to maintain power. So I’m partially responsible for countless people suffering.” Henshizo said, his tone going from sad to angry to sad acceptance. Gang Orca reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re not responsible for anything. It’s all his fault.” Gang Orca said causing Henshizo to sigh. ‘No, I have my own share.’ Henshizo thought, flexing his back subconsciously. “I want to save people and end people’s suffering, while making those who cause suffering face the justice they deserve.” Henshizo said determinedly, looking up at Gang Orca who nodded. “Good. Now do some light training throughout the day so you’re ready to go tonight.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, walking off to go to the weight room and began jogging around the track. After that was lunch, he then lightly sparred with Tata to work on his kick boxing, and continued to stay loose and then went out for dinner with Gang Orca. “After dinner we’ll drive to Hosu. I’ve already contacted the authorities to let them know we’re coming. Apparently not the only big name coming to Hosu tonight.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo glanced up curiously. “Who else will be in town? Are they also tracking Stain?” He asked curiously. “Endeavor will be in Hosu, and knowing him yes. So long as Stain is captured, we’ll all be happy.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked away, hiding his mild anger that Endeavor would be in town. “That makes two of my classmates who will be in Hosu.” He said quietly. “Endeavor’s son, the boy who beat you in the semi-finals, and Ingenium’s brother. Quite the collection of students.” Gang Orca said mildly amused.

“Yet I’m the only one with a codename.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Really? Neither of them chose one?” Gang Orca asked curiously. “Yea, Todoroki chose Shoto, and Iida went with Tenya.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Interesting, it’s not unheard of but it’s fairly uncommon for heroes to use their names.” Gang Orca said as the two went into an oden restaurant and they order 2 cups of chicken oden and sat at a table. “Any insight for Stain?” Gang Orca asked quietly and Henshizo let out a long breath. “He’s mission oriented and his mission is seemingly impossible to truly end, so he won’t stop. People like him are often self-reliant and won’t need help or resources. As demonstrated by his use bladed weapons which are easy enough to source himself. Plus, the few photos we have, it seems his costume is homemade.” Henshizo said thoughtfully and Gang Orca nodded. “Well done, and what about where he could strike?” Gang Orca asked as a waiter brought their food over. “It’s either been night or in alleyways. And he hasn’t struck since Ingenium, including today so far. So, he’ll be striking soon, but in the cities he's struck it’s been different neighborhoods all over so it’s hard to say where he’ll strike in Hosu.” Henshizo said picking up his spoon and began eating.

“That’s not half-bad, we’ll just be trying to cast as wide of a net as possible in Hosu. So, let’s eat quickly and get there.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded as they ate quickly. They left and Gang Orca took them to his car, a specially modified SUV to deal with his size and eye placement. They drove the forty minuets into Hosu and parked outside of the police station. “Right, night patrol. Nights are always more chaotic. Villains use the darkness to aid them in varying ways, then you have the normal night shenanigans of drunken morons and other stuff.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “We used nights to do a lot of business, so I know how bad nights can be.” Henshizo said, briefly clenching and unclenching his fingers. They walked around for about an hour so it was dark completely now, and about a kilometer over to their right a huge explosion happened and they looked and saw the orange glow of flames and a large plume of black smoke.

“Yahata, let’s go.” Gang Orca said and they began running towards it when Henshizo felt his phone buzz and quickly pulled it out and saw Midoriya had sent his location in the class group chat. ‘What’s he doing in Hosu? He wasn’t coming here.’ Henshizo thought. “Sir.” Henshizo called out and Gang Orca looked at him. “One of my classmates just sent his location to the class, and he’s here in Hosu, only he didn’t come to Hosu. Knowing Midoriya something is off.” Henshizo said showing Gang Orca the phone and Gang Orca narrowed his eyes. “Go check on your classmate, it does seem odd timing. You have my permission to do what you think is necessary.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded as they ran past a corner and they saw the source of the chaos. Three Nomu looking monsters were causing destruction and Henshizo watched as a hero was dragged away by two others, clearly badly injured. One of the Nomu was a big black one, one had wings and looked like a pterodactyl, and one was like a snake that had spikes all along its body. “Sir, those are like the monster from the USJ.” Henshizo said, a very rare hint of panic in his voice. “Get out of here now, go to your classmate, I’ll handle this.” Gang Orca said taking his jacket off and began going towards them.

Henshizo nodded and he began running away, towards where Midoriya had said his location was, glancing up and down from his phone he saw the glow of flames down an alleyway and he grabbed a marble from his pocket and he changed it into a suppressed pistol and rounded the corner, and saw Iida on the ground bleeding, Midoriya sitting against a wall, a pro hero he didn’t recognize, Todoroki using his flames, and a man who had to be stain jumping back from Todoroki. Henshizo raised his gun up and shot a sword that the hero killer was trying to grab and the bullet broke the sword; Todoroki, Midoriya, and Stain looking at the new arrival. “I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t think it’d be this wrong. What the hell have you guys gotten into.” He said walking up aiming his gun at Stain. “Sesshada? Why are you here?” Iida said straining his voice. “Gang Orca wanted to come here to catch the Hero Killer. I don’t need to ask why you’re like that. You were a dumbass who wanted revenge.” Henshizo said, causing Stain to smirk. “Another child wanting to play hero, but using a gun tells me you can’t fight well.” He said and he pulled another sword from his back and began dashing at them and Todoroki put up ice to stop him.

“You think you can get Iida and the pro out of here?” Todoroki asked as Henshizo was trying to line up a shot. “Maybe, but Midoriya is stuck too.” Henshizo said as he tried to assess Stain. “Don’t the hero killer is mine. I am Ingenium, his fight is with me. I have to stop him.” Iida said as Stain dodged both Todoroki’s ice and Henshizo shot, by deflecting it with ice. “Strange, the Ingenium I knew never had that look on his face.” Todoroki said as Henshizo shot stain in the foot, but the bullet bounced, but it messed with his trajectory. “Killer doesn’t suit you Iida, I know that look well and trust me, you wouldn’t be able to handle it.” Henshizo said as Todoroki warmed his flames up, but Stain threw two knives into Todoroki’s arm and Henshizo changed his shoes to metal boots to protect them from knives as well. “Not bad kids, but he’s not good.” Stain said trying to drop down and kill the pro hero, but Midoriya got up and tackled Stain away.

“I can move now! Not sure how.” Midoriya said and Henshizo changed the gun to a lead pipe, ‘Last thing I need is a ricochet to hit someone.’ He thought. “So there’s a time limit?” Todoroki said in a confused tone. “No he should’ve been last.” The pro said and Henshizo took this time to make duct tape and crudely used to on the pros and Iida’s wounds. “Old yakuza trick, it’ll help for the time.” He said as Todoroki used ice to give Midoriya separation from Stain. “Yakuza?” The pro asked, but was grateful to have the bleeding helped a little. “His quirk may be less effective the more people it’s used on, the amount of blood may be a factor, or it can be blood type.” Midoriya said and Stain smirked. “You figured it out. Impressive.” Stain said smiling and Henshizo didn’t like how Stain was looking in the eyes. “Careful, he’s getting frantic. And yes, the pro I’m interning with knows where I am so he’ll be coming soon enough.” Henshizo said and could see the spark of frenzy get louder in Stain’s eyes.

“Sesshada can you try to take these two out of here?” Todoroki asked and Henshizo nodded and grabbed Native and Iida as Todoroki shot flames at Stain, but Stain easily dodged them and jumped over the two, using a machete to ward Midoriya off and went towards Henshizo. “These fakes must be purged!” He cried out and Henshizo brought the pipe up and blocked the sword, and then pushed back, causing Stain to leap back and then used Todoroki’s ice to evade their attacks. “Nice move kid.” The pro muttered. “Doesn’t seem he’ll let us take you, that’s fine. We’ll beat him.” Henshizo said standing up and glaring at Stain. “Because protecting people from suffering is what heroes do.” He said as he changed a bit of Todoroki’s ice, he picked up from the ground, into a tranquilizer gun. “We need to hold him off until pros arrive, avoid close combat.” Todoroki said. “You’ve lost too much blood, Sesshada and I will distract him, you provide support to us.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded.

“Three on one? This is going to be difficult.” Stain said as Henshizo changed his shoes to his jet boots, as he and Midoriya rushed forward, Henshizo firing the tranquilizer gun at him, but Stain dodged. Midoriya jumped around and tried punching him, but Stain dodged him too. He tried to slash Midoriya but leapt back to avoid flames from Todoroki and Henshizo dashed towards him and the sword and pipe met again as the two stared intensely at each other. Henshizo getting that feeling he hadn’t felt in about a year, he was in the presence of a cold-blooded killer. Midoriya tried to come at Stain again, but Stain twisted and Midoriya crashed into Henshizo, but before Stain could take advantage, he had to jump away to avoid ice.

Stain the leapt towards the two and the two dodged, but Stain nicked Mirdoriya’s shin and licked the blade, paralyzing him again. “Get away from him!” Henshizo shouted and the two began sword fighting, Henshizo using the pipe. “Now this is unexpected a hero trained in the ways of killing with swords.” Stain said as Henshizo dodged a slash. “Shut it you lunatic, swordsmanship can be used in anyway good or bad. I’m using my skill to help people.” Henshizo growled as he tried to jab Stain with the pipe, but Stain leapt up and used the pipe as a stepping stone and flipped over Henshizo. “You got some skill kid, I’ll give you that.” Stain called out and Henshizo changed his costume to chainmail armor and felt the sword bounce off it and Stain growled annoyed. “Sesshada!” Midoriya cried out and Henshizo spun around with the pipe, but Stain was already running towards Todoroki, and with the extra weight of the chainmail armor Henshizo’s speed was reduced.

“Todoroki!” Henshizo and Midoriya cried out as Stain got under his flames, raising his sword to cut Todoroki’s arm off. “Recipro boost!” Iida shouted as he stood up and he dashed forward and kicked the sword before it hit Todoroki so hard it snapped in half, he then spun and went for a kick, which Stain blocked and was pushed back by the force, Henshizo went over and he changed the tranquilizer gun to duct tape again and wrapped Midoriya’s leg wound quickly. “Midoriya, Todoroki, Sesshada, I apologize for you guys getting caught up in this.” Iida said as Henshizo straightened up changing back into his costume. “Not this again.” Midoriya said annoyed. “It’s not that, I’m ok. But I refuse to have more people spill blood on my behalf.” Iida said. “Don’t pretend what you aren’t, people don’t change in a few minutes. You’ll always be someone who prioritizes their own selfish desires. You’re what’s wrong with society and an example of a fake hero who must be culled.” Stain said glaring.

“I always loved hearing serial killers justify their actions with some deluded sense of right.” Henshizo said glaring at Stain. “Ignore him Iida, he’s a fundamentalist lunatic.” Todoroki said seriously. “No, he’s not wrong. Right now I don’t deserve to call myself a hero. But if I give up now the name Ingenium will die with me.” Iida said and Stain growled. “Pathetic.” Stain yelled out and began hopping around dodging flames as Henshizo dashed in and Stain had to contort himself into an awkward position to dodge the pipe and Henshizo dodged his machete attack. “Todoroki can you freeze my leg without covering my exhaust?” Iida asked. “I should be able to.” Todorki said. “Why won’t you stay down?” Stain cried out and he threw knives at Todoroki and Iida, Iida trying to get in front of them, but Henshizo threw the pipe like an ax and knocked both out of the air, he picked up a larger bit of ice and made another pipe, at Todoroki drove Stain back with flames.

Stain was using the wall to dodge Todoroki’s flames and Todoroki bent down and froze Iida’s leg to cool it down. Iida glared at Stain and Midoriya stood up and the two used the superior speed to jump up and boosted themselves towards Stain who got distracted by Midoriya again. Midoriya landed a powerful punch to his jaw and Iida kicked stain hard in the ribs. Iida used his engines to dodge an attack from Stain and kicked him again, further into the air. “I want in on the ass kicking.” Henshizo called out, and using the jet boots he leapt up, cracking Stain upside the head with the pipe while also grabbing Iida and Midoriya to land them safely as Todoroki burned Stain with his flames and then created an ice wall that Henshizo slid down, setting the two other boys down gently.

“Get ready.” Todoroki said, but they looked up and Stain was caught in the ice not moving. “He’s gotta be knocked out after all that right?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo nodded. “Let’s restrain him then, Sesshada can you make something?” Todoroki asked and Henshizo gave him a ‘of course I can’ look and changed the pipe in his hand to handcuffs. “We also need to search him carefully and take away all his weapons. Guys like this always have a trick or two up their sleeves.” Henshizo said and Todoroki nodded. Todoroki got Stain down, melting the ice and the three, minus Iida, began searching him. “Guy must have either stolen all these or made a blade salesman very happy.” Henshizo muttered, checking his wrists and finding a knife hidden and taking it out. Once they were done Henshizo placed the handcuffs on him tight.

“Thanks for the tape job Sesshada.” Midoriya said gimping over to help the hero up. “Are you alright Native?” Midoriya asked the pro. ‘Right the American Indian hero.’ Henshizo thought as Native put Midoriya on his back. “I’m all good thanks to you guys. Just let me do this to help.” He said smiling. Henshizo made some tourniquets and put them tightly on Iida and Todoroki before grabbing the handcuffs of Stain. “I can carry him.” Iida said and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “With what healthy arms?” Henshizo asked dragging Stain along the ground to the street. “Also Midoriya, since when the hell can you move like that without breaking yourself?” Henshizo called out as they walked out of the alleyway. “It’s a long story.” Midoriya said as they walked down the alley way. “I should apologize, I’m supposed to be the pro, but I was useless.” Native said. “Don’t worry, I don’t think many people could take him on one on one. Not with that quirk of his.” Midoriya said. “We were barely able to hold our own, and that’s because he was frantic and forgot of Midoriya’s recovery time.” Todoroki said and Henshizo let out a sharp exhale.

“Mission oriented people like him tend to get tunnel vision when their goal is threatened. As more time went on the chance of more pros showing increased, so he wanted to finish what he started.” Henshizo said and Todoroki nodded. They made their way to the sidewalk and Henshizo loosened his grip on Stain. “We need to call the cops.” Todoroki said. “Yea, but there’s another issue. I saw four Nomu like things going crazy.” Henshizo said. “Nomu?” Native asked confused. “I thought I told you to stay on the bullet train!” A voice from across the street yelled out and they saw a short old hero who suddenly jetted at them. “Gran Torino I-” Midoriya began but he was cut off with a boot to his face from the old man. “You need to follow instructions and listen to others.” The old man, Gran Torino, said fuming. “You’re right. I’m sorry sir.” Midoriya said bowing his head. ‘I’ve never heard of this guy, but then again he’s older than my father.’ Henshizo thought.

“Midoriya who is this?” Todoroki asked curiously. “Gran Torino, the pro I’m interning with.” He said calmly. “This way!” They heard a voice call out and several pros came running up. “We were told by Endeavor and Gang Orca to come here to help.” A guy who looked like a pencil eraser said. “They’re wounded, call for an ambulance.” A guy in a full-face mask said, as a woman looked down and gasped. “Is that the hero killer?” She asked and most of the pros stared in shock. “Yea. If you guys could contact police and paramedics that’d be great.” Henshizo said snapping the pros out of it. “So Endeavor and Gang Orca are still dealing with the Nomus?” Todoroki asked. “Yea. None of us were strong enough to deal with them.” The woman said as Iida got behind his classmates, as Native set Midoriya down, and he bowed to them.

“Midoriya, Todoroki, you two were injured trying to save me. I apologize. I let my anger get the best of me and it blinded me to everything else.” He said, his voice strained as he was trying not to cry. “I’m sorry too, I’m supposed to be your friend, but I couldn’t see how much you were suffering.” Midoriya said sadly too. “Get yourself together man, you’re the class rep.” Todoroki said and Henshizo tapped his finger on the pipe in his hand. “Iida, we knew becoming pros would entail getting hurt to protect others.” He said calmly and Iida nodded. “Right, thanks guys.” He said straightening up and everyone stood around briefly. “Get down!” Gran Torino shouted, and they all looked up and saw the winged Nomu flying at them and it dived down, grabbing both Midoriya and Stain. “Midoriya!” Todoroki, Iida and Henshizo called out. “It’s wounded, it may be trying to flee.” The woman called out as blood fell onto them. ‘Wounded? So, it can be stopped.’ Henshizo thought and he made the pipe in his hand into a sniper rifle, with a suppressor and raised it up.

“Are you serious? Don’t!” One of the pros shouted and tried to knock it out of his hands but Henshizo lined up the scope, feeling thankful that the Nomu was flying in a straight trajectory, and Henshizo pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the Nomu’s head and it fell to the ground, Stain and Midoriya landing on its stomach, so they weren’t that damaged by the fall. Henshizo lowered the rifle and then the fully masked pro grabbed him and pushed him against the car. “You killed that…” He said but he couldn’t put a label on Nomu. “Tell me that thing is human.” Henshizo said calmly and the pro let Henshizo go. “What are you all doing standing around?” A voice called out, they looked and saw Endeavor and Gang Orca come running up as they saw Stain standing up and Henshizo saw him dislocate his thumbs and freed himself from the hand cuffs. “The villain should have come this way.” Endeavor said and he looked down the street and saw Stain straightening up, Gang Orca came over to stand by Henshizo and everyone else.

“The hero killer? Perfect.” Endeavor said starting to make a fireball. “Todoroki wait!” Gran Torino called out and Stain turned, his face mask falling to the ground, showing he had no nose. “You false heroes.” Stain said and he took a step towards them and the absolute madness in his face sent a wave of intimidation over everyone. “I’ll make this right. These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites. Hero! I will reclaim that title. Come on, just try and stop me you fakes. Only one man can kill me. He’s a true hero, All Might is worthy!” Stain cried out and everyone was freaking out to varying degrees. Stain suddenly grew rigid. “He’s out cold.” Endeavor said breaking the silence as people stared. Henshizo changed the gun in his hand into a marble and pocketed it. “You take care of the Nomus?” Henshizo asked Gang Orca quietly, and Gang Orca nodded. After a bit police and paramedics came around the corner, the cops securing Stain and the dead Nomu, while paramedics tended to Todoroki, Iida, and Midoriya.

“This is going to be complicated.” Gang Orca said quietly as the heroes started giving reports. “I’m sorry sir, I had no idea I’d run into Stain.” Henshizo said quietly bowing his head, and then looked up with worry in his eyes. “Are the Nomus human?” He asked and Gang Orca glanced over at the corpse. “A friend of mine in the police force said that a more accurate description of them would be flesh robots. They can’t think on their own.” Gang Orca and Henshizo let out a huge sigh of relief. “So, you shot it?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo nodded. “It grabbed Midoriya and Stain and was flying away. No one could do anything, and it was the only thing I could think of. It’s the only way I saw. I couldn’t let the Nomu escape, not with hostages.” Henshizo said as a cop stood silently behind them taking notes, letting Gang Orca handle it. “You feared for their lives, right?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo nodded quickly. “Best case would be they just dropped somewhere and survive; worst case was that it could’ve taken them to the league of villains.” He said quietly, rapidly clenching and unclenching his fingers.

Gang Orca glanced at the officer who nodded and walked away. “I have to apologize Sesshada, when you needed me most, I wasn’t here to protect and help you.” He said and Henshizo looked up confused. “Sir, there was no way either of us could’ve known. You had to help with those Nomu and stop them.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca lightly smiled. “Manual, the hero who has your one classmate, has offered his agency to sleep at. We need to stay here while the police sort everything out. I imagine complications.” He said sadly and Henshizo nodded. “You’re ok right?” Gang Orca asked as Henshizo had been continuously flexing his fingers. “Yea. I’m fine sir.” He said shaking his head and looking up. “Right, let’s go.” Gang Orca said and the two walked off as his classmates were all taken in ambulances. “I’ll come see you guys!” Henshizo called out raising a hand and they nodded. They met up with Manual and he guided them to his office.

“This is a nightmare.” He said as he took his helmet off. “I’m sure we’re going to have to explain ourselves and our intern’s actions.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo felt ashamed and sat down with his head hung. “I’m sorry.” He muttered again and Gang Orca walked over. “It’s not you, it’s the procedure. You don’t have a license, so you’re extremely limited as to what you can do. I’m just glad I gave you authorization before you ran off, it makes things just slightly easier.” Gang Orca said sighing and Henshizo looked up confused. “I’ll trust you sir.” Henshizo said and Manual came over. “How’d you escape Stain with no injuries?” He asked curiously and Henshizo looked away and Gang Orca turned to Manual. “Yahata’s quirk is extremely versatile, and he probably has outfits he can change into to defend himself quickly. He’s also already highly skilled in a variety of fighting styles.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Well alright, at least one less kid isn’t in the hospital.” Manual said smiling.

“Thank you Yahata.” Manual said going over to in front of Henshizo and bowing deeply, surprising Henshizo. “You helped protect Tenya. I am very grateful for that.” He said and Henshizo rubbed his neck. “It was just me trying to do what was right. Besides, I think he’s changing his name.” He said quietly and Manual looked up curiously. “Let me guess, Ingenium.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and Manual smiled. “Good for him. Well we should rest up, um I don’t think I have anything that accommodate your weight, my apologies.” He said sweating and smiling lightly at Gang Orca. “It’s ok, a mat will be fine.” He said and Manual nodded and went off to get one. “What are we doing tomorrow?” Henshizo asked looking up and Gang Orca sighed. “Incidents like this between the Nomu and Stain, the police are going to be investigating heavily. So, we’ll likely be spending a lot of time at the police station.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo put a hand to neck. “O-ok.” He muttered.

“Everything ok?” Gang Orca asked concerned. “Just the last time I was inter- asked questions at a police station was the night of the raid that my father was arrested.” Henshizo muttered and Gang Orca nodded slowly. “So just a bit of memories coming back.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “I won’t get in trouble for killing the Nomu right?” Henshizo asked, clearly worried and Gang Orca placed a hand on his shoulder. “No, you saved two people’s lives by doing it, and like I said they’re something this country has never seen before so you’ll be fine. If it makes you feel any better Endeavor killed one too.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded as it did make him feel better a bit. “You must be a pretty good marksman to have made the shot.” Gang Orca said smiling lightly and Henshizo nodded. “I’m fairly good yes.” Henshizo said underplaying his ability.

“Anyway, try and get some sleep tonight.” Gang Orca said as Manual came back in with a mat. “You did good Sesshada, for what it’s worth I’m proud of you.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo smiled briefly as he went over to the couch and lay down on it. “Thanks sir.” Henshizo said and the three fell asleep quickly, their adrenalin wearing off. “Will you shut up Tsudzu.” Henshizo growled at a guy in an all-black suit with pink tie. “Sorry sir.” Tsudzu said as they walked along the warehouse. Henshizo glanced at his phone again, staring at the text from his father. ‘Hope you beat that boss.’ Which of course was code for his father ordering him to kill. They walked through a door and a hole was in the ground. “Oh hell n-” Tsudzu started to say but Henshizo shot him in the back of the head and his body dropped down and fell into the hole. Henshizo sat up on the couch breathing rapidly and sweating.

“Sesshada? Are you ok?” Gang Orca asked looking up at him sleepily from the floor and Henshizo looked at him and after recovering. “Bad dream.” He said quietly, which wasn’t a lie. “Understandable, you went through a lot. Just rest, you’re ok.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and lay back down. He felt tears slide down the sides of his face and he wiped them away before he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes again, falling back into a restless slumber.

Notes:

Another long one, and Henshizo's impact on the main story continues. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that killing the Nomu triggered Henshizo hardcore. Nice mix of both Henshizo lore and canon goodness. Hope you enjoyed, kudos and comments appreciated!

Chapter 19: Hosu fallout

Summary:

After the flames have been extinguished, Henshizo and everyone else deals with the fallout and consequences of the Hosu incident. Does Henshizo face repercussions for killing the Nomu? How do others treat him after all that happened? What's next for Henshizo after his fateful encounter?

Henshizo woke up just after six in the morning and he began looking around and happily saw a coffee machine and made himself a cup. He quickly drank it, as Gang Orca came up to him. “Are you ok?” He asked as Manual came in and also made himself a cup of coffee. “Yea. Just a lot happened.” Henshizo said quietly and Gang Orca nodded. “We’ll pick up breakfast on the way to the station.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and the three left Manual’s agency walking in silence to the police station. A tall man who had the head of a beagle was standing at the front desk. “Manual always good seeing you. Gang Orca, it’s an honor to meet you, just wish it wasn’t under these rough circumstances.” He said shaking the pros hands. “Agreed, we’ll fully cooperate Chief Tsuragamae.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo stared up blankly at the police chief, who turned to look at Henshizo. “Sesshada right? You were involved in taking down Stain and you killed that flying Nomu.” He said and the two stared at each other giving nothing away. The silence was palpable before Gang Orca cleared his throat. “We should start this soon. I’m sure Manual wants to check on his intern and Sesshada wants to see his friends.” Gang Orca said and the police chief nodded. “Of course, Manual detective Intyu will see you, Gang Orca and Sesshada come with me please.” The chief said and Henshizo crossed his arms. “Yahata.” He said firmly. “Pardon?” The chief asked looking down. “Yahata is his code name. If you’re going to address me by mine, it’s only courteous to do the same for him.” Gang Orca said and the chief nodded.

“Follow me.” He said and they walked into the station and into a conference room, the chief sitting at the head of the table, while Gang Orca and Henshizo sat next to each other. “So, I’ll be asking about the Nomus first. Gang Orca you, Gran Torino, and Endeavor were the pros that took down most of the Nomus.” He said glancing at Henshizo. “Yes, Yahata and I were on patrol, we heard an explosion and saw flames and rushed to the scene. When we got there, Yahata informed me on what they were and I engaged in combat with the black one and the snake like one. I used my hypersonic waves right against the snake Nomu and the waves scrambled it so much it was paralyzed and was paralyzed still when it was hauled away. Endeavor incinerated the head of the black one as it had a strong regeneration quirk of some kind.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo picked his head up.

“The Nomu at the USJ could also regenerate, but the flying one didn’t seem to be able to. It was wounded and bleeding fairly bad when it snatched Stain and Deku, it seems the color of Nomu is an indicator of how strong they are.” Henshizo said and the chief nodded. “After all Nomu, except the flying one, were defeated Endeavor and I chased after it, finding it to be dead, with Stain standing up and, Deku was it? And Deku laying on the ground.” Gang Orca said and once again the chief nodded and he turned to Henshizo. “And now can you tell me about your events leading up to encountering Stain?” He asked calmly and Henshizo chewed his tongue for a moment. “This is just an after-incident report, correct?” He asked and the chief nodded, “This isn’t an interrogation, don’t worry.” The chief said calmly and Henshizo nodded.

“Right, so as Gang Orca said, we heard an explosion and started going towards it and as we were on route my phone received a message from Midoriya, Deku, and he had only sent his location.” Henshizo said, pulling his phone out and showing the message to the chief. “I knew that only Iida had chosen an internship in Hosu, and beforehand Gang Orca told me Endeavor would be in Hosu, meaning my other classmate, Todoroki, would be in Hosu. Midoriya, however, shouldn’t have been and I just had a feeling something was off, since I know Midoriya well enough to know this was unusual behavior from him. I showed Gang Orca the message and expressed my concern for Midoriya.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca sat up straight as he wanted to speak.

“After Yahata informed me of this and assessing the situation, I determined that he should go and check the location. Due to the rapid nature of everything, an unknown situation would complicate things and Yahata feared for his friend’s safety. I granted him permission to do what he thought he had to. Neither of us had any idea Midoriya had encountered Stain.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “You granted permission?” The Chief asked Gang Orca who nodded firmly. “Since we already had rampaging Nomu in the city and the possibility of Stain being around any corner, I didn’t want to limit Yahata’s ability to defend himself or others.” Gang Orca said and the chief slowly nodded and then turned back to Henshizo. “Please continue Yahata.” The chief said and Henshizo nodded.

“I rushed to the location and when I approached I saw flames and readied myself by making a pistol.” Henshizo said, awkwardly shifting in his seat and the chief didn’t bat an eye. “I got into the alley way and saw Todoroki engaging the hero killer in combat. Iida, Midoriya, and Native were all paralyzed because of Stain’s quirk and Stain had thrown a sword into the air, so to take a weapon out of the field of play, I shot it out of the air, breaking it.” Henshizo said and both the Chief and Gang Orca were mildly surprised by his marksmanship. “After that Todoroki and I fought Stain by ourselves for a bit, then Midoriya was able to rejoin and during this time I applied crude first aid to Native and Iida.” Henshizo said and the Chief nodded. “Yes, duct tape. Native stated you said an old yakuza trick.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “It’s true, and it’s also used by military forces to render field aid in a pinch.” Henshizo said calmly and Gang Orca lightly smirked so the chief couldn’t see.

“Midoriya and I engaged in close combat with Stain as Todoroki supported us from the rear with his quirk. Stain paralyzed Midoriya again and I had to briefly change my costume into chainmail armor to prevent his sword from hurting me.” He said and Gang Orca looked at him. “What were you using as a weapon?” The chief asked curiously. “I primarily was using a pipe and engaged in what could be called a crude sword fight with Stain. I also tried using a tranquilizer gun, but between his speed and skill I couldn’t land a hit.” Henshizo said as he played tapped his finger lightly on the table. “Stain got behind me and made for Todoroki and at this time Iida got up and stopped his attack. Stain was going crazy as he needed to complete his mission and was running out of time. He got sloppy, which allowed Iida and Midoriya to land hits, and then I hit him in the head with my pipe, Todoroki burned him and then captured him in ice. I gave more first aid and made handcuffs to restrain Stain, after taking all his weapons from him, took him to the street and that’s when the pros showed up.” Henshizo said and the Chief put his hands together nodding slowly. “It was all out of defense of either ourselves or others.” Henshizo said calmly and the Chief again nodded.

“And tell me about the Nomu.” He said and Henshizo bit his lip nervously. “After Gran Torino and the other pros showed up the flying Nomu came around the corner and grabbed Midoriya and Stain and started flying away, bleeding, and no one was doing anything or could do anything, so in order to save my friend, and I guess Stain but that can also be seen as stopping Stain from escaping.” Henshizo said, again causing a light smirk from Gang Orca. “I made a sniper rifle and easily hit the shot that killed the Nomu.” He said and the chief nodded and held up a hand to stop Henshizo. “So you feared for the safety of two people and this was the only way you saw you could save them.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Anything else would’ve been too slow or too risky to Deku and Stain or others. From my experience with the Nomu at the USJ I was acting under the belief that Nomu are more like wild animals than people.” Henshizo said and the silence filled the room.

“Your assessment isn’t wrong, but it’s not right.” The chief said and Henshizo’s face paled. “When it was reported it were Nomu, the safety commission sent over their information on the one from the USJ. USJ are bio-engineered humans, designed so they can have multiple quirks.” The chief said and Henshizo started breathing rapidly, but the chief held up a hand. “Nomu are created from the corpses of people, and then they become living things, but aren’t able to think at all.” He said and Henshizo calmed down, but went even paler. “Someone made those things?” He asked and even Gang Orca shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Apparently so, but considering the behavior demonstrated by them and their, the government has classified them as non-human. So, you won’t be facing charges for killing it.” The chief said and Henshizo let out a huge sigh of relief. “However, you could still face reprimand for using your quirk to harm someone.” The Chief said sternly and Henshizo grew anxious again and Gang Orca glared lightly but the Chief raised a hand. “If I put in my report that it was students who took down Stain, sure you all would be applauded by everyone, but we can’t have people using their quirks improperly no matter the circumstances. But, if I say Endeavor and you Gang Orca, took down Stain. Then, the students need not be mentioned more than needed.” He said shrugging and Henshizo instantly calmed down and smirked.

“Now this almost seems like my old life, making deals to get out of trouble.” He said chuckling and raising his hands. “I’m fine with not getting my name put in the papers. I’m already infamous enough.” He said shrugging and Gang Orca nodded. “I’m ok with that.” He said and the chief smiled. “I’m glad you two understand. Gang Orca, you will be contacted in connection to Yahata’s actions. But it won’t be too bad.” The chief said and Gang Orca sighed and nodded. “No, don’t punish him for my actions.” Henshizo said standing up looking at the Chief. “It’s ok Sesshada, I failed you like I said, I have to own it.” Gang Orca said calmly and Henshizo looked at him upset for a bit and then nodded. “Now that everything is taken care of, let’s go to the hospital and see how everyone else is doing.” The chief said standing up and the three walked out to the lobby where Manual and Gran Torino were there as well.

“Time to check on the rookies?” Gran Torino asked getting off the bench and the Chief nodded. “Are they ok?” Henshizo asked worried for his friends, he had to call them that after they fought the most notorious serial killer Japan had seen in decades. “Nothing truly permanent, still waiting on test results for the speedster.” Gran Torino said as they walked out. “Ok.” Henshizo said quietly as they walked to the hospital. They walked in and walked to a hospital room that had two police officers outside of it, and they saluted the chief. Gran Torino opened the door and walked in with Manual. “The trouble makers are all awake.” Gran Torino said and Henshizo went in as well. “Gran Torino.” Midoriya said and Henshizo saw his arm and leg wrapped up. “Manual.” Iida said sadly and he had both his arms wrapped up and in slings, but Henshizo was happy to see them awake.

“Sesshada, are you ok?’ Todoroki asked and he had one arm wrapped and a bandage on his face. “Yea.” Henshizo said nodding and he went over and leaned against the wall. “I could chew you out for hours.” Gran Torino said walking up to Midoriya, who bowed his head in shame. “But before that the Chief of Police wants to have a word.” He said and the Chief walked in, almost grazing the doorframe. Iida and Todoroki stood up and Midoriya tried to but the Chief raised his hand. “Please stay seated, I know you’re injured and have had it rough.” He said and he said rough like a dog barking. “So, you are the other three who stopped the hero killer, I’ve already talked to your friend.” He said, gesturing to Henshizo who nodded, crossing his arms.

“Speaking of Stain, he’s pretty beat up; broken bones, burns, and is being treated for them right now.” He said scratching his nose. “Which is a problem, you all aren’t authorized to use your quirks to harm others.” He said and Henshizo saw their concern grow on their faces, and suspected the riot act was about to be given. “We have laws in place to protect everyone from improper quirk usage, from the quirk user, the target of the user, and the bystanders in the area. You all aren’t qualified to use your quirks like you did, not only that, you three acted without permission or ignored orders from those that are.” The chief said fiercely, and now Henshizo realized why Gang Orca granted him permission. “And you can face severe punishments for your actions. You four and the four pros in charge of you.” He said and Todoroki got angry. “Now hold on. If it weren’t for Iida Native would be dead, and Midoriya saved Iida’s life. Would you rather have had them die in that alley?” Todoroki said and Henshizo walked forward and put a hand on Todoroki’s shoulder. “Calm down man.” He said giving a nod of assurance. “Oh so just because it ended well this time, you think that gives people the right to crazy and throw the rules out the window?” The Chief asked tilting his head. “We’re heroes, saving people is what we do.” Todorki said firmly and the Chief chuckled. “Relax, let him finish.” Gran Torino said raising a hand and Henshizo nodded again to tell them it’d be ok.

“Of course that’s if you all are formally reported. Sure the people would think you did the right thing, but the government would be forced to reprimand you. But if we officially say Endeavor and Gang Orca took down the hero killer, his injuries would support that, and with very few eyewitnesses we can keep it that way. Yes, you won’t get the recognition you deserve but you also can continue your journey as heroes.” The chief said and the three nodded in agreement. “I know it’s not fair, but it’s what’s best for everyone.” The chief said putting his hands to his side and then lightly bowing. “But on behalf of Hosu and everyone, I’d like to thank you for what you did.” He said to them and Todoroki relaxed at last. “You could’ve just started with that.” He grumbled and Henshizo smirked.

“We’ll have to take responsibility too.” Manual said and Iida saddened and walked up to him and bowed. “I deeply apologize for all the trouble I’ve caused.” Iida said and Manual gave him a light chop to the head, but was smiling. “Yea sure did cause trouble.” He said happily. “We’ll let you rest up, and do what you have to do.” The chief said and the three turned to leave. “Can you let Gang Orca know I’ll be out in a bit?” Henshizo asked and Manual gave a thumbs up, and it was just the students in the room. “You knew.” Todoroki said to Henshizo who nodded. “I went to the station this morning so Gang Orca and I could give our recounts of everything and he explained then. He kinda had to since I did something you guys didn’t.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck. “That’s right, the Nomu.” Iida said and Henshizo sighed.

“Thank you Sesshada, if it weren’t for you, I don’t know what could’ve happened to me.” Midoriya said and Henshizo chuckled. “Well I couldn’t have you be flown away.” He said shrugging. “Sesshada, you had mentioned that killing wouldn’t be good for me, but you were able to kill the Nomu. I realize now just how much you must have seen growing up.” Iida said and Henshizo had momentarily filled with panic, but then nodded. “Yea, growing up I knew plenty of killers, my father included.” Henshizo said quietly and looking down. “I’m a little disappointed people won’t know, but I’m just glad we’re all alive and we stopped Stain.” Midoriya said smiling and they all nodded as Henshizo looked at his pocket watch. “If you guys need anything let me know and also keep me in the loop with how you guys are recovering.” He said and they nodded. “Oh yea, welcome to my world.” Henshizo said chuckling and holding his arms out. “The world where you cut deals with police to avoid getting into trouble.” He said laughing at the irony.

“Huh, when you put it like that, he was treating us like villain slightly.” Todoroki said annoyed and Henshizo chuckled. “Eh who cares? No harm, no foul. And trust me, they didn’t treat us like villains at all.” Henshizo said waiving a dismissive hand. “I suppose you would know best.” Midoriya said scratching at his bandage. “Yep. Gang Orca and I are going to head back. Even though we’ve given reports, he has to write things up. I’ll see you guys back at UA.” Henshizo said walking backwards to the door. “Good luck Sesshada, and stay safe.” Iida said and Henshizo nodded. “Thank you again.” Midoriya said smiling and Henshizo nodded back and left waving goodbye. Gang Orca came up to him. “Are they doing alright?” He asked and Henshizo nodded. “Iida sustained the worst injuries but they’ll be fine.” He said looking up and Gang Orca nodded. “I have the car out front, and just so you know of my punishment, I’ll only be getting paid half of what I would for my involvement in the incident.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked down at the ground. “Sorry.” He said and Gang Orca smacked the back of his head. “You think I care about the money? No, I’m just glad you’re ok. I’m also proud of you guppy.” He said as Henshizo rubbed his head.

“Ow. Thanks.” Henshizo said looking up at him while rubbing the spot he hit him. “How much paper work are we looking at?” Henshizo asked as they got to his car. “A lot, lots of destruction and casualties from the Nomus and Stain.” Gang Orca said sighing as he started the car up. They drove in silence for a bit until Henshizo’s phone rang, he took it out of his pocket and it was Sanae. “My foster mom.” He said to Gang Orca, who nodded and Henshizo answered it. “Hello Sanae.” He said before he had to pull the phone away from his ear. “Are you ok?! Goji showed me a video of Stain’s arrest and I saw you were there. Are you hurt?” She yelled out of concern and Henshizo slowly put the phone back to his ear as Gang Orca chuckled.

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine, my classmates are going to be ok too.” Henshizo said calmly and Sanae let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, I can’t imagine what I’d do if something happened to you.” She said and Henshizo felt a slight pang in his heart. “Well, you don’t have to worry Endeavor and Gang Orca handled him.” He said, already sticking to the story. “Ok, just please be careful ok.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Don’t worry, I will be.” He said blinking a few times to get tears out of his eyes. “Ok, sorry for calling you.” She said slightly happy, slightly embarrassed. “It’s ok, we’re driving out of Hosu right now. And you said Goji sent you a video? Can you have him send it to me or could you send it?” He asked curiously.

“Yea. He found it online, I’ll tell him you want to see.” She said and Henshizo leaned back in his seat. “Thanks Sanae, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll take care of myself.” He said and he heard a soft sigh. “Ok, see you in a few days.” She said and Henshizo could hear the creak of the chair in the living room as she sat down. “See you soon, bye.” Henshizo said, hanging up and glancing at Gang Orca. “Someone recorded the takedown of Stain, I’m not sure how much it shows.” He said and Gang Orca nodded. “Watch it and we’ll see if damage control needs to be done.” He said and Henshizo nodded as his phone pinged with Goji sending him the video. Henshizo loaded it up and instantly sighed. “Good news, it’s from after I killed the Nomu, so nothing to contradict the story.” He said and Gang Orca sighed as well. “Good.” He said and Henshizo watched the whole thing and then went down into the comments.

“Uh oh.” He said quietly. “What is it?” Gang Orca asked seriously. “It’s nothing to do with us, but there are a lot of people in the comments saying Stain has good points.” He said still scrolling reading more. “Sadly, in the society we live in it’s impossible to stop the flow of information like this.” He said and Henshizo went to the news about the Hosu incident. “Huh.” He said looking a photo of Shigaraki and Kurogiri on top of a water tower. “Not that I needed confirmation, but the news picked footage of the two league of villains members that escaped the USJ attack. Shigaraki and Kurogiri if I remember correctly. Not shocking considering Nomus made an appearance. Those things seem to be the League’s calling cards.” He said beginning to clench and unclench one hand looking at the photo.

“It does seem that way, do you think Stain and the League were working together?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “I doubt it, Stain doesn’t strike me as someone who works with others too much. That and Stain actually admires All Might and Shigaraki wants to kill him.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca nodded. “Can’t rule it out, but I believe your intuition, you’re one of the very few people who have interacted with both of them.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo chuckled. “Lucky me, I’m a villain magnet.” He said rolling his eyes and Gang Orca glanced at him. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” He said and Henshizo gave a dismissive wave. “Nah, it’s fine. Can’t do anything about it but laugh.” He said and Gang Orca nodded. They rode back in silence the rest of the way and got back to the agency. “We’re going to fill out formal reports and I expect I’ll have to give a press conference.” Gang Orca said as they walked in.

“If it’s ok with you sir, I’m going to sit out of the press conference if that happens. Don’t need me on camera and possibly have people think things.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca nodded. “Didn’t expect you to be. Besides, you have something to do.” He said and Henshizo was confused as Gang Orca pointed to two large stacks of files on the front desk. “Missing person cases that fit the timeframe and criteria for your mom.” Gang Orca and Henshizo was stunned. “I know you don’t want to know, but at the same time I can tell it hurts you. And it’s a hero’s duty to help those in pain.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo walked up and looked at the stacks as the plain looking sidekick came walking up smiling.

“We pulled missing woman cases from fifteen to eighteen years ago that are still unsolved. We then ruled out ones that evidence ruled out her as a possible match. As you can see there’s sadly a lot.” He said and Henshizo nodded and closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Thank you, guys.” He said looking at them as rested a hand on the files. “I suppose if I give a DNA sample it’d have made your jobs easier.” He said and the sidekick chuckled. “Oh, we already did that after we narrowed it down to this many.” He said and Henshizo looked at him confused. “I took your toothbrush.” The sidekick said rubbing his neck and Henshizo was glad he had hidden things. “And?” Henshizo asked and the sidekick walked up and took a folder out from a drawer in the desk.

“Here, if you don’t want to know that’s fine. But DNA confirms that this woman is your mom.” He said holding the folder out and holding it in a way the name was hidden. Henshizo stared at it and his hands started shaking horribly and Gang Orca came up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to take it.” Gang Orca said quietly, but Henshizo shook his head and grabbed the folder and read the name ‘Giji Sozo’. He opened it and a photo of a beautiful young woman with jet black hair stared up at him. He went over to a chair and sat down and read through the file. “Kidnapped from the grand opening of one of her family’s many luxury clothes boutiques. Police never had any good suspects. No ransom demands. Only a pair of tire tracks and an eyewitness saying a suv with blacked out windows leaving the scene at the time for evidence.” Henshizo muttered rapidly. “My father was probably drawn to her beauty, and that her quirk wasn’t something she could use to escape or fight back.” Henshizo said looking at Giji’s personal information; her quirk, material touch, let her know how something she touched was made and what materials it was made of. “An object quirk plus my father’s quirk of being able to create any poison or venom from his skin. I can see how they blended for mine.” Henshizo said as Gang Orca was looking over his shoulder.

“Sadly, I can see why the police never came close to solving it. There was no connection between the two and his motive is one that’s impossible to narrow down anyone.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “He also wouldn’t have done it himself.” Henshizo said sighing as he looked at the DNA comparison and he was satisfied that Giji Sozo was his mom. He closed the folder and set it on the table in front of him and put his face into his hands, tears silently flowing. “Take all the time you need.” Gang Orca said placing a hand on Henshizo’s back and giving him a pat and Henshizo nodded as he sniffed. He looked back down at the folder and picked it up. “I’ll be in my room, is that ok?” He asked Gang Orca looking up, his eyes still brimmed with tears. “Of course, just come up to my office at some point, I’ll be in it for a while.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded, standing up and then going to the elevator up to where his room was.

“So, he helped take down Stain?” The sidekick asked Gang Orca walking up and Gang Orca lightly nodded. “His whole class is full of talent; I’ll be looking forward to seeing them grow.” Gang Orca said smiling as he glanced at the stacks of folders. “Did you have to print them all out?” He asked in an exasperated tone. “I like visual aids.” The sidekick said, as he let out steam from his nose and floated all the folders over to the trash and dumped them in. “Besides, they’re full of old papers that aren’t actually cases.” He said and Gang Orca shook his head. “So theatrical.” He muttered as he got into the elevator. Henshizo opened up his laptop after taking it out of his backpack and set it on the desk in his room. “May as well look her family up.” Henshizo muttered and took out the personal information paper from the folder and went to a government website that had publicly accessible records.

“Giji Sozo, a twin sister and parents.” He muttered and looked at his maternal grandparents on the website, both his grandparents’ parents were dead, had been for seven years. “Heads of Sozo family killed in helicopter crash.” He muttered, vaguely remembering seeing the news of it when he had been eight. “Sorry grandma and grandpa.” He said sadly and then he looked at his Aunt. “Buttai Sozo, still alive so at least I have an aunt, but what the fuck do I say?” He muttered, clicking on her profile. “She’s married and she married… Are you fucking kidding me?!” He said standing up in shock so fast his chair fell to the floor.

Notes:

Who did his Aunt marry to illicit such shock from Henshizo? Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, a bit longer than I initially thought it'd be. I like using Henshizo to point out hypocrisies and unique ways of looking at things, such as the deal struck with everyone. Thanks for reading, kudos and comments appreciated.

Chapter 20: Family Matters

Summary:

Who did Henshizo's mom marry to illicit a reaction like that? How does the meeting with his dad go? What else happens during his internship?

Henshizo stared incredulously and in shock as he saw who his Aunt, Buttai Sozo, had married Okane Yaoyorozu, and the two of them had had a single daughter, Momo Yaoyorozu. “I-I I’m cousins with Yaoyorozu?!” He said in pure shock, his hands shaking. “What the fuck do I do?” Henshizo muttered as he picked up his chair and sat down, putting his head in his hands. “Why did I want to know? This is why, because now I know this and I don’t want to burden them, but at the same time I want to be with my family.” He muttered staring at the names on his screen. Henshizo double checked all the information and it was correct, and he sat there in silence unsure of what to do.

“Damn it.” Henshizo muttered, clenching his fists; because he still had questions and now he needed an answer to the biggest one, was his mom alive. He stood up, left his room, and went up to Gang Orca’s office, knocking before entering. Gang Orca was at his desk writing reports and looked up. “I take it you learned something.” Gang Orca said seeing the look on Henshizo’s face. “I need to see my father.” Henshizo said stone faced and Gang Orca set his pen down and put his hands together. “To ask him something?” He asked and Henshizo nodded.

“I have a family, but I don’t want to blow up their lives without knowing if she’s alive or dead.” Henshizo said lowering his head as Gang Orca slowly nodded. “I’ll inquire, but to get in to Tartarus to see your father is not going to be easy. Even if you can, there’s a very low likelihood he’d tell you.” Gang Orca said seriously and Henshizo clutched his fists. “Let me worry about that, if there’s anyone that knows his mind it’s me.” He said looking up with cold determination in his eyes. “If the authorities need convincing not only, would I assume he’ll let something slip, but.” Henshizo taps his head. “I have some secrets locked up in here they’d be interested in.” He said and Gang Orca narrowed his eyes.

“I see, I’ll let them know.” Gang Orca said and he turned to his computer and began typing up an email. “Thank you sir.” Henshizo said bowing deeply and leaving his office. Gang Orca watched him leave and finished up his email. ‘Sesshada wants to meet his father and will, just as predicted, exchange information, but I’m urging you; don’t try to manipulate him. He’s cunning and if he even thinks he’s getting played I worry about the consequences. Let me know when the meeting can take place.’ He glared at it, and sent it to the president of the public safety commission, which she read and lightly smirked.

Henshizo went back down to his room and poured over the case file and began thinking of his own route. ‘He wouldn’t dispose of her if she died. He’d have had someone do it.’ Henshizo thought pacing back and forth. ‘So his cleanup guys were Kurin, Kanri, and Inaku. Kanri got killed 2 years ago, Kurin’s locked up, but Inaku… he was always around. He was one my dad’s few confidants, if anyone would know, it’d be him. And he’s still on the run.’ Henshizo thought darkly, smirking lightly. Henshizo went down to the gym and went over to the heavy bag and began hitting it and doing some fighting movements for an hour. Gang Orca had finished up his reports when he got an email back from the president of the commission. ‘He can go to Tartarus tomorrow; you must accompany him. It’s been arranged.’ The email said and Gang Orca stood up and saw Henshizo in the gym on his security cameras. “I hope you can still deal with devils.” Gang Orca muttered and walked out of his office, going down to the gym.

“Good news Sesshada, if you want, we can go to Tartarus tomorrow.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo’s eyes narrowed in confusion and suspicion, but Gang Orca couldn’t see as Henshizo had his back to Gang Orca. “You must have good friends to arrange something like this so fast.” Henshizo said still punching the bag. “The authorities are intrigued with what you have to say and see no harm in allowing this.” Gang Orca said, able to tell Henshizo was on alert. ‘His instinct is to mistrust and survive. I don’t know if the commission is counting on it or underestimating it.’ Gang Orca thought to himself. “I don’t care how, I’m just glad it’s happening.” He said punching the bag with a series of jabs. “Very well, now clean up we’re going on patrol. With Stain’s capture we may have to worry about an uptick in activity. Villains love using big events like his arrest to cause chaos.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and then went to the locker room, cleaned up, and met Gang Orca in the lobby.

“It’ll be a shorter than usual patrol. If we’re going to Tartarus, it’ll be a far enough travel we need to leave here early in the morning.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “I apologize for diverting you from hero work.” Henshizo said as they walked out of the agency. “Don’t apologize, this is perfectly fine, you helped me and besides he’s now going to be facing charges for her kidnapping. Any information you get out of him will be a bonus.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded as they walked along. “Great job taking down the hero killer!” Someone called out and Gang Orca raised a hand. “Taking credit for something I didn’t do leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.” He muttered to Henshizo.

“Who cares who gets the credit? What matters is that Stain is locked up. I imagine he’ll wind up in Tartarus too.” Henshizo said giving a sharp nose exhale at the irony of his father and Stain winding up in Tartarus together. “Yes, and he’ll likely be facing execution.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo made a noise of disagreement. “Do that and he becomes a martyr to his cause. But it’ll be a while anyway.” Henshizo said seriously and Gang Orca nodded as they walked around on patrol. After an hour and a half, they had had no action and Gang Orca huffed. “I’m surprised, but then again since Hosu is so close the police are on heavy patrol which has probably limited their abilities.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Dinner and then back to the agency, we have an early start tomorrow.” He said and Henshizo looked around at their options. “The yakitori place looks good.” Henshizo said pointing it out. “Very well.” Gang Orca said and they went to it and Gang Orca had to order a dozen skewers while Henshizo only had four.

They ate and some people came up congratulating Gang Orca still and the two played along to support the story. They went back to the agency after finishing and Henshizo pulled the pocket watch from his costume. “How far from here to Tartarus?” He asked curiously. “We’ll be taking the train from here to the city that Tartarus is off the coast from, which is two and half hours by train. I’ve arranged transport from the station to the prison itself. So, we’re looking at almost seven hours complete trip, so I want to leave here at six.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “I’m off to bed then, see you in the morning.” He said pocketing the watch. “Goodnight.” Gang Orca said and the two went off separately, Henshizo going up to his room. He looked at the case file and took the photo of his mom out of it and looked at it, filled with sadness. “I don’t know what I want, but I know I have a very awkward conversation with my classmate soon.” He talked to it and set it down before going to shower and then just went to bed.

Henshizo woke up at five and instantly jumped out of bed and got dressed. He went over to the case file and gave it one last look over and then went down to the lobby, sitting down as he had beaten Gang Orca to the lobby. He closed his eyes as he began mentally preparing himself for seeing his father. “Already down here? Very well, let’s go.” Gang Orca’s voice rang out and Henshizo stood up and Gang Orca walked up to him with a muffin. “Here, can’t do this on an empty stomach.” He said and Henshizo nodded, eating it as they walked out and walked to the train station, which was empty since it was so early in the morning. “You can rest or do anything you need to on the train ride.” Gang Orca said as they stood on the platform waiting. “Thank you, sir. Sir, if possible, can I at least start out alone with him?” Henshizo asked and Gang Orca nodded. “You know him better than anyone so you can come up with the plan of attack.” Gang Orca said as the train pulled into the station.

“Thanks.” Henshizo said as they got on and sat down, Henshizo settling into his seat and closing his eyes. The train ride was silent between them, Henshizo thinking of all possible ways of getting what he wanted and what to do. After over two hours they arrived at their stop and got off. “We have to drive the rest, also an early warning. Tartarus is an intimidating structure and we’ll be searched thoroughly. It’s also possible that they’ll have additional measures for you.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Because I’m his son and my quirk.” He said in a bored tone. “Yes.” Gang Orca said as they got to a booth and a man handed Gang Orca a set of car keys, and then they walked to the parking lot. “I won’t do anything to help him, I just need to be able to use my quirk. I have multiple plans.” Henshizo said as they found the car they had been given. “We’ll have to see if they’ll allow it.” Gang Orca said as he got in and Henshizo rolled his eyes as he got in.

They began driving and Henshizo was anxiously playing the chain of his pocket watch, Gang Orca noticed it and glanced at him. “Are you going to be ok?” He asked and Henshizo looked up and nodded lightly. “Yea, seeing him I’m fine with. I guess it’s now that I’m anxious about not getting information about my mom. Now that I know her, now that I know I have a family.” He said quietly. ‘All the bravado, but he’s still a kid, at least he still has some of his innocence.’ Gang Orca thought as they drove along. They drove in silence, and after a little bit they saw Tartarus and Henshizo couldn’t help but get a little pale. The pure metal structure at the end of a five-kilometer bridge was the most ominous building he had ever seen. They drove along the bridge and pulled into the parking lot, Henshizo got out and the sea breeze was blowing his hair to the side as they walked up. “Through here, and no items allowed in the visiting room.” A guard said pointing to a bin and Henshizo took all the excess items out of his pockets, the guard not being able to stop his head from tilting seeing all the candy wrappers and marbles. “Don’t throw them away.” Henshizo said quietly. The guard lead them down the metal halls and Henshizo felt the cold and depravity in this prison.

‘Tartarus, the maximum-security prison where the government throws away the most dangerous villains. Dictator, Kunieda, Stain at some point, that former hero chick, all of them here. And dear old dad is here.’ Henshizo thought to himself as they went through another large metal set of doors. “Do not tell him any events that are occurring in the outside world, we will be monitoring and recording the entire conversation, you have a set time limit and we’ll notify you when you’re almost done. He is secured and can’t don’t anything with his quirk.” The guard explained as they went into an elevator and went down two floors. “Got it.” Henshizo muttered. “I’ll be outside the visiting room, this needs to be one on one to try and get what we want.” Gang Orca said and the guard nodded, since he was under orders from the commission to allow it. They got outside visiting room and the guard went into a separate room, Henshizo let out a long breath. “I’ll be out here, just don’t let him get to you.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and he walked in and sat down at the chair, staring at metal shutters, which slowly raised up and on the other side was his dad, who smiled seeing him.

“About time you came to visit me, I was bored.” He said, his white hair still spiked up and green eyes piercing into Henshizo’s own. “Well it’s not like I could come right away, between bureaucratic bullshit and getting things sorted, this was the earliest I could come.” Henshizo said, as the guard opened the door and let Gang Orca come in to watch. “I suppose it can’t be helped, so how’s school?” Dokuon asked and the guards looked at each other. “Code probably.” One said and Gang Orca crossed his arms. “He doesn’t know Yahata is a hero student, he didn’t have to change his costume for this meeting. So, for now Yahata is letting him think he’s taken over.” Gang Orca said, smiling at his mentee’s cunning. “It’s alright, rough start due to chaos, but I’ve got everything sorted now. I’m doing well in science.” He said shrugging. “I’m pleased to hear that, I assume you were put into foster system, are you with a good family?” He asked and the guard reached for the microphone button, but Gang Orca stopped him.

“Eh, some old couple that’s just doing it for the money. Leave me alone.” He said raising his arms in indifference. “But I think you’ll be pleased to hear that my grades have gone up in the past three months, better than before. I’ve made a couple friends, so I’m getting happier.” Henshizo said smiling briefly. “That’s really good, it’s good to have friends.” Dokuon said smiling. “Yea, it’s hard because teachers don’t like me, but I haven’t caused them any trouble.” Henshizo shrugged. “It’s clear what the code is, but still impressive.” One of the guards said. “Despite their low status in the underworld, yakuza are really good at surviving and knowing how to tow the line to not let us classify them as villains. Dokuon got greedy and made moves that finally let us get evidence against him.” Gang Orca muttered. “Good, be smart and keep up the hard work.” Dokuon said smiling and nodding. “I will. Father, I have a request.” Henshizo said shuffling in his seat. “Yes?” Dokuon asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Even though I have friends, I don’t have family to lean on right now.” Henshizo said slightly lowering his head. “And having some form of stability will help the teachers know that I’m going to be good. A temporary home gives the impression of not being tied down, but with an actual family, I’m more connected.” Henshizo said and Dokuon was nodding slowly. “I know you’re the only family member alive on your side, but my mom may have family or she could even work.” He said looking at Dokuon. “If you want me to continue to do well in school after causing all this, I want to know who my mom is and what happened.” Henshizo said firmly and Dokuon frowned slightly. “Why do you insist on asking about her? After she gave birth to you…” He glanced up at the camera. “She unfortunately got hooked on drugs, and I don’t know what happened to her.” He said and Henshizo glared. “Oh come on, she makes you your golden heir and you don’t know what happened to her?” Henshizo said annoyed and Dokuon shrugged. ‘Bastard used her as a test subject on the drugs they were making.’ Henshizo thought angrily, clutching his fists.

“Well it’s the truth.” Dokuon said blankly and Henshizo glared more. “Don’t I matter to you?” Henshizo asked darkly. “Of course, you’re my son.” Dokuon on said and Henshizo noted just the feintest hit of an upset tone, and knew now was the time. He stood up angrily and glared at his father. “Want to know a secret dad?” Henshizo asked in a mocking tone and Dokuon narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?” He hissed at Henshizo. Henshizo smirked and using his quirk and he changed his costume into his UA uniform, and was happy to see his father’s eyes flare with anger. “I wasn’t lying when I said school was going well. I’m doing very well at UA.” He said nonchalantly and Dokuon bared his teeth in anger. “You son of a bitch!” He shouted in pure anger and Henshizo glared at him. “No, I’m the son of a devil. Who forced me to do many things against my will.” Henshizo spat back at him. “I’m free of you, now tell me what I want to know!” He shouted back angrily.

“I should’ve known. You were always weak.” Dokuon growled and Henshizo glared right back. “I’m not weak, you’re the weak one. Didn’t even have the balls to kidnap her yourself, right? And I bet you couldn’t even get it up to make me.” Henshizo said smirking and Dokuon began spitting in rage. “I am not weak, you fucking piece of shit!” He shouted back and the guards again went to press a button but Gang Orca stopped them. “Just a couple more minutes.” Gang Orca said and they nodded. “Oh yes, using a woman you kidnapped to give birth to an heir, as a guinea pig for drugs is so strong.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes. “You’re damn right, once I got a son I could care less, so we used her to test shit and man did she get fucked up good. She would be unrecognizable now. If you found her, which I doubt.” Dokuon said angrily. “What did you do with her?!” Henshizo shouted back. “We dumped her ass on the side of the road three months after you were born. I hope she died there, like the piece of trash she was!” Dokuon shouted and Henshizo smiled.

“Got it.” He said smiling and he walked to the doors to leave. “See you never father, have fun rotting in hell.” He said as the two stared with pure hatred between them. “You’ll never be a hero. All you’ve done, it’s who you are. Soon enough you’ll wind up in a cell beside me here.” Dokuon said angrily and Henshizo flipped him off before walking out the door. Gang Orca came out of the observation room. “Well, it was unorthodox but you got what you wanted.” He said as Henshizo changed back into his costume. “I knew I had to first build him up and then knock him down quickly.” He muttered as the two began walking out. “You have anything to live up to your end of the deal?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo glanced at him and then looked up at the camera. “A shell company my father used is called Hebi Armor, he used it for the weapons front.” Henshizo said bluntly and they left.

“Are you ok?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo nodded, although his constant clenching and unclenching of his fists suggested otherwise. “I realize you’ve probably done a lot of illegal activities, but don’t worry about your father causing you any issues.” Gang Orca said as they walked along with a guard behind them, Gang Orca thinking back to the phone call he had had this morning before leaving the office. “It’s likely the elder Sesshada will implicate Henshizo in crimes, possibly even murders. We don’t care. As far as we’re concerned Dokuon Sesshada is responsible, for Henshizo’s actions. We don’t want Henshizo going to any other side other than the heroic one.” The president said and Gang Orca was drumming his fingers on his desk. “So you’re saying ignore my intern potentially being a murderer?” He asked and the President sighed. “You said it yourself, he’s a victim of his father. Besides, any of Henshizo’s victims would’ve been killed anyway. Just trust us.” The president said hanging up and Gang Orca sighed.

They walked out of the prison, after getting their items back, and Henshizo looked up at him. “Would it be possible to look up if any unidentified women were found on a road between February and May fifteen years ago? He said three months after and I want to give a time frame for… if her remains were found.” Henshizo said trailing off at the end sadly. “That’ll be easy, I’ll have one of my sidekicks look it up.” Gang Orca said pulling his phone out and messaging his sidekicks to do it. “Thank you, for everything sir.” Henshizo said bowing deeply, and Gang Orca patted his back. “It’s not a problem, I’m happy to help you. It’ll help you grow as a hero, but more importantly a person once this is solved.” He said and Henshizo nodded and they got back into the car. “Plus seeing you piss off your father like that was amusing.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo chuckled. “I know, it was amusing to see him writhe.” Henshizo said chuckling as they began driving across the bridge again. Henshizo pulled a wrapper and changed it into the photo of Giji from the case file. “My dad was always fascinated with drugs. He would often experiment using random people, typically rivals we had captured. Some of the shit would change them, their appearances, we suspected it could’ve altered their DNA.” He said angrily, as this had happened to his mom. “That would certainly explain why if she was found she wasn’t identified.” Gang Orca said sadly.

“Yea, and I moved around so much when I was a kid, I have no idea where she could be. I’ll say the mainland, but other than that I have no clue.” He said annoyed as he leaned back and looked out the window. “Right, well a silver lining is that I doubt there’re many cases that meet the criteria. And I went ahead and told them to just do a whole year from your birth.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Good call, can’t hurt.” Henshizo said sighing as he looked at his mom still. They drove back in silence and walked to the train in silence. “When we get back, if you want, we can go on patrol.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “I have today and tomorrow, I have to make the most of it to get better.” He said and Gang Orca smirked as they got onto the train. “Very well, Tata has found a trigger distribution hub, we can take it down when we get back.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo’s eyes lit up.

“Sounds good.” He said as they sat down and began the train ride back. “Trigger sucks to make, need lots of chemicals and someone who knows how to mix them together without blowing the lab to pieces.” Henshizo said crossing his arms. “But damn is it profitable, that’s why gangs continue to make it. The real way to cripple the trigger trade isn’t going after the dealers or even the bosses, you go after the people who make it.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca tilted his head. “I’ve never thought of that, but it’s so obvious. Not everyone can make trigger.” He muttered, admittedly embarrassed he hadn’t thought of that. “Well it’s relatively simple if you know the chemicals and can get ahold of them. The trick is being good enough of a chemist you can make high quality trigger. Crappy trigger doesn’t even last a minute and can do more harm than good.” Henshizo explained to Gang Orca.

“Fascinating, I’m really impressed with your understanding.” Gang Orca said nodding. “Well my father was a businessman, and he always said ‘can’t keep customers if your shit kills them’, so he was obsessed with finding high quality stuff. Hence why he grew to be so powerful.” Henshizo said bitterly. “Question, can you make trigger?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo rocked his hand back and forth. “Somewhat, I can’t make the really good stuff, but I can make better than a third of what’s on the streets. But I can spot the quality stuff easily.” Henshizo said shrugging. “That’s good, not everything you learned in your past is bad, just use it for good.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “At the end of the day it’s information, it’s how it’s used that makes it good or bad.” He said as he closed his eyes. ‘Kid is both scary and saddening with how mature he is.’ Gang Orca thought to himself. They rode in silence the rest of the way back and then got off and were met at the station by Tata. “Hey big fish, got the info on the trigger place for ya.” He said walking up with a folder and handing it to Gang Orca.

“Abandoned restaurant? Good place as any.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Right, let’s go.” Gang Orca said and the three of them began walking over to it. “Oh, and Futs is collecting the, uh, possible matches on the other case.” Tata said glancing at Henshizo. “Futs?” Henshizo asked tilting his head. “My sidekick who gave you the file on your mom’s kidnapping.” Gang Orca said as they walked along. “Oh, ok. He seems to be much more investigative.” Henshizo said and Tata laughed. “Oh yea, I’m not saying everyone else is stupid, but his quirk lets him be ahead of basically us all.” He said shaking his head while smiling. “He can speed up his body’s movements, including his brain. So, he can read a three-hundred-page book in three minutes for example.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded impressed. “Makes sense.” He said as they stopped at a corner. “Yahata, can you make a drone like last time?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo nodded pulling out to candy wrappers and changing one into a mini drone and the other into the controller.

“Scope out the restaurant best you can, it’s the last building in the row around the corner.” Gang Orca ordered and Henshizo nodded and flew it up and flew it towards the restaurant. “I count four motorbikes in the back, too nice to be there accidentally.” Henshizo said flying the drone. “Can’t see inside due to covers on the windows.” He said annoyed and Gang Orca nodded. “That’s ok, so we have at least four on the inside.” Gang Orca said as they began walking towards the restaurant. “Tata, go to the back and make sure they don’t get away. Yahata, you and I are going in the front.” Gang Orca said and the two nodded, Tata jogging ahead to get around the back. Gang Orca and Henshizo got outside the front door and waited. “In position.” Tata said through his communicator. “Stay behind me.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and made the remote control into a pipe. “Going in.” Gang Orca said and he crashed the door open. “You’re under arrest on suspicion of-” Gang Orca called off, but he was cut off as a man shot purple goop at him and Gang Orca had to dodge it, and Henshizo dropped to the ground as well. Six guys were all there, the purple goop shooter spat at them again and they dodged it again and Gang Orca used his sonic waves, and the six men clutched their heads in agony and Henshizo saw one had a vile of trigger in his hand and Henshizo threw the pipe and connected squarely in the middle of his head, knocking him out cold.

The remaining five all got bloody noses and Henshizo made his shoes into the jet boots. “Yahata finish them off.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo smirked, changing a ring on his hand into brass knuckles as Gang Orca stopped his sonic attack, Henshizo dashed forward and punched them all, knocking them out to the ground, with a few teeth joining the dirty floor. “Was the pipe throw necessary?” Gang Orca asked as Henshizo began making handcuffs. “He had trigger in his hand and we don’t know what his quirk is.” Henshizo said shrugging.

Gang Orca sighed. “Just be careful.” He said as Henshizo cuffed them all. “Come in Tata.” Gang Orca said and they heard the back door open followed by a whistle. “You should come back and see this setup.” He called out and both Gang Orca and Henshizo went back, Henshizo having handcuffed them all together in awkward positions.

When they got to what had been the kitchen, it cramped due to barrels, and lots of science equipment. Henshizo went up and began shutting things off. “Can’t risk evidence getting destroyed or it blowing us into tiny bits.” He said shrugging as Tata glanced at Gang Orca. Henshizo went over to a crate and picked up a vile of trigger, holding it up to the light. “This stuff is fairly well made. Not top tier, but safe to use.” Henshizo said calmly and Gang Orca nodded. “Police are on their way.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo set the vile back and walked to the manager’s office. “Hope they got lots of evidence bags.” Henshizo called out and the two pros walked over. On the desk was several stacks of cash and on the floor were a couple of duffle bags of cash. “Woah, this was their homebase.” Tata said going over and picking a stack up and Henshizo shook his head. “Idiots, all their eggs in one basket.” He muttered and Gang Orca gave a brief chuckle.

“I see you’re judgmental of their setup, I guess you can’t help it.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo rubbed his neck. “Yea, sorry.” He muttered. “It’s ok, go watch the idiots.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and went out to where the gang was. “Is it ok?” Tata asked quietly and Gang Orca nodded. “We were both thinking the same thing, he just verbalized it.” Gang Orca said and Tata shrugged. After a few minutes police showed up and Henshizo helped them load the gang up into a police van and the police saluted Gang Orca and left, leaving a couple to keep the scene secure as the forensics team began collecting the evidence. “Right, let’s head back to the agency for the day. You did good Sesshada, despite the emotional turmoil of this morning, you didn’t let it affect your ability.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo smiled. “Thank you sir.” He said happily as the three began walking back. They arrived back at the agency and Futs was there in the lobby with his hands behind his back. “Futs, find anything?” Gang Orca asked and he nodded, pulling a folder out from behind his back.

“The time frame you gave me there were thirty-seven women found abandoned along or near roads that weren’t identifiable at the time of them being found. Of those, sixteen were treated at a hospital and identified before being released within forty-eight hours of being found, typically car accident victims. Of the remaining twenty-one, eighteen were identified after the family filed missing person reports, so that left us with three. And while the issue of DNA altering drugs complicated matters, I examined photos of the three.” He said opening the file and holding up the three photos, and Henshizo’s eyes instantly went to the one on the right. “I looked at them, and even remembering that her appearance had likely changed, I’m confident.” Futs held up the photo on the right. “That this is Giji Sozo.” He said and Henshizo walked up and took it in one hand and pulled the original photo of his mom out of his pocket and held the two photos next to each other. Gone was her jet-black hair, and it was now a light sky-blue color. “Her eyes are also bright red now, according to the file.” Futs said and Henshizo nodded. “And how sure are you?” Gang Orca asked as Henshizo continued to look at the photos. “The hospital had this woman’s DNA profile on file and I compared Giji Sozo’s DNA profile to this woman’s profile. They aren’t matches, however there’re are too many similarities that it can’t not be her.” Futs said firmly.

“Different enough that it wouldn’t set off the automated system, but similar enough that you can confirm.” Gang Orca said and Futs nodded as Henshizo’s eyes filled with tears and his hands began shaking. “W-which hospital is she in? I know that hospitals will keep people like her alive.” Henshizo said shakily. “Jaku General Hospital currently, she’s bounced around hospitals a couple of times. Not because they didn’t want her, but because other hospitals wanted to try treating her.” Futs said and Henshizo nodded slowly. “No treatment has helped her unfortunately.” Futs said sadly and Henshizo closed his eyes both saddened and angrily. “Has her other family been notified?” He asked and Futs nodded. “Her sister was notified, she’s flying home now. Her and her husband were abroad, they’ll be arriving back in the country tomorrow. Although their daughter is in the country, they haven’t talked much about it with her apparently.” Futs said and Henshizo nodded before turning to Gang Orca who raised a hand.

“You can go, tomorrow. You need to rest up, and not to sound cold, but she isn’t going anywhere.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded before giving both of them the deepest bow possible. “Thank you both so much.” He said, unable to hold the tears back anymore, and Gang Orca went over and pulled him into a hug as Henshizo cried for the first time in a long time. He cried for several minutes, and Gang Orca just kept him in the hug, eventually Henshizo calmed down and Gang Orca let go of him smiling. “And that’s why we don’t mind doing this.” He said and Henshizo wiped away the tears. “Thanks.” He said looking at the photo of his mom as she was now. “Jaku is about the same distance from here to Tartarus, so up to your room and rest up. Have another day of traveling.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo glanced up looking guilty. “You’re under my care, so I have to make sure nothing happens. Besides, I have to go in my capacity as a hero too.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “Thank you.” He muttered and he turned and went to the elevator to go up to his room.

Henshizo went into his room and he sat down on his bed and let out a deep breath. “My mom. My… family.” He muttered and he pulled his phone out and went through the contacts, pausing on Momo’s name before he continued down to Sanae’s name. “What do I say?” He muttered to himself as he hovered his finger over the call button. He sighed and pressed call, putting it on speaker as he went over to the desk and sat down in the chair and waited.

Notes:

A very big chapter. Henshizo's family revealed, Dokuon being a dick, and Gang Orca showing he cares about Henshizo. Hope everyone enjoyed, comments appreciated!

Chapter 21: Family Reunion

Summary:

Henshizo finally sees his mom for the first time ever, and also runs into his new family. How do they react to the revelations of what happened to Giji? What other things happen as Henshizo wraps around meeting his family?

The phone rang and Sanae picked it up. “Hi Henshizo, everything ok?” She asked, as it was unusual for him to call unexpectedly. “Uh yea, yea. Everything is fine, in fact more than fine.” He said, his happiness breaking through his voice. “I, uh, I, well Gang Orca and his sidekicks, helped me find my mom.” He said smiling happily while a tear rolled down his cheek. “What?! That’s incredible! I’m so happy for you!” Sanae said excitedly, genuinely happy for him. “Yea, well, it’s not all good.” He said sadly and she got serious. “She’s been in a coma for over fourteen years, and nothing has worked. So she’s not dead, but it’s not like she and I can watch a movie.” He said sadly. “Henshizo, I’m sorry.” She said, cursing his father for doing it. “Yea… well I obviously know who she is, and now I uh, know I have an aunt and her family.” He said quietly. “That’s good right?” Sanae asked quietly and Henshizo sighed. “I don’t know, what do I say? Hi I’m the son of the man who kidnapped your sister, raped her, and was born because of that.” Henshizo said angrily and Sanae sighed. “You have to remember it’s not your fault. You had nothing to do with it.” She said and Henshizo put his head down onto his desk.

“I know, but I don’t know how they’d react. They’ve spent over fifteen years not knowing what happened to her.” He muttered and Sanae wished she could put a hand on him. “You did nothing wrong, and you are a victim in this case just like them.” She said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “I guess, but… I’d be a reminder of what happened to her.” He said and his voice was shaking in sadness. “You can’t control how someone will react. But you also don’t know how they’ll react. It may be bad, but it could be good.” Sanae said assuring him and he lightly smiled. “Thanks, I’m going to see her tomorrow, and it sounds like they, my mom’s sister and her husband, are going to be there too. So, I guess we’ll find out.” He said standing up. “What do you think their reaction will be?” She asked and he sighed, flopping onto the bed. “I have no idea, but… judging by their daughter, and I guess my cousin, then maybe not horrible.” He said sighing. “They have a daughter? Do you know her?” Sanae asked curiously.

“Y-yea. Um, my classmate, Momo Yaoyorozu. You know, the girl who can make things from her body from the sports festival.” Henshizo said running a hand through his hair. “Oh yea, her. Wait?! Yaoyorozu?!” She exclaimed and Henshizo pulled the phone away from his head for a moment. “Yea. And yes, I’m aware of the family.” He said as he sat up in bed. The Yaoyorozu family, one of the richest in all of Japan. For as long as quirks had been around, they had built a commercial empire and owned so many companies and businesses, that they were constantly around the country and world. “So, will you be meeting them?” Sanae asked calmly. “Probably. And I’m dreading it. I also don’t know how much Momo knows.” He said rubbing his face a bit and felt his skin was rough from quirk usage. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. But I wanted to call to tell you something.” He said seriously and he heard her straighten up.

“Yes?” She asked, slightly concerned. “If it isn’t too much trouble, regardless of what happens when meeting them, I want to stay with you. It’s the first place I’ve felt at home.” He said and she let out a sob. “Of course Henshizo. You’re always welcome here.” Sanae said happily and Henshizo smiled. “Thank you.” He said and he glanced at the time. “I’m going to head to bed, I have to go to Jaku tomorrow, so I have to get up early.” He said standing up and he began taking his costume off. “Ok, sleep well Henshizo. Let me know how it goes.” She said and he smiled. “I will, thanks Sanae.” He said stretching and he hung up, going to the bathroom and looking at himself in the mirror. ‘Don’t let tomorrow be a disaster.’ He thought as he stepped into the shower, the water washing over the dragon tattoo. He cleaned up, dried off, set an alarm, and went to bed, the most excited and anxious he had ever been.

Henshizo woke up early and quickly got dressed taking a moment to compose himself, before heading down to the lobby when the sun was just beginning to rise. Henshizo went through the door to the kitchen area and made himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a cereal bar for breakfast. He went back out to the lobby and waited for Gang Orca. After a few minuets Gang Orca came down and Henshizo stood up. “Not surprised, let’s go.” Gang Orca said and he walked out with Henshizo by his side. “Thank you for accompanying me sir.” Henshizo said after taking a sip of coffee. “It’s no problem. Although admittedly I didn’t expect to do long trips this week.” He said lightly chuckling as Henshizo finished his coffee and changed the cup into a marble, pocketing it. “Nor did I.” Henshizo said smirking as they got to the train station.

A train pulled up and they got on to it, sat down, and began their ride to Jaku. “The hospital will be ready for us when we get there.” Gang Orca said crossing his arms in his seat. “Ok. So they’ve now identified her as Giji Sozo?” He asked and Gang Orca nodded, Henshizo lightly nodding. “Good.” He muttered before closing his eyes. They rode in silence, Henshizo bouncing his knee and tapping his fingers faster as they got closer. “How are your classmates that fought alongside you?” Gang Orca asked, trying to distract him and Henshzio looked up at him. “Huh? Oh, fine. Todoroki is back with Endeavor since he wasn’t too badly injured. Iida went home so his family could help with rehab, and Midoriya had a stress fracture in his arm so he’s getting discharged today.” Henshizo said, double checking what they had sent him.

“That’s good, hopefully they all recover fine.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo was reading what Iida had sent him. “Iida may have minor nerve damage. Nothing severe, just harder to make a fist and some numbness in his fingers. Can be fixed potentially.” He said sadly and Gang Orca nodded. “He’s lucky he’s alive. Anyone will take a minor inconvenience over dying.” He said and Henshzio nodded and looked out the window anxiously. “Do you think you’ve learned during this internship? I took you on to help you grow as a young hero.” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo nodded honestly. “You’ve helped me deal with the bias I’ll forever have thanks to my name and father.” He said bitterly, but then softened up. “So now I have a better idea and way to show people that I’m a hero who will protect and save them.” He said smiling and Gang Orca nodded. “Good.” He said as the train got closer and Henshizo rapidly tapped his foot.

The train pulled into Jaku Station, and Henshizo hopped out of his seat and got to the door eagerly, Gang Orca behind him. “The hospital is about twenty blocks north.” He said and Henshizo nodded and the two got off the train and began walking to the hospital. Henshizo was using every ounce of his will power to not make his jet boots and start running to the hospital. They got there after a little over ten minuets walking and when Henshizo walked in he got a weird feeling and tensed up. “Everything ok?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo looked around. “Yea. Just… nothing.” He said shaking his head but the feeling of something sinister wouldn’t go away. He walked up to the front desk and the receptionist smiled up at him. “Good morning, how can I help you?” She asked politely. “What room is Giji Sozo in?” He asked quietly and she typed into her computer to look it up.

“Room two-seventy-three.” She said smiling and he nodded and went to the elevator. “I’ll take the stairs; elevators and I don’t get along.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and he got in as Gang Orca took the stairs. Henshizo rode up and got off, meeting up with Gang Orca and the two began following the signs to the room. They came to a corner and turned, two-seventy-three supposedly right around it, and were met by a short old guy with a thick mustache and goggles, Henshizo stopped and tensed up again. “Gang Orca, an honor to have such a prestigious hero like yourself come to my hospital.” The man said extending a hand. “Doctor Kyudai Garaki, founder and chairman of this hospital.” He said and Gang Orca shook it. “Thank you for having us and for trying to treat this woman.” He said and Garaki chuckled. “It’s no problem. I’ve been trying to use a combination of quirk therapy tactics to assist her and wake her up, but sadly no luck.” He said looking in at her.

Henshizo didn’t know why, but his guard was incredibly up right now and he slipped his hands into his pockets. “Can I go in?” He asked calmly. “Of course, make yourself at home. A nurse will be around to bring you anything you may need.” Garaki said and Henshizo nodded, and he opened the door by bumping the button with his elbow and went in, Gang Orca raising a non-existent eyebrow to it and followed him in. Henshizo went in and stood by his mom, looking at her. Her light blue hair flowing beside her, eyes closed, the tubes in her and he glanced at the heart rate monitor and everything seemed normal. Henshizo sat down beside her, tears filling his eyes. “I-I’m sorry.” He said to her and he bowed his head, resting it on her bed. “I’m sorry that… the bastard did this to you. I’m sorry that his desire for my existing caused this to you. I’m sorry.” He said, beginning to cry more freely. “I don’t even know if I have the right to call you mom.” Henshizo said heart broken, glancing up at her still face and Gang Orca grew saddened seeing the normally stoic Henshizo completely open. Henshizo slowly reached out and put his hand onto hers and squeezed lightly.

He held her hand silently for a bit, looking at her face. “I know it’s dumb to visit someone in a coma.” Henshizo muttered to Gang Orca. “But I really wanted to see her. Plus… maybe some part of me was hoping it’d be like the movies.” He said sadly and embarrassed and Gang Orca smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with hoping for a miracle.” He said as Henshizo nodded, rubbing his thumb along her hand. Henshizo saw movement from the top of his vision and glanced up, seeing who had to be his aunt and uncle as the woman still looked like the photo, and behind them came Momo. “Sesshada? What are you doing here?” She asked, all three clearly confused. Henshizo looked at Gang Orca who cleared his throat. “I see you all have not been told everything. Sesshada mind making chairs?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo nodded and made three chairs for them, of which the Yaoyorozus sat in. Buttai staring at her sister, tears in her eyes.

“I understand you all were told Goji had been located.” Gang Orca said and Okane nodded, holding his wife’s hand. “Well my agency is the one who located her, although she technically wasn’t the objective of our investigation.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked away, fearful. “Henshizo… well Henshizo was looking for his mom, and DNA shows that he is the biological son of Ms. Sozo.” Gang Orca said, and the Yaoyorozus all gasped and Henshizo stood up and bowed very deeply. “I am so sorry.” He said, his body racking with silent sobs. “My fa- the bastard kidnapped her and I’m the product of everything he did to her.” He said, Okane getting red-faced, Buttai covering her mouth with her hands, and Momo’s lips were trembling. “I obviously cannot make up for the grief, anguish, and anger you must have felt and are feeling. I wish I could but I can’t. I don’t have any right to be here. She is here.” He said pointing at Giji, “Because of what my father did so I could exist.” He said clearly guilt ridden and he straightened up showing his tear-streaked face and bloodshot eyes.

“We, my agency, wanted to find out what happened to his mom. Leading us to first identifying her from missing persons. And then acting on other information we were able to find her at this hospital.” Gang Orca said stepping forward, Okane stood up clearly angry and upset. “His father, Dokuon right?” He said angrily and Gang Orca nodded. “Why?” He growled angrily and Henshizo looked down in shame. “You’re asking for a rational explanation, from someone full of evil.” Gang Orca said and Okane turned to him. “Maybe he was drawn to her, maybe he knew of her quirk, it’s impossible to know.” Gang Orca said calmly and Buttai stood up and brushed Giji’s head with her hand. “How’d she get like this?” She asked quietly and Henshizo’s face contorted in pain. “After… I was born, she um, was given various drugs to see what they could do. Her DNA has been mildly altered as a result.” He said not looking at anyone, Momo standing up and Okane went pale as Buttai sobbed. “A couple hospitals have tried treating her but, no success. However now that doctors know more, they may be able to do more.” Gang Orca said calmly and all four looked at him.

“Whatever treatment, whatever cost, we can do it.” Buttai said and Henshizo awkwardly shuffled. “I’ll go now… I just wanted to see her. I’m so sorry. I hope she gets better.” He said bowing again and he began walking around the bed but Buttai stopped him. “My sister was, is, a very happy, loving, and caring person. Despite everything that happened. I don’t hold you responsible for anything.” She said putting a hand on his arm and his lips trembled. “Thank you.” He muttered, tears going down his face Momo looking at him. “You had no idea?” She asked quietly and Henshizo shook his head. “Nothing. Apart from her likely having black hair, I had no idea who she could possibly be.” He said, weakly gesturing to his own hair and Momo nodded. Okane sighed, clearly defeated. “I can’t be mad at you.” He said glancing at Giji. “Giji would always tease me on my anger, so I know she wouldn’t want me mad at you for something not your fault.” He said and Henshizo shakily smiled. “Thank you sir.” He said bowing his head.

The room was filled with the sound of her heart monitor and other machine sounds, as no one spoke. “So… Henshizo, this makes us cousins.” Momo said finally and her parents gasped and Henshizo nodded. “I suppose it does. I know it’s not the conventional way, but yes.” He said rubbing his neck. “Right, we’re your aunt and uncle.” Buttai said as Okane pursed his lips. “Can he stay at our house?” Momo asked her parents looked at her shocked and Henshizo waved his hands back and forth. “I wouldn’t want to impose, and I realize how… awkward it would be. Besides, I’m content with my foster family. You guys may be my blood family, but they’re my family.” He said calmly and the three nodded, Momo looking just a little sad. “We understand and respect your wishes. Although our doors are open to you. It’s what Giji would want. Also consider it thanks for causing her to be found.” Buttai said and Henshizo nodded.

“Th-thank you.” He said, his lips trembling. “I’ll try to help her however I can.” He said firmly to them and they lightly smiled. “I can see a bit of her in you.” Okane said quietly and Henshizo went red and glanced away. “Sess-Henshizo, do you mind if we talk?” Momo asked quietly and he looked at her. “No, step out in the hall?” He asked and she nodded, the two students walked out, Gang Orca doing the same. “I’ll head down to the lobby.” He said and Henshizo nodded and Gang Orca left. “That must have been awkward for him.” Henshizo muttered and Momo couldn’t help but snort lightly. “I’m sorry Momo, you don’t mind me calling you that right?” He asked and she shook her head. “It’s fine. And why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong Henshizo.” Momo said and he looked away. “It’s because of my… bastard.” He said clenching his fists. “He wanted me. So I can’t help but feel responsible.” He said angrily and Momo grabbed his hands.

“It’s only his fault. You helped find her, and now hopefully I can have my aunt in my life. They haven’t talked much about her, but I knew.” Momo said quietly and Henshizo calmed down and the two looked at each other. “We’re cousins huh.” She said smiling and Henshizo chuckled. “Y-yeah.” He muttered rubbing his neck. “You may have set a record at UA for most insane internship. The hero killer and now this?” She said and Henshizo looked to the side. “Yea. It’s been a wild week.” He muttered and Momo sighed. “I wish I could say the same. Kendo and I haven’t done much. We did a little hero stuff, but it was mostly working on a shampoo commercial.” She muttered and Henshizo had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from laughing. “Side business is important to learn.” He said clearing his throat. “I guess.” She said sadly and Henshizo looked at her. “Hey, you’re going to be a great hero. Cuz.” He said smiling, putting a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him smiling lightly. “That’s going to take some time to get used to.” She said and he chuckled. “Yea it felt weird to say.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck.

“Should we tell people?” Momo asked and Henshizo thought for a moment. “I’m not going to shout it from the rooftops but… we can tell our class. That way they can do the leg work in telling everyone.” He said rolling his eyes. “Yea, Ashido in particular.” Momo said giggling and Henshizo smiled. “Everything good now?” He asked and Momo nodded, they went back into the room. “Would you all mind if I take the chairs from you?” he asked and they shook their heads and he changed them back into business cards and handed them to Buttai and Okane. “So you can contact me.” Henshizo said bowing his head lightly. “Why?” Okane asked and Henshizo glanced away. “Just don’t want to inconvenience the hospital.” He said shrugging, although the real reason was that he still had a weird vibe. “Ok. I guess it was a pleasure meeting you.” Okane said and Buttai went up and hugged him. “Thank you for helping find her.” She said and he went super red. “I-it was no problem.” He said quietly and she stepped back. “We’ll keep you informed as to how her recovery is going.” She said and he nodded. “Thank you.” He said bowing.

“See you Monday Henshizo.” Momo said smiling and he smiled back. “Right, see you then Momo. And I guess I’ll talk to you guys later.” Henshizo said looking at his aunt and uncle. “Yes. Have a good day.” Okane said and Buttai sat down beside her sister again. Henshizo left the room and went down to the lobby where Gang Orca was sitting. “We can head back.” Henshizo said, in a relaxed tone. “So meeting them went well?” Gang Orca asked, standing up and the two left. “Yea, I think so at least.” Henshizo said smiling lightly. “When we get back can we train?” Henshizo asked and Gang Orca thought. “Sure, anything in particular?” he asked as they got to the train station. “I want to work on fighting larger opponents.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca nodded. “Very well, a sparring match. No quirks, technique can trump power.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Thank you.” Henshizo said happily as the train pulled in. They got on and rode back in silence.

They arrived back and Gang Orca looked at the time. “We can do patrol if you want and then train later.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “That’s fine with me.” He said and they began walking along back to the agency. “They were very happy to see her.” Gang Orca and Henshizo nodded. “No matter what happens with me, a family was reunited. I’m content with that.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca put a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder. “I think things will be ok.” He said and Henshizo lightly smiled and looked up at him. “Thanks sir.” He said and the two began patrol. “I’m glad you came to my agency. It was educational for us both.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked up confused. “You taught me and my sidekicks to not underestimate anyone, and how important it is to not judge a person based on their past.” He continued and Henshizo nodded.

Their patrol was quiet, and they went back to the agency, going straight to the gym. Both taking the jackets of their costumes off. “Try and get me on my back.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded and the two began circling each other. Henshizo gave a feint attempt of going for the legs and then changed it into an uppercut attempt, that Gang Orca simply blocked by grabbing his wrist and then threw him across the mat. Henshizo stood up smiling and went in again. Gang Orca grabbed him and put him in a head lock, Henshizo’s face instantly getting red. “The bigger an opponent, the more you should try to do hit and run tactics.” Gang Orca said and squeezed tighter. Henshizo groaned lightly but hit a low blow on Gang Orca, who’s eyes went wide in shock and pain. He then grabbed Gang Orca’s shirt and pulled while he tried to trip Gang Orca.

“Not bad.” Gang Orca said but he stopped himself and grabbed Henshizo around the head with his hand and slammed him down into the mat hard. “Argh, damn it.” Henshizo groaned and he rolled away and stood back up. “In a fight against a villain you should try anything, but did you have to do that to me?” Gang Orca asked, clearly still in pain. “I treat any training like a real fight. Plus, you didn’t put any rules on besides no quirks.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca nodded, knowing Henshizo wasn’t wrong. Henshizo dashed in and tried to kick Gang Orca’s leg out but he dodged and grabbed Henshizo by his shirt and tossed him up before grabbing him out of the air and slamming him into the ground. “Too slow.” He said as Henshizo rolled away and got up, cracking his back.

‘Normally a slam like that keeps them down for good or at least a little while. The hell can this kid take?’ Gang Orca thought as Henshizo began circling him, albeit slower than before. Henshizo darted in and began kicking Gang Orca’s legs before dancing back. “Hit and run, good.” Gang Orca said as Henshizo delivered another kick to his leg, and Gang Orca could feel it and felt the power Henshizo had. Henshizo went in and feigned a kick, Gang Orca raising his leg to block it and Henshizo suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Gang Orca’s leg, trying to tip him back. “Not bad.” Gang Orca said as he went to grab Henshizo but Henshizo let go, opting to spin Gang Orca slightly and he jumped up and put on a rear chokehold.

Gang Orca tried to toss Henshizo off, but Henshizo held tight. Gang Orca huffed as the chokehold began to take effect, so he grabbed one of Henshizo’s legs and pulled hard, plying Henshizo off him and tossing him to the mat, Gang Orca then grabbed Henshizo, lifted him up and slammed him down hard onto the mat, pinning Henshizo’s head with a hand. “Time.” Gang Orca said as he stood up and Henshizo groaned. “Damn, almost had you.” Henshizo groaned slowly sitting up. “I’m impressed you could withstand my slams.” Gang Orca said, helping Henshizo up. “Yea well, this was a mat, not concrete.” Henshizo said bitterly as he cracked his neck.

Gang Orca nodded, sighing lightly as it was clear that the training he endured as kid crossed the line into abuse. “You’re an excellent fighter and you’ll be a good hero. Just keep up all the work you’re doing.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo smiled. “Thank you sir, I will don’t worry.” He said bowing deeply. “Now, let's head out for a good dinner. You’ve more than earned it.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo smiled more and they left the agency, going to a yakisoba restaurant. “I have a question Sesshada.” Gang Orca asked calmly, after they placed their orders. “What is it?” Henshizo asked tilting his head. “Back at the hospital you were acting odd, and I’m not talking about seeing your mom or family.” Gang Orca said quietly and Henshizo looked away. “Why?” Gang Orca asked and Henshizo sighed deeply. “You may think I’m crazy, but I just sensed something. Being around so many different types of evil growing up… I have a sense and it went off.” He muttered and Gang Orca tilted his head.

“Doctor Garaki and Jaku hospital have done a lot of good work and pioneering medicine centered around quirks. Maybe someone there was nefarious, but it’s best to not go based off feelings.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo sighed. “Yea, I guess.” He said as the waiter delivered their food. Henshizo hungrily scarfed his food down. “I hope your mom recovers soon.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked at him with a mixture of sadness and optimism. “I hope so too. Even if… if she doesn’t want me in her life, I want her to live, to get back that was taken.” He said looking down at his bowl as he pick up the last bit of pork from it and then drank the broth. “I cannot thank you enough for this internship.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca raised a hand. “Please don’t, I’m heavily interested in training the next generation of heroes, and if I can help you as much as I have, I know that any troubling hero student can be helped.” He said and Henshzio chuckled.

“Referring to Bakugo? Having to be chained up.” He said shaking his head. “He’s one. And he’s been with Jeanist.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo looked up and couldn’t help but hide disappointment and jealousy. “Bakugo’s with Best Jeanist?” He asked and Gang Orca nodded and Henshizo angrily sighed. “Lucky prick.” He muttered and Gang Orca raised his eyes. “Jealous?” He asked and Henshizo nodded. “A bit. It’s just that Best Jeanist was the one who lead the raid against my father. Hell, he even restrained me. But because of him I was freed and able to become who I wanted to be. So, I was hoping he’d offer me an internship. Not that I don’t appreciate you at all.” He said quickly. “It’s just… doing an internship with the hero that saved me would’ve been so cool.” He said and Gang Orca nodded. “I understand, don’t worry.” He said finishing his dinner.

“You wanted to be with your hero.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded fervently. “Yea. And the fact that Bakugo is with him… just makes me want to do better.” Henshizo said clutching his fist. “Being pushed because of a goal or desire isn’t bad, just don’t get driven by jealousy or spite that leads to disaster.” Gang Orca said seriously and Henshizo nodded. “Next year I’m going to win the sports festival, work with Best Jeanist, and become even better.” Henshizo said firmly and Gang Orca smirked. “Good. Now let’s head back to the agency so you can get ready to head home.” Gang Orca said, standing up and Henshizo followed his lead. They left and started back to the agency. “Any timetable?” Henshizo asked, stifling a yawn. “Eraserhead will be getting to Tokyo Station at nine am and he’ll be there all day so you can sleep in a bit if you want.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll aim to get leave here at nine, so get back in time for lunch.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca nodded. “Ok, I’ll see you in the morning.” Gang Orca said as they got back to the agency.

“Good night sir.” Henshizo said going up to his room and he quickly showered and went to bed, emotionally drained from the past couple days. He woke up a little after seven the following morning and he changed his hero costume back to his UA uniform and put it on, freshened up, grabbed his costume case and left his room. He went down to the lobby where some of the sidekicks were gathered, and Gang Orca was signing a paper at the desk. “Ah, the most interesting intern has arrived.” Hami said raising a hand in greeting. “Morning. I’d like to thank you all.” Henshizo said bowing lightly. “No sweat kid, you’re going to be fun to watch grow. You always got a place here.” Hami said and Henshizo straightened up nodding.

They ate breakfast together and Henshizo listened intently to their patrol stories. “I still have you all beat, but you’ve had your hands full.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Boss, the intern is mouthing off.” Tata said in a playful tone. “He’s not wrong.” Gang Orca said standing up and grabbing a bagel to eat. “Just don’t brag about nearly getting killed.” He said to Henshizo who sighed. “I know.” He said, thinking back to the Hosu police chief’s words. Henshizo and Gang Orca left a little after that and got to the train station and a train was coming up. “Take care Sesshada. I hope your future is bright.” Gang Orca said putting a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder. “Thank you sir. I hope yours is too.” He said as he got onto the train and the mentor and trainee bowed lightly to each other before the doors closed and Henshizo began his journey back. Henshizo pulled a candy wrapped from his pocket and changed it into the takeout bag, and he then put the cash from his costume case into the bag, and then made a duplicate of his costume, putting it into his bag and then he settled in for the ride back.

Henshizo’s train arrived back and he walked around before finding Aizawa with a few other cases in the main area. “Hello sir.” Henshizo said walking up and handing his case to Aizawa. “Sesshada. I heard about your internship, a busy one to say the least.” Aizawa said glaring partially at Henshizo. “Yes, a very busy one.” Henshizo said smiling, glancing at the other cases. “Todoroki, Uraraka, Kaminari, and Kirishima already back eh?” He asked and Aizawa sighed. “I’m glad you aren’t hurt and I already know you’ve been talked to. Just go home, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded before beginning to walk off. “And just so I know, do you want tell others about your mother? The staff know, but no one else.” He said and Henshizo thought. “I’ll talk to Momo.” He said quietly and Aizawa nodded, giving a very brief smile before he sat back down.

Henshizo caught a bus back to his foster home and walked in. “Henshizo!” Goji called out and all of them came from the living room and into the hall, hugging him. “Gah.” Henshizo said as the affection squeezed the life out of him. “We missed you.” Hinata said hugging him tighter. “It was a week.” Henshizo said as they let go of him. “Yea. But you were in Hosu and despite knowing you were alive, we were still worried.” Honoka said putting her hands together. “Yea, you encountered Stain. That video…” Daiki said shaking his head. “I’m fine, both physically and mentally.” He said smiling at them all. “It’s going to take a lot to get rid of me.” He said calmly, glancing at Sanae who nodded. “Alright, let him get settled back in.” She said and his foster siblings groaned and left, Henshizo stuck the bag out to her after they left.

“Here. I know that towards the end of the month things get tight.” He said quietly, and she was confused until she opened the bag and saw the cash and gasped. “Henshizo. What? How?” She asked quietly, in shock. “One of the dozens of safehouses my sperm donor had across the country was close to Gang Orca’s agency, so I decided to raid it. Please, just take it. It wouldn’t do any good where it was.” He said quietly, rubbing his arm. She looked at him and hugged him. “You’re so good, thank you.” She said and he smiled and hugged her back, the first time he truly did and she smiled more. He broke the hug and looked at her smiling. “You’ve given me and them so much so just a little something. I’m going to head up and prepare for school.” He said starting up the stairs but stopping and looked down at her. “Thanks for giving me a home.” He said and she nodded up at him, smiling more.

Notes:

I don't know why I write such long chapters. Wanted to really set the stage with Henshizo's mom and how Henshizo is gaining happiness. Hope you enjoyed! Kudos and comments appreciated

Chapter 22: Saving Race

Summary:

Class 1-A gets back together to go over their internships. How does everyone react to Henshizo, Todoroki, Midoriya, and Iida taking down the hero killer? Does Henshizo's actions have consequences? And how do Momo and Henshizo deal with the revelation they are cousins?

Henshizo woke up the following morning and went down to the kitchen yawning and going to the coffee machine. “Morning Henshizo, you know you drink more coffee than most adults.” Goji said teasingly and Henshizo simply closed his eyes in response as he poured the coffee and took a sip. Sanae came over and put their breakfasts on the table and Henshizo sat down and dug in to the eggs. “Any idea what today will be like?” Sanae asked and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “I think heroics. And I don’t doubt we’ll be talking about our war stories from our internships.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Well you got the best.” Daiki said and Henshizo shot a glance at him. “Best is arbitrary, seeing your friends hurt, bleeding, knowing they could’ve been killed doesn’t seem like a good story.” He said looking at his eggs and the kitchen grew silent. “I-I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.” Daiki said quickly and Hinata smacked the back of his head. “It’s ok, yea I had an1 interesting week, but just because something is cool one person doesn’t mean it’s cool to the people involved.” Henshizo said calmly as he finished his eggs.

“Right.” Daiki mumbled, rubbing the back of his head from the smack. “I’ll let you guys know of any other interesting stories.” Henshizo said smiling and standing up. “Ok!” They said happily, Henshizo leaving the kitchen and Sanae walked behind him. “Henshizo.” She said quietly and he turned around and she glanced at the kitchen. “I haven’t told them about the other part of your internship. It’s not my place to say anything and it’s your thing.” She said and he nodded as he picked up his backpack. “Thanks. I’m going to probably say something soon.” He said quietly and she nodded. “Have a good day.” She said smiling and he nodded and left, getting on the bus for school. He got to UA and went to homeroom, where most of the class was already there. He walked over to his seat, behind Midoirya and sat down, with Iida and Todoroki coming over to the two of them.

“Morning Sesshada.” Todoroki said calmly and Henshizo nodded. “Morning, how are you three physically?” He asked quietly as the others in the class began talking about their internships. “I’m fine now, healed up quickly.” Todoroki said and Midoriya gave a thumbs up. “All better, stress fracture meant I couldn’t do much the rest of my internship.” He said rubbing his neck. “My mom helped me rehabilitate and I’m mostly fine.” Iida said, and Henshizo noted how his was still bandaged up. Bakugo came in to the room and instead of his usual stuck up hairstyle, his hair was flattened and styled, causing Sero and Kirishima to laugh at him. “Shut up. It’s stuck like this, and I can’t get it out. I’ll kill you both.” Bakugo growled and Henshizo had to stifle a laugh seeing it. “Good luck with that pretty boy.” Sero said and Bakugo got so angry his hair puffed back up. “There it goes!” They both said laughing more as Bakguo grabbed them.

“You helped defeat villains? That’s so cool.” Ashido said to Jiro. “I just helped civilians evacuate and gave support.” Jiro said twirling her earphone jack. “Still sounds cool.” Ashido said. “Most of my internship was spent cleaning the ship, but I helped take down some drug smugglers.” Asui said nonchalantly “Ok that’s cool.” Both Jiro and Ashido said. “Ochako, how was your internship?” Asui asked and they turned to see Uraraka with a serious face and doing some shadow punching. “A very beneficial experience.” She said and people were shocked at her transformation. “One week and she’s a different person.” Kaminari said talking to Sato. “Yea she did.”Sato said nodding. “Of course the people who’ve changed the most.” Kaminari said loudly enough for people to turn their heads. “Are those four.” He said pointing at Henshizo, Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya.

“The hero killer, that must have been something else.” Sero said as Bakugo had him by the collar of his shirt. “I’m just glad you four are ok.” Kirshima said and Yanagi came over. “When I read what happened, I was filled with terror, I can’t imagine what you guys must have experienced.” She said quietly and Henshizo frowned lightly, not liking she had been worried. “Endeavor saved you guys just in time.” Sato said and Todoroki glanced down at his desk, as the four remembered the deal. “Yea, that’s right.” Todoroki said and Henshizo shrugged. “I was so worried.” Yaoyorozu said and he looked at her, their eyes meeting for a moment and she tapped her phone and Henshizo nodded.

“But did you guys hear what the news has been saying? Many believe Stain and the League of Villains are connected. Can you imagine if that guy was at the USJ?” Ojiro said and some of the class shuddered. “He’s scary, but have you seen the video of him?” Kaminari asked and Henshizo pulled his phone out and read the message from Yaoyorozu. ‘I want to tell them, you can join me. If you don’t, I can just say it from my side.’ He read it and looked at her and nodded while tapping his chest, saying he was wanting to say it too. “Video? Of what?” Ojiro asked curiously. “It’s like a minibiography. He’s really evil but so tenacious. Almost kinda cool.” He said and Henshizo stood up glaring at him. “Kaminari.” Midoriya said glancing at Iida. “Oh, my bad.” He said and Henshizo walked over and smacked the back of his head. “Don’t worry Sesshada, nor you Kaminari. He is tenacious, but instead of using his drive for good, he used it for cold blooded murder.” Iida said looking at his bandaged hand.

“With the slimmest of exceptions, killing someone is never cool. Got it?” Henshizo said his fists shaking and Kaminari double winced for both Iida’s and Henshizo’s issues. “Sorry.” He muttered looking down. Ojiro went over and put his hand on Henshizo’s shoulder. “It’s ok calm down.” He said quietly and Henshizo nodded and calmed down. “To ensure no one else suffers like I have, I’m going to strive to be an even better hero. Let’s push ourselves to be even better.” Iida said seriously and he began rambling. Momo stood up and placed her hand on Iida’s shoulder. I agree Iida but before the day starts, I have something to say.” She said smiling and the class looked at her confused, apart from Henshizo who smirked lightly. Momo went up to the front of the room and the confusion grew more as Henshizo followed her up.

“None of you may know this, but before I was born my aunt, my mom’s sister, was kidnapped.” She said and the class gasped in shock and she raised a hand to stop them from talking. “I didn’t know much of it, and my family had long accepted she was dead.” She said sadly but then she smiled. “But she was found last week.” She said happily and the class broke into smiles while a couple glanced at Henshizo, wondering why he was up with her, and Momo nodded to him and he sighed. “You guys know I never met my mom. Well, thanks to Gang Orca she was found and I sort of met her. Momo’s aunt and my mom, are the same person.” He said and the silence rang out. “We were just as shocked as you all are.” Momo said and they saw some people’s eyes well up in tears. “My… the bastard had her kidnapped and well I’m the result.” Henshizo said clenching his fist and the class looked at him and realized what he meant and some gasped.

“But we wanted to share the good news. She’s alive, and thanks to Henshizo, the doctors believe they cap properly treat her.” Momo said happily. “She’s been in a coma for basically my life.” Henshizo clarified and they nodded. “That’s both incredible and sad.” Uraraka said wiping a tear away. “I’m happy for you guys.” Midoriya said smiling and the cousins smiled. “Now that I think about it and see you two beside each other, the similarities are there.” Jiro said looking between the two. “Oh yea.” Kaminari said looking as well. The bell rang and they went back to their seats and Aizawa came in. “You have heroics all morning, suit up and head down to field gamma.” He said and he pressed the button to get their costumes to come out of the wall.

The class grabbed their cases and went to their locker rooms. “I’m happy for you man.” Ojiro said to Henshizo in the locker room as they got dressed. “Thanks.” Henshizo muttered and sat down sighing. “What’s up?” Ojiro asked curiously. “Even though I found her, I don’t know what will happen when or if she wakes up.” Henshizo said sadly. “Oh, yea. I’m sure things will be fine though.” He said and Henshizo shrugged. “I can’t control it so how things happen, happen.” Henshizo said deadpanned. Ojiro nodded and slipped his robe on as Henshizo finished getting dressed. The boys left and Todoroki gently grabbed Henshizo’s wrist to hold him back. “You said earlier that killing is wrong but you were able to kill the Nomu with no hesitation.” He said and Henshizo looked to the side. “Nomu aren’t people, besides, it was also in the context of the exception. To save someone else.” Henshizo said walking back towards the group briefly clenching and unclenching his fist.

The boys met up with the girls and began walking down to field gamma, Henshizo walking beside Yanagi. “How was your internship?” He asked her quietly and her one visible eye slightly widened in shock that he asked her. “It was excellent and I firmly believe my quirk abilities have been substantially improved.” She said and he smiled lightly. “That’s good, can’t wait to see it.” He said happily to her, and she was happy her mask hid her cheeks, as there was a slight blush forming. The class arrived at field gamma with All Might standing before them smiling as always. “Welcome back students. It seems like I haven’t seen you in awhile, today it’s hero basic training, so prepare.” He said intensely.

“You’ll be using what you learned at your internships and compete against each other in a race in a rescue exercise.” All Might continued and Iida raised his hand. “If it’s rescue training why aren’t we at the USJ?” He asked curiously. “The USJ specializes in natural disasters, but there are many types of rescues that heroes perform now listen. Field gamma is a mini-inustrial area which makes for a difficult labrynth. You’ll be split up into groups of five and each person will start at a different point of the mock city. I’ll send out a signal to start the race, be the first one to rescue me to win.” All Might said and the class nodded. “Do what you have to do to save me, but keep the property damage to a minimum.” All Might said looking at Bakugo causing Henshizo and the rest of the class to smirk. “Don’t look at me like that.” Bakugo growled.

“First group; Iida, Ojiro, Ashido, Midoriya, and Sero. Head in to these spots.” All Might said, handing them notes on where to start. “The rest of you, head up those stairs to the viewing platform.” All Might said pointing to stairs to the right of them, and the rest of the class went up as the first five went in. The class watched the big video board as the first five got to their spots. “Iida’s still recovering, he shouldn’t push himself.” Uraraka said worried for her friend. “Who you got winning? I got odds on Sero.” Kirishima asked Kaminari “Oh yea? My money is on Ojiro.” Kaminari said smirking lightly. “Midoriya is at a heavy disadvantage, mobility isn’t his strong suit and he gets hurt by his quirk.” Momo said and Jiro nodded. “I don’t care, I just know Deku will be last.” Bakugo grumbled. “Say Sesshada, you made odds in your head for the sports festival, think you can make something for us?” Kaminari asked and the class turned to him.

Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “Well you guys were talking about money and odds. I can make something up if you actually want to put stuff on the line.” Henshizo said shrugging. “We’re hero students, we’re not going to gamble on our classmates.” Momo said sternly and Kirishima chuckled. “Come on man, no actual gambling but if you made odds what would the rankings be?” he asked and Henshizo sighed thinking. “Sero, Ojiro, Midoriya, Iida, Ashido.” He said after thinking for a bit. “Really? Midoriya ahead of Iida? Wild.” Kaminari said and the class was confused by Henshizo’s logic. “Begin!” All Might called out and the five began racing towards him, Iida using his speed, Ashido using her acid to skate along a pipe, Ojiro using his tail to propel himself up and Sero swinging up high with his tape, putting him in first. “Dang, Sero is at a huge advantage.” Hagakure said and Kirishima was smiling. Suddenly Midoriya dashed past Sero, jumping from pipe to pipe.

“Midoriya?!” Kirishima and Kaminari cried out while Henshizo smirked. “How’s he doing that?” Sato asked shocked. “The way he’s moving, he looks like…” Uraraka trailed off and Henshizo picked up on what she meant, Midoriya was moving a lot like Bakugo. Midoriya kept running and jumping forward and seemed like he would win, until he slipped on a pipe and fell, allowing Sero to win the race, Midoriya face planting hard on the platform with All Might, everyone getting there very close to each other and the order of finish was what Henshizo had predicted. “How the hell could you predict that?” Kirishima asked as Midoirya slowly sat up. “Are you forgetting that I encountered Midoriya during the internship and saw imporvements? Call it insider knowledge.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Gah.” Kaminari said crossing his arms and group two popped up onto the screen; Henshizo, Todoroki, Jiro, Asui, and Kaminari. ‘I’ll beat Todoroki here.’ Henshizo thought determinedly as the five walked down and into their respective spots. “Hmm, it seems to me it’s a three person race.” Ojiro said coming back, fist bumping Shoji. “Yes, Jiro and Kaminari can’t use their quirks to help their mobility.” Shoji replied and the class nodded. “Hmm, Todoroki is at a slight disadvantage too, with how narrow everything is.” Momo said tilting her head. Henshizo got to his spot and had his hands in his pockets. “Meanwhile Tsu has her tongue and jumping ability, and Sesshada has… well a lot of options with his quirk.” Iida said making sure his bandages were still fine.

Henshizo pulled a marble out of his pocket and held it in his hand and waited. The horn sounded and he immediately changed the scarf on his costume into a jet pack and began flying above everything. “He changed that quicker than expected. He’s worked on his speed.” Midoriya muttered as Todoroki was riding an ice wave to try and get up above everything. Tsu was hopping from building to building while Kaminari and Jiro were just running along. Henshizo changed the marble in his hand to what looked like a grappling gun, but instead of a hook it was a suction cup at the end and he fired it and he used it to propel himself further even faster and changed his shoes to a different set of jet boots that accelerated him even faster. “Holy crap those are awesome.” Kirishima said, jealousy in his voice. Henshizo zoomed ahead and stopped himself before running into All Might, winning the race with Todoroki about eight seconds behind him and Tsu three seconds behind Todoroki.

“Excellent work you three. Sesshada, great job combining items.” All Might said smiling and Henshizo nodded, the four of them waiting for Jiro and Kaminari. “Nice job Sesshada, you always have a trick up your sleeve, ribbit.” Asui said walking up to him and he smiled. “Thanks, well more like my actual sleeve.” He said chuckling and she laughed too. They had to wait several more minutes, with Jiro climbing up the ladder first panting heavily, followed by Kaminari who was glistening in sweat. “Good effort, and don’t be discouraged young Jiro and young Kaminari. Remember, quirks can be strong in certain areas and weak in others. Figure ways out to strengthen weaknesses and improve on your strengths.” All Might said to them. “Right.” The two groaned and the five began making it back to class.

As the group left the field the next group popped up; Yanagi, Sato, Toru, Kirishima, and Tokoyami. Henshizo nodded to Yanagi as she left and she nodded back to him and Henshizo sat down watching. “Nice job man.” Ojiro said sitting beside him. “Thanks.” Henshizo said watching the video board as Midoirya came over. “Hey Sesshada, you seemed to be faster with your changing of the scarf to the jetpack.” He said pulling his notebook out from, well Henshizo wasn’t exactly sure where Midoriya pulled it out of. “On top of everything that happened, Gang Orca trained me harder than I’ve been trained in a while.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Makes sense, interning with the number ten hero, you’re bound to get better.” Ojiro said and the indistinct angry muttering of Bakugo could be heard. “So who do you think will win this?” Ojiro asked looking at the five. “It’s between Yanagi and Tokoyami, but I believe in Yanagi.” Henshizo said confidently. “Oh yea? You like Yanagi eh?” Ashido said grinning at him and he looked up at her emotionlessly.

“To win the race yes.” He said and he turned back to the board when the horn sounded. The class watched as Sato, Toru, and Kirishima just started running, Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to carry him up, while Yangai gently and smoothly made herself fly up and she had full control of herself. “Look at her go.” Henshizo said smiling lightly and Ashido smirked but he was too enamored watching her fly to notice. With her costume she really looked like a ghost flying and she landed gently beside All Might and he beamed, Tokoyami landing about six seconds after she did. “You’ve both improved so much. Congratulations.” He said to them and Yanagi nodded as Tokoyami bowed.

“Yanagi’s really improved. At the sports festival she couldn’t control herself well, but now she was making herself float so smoothly.” Midoriya muttered as he was writing in his journal. “Yea she was really something. Don’t you think Sesshada?” Ashido teased and he looked at her confused. “I’m glad she’s improved, I think she may be one of the most underrated in our class.” He said calmly and she sighed and Ojiro nervously chuckled. “Did I miss something?” Midoriya asked looking up as the remaining three got to All Might. “No, just Sesshada being like every other boy in this class.” Ashido said shrugging and she walked off. “What does that mean?” Henshizo asked confused and both Ojiro and Midoriya shrugged.

The last group consisting of Bakugo, Yaoyorozu, Aoyama, Uraraka, and Shoji walked down as the third group came back, Henshizo waving to Yanagi and she came over. “You were great, Kamui Woods really helped you didn’t he?” Henshizo said smiling and Ashido watched the two. “Indeed, his insight on how to extend one’s quirk and control it has proven invaluable.” She said gently sitting down beside him. “So, uh, your cousin is up in this one.” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded. “Yes, but Bakugo is going to win, and it’s not even close.” Henshizo said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Yea, this is the most uneven grouping.” Ojiro said shaking his head as the last group got to their starting points. “Your flying is also very admirable.” Yanagi said to Henshizo and he smirked. “I fly with machines, you fly with your quirk. Your way is much better.” He said smiling at her and her eye indicated she was smiling as the buzzer sounded to start the final round.

“Thanks.” She muttered to him and they watched as Bakugo easily blasted to All Might before everyone else. “Well there’s one thing I know he can’t be good at with his quirk.” Henshizo said as Momo was using her quirk to make a grappling gun like Henshizo had. “What’s that?” Ojiro asked and Midoriya turned curiously. “Kachan’s quirk has no weakness that I can think of.” He said confused and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “Stealth. Hard to be stealthy with explosions.” He said and Ojiro laughed as Midoirya went red. “Oh, I suppose so.” He said chuckling as well. Momo finished second, with Shoji using his dupliarms to extend his reach to finish right behind her. Aoyama would’ve finished fourth if his laser hadn’t given out and he fell and landed very painfully with a pipe between his legs. Uraraka finshed fourth and Aoyama slowly went up the ladder and curled up on top. Henshizo was doing his best to not laugh, while Kaminari, Sero, and Kirishima were laughing hard. “Quite a painful ending to the day.” Yanagi remarked and Henshizo chuckled. “Yea.” He said as the group came out of field gamma with All Might carrying Aoyama.

“Great work today, you’ve all improved greatly. Now hit the showers, also can someone help young Aoyama. And don’t forget to start preparing for your final exams.” All Might said setting Aoyama down and Kirishima went over and helped support Aoyama. The class went back to the locker room and began wiping down and changing. “Man, I gotta work on my mobility.” Kirishima said bitterly. “One should learn about themselves to get better.” Tokoyami said coolly. “Yea, but I can’t use my quirk to help. Guys like you and Sero have it easy.” Kirishma said sighing “Hey, check this out.” Kaminari said, peeling a poster off the wall and they saw a hole. “What’s that?” Sato asked curiously. “Looks like a gift from a class before us.” He said thumbing to the hole. “You know what’s on the other side right? The girls locker ro-” He began and he was stopped as Henshizo pushed him against the wall hard, pinning his head to it. “Fucking look through that hole and I will carve out the eye you did it with. Are you forgetting my cousin is in there?” He growled so angrily and the boys for the first time saw Henshizo as a young head and his aura scared most of them. “That goes for anyone.” He snapped at the rest of them as Kaminari groaned lightly. “You fuck with my family I fucking ruin you.” He growled and let go of Kaminari. Henshizo grabbed a paper towel and changed it into a roll of duct tape and taped the hole over.

None of the boys got in his way, Bakugo actually was smirking lightly, and Henshizo finished getting dressed and he left the locker room, the boys relaxing. “Damn, he’s scary when he wants to be.” Kirishima said as Kaminari held his head. “Yakuza place a very strong emphasis on family, even more so than society as a whole. So, anything that threatens the family gets dealt with harshly.” Todoroki said calmly. “So what you’re saying is that if we do anything to Yaoyorozu that hurts her we have Sesshada to worry about?” Sero asked. “Well, if you hurt her in training, I doubt he would hold that against you. But the peephole would be something you don’t do.” Todoroki said calmly again. The rest of the boys nodded and Todoroki walked over to Midoriya and Iida. “I won’t report Sesshada, he was defending our classmates.” Iida said quietly. “I feel bad for Sesshada, he clearly is struggling with how he was raised still.” Midoriya said quietly too. “Well you guys saw what he did to the Nomu.” Todoroki said so quietly only the two could hear and they nodded.

Henshizo was walking to the cafeteria when a door opened beside him and both Yanagi and Momo came out. “Oh Henshizo.” Momo said smiling and Yanagi nodded. “Thanks for sealing off the hole.” Momo said and Henshizo tilted his head. “How’d you guys know?” He asked confused. “Jiro, her quirk is quite advantageous to avoid unwelcome intrusions.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded. “Did, uh, she say anything about what I did?” He asked quietly, rubbing his arm. “Yea, she said you threatened them all if they did anything to me.” Momo said smiling and she hugged him, surprising him. “It’s nice knowing you’d protect me.” She said breaking it and he looked away smiling. “Y-yea.” “Carving the sinning eye out. Very poetic punishment.” Yanagi said and Henshizo went red. “Let’s not talk about me threatening to maim people at UA.” He muttered and they nodded, both turning red too.

“Have my parents contacted you?” Momo asked as they began going to the cafeteria. “No, but that’s fine.” Henshizo said shrugging. “I also gave my number to the hospital.” He continued sighing nonchalantly. “What happened to her is just horrifying.” Yanagi said sorrowfully. “Welcome to the world of heroes.” Henshizo said scathingly and they looked at him. “What? You think as heroes we won’t have to deal with situations like that or worse?” He asked them and they shook their heads. “We’re not saying that, just you know, it was bad.” Momo said quietly and he stopped and looked at her. “Yea, sorry. Just my outlook on things breaking through.” He muttered, rubbing his arm.

“It’s ok.” Momo said gently as they arrived to the cafeteria and Henshizo smiled lightly at the reassurance. Henshizo grabbed his food and he went with Yanagi towards the exit. “Henshizo where’re you going?” Momo asked and Henshizo looked at her. “Where I always go for lunch.” He said and Momo nodded, a bit sad. “Perhaps the location of our luncheon can change today.” Yanagi said and he looked at her. “You can go up.” He said and she shrugged. “I ate alone when I was younger, and eating with others is more desirable.” She said quietly and he nodded and the two went back in and Momo smiled and the three sat down with some of the rest of the class. “Oh Yanagi, Sesshada. A pleasant surprise.” Iida said raising a bandaged hand. “How’s the recovery?” Henshizo asked looking at Iida curiously as he broke apart his chopsticks. “I’ll be healed soon enough.” He said smiling and Henshizo nodded. “What happened Iida?” Momo asked worried. “Training accident.” Iida said looking at her and Henshizo looked at his bowl to roll his eyes.

“I see, well I’m just glad it’s nothing serious.” Momo said calmly before turning to Henshizo. “Henshizo, I realize this sudden and possibly rude. But, would it be ok if I ask what happened to you after your father was arrested?” She asked and he looked at her and the others looked over too. Henshizo sighed while playing with his chopsticks. “Honestly there isn’t much to say. The raid happened at night, I was restrained by Best Jeanist during it.” He said and some gasped. “After that I got taken to a police station and was interrogated, they had slapped a quirk suppressing collar on me. After a while they let me go and put me in a foster home and I’ve been at the same one.” He said picking a piece of chicken up and putting it into his mouth.

“Why did Best Jeanist restrain you and the police collar you?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo snorted. “I’m the son of the boss of the yakuza group they raided. Of course, they had to treat me as a threat. I don’t hold anything negative about it.” He said calmly and drank some of his tea. “You said you were in a foster home, what’s it like?” Iida asked gently and Henshizo lightly smiled. “I know that there are many foster homes that our bad, but I’m in a good one. It’s just one woman, my foster mom, who takes care of five of us.” He said and they raised they’re eyebrows. “Five to one, that seems difficult.” Momo said and Henshizo shook his head. “We’re all thirteen to fifteen, so yes a bunch of teens but also kids that can take care of themselves.” He said and a few nodded. “They helped me stabilize myself mentally, granted it took awhile for me to warm up.” He said tilting his head thinking back. “But I’m better now because of them.” He said happily.

“That’s good. Do you think I could come and introduce myself?” Momo asked gently and Henshizo shrugged. “I’ll ask if it’s ok.” He said, pulling his phone out and texted Sanae. ‘Hey, my cousin, yes it feels weird to type that, wants to come over. Is that ok?’ He sent the message and waited. “I appreciate you asking. My mom has always stressed the importance of family.” Momo said smiling. ‘I can see why, your sister gets kidnapped of course you’d value family.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Family is important yes. And they may not be family by blood, but I view them more as family than I view my father as family.” Henshizo said as his phone vibrated with Sanae’s response. ‘Of course! Can’t wait to meet her.’ She had sent back. “You can come. We can just go after school.” He said smiling and she smiled back. “Aww, look at you two, acting like family.” Jiro said teasingly and Momo blushed lightly. “Well we are, and it’s nice.” She said and Henshizo nodded.

They finished their lunches and went back for afternoon classes, which breezed by. “You ready Momo?” Henshizo asked as they packed up. “Yes, I’m excited. My mom, your aunt I suppose, is at the hospital so I would be going home to an empty house, well except for the groundskeepers, the chefs, and…” She trailed off as Henshizo chuckled. “I get it.” He said and the two left and walked to the bus stop he rode. “Hopefully my siblings behave.” Henshizo said as the bus pulled up. “What are they like?” Momo asked with just a slightly worried tone. “Oh, don’t worry they’re good. Just can be annoying, but in the good sense you know?” He said and she nodded smiling. “We don’t have any groundskeepers or butlers at our place, although Sanae is one hell of a gardener.” He said chuckling and she giggled.

“That’s ok. So you must have good vegetables.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Her quirk helps a lot. She can accelerate the growth of plant life.” He explained and she nodded. “I can see why she’s a good gardener then.” Momo said putting her hands together as they rode along. “So how was your internship?” Henshizo asked and Momo went pink a little bit. “It was… ok. I mentioned Kendo and I will be in an ad right?” She asked and Henshizo nodded. “We did some hero work. But I wish I had done more.” She said sighing sadly and Henshizo frowned lightly. “Hey, you’re going to be a great hero. It can’t all be smooth sailing, but you’ll be great.” He said patting her leg and she smiled. “Thanks.” She said smiling at him and she wiped a tear away. The bus arrived at his stop and he stood up, Momo following him off and they walked to his house. “It’s not much, but it’s home.” He said as they got to the front door and walked in.

“Goji give it back!” Hinata shouted as Goji ran from the living room with a book in his hands and Hinata chasing him, Henshizo sighing. “The Goji, Hinata rivalry.” He said exasperated as Momo giggled. “Hey, Goji! Stop being a prick.” Henshizo snapped and he heard Goji stop. “Come on Henshizo, she started it.” He said whining as they came back around but stopped seeing Momo. “And I’m ending it.” Henshizo said smirking. “Honoka, Daiki. Come here!” Goji called out and Momo giggled as the other two came from the living room. “What?” Honoka asked but she saw Momo. “Oh my gosh, Henshizo is this your girlfriend?” She asked and both Henshizo and Momo went red. “No. Shit, I forgot to tell you guys.” Henshizo said facepalming at his forgetfulness. They heard the back door open and steps from the kitchen and Sanae came in.

“Ah you must be his cousin.” She said smiling and the foster sibilings got shocked looks on their faces. “Long story short; Gang Orca helped me find my mom, and subsequently my mom’s relatives, and one of them is my classmate. Guys, Momo Yaoyorozu, my cousin, Momo, my foster siblings.” He said nonchalantly and they all gasped. “Momo right? Why don’t you come in for tea?” Sanae said walking forward and taking Momo to the kitchen, knowing what was about to happen. “Oh, sure.” Momo said smiling and as soon as she was clear the four siblings jumped Henshizo. “You found your mom? Why are you here? What?” They all shouted and Henshizo got them off him. “She’s in a coma right now.” He said and their faces fell. “So right now… it’s a nonfactor. I’m not going to burden her parents with my presence.” He said looking to the side. “Maybe at some point, if she wakes up, if she accepts me.” Henshizo said shaking his head trying to get negative thoughts out. “Until things get clearer, I’m not going anywhere.” He said both sadly, but then smiling at them. “You’re still stuck with me.” He said smiling more and they hugged him and he smiled more.

“You’re so awesome.” Goji said hugging tighter and Henshizo let them get their affection out, them eventually letting go. “I didn’t say anything because I don’t know what will happen, but she wanted to come and I figured why not.” Henshizo muttered. “Well she is certainly… very cool to have around.” Goji said gulping and getting pale at the look Henshizo gave and Honoka giggled. Henshizo rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen. “Your cousin is quite the tea enthusiast.” Sanae said smiling as Momo was sipping a cup. “I prefer coffee.” Henshizo said shrugging and Sanae sighed. “Say Momo, what’s he like in class? I can never really get anything out of him.” Sanae said and Henshizo sighed. “Oh, Henshizo is easily one of the best in the class. Both academically and practically.” Momo said smiling. “Hardly, you got first in the midterms.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes. “Well yea, but you’re way better at fighting than I could be.” Momo said Henshizo picking up on her sadness.

“And you’re a good fighter too.” He said firmly, hating seeing her like this. “Beneath his admittedly very rough exterior, he’s a caring person.” Sanae said and Henshizo rolled his eyes and Momo smiled lightly. “Yea. People like him.” She said and Henshizo shook his head. “Don’t know why.” He said going to the fridge and getting a bottle of juice out. “Because not only are you incredibly strong, you’ve shown you have the heart of a hero.” Momo said and Henshizo stopped mid-swig and didn’t look at anyone. “Yea sure.” He muttered before he began drinking his juice. Sanae got up and rubbed his back. “You are a hero.” She said and he sighed shakily and Momo got up. “Did I say something?” She asked quietly and Sanae shook her head. “It’s nothing Momo.” Henshizo said turning around and lightly smiling. “We have finals in what, little over two weeks?” He asked her changing the subject.

“Yes. And I feel like they’re going to throw something big at us.” Momo said in a thinking tone. “Midterms didn’t seem like we had much to go over but now.” Henshizo said shaking his head and finishing his juice as Momo finished her tea. “Well I know you both will do great.” Sanae said smiling and Momo smiled. “Thank you, Ms. Ikari.” She said and Sanae put a hand up. “Sanae please.” She said and Momo nodded. “I do hate to leave so soon, but I need to get home.” Momo said and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll walk you to the stop.” He said and he heard the patter of footsteps as his siblings ran away. “Thank you.” She said smiling as she stood up and Sanae took the tea cup from her. “Stop by anytime.” She said and Momo nodded happily. “Thank you for the hospitality.” She said bowing lightly. “Take care.” Sanae said as the cousins left.

“Your foster family is certainly something.” Momo said as they walked along and Henshizo chuckled. “Yea, they are.” He said lightly smiling. “What are your foster siblings quirks?” Momo asked curiously. “Goji’s quirk is called midas, fairly obvious right? Anything he touches he can turn to gold.” He said chuckling and Momo’s eyes widened. “Hinata has music, any song she hears she can emit perfectly from her mouth. Neat party trick, not shockingly she’s been hounding me to get present mic’s autograph.” He said and Momo giggled. “Daiki’s quirk is the only obvious one, steel finger, self-explanatory. But honestly, I may not have the most powerful quirk in the house.” Henshizo said and Momo gasped. “But your quirk is so incredible. What can beat it?” She asked and Henshizo smirked. “Honoka’s, fortune. If she’s holding something of yours and says your name, she can choose to either give you really good luck or really bad luck.” He said and Momo’s eyes widened. “Oh wow, that is powerful.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Before you get any ideas I’ve forbidden her from using it on me. Barring something life or death. So she hasn’t used it on me at all with any part of my time at UA.” He said seriously. “Right. But how do you know?” She asked and Henshizo shrugged. “I’m still someone who firmly believes in being honorable and upholding deals you make. She doesn’t want to upset me. Besides, the tell is in her eyes. If she uses it her eyes go from gold to either green like mine or red.” He said and she nodded as they got to the bus stop. “She’s thinking she can be a hero.” He muttered and Momo smiled. “That’s great! A quirk like that would be great.” She said and Henshizo sighed. “I guess, but… because of how I grew up, I just dread her getting used for her quirk.” He said clenching his fist and Momo frowned. “Don’t worry Henshizo it won’t happen.” She said and he looked at her. “I’ll make sure it won’t.” He said firmly as the bus pulled up. “Take care Momo. See you tomorrow.” He said as she got on. “You too.” She said smiling and the doors closed and the bus drove away, leaving Henshizo at the stop. ‘You have the heat of a hero.’ Momo’s words in his head and Henshizo looked at his hands. ‘How can I when I have blood on my hands?’ He thought as he walked back to his house.

Notes:

I hate myself for making the chapters as long as I do. But ideas pop in my head and I just have to write them. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Chapter 23: Preparation for Finals

Summary:

Finals are quickly approaching and the students all want to go to training camp. How do they deal with preparing? Henshizo gets a study partner and things get awkward. What will they face in the finals?

Notes:

Midterm class rankings from first to twentieth: Yaoyorozu, Iida, Bakugo, Midoriya, Todoroki, Asui, Henshizo, Jiro, Ojiro, Yanagi, Shoji, Sato, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Hagakure, Sero, Aaoyama, Ashido, Kaminari

It had been a little over a week since Momo first visited Henshizo’s house and the class was sitting in homeroom listening to Aizawa go over announcements. “We’re soon going to be entering summer vacation. However, heroes don’t take summer vacations.” Aizawa said and the class gulped. ‘Does that mean?’ They all thought. “You’ll be going to a training camp in the woods.” He said and the class got super excited. “Summer camp, that means camp games.” Mina said happily. “Fireworks.” Asui said. “And smores.” Iida said while Henshizo grimaced. ‘Also means communal showers.’ He thought shuddering. “We’ve mostly been training in urban environments so the change would present different challenges.” Momo said. “Changing the environment to best prepare us for anything. Very wise.” Tokoyami said. “All the class activities we can do.” Uraraka said happily. “However.” Aizawa cut them off with a glare and firm tone. “To go to the training camp you have to pass your final exams. Failure will result in summer school, which will be far worse than anything at the training camp.” Aizawa said seriously.

“Alright everyone, give it your best so we can all go.” Kirishima said to everyone and Iida raised his hand. “What will the final exam cover sir?” He asked and while the bandages were gone, Henshizo noted the black compression brace he had on his left wrist. “There will be two components, a written component and a practical one. All I will say is that anything and everything you have been taught can be tested on. And that goes for both components.” Aizawa said and the class nodded. “So you need to be studying and honing your skills in preparation. That is all for today.” Aizawa said and he left the classroom. “I haven’t been studying at all!” Both Ashido and Kaminari cried out in panic. Ashido began laughing in panic. “Between the festival and the internship I haven’t had time.” Kaminari grumbled. “It’s true we haven’t had much free time.” Tokoyami said a bit grimly.

“We didn’t cover that much stuff before the midterms so they didn’t seem that bad, but now there’s a lot more.” Sato said slightly worried. “Ashido, Kaminari, we just have to do our best.” Midoriya said smiling. “As class rep I have high hopes for our class.” Iida said seriously. “It’s pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention.” Todoroki said bluntly. “Why you gotta cut me down like that?” Kaminari asked in a hurt tone. “Because the truth hurts.” Henshizo said shrugging as Yanagi came over to him. “Hey you two, I can help with the class stuff.” Momo said smiling. “Thank you Yaomomo!” Ashido and Kaminari called out. “The practical I won’t be much help with.” Momo muttered to herself. “Can you help me with quadratic functions?” Jiro asked walking up to her and Momo looked up confused. “Yea.” She said softly. “Tutor me as well, classical Japanese is bending me over.” Sero said pleading with her. “Can I hop in?” Ojiro asked shyly. “Of course, this weekend we can study at my residence. I’ll have to have the great hall ready for you all. What tea do you guys like?” Momo asked happily and bubbly as they awkwardly smiled.

“I may need to acquire to your cousin about assistance with mathematics. It terrorizes me like no other subject.” Yanagi said and Henshizo looked up at her. “I can help with math. How good are you at grammar?” He asked and Reiko looked down at him. “I am very apt with grammar.” She said and Henshizo lightly smiled. “Well how about we just study together this weekend? Are weakest subjects is the others strong suit.” He said and Yanagi nodded. “A simply solution to our plights, agreed. Where shall we conduct this?” She asked tilting her head lightly. “Well, I have four foster siblings at my place so chaos would ensue.” Henshizo said sighing. “An understandable worry. So that leaves my home or a different location that we can meet at.” She said and he nodded. “Where do you live?” He asked curiously. “East Aichi.” She said and he nodded. “Ok, that’s easy to get to. Would your parents mind?” He asked curiously. “They will be shocked a living person is coming over at my invitation. But they would be delighted.” Yanagi said and Henshizo lightly smiled. “Ok, so I’ll come over this weekend.” He said smiling at her and she nodded. “I will make sure that my parents are fine with it.” She said, using her quirk to float her phone out of her pocket and into her hand.

“So cool.” Henshizo said watching it. “Henshizo, do you want to come study?” Momo asked and he looked at her and shook his head. “Yanagi and I will be studying together. I, uh, I don’t think it’d be appropriate yet.” He muttered rubbing his neck and she looked sad but nodded. “I understand, but if you need help don’t be afraid to ask.” She said and he nodded. “Thanks Momo.” Henshizo said smiling lightly. “As I suspected, they are shocked that I invited someone over, but you are welcome to my residence.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded. “Cool. Between the two of us we can get fully prepared for the finals. At least the written portion.” He said and she nodded. “The practical is a spooky unknown.” She said seriously and the bell rang for morning classes to begin and everyone sat back down. The classes breezed by and the bell rang for lunch. Henshizo walked with Yanagi and Ojiro to the cafeteria and stood in line.

“So what do you guys think the practical will be?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo hummed thinking. “I can see some sort of obstacle race set up. Like one stage will be fighting, then another could be rescuing dummies.” He said and they nodded. “Perhaps, you’d have to think fighting will be a part of it.” Ojiro said and the two nodded as they took their food and began looking for a place to sit, and Henshizo saw one of the kids from class 1-B making towards a table where Midoriya, Asui, Hagakure, Iida, Todoroki, and Uraraka and purposely elbowed Midoriya in the back of the head, and Henshizo growled. “Yanagi, mind using your quirk on my tray real fast?” He asked and she tilted her head curiously but nodded and Henshizo felt it float and he let go and went over towards the table. “Class A always in the spotlight for encountering villains. Have you thought of this. Maybe one day everyone else will get caught up in the trouble you cause. Thus showing that class B is better.” The boy, which Henshizo faintly recalled as Monoma, said mildly crazy, and Henshizo noted a girl with orange hair in a ponytail walking up with an exasperated expression on her face.

“If villains do attack and you can’t handle it then you shouldn’t be in the hero course. Perhaps you want to be a victim right now.” Henshizo growled at him and Monoma jumped away from Henshizo. “W-well if it isn’t class A’s resident thug. Figures you wou-” He began ranting at Henshizo, but the orange haired girl chopped the back of his head and knocked him out. “Cool it Monoma. You know better.” She said sighing. “Sorry about him, I think he has a hole where his heart should be.” She said as Yanagi and Ojiro walked up. “Kendo, is he always like that?” Iida asked and she sadly nodded. “Screams small dick.” Henshizo muttered and Ojiro had to cover his mouth with his tail to stop himself from laughing. “I heard you guys talking about the practical, according to an upperclassman it’ll be like the entrance exam. Fighting robots.” She said and they stared at her. “Huh, smart. Getting an informant.” Henshizo said taking his tray out of the air from Yanagi. “Why did you tell them Kendo? This could’ve been our chance to surpass these idiots.” Monomoa was muttering and Kendo chopped him again. “You’re the only idiot.” She said dragging him away. “I like her style.” Henshizo said chuckling.

The eight at the table scooted together so Henshizo, Yanagi, and Ojiro decided to sit there. “Thanks for the assistance Sesshada.” Midoriya said and Henshizo gave a dismissive handwave. “Hey, no one gets to hit you in the back of the head. Beside me, since I stare at it all day.” He said and the table laughed and the eleven ate talking about the finals. They went back to their classroom and had afternoon classes and after the final bell Midoriya told the rest of the class what Kendo had said. “Alright!” Kaminari and Ashido shouted out happily. “I can zap those big robots no problem.” Kaminari said happily. “And I’ll melt them and we can go to camp.” Ashido said putting her hands together. “Just have to really study for the written.” Sero said sighing in relief.

“Oh shut the hell up you extras.” Bakugo snapped at them. “It won’t matter if it’s people or robots, you should be able to handle any challenge and control your damn quirks.” He said angrily to Ashido and Kaminari. “Been awhile since he’s been this worked up.” Kirishima muttered as Henshizo rolled his eyes. “Oi, Deku. I don’t know what kind of bullshit you’re up to. Just know it’s pissing me off.” He growled at Midoriya. “Oh, he’s probably upset Midoriya was moving like him in that race.” Uraraka said quietly. “I will have an undisputed win after the finals. Not a half-assed one like the sports festival. New rankings, so I can show just how much better I am than you.” He said angrily to Midoriya before looking at Todoroki. “Icy-hot, I’ll kill you too.” He said before glancing at Sesshada. “And don’t think I’m taking my eyes off you, yakuza bastard.” He snapped before leaving the room in a huff, slamming the door shut.” “That’s old bakugo.” Kirishima said as Henshizo smirked. “Is it impatience or hatred?” Tokoyami said and Momo put a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder.

“I’m fine, honestly I’m honored.” Henshizo said standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Why?” Momo asked confused. “Because it means he views me as a potential threat.” Henshizo said smirking more. “Makes sense, you placed third in the sports festival and it took Todoroki using his fire to beat you.” Momo said thinking. The class began to leave for the day and as Henshizo started to leave Todoroki walked up to him. “For what it’s worth I know how much you have to hold back.” He said quietly and Henshizo glanced behind them to see if people could listen. “You have no idea.” Henshizo muttered with just a hint of bitterness. “You’re clearly far more skilled than you’ve displayed, if you had gone all out at the sports festival, I don’t doubt you could’ve beaten me.” He said even more quietly and Henshizo looked at him. “Possibly, but we’ll never know.” He said and Todoroki nodded and the two went their separate ways. Henshizo went home and walked out back where he found Sanae tending to the garden. “Hey Sanae.” He said and she looked up smiling. “Hey Henshizo, what’s up?” She asked, putting a head of lettuce in a basket. “I’m going to be studying with a classmate this weekend.” He said before rubbing his neck. “At her place.” He muttered and Sanae smiled. “Ah, no wonder you didn’t want to say in the house. That’s fine, just actually study. I know what kids your age can be like.” She said and Henshizo went red faced. “It’s not like that. She’s going to help me with grammar and I’ll help her with math.” He said and she chuckled.

“I’m just teasing you.” She said smiling and he sighed. “Who is it?” Sanae asked curiously. “Yanagi, the girl I teamed with in the calvary battle.” Henshizo said and Sane nodded. “You seem drawn to her.” She said in a teasing tone and he went even redder. “It’s not like that, we’re just comfortable with each other. And I’m going to stop talking before I put myself in an even deeper hole.” He said and she laughed. “I’ve never seen you like this. Are her parents ok with it?” She asked and Henshizo nodded. “According to her they’re more shocked she’s having someone over.” He said shrugging and Sane frowned lightly. “Ok, just be safe ok?” She said seriously and Henshizo nodded. “Thanks. I will be studying and training a lot, so you probably won’t see a lot of me.” He said and Sanae sadly nodded. “I understand, just study hard and do your best.” She said and he nodded, going back in to the house and up to his room and began the studying and training grind.

The rest of the week was much the same, and the weekend came and it was time for Henshizo to go to Yanagi’s to study. Henshizo packed up his school bag and left, taking the bus to Aichi and double checked her address to see the bus stop. ‘On the bus, hopefully be there under an hour.’ He texted her. ‘I will await your arrival.’ She sent back and Henshizo smirked lightly. “Even text like that.” He mused to himself, settling in to his seat. After about forty minuets on the bus it arrived at the stop Yanagi had suggested and he got off and checking the street signs began walking. As he got closer he hoped he was dressed ok, in a black t-shirt with a dragon curled on his chest, and he couldn’t figure out why he was worrying about his appearance. He arrived at Yanagi’s home, a nice modest home and went up to the front door and rang the door bell.

After a moment the door opened and a woman with silver hair that flowed down to her hips was standing in the door. “Oh my, my darling Reiko was telling the truth. Come in come in.” She said stepping aside and Henshizo went in, taking his shoes off by the door. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home Mrs. Yanagi.” Henshizo said bowing lightly. “Such manners. Sada, come here.” Mrs. Yanagi called out and a man came from the kitchen and Reiko came down the stairs, and for the first time he had ever seen, Henshzio saw her face partially red. “Ah. I recognize you from the sports festival. You helped our daughter get far.” He said walking up and Henshizo just nodded lightly. “She also helped me.” Henshizo said softly.

“Mother, father, must you embarrass me?” Yanagi said getting down to the bottom of the stairs. “Oh hush darling. You’re much to serious.” Her mom said smiling lightly and Yanagi turned to Henshizo. “I believe we have academic atrocities to face.” Yanagi said and her parents rolled their eyes. “Ah, yes.” Henshizo said nodding to her and Reiko slowly went up the stairs and Henshizo followed. “Keep the door open.” Her father called out and the two teens went pink. “I apologize for them.” She said as she walked into her room and Henshizo looked around. Her room had a bed against the wall with black sheets on it, the walls were lined with horror movie posters and memorabilia, the wall to their left had two bookshelves that had horror movies, comics, and books filling the shelves, a desk was by the window across from them, but the blackout curtains were drawn blocking the sun out. “I love your room.” Henshizo said going over to the shelf and began looking at everything.

“Thank you. My parents often decry my choice to be fascinated by horror, but they also gladly facilitate it.” She said and Henshizo chuckled. “I can tell.” He said turning back to her and now noted how she was wearing a simple white t-shirt and black shorts. “It’s weird for us to see each other in uniform or our costumes.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck. “It is unusual, the last time we saw each other not in the UA uniform or costumes was the entrance exam.” She said as she floated over her books and sat on her bed. Henshizo went just a little red and walked over and sat on the bed as well. “Can you teach me math first? It eludes me.” She said opening her math book to where she was having trouble. Henshizo took the book and looked. “Ok, yea it’s not easy, but here's how you can make it easy.” He said and he spent the next forty-five minuets going over all her math woes and she slowly got it and was able to do problems with no issue.

“A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.” She said lightly smiling at him. “Glad I can help.” He said smiling back and there was a gentle knock at the door. “Everything going alright?” Her mom said coming in with a tray of tea and cookies floating around her. “Yes mother.” Yanagi said as her mom stopped the tray and set it on the bed. “Just in case you guys need a little something.” She said and Yanagi said as Henshizo nodded. “Thank you ma’am.” He said politely taking a cup and Mrs. Yanagi smiled and left them. “I suspect they are talking about I invited a boy over.” Yanagi muttered and Henshizo chuckled. “Probably. Can I ask something?” He said after taking a sip and setting it down on the tray. “You may.” Yanagi said slightly tilting her head. “You mentioned your parents would be shocked that you invited someone over. Why is that?” He asked gently and Yanagi looked at him curiously. “Because when I was younger I really didn’t have friends. My classmates were often intimated by either my appearance, speech, or quirk.” She said and Henshizo frowned. “Well that’s stupid, I mean that they were. You’re amazing.” He said and she went pink a little.

“Thank you.” She said and the two teens sat in awkward silence for a moment. “So uh, can you help me with who and whom?” Henshzio asked and she nodded. “Of course.” She said and now she was the tutor as Henshizo slowly got all the tricky grammar stuff. “Believe it or not I was taught a lot of normal school stuff when I was younger. But grammar, was not one of them.” He said rubbing his temple as he finally set his pencil down. “I read a lot of internet stories and the grammar mistakes infuriate me.” Yanagi said smiling lightly. “Oh I’m sure they would. Let me guess, creepypastas?” He asked and she nodded. “My fascination with horror knows no bounds.” She said floating a cookie towards her and taking a bite out of it. “Heh, I got horror stories. And what makes them scarier than anything you read, is that it’s all real.” Henshizo said and she looked at him with sadness. “I am sure you’ve been through a lot. If you would like to discuss.” She said gently and she placed a hand on his knee and Henshizo gave a start at the touch but relaxed instantly.

“Thanks Yanagi, I’m ok though. I have my scars from it, literally and figuratively, and I’m… at peace with it.” He said sort of staring at nothing as he talked. Yanagi gently sighed and she brushed the hair from her face so both her eyes were showing. “Sesshada. Know you don’t have to fight anything anymore.” She said gently and he looked into her blue eyes and smiled sadly. “I have some ghosts chasing me that I can never stop running from. But I promise I’m good.” He said and she stared silently for a moment before nodding. “I’ve never met someone so spooky.” She said quietly and Henshizo’s smile turned from sad to happy. “Thanks, I’m guessing that’s a good thing.” He said and she nodded the two going silent, and just staring at each other awkwardly. “D-do you want to do anything else in terms of preparation?” Henshizo asked quietly and Yanagi shook her head, snapping out of the thoughts she was in. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d like to practice my quirk on a person. This time with you resisting.” She said and Henshizo rocked his head back and forth thinking.

“Perhaps not in your bedroom.” He said lightly and she nodded. Henshizo grabbed a cookie and ate it as they left her room and went down stairs. “We’re heading to the backyard to train.” Yanagi said to her parents and Henshizo followed her out into the backyard. “So do you want me to like run around and try avoid your quirk or what?” Henshizo asked curiously. “I want to see how much control I can have someone who’s already in my quirks control.” Yanagi said and she picked him up and he floated in place. “Ok.” He said and he tried kicking her but his shoes were stuck in place and felt like they were stuck in cement. “Argh.” He grunted trying to reach her, but she used his shoes and shirt to keep his movements limited. “You’re resisting?” She asked and he nodded giving a lunge but her quirk held strong. “This is most pleasing to me.” She said smiling and she set him down on the ground.

“Felt like my feet were stuck in the mud and my shirt was a wall.” Henshizo said to her and she put her hands together happily. “This makes me feel better about my skill.” She said and Henshizo smiled. “Against most opponents that should do the trick, but depending how big and strong they are that’s a different story.” He said seriously and she nodded. “Agreed. Knowing limitations is just as important as knowing how to do something.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded but raised a fist. “But still, that’s damn good.” He said smiling and she looked at the fist while she held her arms in her usual zombie like pose. “Thank you.” She said looking at him and lowered it awkwardly. “Let’s crush the finals and then enjoy camp.” He said and she nodded, leading him back inside. “It go well?” Her mom called out. “I am satisfied with the results.” Yanagi replied and Henshizo smiled as they went back up to her room. “I must admit Sesshada, I’m surprised at one thing.” She said, floating him his books and bag.

“Oh what’s that?” He asked putting it all together and over his shoulder. “All this horror and you didn’t ask me what’s my favorite.” She said gesturing around and he smiled. “Well I already know your favorite, or at least one of them.” He said and Yanagi tilted her head confused. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Why else would you choose Emily as your codename?” He said and she very lightly gasped and smiled. “You’re correct. No one else has every guessed it right.” She said lightly. “One of the ‘baby sitters’ I had, who was just a newly initiated gang member, was a foreign horror movie buff.” He said shrugging. “Still, I’m impressed you know it.” She said smiling and he nodded and he lightly smiled back. “If you’d like… maybe after finals to celebrate… we can watch it together?” He asked just a bit nervously and her eyes widened in shock. “I. Yes, that would be delightful.” She said smiling and Henshizo smiled broadly.

“Great. Um, after finals of course.” He said and she nodded quickly. “Yes have to have that extra motivation.” Yanagi said and Henshizo chuckled. “For sure. I’m going to head home is that ok?” He asked and she nodded. “Of course, thank you Sesshada.” She said and she took a step forward so that the two were closer together and they stared at each other for a long moment. “Right, see you Monday for the first day of the finals.” Henshizo said quietly and she nodded. “May you experience good fortune.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Yea, good luck to you too.” He said and he left her room with her watching him go. “Thank you for having me.” He said to her parents as he put his shoes on. “No, thank you for coming. You can come back any time.” Mrs. Yanagi said and he bowed quickly and left.

Henshizo got back to the bus stop and played with a marble in his hand trying to calm himself. The bus arrived and he got on heading home. Henshizo got home and dropped his bag off and went to train. Training and studying made the weekend go by and the written exams came and through the three days of written exams Henshizo was confident in his answers in all the subjects and then the following day it was the day of the practical exam. “So there’s a whole building for the practicals?” Henshizo asked as they got dressed in the locker room. “Yes, we will be bussed there.” Iida said and Henshizo shook his head. “How much money does this school have?” he asked causing most of the boys to laugh. They got dressed and got on a bus with the girls and were quickly bussed over to a nice building on the north side of campus, they got off and lined up together and were faced with eight of their teachers.

“Now it’s time for the last test. Remember you can fail this, and if you fail you don’t go to camp. So don’t make stupid mistakes.” Aizawa said and the class was confused and some uneasy about all the teachers being there. “Why are all the teachers here?” Jiro asked. “I suspect many of you have gathered information and think you know what you’ll be facing.” Aizawa said and Henshizo closed his eyes, because he realized it wouldn’t be robots. “We’re facing those big dumb robots.” Kaminari said happily. “Fireworks, smores, here we come.” Ashido said pumping her fist. “Actually. This year’s tests will be completely different for various reasons.” Principal Nezu said popping out of Aizawa’s binding cloth. “Principal Nezu!” Half the class cried out. “You’re changing it?” Momo said concerned. “The tests have a new focus. Of course we have hero work, but we also want to see teamwork and combat between people. So what does that mean for you students? You’ll be working in pairs and your opponents will be one of our esteemed teachers.” Nezu said most of the class went pale.

“We’re fighting the teachers? Actual pros?” Uaraka said scared. “Additionally your partner and opponent have already been assigned. By me at my discretion, determined by various factors such as fighting style, grades, and relationships.” Aizawa said and Henshizo looked at the teachers trying to determine who he was against, but also noted nine teachers for twenty students. “First we have Yaoyorozu and Todoroki versus me.” Aizawa said smirking. “And then we have Midoriya and Bakugo as a team, and their opponent.” Aizawa trailed off and All Might’s laugh was heard and he landed in front of them. “I am here, to fight.” All Might said straightening up. “We’re up against All Might?” The two cried out in disbelief. “That’s right. You’ll have to work together to defeat me boys.” All Might said and he was oddly intimidating. Henshizo put a hand on Midoriya’s shoulder. “We’ll let you know how camp goes.” He said gently to Midoriya.

“Now I will announce the matchups and the order of which the fights will occur.” Aizawa began pulling a card out of his pocket. “Sato and Kirishima versus Cementoss, Tokoyami and Asui versus Ectoplasm, Iida and Ojiro vs Power Loader, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu vs myself, Uaraka and Sesshada versus Thirteen, Ashido and Kaminari versus Principal Nezu, Jiro and Aaoyama versus Present Mic, Shoji and Hagakure versus Snipe, Sero and Yanagi versus Midnight, and finally Midoriya and Bakugo versus All Might.” Aizawa said pocketing it and Henshizo looked at Thirteen. ‘Blackhole breaks down any matter, so no matter what I make she can destroy. A natural mismatch.’ Henshizo thought.

“And now I will explain the rules. You will have thirty minuets to either capture your teacher with these handcuffs or one of you run through the escape gate.” Nezu said holding up a pair of handcuffs. “So it’s like combat training, having to either fight or run.” Kaminari said and Ashido raised her hand. “Is it ok to run?” She asked and Nezu stuck a thumb/toe up. “Yep.” “But it’ll be different from combat training. Cause you’ll be up against someone way better than you.” Present Mic said posing. “Better? Aren’t you just an announcer?” Jiro asked. “Show some respect!” Present mic shouted in a hurt voice. “Your exam will be very similar to actual combat. It may seem odd but please think of us as villains.” Thirteen said and Henshizo smirked. ‘Easy enough, most of my life I was taught heroes are the enemy.’ He thought to himself.

“If you come across a villain and think you can win in a fight, that’s fine. However.” Snipe said and Aizawa continued. “If you come across someone and the skill gap is too great. It would be smarter to run away and get help. Sesshada, Iida, Todoroki, Midoriya. I’m sure the four of you understand this concept.” He said and Henshizo tugged his shirt collar awkwardly. ‘Of course UA would know the actual story.’ He thought as a couple people glanced at him. “Under theses conditions you may think that the only way you can win is if you run.” All Might said reaching behind him. “So that’s why we had the support course make these!” All might said holding up a steel bracelet. “Ultra-compressed weights! These babies will be add half of our body weight to us. It’s not much, but it’ll eat up our stamina and slow our agility and reflexes.” All Might said putting his on. “We had a contest and young Hatsume won.” He said standing back up. “Good for Hatsume.” Midorya said.

‘Right that support course chick I got the net gun from.’ Henshizo thought. “You think we need a handicap against you? You’re underestimating me.” Bakugo growled at All Might who laughed. “The exams will begin soon, Sato Kirishima head to the designated area. The rest of you can either get together to strategize or watch the exams in the observation room with Recovery Girl. That is all.” Aizawa said and the teachers walked away, as the students broke off into their teams, for the most part. “Let’s do this Sesshada.” Uaraka said going up to him, clearly pumped up. “We should plan, but I also want to watch. He didn’t say we couldn’t watch and plan.” Henshizo said tapping the side of his head and she smiled. “I like the way you think.” She said and they began going towards the observation area.

“You have a plan already don’t you? I can’t decide who’s better at strategizing, you or Deku.” She said happily and Henshizo chuckled. “Yea, Midoriya’s got a sharp mind.” He said as they walked in. “So her quirk is essentially a vacuum and once anything gets to close to her it breaks up. So we exploit her strength.” He said and she looked up at him confused. “How can we do that?” She asked and he smirked. “We use her quirk against her. I’m thinking flashbangs that we toss and she sucks towards her and they explode blinding her.” He said and she smiled. “Let’s do that.” She said as they got to the observation area and Midoriya was there. “Oh hey Deku, what are you doing here?” She said almost skipping over to him. “Oh hey guys, it’s not often we get the chance to see teachers in combat. Plus uh, Kachan doesn’t want to strategize.” He said. “Yea, I can see that.” Uraraka said as Henshizo walked up with one hand in his pocket. “Guy has a more explosive mental state than his quirk.” Henshizo muttered. “Say, what did Aizawa mean by you two would know to run?” Uraraka asked and the boys glanced at each other. “Getting out of Endevaor’s and Gang Orca’s ways in Hosu.” Henshizo said and she nodded and they turned to the screen. “I feel like I’m going to be busy today.” Recovery Girl said as the video board cut to Sato and Kirishima getting ready. “Our biggest challenge.” Midoriya said as the practical exams began.

Notes:

If this one was long, next one is going to be very long. Awkard teen emotions aplenty this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 24: Final Exam

Summary:

It's time for the finals and how will Henshizo be able overcome the matter destroying quirk of Thirteen? What else happens to all of 1-A during the practical exams?

“Practical exam; team Sato and Kirishima. Ready? Begin.” An automated voice throughout the compound and Henshizo watched as the two brawlers started running down the street and suddenly a part of the road jump up as a wall. “That seems familiar.” Henshizo muttered remembering the sports festival. They watched as the two powered up and smashed through the wall and Cementoss put up several walls and they continued to knock them down. “You got this guys.” Uraraka said, but Henshizo shook his head. “They won’t win like this.” Midoriya said seriously. “While both their quirks are amazing, there’s a duration issue, and Cementoss doesn’t have that.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “A frontal assault against literally the hardest possible opponent won’t work out.” He added and they watched as slowly but surely their two classmates began slowing down. “We’re match up against teacher’s who are a mismatch and can exploit our weaknesses.” Midoriya said seriously. “That’s right, so you should think of your compatibility with your opponent.” Recovery Girl said as the pair ran out of steam and were wrapped into a concrete ball that eventually flattened out revealing both to be out cold.

“Sato and Kirishima have been knocked out, exam over.” The automated voice declared and Recovery Girl sighed and got out of her chair. “First match and I’m already needed.” She muttered to herself walking off. “No way. It was that one sided?” Uraraka said covering her mouth and Henshizo gave an anxious cough. “Their quirks were too ineffective against his.” Midoriya said in a matter of tone. “Tokoyami and Asui are up next right?” Henshizo said and the videoboard cut to them walking to the middle of a stage. “Yes, against Ectoplasm, his quirk his tricky.” Midoriya said as the pair got ready. “Team Tokoyami and Asui, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The automated voice spoke and immediately after begin they watched some of Ectoplasm’s clones appear beside the pair, and then on the other side of the pair. Tokoyami used dark shadow to pick up and throw Asui to the level above them, and she used her tongue to pick and carry him up with her. “An escape only their quirks can do.” Midoriya said excited and Henshizo tilted his head watching it as Recovery Girl came back in to the room.

“The finals are supposed to test our weaknesses and how we deal with them right? But I’m having a hard time seeing theirs.” Midoriya said to her as she sat down. “Oh? You’ll see, this is a bad matchup for them. Well for Tokoyami at least.” She said and Henshizo finally saw it as clones popped up cutting them off and dark shadow attacked them. “He’s a mid to long range fighter, letting dark shadow take his opponents on, far from him.” Henshizo said crossing his arms and Midoriya went wide-eyed. “Meaning the inverse is that he’s weak with close combat. With clones being able to spawn anywhere, he can be forced into close combat.” Midoriya said. “Meanwhile Asui doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses and is an all-around excellent student. So she needs to do her best to support her powerful teammate.” Recovery Girl said causing both Henshizo and Midoriya to think back to the USJ attack.

“Her being with us, helped a lot.” Midoriya muttered as they watched the two clear out more of the clones and ran along a hallway and towards the goal. They saw the real ectoplasm spew a lot of mist from his mouth, and a giant clone of himself rose up and lunged forward and caught their classmates. ‘The hell, teachers are going to be using ultimate moves against us?’ Henshizo thought as they saw Tokoyami and Asui stuck to the clones back. Dark shadow came out and he went to the real ectoplasm, but Ectoplasm fought him off. “Dark shadow can still go, so they’re not done yet.” Henshizo muttered, but the pro was too good. Dark shadow retreated back to Tokoyami and Asui and then charged back at Ectoplasm who leapt at dark shadow and after the two collided everyone was shocked to see Ectoplasm’s peg leg wrapped in the handcuffs. “Team Asui and Tokoyami, have passed the practical exam.” The automated voice called out. “They hand, no, legcuffed him. Points for uniqueness.” Henshizo said smirking.

They watched as Ectoplasm debriefed them and then the feed switched to Iida and Ojiro getting ready to face Power Loader. “Two of our more agile classmates, but Power Loader has the terrain advantage, which negates their agility.” Henshizo said seeing the dirt arena they were in. “Team Ojiro and Iida. Practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The voice called out and they watched as Ojiro and Iida stood still and booby traps were going off along the ground. After a bit Ojiro hopped onto Iida’s back and Henshizo snorted at how ridiculous it looked. Iida activated his boosts and he began running faster than the traps, until Power Loader activated one too big. ‘Come on Ojiro.’ Henshizo thought as Iida jumped up and began spinning around in mid-air, and then Ojiro launched himself towards the gate. Power Loader tried grabbing him out of the air, but Ojiro used his tail to parry the attempt and flew through the gate. “Team Ojiro and Iida have passed the practical exam.” The automated voice called out and as the dust cleared they saw Iida buried up to his head in the ground and Henshizo laughed but was happy Ojiro passed.

“Next is Todoroki and Yaoyorozu against Aizawa.” Midoriya said as the feed cut to their testing zone and Midoriya and Uaraka glanced at Henshizo. “Come on Momo.” Henshizo muttered anxiously. “Team Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. Practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The automated voice rang out and the two began running down an alleyway, and Yaoyorozu began making Russian nesting dolls from her body. “Why those?” Henshizo muttered tilting his head curiously. As the two were running down a street in their model city she stopped and Henshizo could tell Momo was upset and watched as the two were talking. ‘She still hasn’t gotten over the sports festival, not to mention her bullshit experience at her internship. Hair product ad.’ Henshizo bitterly thought to himself, crossing his arms as they saw Aizawa appear on the telephone wires above them and Todoroki try to fight back, Yaoyorozu turned and ran, and Aizawa easily capturing Todoroki since his quirk was erased. “Take away anyone’s quirk and basically everyone becomes helpless. Well, almost everyone.” Henshizo muttered, thinking of his mentor, as Aizawa tied Todoroki up and tossed caltrops under him.

Aizawa put eyedrops in his eye and then chased after Yaoyorozu, easily catching up to her and used his binding cloth to wrap around her arm. She made something under the cloth and began running back towards Todoroki, away from the gate. ‘What is she doing? Is she going back because she’s relying on him? She’s just as capable, but then again, she probably views herself as lesser.’ Henshizo thought to himself, lip curling in mild anger at seeing his cousin be so down on herself. She got back to Todoroki, and it was clear he was telling her something but they couldn’t hear what was being said. Aizawa caught up to them and Momo tossed up her nesting dolls and suddenly there was bright flash. “Flash grenades!” Henshizo said smiling and then crossed his arms. “Now it’s going to look like I’m copying her.” He grumbled and Uraraka giggled. She untied Todoroki and they began running away from Aizawa, he chased after them and right as his binding cloth was going to wrap around Todoroki, Todoroki put up a huge ice wall separating them, causing Aizawa to retreat to a rooftop. Todoroki turned to look towards Momo, but saw she had her costume open making something and he quickly turned back around.

“Good, any longer of a stare would’ve resulted in another scar.” Henshizo muttered causing Midoriya and Uraraka to nervously chuckle. “Why isn’t Aizawa going after them?” She asked curiously. “May have over used his eyes. They’re not the same since the USJ attack.” Midoriya muttered and Henshizo glanced at the map. “Partly that, but right now he’s between them and the gate. It’s better to make your opponent try something than to run in blindly.” Henshizo said and they nodded. They then watched as two figures covered in cloth ran out from behind the wall and Aizawa chased after them, but it was revealed the upper half were mannequins and Momo was hunkered down by a catapult and she tried to launch it, but missed. Aizawa jumped back and she was able to launch the capture cloth on it at him, and then Todoroki shot flames out and the cloth began wrapping around Aizawa. They put handcuffs on him and the horn sounded. “Team Yaoyorozu and Todoroki have passed the practical exam.” The voice rang out and they watched as Yaorozu was clearly emotional from her plan succeeding.

“Uaraka, it’s our turn.” Henshizo said to her and she nodded and they left the viewing area, Henshizo making a marble into a piece of paper, which he began tearing up as they walked. “Thirteen isn’t much of a combat hero, we just can’t give her the chance to try and capture us.” He said as they went to the USJ, where their final was being held. “Right.” Uraraka said with a thinking look on her face. They went in to the USJ and to their starting point. “Team Sesshada and Uraraka, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The automated voice rang out and Henshizo began calmly walking along, as he made the torn bits of paper into flashbangs in his pocket. “Here. Take these couple and take away their gravity.” Henshizo said pulling two out and handing them to her. “Oh, ok.” She said doing so and holding onto them. “What were you thinking about on the way over?” He asked as they walked towards the gate. “Huh. N-nothing.” She said and he glanced at her.

“Thinking of Midoriya? You must really like him huh?” He said and she went red faced. “Th-that’s not it at all.” She said as they got near the steps up to the platform and gate and Henshizo stopped. “Uh huh. Hold it.” He said, picking up a pair of rocks and changing them to a drone and controller, and flew the drone up. They managed to see Thirteen waiting for them but she sucked the drone up into blackhole. “Hmm, her range is annoying.” Henshizo muttered glancing up at where the drone had been. He then took a couple of steps back and looked at Uraraka. “Float me up.” He said taking a couple steps back to be safe. She nodded and touched his chest and he began floating up. “Here.” She said giving him the flashbangs he had given her. He took them and he floated all the way up and saw Thirteen waiting for them in the middle of the platform in front of the gate. She raised her arm up and tried sucking him in, but he was just outside her reach. He smirked and made the jetpack as Uraraka slowly crept up the stairs. Thirteen walked towards Henshizo, who was hiding the flash bangs, and when Uraraka was at the top of the stairs he smirked.

“Now!” He cried out and he tossed all the flashbangs at thirteen, who raised her arm up and sucked most of the flashbangs and even the ensuing flashes as they got close to her. But the two Uraraka had taken the gravity away from floated up above her and went off blinding her. “Go!” He shouted and Urarka ran forward and tackled Thirteen to the ground with a martial art move and Henshizo flew over and stomped on Thirteen’s wrist to pin her hand to the ground as Uraraka handcuffed Thirteen’s other hand. “Team Uraraka and Sesshada have passed the practical exam. “Excellent work on combining your quirks.” Thirteen said standing up. “Thank you sensai.” Uraraka said happily and Henshizo nodded. Thirteen took the handcuffs off her hand and pocketed them as the students walked back. “That was amazing Sesshada!”’ Uraraka said offering her hand up for a hi-five and Henshizo lightly held his up so he hi-fived him.

“Why did you have me float you up when you could’ve just used the jetpack?” She asked as they slowly walked back. “You floating me up is silent, the jetpack isn’t. Needed to surprise her a bit, get her thinking fast to give an opening.” He said simply and she nodded. “Team Ashido and Kaminari, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The automated voice rang out. “We should get back and watch.” Uraraka said and Henshizo nodded as they walked back. They eventually got back to the observation room and it was towards the end of Kaminari’s and Ashido’s final. “They haven’t passed?” Uraraka said walking up worried. “No. The principal’s plan has been too much for them.” Momo said and Henshizo walked over. “Hey Momo.” He said smiling, standing besides her. “You also thought to use flashbangs.” He said chuckling as they watched Kaminari and Ashido did themselves out of rubble. “How the hell has Principal Nezu caused this?” He muttered. “Yes, and he’s used the crane to cause chain reactions.” Momo said pointing at one of the feeds. “Ah. Well congrats.” He said smiling to her. “And congratulations to you two.” Iida said as the horn sounded. “Team Ashido and Kaminari have failed due to time expiring.” The automated voice rang out.

“Well the mismatch of their poor academics and the principal’s superior intelligence went as well as expected.” Henshizo said crossing his arms. “Ocahko, you seemed a bit red faced as the test began. Were you ok?” Asui asked and Uraraka tilted her head confused. “Huh wh- oh! It was nothing, just the walk over. Yea.” She said franticly and Henshizo hid his smirk as Asui put a finger to her mouth. The horn sounded and the five of the looked at the screen. “Team Jiro and Aaoyama, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The voice called out. “Present Mic can cancel out Jiro’s sound and with all these obstacles Aaoyama’s attacks can be easily negated.” Midoriya said as the pair ran through the forest. They watched as the pair were subjected to yells from present mic, and as they watched Henshizo felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out, seeing a phone call. “Excuse me.” He muttered, walking out of the observation room and into the hall. “Hello?” He asked as he answered it.

“Henshizo Sesshada?” A woman’s voice came from the other line. “May I ask who this is?” Henshizo replied calmly, he was still paranoid of others. “This is Nurse Naos from Jaku General Hospital.” She said and Henshizo picked his head up. “Yes this is Henshizo. What is it? Is it about my mom?” He asked with a wide range of emotions in his voice. “Yes. We’ve finally identified all the drugs used and now it will be a very simple process thanks to another nurse’s quirk. Once the damage from the drugs is removed, her body will be able to recover naturally and we expect her to be able to wake up in the days after they are removed.” She said and Henshizo let out a relieved and happy breath. “Thank you. I hope it goes well.” He said almost jumping out of joy. “Don’t worry, the procedure is very simple. We just don’t know how long it’ll take for her to wake up once they’re out. She’s been in a coma for so long, that it’s hard to say.” She said and Henshizo calmed down mildly. “I understand. Thank you.” He said, but he didn’t care, he had waited his whole life, so what was a few extra days. “Thank you for understanding, have a good day.” She said sweetly. “You too.” He replied and he hung up.

“Don’t worry mom, I’ll be waiting.” Henshizo muttered as he turned to walk back in to the observation room. “Team Jiro and Aaoyama have passed the practical exam.” The voice rang out and he went back in to see Present Mic rubbing his eyes as Aaoyama and Jiro celebrated outside the gate. “How’d they do it?” He asked walking back in. “They combined quirks and it blinded Present Mic.” Iida said nodding. “Hmp, not bad.” Henshizo said pocketing his phone. “Who called?” Asui asked and Henshizo gave a smile. “The hospital.” He said turning to Momo who looked at him shocked. “They’ve figured out all the drugs, and now it’s a matter of erasing the damage or something like that. And once that’s done they hope she’ll wake up relatively soon after they do that.” He said and they all looked happy for the two. “That’s great! I hope she wakes up quickly.” Uraraka said happily and Momo couldn’t help but hug her cousin who went red faced a bit.

“Team Shoji and Hagakure, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The voice rang out and they went back to watching the finals. Shoji and Hagakure hid behind a pillar as Snipe began shooting at it. “Man I want to fire that gun.” Henshizo said enviously. “I suppose it makes sense you admire guns, are you a good shot?” Uraraka asked and Midoriya and Iida glanced over remembering his kill shot on the flying Nomu. “I’m fairly good yea. A bit rusty because I haven’t been able to practice it as much.” Henshizo said shrugging as the pillar crumbled and Shoji ran from it and smoke poured from a smoke grenade. “Snipe is one of the greatest shots in the country, of course he's not the best marksman hero.” Henshizo said crossing his arms as Shoji ran towards Snipe and stopped, putting his hands up. Suddenly Hagakure slapped the handcuffs on him. “Team Shoji and Hagakure have passed the practical exam.” The voice called out. “No one can beat her in stealth.” Momo said smiling at them passing and Uraraka turned to Henshizo. “Who’s better than Snipe sensei?” She asked and Henshizo pursed his lips. “She’s not a hero anymore.” He said flatly and Uraraka tilted her head confused but turned to Midoriya. “Isn’t your final next?” She asked and he nodded. “Yes, but I want to watch as much as possible.” He said and she nodded as the horn sounded.

“Team Sero and Yanagi, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The voice called out and Henshizo watched seriously as the pair crept around. “They face midnight, both can capture their opponents. But only if they get close enough, and she can negate that.” Midoriya said seriously and they watched as Sero suddenly wrapped tape around Yanagi and flung her away and they saw Midnight appear and Sero fell asleep. “Damn it.” Henshizo muttered growing worried for Yanagi. Yanagi floated herself in the air well above Midnight and flew towards the gate, but Midnight used her whip and wrapped it around Yanagi’s boot and began dragging her back. Yanagi looked down and used her quirk to yank the whip out of Midnight’s hand and wrapped it around Midnight’s legs as she took the tape that was wrapped around her body and used it to bind midnight’s body.

“There you go.” Henshizo said happily as he watched her float down, pick Sero up with her quirk and floated them out of the gate. “Team Sero and Yanagi have passed the practical exam.” The automated voice rang out. “Yes.” Henshizo said excited. “You’re much more animated in Yanagi’s final.” Asui said, causing him to look at her and shrugging. “We’re friends.” He muttered as Midoriya dashed out. “Oh boy, this one will be something elese.” Momo said and they all nodded. “The number one hero. Perhaps the greatest hero ever in world history.” Iida said seriously. “Sesshada, what odds do you give them to pass?” Uraraka asked and Henshizo sighed. “It’s not just the fact they’re facing All Might. They have no chemistry. Bakugo hates Midoriya. Maybe Midoriya could ask All Might politely to put the handcuffs on, that may be their best bet.” Henshizo said crossing his arms and looking at the board as Midoriya and Bakugo entered the mock city.

“Team Bakugo and Midoriya, practical exam. Ready? Begin.” The voice called out. The pair walked forward, clearly arguing, Bakugo backhanding Midoriya to the ground, and All Might was at the other end of the city and punched forward. The shockwave and wind force generated by it shattering windows and pushing cars like they were toys. Bakugo and Midoriya were blown back and all the buildings in the pathway were partially destroyed. “Damn, all that power.” Henshizo muttered flexing his hand. “There’s no one like All Might.” Iida said as they watched in shock and awe. All Might it close to them and then leapt towards them and Bakugo blasted towards All Might, but All might simply grabbed Bakugo by the head and Bakugo set off explosions in All Mights face, but All Might wasn’t phased by the attack and slammed Bakugo into the ground hard.

All Might then dashed over to behind Midoriya and out of fear Midoriya leapt back into the air, causing him and Bakugo to collide in midair and fall to the ground. All Might walked to the side, picking up a piece of guardrail and as Bakugo and Midoriya were arguing again when All Might leapt up and pinned Midoriya to the ground under the guardrail and then gave a dashing gut punch to Bakugo that sent him flying back and rolling on the ground. “He’s really not holding back.” Uraraka said worried and Henshizo was cringing at the hits. Bakugo shakily stood up and after a short bit, All Might lined up what would probably me a knock out blow, but Midoriya managed to get out from the guardrail and punched Bakugo out of the way of All Might’s punch. Midoriya then picked Bakugo up and hopped away from All Might down an alleyway they couldn’t see.

Henshizo laughed hard at Midoriya punching Bakugo. “That’s one way to save someone who’s been an asshole to you.” Henshizo said and everyone else looked at him with different degrees of incredulous. “Sesshada.” Iida began, but Momo raised a hand stopping him as Henshizo continued to laugh. Henshizo composed himself and shrugged. “Hey, don’t act like none of you have wanted to punch Bakugo.” Henshizo said and they didn’t respond.

All Might was jogging down the road when Bakugo blasted out from an alley behind him and shot an explosion in his face as All Might turned to face him. Midoriya leapt out from behind All Might with one of Bakugo’s gauntlets on him, he pulled the pin and a massive explosion went off, directly hitting All Might and the two began dashing to the gate. “They’re going to make it!” Urararka said as the distance was growing. All Might then effortlessly caught up to them and then smashed the gauntlets on both boys with ease and then drove a knee up into Bakugo’s chin with such power Bakugo was launched up and smashed into a building.

Midoriya tried running to Bakugo, but All Might grabbed his wrist and as Bakugo came back towards them, All Might picked Midoriya up and slammed Midoriya into Bakugo and drove them both into the ground, causing a mini dust explosion and the five watched in horror. All Might tossed Midoriya to the side and pinned Bakugo to the ground with a foot, who set off a massive explosion that allowed him to free himself. Bakugo grabbed Midoriya and blasted him towards the gate and Midoriya was getting close in the air. All Might then launched himself backwards, crashing into Midoriya and everyone cringed at how bad Midoriya bent backwards and then bounced off the ground and smashed into a bus.

Bakugo blasted behind All Might and set off an explosion similar to the one he used against Uraraka at the sports festival and All Might flew through the smoke towards Bakugo, who set off more explosions as Midoriya slowly limped towards the gate. Bakugo tried protecting Midoriya from All Might with an explosion but All Might easily dodged and grabbed Bakugo’s head and drove him into the ground again, keeping him pinned with his hand. Midoriya saw this and instead of going towards the gate he dashed back and delivered a huge punch to All Might, and then quickly picked Bakugo up and started running to the gate.

Midoriya got them through the gate, as Uraraka and Asui jumped with joy together. “Team Midoriya and Bakugo have passed the practical exam.” The voice called out as Henshizo smirked happily, and looked at All Might on the video board, who was coughing into his hand. ‘Is All Might truly weaker like Shigaraki said?’ Henshizo thought but was happy Midoriya passed. “Seems I owe Midoriya an apology for underestimating him.” He mused to himself. “They did it.” Momo said putting her hands together. Henshizo nodded and left the observation room with Recovery Girl walking behind him. “Another day, another time I have to treat Midoriya.” She grumbled heading off as Henshizo went the opposite way. Henshizo walked through the halls and saw Yanagi walking towards recovery girl’s office. “Hey Yanagi!” He called out and she turned and lightly smiled.

“Salutations Sesshada, congratulations on passing your exam.” She said and he nodded. “And congrats to you. You managed to save Sero too.” He said and she nodded. “Midnight was a tricky opponent, but I passed so I am delighted.” Yanagi said in her monotone voice. “Honestly, even if I had failed I’d still be happy right now.” He said smiling more and she tilted her head. “Why would you still be happy with failure?” She asked confused. “The doctors are going to treat my mom and are hopeful she’ll wake up soon-ish.” He said and she smiled at that. “That is excellent news. I hope it is a fast awakening.” She said and he nodded. “So since we both passed, when will you want to go to a movie?” He asked and her cheeks got a sligt tinge of pink. “Once we have confirmation of our success, then we can discuss.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Fair, don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.” He said seriously. “I’m going to head home, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Henshizo said happily and she nodded. “Yes, have a good evening.” She said and they nodded to each other and he left UA, taking the bus back.

Henshizo walked in and sat down on a chair in the living room. “Henshizo! How was the practical?” Sanae asked walking in smiling as the foster siblings came running in. “You crushed the robots right?” Daiki asked curiously. “Or did you blow them up? Goji asked smiling. “The final wasn’t against robots. We had to face a teacher.” He said, in a sad tone and their eyes went wide. “You guys had to fight pro heroes?” Honoka asked shocked and Henshizo slowly nodded. “Who’d you fight?” Hinata asked putting her hands together worried. “Uraraka and I had to face Thirteen.” He said sighing but then smiled. “And we passed!” He said and they cheered for him and Sanae bent down and hugged him and he smiled. “But that’s not all.” He said and they looked at him, and he closed his eyes to hide the tears in them. “My mom is going to be properly treated and they hope she’ll wake up soon afterwards.” He said and they smiled and all tried to hug him. ‘So this is the true feeling of a family huh? Guess I can get used to it.’ Henshizo thought to himself as they continued to be happy.

Notes:

Not as long as I thought it'd be, I had to play around with the final matchups from the canon of course, but I think all the changes make sense. We're getting closer to his mom waking up it seems. So what will happen on the mother front? Hope you enjoyed, any and all feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 25: Shopping Trip

Summary:

Finals are done and now it's time to prep for the summer camp. The class decides to go shopping and it's not a smooth time and leads to awkward conversations for Henshizo.

Notes:

I've been imagining that this has been the 'intro' for the internship-now arcs. https://youtu.be/DtTjVBXClak

Henshizo woke up the following morning and went down to the kitchen for breakfast and was surprised that only Sanae was in the kitchen. “Where are the others?” He asked going to the coffee machine and she turned to him. “You’re up first.” She said lightly chuckling and Henshizo looked at the time and it was almost thirty minutes than he was usually up. “Huh.” He muttered pouring his coffee. “So what’s today for classes?” Sanae asked curiously. “Nothing really, we’ll find out who passed and failed the finals. Oh yea; assuming I passed, I will be going to a training camp.” Henshizo said sitting down as she gave a plate of eggs and rice. “Really? No real summer break? I guess it’s expected of UA.” She said sighing a bit sadly. “What?” He asked curiously. “Oh I was maybe thinking of doing something, going to an amusement park perhaps.” She said and he smiled. “Oh I’m sure we’ll have time for that. I don’t think it’s a terribly long camp.” He said and Sanae brightened up. “That’s good, well let me know.” She said and Henshizo dug in to breakfast. He quickly finished up his breakfast and put his plate in the sink. “I’m just going to head to UA early.” He said as he heard siblings get up. “Ok, have a good day.” Sanae said smiling as he picked his bag up and left.

He got to UA and was one of the first there, only beaten by Bakugo, Midoriya, Momo, and Iida. “Morning Sesshada.” Midoriya said as Henshizo sat down behind him. “Morning Midoriya, congratulations on passing your exam. How are you two feeling? You both got the shit beaten out of you.” Henshizo said and Bakugo tensed up in anger. “Better now, my back is still a little sore.” Midoriya said as Bakugo glared back at him. “Shut the hell up yakuza. I’d like to see you face All Might without him beating the shit out of you.” He growled and Henshizo shrugged. “Calm down you two.” Iida said coming over and Henshizo put his hands up indicating he was. “I was just checking on the well being of my classmate and my friend.” Henshizo said calmly and Bakugo clicked grunted in annoyance and turned back around. “Must you provoke him?” Momo asked Henshizo quietly and Henshizo chuckled. “Sorry cousin. Can’t help it.” He said quietly and she sighed as the rest of the class slowly came in with Sato, Kirishima, Ashido, and Kaminari looking sad. “Be-be sure to tell us all about camp.” Ashido said tearfully as Midoriya walked up to them.

“We don’t know for sure what will happen. There could be a twist.” Midoriya said and Sero sighed. “Don’t say that man, you’re making it worse. And honestly I don’t know if I passed. We only passed because of Yanagi, I was out cold.” He said and Henshizo glanced over and saw a faint smile on her face and his heart fluttered. “They said if we failed the finals we’d go to the hell of summer school. We didn’t pass the practical. How can you not see it?” Kaminari shouted poking Midoriya in his eyes. “Calm down man. It’s like I said, I don’t know if I did enough.” Sero said and the door slid open quickly. “The bell rang so you should be seated.” Aizawa said and people quickly got to their seats and were quiet. “Right. Some of you did fail the finals, so for the training camp. Everyone is going.” Aizawa said giving a creepy smile and the people who failed cheered. “Really?” Ashido cried out happily. “Yes. No one failed the written portion and five failed the practical. Kirishima and Sato, as did Kaminari and Ashido. Sero also failed.” Aizawa said and Sero facepalmed. “I knew it, I didn’t do nearly enough.” He muttered.

“For the practical exam, we made sure to leave you all with a chance to win. We were more interested in assessing your judgment and cooperativeness. If we truly didn’t hold back then you wouldn’t have stood much of a chance.” Aizawa said and Henshizo lightly sighed in disappointment. “So when you guys said you were going to crush us?” Ojiro asked confused. “That was just to put you on edge. Besides those that failed the exam need the training more than anyone. Just a logical deception.” Aizawa said and those that failed started celebrating as Iida stood up. “This is the second time you’ve lied to us. If you keep doing that how can we trust you?” Iida said annoyed. “A bit blunt Iida.” Uraraka said. “That’s fair, but I wasn’t lying completely.” Aizawa said looking at those that failed. “We’ve prepared extra courses for those that failed to be done at the camp on top of the training everyone else will be doing. Failure is failure.” He said and the five went back to sadness. Aizawa pulled out twenty brochures and passed them out to the front of the rows. “Everything besides exactly where you will be going is in the brochures. Go over them and plan accordingly. That is all for this morning.” Aizawa said leaving the room while unrolling his sleeping bag.

The class got together and began going through the guides. “I’m glad we can all go together.” Ojiro said opening his up. “A whole week in the woods?” Iida said looking at his. “We’ll need to bring a lot of things.” Midoriya said and Henshizo smirked. “Not me. My quirk has its major advantages.” He said smugly standing up. “But I still need to actually get some outdoorsy stuff.” Henshizo sighed crossing his arms. “Same here.” Kaminari said sighing. “Oh I know!” Hagakure said happily and they looked at the invisible girl. “Since we have tomorrow off and we all need to get stuff for the training camp. Why don’t we go shopping together?” Hagakure said and people began smiling. “That’d be great! We’ve never hung out as a class before.” Kaminari said smiling. “Bakugo you coming?” Kirishima asked. “Like I’d do something as boring as that.” Bakugo growled. “Todoroki will you come?” Midoriya asked and Todoroki shook his head. “I visit my mom on days off.” He said and Henshizo perked his head up at that and walked over to Todoroki and by Yanagi. “How’s she doing?” Henshizo asked quietly. “According to the doctors she’s progressing somewhat. And what of your mother?” Todoroki asked and Henshizo smiled.

“I’m happy to hear that. Doctors are optimistic that she’ll wake up very soon.” He said smiling but it flickered since he still didn’t know what would happen. “That’s good news.” Todoroki said and Yanagi stared up at Henshizo. “Sesshada, will you be partaking in the shopping trip?” She asked and Henshizo nodded. “I need to, and shopping with others is more fun.” He said and she nodded lightly. “I shall go as well then.” She said and he smiled more. “Great.” He said and Ashido came up to them. “You two coming? Great! The mall that for sure have what any of us will need, the Kiyasha Ward Shopping Mall.” She said and the two nodded. “We’ll meet there around one or so. Give people time to travel and eat lunch.” Ashido continued. “Thanks.” Henshizo said and Ashido gave a thumbs up and Ojiro came up. “Guess if you two are going I’m in. Just won’t be able to get much.” Ojiro said, mumbling the last line. “Oh? Don’t worry about that Ojiro, I can pay.” Henshizo said giving a dismissive wave. “Really? You’d do that?” Ojiro asked shocked someone was offering. “Yea, just don’t go crazy.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Nah man, I wouldn’t take advantage, but I appreciate it.” Ojiro said smiling.

The bell rang and people settled back down for classes and the day went by quickly. ‘Hmm, going to need money, may as well hit up a bank.’ Henshizo thought and instead of getting off at his usual bus stop, he rode the bus further into the city and got off, walking for a bit until he got to what looked like an abandoned warehouse and he went to a door that was rusted shut. Henshizo put his hand on the door and changed it to a big duffle bag and he walked in and went up the stairs into what had been the managers office. He set the bag on the desk and pulled the dirty rug out from in front of the desk and pulled touched the discolored concrete and changed it to a tissue, revealing a footlocker. He tossed the tissue aside and opened the footlocker and it was fully stacked with ten- and five-thousand-yen notes. Henshizo got the bag down and began taking all of the stacks and putting them in the bag. He completely cleared out the footlocker and zipped up the duffle bag.

‘Nothing like carrying a few million in a bag.’ Henshizo thought closing the footlocker and standing up. He left the warehouse and carefully made it back to the bus stop. He saw a couple of people looking towards him but no one tried anything and he got back on the bus and went home. He went up to his room and dropped the duffle bag into the corner and rubbed his shoulder from the weight of it and then went downstairs. “Hey Henshizo, how was your day?” Hinata asked looking up from a paper. “It was fine, got an early start to it.” Henshizo said sitting down and glancing at the TV where the reporter was talking about a grisly murder of a man in an alley that was very bloody. “Yea you did, we thought you were sleeping in.” Hinata said crossing her arms. “Hey, not my fault I woke up earlier than usual.” He said shrugging. “Could’ve waited.” She pouted and Henshizo lightly smiled. “I wanted to get to UA early since we were getting our final results.” He said as Sanae lead the boys and Honoka in. “And? How’d you do?” Sanae asked as Goji changed the channel.

“I passed.” Henshizo said smiling lightly. “Had no doubt!” Goji said smirking as Sanae put her hands together smiling. “That’s great.” She said happily and Henshizo pulled out the brochure and handed it to Sanae. “I have no rest though. Soon both hero courses will be spending a week in the woods.” He said sighing and Sane looked through the brochure. “It doesn’t say where you’re going.” She said mildly worried. “They’re not saying why but it’s to protect us. We were attacked by villains earlier.” Henshizo said and Sanae shook her head. “Don’t remind me.” She said sadly and the four foster siblings looked at him. “Another week? That sucks.” Daiki said crossing his arms. “Well apparently it’s going to be super intense training, so yea. It’s going to suck.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Are you going to need anything?” Sanae asked curiously as she went over the recommended items. “A few things, which actually is a good time to say most of the class is going to hangout tomorrow together and go shopping.” He said and Sanae looked at him. “Oh? That sounds good, are you going?” She asked and he nodded, causing her to smile. “Good, enjoy yourself.” Sanae said gently. “I will, it’ll be fun.” He said standing up. “I’m going to train, text me when dinner’s ready.” He said politely, changing his clothes then and there. “I’ll never not be jealous of your quick-change ability.” Honoka said sighing. Henshizo chuckled and he left the house to do some training. He trained all afternoon, only stopping for dinner, before transitioning to fight training after dinner and going to bed exhausted. He slept in the following the day until ten thirty and went down to the kitchen. “Where are you going shopping?” Sanae asked as she was washing vegetables in the sink as Henshizo went to the fridge. “Kiyashi ward shopping mall. Meeting there around one.” He muttered pulling a bottle of juice out and opening it.

“Do you need-?” she began to ask but he shook his head. “I’m fine on money.” He said and she nodded. “Right, why’d I even ask.” She said chuckling. “Because it’s instinct.” He said calmly as he made himself an egg and rice dish. “Are you going to eat at the mall?” She asked and he shrugged. “Maybe, just depends.” He said going to the table. “Where’s everyone else?” He asked hearing nothing. “Goji and Hinata have a field trip to a park, Daiki’s going to a baseball game with his friends and, Honoka is in her room reading. At least that’s what she said she was doing.” Sanae said shrugging. “Busy day.” Henshizo said eating his brunch. “Yep, let’s me do things around the house.” She said happily as he finished his food. He went up to his room and changed into a light, black button-down short sleeve shirt and put on a gold tie, and loose black pants with white slip-on shoes and it was just before eleven-thirty. Henshizo made a wallet from a marble and stuffed it with cash before he went back downstairs and into the kitchen. “I’m going to head out, since it’ll take me about an hour to get there.” He said and she nodded. “Be safe, ok?” She said and he nodded and then left. He got on the bus and thanks to a car accident got to the mall at twelve-forty-five.

Henshizo walked up to the main gate and saw most of his class gathered there and he walked up. “Hey Sesshada!” Kirishima called out seeing him and Henshizo raised a hand. “Dang man, you always so formal?” Kirishima asked gesturing to his outfit. “Just what I like to wear.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Just waiting on Yanagi and Uraraka.” Ashido said and Yanagi came from inside the mall. “I am present.” She said startling most of the class. “Yanagi? What?” Kaminari said trying to regain himself. “I entered on the other side.” She said simply and Henshizo chuckled lightly, but also looked at her in the light gray shirt and black skirt she had on and Henshizo adjusted his tie. “Hi guys!” Uraraka’s voice came from behind them and she was jogging up to them with a raised hand. “Alright lets go in!” Ashido said and they began going in. “With the most shops in the prefecture and how modern it is, we’ll find everything we need and more right here!” Ashido said twirling around and the multiple story building was very impressive. “So many stores that offer a wide variety for every body and quirk type. They’ve done their best to offer something for everyone.” Midoriya was excitingly muttering. “Stop that, you’ll scare the children.” Tokoyami said seriously.

“Aren’t those UA kids?” Someone said pointing at them. “Oh yea, from the sports festival. I was cheering for you guys!” The guy’s friend said. “Gah, people recognize us from that?” Uraraka said embarrassed. “I need a bag for everything.” Jiro said to Momo. “We should shop together then.” Momo said smiling. “I need some outdoorsy shoes.” Kaminari said “Oh I want to join.” Hagakure said. “The guide said the shoes should already be broken in. But maybe utility is more important.” Iida said seriously. “I need some more shorts.” Ojiro said flicking his tail and Henshizo nodded. “I kinda just need equipment that may be useful.” He said shrugging. “Clothing is my need.” Yanagi said. “Then since we all have different things to shop for let’s split up and meet back up here at say three.” Kirishima said and the class nodded, but Henshizo suddenly tensed up and he looked around. “Hey man, you ok?” Ojiro asked as Henshizo scanned the crowd, feeling that someone there was like him. “Sesshada?” Yanagi said as Henshizo’s breathing increased slightly. “Sesshada.” Ojiro said putting his hand on his shoulder and Henshizo snapped around at him. “Huh? Oh, sorry.” He said giving one last look around but he didn’t see anyone and the three left Midoriya and Uraraka by themselves.

“What was that about?” Ojiro asked as Yanagi looked at him with a slightly worried expression on her face. “I uh, just felt something bad.” Henshizo muttered looking down at the ground. “You sick?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo shook his head. “You know how some people can just sense things? Well, growing up around lots of villains I just sort of can sense things differently than people. I always had to be on alert because I never knew if someone would try to kill me or something.” He said quietly so only they could hear. “And that sense just went off?” Yanagi asked gently and he nodded. “Spooky.” She muttered and he smiled lightly. “So you guys need clothes right?” He asked and they nodded and they went into a clothing store and Henshizo paid for seven pairs of shorts for Ojiro. “Woah.” Ojiro said seeing how thick Henshizo’s wallet was as he paid for them. Henshizo also paid for Yanagi’s rain jacket she decided on, after much resistance from her. “That’s money from your father, isn’t it?” She asked as they left the store and he clenched his jaw. “Yea. Paranoid bastard kept most of the cash in hidden places, of course I know where they all are. Figure it can do a little good being spent rather than just sitting in a safe or whatever.” He muttered and they nodded. “Why not just turn it in?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo glanced at him. “Why not tip the police off as to where it is and Henshizo rubbed his neck awkwardly and Yanagi’s eye went wide. “You’re worried about it being used against you.” She said and he nodded. “When it comes to organized crime, the statutes can be very tricky and… I know it’s mildly selfish, but I don’t want to get fucked.” He muttered and Ojiro nodded. “I get it man, secret’s safe with me.” He said calmly and smiling.

Suddenly the intercom speaker system that had been playing music cut off. “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm. The mall is going on lockdown. Please follow the signs and security instructions.” An automated voice said and then a human voice came over. “Any students of UA in the mall please come to the security office.” The guy said and the three looked at each other and then Ojiro and Yanagi looked at Henshizo. “Seems you may have been right.” Ojiro said grimly and they started heading back down the stairs and as they were walking along they saw Iida, Kaminari, and Uraraka around Midoriya while a security guard was with them. The three came up and Henshizo noticed marks on Midoriya’s neck. “You ok Midoriya?” He asked and Midoriya nodded. “Shigaraki was here.” Uraraka said causing both Ojiro and Yanagi to gasp as Henshizo clenched his fist. ‘No wonder I had a feeling.’ He thought angrily. “What happened?” Henshizo asked calmly. “He came up and put his arm around me, and we talked. He was angry that Stain was making people forget the league existed.” Midoriya said and Henshizo raised an eyebrow. “Please come with me everyone.” The security guard said and they nodded and began walking off.

‘Why did Shigaraki need a pep talk?’ Henshizo thought as they went to the security office. The rest of the class showed up with varying looks of concern and confusion. “We’re just going to have you guys wait here until a search has been conducted.” The guard said and he left them in the room. “I’m just glad everyone’s ok.” Kirishima said looking around and Iida nodded. “I heard Shigaraki tried something?” Iida said and Midoriya nodded and most of the class shuddered. “He’s gone now.” Midoriya said reassuring the class who sighed and Henshizo walked over to the video monitors watching the guards, police, and a few heroes dashing around looking. “Anything Sesshada?” Iida asked and Henshizo shook his head. “I doubt they’ll find him, let alone capture him. That warp villain was probably a quick message away.” Henshizo muttered frustrated as he looked between the monitors. The class passed the time showing what they had managed to buy before the lockdown to kill time. After awhile the head of security and a police officer came back.

“Unfortunately we didn’t find him, but that also means the area is clear.” The head of security said and the class nodded. “Is the mall reopening?” Ashido asked and the man nodded. “Yes, in fact.” He said pointing up to the speaker where the automated voice came back on. “We apologize for the inconvenience but we are now open again.” It said and the class started to leave but the officer put his hand up to Midoriya. “Sorry, I have to take you to the station to give an interview.” The officer said and Midoriya nodded. “Right, sorry guys.” Midoriya said and the class quickly shook their heads, indicating they weren’t upset and understood. “You guys got what you need right?” Henshizo asked Yanagi and Ojiro who both nodded. “You guys can go if you want then.” Henshizo said as he went to a directory to find a store. “Nah, you were with us so it’s only fair. Plus I have nothing better to do.” Ojiro said smiling. “Likewise, this was more exciting than anticipated.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded and they walked up to the top floor of the mall and went to an outdoor sports store and Henshizo picked out a fire starting and water purification kit and paid for it. “Thanks for the company.” Henshizo said to them as they walked out.

“Least we could do.” Ojiro said smiling and Yanagi nodded. “You’re a good man Sesshada.” She said gently and Henshizo went red faced slightly. “Th-thanks Yanagi.” He said and Ojiro hid his smirk. As they were going down the escalator Henshizo’s phone rang and he saw it was Sanae. “Hey Sanae.” He said and he heard her sigh. “I just saw on the news that there was an incident and I worried.” She said and Henshizo chuckled. “Don’t worry, nothing too bad. A villain appeared is all, everyone’s fine.” Henshizo said calmly and Sanae sighed again. “How you can be so calm about that confuses me. Just be safe ok?” She said and Henshizo chuckled. “I’ll be safe don’t worry, I’ll might be leaving soon anyway. I’ll text when I leave.” He said as the three walked towards the food court. “Ok, see you when you get home.” She said and she hung up and he pocketed his phone. “Your foster mom?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo nodded. “It is touching that she was concerned for your well-being.” Yanagi said and Henshizo lightly smiled. “Yea, not all foster parents are good like her. I got lucky.” Henshizo said as he looked around the food court. “You guys want something to eat?” He asked curiously. “I gotta head home, my parents want me to help around the house before camp.” Ojiro said sadly, his tail drooping. “I am the opposite, my parents ordered me to be as sociable as possible.” Yanagi said and Henshizo almost laughed out loud remembering how her parents had been when he was over to study.

“Ok, take care Ojiro.” Henshizo said and Ojiro nodded. “Thanks for the shorts.” He said happily and they fist bumped and he left. “From the beginning of the year to now, you are much more sociable.” Yanagi said as she looked at the food court options. “I’ve always kind of been this way. My… paranoia always has me start out really closed off as I feel people out.” He said a bit sad and she nodded. “Because you need to see if you can trust those around you.” She said and he nodded. “It’s nothing personal, it’s just how I operate.” He said pointing to a bakery and she nodded. They went up to it and both got chocolate chip melonpans, They sat down and began eating. “You encountered Shigaraki at the USJ right? As in you were close to him.” She said and he stopped chewing and nodded slowly at her before swallowing. “Yea, his quirk is not something you want to experience.” He said quietly and she tilted her head. “How evil is he?” She asked and Henshizo looked down at his melonpan. “He’s evil, motivated by hatred for everything and will kill without a second thought. Cold-blooded psychopath.” He said and she went just a bit paler than usual.

“Then why didn’t he kill Midoriya?” She asked confused and Henshizo shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s like Midoriya said, Shigaraki needed to talk to someone. My guess is he was trying to figure something out and needed a new set of eyes and he knew Midoriya from the USJ but you’re asking me to speculate what a psychopath was thinking.” He said quietly and she nodded. “I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.” She said quietly and he shook his head. “It’s ok. Of everyone in the class I’m the most familiar with villains.” He said chuckling and she nodded, going back to her melonpan. They ate and stood up going to the exit. “My thanks for paying for my jacket.” She said and he nodded. “Not a problem, I guess tell your parents hi for me. That way they know you were sociable.” He said laughing and she actually lightly giggled, causing him to go red. “I shall. Enjoy your break before the camp, perhaps there may be another day the class does an activity together.” She said and he nodded. “Maybe, take care Yanagi.” He said and she nodded as they both awkwardly stood facing each other not sure how to leave each other. From inside the mall; Ashido was watching the awkward good bye and was smiling. ‘Must investigate.’ She thought as Henshizo finally decided to give a wave and they pair left.

Henshizo got on the bus and got back home with his gear and Sanae was waiting for him. “I’m glad you’re home, but can you not go out without something happening in the area you go to?” She asked sighing. “I don’t plan these things, but it’s like I said; nothing really happened.” He said giving a dismissive wave. ‘Except that my instincts are still there.’ He thought to himself while maintaining a light smile. “Ok. Did you have a good time besides that?” She asked and Henshizo nodded holding up his bag. “Yes. After I got what I needed had some good melonpan. With… Yanagi.” He said her name quietly and Sanae smiled. “Aww, how cute.” She said and he went bright red. “Shut it.” He grumbled and started up the stairs to his room. Sanae giggled and was happy Henshizo was being a normal teenager. Henshizo got to his room and after putting his gear in the closet he had he began doing some light exercising. ‘USJ, Hosu, and now the mall. Shigaraki just keeps popping up.’ He thought angrily as he worked out. ‘I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.’ He thought, but stopped working out. “No. I can’t be thinking like that anymore.” He said taking a couple of breaths before resuming. “Not when I actually care about people.” He muttered thinking of his foster family, his classmates, and lastly thinking of Yanagi.

Notes:

Welp, we're finished with "season 2" and Henshizo still finds himself struggling with his past and the legacy of his father. He's learning to care though. Hope you enjoyed, any and all feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 26: Waking up

Summary:

An invite to swim at UA and a phone call for Henshizo. Training camp is almost here, but before that something happens to change Henshizo's life.

It had been a little over a week since the mall incident and the hero course was currently on their mini break they had, between the semester ending and the start of their training camp. Henshizo had been spending most of the days training, but one day he spent several hours at Jaku Hospital sitting by his mom to see if she’d wake up. Despite the treatment and the visual improvement she was still in her coma and he cursed his father even more. ‘Soon you’ll wake up mom, if nothing else you’ll get your life back.’ Henshizo thought as he jogged along the street and he heard his phone ping. He pulled it out and it was a message from Midoriya. ‘Hey, bunch of us are meeting at UA to do some swimming for conditioning. Want to join?’ The message said and Henshizo considered it. “It would be a change up but still good.” Henshizo muttered and he replied back that he’d be at UA and then sent a message to Sanae. ‘Hey, classmates are meeting at UA and we’re going to be swimming. Will be home for dinner.’ He sent her and jogged to a bus stop to get him to UA. ‘Ok, have fun.’ She replied as the bus pulled up and Henshizo got on and changed a gum wrapper into a towel and wiped some sweat from him. The bus got to UA and he went straight to the pool where most of the class was already there. “Sesshada glad you could make it.” Iida said walking up and then noticing he hadn’t changed. “You should have a UA swimsuit in your locker.” He said and Henshizo smirked. “You forgetting my quirk Iida?” He asked and his clothes seemingly disappeared as marbles fell to his feet apart from the UA swimsuit on him.

He bent down and picked up the marbles and his back tattoo was on full display for everyone and in the sun, for the first time, people saw the outlines of scars. “Is it bad I had forgotten about his past?” Jiro asked the girls, who were on the other side of the pool. “He’s good at hiding it, say Momo, do you wish he wasn’t your cousin?” Ashido said with just a slight teasing tone to try and lift the mood. “Don’t talk like that Ashido.” Momo said scolding her lightly but she looked back at Henshizo. “It’s clear he has lots of scars, but more that’re mental than physical, so be respectful.” She continued and Mina sighed before shifting her head towards Yanagi. “Say Yanagi, you ok?” She asked, as Yanagi had been staring at him intently, but shook her head and looked at Ashido. “I am fine, although I am still questioning how I was convinced to be here.” She said and Uraraka giggled. “Because we couldn’t do anything and decided to hang out here. I’m surprised the boys showed.” She said looking at them all warm up. Henshizo set his phone down on the ground and began stretching with them. “Basically everyone’s here.” He said to Ojiro who nodded. “Yea, apparently it was Kaminari’s idea and Midoriya invited the rest of the guys.” He said and Henshizo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Kaminari came out of the locker room and Henshizo watched him and noticed how his face fell somewhat seeing the girls in their school swimsuits. Henshizo let out an angry exhale and walked towards him, but Ojiro, Todoroki, and Tokoyami held him back. “I wasn’t going to do anything.” Henshizo hissed but his tone gave him away. “There you are Kaminari, now let’s get training.” Iida said going over and grabbing him, carrying him over to the rest of the boys and Henshizo was shooting daggers and Kaminari went pale in fear. Iida pulled a whistle out of his pocket and blew it. “Let’s train boys.” He said and the boys of the class began swimming intensely. Henshizo pulled himself out of the water with the water running down his back, catching the blood drips on the eight whiskers of the dragon in the sun. The girls were playing in the water as the boys were pushing themselves. “One thing about swimming is that your entire body gets a workout.” Ojiro said walking beside him. “Yea, it’s underrated.” He said nodding at his friend. “Let’s take a break, I brought these for everyone so be sure to drink up.” Iida called out carrying a cooler over and opening it up to show cans of orange drink.

Henshizo grabbed one and walked over with Iida as he handed one to Midoriya. “How’s your recovery coming Iida?” Henshizo asked cracking his can open and taking a swig. “It’s as good as it can get without surgery.” Iida said looking at his hand. “Thank you Sesshada. And you Midoriya, you saved me. Not that I’m surprised at you Midoriya, you saved Uraraka during the entrance exam.” He said and Midoriya smiled. “I just moved without thinking.” He said and Henshizo smirked but in the amused way. “I’ve faced such an uphill battle with my quirk manifesting so late, and everyone has been so amazing and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for others.” Midoriya continued and Henshizo took a drink to hide his surprise. ‘His quirk manifested late? That’s basically unheard of.’ He thought to himself. “But that means I have to catch up and I’ll be pushing myself to be the best.” Midoriya said determined. “You better you damn nerd.” Bakugo’s voice rang out and they turned and saw him angrily walking towards them before Kirishima appeared stopping him.

“Sorry for being late, took a bit to convince Bakugo to come.” He said chuckling lightly. “The great Bakugo graces us extras with his presence.” Henshizo said smirking with his voice dripping in sarcasm. “Shut the hell up yakuza!” Bakugo shouted at him and Henshizo continued to smirk. “Oi, you fucking nerd. Let’s settle this right now.” Bakugo said staring a hole through Midoriya while making mini explosions in his hands. “Come to think of it, just training isn’t interesting.” Iida said thinking. “Hey everyone, let’s see which of the boys can do fifty meters the fastest.” Iida called out. “Yea let’s do it!” Sero called out. “Iida we can help.” Momo said as the girls walked up, Henshizo glancing at Yanagi and quickly looked away as his heart rate increased. “Good, because I’m going to crush you Deku, as well as you yakuza. And I’ll destroy you, you icy-hot bastard.” Bakugo called out. “And quirks?” Ojiro asked curiously. “We’re at school, so let’s just not damage anything.” Iida said Henshizo finished his drink and took the tab off and changed both the tab and can into toe rings and slipped them on to his feet.

The first group up Bakugo, Tokoyami and Kaminari lined up on the blocks. “Go!” Momo called out and while Tokoyami and Kaminari dove in Bakugo used his quirk to blast across the pool without getting wet. “What was that?” Sero called out angrily. “You’re supposed to swim.” Kirishima said annoyed. “It’s called freestyle!” Bakugo said angrily. Next were Henshizo, Sato, and Kirishima. Momo blew the whistle to start them and Sato and Kirishima dove in but Henshizo changed the toe rings into the jet boots and zoomed along the lane dividers, easily beating the two. “Is it so hard to swim?!” Kaminari cried out at him and Henshizo flipped him off in response. Todoroki, Sero, and Aoyama took the blocks for the third race and Todoroki used his ice to slide over the water, Sero used tape to try and swing across and Aoyama used his laser to try and propel himself across, but Aoyama’s laser ran out of power and he crashed into Sero and Todoroki easily one. “Again, it’s supposed to be a swimming race.” Kirishima said annoyed. The last group was Iida, Midoriya, Shoji, and Ojiro and Momo blew the whistle and Iida did the same thing Henshizo did as the other three dove in, but Midoriya got faster, clearly having activated his quirk, and actually won the race, lunging for the wall. “Alright, we’ll have the winners face off.” Momo said and the four got on to the starting blocks after Midoriya rested up. The four got into position and Momo blew the whistle and while Henshizo slid onto the dividing line the other three went forward and started using their quirks but they fell in, and the resulting splashes caused Henshizo to fall in, with him quickly changing the jet boots to regular boots to avoid issues.

“What happened?” Kirishima called out as the four boys floated to the surface. “It’s five o’clock. Your time to use the pool is up.” Aizawa said sternly, his hair up indicating he was erasing their quirks. “But the finals sensei.” Kaminari whined lightly. “What was that?” Aizawa asked annoyed. “Nothing!” The class called out. Henshizo got out of the pool and changed one of the boots to a towel and began drying off and his phone began ringing. Henshizo dried his hands and head and picked the phone up. “Hello?” He answered continuing to dry off. “Is this Henshizo Sesshada?” The woman asked and Henshizo stopped drying off and realized what this call could be. “Y-yes. Are you at Jaku Hospital?” He asked his voice shaking a bit. “Yes.” She said and he could hear the happiness and excitement in her voice. “She’s awake?” He asked as he blinked back tears. “Yes, your mother woke up a couple of hours ago, we wanted to assess her before notifying her family.” The woman said and Henshizo let out a happy laugh. “C-can I come see her?” He asked rapidly drying himself off. “You can come yes, but we have to caution you, we don’t know fully how well her psychological state is.” The woman said and Henshizo felt a tear run down his face.

“I understand.” He said bitterly thinking that of course since she was forced by his father and carried him, that seeing him could cause a lot of mental anguish. “Ok, but you can come today.” The woman said and Henshizo used his quirk to get his UA uniform on. “I understand, has her family been notified?” He asked getting his shoes on and he began going through the halls. “Her sister was notified before you, her and her husband are coming in.” She said and Henshizo stopped outside the girl’s locker room. “Ok, I’m on my way. It’ll be a couple of hours.” He said calmly. “Understandable, we’ll be waiting and you will be an exception to the visitor policy given the circumstances.” She said and hung up and Henshizo started banging on the girl’s locker room door. “We’re hurrying Aizawa!” Ashido’s voice rang out. “Is Momo in there?!” Henshizo called out and after a moment the door opened, with Henshzio stepping to the side so the girls wouldn’t see him and think he was peaking in, and Momo came out. “What is it?” She asked tilting her head. “Your parents not call you?” He asked smiling and she pulled her phone out of her bag. “Oh they did, I missed it. Wait how would you know?” She asked confused but then it clicked and her eyes went wide. “She’s awake! Let’s go.” He said and the two took off quickly to the closest train station. “They called me just now, and I want to go. Obviously your parents are going.” He said as they waited.

“Oh this is amazing! Why am I nervous?” She asked smiling at him as the train started pulling into the station. “Because you’re meeting someone for the first time.” He said and his happiness became mixed with worry as the doors opened and they got on. “And whatever I’m feeling is nothing compared to you.” She said quietly as they sat down. “My whole life I’ve wondered who she was, what was she like, was she alive?” He muttered quietly, looking down at the floor. “As I got older I quickly realized what happened to her. How she was kidnapped and raped for the sole purpose of getting an heir.” He continued clenching his fists in anger. “I’ve wondered if she would like me, if I could be happy with her, if I could be with her. But I’ve realized that I may not be able to. It’s funny, my whole life I’ve wanted to love her, and I do, but I know that maybe since I love her the best thing to do would be to not be in her life.” He said a tear falling into his lap and Momo rubbed his back gently.

“I can’t imagine that turmoil. But it’s not your fault.” She said gently and Henshizo nodded lightly. “I know, and I know that her reactions wouldn’t be her hating me, but rather her hating my father. But I have the same eyes as him.” He said looking at the window across from them where his reflection stared back. “How can she look at me?” He muttered sadly and Momo put a hand on his thigh. “You need to know, and no matter what myself and my parents will be there for you. We know that you’re innocent of what happened to her.” She said gently and he lightly smiled at her. “Thanks Momo.” He muttered leaning back in his seat. “I’m going to rest, unlike you I actually trained in the pool.” He said teasingly. “Oh be quiet.” Momo said giggling as Henshizo pulled his phone out and quickly texted Sanae. ‘Sorry, was going to be coming back, but the hospital called and my mom is awake. Heading there. Don’t know when I’ll be home.’ He sent her the message and pocketed his phone before closing his eyes. After dozing for over an hour Momo shook him awake, “Next stop.” She said and he nodded his throat incredibly dry.

The train pulled into the station and they got off and made their way to the hospital and walked in, it was quiet for the most part and the receptionist looked up at them. “Ah yes, Giji Sozo’s family.” She said smiling at them. “Same room as last time, two-seventy-three.” She said and they nodded and it took all of his restraint for Henshizo to not run to the room. The two went up to the second floor and as they got closer to the room Henshizo’s breathing increased to the point that he was nearly hyper ventilating. “Take a breath Henshizo.” Momo said and he stopped and focused on calming down. Momo looked in and saw her mom leaning over and hugging Giji, both clearly crying. “My parents are already in there. If you’d like we can go in.” She said and Henshizo leaned just enough to look in. “I-it feels wrong.” He muttered leaning against the wall and giving a shaky breath. “Tell you what, I’ll go in and I’ll let you know. Would that be ok?” Momo asked gently and Henshizo nodded, pulling a wrapper out of his pocket and he made a chair and sat down. “I won’t be going anywhere.” He said and Momo nodded.

She went to the door and knocked before going in and in the time the door was open Henshizo heard lots of sniffling and a nose being blown before the door closed again. Henshizo sighed and pulled his phone out, which had multiple messages from Sanae, telling him she’s so happy, take his time, and that she hoped everything would go well. “We’ll see.” Henshizo muttered to his phone and he waited. After almost an hour the door opened and Momo came out and motioned him to come in. Henshizo stood up and took a deep breath before he slowly walked in and he and his mom saw each other truly for the first time. “H-hi.” He said his eyes tearing up waiting to see how she would respond. She smiled widely and Henshizo couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t just stand there, come here.” She said opening her arms for a hug and Henshizo couldn’t believe it, he staggered forward and hugged her and she wrapped her arms around him and put a hand on the back of his head.

He couldn’t stop himself and the dams broke and he started cry heavily into her shoulder. “Mama.” He cried out and she rubbed the back of his head. “Shhhh, it’s ok.” She said and he sat up and looked at her with his lip trembling. “You don’t hate me or anything?” He asked quietly and she shook her head. “How can I hate you? You found me.” She said softly and Henshizo smiled more and he sat down beside her and she reached a hand out and he took it. “Henshizo, right?” She asked and he nodded. “Henshizo; I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to be awake, and I’m thankful to be with my family again. I can tell you and… that man, have nothing that matters in common.” She said, rubbing his hand with her thumb. Henshizo smiled and couldn’t stop the tears continuing to go down his face. “He has your overthinking sis.” Buttai said smiling and dabbing at her eyes. Henshizo smiled more as it felt like a family. “I’m not going to hold you responsible for the past. It’ll take me time but… I want to be your mom.” She said and Henshizo buried his head in her shoulder again crying more. “Thank you, thank you.” He said quietly to her and she rubbed his head. “You were always so loving and forgiving Giji.” Buttai said gently. Henshizo sat up and just a bit and adjusted the chair. “I’m so sorry for what happened to you.” He muttered looking at her and she smiled. “You did nothing wrong, don’t carry stones that aren’t yours.” She said rubbing his cheek and he smiled more as she yawned.

“Do you need anything?” He asked as the Yaoyorozus got around as well. “It may seem odd that I was in a coma for fifteen years and woke up only six hours ago, but I’m tired.” She said chuckling and everyone else laughed. “We’ll let you get sleep sis, we’re getting a hotel nearby.” Buttai said gently. “I should head home.” Henshizo said quietly, not wanting to intrude. “Why? It’d be what two hours away? Just let us get a room for you.” Buttai said looking at him. “I don’t want to make you guys spend money on me.” Henshizo said waving his hands. “Besides, being in the foster system there are rules and I don’t want Sanae, my foster mother, getting in trouble.” He said rubbing his neck. “Oh I forgot you were in the foster system, that makes sense.” Buttai said and Giji looked at Henshizo. “You haven’t been with them even after you found out they were your family?” She asked and Henshizo looked down. “I didn’t want to intrude, plus it’d be awkward potentially. And again the foster system, my case is… complicated to say the least.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck. “That’s understandable. You don’t want to get into trouble and you don’t want others getting in trouble because of you.” Giji said gently and Henshizo nodded, and was shocked when she put a hand on his head. “I’m glad to see you have a good head and heart. I can’t wait to call you my son.” She said and Henshizo looked at her smiling. She yawned again and a nurse came in. “It’s time for medication Ms. Sozo.” The nurse said putting some containers on the table beside them. “Thank you.” Giji said nodding to the nurse. “I’ll be back tomorrow as soon as I can be.” Henshizo said standing up. “I won’t be going anywhere, don’t worry. Tomorrow we can talk about whatever you’d like.” Giji said smiling and Henshizo nodded. “It’s amazing to have you back sis.” Buttai said hugging her one last time. “It truly is Giji.” Okane said rubbing his wife’s back. “It was great meeting you Auntie.” Momo said putting her hands together.

“This has been the best day of my life, just can’t wait to be out of here. See you all tomorrow.” Giji said and they all hugged her one last time and left her so the nurse could work. “See you guys tomorrow?” Henshizo said unsure and they nodded. “Beats Venice.” Buttai said laughing and they left the hospital, Henshizo taking the chair he had made. ‘Still getting weird feelings there.’ Henshizo thought to himself as they left out of the lobby. Henshizo walked to the train station and got on a night train and he was finally able to calm down as he sat down. He rode the train back the two hours and the whole time he was smiling lightly and this dumb grin lasted the walk home too. He finally got home and went inside and Sanae was waiting for him in the living room. “Well?” She asked standing up anxiously. “It went well.” He said laughing lightly, she ran over and hugged him. “I’m so happy for you! I told you it’d all work out.” She said hugging tighter and he hugged back. “So? How is she?” Sanae asked after they eventually stopped hugging. “I also have food for you in the kitchen.” She said as Henshizo’s stomach growled. “Thank you, I’ve been so nervous and then happy I completely forgot I haven’t eaten all day.” Henshizo said chuckling as they went to the kitchen. Sanae set a bowl of Gyudon down for him and they sat down.

“I was too scared to go in right away. Because I didn’t know how she would be.” He said quietly as he ate some of the food. “That’s fair.” Sanae said gently, rubbing his arm as he ate. “Eventually Momo came out and said it was fine for me to come in. I went in and she accepted me with open arms. Crying, hugging, and her assuring me it wasn’t my fault.” He said quietly but smiling as he thought back. “I’ll be going to the hospital tomorrow, so we can talk more.” Henshizo said and Sanae nodded. “I’d expect nothing less, just enjoy it.” She said smiling at him. “Thanks Sanae.” He said slurping some noodles. “Also apologies for being such a complicated case.” He said rubbing his neck and she laughed. “It’s ok, this is a complication that I’m over the moon about.” She said smiling and he laughed too. “Well I have less than a week before the training camp, so I’m going to be with her as much as possible.” He said and she nodded happily as he finished the bowl of food. “Go up and head to bed, you’re probably tired from everything.” She said and he nodded. He went up and showered and as soon as his head hit the pillow he was asleep. He woke up before six and got dressed and went down to the kitchen, he grabbed some cereal bars to go and left Sanae a note. He left and went to the train station and began the two hour ride to Jaku City. When he got there he went straight to the hospital and checked in right at the start of visiting hours. He went up to his mom’s room and was happy to see she was awake.

“Morning… Mom.” He said as he walked in and she smiled at him. “That’s going to take some getting used to.” She said chuckling lightly. “Same here.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck. Giji patted the chair beside her and he sat down. “Henshizo, I want you tell me as much as your comfortable with.” She said gently and Henshizo nodded and smiled as he told her about his quirk, which she loved seeing him change objects like a magic trick and he was happy to make her laugh. He told her a bit of his childhood, which wasn’t much as he focused on happy memories, of which none had his father involved. Then he told her about his hero journey as well as life at UA, and she was enthralled. “All Might still number one? He was number one back then too, no one like him.” She said and he nodded. “I’m proud of you for holding your own against villains, just please be careful ok?” She said, rubbing his cheek with her hand. “I will be mom.” He said quietly as he closed his eyes peacefully, his mother’s touch was something he’d never tire of.

Notes:

Mama is awake and involved. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 27: First Day of Training Camp

Summary:

It's the first day of training camp, Henshizo and the rest of class 1-A are wondering exactly Aizawa has up his sleeve (and in his scarf) to torture them.

Notes:

Again, I imagine this would be the intro song for this part of the season. https://youtu.be/xWlzpZyDDhw

Henshizo woke up in his bed and sighed as he sat up. Today was the first day of the summer training camp, and they had to be at UA by 8 o’clock. As he got dressed, he thought back to the conversation he had had with his mom. “For the first time in my life I don’t want to go train.” He said sadly to her as she rubbed his head. “Henshizo.” She said and he looked up at her. “I appreciate that you don’t want to leave me.” Giji said smiling sweetly. “But you have to go. So that way you can become a stronger hero and help save more people like me.” She said smiling more and he nodded up at her. Henshizo snapped back to fixing his tie in the mirror and went down stairs for breakfast, which Sanae was already awake for. “Good Morning.” Sanae said smiling as Henshizo went to the coffee machine. “Morning.” Henshizo said sighing and she glanced at him as she set eggs and rice down for him.

“Going to miss her?” She asked and he nodded as he grabbed his coffee mug and sat down, taking a sip. “Yea.” He said quietly as he began to eat. “But I chose this and she wants it for me. I’m not going to disappoint her.” He said firmly and Sanae smiled but had a hint of sadness in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” Henshizo asked seeing it and she sighed. “Well; I’m assuming that after she gets out of the hospital and gets settled in you’ll move in with her.” Sanae said sadly and Henshizo let out a long breath. “I don’t know. And I’m not saying that to give you false hope, I really have no idea. I am in the foster system technically which complicates things, then there’s my… legacy.” He said that very darkly before looking back at her. “And then there’s my mom. Sure she can be around me, but living with me? That’s a different story, plus she has to get readjusted to a lot. A lot changes in fifteen years.” He said and she nodded. “I understand. It’s just that if you do move out, I’ll miss you.” She said smiling sadly at him.

“I will too. You gave me a lot.” Henshizo said looking at her smiling lightly before going back to his breakfast. “But as you said to me a lot, don’t dwell on things you don’t know. The only thing we do know is that I’m going somewhere in the woods and training.” He said gesturing with his chopstick. “And I will miss you while you’re gone during this too.” Sanae said laughing lightly. “Yea, and I don’t even know where I’m going.” He said shaking his head. “Well hurry up and eat so you can get to UA.” Sanae said pointing at his bowl. He quickly finished the rest of his food and drank the coffee. “Right, I’m off. Take care, I’ll see you in a week.” Henshizo said as they walked to the door and hugged. “Be careful.” Sanae said seriously and Henshizo nodded. “Always am.” He said smiling and he left the house, going to UA.
As Henshizo sat on the bus to UA he mused to himself that he didn’t have to actually bring a suitcase thanks to his quirk. He pulled his phone out and smiled at the lock screen of him and his mom. She had mentioned that she would be getting a phone soon, so he left her his number for when she did. After the bus got to the stop he got off and walked up to UA lost in his thoughts. He got in to the grounds and saw Aizawa and a few of his classmates standing around by two buses. “Sesshada!” Midoriya said raising his hand in greeting and Henshizo silently raised his hand in return.

“So how’s your mom?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo smiled but also tilted his head in confusion. “She’s great but how’d you know?” He asked and Midoirya rubbed his neck. “Some of the girls heard you tell Yaoyorozu and news spreads.” He said awkwardly and Henshizo chuckled and shrugged. “That’s fine, I just was confused. Yea it’s been great, I’ve been seeing her every day since she woke up.” He said happily and Midoriya smiled. “That’s great.” He said and Aizawa walked up to them. “Sesshada, would you want permission to contact her while at the camp?” He asked and Henshizo shook his head. “She doesn’t have a phone right now and I don’t think it’d be good to take away a phone from the hospital.” He said and Aizawa nodded.

The rest of the class slowly appeared and soon all twenty were there. “Alright listen up.” Aizawa said firmly catching their attention. “Summer vacation has started for most, but those wishing to be heroes can’t afford to take time off. This camp will push you beyond your limits. You’ll be going plus ultra.” He said firmly and the class nodded after he was finished. Aizawa walked off, so Ojiro and Yanagi came up to Henshizo. “I heard the splendid news regarding your mother.” Yanagi said lightly smiling and Ojiro had a big grin on his face.

“Yeah. She’s awake, but even better is that she actually wants me you know?” He said happily and Ojiro smiled even more. “That’s great man!” He said as Henshizo rubbed his neck. “That is indeed exceptionally fantastic.” Yanagi said as the three watched Uraraka, Ashido, and Kaminari start clapping and saying “Camp!” At the same time over and over again.

“What’s this I heard?! Five of class 1-A have to take extra classes because they failed the final?!” A voice called out and they turned and saw Monoma of 1-B with a huge shit eating grin on his face. “I thought 1-A was supposed to better than 1-B. What happened huh?! Soon everyone will realize just how inferior you-” His rant got cut off by his classmate Kendo knocking him out with a chop to the back of the head. “Sorry about him.” She said raising a hand awkwardly and began dragging him off. ‘I want to fucking punch his teeth down his throat.’ Henshizo thought to himself.

“The rest of class B!” Midoriya said and Henshizo looked at the rest of their first year counted parts. “Nice seeing ya outside of the sports festival.” A girl with razor sharp teeth and dark green hair said grinning. “A training camp with all of the the course, this is going to be awesome!” Kirishima said grinning as class 1-B began getting on their bus. Iida blew a whistle getting their attention. “Attention class 1-A please board the bus at this time.” Iida said and some of the class groaned but all began getting on. Henshizo wound up in the back of the bus between Ojiro and Yanagi.

As the bus started up the students erupted into the chaos buses usually do; food being passed around, Kaminari calling for music, Iida trying to get everyone to calm down. Henshizo reached into his pocket and pulled a candy wrapper out and began changing it to a handheld gaming system. “You guys want something to do?” He asked them and they both shook their heads, pulling their phones out of their pockets. Henshizo shrugged and they drove along for an hour before pulling along the side of the road at an overlook point. “Alright everybody, this is our first stop.” Aizawa called out, and they got off the bus stretching and apart from one other car parked there, there was nothing there.

“Where’s class B?” Sero asked confused. “Not much of a rest stop.” Jiro said looking out over the woods. Henshizo adjusted his shirt collar as Aizawa walked to the side of the class. “Being honest, there was an altering motive for brining you here.” Aizawa said and the class looked at him confused as the car doors opened up. “Long time no see Eraserhead.” A brunette woman said stepping out of the car, she and another woman, who was blonde, had plastic cat ears on, large fake paws, and boots that looked like cat legs, stepped out of the car as Aizawa bowed lightly. “Your feline fantasies are here, say meow.” The brunette said in a sing song voice. “Purr-fectly cute and cat like girls.” The blonde said and the two struck a pose. “You can call us the wild, wild pussycats!” They said together posing as a small boy was beside them. ‘I know Aizawa said that this camp was going to be hell, but that introduction is beyond cruel.’ Henshizo thought as the class looked at them.

“These are some of the pro-heroes you’ll be working with at the training camp.” Aizawa said and Midoriya got excited. “The pussycats are a four-person hero team that specialize in mountain rescue! They formed the group when we were kids ages ago!” He said and the two women got panicked by this. “This marks the twelfth year as a-” Midoriya’s rambling got cut off by the blonde covering his face with her paw. “I think your math is wrong. I’m eighteen at heart.” She said mildly threatening and Midoriya gave a thumbs up. ‘Pathetic and sad by both of them.’ Henshizo thought shaking his head. “Everyone say hello.” Aizawa said and the class greeted the pros. “Just so you guys know, all this land below us is ours. And the summer camp you’ll be staying at is at the base of the mountain over there.” The brunette said pointing way out below them.

“That’s pretty far.” Most of the class said and Henshizo closed his eyes knowing what was likely coming. “Then why did we stop here?” Uraraka asked confused and worried. “I think we both know why.” Asui said grimly. “That’s gotta be a mistake.” Sato said anxiously. “Yea, let’s get back on the bus. Quick.” Sero said as the brunette smirked. “The time is currently nine-thirty you can probably make it there by noon.” She said and the class began backing up towards the bus but the blonde cut them off. “If you don’t get there by twelve-thirty, no lunch for you kittens. The brunette said as the blonde put her hands to the ground and suddenly the ground beneath the class was moving and picked them all up like a landslide and all the class were being pushed to the edge. “You should have realized. Your training camp has already begun.” Aizawa said to them before they got sent over the guard rail and tumbling all the way down the mountain side screaming.

The class got to the bottom of the hill and began standing up groaning. Henshizo helped Yanagi up and brushed dirt off himself. “Good news!” The brunette called down to them from the guard rail. “Since this is private land you can use your quirks as much as you like. You got three hours to get to camp for lunch. That is if you can make it through the beasts’ forest.” She said and the class looked to the woods but Henshizo shrugged and picked up some rocks. “Oh, one more thing. Eraserhead says no jet packs or any other way to skip going through the forest. Or else the whole class will be punished.” The brunette called down and Henshizo growled. “Why do I suspect that was directed towards me?” He grumbled straightening up, still holding the rocks in his hand.

“Well, no point in complaining, let’s just get going.” Kirishima said to the class and they started towards the forest but from behind the large trees came a large monster roaring at them. Kaminari and Sero screamed in terror and Henshizo quickly changed the rocks into throwing knives and threw them at the beast’s head and neck. The blades went into it and the class saw that it was made of the earth itself. “Pixie-bob’s quirk.” Henshizo muttered annoyed as the class began running towards it. Todoroki froze it in place, Iida kicked one of its arms off as Bakugo blasted the other arm off, Midoriya finished the beast off with a powered-up punch through its head, causing the rest of the dirt to crumble to the ground.

“You guys took that down in an instant.” Sato said impressed. “That was amazing.” Sero said smiling. “You showed that thing who’s boss.” Kirishima said, but Bakugo was looking ahead into the woods. “We’re not done.” Bakugo growled and the class saw more dirt monsters rising up, a mixture of legged and winged beasts. “Oh come on isn’t this a bit much?” Kaminari said exasperated. “Should we run?” Ashido asked worried. “Not good, if we don’t get to camp quickly, we won’t get anything to eat.” Sato said worried. “He’s right, best course of action is to go through the woods.” Yaoyorzu said and Henshizo began grinning almost wickedly. “Finally. I can let loose.” He said happily as he made the jet boots from his shoes, power gloves from some rocks, and a sledgehammer from a broken tree branch. “Spooky.” Yanagi said seeing the grin.

The class then began dealing with the dirt monsters; Sero binding the wings which let Sato and Kirishima deal with them, Shoji and Jiro acting as scouts primarily, Yanagi capturing them in her poltergeist which let Kaminari zap them, Tokoyami and Ojiro stunning monsters with physical attacks as Aaoyama blasted them with his laser, Ashido melting their legs as Yayorozu made cannons to shoot at the beasts. Henshizo meanwhile was zooming around and with the assistance of the power gloves was smashing through the heads of several dirt monsters laughing just a bit manically as some of the class watched. “His movements are different than his other fights.” Asui said after she tossed a beast into the air with her tongue. “Has he really been holding back in all the fights?” Ashido said both awestruck and worried. “It makes sense, his training was more focused on killing.” Midoriya said as he then punched another dirt monster.

The class continued fighting through the woods, but it took much longer to get through the woods than the three hours given to them. They emerged out of the woods to the training camp grounds in various ways showing over-usage of their quirks. Todoroki had frost on his body, Iida’s engines were smoking, Bakugo was clutching his arm, Uraraka and Aaoyama were both clutching their stomachs, and Henshizo’s entire arms were peeling and the palms of his hands were basically nonexistent, while everyone else was dirty, bruised, cut up, and exhausted. “You said it would only take three hours!” Kirishima cried out as Henshizo changed one of his boots to a bottle of his special lotion, which he then put on to his hands and winced as his arms and hands began regrowing the skin.

“Guess we timed it based on how we’d do, sorry.” The brunette, which Henshizo knew was Mandalay, said smiling. She then leaned towards Aizawa and whispered something while glancing at Henshizo. ‘Probably shocked seeing my drawback in person.’ Henshizo thought as Pixie-Bob giggled into her hands. “I thought it would take you guys even longer, but you did better against my dirt monsters than I thought you would, you were great. Especially the five of you. It seems you have plenty of experience.” She said pointing to Iida, Todoroki, Bakugo, Midoriya, and Henshizo while getting a grin on her face before suddenly lunging at them. “I call dibs on these kittens. I’ll groom them myself!” Pixie-bob said bouncing around them and they put their arms up to protect themselves from her odd assault.

“Uh Mandalay, is there a reason for her acting like this?” Aizawa asked as the class watched in shock and confusion. “It’s gotten worse recently, she’s at the age for a mate.” Mandalay said with an apologetic tone. “Speaking of ages.” Midoriya said but Pixie-Bob once again covered his face with her pawed hand. “Choose your next words carefully.” She said menacingly. “It’s just I’ve been wondering from the beginning, who’s that kid?” He asked pointing to the small boy who was glaring at them all. “Oh this is my cousin’s kid. He just lives with us now. Come on Kota” Mandalay said and Henshizo picked his head up hearing that. ‘Lives with? Does that mean she’s his only family?’ He thought to himself as Midoriya walked up to the boy. “Hi there, my name is Izuku Midoriya and I’m at UA in the hero course.” He said extending a hand to the boy, but the boy wound back and punched Midoriya in the groin, causing Iida to run forward and catch Midoriya before he fell to the ground.

“A punch to the scrotum is not nice, you fiend of a child.” Iida said to the boy who turned around glaring. “Like I give a fuck what some wannabe has to say.” He said before walking off, causing Henshizo to stifle his laughter. “Kid’s got spunk.” Bakugo said smirking. “Reminds me of you.” Todoroki said calmly causing Bakugo to round on him. “What does that mean? Shut up before I blast you to hell!” Bakugo shouted at him and Henshizo rolled his eyes at Bakugo but glanced at Kota walking away.

“That’s enough. Get your stuff off the bus and take them to your rooms, after that we’ll have dinner and then you can bathe and rest. Tomorrow your training truly begins.” Aizawa said thumbing to the building behind him. ‘Again perks of my quirk, no need to pack.’ Henshizo thought picking up the lotion bottle and he walked to where Mandalay gestured to, a big building that was like a modified ski lodge but had a sign saying ‘1-A boys’ hanging on it. He went in and made a sleeping bag and pillow from a couple of tissues, before putting just a drop of lotion on his hands again. Henshizo left the building and walked to the cafeteria where Pixie-Bob and Mandalay were busy getting the tables set up and he couldn’t believe the amount of food they were setting out. “Oh, already have a kitten for dinner.” Mandalay said and Henshizo looked at her and walked up to her, taking a bowl of rice from her and helping set up. “What’s Kota’s last name?” He asked her curiously and Mandalay looked at him confused and saddened. “Izumi, why do you ask?” She asked and Henshizo looked at her honestly. “Wondering why he’s with you. Izumi… would that make him the son of Water hose?” He asked quietly and she was surprised he could connect them so quickly.

“Yes.” She said or rather spoke to him in his head using her telepath quirk. Henshizo let out a sigh of sadness. “Sorry to hear.” He whispered to her and she smiled faintly, etched with sadness, at him as the rest of 1-A began filing in. The two pros brought all the food out and the class began digging in ravenously. Henshizo was busy slurping down noodles quickly and happily as Ojiro and Yanagi sat next to him quickly eating too. “Your arms healed quickly, that lotion you use is quite helpful.” Yanagi said looking at them and Henshizo nodded and grabbed the small plate of rice balls. “Yea it helps. It just stings a lot.” He said shrugging and he put a rice ball in his mouth. “Your skin regrows right?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo shrugged. “Regrows or regenerates I’m not sure. My…he got it for me when I first showed the overuse.” Henshizo said and they nodded as they knew he hated talking about his father in anyway.

After the class dined until their stomachs felt like they would burst, they went to the hot sprigs to bathe in, the boys and girls divided by a very tall wall. Henshizo settled in to the spring sitting down as the rest of the boys came in. “If our training begins in earnest tomorrow, after today it may kill us.” Sero said scrubbing dirt off his elbows. “How’re your balls Midoriya?” Henshizo asked, prompting Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima to snicker and Bakugo to lightly smirk as Midoriya awkwardly smiled. “I’m fine.” He said and he looked down in the water. “I’m just wondering why he seems to hate heroes.” He said quietly and the boys looked at each other in awkward silence, broken only by the girl’s voices coming from the other side of the wall. After the boys got cleaned up they were toweling off and Henshizo tapped Midoriya’s shoulder and when the green haired boy looked at him, Henshizo jerked his head away from the rest of the boys.

Midoriya and Henshizo walked away and Henshizo leaned against the wall of the locker room. “Want to know why Kota hates heroes?” Henshizo asked quietly and Midoriya nodded, causing Henshizo to sigh. “Kota’s parents were heroes. Emphasis on were. They were killed by a villain a couple years ago.” Henshizo said solemnly and Midoriya’s eyes went wide. “They died protecting a village from the guy. Saved a lot of lives and even took a piece of the psychopath. But I can imagine to a three-year-old, mom and dad left him all alone because they were heroes. Losing parents sucks ass, and then when people say that they died in a ‘good way’, a kid like him can’t process that.” Henshizo said, his tone changing from seriousness to bitterness as Midoriya listened. “There’s no good way for a parent to die to a kid. And how they died, knowing who killed them. Quick and painless were not it.” He said angrily and quietly and Midoriya hung his head.

“You know the villain, don’t you?” He asked quietly and Henshizo sighed in confirmation. “Muscular; a blood thirsty psychopath who toys with his victims. He’s so damn powerful that most villains give him a wide birth as well.” Henshizo said quietly. “I see, thanks Sesshada, at least now I know.” Midoriya said quietly before shivering slightly and the two went into the locker room and got dressed, heading to the boys hut for sleep. ‘No matter who a person is, they almost always have someone to grieve them don’t they?’ Henshizo thought to himself bitterly and he rolled over in the sleeping bag and stared out the window. ‘How many people have I caused to grieve?’ He thought sadly and closed his eyes drifting off to sleep.

Thirteen-year-old Henshizo was staring blank faced, across from a dealer from a rival gang and turned the knife in his leg some more as the man was screaming. “It’s quite simple tell me where your lab is and the pain stops.” Henshizo said trying to remain calm, glancing through the window where his father was watching. “Fuck you! Fuck you and your father!” The man screamed and Henshizo tilted his head before bending down and touching the man’s shoe and his eye twitched in pain as he changed the shoe into acid and a hiss filled the room and the man screamed even louder. “Fuck! Fuck! You sick fuck!” He yelled in pain and Henshizo looked at him and then his father who was smirking and nodded in approval. “I can make a base to counter the acid or I can do it to your other foot.” Henshizo said putting his hand on the man’s other shoe.

“I’ll tell you! Fuck! I’ll tell you! Just stop it please.” The man whimpered and Henshizo straightened up taking a candy wrapper out and changing it to a glass full of a clear liquid. “The location.” He said not moving. “The, the abandoned Osseo gas station that’s outside of town to the south.” The man said hanging his head and Henshizo stood up, pouring the solution onto the man’s foot and the base counteracted the acid as Henshizo left the room. “The Osseo gas station to the south.” Henshizo told his father without looking up at him. “Good boy, I knew you could break him.” Dokuon said rubbing his head and the dream jumped ahead to Henshizo standing over the man. “You told the truth my father expresses his gratitude.” Henshizo said almost mechanically and the man looked up at Henshizo panting. Henshizo pulled the knife out of his leg and quickly jammed it into his heart.

“Sesshada!” Ojiro’s voice rang out and Henshizo woke up and saw that everyone was looking at him in a mixture of confusion and fear before he looked down and saw he had stabbed his sleeping bag. Henshizo began shaking and he quickly stood up. “You ok man?” Ojiro asked calmly, but Henshizo began slowly began backing up towards the exit. “I uh.” He said quietly and he just left the hut leaving all the boys confused and then they stared at the knife still pierced in Henshizo’s sleeping bag.

Notes:

Long one and just more of how Henshizo is still carrying of his past. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 28: Training Camp Time

Summary:

Time for the hero course to train to the point they feel like dying. How will Henshizo be training? What other camp hijinks ensue during the first true day of the training camp?

At five o’clock in the morning Aizawa walked up to the huts and stopped when he saw Henshizo sleeping on the outside in a sleeping bag with one hand handcuffed to the railing. ‘Why must I have the problem children?’ Aizawa thought to himself sighing and Henshizo woke up stretching, changing the handcuff to a marble. “M-morning sensei.” Henshizo muttered while he yawned. “Sesshada, why we’re you outside and handcuffed?” Aizawa asked walking up the pair of stairs to the deck outside the doors. Henshizo looked down at the ground. “Had an episode.” He muttered so quietly Aizawa almost didn’t hear him.

“Everything alright?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo nodded. “Good.” He replied and then jerked the door open to wake the rest of the boys. “Wake up and get your gym uniforms on, meet me in the clearing at the end of the trail.” He barked and a mix of groans and yawns replied. Henshizo stood up stretching and changed his clothes into the UA gym uniform and walked beside Aizawa. “Are you going to be ok?” Aizawa asked looking at his student and Henshizo nodded.

“It happens every now and then sir. For the safety of others, I put myself like that.” He said quietly and Aizawa looked at him with just the slightest hint of concern on his face. ‘Kid won’t open up, but he should.’ Aizawa thought to himself. “Just don’t kill your classmates. That’s the training camp’s job.” Aizawa said and Henshizo smirked lightly. Aizawa pointed to a spot on the ground and Henshizo stood there stretching as his class slowly arrived, a few of them rocking bed head.

“Today we will begin your training camp in earnest. At this camp we are going to be improving your strength, so that way you can get provisional licenses and be ready to fight villains.” Aizawa said walking in front of them before stopping and looking at Bakugo. “Bakugo catch.” Aizawa said, lazily tossing the ball they had used on their quirk assessment test at the beginning of the year. “At the beginning of the year, you threw it for seven-hundred and five point two meters. See how far you can throw it now.” Aizawa said and Bakugo smirked walking up.

“I bet he can throw it almost a whole kilometer now.” Sero said as the class watched on. “Watch me.” Bakugo muttered and wound his throw up. “Go to hell!” He shouted and set off an explosion sending the ball out of sight as Aizawa watched the tracker. ‘Beats I’ll kill you.’ Henshizo thought of Bakugo’s war cry as the tracker pinged. “That was only seven-hundred and nine point six meters.” Aizawa said and the class was shocked at how basically no improvement.

“As you can see, your quirks themselves haven’t gotten stronger. Most of the improvements you’ve had have been mental and technical in nature. With a bit of stamina and physical strength thrown in.” Aizawa said and the class began to realize what was going to happen. “That’s why we’re going to be focusing on improving your quirks in strength and functionality. This training is going to be so brutal you’ll feel like you’re dying. Let’s hope you all survive.” Aizawa said as he grinned at the thought of torturing them.

“Right. Listen up and go to where I tell you.” Aizawa said pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and they waited to see what Aizawa had for each of them. “Midoriya, you’re at Tiger’s boot camp to work on your strength. Todoroki you’re in that large bath to alternate between using both sides. Bakugo, you’re at that barrel of hot water to make your sweat glands bigger and set off chain explosions. Ashido against that mountain to continuously make acid from your hands. Jiro, same mountain using it to use to refine your ear jacks. Aaoyama that area to fire your laser into the air constantly to get used to it. Tokoyami, you’re going into a cave we have set up to work on controlling dark shadow in the dark. Sero, you’re going up to a cliff edge and continually make tape shoot out. Kaminari, different mountain top and you’ll be absorbing electricity from an industrial battery. Uraraka you’ll be doing multiple types of exercises to both increase your quirks strength and get your body used to zero gravity. Yanagi, you’ll be at the large pile of rocks, working on how much weight you can lift with your quirk and number of objects. Sato, you’ll be at that bench eating cake while lifting weights. Yaorouzo you’ll also be on that bench eating cake and rapidly producing items to increase rate of production. Sesshada you’ll be by Yaorouzo taking whatever objects she makes and changing them into whatever object we have listed for you to make as quickly as possible to improve your speed of changing objects. Iida, you’re just running around long distances as fast as possible. Asui, you’re climbing that mountain using everything, even your tongue. Ojiro, Kirishima, you’re paired up; Kirishima you’ll harden and Ojiro hit Kirishima with your tail, increase Ojiro’s tail strength and Kirishima’s durability. Shoji, Hagakure you’re paired up too; Shoji, rapidly produce limbs and try to track Hagakure, Hagakure, stay undetected.” Aizawa said pointing to the different areas that they’ll be going and most of the class had paled hearing what they’d be doing.

“Get to it.” Aizawa snapped and the class began going to where he had told them to go. “Hey Sesshada, you ok?” Sato asked as they walked to the bench and Momo looked Henshizo confused. “Yea. Just fine.” Henshizo said flatly as they got the bench. “What happened?” Momo asked concerned. “Nothing.” Henshizo said glancing away from her. “Sato.” She said and he rubbed his neck awkwardly. “He had a nightmare or something and stabbed his sleeping bag in his sleep.” Sato mumbled as they sat down. “What?! Henshizo. That’s not nothing.” She said and Henshizo sighed. “It is because I don’t want to nor really can’t talk about it.” He said clenching a fist and Momo sighed.

“Fine, but you and I are family. We’re going to talk later.” She said and Henshizo sighed as he looked at the first page of items and saw, with mild horror, that there were dozens of pages, with items on both sides of the paper. “Don’t worry Sesshada, there’s nothing on the pages that could implement you in any crime. The same item appears multiple times as these pages are for the whole camp.” Aizawa said walking up to the table. Henshizo nodded feeling a little better. “Also for what it’s worth we’ll be donating the items to different organizations, just so you don’t think we’re trying to exploit you.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded again appreciative.

“Now get started.” Aizawa said and three began getting to work, Henshizo taking the Russian nesting dolls Momo made continuously and changing them into various objects, from microwaves to bicycles and pencils to tires. After a bit they saw through the clearing class 1-B come out. Henshizo watched, and cringed, as the full wild wild pussycat team did their introduction. ‘Mandalay and her telepathic quirk, good way to get everyone’s attention. Pixie-Bob and her earth flow quirk, no doubt she made all the areas for us. Ragdoll and her search ability, no doubt she had a hand in making the tasks to exploit weaknesses and any other information she found out. And then there’s Tiger, the muscle of the group with his pliabody.’ Henshizo thought as his hands were already getting the cracked appearance from using his quirk so much.

The classes trained all day, only having little breaks to tend to themselves as needed, until four o’clock in the afternoon. Henshizo was drained energy wise, despite his skin being regenerated fine, as was everyone else as they gathered at the picnic area where on a table was a bunch of ingredients and boxes of curry to be made. “Remember what I said, yesterday was the only day we’d take care of you. From now on you gotta do it yourself. Starting with curry!” Pixie-bob said gesturing to the table. “Yes ma’am.” The class responded in tired voices.

“You all look exhausted. But don’t think that means you can skip out and make sloppy cat food.” Ragdoll said laughing at them. “I see, part of rescuing someone is providing for their needs. Let’s do this hero class!” Iida called out to the class. ‘Note to self, change Iida’s glasses to thorns.’ Henshizo thought shuffling to the fire station and he picked up a rock and changed it to a lighter and lit the logs on fire. “Mind helping me out?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo tossed him the lighter. “Thanks man.” Ojiro said smiling as Henshizo stood up stretching as Bakugo set off to big of an explosion destroying his fire area.

“Do you need help Yanagi?” Henshizo asked her walking and she shook her head as she used her quirk to make two sticks rub against each other very quickly and caused a fire that way. “Nicely done.” Henshizo said impressed, causing her to smile lightly. Everyone began making their own pots of curry, to varying levels of success. Henshizo wasn’t thrilled with his, but it was still enough he could easily stomach it as he gobbled it down. Everyone was quickly eating with Momo being one of the most ravenous.

“Dang Yaoyorozu you’re hungry.” Ashido said and Momo nodded. “My quirk works by using the lipids in my body to make objects. So the more I eat the more I can make.” Momo said calmly. “Like how poop works.” Sero said and Momo got really red and curled into a ball embarrassed. Jiro punched him across the face. “Apologize!” She cried out as Henshizo got up. “I’m sorry.” Sero said quickly, but Henshizo went over and slammed Sero’s head down into the table so hard that he fell to the ground unconscious.

Henshizo went back to his seat like nothing had happened and went back to eating. “Damn, you really are protective of her.” Ojiro said quietly and Henshizo nodded as class 1-B looked at him in horror and he saw Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob looking at him with eyebrows raised. “Your familial bond is very admirable.” Yanagi said softly and he glanced at her as she brushed the hair from her face briefly to take a bite of curry and Henshizo felt a flutter in his chest and looked down at his bowl. “How was your training?” He asked taking a spoon of it.

“Agonizing. If I did not know that the pussycats and Aizawa were heroes I would assume them to be torturers.” She said sighing and Henshizo smirked. “Who’s saying they can’t be both?” He asked and Ojiro chuckled and rubbed his tail which was bruised badly. “At least we’re done for the day.” Henshizo continued as he finished off his curry.

“But more torture tomorrow.” Ojiro said sighing. “At least you get to beat someone up. I’m just sitting there making random shit as fast possible.” Hemshizo said standing up and walking to the boys hut. “Ojiro, Uraraka told me that she overheard that Sesshada did something in his sleep. What happened?” Yanagi asked quietly and Ojiro sighed. “I’m not sure exactly; we were all sleeping but Sesshada began mumbling in his sleep and thrashing about in his sleeping bag waking us all up. Bakugo was about to blow him up when Sesshada grabbed his pillow and made it into a knife and then plunged it into his sleeping back.” Ojiro said sadly and Yanagi’s visible eye went wide.

“Oh my. No wonder all of you were looking scared of him this morning.” She said watching as Henshizo walked inside the hut. “Yea. Don’t know if it was a nightmare or… ya know.” Ojiro said and she nodded. The rest of the students finished up their dinners and went about doing some activities that mainly revolved around resting. Henshizo was busy doing some training behind the building, throwing knives into a tree with skilled precision. “Dang Sesshada, you’re so cool.” A voice called out and he turned and saw the floating shirt of Hagakure.

“I like to keep my skills sharp. And no that wasn’t a pun.” He said walking to the tree and pulling the knives out. “Some of us are going to play some games tonight. To relax. Would you want to join?” She asked and Henshizo turned his head to look over at her over his shoulder. “Who’s the us?” He asked eyes narrowing enough Toru got scared a little. “Me, Jiro, Midoriya, Yaorouzo, Yanagi, Ojiro, Ashido, and others. Mina’s trying to get some of 1-B too.” Hagakure said and Henshizo weighed his options and changed all but one of the knives into marbles and put them into his pocket while absentmindedly playing with the knife.

“Fuck it, supposed to be a camp right? May as well have some fun.” He said walking towards her and she lead him to the pavilion where Jiro, Momo, Midoriya, Uraraka, Ojiro, Yanagi, Ashido, Tokoyami, and people from the other class, but the only one he vaguely knew was Kendo, the orange haired class rep, and babysitter of Monoma. “Look who I managed to get.” Hagakure said as Henshizo sat down between Yanagi and Ojiro, everyone glancing at the knife still in his hand and his classmates noticed he was much more tense and defensive right now.

“Kendo, introduce your classmates again. He’s just a bit weary of new people.” Momo said politely. “Right, I’m Kendo, and this is Awase, Tokage, and Honenuki.” She said gesturing to the black haired boy, green haired girl smiling with sharp teeth, and boy with his jaw exposed. Henshizo barely nodded his head in greeting. “So what game would you guys want to play?” Ashido cut in the awkward greeting. “With so many most card games are out of the question.” Midoriya said looking at everyone. “Never have I ever? That’s always a fun time regardless of the number of people.” Tokage said grinning and Henshizo shook his head.

“I can damn near guarantee I’d lose that. No fun in that.” He said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. “It’s ok Henshizo.” Momo said gently and Henshizo relaxed a bit, the others sighing that Momo was able to calm him down. “Truth or dare? That’s fair.” Jiro said twirling her earphone jack. “I love it, let’s just go in a circle. Jiro you start, ask Yaoyorozu something.” Ashido said grinning wickedly and Jiro turned to Momo. “Truth or dare?” She asked tepidly.

“Truth.” Momo said after a moment of thinking. “Hm… What was the first object you were able to make?” Jiro asked curiously. “Russian nesting dolls.” Momo said happily, and one came out of her hand at the same time. “I can make them without even thinking about them really.” She said looking at it smiling before turning to Midoriya. “Midoriya truth or dare?” She asked, but Midoriya was just staring at the table clearly lost in thought. “Midoriya.” Momo said curious and Uraraka poked his arm and he gave a start.

“Huh? Oh sorry. Um, dare.” He said sheepishly and Henshizo wondered what head going on in his head. Jiro leaned in to Momo’s ear and whispered something and Momo’s eyes went wide. “Um. Uraraka is it ok if include you in on this?” Momo asked and Uraraka got nervous. “Um, what is it?” She asked nervously and Momo looked at them. “I dare Midoriya to hold your hand the rest of the game.” She said and both went pale and Henshizo had to stifle a laugh. The pair looked at each other nervously and Midoriya turned to Momo. “And if I don’t?” He asked nervously.

“Henshizo will decide on a punishment.” Momo said and Henshizo grinned wickedly. “Aw my dear cousin, what a fun role.” He said happily and everyone gulped at the thought. “O-only if this counts for me too.” Uraraka said as her face turned red. “That’s fair.” Kendo said smiling and Tokagae was grinning at the squirming between the pair. Midoriya and Uraraka looked at each other and then shakily took each other’s hands and put them on the table. “Th-there.” Midoriya said in a strained whisper. “So, since this counts for Uraraka, it’s Yanagi’s turn.” Momo said and Yangai’s face didn’t change from her usual neutral expression. “T-truth or dare?” Uraraka asked her not looking at Midoriya. “I shall speak honestly.” Yanagi said impassively. “I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but why do you, well, speak like that?” Uraraka asked and Yanagi shrugged. “When I was in my infancy my mother watched shows where the people spoke like this, and I absorbed the patterns into my pattern of speech.” Yanagi said and Henshizo smiled lightly at the story.

“Interesting.” Momo said in a curious tone as Yanagi turned to Henshizo. “Truth or dare?” She asked and Henshizo shrugged. “Dare I guess.” He said as he picked the knife up. “Change the knife into one of the most embarrassing objects you have in your inventory of objects.” She said blankly and Henshizo raised an eyebrow and then tilted his head thinking. “I have a lot of options.” He said twirling the knife in his hand and then he stopped it and began changing it and the classmates all went red faced and some looked away or covered their eyes as Henshizo held up the Midnight sex doll chuckling at their reaction. “For what it’s worth it’s not officially licensed. Someone just makes these.” He said and Ojiro facepalmed. “Can you please change that. I’d rather not see a sensei like that.” Momo said lightly horrified and Henshizo changed the doll back to a knife shrugging. “I said embarrassing, not horrifying, but I’ll permit that.” Yanagi said and Henshizo turned to Ojiro. “Truth or dare my tailed friend?” He asked grinning and Ojiro gulped. “Truth.” Ojiro said and Henshizo sighed. “Hey, I feel like your dares would either have risk of injury or getting in trouble.” Ojiro said quickly and Henshizo shrugged while tilting his head. “That’s fair. Ok… you like anyone?” He asked pressing his friend and everyone else smirked as now the floodgates were opened. “Uh, um. I…” Ojiro said blushing lightly and he nodded his head quickly.

“Don’t worry, I won’t pry more.” Henshizo said raising his hands while grinning. “You won’t but I will.” Ashido said grinning just as wickedly. “Can we not?” Ojiro said his tail stiffening up and Henshizo put a hand up to Ashido with the lightest of glares and she shrunk down a bit, letting Ojiro turn to Hagakure. “Truth or dare?” He asked rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Hmm, truth.” She said and judging by her sleeves she had put her hands together on the table. “Have you ever snuck into locker rooms?” Ojiro asked red faced and Henshizo smirked and patted Ojiro’s back encouragingly. “Huh?! Uh… I’ve snuck into a boys bathroom before, but not for what you think!” She said quickly, her sleeves waving frantically. “I just wanted to see what they were like.” Hagakure said a bit ashamed. “Fair enough.” Awase said and the boys shrugged.
Hagakure turned to face Tokoyami from across the table, her body language still that of awkwardness. “T-truth or dare?” She asked the bird headed boy quietly. “Dare.” Tokoyami said stoically. “I dare you to pull a feather out for each of us.” Hagakure said and Tokoyami sighed. “Wicked woman.” He said but he began plucking them out as he walked around, putting them in front of everyone. Henshizo picked it up and looked at it. “Nice feather.” He said in a monotone voice as Tokoyami sat back down rubbing the spot on his head where he had plucked them as he turned to Ashido. “Truth or dare?” He asked composing himself. “Dare!” She said grinning and Tokoyami crossed his arms. “I dare you to wear an embarrassing shirt to your extra lesson.” Tokoyami said and Ashido’s went wide in fear. “But what if I get in trouble with Aizawa?” She asked nervously as Henshizo began changing the knife he had into a shirt. “Odds are he won’t care enough to say anything. Don’t worry it’s nothing he could get upset about.” Henshizo said tossing her the shirt and she held it up which showed everyone that it was an up arrow at her head with ‘idiot’ written at the bottom.

“Mean!” Ashido cried out and Henshizo shrugged. “Henshizo don’t be mean.” Momo said looking at him and he shrugged again. “It’s the only embarrassing shirt I can make.” He said in a defensive tone, sulking as he crossed his arms as Ashido put it on. “Well at least it’s large so I can keep warm a bit.” She said sighing as she looked to her side at Kendo. “Alright class B prez, truth or dare?” She asked smiling. “Truth.” Kendo said smiling gently. “Besides Monoma, do any of you guys actually hate us?” She asked and Kendo sighed but shook her head. “Monoma doesn’t hate you guys per se, he just hates that you guys have overshadowed us, especially since we’re just as powerful as you guys.” Kendo said in a tone that the sentiment wasn’t exclusive to Monoma. Kendo turned to Awase smiling. “Truth or dare?” She asked him politely. “Truth.” He said glancing away from her. “Have you ever welded something you didn’t mean to?” She asked and he nodded. “When I was five, I welded one of my toys to the wall by accident.” He said rubbing his neck. “Yikes, probably did that a lot when you were young.” Ojiro said and Awase nodded.

Awase turned to Tokage who was grinning still. “Truth or dare?” He asked her and she smirked. “Dare! I ain’t a wimp.” She said confidently. “Oh yea? I dare you to kiss…” Awase said glancing around the table. “Sesshada.” He said and Henshzio’s eyes went wide, and he clenched a fist. “You’re on.” Tokage said and she detached her head and floated it towards Henshizo but he stopped it. “No. I refuse.” He said so sternly they were surprised. “Sorry, should have asked.” Awase said apologetically and Tokage brought her head back to her body with a mildly concerned look on her face. “What’s up man?” She asked sensing something was off and Henshizo looked down at the ground. “I refuse to let more woman kiss me against their will.” He said so quietly and darkly before standing up and walking away from the group. Momo stood up and jogged after him as the rest of them looked at each other awkwardly. Yanagi and Ojiro also stood up and followed after them.

Henshizo went to the locker room and leaned against the wall sighing as he saw the three walk up to him. “Sorry for making a scene.” He muttered looking down at the ground but was surprised when Momo hugged him tight. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She said quietly into his ear, causing Henshizo to feel tears build in his eyes but he blinked them away. “Yea man, you have your boundaries, we all do.” Ojiro said smiling lightly. “Your principals are admirable.” Yanagi said gently as Henshizo straightened up. “Thanks, I’m hitting the shower real quick.” He said and they nodded leaving him be as he went into the locker room. He got in the shower that was available to them and turned the water and finally broke down crying in the shower. “I’m sorry.” He said through the heaving sobs thinking of the past.

Notes:

Once again heavy stuff for Henshizo at the end of the day. Welp that concludes day 2 of the summer training camp. Hopefully nothing wacky or insane happens on day 3. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 29: Camp Invasion

Summary:

Day 3 of the training camp and it goes off the rails. How will Henshizo respond to the threat and what happens to him?

Henshizo managed to sleep without any incidents, although he did wake up throughout the night and glanced out the windows feeling eyes on them. The doors were opened sharply at 6:15 by Aizawa. “Day three, let’s get moving.” He said waking the boys up who responded with grumbles. Henshizo walked over to the coffee machine he had made and made himself a mug of it. He also had made a stack of cups for the rest of the boys, with Sato, Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari all walking up super tired. “When’d you guys finish up your remedial lessons?” Henshizo asked taking a sip of the hot coffee while making a second cup. “2 AM.” Kirishima said with his eyes barely open. “Damn, he wasn’t lying about the extra lessons being hell.” Henshizo mused as he picked up the second cup and walked out as the four remedial boys began fighting over the coffee machine.

Henshizo walked out and saw Aizawa walking from the girl’s cabin, so he walked up to Aizawa and offered him the cup which Aizawa looked at. “I hope this isn’t you trying to bribe me.” He said reaching for it. “If I wanted to bribe you, I’d do more than a cup of coffee.” Henshizo said shrugging as Aizawa took the cup and took a sip. “Ashido and Kirishima told me about what happened yesterday morning and night.” Aizawa said, causing Henshizo to grimace. “I won’t pry, I realize that you’ve probably been through a lot. But I think you need to talk to someone to help yourself.” Aizawa said seriously and Henshizo sighed. “It’s hard because of the complications, but I might.” He admitted realizing Aizawa was almost ordering it. “Good, now get ready.” He said gesturing to the park bench he and Momo would be at. “Yes sir.” Henshizo said sighing as he was already in his gym uniform. He finished his coffee as he walked over and sat down stealing a slice of cake from the tray for Momo and ate it for his breakfast. Slowly the rest of both Class A and B came and resumed their training.

As the morning progressed Henshizo was going as fast as he could with the list and the pile of objects, he was making now also included a motorcycle, a refrigerator, and a very long gardening hose. Aizawa walked up to the edge of one of the ridges above where most of the students were located. “All of you go faster, you need to remember why you’re here, why you’re sweating, and why you’re limits keep getting tested. That’s what it means to improve.” Aizawa called out to everyone. Henshizo gritted his teeth as he made a nesting doll into a laundry basket and tossed it aside. ‘I swear they’re just making me stock a house.’ He thought to himself as Midoriya walked towards Aizawa. “Sir is All Might or any other teachers coming?” He asked as Aizawa hopped down to him. “I just said to work.” Aizawa growled at Midoriya before sighing. “But like I told you and everyone else before we left; to ensure your safety we’ve only told a select few where we are and don’t want any attention. All Might is an attention magnet and seems to be one of villains’ main targets. Price of fame.” Aizawa said and Midoriya hung his head but nodded.

“And that’s why you’re with us!” Ragdoll said excitedly and Pixie-bob began laughing. “We know you’ve been training hard, so tonight you’ll be playing hard. Class versus class in a test of courage!” She said happily to everyone. ‘Heh, I can scare them easily, so long as I can use weapons.’ Henshizo thought to himself smirking lightly but looked down at his hands and noticed them getting raw and sighed but pressed on with the training. The students continued training through the whole day until it was time for them to make their dinner again.

Bakugo was showing impressive chopping skills as he quickly chopped carrots up. “You’re good at that Bakugo, it’s weird.” Uraraka said. “What do you mean it’s weird?! You extras are just bad at it.” Bakugo snapped at her. “How does he have enough energy to yell?” Henshizo muttered as he cut up some beef with a wakizashi that Yangi was floating in front of him. “His malevolence has no limitation.” She said in her monotone voice and Henshizo laughed as he finished cutting the meat up and she floated it into the pot. “Impressive swordsmanship Henshizo.” Momo said walking over with a couple of logs. “Thanks, just one thing I was trained in.” He said shrugging as he changed the sword to a marble and pocketed it.

Midoriya came over and took the logs from Momo and walked to one of the fireplaces and began putting them in, Henshizo followed him over and Todoroki came over too. “Why’d you ask about All Might? Did you want to speak to him?” Todoroki asked curiously as Henshizo leaned against a pillar crossing his arms. “Well, yeah. About Kota.” Midoriya said awkwardly scratching his cheek. “Who?” Todoroki asked confused and tilting his head.

“The kid that punched him in the dick.” Henshizo said causing Midoriya to rub his neck. “Yea him. He doesn’t like heroes, actually, he just hates society and quirks in general and I don’t know what to say. I thought All Might may have the words to help him.” Midoriya said sighing sadly before looking up at them. “What would you guys say?” He asked hopefully and Henshizo sighed thinking.

“It depends. Complete strangers trying to push a perspective on him likely won’t work, he’d think we were pushing our egos.” Todoroki said and Midoriya nodded. “And if his attitude could change by words, it’s only skin deep.” Todoroki continued. “But considering he said ‘fucking wannabes’ for a kid his age, it’s safe to say it’s deep.” Henshizo jumped in saying. “I think telling him what we have done and will do for humanity may be the best approach. But for that you have to have the actions for it.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded. “Trust me, actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words. Best Jeanist’s actions are why I’m here and not… ya know continuing the family business.” Henshizo said pushing himself off the post and Midoriya nodded. “Right, thanks guys.” Midoriya said smiling.

The classes ate, changed into regular clothing, which for Henshizo tonight was a red shirt with black tie, and then after night fell all forty gathered in a clearing. “With the day and dinner done it is time for-“ Pixie-Bob began speaking but was cut off by Ashido. “The test of courage!” Ashido said happily but Aizawa walked up. “Unfortunately for those in the remedial class will be doing another lesson instead. I was not impressed with today’s efforts.” Aizawa said bluntly. “No way!” Ashido cried out and Aizawa wrapped the five up in his binding cloth. “Come on, hopefully this will help you improve.” Aizawa said dragging them off. “We just want to test our courage.” Sato and Kirishima cried out sadly.

“Alright, so here’s the deal kittens. Class B will start out in the woods trying to scare class A. There’s a trail that loops back to here, you have to go through the trail and at the halfway point is a table which will have cards with your names on them. Grab them and finish the trail. Those trying to scare the other class can’t physically touch anyone, but you can use quirks in any other way possible.” Pixie-Bob explained the rules and Henshizo smiled happily. “Winners are whoever causes the other class to pee their pants more.” Tiger said and half the kids made disgusted faces.

“Making us think of multiple ways of using our quirks, genius.” Iida said astounded. “Class B head into the woods to prepare along the trail, meanwhile class A will draw lots to see what the pairings are and what order they’ll be going in.” Mandalay said holding out slips of paper while class B walked into the woods. “Revelry in the dark.” Tokoyami said to himself. ‘How many fucking times will he say that?’ Henshizo thought as the class began taking slips. As Henshizo walked up to pull a slip the hairs on his neck went up and he began looking around the woods. “What’s wrong?” Mandalay asked tilting her head. “I don’t know…” Henshizo said quietly and tensely, which Ojiro and Yanagi recognized his body stance as that of how he was at the mall.

“Dude, calm down. There’s no way anyone can be here. You’re probably just anxious for the test.” Ojiro said calmly and Mandalay was more confused. Henshizo pulled a marble out of his pocket and changed it into what looked like fancy binoculars and looked through them and around them. “What are those?” Mandalay asked curiously. “Thermal vision goggles.” Henshizo replied and Mandalay raised her eyes in surprise that he could make those. Through them Henshizo didn’t see anyone in the woods and sighed changing the goggles back to a marble and pocketing it. He looked at the slip and noticed he had a 6 on it. “Oh hey, same.” Ojiro. said happily putting his hand on his shoulder, but Bakugo put his hand on Ojiro’s shoulder.

“Oi tail. Trade me.” Bakugo said angrily thumbing towards Todoroki. “Aww, you’d rather be with me Bakugo?” Henshizo said smirking and Bakugo growled. The pairs were Tokoyami and Shoji, Bakugo and Todoroki, Jiro and Hagakure, Momo and Aoyama, Asui and Uraraka, Ojiro and Henshizo, Yanagi and Iida, with Midoriya being last and by himself. They hung out for a bit, letting Class B get set up, before the pussycats began sending them in. Henshizo couldn’t shake the feeling of something bad and kept glancing around. After Asui and Uraraka went in to the woods it would be Ojiro and Henshizo’s turn and they got towards the entrance and they waited to be told to head in, but slowly an odd smell began wafting to the clearing they were in.

“What’s that smell?” Mandalay wondered out loud as Henshizo put his tie up to his nose. “Mandalay look!” Iida called out and they all stepped back and saw black smoke with a blue light pulsing underneath. “A fire.” Ojiro said stunned and suddenly Pixie-Bob got lifted off the ground and was pulled back quickly by an unseen force and they heard a crack and thump. They turned and saw two villains one of which Henshizo recognized and the other looked like a lizard. “I hate being right so much right now. So much for this camp being hard to find.” Henshizo growled as he glared at the villains.

“Pixie-Bob!” Midoriya cried out and started running forward but Tiger stopped him, the blonde pussycat was unconscious and one of the villains had a large metal object pinned to her head. “Let her go!” Tiger cried out to the villains. “Now, now Tiger careful or I’ll put this feral cat down.” The villain said threateningly. “Oh big talk Magne, what the hell are you doing here?.” Henshizo called out glaring at the villain. “Glad you asked, we’re the vanguard action squad of the league of villains.” The reptilian villain said and everyone got even more tense. “We’re here to carry on Stain’s mission to rid the world of fake heroes.” He continued and Iida got cold in anger. “So you’re some of who he inspired.” Iida said coldly.

“That’s right four eyes, say I recognize you and you; you brats were some that helped take Stain down.” The scaled man said pointing to Iida, Henshizo, and Midoriya. “You already know Magne, so let me introduce myself, I’m Spinner.” Spinner said pulling from his back a very large sword made up of swords and knives. ‘That’s overkill.’ Henshizo thought looking at the sword which was larger than Spinner’s body.

“I don’t care who you are, you’re villains.” Tiger retorted angrily. “Please Tiger, when determining if a hero lives or dies we have to abide by Stain’s principals, if the hero is a real one or fake.” Spinner said calmly. “That woman is Pixie-Bob, a pro who has rescued hundreds of people and is giving it all to teach these kids. She’s looking for a mate but is happy. Who the hell do you think you are to cut a happy life short?!” Tiger growled. “Heroes don’t deserve a happy life, but luckily for you and your other cat friend we have a deal for you.” Magne said grinning happily while keeping Pixie-Bob pinned to the ground.

“You give us Sesshada, who not only interfered in Stain’s mission but also killed that Nomu, and we’ll let this hero go.” Spinner said and the class gasped and formed a protective semi-circle around Henshizo and some glanced at him with the revelation he killed a Nomu. Henshizo, for his part glared even more. “Unless you’re here to pay me the hundred thousand yen you owe me, you can take that pole and shove it up your ass.” Henshizo snapped back and some of his classmates looked at him with faces of ‘are you serious’. “What? You guys knew I helped run gambling operations.” Henshizo muttered and Spinner looked at Magne confused.

“Class rep, get everyone back to the camp where Eraser and Vlad are. Don’t fight any villains.” Mandalay ordered Iida who nodded and most of the class began running off but Midoriya and Henshizo stayed put. “Mandalay, I know where Kota is, let me go get him.” Midoriya said and Mandalay nodded. “Fine, go and get him. Protect him please.” She said with a hint of worry in her voice. Midoriya nodded and ran off but Henshizo stood still, still staring at Magne and Spinner. “I said go!” Mandalay said but Henshizo shook his head.

“I’m a target, if I go to the camp they just focus their attack where everyone is.” Henshizo said firmly and Mandalay was conflicted but Spinner ran at them and she couldn’t argue anymore. “My my Sesshada, you really must think of yourself as a hero. A stupid one at that though.” Magne said as she pulled a remote from her pocket and pressed a button on it, and from the tree line behind them came a gray Nomu with six arms and rock like skin. “Get the boy.” Magne ordered lazily as Tiger charged forward and surprised Magne, causing her to drop her metal pole.

“Fuck.” Henshizo muttered and he changed his shoes to jet boots as the Nomu ran at him and Henshizo dashed away from it into the woods. ‘No fighting my ass.’ Henshizo thought as he pulled a marble from his pocket and heard the Nomu crashing though the woods behind him. Henshizo finished changing the marble into into a pipe and he turned around and faced the Nomu who tried grabbing him but Henshizo rolled to the side and swung the pipe into leg of the Nomu, but a ring rang out and Henshizo cursed as the pipe shook in his hand. The Nomu tried again to grab him but he used the jet boots to dash away and faced off with the Nomu. “So blunt force won’t work on you.” Henshizo said changing the pipe to a sword as the Nomu roared and charged at him. “But a well placed blade should do the trick.” Henshizo said also dashing forward with the sword raised and tried to jam the blade into the Nomu’s mouth but it put a hand up and the blade jammed on it and it grabbed the sword breaking it and tried grabbing Henshizo who had to slide between its legs.

Henshizo scrambled away and cursed as he looked at the broken sword in his hand as the Nomu roared again and charged at him. ‘It’s a good thing I didn’t go back to camp, this thing would cause issues. Yanagi wouldn’t be help because it’s naked and she can’t do people yet. Besides this thing might be beyond her weight limit.’ Henshizo thought as he began running back towards the clearing trying to think of something. ‘It’s not black like the USJ one, more like the one from Hosu. I can kill it.’ Henshizo thought as he cut to the right to make the Nomu follow him.

As Henshizo was running along he glanced back and saw that the Nomu was nearly able to catch him. “Shit!” Henshizo cried out and he quickly dropped down and the Nomu crashed into him and fell forward and Henshizo felt the wind get knocked out of him and he stood up clutching the broken sword in his hand. “One shot.” He muttered and he ran forward changing the sword hilt into a small device, using the jet boots he jumped up and slapped the back of the Nomu’s head stick a device to it and then jumped off the Nomu’s back away from its arms trying to grab him. Henshzio pulled another marble out of his pocket and made it into a small remote and as the Nomu charged forward Henshizo pressed the button on it and the device blew up knocking Henshizo down and a bit of the Nomu’s face smashed into Henshizo’s chest.

Henshizo rolled on the ground and clutched his chest, between the Nomu running into him and the face smashing into him he probably had a broken rib or two. “Everyone, in the name of the pro hero eraser head; you’re being granted permission to fight. Use your training.” Mandalay’s telepath beamed into his head and Henshzio got to his feet, clutching his chest still. “Stay down.” He muttered to the Nomu’s corpse that was missing its head. Henshizo looked towards where the camp was, but back towards where the trail was, where his cousin and everyone else was.

“No way that it’s just Magne, Spinner, and this Nomu. I gotta go protect them.” Henshizo angrily muttered to himself and began going towards the woods. “Everybody, we’ve discovered another one of the villains’ targets. A student named Kacchan. Kacchan and Sesshada if you can hear this get back to camp immediately, do not engage.” Mandalay’s telepath came through again and Henshizo growled. “I’ve been targeted my whole life, what difference now? But why are they targeting Bakugo?” Henshizo said going into the woods and he stopped when he saw two students from class B on the ground, one of which was Tokagae, and Henshizo noticed a gas, he quickly changed the remote he still had in his hand to a gas mask, putting it on, and got to them, he picked up two rocks and changed them into oxygen tanks and put the masks on them.

“Some kind of gas villain, great.” Henshizo muttered and he took another rock and made a knife, carving a mark into the tree to help find them again. As he went through he heard a large crashing sound and a roar come from his left. He ducked behind a tree and looked, but couldn’t see anything and slowly walked along the trail, hidden in the tree line. As he walked along he noticed the gas disappearing, ‘Either the villain called it off, or someone knocked him out. My guess is the latter.’ Henshizo thought taking the gas mask off and changing it to a lead pipe. He found another one of class B, the American exchange student, and he put an oxygen mask onto her sighing.

He felt the ground shake and up ahead he saw a huge ice wall pierce through the tops of the forest. “Todoroki.” Henshizo muttered to himself and he began running towards it, the jet boots helping him catch up. As he looked up, he saw a man in an orange jacket jumping from tree to tree. “Is that Compress?” Henshizo muttered frustrated as he ran along. As he did to his right he heard more sounds of running and the whirring of drills and roars of chainsaws. “Oh come on.” Henshizo muttered and he ran to those sounds and what he saw made his heart drop for a moment, Momo was being dragged by Awasae of 1-B and a giant Nomu with drills and chainsaws protruding from its hands was chasing after them. Henshizo ran forward, changing the lead pipe into a metal riot shield got in front of them as the Nomu tried to drive a chainsaw at them.

“Sesshada!” Awasae cried out and Henshizo felt the shield about to break, so he used his quirk to continuously regenerate the shield. “Run!” Henshizo called out, as he felt himself getting pushed back by the Nomu, but just as it almost brought one of its drill arms around the side to gore Henshizo it stopped its attacks, straightened up and started walking into the woods. “Why’d it stop? Not that I’m complaining.” Awase said as Henshizo was panting from the strain of fending the attack off. “Awase, take this and attach it to the Nomu with your quirk.” Momo said and Henshizo went over and changed the shield to a first aid kit. “What is this?” Awasae asked taking it. “Just do it!” Momo said as Henshizo looked at her head wound and took everything needed to give preliminary treatment. ‘Knuckleduster always loved saying how important it was to take care of your own shit.’ Henshizo thought as Awasae run and welded the object to the Nomu. “It’s on.” Awasae said leaning against a tree as the Nomu ignored what he did and continued walking.

“Thank you.” Momo said and Awasae sighed. “Welder get over here and give her first aid.” Henshizo said standing up. “Dude you’re a target, you should be hiding.” Awasae said as he came over. “I don’t give a fuck. Take care of her.” Henshizo said as Momo’s eyes drooped. “Right.” He said beginning to treat her and Henshizo picked up a dead branch and began running until he caught up to Uraraka and Asui. “What’s going on?” He asked them, scaring them with his sudden appearance. “Deku, Shoji, and Todoroki flew after the guy who took Bakugo and Tokoyami.” Uraraka said pointing up ahead. “Right.” Henshizo said beginning to sprint faster up ahead, his chest screaming out in pain, and as he got close to a tree clearing he saw several portals and people beginning to go in, a blonde girl, a guy in a black body suit, and saw Compress and a guy with spikey black hair and patches of burnt skin stapled to his body, as Shoji, Midoriya and Todoroki were running away.

“Let them gloat, but let me explain magic to you. If I’m flaunting something, it’s probably because I want to distract you.” Compress said taking his mask off and Henshizo could see two marbles on his tongue. He also noticed Aaoyama covering Jiro and Hagakure’s bodies with his own. “Fuck.” Henshizo muttered and watched as Compress snapped his fingers and chunks of Todorki’s ice appeared. “I made duplicates to be safe, apologies. I do love a twist ending.” Compress said and Henshizo was quickly running through all scenarios in his head, and he made the stick into a rifle and positioned it, looking through the scope at Compress. ‘One shot, have to use rubber bullet so I don’t risk hurting them.’ Henshizo thought lining it up. “One last bow.” Compress called out as Shoji, Todoroki, and Midoriya were trying to run back and stop them from leaving through the warp gate. Henshizo fired the shot, and the rifle shot rang out through the woods; the rubber bullet smashed into the side of Compress’s head, shattering his mask and Henshizo saw the marbles go flying. He tossed the rifle aside and tried to run forward to help as well. Midoriya’s body seized up and Henshizo realized that Midoriya had his arms in splints while also being bruised and bloodied. Midoriya fell to the ground, causing Henshizo to stutter step around him. Todoroki almost grabbed the second marble, but the patchwork skinned man grabbed the marble instead.

“Isn’t that a shame? Poor little Shoto Todroki.” The man said before turning to Compress. “Confirm it quickly.” He barked as Henshizo ripped a button from his shirt and began changing it to a sword. “My finale was ruined.” Compress said with difficulty, and he snapped his fingers, releasing Tokoyami in Shoji’s arms and Bakugo at the portal in the patchwork man’s hand. “Checkmate.” He said as Henshizo stopped what he was doing since Bakugo was in the way. “Kacchan!” Midoriya shouted trying to lunge to his friend. “Stay back. Deku.” Bakugo managed to get out before the warp gate sealed shut and Midoriya flew to where it had been and landed on the ground. For a few moments the only sound was the roar of blue flames around them as Henshizo let the sword fall to his side. Midoriya let out a blood curdling scream of anguish as Uraraka and Asui came running up to the clearing they were in.

They all stood there for a while before Henshizo walked over and helped Midoriya to his feet, noticing that he was also burned on his right shoulder. “We need to head back to the camp.” Henshizo muttered and everyone numbly nodded, slowly going back through the woods. Midoriya slowly dragging more. “Sesshada, your chest.” Uraraka said, the button he had ripped off, caused his chest to be exposed and a nasty mark from where the Nomu’s head had hit him was forming. “I’m ok.” Henshizo said a slight wheeze coming out as he said that, Tokoyami coming up and helping carry Midoriya, as they continued and eventually got to the main camp building. Henshizo and Tokoyami laid Midoriya on the ground as Aizawa came up carrying two members of class B while talking to a third who had a fourth on her back. Awasae came running out of the woods with Momo on his back, while Kendo was dragging Tetsutetsu in one hand while using her fist to hold someone in it. “If you need medical attention stay out here, if not go inside.” Aizawa said almost numbly as Todoroki, Tokoyami, and the one girl black haired girl from 1-B went into the building. Henshizo walked over to Kendo pointing at her enlarged hand.

“One of the villains. The one that caused the gas.” Kendo said and Henshizo nodded picking up two rocks, changing one to a pair of handcuffs and the other to a quirk suppressing collar. ‘Same one I wore.’ Henshizo thought as Kendo let go of the villain so Henshizo could restrain him, and Henshizo was shocked to see that it was a boy younger than he was. Henshizo restrained him and soon plane engines could be heard and fire-fighting planes flew over, dumping water on the forest fire, as ambulances and police cars came driving up to the campsite. Henshizo got taken to an ambulance and was examined by a paramedic. “We’ll take you to the hospital, I’m fairly certain you have a broken rib.” He said standing up and Henshizo nodded, laying back on the stretcher. Before the doors closed Yanagi and Ojiro came running up with worried looks on their faces. “Relax guys, just a broken rib, I’ve had worse.” Henshizo said sitting up and walking out of the ambulance to reassure them.

“When they said they were after you we were so worried.” Ojiro said and Yanagi looked paler than usual. “Eh, not the first time I’ve had killers after me.” Henshizo said shrugging but lightly wincing. ‘For me to feel this level of pain, probably more than one rib.’ He thought to himself. He glanced around and saw two of the other villains that had been captured and he couldn’t believe it. “Holy fucking shit. Muscular and Moonfish?!” He said seeing muscular being loaded into a giant metal container and Moonfish being loaded up into an ambulance. “You know them?” Ojiro asked looking at them. “Anyone who spent even a second in the underworld knows them. They’re both insanely powerful and bloodthirsty. In Moonfish’s case flesh hungry too.” Henshizo muttered. “Midoriya apparently defeated Muscular protecting the little boy; while Tokoyami, more accurately an out-of-control dark shadow, decimated Moonfish.” Yanagi muttered quietly. ‘Midoriya? No wonder he was so beaten up.’ Henshizo thought as Yanagi stared at the mark on his chest.

“I’m glad you two are ok at least.” Henshizo said stepping back into the ambulance. “Take care man.” Ojiro said raising a hand and Yanagi’s visible eye was filled with a tear. “I will, you guys too.” Henshizo said lightly smiling to reassure them. The paramedic closed the door and the ambulance set off as Henshizo sat back down on the stretcher. ‘League of Villains, you’ll pay for hurting Momo.’ Henshizo thought angrily to himself as he stared up at the ceiling of the ambulance, the paramedic shuddering at his eyes which seemed to be almost glowing green in rage.

Notes:

A long one, but had to be. Yes it was a low tier Nomu that they sent after him.

Chapter 30: Invasion fallout

Summary:

Henshizo deals with his injury and the general fallout of the camp invasion. How do those that care about him react to his injury? What will Henshizo do?

After Henshizo arrived at the hospital he was examined by a doctor and a pair of nurses, ignoring the nurse’s muttering about his tattoo. One of the nurses held her hand up to his chest and a bright light emanated from it before she lowered it. “Your fourth rib is broken is your third rib is cracked. As well as the obvious damage to your skin” She said sympathetically and Henshizo nodded, looking down at how his hands were raw and even his forearms were irritated, having to continuously repair the riot shield took a lot of skin cells. “How’s everyone else?” He asked as the nurse who had x-rayed him left and he turned to the doctor who lowered his head. “Fifteen are in critical condition because of the gas, but three of them aren’t as bad as the others, thanks to oxygen masks being put on them. Eleven others are injured, ranging from smoke and gas inhalation to one of them having both his arms broken and other injuries. One of the pros is here too, she has a bad blow to the head, and I’ll just say this because you’ll find out, apparently another one of the pros is missing.” He said and Henshizo’s eyes widened in shock. ‘And Bakugo was kidnapped. Two missing, the pro is probably ragdoll, twenty-seven students injured, what a disaster.’ Henshizo thought laying down on the bed. “Of the non-gas related injuries, yours rank fairly high, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering you much.” The doctor said curiously as Henshizo adjusted the bed.

“I have a high pain tolerance.” Henshizo said in a monotone voice as he turned the TV on and all the news was talking about was the breaking developments in the camp attack. “Hey doc, if any press try to talk to me, it’s a no.” Henshizo said and the doctor chuckled. “Don’t worry, any members of the press will be kept outside of the hospital. You just focus on resting. Recovery Girl is on her way and her quirk is all you’ll need.” The doctor said and Henshizo nodded as the doctor left and the nurse finished setting the room for him. “If you need anything press the button on the remote there.” She said pointing to it and he nodded, she left leaving him alone in the room. He reached for his phone that had been placed on the table beside him after they put him in the hospital gown and turned it on, and he was immediately greeted with several text messages, missed phone calls, and voicemails from Sanae, Goji, Hinata, Daiki, Honoka, his Aunt Buttai and Uncle Okane, as well as a new number that he guessed was his mom. Shakily he first called Sanae, since to him doing so would take care of five of the people worried about him.

The phone rang only once and was immediately answered by Sanae. “Henshizo?! Oh please tell me you’re ok. The news is saying dozens of students were hurt.” Sanae said in a panicked tone and Henshizo heard the other four all call out too, he gently pulled the phone from his ear for a brief moment. “I’m ok, I’m at the hospital. Just a broken rib and another one that’s cracked. I’ll be fine.” Henshizo said calmly as he grabbed a tissue and changed it into a bottle of his lotion and put it on and he felt his skin regrowing. “We’re already on our way to the hospital, and don’t even say that we can’t come.” Sanae said and Henshizo sighed. “The news said the hospital didn’t it? You can come, just a heads up though security is going to be tight and it will be crowded with people.” He said closing his eyes, ‘Probably even tighter on me since they know I was a target. But no way in hell I’m going to say I was targeted.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Ok, everyone is worried we’ll be there in just under three hours hopefully.” Sanae said and Henshizo nodded and then remembered that they were talking on the phone. “Right, sounds good. And if the press tries to ask anything just say ‘No comment, but you hope everyone recovers.’” Henshizo told her seriously, as he didn’t want the press hounding them. “Right, we’ll see you soon.” Sanae said as he heard his foster siblings call out the same thing. “See you guys soon.” Henshizo said, and he hung up sighing and there was a knock at the door before it opened and a hero with a pointed mustache and bandana covering his eyes and hair walked in. “Hello. I’m Snatch, I’ve been asked to provide protection.” He said in a gruff tone and Henshizo sighed again. “I figured as much, I have my foster family coming at least to see me.” He said and Snatch nodded before stepping back outside. ‘Also keeps me here, besides I can’t go anywhere with the ribs.’ Henshizo thought before he went to the texts from the unknown number and it was indeed his mom.

He took a breath before pressing the number to call her. It rang a few times before Giji answer. “H-Henshizo? She asked quietly and he could tell she was incredibly worried. “Hi mom. I’m ok.” He said and he heard begin to cry. “I was so worried. I just saw that a student was taken. I thought it might be you.” She said shakily, through her tears and Henshizo closed his eyes to stop the tears forming in his eyes. “I’m ok, I just have to wait for Recovery Girl to heal me and I’m good to go.” He said and she sniffed. “O-ok. I was discharged from Jaku City Hospital today and now we are coming to you guys. Is Momo ok?” She asked and Henshizo realized that his Aunt and Uncle were with her. “I’m sure she’ll be ok. She, uh, she has a head injury.” He said with a mixture of sadness and anger in his voice. “I haven’t seen her since we were loaded into ambulances at the camp.” He said and he mentally kicked himself for not asking about her specifically.

“She’ll be fine baby, don’t worry.” Giji said soothingly and Henshizo grunted in affirmation he heard her. “How long until you guys get here?” He asked in a voice much more childlike than he normally was. “We’ll be there in just over two hours.” She said gently. “Ok, security is tight. The pro hero Snatch is outside my room. I’ll let him know. Also the press may be an issue.” He said as he swung his legs off the bed. “Ok, thanks baby. We’ll be there soon and I’ll see you soon.” Giji said softly and Henshizo stood up. “Sounds good, see you soon mom.” He said stretching and wincing as his ribs flared up. “Love you.” Giji said causing Henshizo to freeze up in shock for a moment since it was the first time, she had actually said it. “I-I love you too mom.” He said and his lip was trembling as he smiled happily. “See you soon.” She said and they hung up at the same time. Before opening the door he wiped the tears from his face and opened finding Snatch to the side of it. “My mom is also coming. She’ll be here in a little over two hours.” He said looking up at the hero.

“I thought you said your foster family was coming?” He asked and even under his bandana Henshizo could tell he had raised an eyebrow. “That’s also right, and they’ll be here a little under three hours from now. My family situation is… complicated.” He said and Snatch nodded. “I can imagine. Ok, thanks for the heads up.” He said and Henshizo nodded, closing the door and going back to the bed and sitting down. ‘That helmet that the gas boy had on, it had the stamp of The Union on it. Tracking them down will lead me to the League. They’re going to pay.’ Henshizo thought and he laid in bed beginning to think of a plan. He watched the news and hated at how they bashing UA for letting this happen. ‘They didn’t let this happen, they took as many precautions as possible. Not their fault the league of villains seems has evolved from using random thugs to better villains. Wait… how did the league find us?’ Henshizo thought and suddenly a terrifying thought entered his head.

‘Is there a rat?’ Henshizo thought and he started seeing red. “UA kept the location secret and even changed it at the last moment allegedly. No one outside of the hero course and the teachers would know. Well the Pussycats too but that seems unlikely unless one of them is really committed to staying under the radar. Who?” Henshizo muttered to himself rapidly before sighing and sitting down. ‘In theory over forty possible people. I can eliminate a few, but not even close to even a quarter. Very well, just going to be more careful. Besides if I’ve thought of the possibility the teachers have as well. I just hope people don’t assume it’s me.’ Henshizo thought a pang of anxiety racking him as he realized he would be one of the highest assumed people. Groaning he laid down in bed and closed his eyes. ‘One thing at a time.’ He thought to himself lightly rubbing his chest and he lightly dozed off.

Henshizo was awoken after a bit by a knock at the door. He got out of bed and walked to it and Snatch was there. “Is this your mom?” He asked stepping to the side and Henshizo saw Giji and quickly nodded and walked forward and the two hugged and Giji was crying into his shoulder. “I told you I’m ok.” Henshizo said as Snatch helped them back into his room and closing the door behind them. “I was so worried. I just met you, I can’t lose you.” She said and Henshizo held onto her tighter. “I got plenty of time, don’t worry. We’ll have lots time together.” Henshizo said gently as he sat on the bed and looked up at her. She put a hand on his head and rubbed it gently. “So what happened?” She asked and he closed his eyes at the head rubbing.

“We uh, we were doing an activity, sort of a contest, and suddenly we noticed a fire. Then two villains attacked were we were. The pros told us to run, but I had to separate from my class to protect them. I dealt with the Nomu and then ran to help my classmates. I realize it was stupid, but… I had to. I found some and helped best I could. I also saved Momo and another student from the other class from another Nomu. After that I… I shot a villain to save two of my classmates. I used a rubber bullet.” He said looking up at her and then down at the ground hoping she wouldn’t judge him. He felt tears fall onto his neck from her but the picked his head up and hugged him tight. “I’m so proud of you. My hero.” She said softly and he began crying silently into her shirt as she rubbed his back. “You were selfless and caring.” She continued reassuring him and he looked up at her smiling lightly. “I know that you are going to be an amazing hero. Just be careful please.” She said brushing the hair from his face and kissed his forehead.

Henshizo smiled more and hugged tight. “Thank you, thank you mom.” He said quietly and she smiled down at him before he let go. “I have to wait on recovery girl and then I’ll be good to. Although I’m probably low priority given some of the other injuries.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Are others that badly hurt?” Giji asked with concern in her voice and Henshizo sadly nodded. “One of the villains had a poison gas quirk, one of my classmates had to face off against a powerful villain and got beat up badly.” He said sadly and he looked at the TV. “The news is so bad though. Blaming UA, like it’s their fault.” He said annoyed and Giji smiled while rubbing the back of his head. “I’m glad you aren’t giving up on your dream after this.” She said gently and Henshizo shrugged while she continued to rub his head.

“It’s not like tonight was the first time I’ve been targeted.” Henshizo muttered and she stopped the rubbing and he looked at her and saw the sadness and fear in her face. “Sorry. I try to deal with everything by making light of it. I know I shouldn’t but… it helps a little.” He said looking away from her in shame but she placed a hand on his back, directly on his tattoo. “I get it. It just makes me sad. But your past is your past. We can’t help it, but what we can do is control how it affects us.” She said gently and he looked at her half smiling again. “Exactly.” Henshizo said as she looked at his tattoo. “Before you say anything about it, I don’t want to get rid of it. Ever. It will serve as a reminder of my past.” Henshizo said seriously and Giji nodded sadly. ‘Of what I’ve done.’ Henshizo thought even sadder. “Our roles are reversed. Now you’re the one in the chair.” Henshizo said grinning as he laid back in bed and Giji giggled.

“Yes. I just hope that you can get out tonight. Buttai and Okane have a room for me at their home, maybe you can come there after this.” She said and Henshizo looked at her with sadness. “We have to figure out my legal situation first. I just don’t want Sanae to get in trouble.” He said and she smiled. “That’s perfectly fine.” She said and there was a knock at the door. “Oh fu- I forgot to tell you, Sanae and my foster siblings are coming.” He said sitting up and looking at the door. “That’s ok. I’ve actually wanted to meet her. To thank her for taking care of you.” Giji said and Henshizo nodded before standing up and walking to the door where Snatch was once again standing. “This your foster family?” He asked and Henshizo looked and saw them all and nodded and Snatch stood aside as they ran forward and he let them group hug him.

“Careful guys.” He said smiling as he hugged back and they staggered into his room. “Why are you always caught up in things? I worry so much about you.” Sanae said looking up at him and rubbing his cheek, but Giji moved and Sanae looked over and gasped and the kids looked and were all startled by Giji’s presence. “I am so sorry, I didn’t know you’d be here. You must be his mom.” Sanae said walking over as Giji stood up. “I’m Sanae Ikari. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said lightly bowing to Giji as Henshizo walked used his quirk to make chairs for them all. “Let them do their thing.” He whispered to his siblings who all nodded and sat down. “I’m Giji Sozo, thank you so much.” She said deeply bowing to Sanae who was taken aback by it. “W-wh-what? What for?” She asked confused as Henshizo sat back down on the bed. “You took my son in, and were there for him to help his journey. And from that just now, I can tell you really care about him. So, it brings me joy that he was in a good place after being saved.” Giji said gently and Sanae went red due to embarrassment.

“I just tried my best to care for him.” Sanae said quietly and Giji smiled. “That’s all I could ask for and what he deserved. You were a pillar for him when he needed it.” Giji said smiling and Henshizo looked at his siblings. “This leaves this room I’m shaving your hair.” He said and they nodded and the women laughed. “He was so happy and relieved that you accepted him, not even his acceptance letter to UA made him smile so much.” Sanae said and Henshizo was turning red from embarrassment causing Daiki to laugh. “Never seen him this worked up.” He said pointing and laughing. “Daiki please.” Sanae said sighing and he stopped with a groan and there was a third knock at the door, this time it opened and in walked recovery girl.

“Oh my. Quite the popular boy you are Sesshada.” She said walking up and his foster sisters were trying not to freak out seeing Recovery Girl. “At least my injuries are simple. How’s everyone else?” He asked as she used Giji’s chair to stand up on and then kissed his cheek and he winced as he felt himself healing. “You are a simple case. I’ve healed up Shoji, Asui, and Uraraka fine. Your cousin is unconscious but will make a full recovery, she just needs to rest. Midoriya meanwhile was awful. I swear I’m going to make All Might pay for a vacation to Hawaii at this rate.” She said stepping down and Henshizo laughed and was happy to feel his ribs were already healed. “Can’t blame All Might this time.” He said and she shook her head sighing. “You’re right, now rest up deary. You’ll be good to go in a hour or so.” She said stepping down. “Thank you ma’am.” Henshizo said as she left and lightly yawned.

“That was so cool to see her in action!” Hanata said putting her hands together. “How rude of me, you are his foster siblings right?” Giji said turning to them. “Yea, the biggest pains I’ve had to deal with.” Henshizo said lightly yawning again, between the adrenaline rush of the attack and recovery girl’s quirk he was crashing fast. “Hey!” The four of them yelled out at him and he smirked. “You guys can talk, I need to sleep.” Henshizo said adjusting himself to put the blanket over him. “Ok, we’ll be out in the hall, we’re not going anywhere.” Sanae said jerking her head to the door to the kids who nodded. “Take care Henshizo.” Honoka said as they left, carrying their chairs in the hall. “Yes, sleep well.” Sanae said going up to him and she put a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks Sanae.” He said, smiling up at her; she took the chair as well and went into the hall.

“They seem nice.” Giji said as Sanae closed the door. “Yea. I’m willing to bet cops will be wanting to interview me soon. Just tell them I’ll talk to them after I wake up.” Henshizo said rolling on to his side. “Ok baby.” Giji said bending down and kissing the side of his head. “Love you.” She said softly. “Love you too.” He said quietly and she left to go meet his foster siblings. Henshizo closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep for about three hours. He woke up and stretched in the bed, feeling just fine and got out of bed and walked to the door opening it. Snatch stepped aside and walked away as Henshizo changed the hospital gown, socks, and slippers into the clothes he wore that night. Sanae and Giji were still awake, but Hinata, Goji, Daiki, and Honoka were all asleep in their chairs. “Awake already?” Giji asked standing up and Henshizo nodded. “I’m ready to go.” He said and a cop with a cat head walked up to him, Henshizo recognized him from the USJ attack. “Officer Sansa right?” Henshizo said looking at him and the officer nodded.

“I realize you want to get home. But we have questions to ask.” He said taking out a notepad and Henshizo sighed and thumbed back to his room. “This is a witness, victim, interview right?” He asked Sansa bluntly. “Yes. Detective Tsukauchi did say you’d be mildly paranoid of that.” Sansa said and Henshizo rolled his eyes as they walked in. “This won’t take long.” He said to Giji and Sanae who looked worried. They nodded and Hemshizo closed the door. “Want the abridged version?” Henshizo asked sitting on a stool. “Please tell me everything.” Sansa said politely.

Henshizo sighed and tilted his head back. “Day was normal. Then the Pussycats had us doing a test of courage thing, and while that was happening I felt like we were being watched, but didn’t see anything. After a bit we smelled smoke and saw the flames, at that point Pixie-Bob was attacked by Magne, with Spinner assisting her.” Henshizo said and Sansa was writing it down. “Some words were exchanged, the most notable that Magne would exchange Pixie-Bob for me. Which told us all I was a target.” Henshizo said and Sansa stopped writing.

“Some of your classmates said you told Magne that she owed you a hundred-thousand yen, and she should pay it. Is that true?” He asked causing Henshizo to glare at him. “I respond to stress with humor and also yea. Magne technically owed that amount in gambling dues. But I wasn’t serious. It was my way of telling her to f-” Henshizo said and Sansa cut him off. “Right, and after that?” He asked beginning to write again. “Mandalay told us to run, but I didn’t because I knew I was a target. I didn’t want to put my classmates in danger, and it’s a good thing I didn’t go with them because Magne sent a Nomu after me.” Henshizo said and Sansa stopped writing and looked wide eyed, which with his cat eyes was amusing to Henshizo.

“They sent a Nomu after you? And you, well, you’re alive and here?” He asked and Henshizo chuckled. “It wasn’t like the one from the USJ, I’m sure you guys have recovered it; six arms and rock like skin, but it was a light gray in color. Maybe the color of Nomu is an indicator of how strong it is?” He said the last part shrugging and Sansa nodded. “After the Nomu appeared I ran, tried fighting it but couldn’t get past its arms and skin. Eventually I was able to place an explosive device on its head and well, there’s a reason why I’m here.” He said quietly and Sansa looked at him with both fear and being impressed.

“So why didn’t you return to camp?” He asked and Henshizo sighed. “I knew I was a target, and I thought hiding in the woods would be better. Harder to find me. I also wanted to help others and I did. I encountered some gas victims and got them on oxygen, then I saved my cousin and a classmate from another Nomu. That one nearly got me, but it stopped and wandered off, probably got picked up by the warp villain. After that I continued to go help, catching up to some classmates who told me where others had went because Bakugo and Tokoyami had been kidnapped. I ran there, and managed to shoot Mr. Compress with a rubber bullet, causing Tokoyami to be rescued but… but Bakugo couldn’t be.” He said dropping his head and Sansa finished up writing.

“You knew some of the villains?” He asked and Henshizo nodded. “I knew Magne and Compress. I also saw Moonfish and Muscular before I was taken away in the ambulance. Those last two I knew of them but no business was ever done with them. My dad helped fence stuff Magne and Compress stole.” Henshizo said and Sansa nodded. “I didn’t know who Spinner was, nor did I recognize the blonde girl, the patchwork guy, or the guy in the black body suit.” Henshizo said and Sansa again nodded.

“I have to ask we-” Sansa again but Henshizo stood up angrily. “No, I was not involved at all. I get it, I’m easy to point a finger at but why the hell would I put my family at risk? I’m not involved with the league or any other villains. Now are we done?” He asked crossing his arms angrily. “Yea. Just be careful, you were targeted by them. We had considered putting you in protective custody but All Might said no and Tsukauchi listens to him. But again, be careful.” Sansa said pocketing his notepad and pulled out a card and held it out for Henshizo, which he took.

“In case you think of anything else.” Sansa said before leaving the room. Henshizo pocketed it and left the room after him; Giji and Sanae were anxiously waiting for him. “See, not that long.” Henshizo said shrugging as his foster siblings were waking up. “That’s good. Go home with Sanae for now baby. Hopefully we can get things sorted out soon.” Giji said putting a hand to his cheek. “Ok mom. Love you.” He muttered shyly and she smiled and kissed his cheek. “Love you too.” She said before they hugged for a bit.

“Can we go see Momo real fast?” He asked and Giji nodded. “That ok?” He asked Sanae who nodded. “I’ll take them and track down the cafeteria for breakfast.” She said smiling and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll text when I’m done.” He said to her and she nodded and lead the others towards an exit to try and find the cafeteria. Henshizo and Giji walked along their floor and passed rooms where others were laying in beds unconscious with parents sitting by their side in some of them. “I’m thankful you’re ok, I just hope they all recover just fine.” Giji said sadly and Henshizo nodded before they stopped outside a room and went in, all three Yaoyorozus were in there, but Momo was unconscious.

“Henshizo! We heard you saved Momo, thank you, thank you so much.” His Aunt Buttai said going over and hugging him and he was taken aback by it but smiled. “I just did what she would do.” He said gently and Buttai looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Henshizo, you are our family now.” Okane said standing up and walking over with his hand out and Henshizo shook it, tears welling in his eyes. “Thank you, Uncle.” He said and Okane chuckled. “That’s weird to hear.” He said and the four chuckled lightly before they all turned to Momo. “From what I saw and heard, she made gas masks to help people, and was trying to track down the rest of 1-B to give masks to them; two from 1-B used their masks to help them defeat the gas villain, so if it weren’t for Momo the gas villain could’ve done more harm.” He said and both Buttai and Okane smiled at their daughter laying unconscious in bed. Henshizo looked at her too and his inside were boiling with rage but he kept a sad look on his face. “Recovery Girl told me she’ll make a full recovery.” Henshizo said quietly and the two nodded. “They just want to make sure her brain heals.” Buttai said quietly and Henshizo’s fingers flexed in rage for a moment.

“She’ll be ok.” Henshizo said firmly as Buttai and Okane sat back down. “Let me know when she wakes up.” He said to them before taking a step to the door. “You’re not staying?” Buttai asked sadly. “Since I’m not at the camp anymore, I kinda have to be with Sanae, I’ll visit, but… just don’t want trouble you know?” He said quietly and they nodded. “I’ll be staying but Henshizo’s doing what’s right.” Giji said softly and Buttai nodded. “Of course, take care. See you later right?” Buttai asked and Henshizo nodded in response. “Take care.” He said and he left with Giji following behind him briefly. “Please be careful Henshizo.” She said quietly and hugged him as he turned around. “I will be, love you.” He said hugging her back, they hugged for a while in the hall before Henshizo broke it. “Love you too.” Giji said smiling, causing Henshizo to smile back.

Henshizo walked away and his smile faded away as he looked at a sign and got in the elevator to go down to the cafeteria. He got off and found Sanae putting trays in the trash. “Can we go home?” Henshizo said quietly and she gave a start but smiled. “Snuck up on me. You don’t want anything? You must be hungry.” She said but he shook his head and she sighed. “Fine. Alright guys let’s go.” She called and the kids came up and the six of them left the hospital, Henshizo being quiet the whole time. They could tell he was angry and distraught, but didn’t want to disturb him after everything. Sanae drove them home and they got out and Henshizo went to his room and closed the door without saying a word.

“He hasn’t been this way since he first showed up.” Hinata said concerned to Sanae who sighed. “I know, but back then we just let him be and let him slowly warm up, I think that’s what he needs. Space.” She said and the four nodded, looking upstairs. Henshizo meanwhile had locked the door and changed his clothes to a black shirt with white tie. Henshizo left his phone on his bed and sighed as he glanced in the mirror, the reflection looking back at him with anger and resolve. He opened the window up and carefully climbed out, closing the window behind him, he silently climbed down the house and began walking down the street, picking a bottle off the ground and changing the cap into a hat and the bottle into a long white-haired wig. He put these both on and went into a small shop, and into its bathroom grabbing two paper towels and changing them into colored contact lenses which he put in his eyes, changing them from green to red. He bought a Fat Gum bread cake and left, eating it as he walked.

‘First step to finding the League is finding the Union. You will pay Shigaraki.’ Henshizo thought darkly as he began walking towards the more crime ridden area of town.

Notes:

Henshizo seems to be slipping back into his past. What will the enraged Sesshada do? Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 31: Son of Sin

Summary:

Henshizo's anger consumes him and he goes to try and track the League down. What does he do and what happens?

Henshizo walked further into the city looking around at the buildings. ‘When I was first placed here; I looked into the local crews. Of course no one truly prominent, but there is one person.’ Henshizo thought as he stopped outside a bar and sighed. ‘The manager, Nure Yub, the local fencer for thieves and arranger for black market deals.’ Henshizo thought to himself and walked in to the bar and the few day drinkers that were there looked at him with confusion and contempt. “Beat it kid. You’re too young.” The bartender said pointing at the door but Henshizo walked up to the bar.

“I’m here to see the manager.” Henshizo said calmly pulling out a thick bundle of bills and the bartender’s eyes went wide and he nodded, thumbing towards the back. Henshizo walked calmly back, pocketing the bills. A crooked sign saying manager hung on a door and Henshizo walked in. “What the? Who the hell are you?” The manager, a portly man with thinning light blue hair, asked angrily at being disturbed. “I require an item to be made, and I heard from one of my uncle’s friends you’re the man to see.” Henshizo said calmly again pulling the money out for him to see. Yub saw it and gestured to the chair in front of him. ‘Fucking moron. How the hell he hasn’t been raided is beyond me. Unless he’s an informant, even still he’ll have what I need.’ Henshizo thought, disgusted at how careless Yub was.

“How can I help?” Yub asked grinning as Henshizo played with the money. “I need some gear for a job. Special order, quality is required.” Henshizo said firmly and Yub smirked. “Well I can arrange that. Do you have a time frame?” He asked and Henshizo shrugged. “Need it by the end of next week.” He said nonchalantly and Yub nodded. “Well if you want quality and that turnaround, I can either help you contact Gajetto or The Union.” Yub said leaning back in his chair. “For a finders fee.” He said pulling his cellphone out tauntingly.

Henshizo pretended to think between the options and adjusted in and put eight-thousand yen on the desk. “The Union. Uncle holds them in higher regard.” He said and Yub smiled and Henshizo watched as he unlocked his phone and brought up contact information as he reached for the bills. After Yub put the phone on the table to show Henshizo the contact information and he grabbed the money Henshizo suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled the careless broker towards him and then jabbed his throat very hard so that Yub’s eyes bugged out and he clutched his throat, unable to call out for help. Henshizo then quietly slid over the desk, kicked one of Yub’s knees so he fell to one and put him in a choke hold while pinning his limbs to the floor so he couldn’t make a sound.

After a few moment’s of struggling Yub went still in Henshizo’s arms and Henshizo straightened up, grabbed his phone and went through to make sure it was a line of contact with the Union and was satisfied he had what he needed. He picked up the money he had put on the desk, quickly wiped the desk clean, and left the office. The bartender nodded as Henshizo left and Henshizo pulled a marble out and changed it to a cellphone and called the number that had been on Yub’s phone.

“Yea?” A voice said gruffly on the other line. “I need a fitting done right away. I’m in Kofu. Where’s your nearest store?” Henshizo asked in a business tone. “A rush fitting will be costly.” The voice said and Henshizo smirked. “Price isn’t an issue.” Henshizo said with just the right amount of irritability and desperation to sell it. “Very well and may I ask who gave you this number?” The man replied. “Ole slippery fingers.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes and the man chuckled. “Ok. Go to the old bus station, go in, the old vending machine room has one machine in it. Code is 7829.” The man said and hung up.

Henshizo changed the phone back into a marble and pocketed it. ‘Probably feeling good about the League’s work.’ Henshizo thought as he began making the walk to the bus station. ‘Had no idea about this place. Clever. Also thankfully they have a place in town. Guess it being close enough to bigger cities but out of the immediate vicinity is a good thing.’ Henshizo thought walking along, as he did so he wondered how long it would take for his foster family to notice he was gone. Henshizo stopped at a vending machine and got a bottle of water as it was so hot and he drank it along the way, taking almost fifty minutes.

Henshizo changed the bottle into a crow bar as he walked in and walked to the where the vending machine was and put the code he was given in. He heard the whirring of gears and the vending machine slid to the side revealing a ladder. Henshizo changed the crowbar to a pen, and put it in his shirt pocket and climbed down. When he got to the bottom he was in a small tunnel with a thick metal door at the end of it. He walked forward and knocked on the door and an intercom system clicked on. “Slippery fingers sent me.” Henshizo said in a bored tone and a buzzer sounded as the door cracked open. Henshizo took the pen out and had it in his hand as he walked in.

Inside were eight guys, Henshizo taking note of the secrutiy guard who had a bull quirk or something similar, making him incredibly muscular and had horns protruding from his head. Six of them working away either in costumes or gadgets and one man in a suit, he had to be the manager, came walking up to him. “You sounded older on the phone. But hey, so long as you have money that’s all that matters.” He said grinning and Henshizo nodded and smiled. “I do have that and I need your help with something.” He said taking the money out of his pocket. “Don’t worry, I got more.” He said reassuringly. “Good to know. Now what do you need?” He asked smiling as he reached for the money, not noticing Henshizo holding the pen in his other.

“Information.” Henshizo said going stone cold serious and when the manager looked at him confused Henshizo jabbed him in the neck with a syringe that he had turned the pen into. He cried out and clutched at his neck and the room froze for a moment. “You son of a-“ the manager began to say before he slumped to the ground unconscious. The guard yelled angrily and charged at Henshizo, the six workers grabbing gadgets ranging from blasters to shield like objects. Henshizo changed the syringe into a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground, rolling to by a work table and grabbing a wrench from under it. The guard narrowly missed him, sending the table flying.

Henshizo swung the wrench hard into the guard’s knee cap, and a sickening crack rang out and he fell to the ground howling in pain. Henshizo quickly got up and got hit from behind by one of the workers with pipe along the back. Henshizo grunted and staggered forward but as the pipe swinger swung again, Henshizo rushed him and drove the head of the wrench into the man’s sternum and then shoulder tackled him into another table. Henshizo then threw the wrench at the worker with the blaster, causing the worker to dodge. Henshizo doges a swing with a hammer and then kneed a second worker in the nuts hard and he fell to the ground in agony. Henshizo took his hammer and then jumped back from an attack with the shield item, Henshzio then jumped onto a table, changing the hammer into a flash bang, pulled the pin and dropped it onto the ground.

He rolled back off the table, taking cover from the flash bang, and it exploded causing everyone to cry out. Henshizo had kept the pin and made it into a tranquilizer gun while shielding himself and shot the workers with it. The grasped where the tranquilizers went into their necks and Henshizo changed the tranquilizer gun into the net gun Hatsume had used at the sports festival and captured them all. They fell to the ground and tried getting out of the net but they slowly grew still as the tranquilizer took effect. The guard was trying to stand up, but his knee was clearly broken and Henshizo walked up and plunged a syringe into his neck. The guard lashed back but Henshizo jumped back and the guard stumbled to the ground and passed out. Henshizo took the time to make quirk suppressant collars and put them on everyone, he also handcuffed the guard and workers together to be safe.

Henshizo walked up to the manager and picked him up, carrying him to a back room and put him in a chair before handcuffing his hands behind the chair. Henshizo began flooring around and saw a laptop and opened it up but growled in annoyance when he saw it was encrypted. Henshizo then sat down and made smelling salts from a pencil on the desk, cracking it open under the manager’s nose. The man gave a start as he woke up and then glared at Henshizo, trying to lunge at Henshizo but the binds kept him in place.

“Do you have any idea who we are? You’re dead.” The manager spat in anger and Henshizo stared back at him blankly. “The Union made gear for the League of Villains, and the league has cost me business, therefore you have cost me business.” Henshizo said standing up calmly and the manager was confused. “This is about the League? How?” He asked and Henshizo sighed as he made a knife from a pen. “Tell me where their delivery was made or how to access this laptop and you won’t experience as much pain.” Henshizo said in a no tone voice, putting the tip of the knife right in front of the man’s eye.

“Woah woah woah. Let’s not be hasty.” The manager said nervous as Henshizo stared cold heartedly. “It wasn’t us that made it, I heard about it and of course we got a cut of it. But we didn’t do anything.” He said leaning back in the chair, away from the knife. Henshizo pressed the knife forward still and grabbed the man’s jaw. “Then tell me who and where.” He growled, squeezing tight. “I don’t know where! It’s a precaution. I just know it wasn’t us!” He cried out and Henshizo slide the blade down his cheek, drawing blood.

“Fuck! Fuck, what’d you do that for?” He asked as blood dripped down. “You didn’t tell me the full truth. Next time you hold something back it’s your ear.” Henshizo said threateningly. “Fuck! Ok ok. My counterpart in Kyushu was complaining to us about the ridiculous order.” He muttered as Henshizo rested the knife blade on his ear. ‘Kyushu? I can’t make it there today.’ Henshizo thought angrily. “How was he complaining?” Henshizo asked applying just a bit of pressure. “Our chat! Our chat! We talk to each other for parts, labor, and anything else.” He said feeling the blade dig in a little.

“On this laptop?” Henshizo asked pointing to it and the manager nodded in shame. “What’s the password?” Henshizo asked and the manager stared up in fear. “No. They’ll kill me.” He said going pale and Henshizo flared up and swiped down cutting his ear off and it fell to the ground and he screamed in agony. “You don’t seem to understand. However they would kill you, pales in comparison to what I will do to you.” Henshizo hissed and he put the knife on the other ear. The man looked up into Henshzio’s emotionless eyes as tears welled in his eyes and blood dripped down onto his shirt and floor.

“A59F13O33.” He muttered defeatedly and Henshizo typed that in and smirked seeing everything pop up. Henshizo then punched the manager out cold and began going through the laptop. “Here.” He muttered finding the chat and then followed back, going through the messages. “Damn it. Of course they used the warp gate to pick a dead end spot.” Henshizo growled in anger and sadness as he continued to scroll up. “Huh? Came through Giran?” Henshizo muttered and his eyes narrowed as he began to think. ‘Giran operates in Yokohama, and in Yokohama where you go for the sleezy you go towards Kamino.’ Henshizo thought and he began nodding, flashing back to when he was ten years old and he remembered sitting at a bar as Girian and his father talking about a deal for Giran to give out guns courtesy of Henshizo’s father.

“Kamino… I still can’t go there today.” Henshizo muttered and he closed the laptop before standing up and dragging the manager out to the main area and tossed him to the ground where everyone else was tied up. He looked down at them and shook his head as his father’s voice tried to get in his head. Henshizo left them there and left the underground workshop, climbing up and out of the entrance, leaving the station. He picked up a broken piece of a hubcap and changed it into a mask that he put on his over his mouth, before picking up a cigarette butt and making it into a cellphone.

Henshizo pushed a button on the mask and when he sighed, it came out as robotic. Henshizo dialed 110. “Hello. I was walking past the abandoned bus station at the edge of the west side of Kofu, I heard fighting and screams coming from the inside, please hurry.” He said in a robotic voice that perfectly disguised it before he hung up and changed the phone to a different phone as he walked away and he pulled Sansa’s card out and dialed his number.

“Officer Sansa.” The cat cop on the other line said after a couple of rings. “I have information about the League. Kamino is where they are. Look there.” Henshizo said quickly. “Wai-” Sansa said but Henshizo hung up and changed the phone to a marble and pocketed it. He then took the mask off and changed that to a bottle and threw it away in a trash can as he walked by. As Henshizo got away from the bus station and the further he got away he began changing back to his normal self, taking the colored contacts out, getting rid of the wig, and changing clothes, ducking into alleys to do these things and then waiting. Henshizo got back to his house and changed a marble into a ladder and quietly placed it against the house, climbing up it, opening his window, and then going inside, slowly changing the ladder back to a pencil that he tossed onto his desk.

He grabbed his phone from his bed and saw he had messages from his classmates, mom, and Sanae so he began going through them, firstly with Sanae. ‘Dinner will be at six, you can come down whenever however.’ ‘I’m sorry if you’re upset, just let me know if you’re ok or need anything.’ Henshizo sighed and was filled with remorse and hatred at himself for betraying her trust. He also noticed he had blood on his hands that had gotten onto his bed sheet from where he had picked up his phone. Henshizo unlocked his door and went to the bathroom to quickly wash the blood off and watched it go down the drain. He then looked at his hands to make sure they were clean and sighed as fingertips were raw so he put some of his special lotion on them and they healed up. He made sure and hated how scarred his hands were, although for right now he was thankful he had no fingerprints, however he hated that it was because of his father burning them off with acid. He left the bathroom and went back into his room and went back to Sanae’s messages.

‘I’m ok, well physically ok. Just tired. Sounds good about dinner.’ He responded and then looked at his mom’s message. ‘Momo hasn’t woken up but she’s stable and scans show no severe damage. I hope you’re doing ok.’ His mom had sent him and he smiled reading it. ‘Good to hear. Just been resting. I’ll probably be by tomorrow. Love you.’ Henshizo sent back and then began looking through the messages from his classmates. All of them were varying forms of ‘I hope you’re ok and get better.’, so Henshizo typed up a message and copied it, sending it to everyone who had messaged him. ‘I’m fine, Recovery Girl healed me no problem. Thanks for checking, hope you’re doing ok.’ He sighed as he continued doing this, while also noting how Uraraka and Asui’s cuts were healing fine. He got to Iida’s message and paused as this was longer than the others. “At least he’s taking his role as a leader seriously.” Henshizo muttered as he read it.
‘Greetings, as your class rep I wanted to inform you about all of our classmates. First, I hope you have gotten better from your injuries. Secondly, as I am sure you are aware, vice-representative Yaoyorozu remains in the hospital but she is expected to recover. Shoji has been treated for his burns and has been released. Jiro and Hagakure are still unconscious due to the gas but the doctors are optimistic. Midoriya is unconscious due to the physical injuries he sustained, he had surgery performed on him, but apparently had seizures. That is all the updates I have for you at this time. Get better and stay safe-Iida’ the message said and Henshizo sighed.
‘Too late for that.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he typed out a reply. ‘Damn. Hope those three get better soon, you take it easy too.’ He replied and finally got to Ojiro’s and Yanagi’s messages. ‘Hey man, I know you’re probably already better, I’m sorry I didn’t help you. Just be careful please.’ Ojiro sent him and Henshizo lightly smiled. ‘Don’t worry, I’m fine and you would’ve been in danger too. I’d rather keep my friend safe than anything else.’ He typed out and realized he was calling Ojiro his friend for the first time. ‘Lots of firsts lately, but a lot of the past too.’ Henshizo thought hitting send and going to Yanagi’s message, which when he read it, he felt his heart rate increase just a bit.

‘I hope your health has improved and that you are recuperating well. While a most horrifying night for us all, I was more terrified for you rather than myself. The thought of no longer having our roof lunches was a distressing one. Best wishes.’ Yanagi had sent him and Henshizo chuckled as he smiled and replied. ‘What’s a real-life horror movie to stop us? Also don’t we still have to go see one? I’m fine, thank you for your concern. It and you mean a lot. Hope you’re doing ok.’ He replied and felt himself getting just a bit red in the face as he hit send. Henshizo stretched and rubbed his back where he had been hit and felt a bump. ‘Great, well, it’s a very very small price to pay for what I did.’ Henshizo thought angry at himself as he left his room and walked down to the kitchen where Sanae was putting food on the table. ‘At least I’m here.’ He thought at they smiled at him and Henshizo smiled back as he went to the fridge and got a drink before sitting down for dinner, but his mind couldn’t help but wander to his classmates and his concern for them and he hoped Bakugo would be rescued alive.

Notes:

If you read previous chapters, this chapter's title is the codename Henshizo would have given himself if he was still on the path of villainy. Hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 32: Decisons

Summary:

Henshizo makes some important decisions as to himself and others.

Henshizo woke up the next morning and walked down to the kitchen yawning, subconsciously changing his pajamas to a green shirt with a light blue tie. “Morning, already dressed?” Sanae said as she set a plate of tamagoyaki in front of him and he began eating it. “Yea. I’m heading to the hospital for Momo. Also, may stop by my other classmates who are still there and see how they’re doing.” He said quietly as she also made a cup of coffee for him. “That’s incredibly nice of you. I hope they are getting better. Give them my best.” Sanae said as Henshizo took the cup from her. “I will, thanks.” He said taking a sip.

“Since it is summer vacation, I’ll be taking the others out since they have plans.” Sanae said and Henshizo nodded. “Good. I don’t want to interrupt their vacations.” He said taking another roll and taking a bite out of it. He quickly ate and finished his coffee before standing up stretching. “Off I go, not sure when I’ll be back.” He said quietly and she nodded. “Henshizo… when do you think you’ll be moving in with your mom?” She asked suddenly taking him by surprise.

“I, I’m not sure. Right now, she’s living with my uncle and aunt and I don’t want to impose on them. I’d imagine they’re working on finding a space for her, one that I would be able to live in. But… it depends. Sure, she can tolerate me in small doses, but living with me would be a huge deal. And by tolerate, I mean that she doesn’t have any… negative reactions mentally.” He said putting his hands in his pockets. “It may be a gradual thing or not at all. It depends on her and what doctors say. And then there’s what the government says, I was placed here because I have no family but now I do. I think the only reason why I haven’t been yanked yet is because the agency doesn’t want to potentially upset a family as wealthy as the Yaoyorozus. It’s complicated but I’m fine. So long as you don’t mind.” He said and she put her hands up quickly.

“It’s not that at all, I love having you around. I was just wondering because I’d have to make arrangements and I’m sure they’d want to have a sendoff or something.” Sanae said smiling but with a hint of sadness in her tone. Henshizo lightly smiled at her. “I’ll miss you too.” He said gently before turning to leave. “But that’s not now so for now, I will be home later. Take care.” He said going to the door. “Be careful.” Sanae called out and Henshizo left, heading to the train station to go to the hospital. After the train pulled into the station he got off and began walking to the hospital when he felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out to see a message from his mom. ‘Momo is stirring, probably will be waking up soon.’ She had sent and Henshizo began running as he typed. ‘In town, running there now.’ He replied and pocketed his phone and got to the hospital in eight minuets, which considering the hospital from the station was just a bit over a mile and half away was impressive. He calmly walked in, checked in at the desk, and went up to Momo’s room. He walked in and saw his Aunt and Uncle touching Momo’s arm and his mom watching, clutching her hands.

“Henshizo. You got here fast.” Giji said walking over and hugging him as he caught his breath. “I am in the hero course, this distance wasn’t that much more than I typically do daily.” He said as Momo let out a long sigh, but her eyes were still closed. “She’s been like this the past hour.” His mom said as Henshizo watched her. “She looks better than yesterday. More color in her face.” He said quietly and his aunt nodded. “I noticed that this morning when the sun came in.” She said lightly squeezing Momo’s hand. They stood in silence for a bit, only broken by her monitors beeping before Momo stirred and her eyes slowly opened and they all smiled. “Where am I? Is everyone ok?” She muttered trying to sit up but Buttai kept her down. “Shh, just rest. You’re in the hospital.” She said gently and Henshizo walked up. “Need anything cuz?” He asked putting one hand in his pocket and she turned to face him. “You saved me.” She said weakly and Henshizo shrugged as he poured her a cup of water.

“I just did what you would do.” He said gently, handing her the cup and she took a sip and looked up at her parents. “I’m sorry for making you guys worried.” She said, her lip trembling but Buttai ran a hand along her face soothingly. “You’re ok, that’s all that matters.” She said sweetly and Momo rubbed against her hand and then sat her self up in the bed and looked at Henshizo and Giji, “Thank you both for being here too. Um, Henshizo can you get someone for me to talk to?” She asked and they were confused. “Uh sure, who?” He asked and Momo got a spark of determination in her eye. “Aizawa, All Might, or just the police in general. It’s important.” She said and Buttai sighed. “It can wait, you need to rest.” She said but Momo shook her head and Henshizo pulled his phone out and began dialing a number. “It can’t, Bakugo is missing. Right?” She asked and Henshizo nodded as he put his phone to his ear.

“Detective Tsukauchi.” Tsukauchi said on the other line. “Hello detective.” Henshizo said, unable to keep a small trace of venom from his voice. “Sesshada. While I wish I could say this is a pleasant surprise I’m incredibly busy right now.” He said, returning the hostile tone and everyone was looking at Henshizo confused. “Relax, I’m here to help. My cousin is awake and needs to speak to someone asap.” He said calmly and Momo sat up. “Tell him it’s about the Nomu.” She said and he nodded. “It’s about the Nomu that attacked her and got away and she’s not one to request without something important.” He said and Tsukauchi sighed. “All Might and I will be there soon. Thanks.” He said hanging up and Henshizo rolled his eyes and pocketed it. “Why the tone?” Buttai asked and Henshizo shook his head and glanced away, briefly rubbing his neck. “All Might and that detective who spoke to us after the USJ attack will be here soon.” He said and Momo nodded, smiling a bit. “Thanks Henshizo. Henshizo, how is everyone?” Momo asked as a nurse came in with a new bandage wrap. “Shoji got burned but he’s discharged now, I had some busted ribs but I’m healed now, Jiro and Hagakure are still out cause of the gas, and Midoriya got the shit kicked out of him and he’s recovering here too. And of course… Bakugo is missing.” He said and Momo nodded. “Language.” Giji said and Henshizo looked at her sheepishly. “Sorry mom.” He muttered but Giji sighed. “It’s ok, just try not to say that about one of your classmates.” She said and he nodded. “But it’s true.” He muttered glancing towards Midoriya’s room.

The nurse changed Momo’s bandage and the family began talking about the attack. “What can you tell about the villains Henshizo?” Buttai asked and Henshizo sighed. “I hate that I’m the de-facto villain encyclopedia. But hey, I can’t help it.” He said and Buttai went red faced in embarrassment. “Honestly; we’re lucky no one died. Muscular and Moonfish are figurative monsters and Nomus are literal monsters.” He muttered as he clenched his fists thinking of everything that could have happened. “And that’s why I am here, to take down the League of Villains.” All Might’s voice came from the door as he and Tsukauchi stood there. “Holy crap it’s All Might.” Buttai, Okane, and Giji muttered, but Henshizo and Momo were used to him, although him in a plain white t-shirt was a new look. ‘Gotta get that brand if it can withstand All Might’s size.’ Henshizo thought as he and Tsukauchi looked at each other. “As All Might said we’re here to take down the League.” Tsukauchi said walking in with All Might following. “Young Yaoyorozu. Tsukauchi said you had something to tell us.” All Might said, but Tsukauchi put a hand up. “Pardon the rudeness, but it’d be best if we talked to her alone.” He said and the adults nodded while Henshizo crossed his arms.

“We understand. Come on Henshizo.” Giji said putting a hand on his arm. “By the way Sesshada, there was an incident yesterday; a branch of The Union was attacked in your city. Anything to say about that?” Tsukauchi asked and the two sized each other up. “I heard about that, very interesting.” Henshizo said blankly and Tsukauchi’s eyes narrowed and All Might cleared his throat. “Come now, let’s remember we’re on the same side.” All Might said and the two nodded, and Henshizo left with his family. “I need to powder my nose.” Giji said quietly and Buttai nodded and the sisters went off. “I’m going to track down a coffee.” Okane said to Henshizo and he walked off. Henshizo went to the nurse’s station and picked up a mint and when he turned around he saw Kirishima and Todoroki walking up. Henshizo put the mint in his mouth and was about to talk to them when he heard Momo talking and the three looked in.

“With help from Awasae from class 1-B, we attached a tracking device to the Nomu. This tracking device will be able to show where the device is.” She said holding up a remote device and handing it to All Might. “Now I see why she asked to see someone.” Henshizo muttered to himself. “Before the finals, Aizawa said you lacked the ability to make spur of the moment decisions, but now look at you. Thank you, young Yaoyorozu.” All Might said and Momo looked down. “It’s frustrating how I can’t help Bakugo more than this.” She said and Henshizo sighed as he heard her sadness. “That feeling means you’re a true hero. But leave it to us, your effort and help will not be in vain.” All Might said and she bowed her head as Tsukauchi and All Might turned to leave. Kirishima, Todoroki, and Henshizo quickly made themselves look busy and All Might walked by them with Tsukauchi glancing at Henshizo but kept walking with All Might.

“What are you two doing here? Henshizo asked them. “We both hated being at home.” Kirishima said and Henshizo nodded. “I get it, you guys want to help and sitting on your asses is torture.” He said and they nodded. “We’re going to go see how Midoriya is doing.” Kirishima said but they glanced in at Momo and Henshizo had an idea of what they were thinking. “Let me know how Midoriya is.” Henshizo said and the two nodded, but Henshizo could tell an idea was forming in their heads. “You guys thinking of trying to rescue Bakugo?” Henshizo asked quietly as he glanced around and they looked at each other. “Hey, I’m not one to stop people from going on stupid missions. Hell, I’ll even give you gear. But I just would have an actual plan.” He said seriously and the two nodded. Henshizo saw his aunt and uncle head back into Momo’s room. “We’re not fools Sesshada, but we appreciate your offer and advice.” Todoroki said and Henshizo felt a hand on his back.

“Are these some of your classmates Henshizo?” His mom asked and Henshizo went just a bit red. “Y-yes.” He muttered looking at her and rubbing his neck before gesturing to them. “Mom, this is Shoto Todoroki and Eijirio Kirishima.” He muttered and they lightly bowed as Henshizo greeted them. “It’s a pleasure to meet some of my son’s classmates.” Giji said smiling as Kirishima and Todoroki looked at her. “Your son is incredibly manly ma’am.” Kirishima said smiling and Giji chuckled as Henshizo starred daggers at Kirishima. “Sesshada is a very good combatant, I experienced it and I also know he was holding back.” Todoroki said and Henshizo sighed and Giji smiled at him. “I watched the fight you’re pretty good yourself.” She said and Henshizo actually noted a very small hint of red in his face. ‘Still getting used to a mother’s affection Todoroki? Same here.’ Henshizo thought, thinking of how similar they were.

“We’re going to go check our other classmates, but it was a great pleasure meeting you ma’am. Sesshada always smiles talking about you.” Kirishima said grinning and Henshizo growled lightly as Giji laughed. “Good to know, nice meeting you two.” Giji said as she walked back in to Momo’s room. “Next heroics class, I’m requesting to face you.” Henshizo growled and Kirishima laughed. “Never seen you like that. Well, take care man.” Kirishima said happily. “You share a lot of features with your mom. Apart from the eyes.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded just a bit sadly. “Yea. My y chromosome giver had to have some genes prevail.” Henshizo muttered bitterly as he rolled his eyes and the two boys frowned. “Your mom seems nice, glad she’s doing better.” Kirishima said gently and Henshizo nodded glancing in at her.

“Talk later.” Henshizo said starting to go in, but Kirishima stopped him with a hand. “If you want in, let us know.” He said quietly and Henshizo nodded and the two walked off as Henshizo walked back in to Momo’s room. ‘Saving Bakugo, eh? It’d be good to do, plus it gives me my best shot at getting back at the League for everything.’ Henshizo thought as he sat down and crossed his arms to get comfortable and looked at Momo. ‘No. I made a mistake going after The Union like I did. I was driven by revenge like Iida was against Stain. I can’t be an idiot anymore I have to be better than that.’ He thought glancing at his mom who was smiling as she was talking to Buttai but Henshizo wasn’t listening. ‘I’m her hero and she believes in me as a hero. For her I won’t do anything that’s not heroic and stupid. Some stupid things, but nothing that isn’t heroic.’ Henshizo thought to himself firmly as he was going to hold himself to this standard.

“Henshizo, your mom said some of our classmates are here, who?” Momo asked snapping Henshizo from his thoughts. “Huh? Oh, Todoroki and Kirishima. They couldn’t stand being at home.” He said shrugging and she nodded. ‘Plus both probably feel shitty about Bakugo. Todoroki for almost saving him and Kirishima since he couldn’t help at all.’ Henshizo thought to himself. A knock came from the door and a doctor with brown spikey hair came in. “Hello, I’ve been assigned to all the students here. I’d like to speak to her alone.” He said but Momo shook her head lightly. “They’re my family, anything you have to say you can say in front of them.” She said and the doctor nodded. “Fair enough. Your latest examinations have shown no real damage to your brain. We’re still going to keep you here one more day as a precaution, and to help protect you. Not from a threat, but so your head can heal. Also, just to observe you after a full day of being conscious.” He said and they all nodded.

He left and Okane’s phone began ringing and he looked confused and annoyed. “I thought you told them not to call you.” Buttai said crossly. “I did, only if it was a true emergency.” Okane said blustered and he answered. “Yes? What?! Was anyone-? Oh no. Yes, I understand. I’m on my way.” He said filled with sadness and hung up. “What happened?” Buttai asked suddenly worried and they all looked at him confused. “The Jikk Chemical Plant had an accident. A bad one, I have to go assess. I may be a hands-off owner but I’m hands on to help.” He said standing up. “I’m coming with you, Momo darling please forgive us.” Buttai said also standing up. “Go, please. You can do more good out there than here. I’m fine, plus Auntie and Henshizo can take care of me.” Momo said nodding fervently and they nodded, Buttai leaning in and kissing the top of Momo’s head. “Rest and listen to the doctors. Giji, will you be ok?” Buttai asked and Giji nodded. “I can handle this.” She said and Henhsizo nodded saying he could handle it too. Buttai and Okane nodded and left.

“Just how much do your parents own?” Henshizo asked curiously and Momo sighed. “A lot, ironically the hospital is where we’ve spent the most time together. Either Jaku or here. I don’t resent them for it. I know they love me a lot. It’s why they always got me the best stuff growing up and have supported me in everything I do.” Momo said smiling lightly. “That’s nice to hear.” Giji said putting her hands together and looking at Momo. ‘She was robbed of giving me that, Dokuon; I may be your heir, but I’m her son.’ Henshizo thought angrily and sadly but nodded in agreement with what his mom was saying. Henshizo glanced through the window and saw Kirishima and Todoroki walking by again. “I’ll be right back.” He said standing up and the two women nodded and he left into the hall. “Kirishima, Todoroki.” He said stopping them. “How’s Midoriya?” He asked quietly and Kirishima sighed. “Still unconscious, his mom was in there and we didn’t want to disturb her too much. She did say he stopped having seizures so he’s improving.” Kirihsima said and Henshizo nodded slowly. “If you intend to try and track Bakugo down, you’ll need Momo to make a receiver, so let me be clear if one thing.” He said getting a glare to his eyes. “You can ask her, but do not force her. It has to be of her own will.” He said they both nodded.

“We we’re going to talk to her tomorrow. We also want Midoriya’s input, but clearly not possible right now.” Todoroki said calmly and Henshizo crossed his arms. “He and Bakugo have known each other since they were kids right? I would say friends because… well Bakugo.” He said shrugging and Kirishima chuckled. “Yea. Those two have known each other for awhile. And that’s why we know Midoriya would want in.” Kirishima said seriously and Henshizo nodded. “I hope you have an actual plan. Even though we’re fairly strong the League is very dangerous and with Bakugo being held hostage we’d have to be extremely careful. I don’t know if we could win in a fight.” He said super quietly and seriously. “Yea, we’ve considered that. And you may be able to give us the edge we’re looking for.” Todoroki said seriously and Henshizo raised his eyebrows in shock. “Do you have something that could be used to knock the League out like sleeping gas?” Todoroki asked and Henshizo smirked. “I got options, sure Bakugo may nap but no harm.” He said and the two nodded and Kirishima smiled happily.

“Then come with us. You were there and tried to save him, you still can.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded. ‘If you’re going to do something stupid but do it for good.’ He reminded himself. “Count me in.” He said determinedly as his mom opened the door behind him. “Henshizo, I’m hungry, can you stay with her while I quickly run to the cafeteria?” She asked and he turned smiling. “Yep.” He said and she walked out and he went in, followed by Todoroki and Kirishima. “Hey guys!” Momo said happily, raising a hand in greeting them. “It’s great seeing you’re awake.” Kirishima said grinning happily and Todoroki was lightly smiling as well. “It feels good to be awake. No issues, just have to stay here an extra day.” She said happily. “That’s good to hear.” Todoroki said and Henshizo leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets.

“Yaoyorozu, we’re real sorry to ask you this. But we heard you talking to All Might and that detective.” Kirishima said and Momo’s face grew confused. “You said you had a tracking device on a Nomu and gave them a receiver for it. Can we have one?” Kirishima asked putting his hands together pleading. “You can probably guess why we want one.” Todoroki said and Momo nodded. “You guys want to go rescue Bakugo.” She said quietly looking at the two of them and then glancing at Henshizo before looking down at the bed. “Give me time to think. I can understand your feelings, but I don’t want to put you in harm.” She said and they nodded. “For what it’s worth they don’t want to fight.” Henshizo said shrugging and the two nodded again. “I see, I still need time to think.” She said looking torn and the three nodded. “We’re going to head out, thank you for thinking of helping us.” Todoroki said curtly and she lightly nodded.

The two left and she sighed as Henshizo came over and sat down beside her. “Why are you going along. You and Bakugo don’t exactly see eye to eye. In fact, he hates you as much as he does Todorki and Midoriya.” She said and he laughed while leaning back in his chair. “That he does, and I’m no fan of his either. Especially his continuous threats to kill. If you’re going to threaten it at least have the intent or don’t say it at all. Because it’s nothing to joke about.” Henshizo said going really dark and angry with his muttering. “Henshizo?” Momo asked worried but he waved a dismissive hand. “Where was I going with that? Oh yea. I may not like him, but he needs help. And I’ll be damned if I don’t do anything to help someone that I can help.” Henshizo said firmly and Momo lightly smiled. “Being a hero who goes out of their way to help people never goes out of style, or whatever the hell Best Jeanist says.” Henshizo said chuckling and Momo smiled more.

“You really like him.” She said and he nodded going sheepish. “He’s the one who saved me. Sure, All Might is the best, but it was Jeanist who saved me. I just hope to meet him when he’s not binding me with his quirk.” He said laughing more. “Couldn’t you have just changed and been well…” She said turning red at the thought of her cousin attacking Best Jeanist naked. “Oh yea. I’m arguably one of his worst possible matchups, but I wasn’t interested in fighting.” Henshizo said smirking at the thought of what Best Jeanist’s face would look like if a naked young teenage boy was attacking him. “That’s fair. Do you think you could take him?” Momo asked curiously and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “Honestly, I can probably beat a good amount of pros already. It’s been said numerous times, I’m a nightmare of a matchup. All Might, Endeavor, Hawks, I’d have no shot of beating. Same with Edgeshot, and several top heroes. I’d give them a good run for their money potentially, but eh. But heroes like the one you did your internship with, I’d easily beat.” Henshizo said growing serious and Momo went red remembering her internship.

“Speaking of, is that commercial out yet?” He asked in a lightly teasing tone and she went redder. “I hope not.” She muttered and he laughed. “Ah come on, it’ll be fun seeing you on TV.” He said as the door opened back up and Giji was there. “What’s this about you being on TV?” She asked and Momo put her face in her hands sighing as Henshizo laughed. “It’s nothing.” She muttered as Henshizo sighed happily. For the time being he was happy as his mom sat beside him and he looked at her and she nodded and he rested his head on her shoulder. This feeling of a happy family would be one he would fight for as Giji pressed Momo for details on the commercial.

Notes:

Yea, a bit of a filler chapter, but had to fill the time frame. Next chapter will be more interesting.

Chapter 33: Operation Rescue Bakugo

Summary:

Henshizo and others decide to try their hand at rescuing Bakugo. Who joins in and what happens during their plan?

Henshizo woke up the following morning and looked at his phone, seeing a message from his Aunt Buttai. ‘Factory explosion was worse than expected and we’re not going to be able to help bring Momo home. Giji is going to help, but we would appreciate if you could help too.’ It said and Henshizo sat up in bed rubbing his eye. ‘I can help, hope things improve.’ He messaged back yawning. He got out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast. “Morning Henshizo.” Sanae said as he walked in and went straight to the coffee machine. “Morning.” He mumbled as the coffee began brewing.

“Heading back to the hospital?” She asked and he nodded. “Momo’s likely getting discharged today so I have to be there for that. I’ll also likely be helping her with mom so I have no clue when I’ll be home.” Henshizo said while stretching. “Well that’s good. Give her my best.” Sanae said smiling as she put a bowl of rice and a bowl of fruit down for him. “I will. Also seems my entire class will be at the hospital today to check on everyone still there.” Henshizo said looking at the group chat on his phone as he picked up his coffee.

“That’s nice of them all. Just be careful ok?” Sanae said and he nodded as he took a bite of cantaloupe. Henshizo’s mind was elsewhere though, thinking of rescuing Bakugo and what would happen if they faced the League. “Yea.” He muttered absent-mindedly as he continued to eat. He quickly finished his breakfast and stood up before looking at Sanae. “I just want to thank you again, for everything.” He said lightly smiling and she smiled too. “It’s been a pleasure Henshizo, just please take care.” She said happily and he nodded. He left and after the usual travel he got to the hospital.

He went in and up to Momo’s room where she was eating breakfast. “Hey Momo. My mom not here yet?” He asked as his mom wasn’t in the room. “She’s in the cafeteria, she brought me this and then went to get something herself.” Momo said smiling at Henshizo. “Ah, fair.” He said sitting down beside her. “The class, well those who can, are apparently all coming today.” Henshizo said and Momo nodded. “Any updates on Midoriya, Jiro, and Hagakure?” She asked worried and Henshizo shook his head.

“The girls are still out cold and Midoriya is recovering. Although he’s been in and out of consciousness but as bad as he was injured I doubt he could process anything.” Henshizo said and Momo sighed in sadness. The door slid open and Giji walked in and smiled seeing Henshizo. “Morning baby.” She said happily walking up and rubbing his head causing Henshizo to go red. “Morning mom.” He said happily and Momo smiled at Henshizo turning red. Giji smiled and sat down beside him, Henshizo pulled a marble out of his pocket and began playing with it. “Want me to make something for us to do?” He asked they both smiled and nodded so he changed the marble into a pack of cards.

“Nice and simple go fish?” He asked and they nodded and he delay the cards out and they played for a while until there was a knock at the door and Todoroki opened the door. “Sorry for disturbing.” He said walking in partly. “It’s ok. What’s up?” Henshizo asked putting his cards down. “The rest of the class are here. Sesshada, would you like to come check on Midoriya with us? We don’t want to overwhelm you, Yaoyorozu.” He said calmly and Henshizo nodded standing up. “I’ll see how he’s going. And no peeking” He, said stretching. “Thanks Todoroki.” Momo said gently, laying back in bed. Henshizo left with Todoroki and he joined the rest of the class, smiling lightly at Ojiro and Yanagi as the class walked down the hall.

Kaminari opened the door to look into Midoriya’s room. “Midoriya, you’re awake!” He said happily and the class filed in, Yanagi floating a melon. “A melon as a get well present from us all.” She said as she floated it over to the table. “The news is all over the school. Worse than the USJ attack.” Sero said thumbing to the tv as Midoriya looked at everyone. “I apologize Midoriya, I caused you trouble in the woods.” Tokoyami said to him.

“No… I caused trouble too. Did everyone in class come?” He asked and Henshizo looked at Midoriya’s heavily wrapped and casted arms and everyone went solemn. “No. Jiro and Hagakure are still unconscious because of the villain’s gas. Yaoyorozu is here too because she had a head wound.” Iida said but Henshizo spoke up. “But she’s doing alright now, they just wanted to keep her for observation.” He said smiling lightly. “So, it’s just the fifteen of us, but we wish we could all be here.” Iida said sadly. “Because Bakugo is still missing.” Todoroki said bluntly and Ashido looked at him in worry.

“He knows that Todoroki.” She said in a hurt voice as Midoriya went back to staring up at the ceiling. Henshizo looked at the plate of fruit by Midoriya and read the note that was with it. ‘I can’t take much more Izuku, call me.’ Henshizo guessed it was Midoriya’s mom. “All Might said ‘I can’t save the people I can’t reach.’ That’s why he always saves those he can reach. I could’ve reached him. I should’ve saved him. It’s what my quirk is for. It’s like what Aizawa said to me.” Midoriya said as tears filled his eyes and fell down his face.

“My body couldn’t move; I gave it all to save Kota. And I couldn’t save someone in front of me.” Midoriya continued as tears flowed down his face. “Then let’s save him.” Kirishima said firmly and most of the class looked at him shocked. “What are you talking about Kirishima?” Kaminari asked. “Yesterday, Todoroki and I came here and we, along with Sesshada, overheard Yaorouzo talking to All Might and a cop.” Kirishima said and Henshizo nodded. “Momo gave them a receiver for a tracking device she put on the Nomu that was attacking her.” He said, proud of his cousin. “Sadly, I wasn’t able to touch it.” He said sighing.

“So… that means you guys are going to ask Yaoyorozu to make another one for you.” Iida said almost angrily. “This is exactly what All Might said! It’s a matter for the professionals! Students like us shouldn’t get involved you idiot!” Iida exploded at Kirishima. “I know man, damn it. But I couldn’t do anything back then.” Kirihsima said just as angrily. “Hearing that my friend was being targeted and I both couldn’t do and didn’t do anything about it! If I don’t do something about it here, I won’t be able call myself a hero or even a man!” Kirishima cried out passionately. “Kirishima, calm down we’re in a hospital. It’s great that you’re so determined but ya know.” Kaminari said calmly. “Iida’s right.” Asui said pointedly. “I know Iida’s right, you’re all right, but still. Midoriya.” Kirishima said turning to the boy in the bed. “You can still reach him, he’s not out of your reach yet.” He said almost pleadingly to Midoriya.

“So if Yaomomo makes a the tracking thing, we follow it?” Ashido said quietly. “Do you mean to go and rescue Bakugo yourselves?” Iida said incredulously. “The villains had some of us marked on some sort of kill list, but they took Bakugo alive and they also tried to take Sesshada alive. So, for now they’ll keep him alive although we don’t know for how long. They have had him for two days basically.” Todoroki said calmly. “Kirishima, Sesshada, and myself will go.” He continued and Iida clenched his fists. “Stop messing around, you’re going too far!” Iida cried out and Shoji put his bandaged arm out. “Calm down. Kirishima’s frustration of not being able to do anything, Sesshada’s frustration of being targeted, and Todoroki’s frustration of Bakugo being taken right in front of him are all understandable, I know those feelings too.” Shoji said calmly. “But something like this shouldn’t be done with decisions based on feelings.” He continued calmly. “We should just leave it to All Might; besides they’ve taken away the authority for us to fight.” Aoyama said in a worried tone. “I agree with Aoyama, but I also can’t say anything since I also required saving. Speaking of, Sesshada, thank you.” Tokoyami said briefly glancing to Henshizo, who nodded.

“I know we’re still in shock from Bakugo being taken, but we need to think about this. No matter how just your feelings might be, if you engage in battle you’re breaking the rules. Then your actions are just like the villains.” Asui said and Henshizo growled from the wall causing the class to jump. “Let me tell you about villains’ actions.” Henshizo said standing up straight and his anger was palpable. “Villains are driven by selfish motivations, not taking in to account their victims or the loved ones of their victims. If you see a baby locked in a hot car what do you do? You break the window to save it. A villain would break the window of the car just to break it or take something. This is not comparable to the League’s actions. The three of us are selflessly trying to rescue him.” Henshizo said crossing his arms and glared at his classmates with his piercing green eyes. There was a knock at the door, which startled the class, and then it slid open and the same doctor who had been taking care of Momo was there. “Sorry for interrupting, but I need to examine and speak to Midoriya.” He said and the class nodded. “Ok, I want to check on Jiro and Hagakure.” Kaminari said and some of the class nodded and they began to file out, with Kirishima, Henshizo, and Todoroki staying behind for a moment. “We talked to Yayorozu yesterday. We’re doing this tonight. I know you’re banged up, but we wanted to offer the chance.” Kirishima said to Midoriya seriously as most of the class was gone. The three left, Kirishima and Todoroki going with others to their other classmates rooms, Henshizo starting towards Momo’s room, but saw Yanagi and Ojiro waiting for him.

“You can’t do this, you’re a target of the League and you’re going to their front door.” Ojiro said quietly and seriously. “Just the more reason to do it. Besides, we don’t actually plan on fighting them. It’s stealth which I can do better than most. Not Hagakure but that’s just because she’s invisible. Since now I can’t be prosecuted for it, I can just say the number of times I’ve broken into secure sites and snuck around security systems and guards is numerous. Yay growing up as a young head.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes during the last sentence. “It’s still dangerous.” Ojiro said and Henshizo sighed. “There’s too many unknowns. Besides at the end of the day we’re only seeing where the tracker is, we don’t know if that’s where Bakugo is.” He said sighing as he already knew that it would be a challenge. “I guess… but…” Ojiro said clearly conflicted. “It’s ok. I’m the one taking a risk. Besides, I can keep us toeing the law so worst case is expulsion, not jail time.” He said smirking and Ojiro shook his head and Yanagi frowned. “I just don’t want to lose you in any way.” Ojiro said and Henshizo grew serious. “I will give it my all to save him and make it back. You have my word.” He said stone cold serious and Ojiro nodded.

“Ok… I don’t fully agree, but I support you.” Ojiro said smiling and Henshizo smiled back. “I’m going to join them in checking on Hagakure and Jiro. You coming Yangai?” He asked and she nodded slightly. “Just in a moment.” She said and Ojiro nodded and walked off after fist bumping Henshizo. Henshizo looked at Yanagi who was staring up at him and then slowly shuffled forward and hugged him lightly taking him by surprise and making him go red. “Just be careful please. I’m not excellent with words in situations like this.” She said quietly and he nodded as she stepped back looking up and Henshizo saw the worry in her visible eye. “I will be, don’t worry. Tell you what, we still have to watch a movie together, so after this we can do that.” He said smiling lightly and she nodded. “You better come back or I will disturb your afterlife forever.” She said and Henshizo laughed. “That’s fine with me.” He said and Yanagi nodded as Henshizo saw movement out of the corner of his eye and he looked over and in horror saw his mom walking up smiling.

“There you are Henshizo, everything ok?” She asked and Henshizo went red more. “Yea, everything is ok.” He muttered and Yanagi looked at Giji. “Is this your mother?” She asked and Henshizo nodded. “I recognize you, you’re the girl he paired up with for the calvary battle during the sports festival.” Giji said smiling and she looked at Henshizo and Henshizo saw a glint of mischief in his mom’s eyes and Henshizo groaned internally. “Yes. Your son was an excellent partner and an exceptional classmate and friend.” Yanagi said looking at Giji while politely smiling. “I’m so glad someone as lovely as you likes him.” Giji said, causing both teens to turn red. “It’s very nice meeting you ma’am.” Yanagi said quietly and Giji smiled more. “nice meeting you too. Now, Henshizo.” She said turning to him. “Momo will be released later, can you stay with her while I go to her house and get things set up? I’m not leaving now but in a few hours.” Giji said checking her watch. “Yea, I can.” Henshizo said shortly.

“Thanks, you’re on bodyguard duty.” Giji said putting a hand to his cheek and he smiled and leaned his head into it. “I’ll go see on my classmates. Bye Sesshada.” Yanagi said raising one of her hands. Henshizo smiled back at her. “Thanks Yanagi, see ya around.” He said and she walked off and after she was away Giji turned to Henshizo. “Don’t say a thing.” Henshizo groaned as she smiled. “What? Sure she’s a touch peculiar but she’s nice and beautiful.” Giji said lightly teasingly causing Henshizo to grow hot with embarrassment. “Shut up.” Henshizo grumbled and he walked back to Momo’s room. “What’s wrong Henshizo? Is Midoriya ok?” Momo asked as he came in.

“Huh? Nothing’s wrong, I just didn’t realize how easy it is for a mom to embarrass their kid with no remorse.” Henshizo said and Giji laughed as she came in and Momo giggled. “Quit it. And yes Midoriya is fine, he was awake and talking. Doc came in to check him out so we left.” Henshizo said sitting back down and Momo sighed happily. “Good. He was really hurt.” Momo said picking her cards back up. “I swear you guy’s better not have cheated.” Henshizo grumbled as he picked his cards up. “We didn’t.” Giji said reassuringly and they played some more games for awhile before Giji had to leave. “Let me know when you get discharged and when you get close to home.” She said to Momo who nodded. “I will Aunt Giji, thank you for helping.” Momo said and Henshizo hugged his mom.

“We’ll be around at some point. Love you.” He said to her and she hugged back. “Love you too.” Giji said and she kissed his cheek before waving to both Momo and Henshizo as she left and Henshizo sighed after the door closed. “You’re still going to try and rescue Bakugo?” Momo asked and Henshizo nodded. “It might be breaking rules, but we’re hero students, it’s the right thing to do.” Henshizo said firmly as he sat back down. “I won’t pressure you to choose one way or the other, but can I ask something?” Henshizo said and Momo nodded. “How do you think my mom is doing?” He asked quietly and Momo frowned sympathetically. “She’s doing alright. She let slip she’s had nightmares and certain stuff will trigger her.” She said and Henshizo lowered his head sadly. “But when it comes to you, she really does love and care about you.” Momo said and Henshizo looked up smiling. “Thanks Momo.” He said leaning back and turning the TV on, but it was all negative coverage of UA so he turned it off.

The cousins sat in the room waiting for the ok and a little before five-thirty a nurse came in with a folder. “Apologies for the wait, our computer system was having issues. You’re good to go, here’re instructions for you.” She said handing Momo the folder and Momo nodded as the nurse bowed and left as Henshizo leaned down and picked up a bag. “Here are your clothes, I’ll leave while you get out of that gown.” Henshizo said standing up and she nodded as she pulled her clothes out. Henshizo left the room and waited a couple of minutes and the door slid open and Momo walked out. “It’s not quite time yet, want to grab a bite to eat?” He asked thumbing towards the direction they would have to go to the cafeteria. “Yes please.” Momo said smiling lightly and they went to the cafeteria, eating in silence mostly as Henshizo was preparing himself mentally and Momo was deciding on whether to help or not.

They finished up eating and when they went to the elevator Midoriya came up to them with a determined look on his face. “Glad to see you’re up and about. How you feeling?” Henshizo said as the elevator doors opened. “Sore but I’ll manage.” Midoriya said smiling as they rode down in the elevator and walked outside into the night, where Kirishima and Todoroki were waiting for them. “Yaoyorozu, what’s your choice?” Kirishima asked and Momo looked down. “I-” She began but they heard footsteps. “Wait!” Iida called out walking up to them with a distressed look on his face. “Iida.” Midoriya said quietly and Iida stopped as he stood looking at them with frustration. “Why? Why did it have to be you three?” He asked, his fists shaking causing both Momo and Kirishima to look confused. “The ones who stopped me from being stupid, being driven by my desire for revenge. The ones who saved me. The ones who received amnesty with me. Why are you trying to make the same mistakes I made?” Iida said more frustrated.

“What are you even talking about?” Kirishima asked confused but Todoroki put a hand on his shoulder, telling him not to worry about it. “We’re still only students, and UA is getting torn apart in the press. Haven’t you thought about what would happen to UA if something happens to us?!” Iida cried out and Henshizo thought back to when he, Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki were being lectured in the Hosu hospital after fighting Stain. “Iida, it’s not like that. We don’t like breaking the rules ei-” Midoriya began speaking and walking up to Iida, but Iida cut him off by decking him with a right hook, surprising everyone as Iida was not one to punch his friends. “I’m frustrated too. I’m the class representative and I’m worried and concerned for my classmates. Not just Bakugo; when I saw you laying in bed because of your injuries, all I could think about was how similar you looked like my brother. What if you go off and become permanently injured like him or worse?!” Iida cried out and Henshizo exhaled through his mouth, recognizing Iida was coming from good intent.

“Iida. We’re not going into this looking for a fight.” Todoroki said calmly and Iida’s eyes widened. “Yea, we’re going covert. Which is why we have Sesshada with us.” Kirishima said and Henshizo raised hand smirking lightly. “As I said earlier, I’ve done more than enough covert breaking and entering in my life.” He said and everyone dead panned as they looked at him.

“What?! It’s a fact.” He said crossing his arms and Momo stepped forward. “I believe in Todoroki’s plan and Henshizo’s ability; but I’m going to ensure that combat is avoided.” Momo said and Kirishima smiled knowing Momo was on board. “After being told Bakugo is in reach. I’ve started moving without thinking. Just as all heroes have said numerous times, moving without thinking is what makes a true hero.” Midoriya said determinedly and Iida sighed and nodded. “If that’s the case I’m coming as well. To help ensure this goes smoothly and no one gets hurt.” Iida said and Henshizo sighed internally but nodded.

The six began walking away from the hospital and Momo made another receiver and looked at it. “The tracker is currently located in…” she said looking at the tracker. “Camino?” Henshizo asked but said it somewhat certainly catching their attention. “Yea. How’d you?” Momo asked confused and Henshizo shrugged. “Don’t forget, I still know plenty of people in the shadows. Nothing exact sadly.” He said and they nodded, with slight worry in Kirishima’s eyes. As they began walking to the train station Momo turned to Henshizo. “Have you told your mom something to cover for us?” Momo asked worried and Henshizo nodded. “A mix of truth and exaggerated truth. I told her that the computer system was fucking up and that afterwards we were going to hit up a restaurant to get non hospital food with some of our classmates.” Henshizo said with just a very small hint of sadness at lying to his mom. “I see, so let’s just make sure to get home.” Momo said gently as they walked along.

“Midoriya.” Iida said stopping in his tracks. “I apologize for punching you, it was stupid.” Iida said bowing a bit to Midoriya. “Iida, your reasoning wasn’t very convincing as to why you tagged along.” Momo said inquisitively and Iida sighed. “It’s because I don’t approve that I’m coming. If there’s even the hint of potential combat then I’m making sure we leave. That’s right, I’m the watchman.” Iida said seriously. ‘More like the babysitter.’ Henshizo thought as they resumed walking and got to the train station. They boarded a train and sat together as Momo looked at the device again. “Currently it’s in Camino Ward, Yokohama City, in the Kanagawa prefecture. So from here it’ll take about two hours to get there.” Momo said putting it away and sighing. “Did you tell the others that we would be leaving tonight?” Midoriya asked Todoroki and he nodded. “They tried really hard to convince us to not go, Uraraka said some nasty stuff too.” Kirishima said and Todoroki sighed.

“Just so we’re clear. What we’re doing is selfish and going against others wishes, and everyone’s fine with that?” He asked and Henshizo glared. “I’m not doing this for glory or even revenge. I’m making sure that someone who needs rescuing is rescued.” Henshizo said firmly. “I have no hesitation, if I did, I wouldn’t be here.” Kirishima said firmly. “I’m not turning back.” Midoriya said firmly and everyone looked at each other and then settled in for the train ride. They eventually got to Camino ward and looked around. “Ah Camino, spent a lot of nights here growing up.” Henshizo said looking around. “So the League is hiding somewhere in the city? Just tell me where to go.” Kirishima said starting forward excitedly. “Hey stop it. We have to remember, we’re in enemy territory and they know what we look like.” Momo said sternly. “Right, so we have to go stealth.” Midoriya said doing a pose and Henshizo face palmed. “Holy shit you guys truly grew up not doing anything bad.” He groaned and they looked at him sheepishly. “Two hero families, an All Might superfan, and, no offense Momo, a super-rich and protected girl. Welcome to my world.” Henshizo said grinning as he changed his shirt into a sweatshirt and put the hood up while also changing his pants to black. “We need disguises.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded as he took some marbles out and made them colored contacts and put them in, this time his eye color was blue. “You’ve done this way to often haven’t you?” Iida said a bit sadly. “Hey, it’s a good skill. Since making clothes for others is a pain in the ass, you guys will have to get your own shit.” Henshizo said and Momo smiled.

“I have the solution.” She said pointing to a cheap clothing store just a couple stores down from them, and with Henshizo’s help they were disguised well and walked out keeping to themselves. “Gentlemen, our destination is this way.” Momo said gesturing to the right and they began walking. “Couldn’t you have just made the clothes?” Todoroki asked and Momo blushed a bit. “That would be an abuse of my power, plus it’s good for the economy.” She blustered and Henshizo snorted in laughter, realizing she just wanted to shop. As they walked along a voice called out from the crowd. “Isn’t that UA?” And the six froze, for a split second worried they got recognized but then they saw the crowd looking up at a giant video screen and they looked up and saw that Principal Nezu, Aizawa, and class 1-B’s homeroom teacher Vlad King were preparing to give a press conference. ‘It’s weird seeing Aizawa in a suit and cleaned up. Wonder if Midnight helped.’ Henshizo thought to himself as the six watched.

“If you’re just tuning in UA has issued a public apology for the harm that befell its first years in the hero course two nights ago.” A reporter’s voice called out and Henshizo sighed. “Here is a replay of the press conference.” The reporter continued, with the video beginning to play. “Because of UA’s ignorance, twenty-seven of our first-year students occurred physical injuries at the hands of villains. Despite being an institution dedicated to the development of heroes, our negligence has caused great distress in society. We deeply apologize for our shortcomings.” Aizawa said lightly bowing. A reporter in the audience stood up. “For NHA, this isn’t the first time in this short academic year that hero course students have encountered villains. This time serious injuries were sustained by the students and one was kidnapped, what have you said to their families? What have you done to address these issues?” The reporter asked and Henshizo clenched his fists in anger at how they were being treated.

“We’ve strengthened our security and re-evaluated our safety protocols.” Nezu said and the crowd around them began to grumble in annoyance and anger. “They’re talking out their ass.” “They say that but the kids keep getting attacked.” “UA just isn’t as good as I thought.” Were some of the statements being said around them and the six students looked at each other with worry, recognizing that society’s faith in heroes was shifting. Henshizo turned and started walking towards the direction Momo had pointed. “Let’s go guys, time’s wasting.” Henshizo muttered and the other four nodded and walked away as the replay of the press conference continued. “Fucking ignorant fucks.” Henshizo muttered causing Kirishima to put a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down dude it’s not worth it.” He said and Henshizo nodded, taking a couple of breaths as they walked along. They walked for a bit, getting more into the shady part of Camino and Momo stopped and looked at an unassuming building that used to be a store building.

The tracker is responding from in that building, it hasn’t moved since it got there.” Momo said quietly and they nodded. “That’s their hideout? Definitely fits the bill.” Kirishima said and Henshizo nodded. “Not even joking when I say the number of times I’ve gone to buildings like this for meetings is impossible to count.” Henshizo muttered. “Remember; just because the tracking device is here that’s all we know. We can’t even be one-hundred percent sure that that Nomu is here. Since those things seem to defy the laws of nature.” Momo said and they looked at each other. “We’re going in blind here, and Hagakure or Jiro aren’t here to help with recon or stealth.” Iida said causing Henshizo to clear his throat and then he held up a wallet. “Wah, that’s mine. How?” Iida said grabbing it. “Stealth. I’ll check it.” Henshizo said walking towards the building and was sticking close to walls as he began made night vision goggles and put them on. ‘Garage door doesn’t show signs of being used recently, although with that warp guy they can just pop in and out without being seen.’ Henshizo thought as he then made a special looking mic and slid it carefully towards the garage door and then made a headset and listened.

“He’s good, we haven’t seen this side of him.” Kirishima said and the others nodded. “He did say he’s broken into secure sites before, his skillset is unlike any other in the class. I would even argue all of UA.” Midoriya said and Henshizo raised a hand up to get them to stop talking. Henshizo walked back over to them shaking his head. “I don’t think Bakugo is here. All I heard was the sounds of machines, and knowing Bakugo he’d be making noise.” Henshizo said sadly and they nodded. “He might be drugged or in a marble though, so we still need to look.” Midoriya said and they nodded and Henshizo thumbed to the side. “There’s a very small alleyway that we can sneak through. There’s no windows on this side, but there has to be some somewhere.” He said and they nodded and worked their way over and began squeezing through the alleyway. “It’s so cramped, I might get stuck.” Momo muttered and Henshizo’s ears went red when he realized the challenge his cousin was dealing with, being a girl.

“There.” Todoroki said looking up and there was a small window that they couldn’t see in from the ground. “Sesshada, Iida, put Kirishima and Midoriya on your shoulders. Sesshada, give the night vision goggles.” Todoroki continued and Henshizo took the goggles off and handed them to Kirishima, he then got Kirishima up on his shoulders as Iida held Midoriya up. “I don’t see anything in there, just a bunch of broken furniture. Huh? Agh!” Kirishima cried out giving a start and Henshizo had to brace himself so Kirishima didn’t fall. “What is it? Did someone see you?” Todoroki asked but Kirishima shook his and handed the goggles to Midoriya. “Back left corner, look.” He said fearfully and Henshizo had been fighting the feeling something really, really bad coming from this building. Midoriya took the goggles and looked. “Those tanks, are those… all Nomu?” He said and the students got filled with dread.

They stood there for a bit when Kirishima suddenly saw something down at the end of the alleyway. “Hey.” He said and they turned and saw a giant foot picking up a truck and raising up. ‘Mt. Lady? Don’t tell me.’ Henshizo said and Mt Lady brought her leg down tearing a massive opening into the building while also causing a huge shockwave and wind that nearly knocked the six of them down. Henshizo and Iida set Midoriya and Kirishima down and they began to listen what was happening. “The Nomu hanger, is secure.” A voice rang out and Henshizo’s eyes went wide. “Is that Best Jeanist?” He asked and he peered over the wall and saw Mt. Lady, Gang Orca, Tiger, and Best Jeanist, as well as lots of cops dealing with Nomus. “It is! Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, Mt. Lady, and Tiger are here. Gah. I want to go meet Jeanist but can’t.” Henshizo said sighing. “This was too easy, thought it’d be more of a fight. Should’ve gone with All Might on the rescue.” Mt. Lady was complaining. “Don’t confuse difficulty with importance rookie. Go get maidens and be on the lookout for more of these creatures.” Best Jeanist said and Henshizo was visibly fanboying a bit.

“It seems they tracked the League to another hideout with Bakugo.” Momo said as she put her hands on Henshizo’s shoulders to get him to calm down. “Yes. The pros had this under control. Now let’s get out of here before we’re spotted.” Iida said and they nodded, Henshizo sadly looking towards the building where his idol was. “Ragdoll, say something! What happened?” They heard Tiger cry out as they began to go down the alley but Midoriya suddenly stopped and Henshizo went cold sensing someone.

They could hear talking but couldn’t make it out until Mt. Lady’s voice could be heard. “Don’t do that, what if he’s a civilian!” “Think! A moment can decide the battle. Can’t let the villain do anything.” Best Jeanist called out but suddenly a huge blast occurred, shaking the ground, destroying several buildings, and the six kids froze in place, still hidden by the wall but it was broken in parts.

‘What? Who?’ Henshizo thought as the kids began to visualize their mangled bodies due to the aura of this villain. “Just as Tomura was thinking for himself, you heroes had to interfere.” The villains somewhat robotic voice echoed through the silence and Henshizo was feeling true fear for the first time in a very long time due to this villain. “Now then, shall we get this over with?” The villain called out to the night.

Notes:

A long chapter and now the big bad has arrived. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 34: Ultimate Evil

Summary:

All For One has made his move striking fear in the students. How does Henshizo react to the ultimate evil?

As the six were frozen in place the sound of clapping rang out through the night. “As expected of the number four hero Best Jeanist, I tried to blow everyone away with a single blast but you manipulated everyone’s clothing to get them out of the way at the last moment. That takes skill and brain. Consider me impressed.” The villain said calmly as Henshizo through a crack in the wall. He watched as Best Jeanist forced his head up and then launched some his jacket at the villain, but the villain sent a powerful blast and Henshizo watched in horror as blood shot from Best Jeanist’s torso and he fell to the ground going limp. ‘No… Jeanist.’ Henshizo thought as his lip trembled and he was frozen in fear. “I see now, your quirk is strong thanks to time and practice. I don’t need your quirk, it wouldn’t go with Tomura’s disposition.” The villain said and the six were still standing motionless. Suddenly a rushing sound could be heard followed by coughing. “What the hell?” Bakugo’s voice rang out causing everyone to snap out of the fear state they were in. “Apologies Bakugo.” The villain said and more rushing sounds could be heard and the rest of the League of Villains showed up.

“So gross.” The blonde girl said clutching her mouth. “This black stuff stinks. Smells so good!” The man in the black body suit said. ‘That’s gotta be twice. I heard of he went crazy.’ Henshizo thought to himself and also noted that the warp villain and the patchwork villain were laying on the ground unconscious. “Sensei.” Shigaraki said from the ground he kneeled on. “Failed again Tomura? Don’t be discouraged, just keep going. That’s why I brought your associates as well as this boy since you said he was an important piece for your board.” The main villain said walking up to Shigaraki. “Do it over as many times as needed. That’s why I am here. It’s all for you.” The evil mentor said to his pupil.

Henshizo clutched his fists and looked at how everything was before them. ‘They haven’t noticed yet, how can we get Bakugo and escape?’ Henshizo thought to himself, and he saw Midoriya try to take a step, but Iida grabbed Midoriya and Todoroki as Momo grabbed Kirishima and Henshizo, the two class representatives holding them back from going in. They all stood in silence as they all tried to think. “So you’re here after all, aren’t you?” The main villain called out and all of the kids’ eyes went wide in momentary terror. They heard a woosh followed by a smash that sent a shockwave and wind all around the area, and they saw All Might being held back by the main villain. ‘No way. He’s as strong as All Might?’ Henshizo thought as he stared at All Might’s face of pure hatred. “I’ll be taking my student back, All For One.” All Might shouted and Henshizo felt his face pale. “Come to kill me a second time All Might?” All For One said in a mocking tone.

‘All For One? It can’t be, he can’t be real. All those stories.’ Henshizo thought horrified as the stories he had heard of the ultimate evil from some of the older members of the yakuza had told him as a kid. The two titans built up such tension and power, it exploded out sending some of the League flying and the wind blew the UA students hard. “You’re late All Might, it was only about five kilometers from here to the bar, but it took you thirty seconds to get here after I sent the Nomus there. You’ve gotten weaker All Might.” All For One said tauntingly. “You’re one to talk, it’s hard to not notice that fancy medical mask.” All Might snapped back at All For One. “I won’t make the same mistake as I did six years ago. I will take young Bakugo back and lock you and despicable League up for the rest of your miserable lives.” All Might continued and this statement caused Henshizo to remember that six years ago his father and other yakuza leaders were scared and panicking due to rumors. All Might lunged forward towards All For One but the villain blasted him back with a huge blast of air, that knocked down more buildings.
“Air cannon plus spring like limbs. Four times kinetic boosters, three times strength enhancers. A delightful combination.” All For One said to himself and the stories Henshizo heard about All For One being able to steal quirks seemed to be true. “All Might!” Bakugo cried out. “Don’t worry, that wasn’t nearly enough to kill All Might. Tomura, you must flee and take this boy with you. Kurogiri, warp them away.” All For One ordered and weird tendrils shot out of his fingers and went into the warp villain’s chest. “Careful, he got knocked and Edgeshot messed with his insides. Why can’t you warp us?” Magne asked going up to All For One. “I’m not familiar enough with that warping quirk, I can only warp myself and people either to or from me, but Kurogiri can go to specific coordinates.” All For One said and a portal opened up.

“Go Tomura, flee this place.” All For One said truning to face where he had sent All Might flying. “What about you sensei?” Shigaraki asked and they heard All Might jump towards them and All For One floated up to meet him. “You’re not thinking Tomura, you have much to learn and you must continue to grow.” All For One said catching a punch from All Might. “I won’t let you escape.” All Might said and the shockwave made it hard to hear. “Come now Shigaraki, while our masked lead keeps All Might at bay, claim your prize.” Mr. Compress said, compressing the patchwork villain since he was unconscious and the League all stared at Bakugo. “God damnit.” Bakugo muttered getting into a fighting stance. “I’m coming Bakugo!” All Might shouted as he ran towards the student, but was stopped by tendrils going into his back. “I don’t think so, because I am here.” All For One said, mocking All Might’s saying, as he threw him back into another building.

The League started attacking Bakugo who was forced on to the defensive and dodging their attacks. ‘If they take him now there’s almost no chance we get him back. Can we take the League on? Maybe if it was just them, but with All For One there there’s no way.’ Henshizo thought watching as Bakugo and All Might struggled. “Iida, everyone.” Midoriya whispered to them. “No you can’t.” Iida said but Midoriya shook his head. “I’ve thought of a way that we can rescue him without us fighting.” Midoriya said and everyone looked a bit shocked. “Tell us.” Todoroki said and Midoriya nodded. “The plan depends on Kacchan, and I don’t think it will work if I do it. That’s why you’re the key to it working Kirishima.” Midoriya said looking at their red haired classmate. “Whatever it is, tell us quickly.” Henshizo said as he watched Bakugo dodge a grab from Mr. Compress. “Right. Using my full cowling and Iida’s recipro we’ll propel ourselves forward. Then, using Kirishima’s hardening we’ll smash through the wall. The instant it opens up, Todoroki you make a path of ice for us that goes as high as possible. The villains haven’t noticed yet and now we can outmaneuver them instead of them getting the drop on us. With this we’ll propel ourselves over the battlefield at a height they can’t reach. The boss is holding All Might back, but that means All Might can hold him back. Then Kirishima, it’s on you. It wont work if I try or any one else. Since we’ve started, you’ve becoming an equal with Kachan, if his friend calls to him then I’m sure he’ll come.” Midoriya said going over his plan.

“Save Bakugo, let All Might kick All For One’s ass. He may seem thick headed but he’s smart. I’m sure Bakugo has realized the situation.” Henshizo said and they nodded. “Iida?” Momo asked unsure and Iida thought it over quickly. “It’s a gamble but not much risk to us, and if it works the battle can turn. Let’s do it.” Iida said and they got into position, Henshizo made his shoes into the jet boots. “Once you guys clear it, I’ll take Momo and Todoroki away from here as quickly as possible.” Henshizo said and they nodded, Henshizo already getting ready to pick Momo up. Henshizo watched through the crack for the best time. “Now.” Henshizo called out; causing Iida and Midoriya to power up and push forward off the wall using Kirishima as a battering ram they smashed through it and Todoroki sent up a huge ramp of ice that they zipped up on. The villains were all surprised by this appearance and All For One tried to send the tendrils at them but All Might came in and delivered a huge backfist to his chest and sent the villain crashing into part of the warehouse.

“Come on!” Kirishima called out and Bakugo unleashed a huge blast, just escaping Shigaraki’s grasp, and flew up towards the flying group. Bakugo managed to grab Kirishima’s hand and they started getting away. Henshizo picked up Momo and bent over for Todoroki to get on his back. “Get on while they’re distracted.” Henshizo said and Todoroki hopped on Henshizo dashed them away using the jet boots to get them away. “Ok, this is good.” Todoroki said after they were almost three blocks away, causing Henshizo to slow up and stop, letting them both down onto the ground. “We did it!” Momo said happily, hugging both of them causing both boys to go red faced. “Yes, now let’s go try and get out of here, join the crowd. We should also try to contact the others.” Todoroki said after Momo let go of them and Henshizo pulled his phone out and called Midoriya, who after a couple rings answered. “You guys make it fine?” Henshizo asked as he, Momo, and Todoroki joined a large group of people following directions from the police.

“Yes, we’re away and with a bunch of people following evacuation orders. What about you guys?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo grunted in affirmation. “Yea, we’re working our way towards the center of Camino I think. We’ll probably lose reception soon. Take care Midoriya.” Henshizo said and he hung up before he sent his mom a message. ‘I’m really sorry mom, but we lost track of time and now because of what’s happening in Camino we can’t get on the train. We’ll get back as soon as possible.’ He sent the message to Giji and then a similar one to Sanae and pocketed his phone. “Sesshada, you seemed to recognize the villain All Might was fighting.” Todoroki said quietly so only the three of them could hear and Henshizo closed his eyes and nodded slowly. “All For One, he was the supposed ruler of the underworld. An all-powerful man that can steal and give quirks. The old timers in the yakuza would tell stories about him. But myself and others of my generation thought of him as an urban legend. He’s allegedly been around since the first generation of quirks. As All Might is to heroes, All For One is to villains.” Henshizo said deathly seriously and even Todoroki was unnerved by how pale Henshizo was, since they had never seen him scared.

“All Might will beat him though. Right?” Momo asked fearfully and Henshizo looked to the ground. “I hope so… but… I’m not certain.” Henshizo admitted as they looked up and saw the fight on one of the video boards and everyone was watching it and All Might had All For One pinned to the ground, but suddenly a huge blast happened and All Might got sent towards the news helicopter broadcasting it, but Gran Torino caught him and took him back to the ground. ‘All Might doesn’t look right.’ Henshizo thought worried as he was beat up and seemed like half usual size. All For One then sent another huge air cannon attack and All Might took the hit causing dust and debris to swirl around. When the dust cleared the crowd gasped in shock seeing All Might, but not All Might. A shrunken version of him that looked closer to a skeleton than the usual towering hero everyone knew and either loved or feared.

“What happened?” “Is that All Might?” “Is he losing?” Voices rang out from the crowd and the three students went wide eyed in shock and fear. Henshizo could tell that the two wounded titans were talking, and All For One stuck a finger out and said something and the look on All Might’s face turned to despair and he wasn’t smiling. “If All Might can’t beat this guy who can?” “Let’s go All Might.” “Don’t give up All Might!” People in the crowd started shouting encouragement, with the students joining in. “Come on number one!” Todoroki shouted. “Please All Might!” Momo cried out. “You can do it!” Henshizo yelled desperately and they watched as All Might’s right arm swelled up to its usual muscular size. All For One floated up and suddenly flames were shot towards him and the camera panned to show Endeavor and Edgeshot having arrived. The two other heroes tried to attack All For One as other heroes helped evacuate the injured. The crowd was still screaming and yelling their support for All Might. Suddenly All For One sent a powerful blast that sent all the other heroes, apart from All Might away.

Everyone watched in horror as All For One’s right arm began growing, clearly using multiple quirks and soon the arm was bigger All For One himself with spikes and other gross things sticking out of it. All For One then fell towards All Might raising his fist back and the two large arms collided, sending a huge shockwave and dust cloud up. Henshizo watched in horror as All Might’s arm suddenly looked like how Midoriya’s arm got when he broke it at the sports festival, but All Might’s right arm shrunk and then his left arm swelled up and he landed a blow to All For One. “You got this All Might!” Henshizo cried out as All Might cocked his right arm back and it pumped up to its muscular form again and Henshizo could tell he was throwing it all in the punch.

All Might connected with huge punch, driving All For One to the ground, sending such a powerful shockwave up that it caused the helicopter to spin out for a moment, dust swirling around so no one could see what was happening. When the dust cleared All Might was standing in his deflated form, All For One was down, and All Might slowly raised his hand in his signature victory pose. “The villain’s not moving! All Might wins!” The reported called out and the crowd was roaring and Henshizo squatted down to recover from his panic.

After taking a few moments he stood up and nodded to Momo and Todoroki. “We should meet up with the others.” He said and they nodded and they began walking towards the station, where Midoriya had texted them they were. Eventually the three met up with the others and Henshizo noted how subdued Bakugo was. “We should get Bakugo to the police so they know where he is.” Iida said and they all nodded and Henshizo was surprised when Bakugo didn’t snap back and they escorted him until they got to the police station, Henshizo hanging back from the rest of them as a pair officers took Bakugo in, and the whole time Bakugo was quiet. “Well that was an adventure.” Kirishima said and they nodded. “Do you still have a problem with police Sesshada?” Todoroki asked bluntly and Henshizo nodded.

“When the last time you were in a police station you were getting interrogated with a quirk suppressing collar on, it’s not a happy association.” Henshizo said quietly and the others looked away. “I’ll take Momo home, you guys be careful.” Henshizo said pulling a rock from his pocket and slowly he transformed it into a motorcycle and they stared in shock. “Sesshada, you can’t drive!” Iida said as Henshizo made a helmet and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “First off, I’m only six months from being sixteen, the minimal age for this. Second I’ve driven… well cars from locations quickly. Third we put ourselves within range of getting killed tonight, disobeying bigger rules than this so no. Momo?” He asked turning to his cousin but she shook her head and Henshizo sighed, changing the motorcycle back to a rock and the helmet to his lotion and to fix his hand.

“Thank you Yaoyorozu.” Iida said and they walked to the train station to join the huge crowd. Eventually they were able to get on their respective trains and began their long journeys back to their homes. Henshizo and Momo got off at Momo’s stop and Momo looked at him. “You didn’t have to escort me home.” She said as they began walking along and Henshizo shook his head. “I gave my word to my mom and yours that I’d make sure you were ok.” He said firmly and she nodded smiling lightly but she grew sad as they walked along her house’s long fence. “All Might. Do you think he’ll continue?” Momo asked and Henshizo sighed shaking his head. “He’s been number one for decades and now his true form has been exposed. I don’t think he has anything left in the tank. Every villain hated and feared him; he was viewed as this almost indestructible, unstoppable god. He was responsible for damn near wiping the yakuza off the map. Not quite fully wiped out, obviously, but a lot. But now, he’s mortal.” He said as they got to the front gate and Momo punched the code in and the gates swung open and they began walking to the front.

“And Jeanist… everyone else.” Henshizo said his voice cracking momentarily. “Henshizo.” Momo said hugging him and he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. “I’m ok. Let’s get you in.” He said as they continued along the long footpath. They got to the front door and it was unlocked and they went in, Henshizo looking around. “Well this is nice.” He muttered as he quickly changed his and Momo’s clothes to what they had been in at the hospital, just as his mom came around the corner. “Oh my gosh! There you guys are!” She cried out running up and hugging them. “We’re ok mom. It’s like I messaged, they had to divert due to Camino.” Henshizo said gently and Momo was taken aback at how she couldn’t tell he was lying. “I watched the fight… All Might. Henshizo it’s too late for me to feel safe you going back out. I already called Sanae and she agreed to have you stay the night. Easily way too many guest rooms for you to choose from.” Giji said and Henshizo’s eyes went wide in shock. “Since when do you and Sanae have each other’s numbers?” He asked in fake fear causing Giji to smile. “That’s a secret, now off to bed, both of you.” She said and they nodded, Henshizo following behind Momo.

“This entire hall is guest bedrooms so take your pick.” Momo said and Henshizo shook his head at how you had twelve doors, all apparently guest rooms. “I guess this one.” Henshizo said going to the one by them and opening the door, and as he walked in he felt like he was walking into an apartment, rather than a bedroom. “Goodnight Henshizo, sleep well.” Momo said in a half-hearted voice, already knowing that neither would be sleeping well. “Yea, you too.” Henshizo muttered as he took his shirt off before walking into the bathroom, causing Momo to see the dragon. She closed his door as Henshizo got into the most luxurious shower he had ever been in. After he was done he changed his clothes into pajamas and got into bed and almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, but it was not a peaceful sleep as he dreamt of himself killing his classmates at the behest of All For One.

Notes:

I guess my definition of a short chapter despite being over 3k words. Hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 35: Start of a New Journey

Summary:

With the dust settled on Camino, lots of questions pop up, both for Henshizo and society in general. What will the next step in his journey of redemption be?

During the night the door to the bedroom Henshizo was sleeping the door opened and he snapped his head up looking at who was there, only to see his mom in the doorway. “Did I wake you? Sorry, I just wanted to check on you.” She said quietly and went to close the door. “It’s ok. I just, well, my whole life I had to be wary and those instincts take a long time to unlearn.” Henshizo said and Giji sighed as she walked in and closed the door behind her, enveloping the room in darkness again, only lit by the moonlight coming in through the blinds. Giji walked over and began rubbing his head soothingly and Henshizo slowly laid down and closed his eyes to his mom’s touch, falling back asleep, but now he slept much better, although he still dreamed of killing All For One. As he slept Giji smiled down at him, as he looked peaceful. She eventually left and he stayed asleep until the sun peaked through the blinds and woke him up.

He stirred in bed and sat up yawning. He got out of bed and freshened up in the bathroom before heading out and made his way to the dining hall where breakfast was already laid out for them. “Right. They would have their own chef.” Henshizo muttered as he scanned for coffee. “Tea, tea, tea, and more tea. Where the hell is the coffee?” Henshizo muttered annoyed as he pulled a marble out of his pocket and began changing it to the coffee maker. Giji walked in and smiled as she grabbed him and herself a plate. “Morning Henshizo.” Giji said and Henshizo smiled at her as he got done making the coffee maker and the looked for a place to plug it in. “Do you guys only drink tea?” Henshizo asked as he found an outlet and plugged it in and began making his coffee, using another marble to make a mug.

“If my sister saw you making coffee she’d faint.” His mom said lightly laughing at the thought. “So being former yakuza is fine, but drinking coffee is where she draws the line, got it.” Henshizo said laughing as he got waffles on his plate with syrup. Momo came in yawning, still in her pajamas. “Morning you two. Henshizo, I received a message from UA. For now we’re supposed to just stay at home and only leave if necessary. They’re working on a plan and will be sending information out soon.” Momo said walking over and grabbing a tea pot and pouring herself a cup. Henshizo grabbed his mug and sat down. “Great, and I guess that goes double for me because I was targeted.” Henshizo grumbled and both Momo and his mom looked at him worried.

“Henshizo… that’s something I’ve been wondering. Why do you think you were on the capture list like Bakugo? Todoroki said he was on a kill list so it’s safe to assume a few more may have been. But you were on the capture list.” Momo said quietly and Henshizo paused his cutting of the waffle. “I don’t know. Maybe because of my quirk. Maybe because of who I am. Maybe because of what I did in Hosu.” Henshizo said quietly as he slowly finished cutting his waffle. “What happened in Hosu?” Momo asked confused and Henshizo grimaced. “After Stain was captured a flying Nomu came and took both him and Midoriya. To save them I killed the Nomu by shooting it in the head. The news later showed that Shigaraki was watching and probably was both pissed I killed it and loved the idea that I… can do things like that.” Henshizo said catching himself at the end.

His mom got up and hugged him in his chair and he went still as she rubbed his head. “You’re a hero, who is good. Always remember that.” She said softly and he nodded. She let go and he got back to his breakfast, going quiet. They ate breakfast and Henshizo got up and made his way to the door with his mom walking with him. “Please be careful. Message me when you get back.” His mom said hugging him again. “I will mom.” He said as she kissed his cheek and his face flushed red. “Love you.” She said rubbing his back as he left. “Love you too.” Henshizo said as he began walking to the gate and made his way back to Sanae’s. As he was waiting at the train station the TVs in the station cut to a press conference with All Might, head bandaged and arm in a sling, at a podium. ‘No.’ Henshizo thought as he ignored the train that pulled in and walked closer to one of the TVs.

“Thank you all for coming.” All Might began after lightly bowing. “I am retiring from being a pro hero. I can no longer continue as the All Might you all know. I trust and believe in every other pro hero out there will be able to uphold peace and justice. I will not take any questions at this time, other than to say doctors do expect these injuries to heal.” All Might said bowing deeply before the press. Henshizo felt tears well up in his eyes and he managed to get on to the train just as the doors were closing. Henshizo sat down and all the other passengers were talking about the bombshell that just dropped. The symbol of peace, the man who had been number one for a lot of people’s entire lives, was done. Henshizo sat in silence as he rode the train home, ignoring the class chat going off due to the news. The train got to his stop and he slowly walked back to Sanae’s, still in numb shock at the news. He walked in to Sanae’s and into the living room, sitting down on the couch and Sanae came in. “Oh I’m so happy to see you. I was so worried.” Sanae said walking up to hug him and his foster siblings came in with worried looks on their faces.

“I’m ok, just uh, shocked by All Might.” Henshizo said reassuringly to them and they nodded. “Will he still be teaching?” Hinata asked curiously and Henshizo shrugged. “Don’t know, I mean, apart from the final there haven’t been any classes All Might has physically been involved in. So, after he heals he could still teach, but it depends.” Henshizo said quietly and they nodded. “So how was staying at your cousin’s?” Daiki asked curiously and Henshizo chuckled. “It was something but they don’t drink coffee so it wasn’t great.” He said jokingly and Sanae giggled. “Must have been torture for you then.” She said and they all laughed. Henshizo nodded and stood up. “I’m going to do some training in my room.” Henshizo said and everyone nodded and he went up to his room and trained until early evening when there was a knock at the door. He wiped sweat from his face and opened the door and Sanae was there with a letter in her hand.

“It’s from UA.” She said handing it to him and Henshizo noted that it was addressed to both him and ‘the guardian of Henshizo Sesshada’. He opened it up and read through it. “UA is planning on moving all the students into on campus dorms.” He said with some sadness in his voice. “Really?” Sanae said also sadly and he nodded. “Teachers will be coming to get the formal approval from parents, but if we want to continue our education at UA then we have to move in.” Henshizo said as he finished reading it and handing it back to Sanae so she could read it. “What’s this about an investigation?” She asked and read it and Henshizo sighed. “My guess is there going to try and figure out how the villains found the training camp.” Henshizo said sitting in the chair at his desk. ‘Although since All For One was behind the League, it makes sense how they found us.’ Henshizo thought as Sanae read everything over. “I assume you still want to be a hero?” She asked and he sat up and nodded fervently. “Yes, if anything my desire has grown.” Henshizo said and she nodded and handed the paper back to him.

“Then I won’t stop it, although you should check with your mom.” She said and he nodded, picking his phone up from the desk. “I don’t doubt she’ll say yes too. But she deserves to know.” Sanae said and Henshizo nodded as he called his mom. Sanae left, closing the door behind her as Henshizo waited for his mom to pick up. “Hi baby. You calling about the dorms?” His mom said as she answered. “Huh? Uh yea. I guess Momo told you guys or she got the letter.” Henshizo said surprised she already knew.

“Yes. And I have no problem with you going to the dorms since I know you want to be a hero and this is how you can continue. But… maybe you could ask them about either me visiting or you leaving on weekends for us to finally be able to do some stuff together?” She said, a bit hopeful at the end. “I was going to ask that. That was one of my first thoughts when I read the letter.” Henshizo said hopeful at the prospect of spending time with his mom. “Sounds great! Momo said they would be coming to homes tomorrow.” Giji said and Henshizo raised his eyebrows in shock. “That’s a quick turnaround, then again they would need to know how many students are moving in to make proper plans and adjustments.” Henshizo said in a thinking tone.

“Momo’s theory too. Let me know what your teachers say.” Giji said with the hopeful tone still. “I will, I’ll let you know tomorrow after they come. Are Uncle and Auntie giving Momo permission?” He asked curiously although he already suspected yes. “Oh yea. They got back from the factory just as the mail came, and they support it. Between you and me, they like it so Momo can learn to do some things.” Giji said giggling and Henshizo chuckled. “Well hopefully she does. I can always teach her things. She might be able to do math, but I can easily cook myself any type of meal.” He said proudly and Giji laughed more. “And that’s why they’re fine with it. Just look out for her ok?” She said and Henshizo got a bit serious.

“Of course. I’ll look after her.” Henshizo said seriously. “I knew you would.” Giji said endearingly. “Ok, let me know what they say tomorrow. Love you Henshizo.” His mom said and he smiled happily. “Love you too mom.” He said and they hung up and he sighed as he hoped they would let him. Henshizo got up and went to his dresser and opened a drawer, taking a tie out then pocketing it, and he left his room and went downstairs into the living room and was happy to see all four of his foster siblings there. He walked in and cleared his throat so they turned their attention to him. “Hey guys, I got some sad news.” Henshizo said, and he was being sincere since he would be sad to say goodbye to them. “What?” Goji asked worried and Sanae leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen to watch. “UA is planning on moving students into dorms, and the only way I can continue there is to move in.” Henshizo said sadly and he saw their faces get upset at the news as they processed it, Hinata was the first one to speak up.

“We’ll miss you, but you better become the best hero for us.” She said and Henshizo smiled at her. “You bet, and I’ll ask about visiting and whatnot.” He said and they smiled at the thought of him visiting them. Henshizo walked up to Honoka and pulled the tie out of his pocket. “I know I’ve said I don’t want to use your quirk, as I don’t want to use you.” He began but she took it from his hand and looked up at him. “You want me to have it, just in case right?” Honoka said and Henshizo nodded. “Only whenever I ask you too, ok? Just have it with you at all times. Never know when I may need some good luck.” He said and she nodded seriously, clutching the tie. “When are you moving?” Goji asked and Henshizo looked at him sadly. “End of our summer break or just about five days. I’m sure my teachers who come will say for sure.” Henshizo said and they nodded sadly.

“Who do you think will come?” Sanae asked as she looked over the letter and noticed it didn’t say who was coming. “I would imagine Aizawa, Eraserhead, for sure. He is my homeroom teacher. And as for the other one, I don’t know. Not even sure if it will be more than Eraserhead.” Henshizo said shrugging and they nodded. “It’ll still be cool to meet a pro-hero.” Goji said excitedly and Henshizo glared at him lightly. “I swear if you’re not on your best behaviors you will regret it.” He growled lightly and they all nodded fearfully. Henshizo nodded lightly, leaving the living room and went upstairs back to his room. “He’s right, best behavior, which also means clean up this living room.” Sanae said seriously and they groaned in unison.

Henshizo trained more in his room, working on his item changing speed, and when he went to the window he sensed someone watching him, causing him to lookout the window, but smirked when he saw the figure. He scribbled a note and stuck it in the window and when he looked back out the figure was gone. Henshizo went back to training until dinner, then afterwards made a treadmill for cardio and did that until he showered and went to bed. Henshizo woke up the following morning and got ready for when someone came to get formal permission. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where everyone was eating breakfast. “Any idea as to when they will be coming?” Sanae asked as she put a bowl of fried egg and rice down for him. “Nope. And also still no clue who. Just know today at some point, although I can probably say before the end of business.” Henshizo said picking up some rice. “I hope one is midnight.” Goji said smiling hopefully, earning himself a smack on the back of the head from Hinata.

“If it is you’re up in your room.” Sanae said sternly and Henshizo smirked as Goji grumbled. “We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meanwhile, would you guys like to play cards?” Henshizo asked as he continued to eat and they all smile and nodded their heads. “No changing the cards.” Daiki said as they cleaned up their bowls and went into the living room and began playing cards. They played for a couple of hours, changing the games up, and just before noon there was a knock at the door. Henshizo got up and walked to the door as the rest of them cleaned up. Henshizo opened the door and saw Aizawa and All Might, both in suits although All Might’s head had a bandage wrapped around it and his right arm was in a sling; it was also still shocking for Henshizo to see him in this skeleton like form.

“Senseis, please come in.” Henshizo said politely and he opened the door and guided them in, and he glared at his foster siblings to keep them quiet on the couch when they saw All Might walk in. Aizawa and All Might sat in the two chairs while Sanae and Henshizo brought chairs in from the kitchen. “Ms. Sanae, you and Henshizo received UA’s letter regarding the dorms?” Aizawa asked as Henshizo looked at how his foster siblings were wide eyed at All Might. “Yes. When we read it we were fine with it.” Sanae said and Henshizo leaned forward, putting his hands together. “With one condition slash question.” He said seriously and Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “I want to do stuff with my mom. I was robbed of her for my entire life, and just recently would’ve been able to do stuff with her, but the dorms throw a wrench in that.” He said seriously and Aizawa nodded as All Might smiled.

“Don’t worry Sesshada, we’ll permit you to visit her. So long as you give notice and a plan. Plus we’d have to consider other aspects but we recognize the importance for both of you.” All Might said and Henshizo smiled and nodded. “Thank you. Then I’ll be moving in.” He said and they nodded. “And yes my mom is fine with me moving in too.” Henshizo said and Aizawa nodded again. All Might looked at Henshizo’s foster siblings and smiled and pulled a pen from his sling. “Yes, I can sign something for you.” He said and they broke out smiling and ran out to get something.

“Are you going to do this every time?” Aizawa asked annoyed as he stood up and All Might awkwardly grinned. “Can’t help it.” He said as Henshizo facepalmed at his foster siblings frantic running. “I’ll be outside.” Aizawa said walking to the door and Henshizo followed him. “Thank you Sensai.” Henshizo said, opening the door for him and they walked out. “Sesshada. You were at the Camino battle with Midoriya and the others.” Aizawa said sternly and Henshizo nodded, not seeing the point in hiding the truth. “I’ll go into it later, but you are very lucky you’re alive.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded, looking down at the ground but looked up hearing large footsteps and smiled happily.

“I knew it was you sensei!” Henshizo said happily as Aizawa turned and his eyes went wide in shock at seeing heavily muscled middle ahead man with a big scar across the left half of his face. “No wonder you told me to wait a day you shit.” The man said smirking before turning to Aizawa. “No damn scarf this time, eh?” The man said and Henshizo chuckled. “I thought I recognized Sesshada’s style and the brass knuckles he used during the sports festival.” Aizawa said narrowing his eyes. “Knuckleduster. No wonder Sesshada flaunts rules but still does good.” Aizawa said annoyed and Henshizo smiled as Knuckleduster laughed.

“Hey, better the kid learned from me than that dickhead.” Knuckleduster said before raising his hands. “I’m not here to squabble. And you have bigger issues than a washed-up vigilante.” He continued as Henshizo looked at him. “Why are you here?” Aizawa asked as All Might came out and was confused at the scene before him. “Well, one I’ve been meaning to check on you. Sure, I hate the old man, but I saw that spark in you. So I’m glad you’re doing well.” Knuckleduster said looking at Henshizo and then he turned to All Might. “Second is I wanted to thank you All Might. That bastard stole my quirk so seeing you flatten his face was a good feeling.” He said grinning and All Might nodded. “I’m sorry about your quirk. Also, not to be rude, but who are you?” All Might asked and Knuckleduster laughed. “This young man’s main trainer. Back when I was more active, hence why he’s such a pain in the ass.” Knuckleduster said putting a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder.

“And also a vigilante who I ran into during that spike in trigger related incidents a few years ago.” Aizawa said bitterly and Knuckleduster smirked. “You trained Sesshada?” All Might asked shocked and Henshizo nodded. “Hand to hand, stealth, situation analysis, and strategizing primarily came from him. I had… other teachers but I learned the most from him.” Henshizo said and All Might nodded seriously. “Part of me says I should arrest you right now.” Aizawa said annoyed and Knuckleduster smiled more. “But I know it’d be pointless and you’re a headache for villains only.” Aizawa continued and Knuckleduster nodded. “We have to go. Wish I could say nice seeing you again.” Aizawa said going to the car and getting in, All Might followed and looked at Knuckleduster as the mentor and mentee smiled at them.

All Might got in and the car drove off. “What else are you here for?” Henshizo asked dropping the smile and looking up and Knuckleduster looked at him smirking. “You’ve grown taller since the last time I saw you.” He said, as they were almost eye level before Knuckleduster sighed. “My girl. We ran out of medication.” He admitted and Henshizo nodded and pulled some wrappers from his pocket before making them into several boxes of medicine. “How’s she doing?” Henshizo asked as Knuckleduster took them. “As good as she can. Thanks, I am happy for you. I watched the sports festival. Just keep it up.” He said putting a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder.

“Thanks. Take care of yourself old man.” Henshizo said lightly smirking and Knuckleduster chuckled and suddenly tried to knee Henshizo but Henshizo blocked it and they smirked at each other. “Good. You knew I had to test ya.” Knuckleduster said chuckling and Henshizo smiled more. “Nothing less.” He said pulling one last wrapper out and changing it to a business card and he handed it to Knuckleduster. “I’ll be moving in to dorms, if you need more let me know.” He said seriously and Knuckleduster nodded. “Thanks kid. Kick ass.” Knuckleduster said and he began walking away. “You too.” Henshizo said going back in to the house where his foster siblings were fawning over their All Might autographs.

Sanae came up to him as he closed the door. “I saw you talking to someone. Who was he?” She asked concerned and Henshizo smiled. “An old friend. Don’t worry, he’s good.” He said reassuringly and Sanae nodded. “Let’s get back to cards.” She said and he nodded and they went back to the living room and played more. For the next three days it was them having fun together and packing Henshizo up, although with his quirk it wasn’t really needed and then the morning of the move came and they were all gathered outside, all sad.

“I’ll miss you guys.” Henshizo said, wrapping all of his siblings up into a hug and they hugged back tight. After a bit he let them go and turned to Sanae who had tears in her eyes and they hugged. “Thank you so much Sanae. I don’t know what or where I’d be if it weren’t for you.” Henshizo said quietly to her and she tightened her hug. “Thank you. You’ve helped me and them so much.” She said to him and he smiled, blinking away tears. “Under the chair, the floorboards can be lifted up. I left something for you.” He whispered into her ear, referring to a large bag of money he left. He felt tears run down her face and into his shirt. “Thank you.” She said pulling back to smile at him. “You make us proud ok?” She said and he nodded. They broke the hug and Henshizo picked up his school bag.

“This isn’t goodbye. I’ll see you guys around.” Henshizo said sincerely and smiling lightly as they nodded and wiped tears from their faces. Henshizo gave one last wave and walked away, to the train station and got on the train to UA, to move in to the dorms, and begin his next chapter of his journey.

Notes:

Henshizo's mentor finally appears and of course has to interact with Eraserhead. I hope you enjoyed and as to why he gave a tie to Honoka.

Honoka Jinku (Foster sister) quirk- fortune: can either grant good or bad fortune for 24 hours by saying the person’s name and touching something of theirs. Can only use it once per day.

Chapter 36: Moving into the Dorms

Summary:

All of UA is moving into the dorms, how does Henshizo make himself at home?

Henshizo arrived at the UA entrance gate, where some of his class was already gathered, and Aizawa was having them all wait there for the whole class. Shoji was the last to show up and once he arrived Aizawa gestured for them to follow him and they saw all the new dorm buildings that were built around in a circle around the main UA building. They walked for only five minuets and got outside their building, which had a giant ‘1-A’ in the middle. ‘Can’t believe all of these were built in three days.’ Henshizo thought looking at it. “I’m glad to see all of 1-A is here.” Aizawa said and they looked at each other happily. “It’s great we’re all moving in.” Sero said as Yanagi got beside Henshizo. “I had to use every trick to get my parents to let me move in.” Hagakure said exasperated. ‘She did spend basically three days in a coma, no shocker.’ Henshizo thought. “It’s also good to see you sir, the press conference had me worried they wouldn’t let you and the teac hers back.” Asui said and Aizawa nodded. “A minor surprise to me too, but anyway; I’m going to give you a rundown of the dorms. But before that, we need to remember why we were at the camp; so you could earn provisional hero license. And we will take what training you did get in and continue upon that so you can get those licenses.” Aizawa said firmly. ‘Huh, it seems like a lifetime ago but yea.’ Henshizo thought about why they had been at the camp.

“Listen up.” Aizawa said getting serious and he began glaring. “Kirishima, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Sesshada, Todoroki, Midoriya, you six went to try and rescue Bakugo that night.” Aizawa said and everyone got nervous and Henshizo quietly sighed. “Judging by everyone’s reaction you all at least knew of their intent.” Aizawa said sighing and then he looked at everyone. “I’m setting aside all the issues that I have and just have this to say. If it wasn’t for All Might’s retirement, I would expel every single one of you, apart from Jiro, Hagakure, and Bakugo. The six who went obviously, but also the rest of you who knew what they were going to do but didn’t say anything. Every single one of you betrayed our trust and faith in you, so from now on you all will be model students.” Aizawa said sternly and the class all hung their heads in shame. “That’s all; now let’s get inside.” He said turning towards the dorms and walking. ‘Hell of a transition.’ Henshizo thought as he rubbed his arm awkwardly.

“Oi, come here.” Bakugo said, grabbing Kaminari and dragging him out of sight as the class watched. Kaminari cried out and they saw electricity surge and then Kaminari came back around in his stupid state with his thumbs up and the class started to try not to laugh at him. “What’d Bakugo do man?” Sero asked, almost laughing at Kaminari’s face. “Yay!” Kaminari said jumping up and the rest of the class began laughing or chuckling at him. With the mood brightened the class followed Aizawa in and were immedietly in awe of the spacious first floor. “The first floor is a common area, lounge with a TV, kitchen, and general access fridge. Showers and laundry are on this floor as well.” Aizawa said as they looked around. “In addition the remaining four floors are all where your bedrooms are, with the sides separated by gender, right side for the girls, left for the boys.” Aizawa said as the kids ran around. “There’s a courtyard!” Sero said as they looked out. “I’m living in a mansion.” Uraraka said falling back in disbelief. Aizawa pointed to a table and they walked to it and there were twenty maps showing the room assignments and Henshizo saw he was on the second floor at the end of the row with Midoriya as his neighbor, with Aaoyama and Tokoyami being the other boys on the floor. Yanagi was also on the second floor but was the only girl on it. The class got in the elevator and went up to the second floor to look at the rooms as they were. “Everyone has their own room, and each room comes with their own air conditioning and heating, fridges, toilets, and closets.” Aizawa said as they went into one.

“And balconies?!” Midoriya said going out onto it and looking down. “This is about the size of my closet, but I can manage.” Momo said and Henshizo facepalmed at her aloofness. “That’s all for now, I’ll tell you more about how things will work tomorrow. For now unpack and get your rooms set.” Aizawa said walking past them. “Yes sir!” They called out and the class either went up to their rooms or into their rooms on the second floor like Henshizo. Henshizo walked in and was happy to see what he had sent over was already there. He made a wagon and loaded up the make-up presents he had bought for everyone, especially after what Aizawa had said, he was glad he bought them, and he left his dorm and knocked first on Midoirya’s, towing the wagon behind him.

Midoriya opened the door and was shocked to see him. “Sesshada, what’s up? Need something?” He asked confused before Henshizo handed him the high-end laptop box. “I wanted to do something for everyone. So I bought everyone these laptops. I figure everyone could use them for school or whatever. These are capable of running anything faster than Iida can run and the picture is beautiful.” Henshizo said as Midoriya looked in awe at it. “Sesshada, these cost over seven hundred thousand yen, how? For the whole class?” Midoriya asked looking at the wagon in shock. “Yes I legitimately bought them, you can check the barcodes, different on each box.” Henshizo said pointing at them which made Midoriya even more awe struck. “Son of a crime lord, you think the dumbass kept his ill-gotten gains in the bank? Look, I have more money than I know what to do with, just accept it.” Henshizo said lightly pleading at the end. “I-I understand. Thank you so much Sesshada!” Midoriya said smiling as he held the laptop carefully. “Wait. You spent over thirteen million yen?!” Midoriya cried out and Henshizo nodded and shrugged. “The store owner was practically kissing my feet. Of course, I bought one for myself, my foster mom, and also my foster siblings. My mom doesn’t need one or I would have gotten her one.” Henshizo said shrugging and Midoriya was stunned. “Now if you excuse me. I have eighteen more to give out.” Henshizo said and he did just that, shocking his classmates but all happily accepted his gift, Uraraka accepting it after she woke up from passing out when he gave it to her.

After he was done Henshizo went back to his room and got to work making it his own, which was very tiresome and tedious as he sawed and cut and made so much. By the time he was done night had fallen and he went down to the common area and to the kitchen to grab himself a drink, and then he sat down on one of the couches with some of the other guys. “All moved in. I’m exhausted.” Kirishima said sitting beside Henshizo. “Having us live together will help us bond and work on our teamwork, so brilliant of UA.” Iida said walking over. ‘Doubt that they were thinking of cooperation skills.’ Henshizo thought as he took a sip of his juice. “Hey guys!” Ashido called out as she and some of the girls came over. “The girls and I were thinking and we have a great idea. You’re done with your rooms right?” Ashido asked smiling and Henshizo didn’t trust her grin. “Yep, we’re just relaxing now.” Kaminari said leaning back on the sofa. “Then let’s have a room presentation contest!” Ashido said happily and some of the boys got nervous. The girls dashed towards the elevator and the boys gave chase after them. “Wait, wait, wait!” Midoriya cried out as they opened the door to his room and those that were there were subjected to seeing All Might everywhere. They walked in and saw posters, figures, the curtains, bedsheets, and pillows were all All Might themed.

“Dude. There’s being a fan and then there’s being an acolyte.” Henshizo said as they went in. “This isn’t going to stop is it?” Kaminari asked out loud. “It’s kinda fun.” Sero said as they walked out and went to Tokoyami’s room next, and he tried to stop them, but Ashido and Hagakure managed to push him out of the way and they went in to his room,, which was incredibly dark and filled with gothic items. “Makes sense a bit with your quirk.” Henshizo said as Yanagi shuffled in and went to a shelf filled with ritualistic items. “A sword!” Midoriya said awe struck. “Get out!” Tokoyami cried out embarrassed. They went to Aoyama’s room next and Henshizo didn’t want to step in because it was so sparkly. “Dude it’s sparkling.” Kirishima said unamused. “It’s dazzling.” Aoyama said striking a pose as the girls quickly left. “Let’s see here, who’s left on this floor?” Uraraka said and Henshizo sighed as he leaned against his door. He opened the door and the class went in and Henshizo’s room had a weight rack, a couple Best Jeanist posters, a large TV screen with an array of consoles underneath it, clearly luxurious bed sheets, and they all were shocked as they walked in.

“Henshizo.” Momo said as the class looked at his collection of video games. “Is there anything else to your room?” She asked and the class looked at him and he went blank faced. “What do you mean?” He asked nonchalantly. “Now that I think about it, I heard a lot of construction noises that this doesn’t match.” Midoriya said and Henshizo crossed his arms. “Ooooo, is there something hidden? Wait how?” Hagakure asked and the class began looking around more closely. “Oi, get out!” Henshizo shouted at them and sighed. “If you don’t show us I’ll tell your mom.” Momo said and Henshizo went red. “Oh come on, pulling that card?” He grumbled as the class grinned and he sighed. “Still get out, and give me a moment.” He said pointing to the door and Momo lead them out. ‘Just to make sure Jiro can’t pick up anything.’ Henshizo thought as he turned on some loud rock music; as the music played he walked to the console shelf and pressed hidden panels under the consoles in a specific order and after he pressed the final panel the walls and some of the floor began moving and soon his room resembled an armory. He turned the music off and opened the door back up and the class went wide eyed and they began going in cautiously. “How the hell could you do all this in a day?” Kirishima asked shocked. “My quirk and I had to learn growing up.” Henshizo said quietly. “Why?!” Iida cried out as Henshizo could tell he was having difficulty restraining his objections.

“Why not? Considering we’ve been attacked more than once by large groups of villains. And now we have the means to defend ourselves. And yes they are real so don’t fucking touch them.” Henshizo said as Kaminari reached up for an AK. “Aww man.” Kaminari said and Midoriya pointed at a glass case where a knife, shell casing, and remote were displayed. “What’s that?” He asked and Henshizo clenched his fist tightly. “We can’t spend all time here, let’s keep going.” Momo jumped in and the class nodded.

“I’ll catch up.” Henshizo said quietly and they left, sensing that they needed to go. They all left and Henshizo closed the door and looked at the case. ‘It beats my other collection of trophies.’ Henshizo thought rolling his back as he went over to the consoles and changed everything back. He walked out of his room and saw the class waiting in the elevator for him. “Aren’t we going to see Yanagi’s?” He asked confused and the girls got surprised and Yanagi went pink. “What why?” Ashido asked and Henshzio tilted his head.

“You said this was a room competition, so everyone should compete.” He said mildly serious. “I think that’s a great idea!” Ashido said putting her hands together and the class got off the elevator with Yanagi going before them. “Please don’t judge.” She said super quietly before she opened the door and they all murmured in wonder as they walked in. Much like her room at her parents house the walls were lined with horror movie posters and memorabilia. “So cool.” Sero said looking at a poster. “You go Yanagi!” Ashido said and Henshizo saw Yanagi’s body relax that everyone liked her room. “Much less horrifying than Sesshada’s” Iida’s said and Henshizo put his hands over his heart. “Ouch.” He said in a sarcastic voice causing a couple of his classmates to chuckle. “I won’t say anything. Since they’re heavily secured and I trust you, but do be careful with them.” Iida said seriously and Henshizo nodded.

“Now up to the third floor!” Ashido said excitedly and the class began filing out of Yanagi’s room, but Todoroki grabbed Henshizo’s wrist to hold him back. “That knife, it’s one you made that Stain had, isn’t it?” Todoroki said quietly and Henshizo didn’t reply in any way and he nodded. “Let me guess, a shell casing from the gun you used to kill the nomu in Hosu, and the remote you used to blow up the nomu at the training camp. You keep trophies.” Todoroki said in a matter of fact tone. “I won’t ask why, but just know that you doing that as a hero is odd.” Todoroki said and they walked to the elevator. ‘I can’t not collect.’ Henshizo thought bitterly as they got on and went up to the third floor. “Hmm, let’s go to Kaminari’s first.” Ashido said and she lead the way. They got to Kaminari’s room and none of the girl’s were impressed. “It’s like a store and not in a good way.” Hagakure said and Kaminari was crushed. They went to Iida’s room next and the walls were lined with books except over his desk where several glasses were on platforms.

“Why the glasses?” Uraraka asked while laughing. “I expect them to be broken in training so of course I’d have replacements ready.” Iida said indignantly.

They went to Ojiro’s next and his room wasn’t much different from the base room. “So ordinary.” Ashido said and Ojiro’s tail drooped and Henshizo walked up and put his hand on Ojiro’s shoulder. “If you want anything I got you.” Henshizo said and he glanced at the class. “Legitimately.” He said rolling his eyes lightly. “How much money do you have?” Kirishima asked as they left and walked towards Jiro’s room. “Exact? No idea. A lot.” Henshizo said shrugging and Momo giggled. ‘Rich people problems.’ Some of the class thought. They got to Jiro’s room and she slowly opened the room and the class was impressed. “It’s like a recording studio!” Kaminari said looking at all the instruments and equipment in her room as she shyly played with her earphone jacks. “Your room is girlier than this.” Kaminari said smirking to Aoyama. “Mine has style.” Aoyama responded, earning both him and Kaminari a stab from her earphone jacks. “We’re done.” Jiro said crossly as the boys spasmed in pain. “Me next! Me next!” Hagakure said happily as she lead them to her room at the end of the hall. “Here it is!” She said as she opened the door and it was a lot of pink in her room, and was just what Henshizo thought was a normal teen girl’s room. “So cute Hagakure.” Uraraka said going to her bed and picking up a large stuff animal and hugging it.

She set it down and they went back to the elevator. “Fourth floor, Shoji, Kirishima, and Bakugo for the boys. Say, where’s Bakugo?” Ashido asked, seeing that the blonde bomb wasn’t with them. “He thought this was stupid and went to bed”. Kirishima said and Henshizo snorted. “At 8? What is he an old man?” He said checking his watch causing others to snicker. “I’m telling you now there’s not much to see.” Shoji said as he opened the door and his room was basicaly barren with the exception of a mat and whatever was in the room as it came. “So you’re a minimist?” Todoroki asked curiously. “Never seen the point in having much stuff.” Shoji said though a tentacle mouth. The class left and went to Kirishima’s room.

“You may not get what I was going for.” Kirishima said and he opened the room and it was sort of a mini gym with a dumbbell rack and a heavy punching bag set up. “Makes me want to workout.” Uraraka said getting hype. “There ya go.” Kirishima said happy someone got it. ‘Could be worse, the punching bag is a good one.’ Henshizo thought as they went to the girls’ side. “I uh, I don’t have much.” Uraraka said rubbing the back of her head and they went in and there was in fact not much of her stuff, Henshizo noting a desk fan despite them having air conditioning. “Me next!” Ashido said happily and skipped down to her room with the class behind her. “What do you guys think?” She asked as she opened the door and the class was assaulted by all the pink of her room, although it made sense for the pink one.

“Last floor.” She said after showing stuff off and they went into the elevator and up to the fifth floor. “Sero you’re up first.” Hagakure said and Sero was oddly confident and opened his door to show them a very traditionally Asian style room. “Woah, unexpected.” Jiro said looking around. “You know me, always the wild card.” Sero said winking. “Next is Todoroki’s!” Ashido said excitedly and they walked down. ‘My fellow ‘masterpiece’.’ Henshizo thought as he opened his room and they all gasped in shock at seeing even the floors being redone. “It’s so traditionally Japanese! ” Jiro said shocked “The floor is like this at my house. So I put it in for the comfort.” Todoroki said calmly. “How?” Kaminari asked stunned. “Hard work.” Todoroki replied bluntly. ‘Fucking hell, I have my quirk to help me, guy did it the old fashioned way.’ Henshizo as they began filing out. “So now it’s time for the last of the boys.” Ashido said after they finally left. “That’s me.” Sato muttered, having to follow Todoroki’s room.

“It’s pretty boring.” He said as he opened the room to his dorm and they walked in. “Following Todoroki is impossible.” Kirishima said looking at a cabinet full of baking gear. “Something smells good.” Kaminari said and Sato looked at the mini oven he had. “Oh yea, I made a cake since I unpacked super fast. Want some?” He asked as he took it out and the class happily took some, the girls really loving the cake. Henshizo took a bite and it was very good. He finished his slice as they walked down the hall to the girl’s side. “Ausui and Yaoyorozu are left. Wait, where is Tsu?” Sero asked looking around. “Tsu said she wasn’t feeling well so she went to bed.” Uraraka said although Henshizo noticed she looked pained while speaking.

“Right, let’s go see Yaoyorozu’s.” Kirishima said and Momo lead the way but she was a bit pink. “I may have overestimated how large the rooms would be, and so…” she said opening the door and her room was half filled with her massive bed, stretching wall to wall and Henshizo face palmed at his cousin’s mistake. The class made their way back to the first floor common area. “Alright, now let’s vote.” Ashido said tearing up a piece of paper and handing a slip to each of the eighteen. Henshizo wrote down Yanagi, and folded it up and put it in the box they had for voting. Eventually everyone voted and Ashido began tallying the votes up. “Your winner with five votes, Sato!” She said and Sato went red. “Me? But why?” He asked confused.

“Almost all the girls voted for you, because of that delicious cake.” Ashido said smiling and Sato went even more red. “No fair, bribing the girls.” Kaminari whined. “If we’re done here, I’m going to head to bed.” Todoroki said starting towards the elevator. “Todoroki wait, I need to talk about something to you. Iida, Deku, Yaoyorozu, Sesshada, Kirishima you guys too.” Uraraka said catching the six by surprise. They followed her outside, still confused until they saw Asui standing by the lamp post outside. “Tsu had something to say.” Uraraka said and Tsu looked at the six sadly.

“You guys know me, I always say what’s on my mind, for better or worse.” Tsu began, clearly upset by the shakiness of her voice. “But sometimes I can’t think of anything. Do you remember what I said at the hospital?” Tsu asked and Henshizo thought back. “If you’re going to break the rules intentionally isn’t that the same as a villain?” Tsu had said at the hospital. “I sympathized with you guys, but my choice of words was severe. And when Aizawa said you guys did it, I was shocked. I was also frustrated with myself, because my cowardice tried to have me stop yyou guys, and I just felt so bad. I didn’t know what I could say to you guys, and I didn’t feel like I could pretend like nothing happened. That’s why I wanted to talk now, to set the record straight, I wanted to join, just couldn’t.” Tsu said wiping away tears and while Kirihsima, Midoriya, Momo, Iida, and even Todoroki showed signs of sadness and understanding on their faces, Henshizo was confused.

“It’s not just you Tsu, everyone was feeling upset a bit and wanted to get rid of those feelings. That’s why the room contest happened, so we could break the ice and get everyone to relax.” Uraraka said putting her hands on Tsu’s shoulders. “Tsu, I’m sorry! Thanks for talking with us.” Kirishima said and the others went in and began apologizing and comforting Tsu, but Henshizo stood back as he was still confused. ‘Why is Tsu upset? Why are they upset? Is it because she’s upset?’ Henshizo thought confused and Momo looked over at him and saw the confused look on his face. ‘Why don’t I feel the way they feel?’ Henshizo thought looking down at himself, and the others began looking over at him, as his absence in the group hug was notable. “I-I’m going to head in.” Henshizo said quietly and he quickly went in and they watched him go.

“Why didn’t he join in?” Kirishima asked and Momo sighed. “I apologize for my cousin.” She said quietly and they all waved their hands to say it wasn’t a problem. “Did he not feel bad?” Iida asked mildly indignant. “I don’t think he did. But… I don’t know if he can.” Midoriya said quietly and they looked at him as he put his hand to his chin. “We all know how he was raised, but even then we don’t know exactly what he went through or did. It’s almost a safe bet he didn’t develop everything like we have.” Midoriya continued and they looked at the doors he had gone in worried. “I hadn’t thought of that, but it makes sense.” Kirishima said sadly and they nodded and they went in. Henshizo had gone to the showers and quickly cleaned himself off and then went up to his room, his facial expression being one of loss and confusion. He went into his room and sat on his bed just staring at the floor. ‘Is there something wrong with me? Am I broken? Why didn’t I feel bad?’ Henshizo thought as he ignored the knocking at his door.

“Henshizo?” Momo’s voice called out, but Henshizo just sat numbly on the bed. “Henshizo are you ok?” Momo called through the door and Henshizo glanced to it but just got under the covers of his bed and turned his back to the door. ‘No. No I’m not.’ He thought bitterly and he closed his eyes.

Notes:

Henshizo and some of his classmates realizing he's not like them. What problems will this cause? Hope you enojoyed!

Chapter 37: Finishing Moves

Summary:

Henshizo and the class get down to business and prepare for the provisional licensing exam, what ultimate moves can Henshizo cook up?

Notes:

New arc, new cover of an intro!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiaVqBSs550&list=WL&index=11

Henshizo woke up the following morning and got out of bed and looked at his hands, still feeling the same sense of loss, worry, shame, and anger he felt last night. He changed his clothes into his UA uniform, grabbed his bag and left his room and went down to the main floor. ‘This is weird.’ He thought as he walked to the kitchen and went to the coffee maker first and started making a coffee as he glanced towards a table where Tokoyami, Shoji, and Sero were sitting at eating breakfast. Henshizo got some eggs from the fridge and some bread and began frying the egg to make a fried egg toast. He made his breakfast silently, lost in thought as he began stacking his breakfast on a plate. When he was done, he quickly cleaned the pan and then sat down at a table by himself after grabbing his mug of coffee. “Morning everyone!” Ashido called out as she came in smiling and while others responded with waves and smiles Henshizo kept quiet and took a sip of coffee. “Why so grumpy?” Ashido asked him coming over and Henshizo didn’t look at her causing her to frown slightly. “Sesshada.” She said in a whining tone and Henshizo’s grip on his mug tightened and she walked away pouting.

Momo came in to the kitchen as Henshizo finished his food and was drinking down the rest of his coffee and she walked over. “Henshizo, are you ok?” She asked and he finished his coffee and slowly lowered the mug, knowing he was stuck. “I don’t know. But not now, ok?” He muttered glancing at his classmates and she nodded. He took his plate and mug and cleaned them in the sink before he grabbed his bag and left. “What’s his deal?” Ashido asked Momo as Momo sat down. “I don’t know, but don’t push him.” She said seriously and Ashido nodded. Henshizo made the five minuet walk to the main building and went straight to homeroom. He got seated and took his books out and looked out the window. The class began filing in and they all noticed Henshizo’s behavior. As Midoriya sat down in front of Henshizo he turned around to face Henshizo. “Sesshada. If you’re thinking about last night, don’t worry we aren’t judging or anything.” Midoriya said trying to help and Henshizo ignored him and Midoriya sighed as Aizawa came in and the class all looked at him. “As I mentioned yesterday, from now on we’re focusing on you all getting provisional hero licenses. Now listen up.” Aizawa said seriously leaning on the podium to lean in closer to them. “A provisional hero license will mean that you are responsible for people’s lives. It will permit you to act in a heroic capacity in emergency circumstances only. So either take this seriously or I will expel you.” He said deathly serious and the class all nodded. “Yes Sensei!” they called out.

“Naturally the test to get one is incredibly hard, with only fifty percent of applicants passing. So to increase your odds of passing, starting today we will be having you make.” Aizawa paused as the door slid open with Midnight, Ectoplasm, and Cementoss standing in the door way. “Ultimate moves.” Aizawa said emphatically. “Ultimate moves?!” Kirishima and Kaminari said excitedly. “These ultimate moves should be designed to always get you the win or complete a job.” Ectoplasm as the three teachers walked to the front. “This move needs to be unique to you, so that no one can hope to copy it.” Cementoss said and the class followed along. “These moves will help define who you are as a hero and be a part of your brand.” Midnight said smiling and posing. “We’ll talk about things more later. For now get your costumes on and head to gym gamma.” Aizawa said and the class stood up, grabbed their cases and almost all left but Henshizo hung back. “S-sensei.” Henshizo said walking up to Aizawa who was picking up his sleeping bag. “Something wrong Sesshada?” Aizawa asked, as he could tell something was wrong, Cementoss and Ectoplasm left the room but Midnight stayed back with a concerned look on her face.

“I… I think I need help. I think I should see Hound Dog soon.” Henshizo said quietly, his head hanging and both Aizawa and Midnight were surprised. “Is it the dorms? Being away from your family?” Midnight asked and Henshizo shook his head. “I couldn’t understand why someone was upset and didn’t feel bad, but others did.” Henshizo said his voice raising in pitch. “I-I-I don’t know why, and it didn’t feel good. Isn’t a hero supposed to connect to people?” He said showing a side they had never seen before and Aizawa looked to Midnight for help, he wasn’t good with emotional teens. “It’s ok Sesshada.” She said walking forward and putting a hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing to feel bad about. You can see Hound Dog after school, we’ll tell him to expect you.” She said soothingly and Henshizo nodded. “For now focus on making an ultimate move.” She said and he nodded again and changed his Uniform into his costume and left. “Damn I’m jealous of that ability.” Midnight muttered and Aizawa looked at her. “Is he self-conscious about a lack of empathy?” Aizawa asked and Midnight shot a look at him. “You really have to work on your words Shota.” She said as they left to go to the gym.

Henshizo got there and leaned against the wall as he waited for everyone, and they trickled in. “Welcome to the TDL, the training dining land.” Cementoss said gesturing around. “In here you’re going to work on making your ultimate moves and quirks to help build them up.” Aizawa said seriously and Iida raised a hand. “If I may ask, why do we need an ultimate move for the exam?” Iida asked and Aizawa lightly glared. “When you’re a hero you have to save people from anything from crime to natural disasters. The exam will be testing you on a wide range of abilities, but being able to fight is the most important.” Aizawa said seriously. “An ultimate move will give you an edge to win. But not all ultimate moves are combat. Take Iida’s recipro-boost. That huge boost in speed to become unmatched in speed could be considered an ultimate move.” Ectoplasm explained and Henshizo crossed his arms. Cementoss made a series of platforms with cement and Ecotoplasm had clones go to them. “Use what you learned in camp to make them, also consider going to the support studio to upgrade your costumes.” Aizawa said and they nodded and began dividing up.

“Your quirk and skills offer you lots of options for ultimate moves. Do you have any in mind?” Ectoplasm asked. “Not really beyond shooting people. Not to kill.” Henshizo said raising his hands as Ectoplasm raised an eyebrow. “It works for Snipe.” Henshizo mumbled and Ectoplasm nodded. “Then if you want to go that route work on accuracy in varying circumstances.” Ectoplasm said and Henshizo nodded and then stopped and a look of inspiration came across his face. “Um, I also have another idea. But… well it’s legal status may be complicated.” Henshizo said and Ectoplasm sighed. “What is it?” He asked and Henshizo got fidgety. “I don’t want to say since I’m not fully sure on the law for once. Could you ask Principal Nezu to come here?” He asked and Ectoplasm’s eyes went wide in concern. “We will request him to come, for now work on making a gun and your aim.” Ectoplasm said and Henshizo nodded, beginning to work on it. The first time he fired everyone jumped and looked his way but quickly got back to their work.

Henshizo was focused and was nailing all his shots with precision when he heard steps behind him and All Might was there, still with an arm in his sling. “Impressive marksmanship.” All Might said looking at the hits. “But you should try and find something that is unique to you.” All Might said encouragingly and Henshizo nodded. “I’m glad you’re here there is something, hopefully Principal Nezu comes.” Henshizo said and All Might nodded and walked away. “Is there something unique you can think of?” Ectoplasm asked and Henshizo nodded. He quickly lunged forward and grabbed Ectoplasm’s jacket and it quickly changed into a straight jacket, pinning his arms behind his back. “This could work as an ultimate move, at least one.” Ectoplasm said as he struggled against it. Henshizo put the gun to Ectoplasm’s head and pulled the trigger, causing the clone to immediately disappear.

The class continued to train and Principal Nezu came in and stood beside Aizawa. “I understand Sesshada may have something that’s questionable.” Nezu said and Aizawa nodded. “It’s not shocking but I am surprised he doesn’t know if it’d be ok.” Aizawa said and Nezu nodded. The class finished up and went back to their teachers. “Right, everyone but Sesshada leave. Keep thinking of ways to improve your moves, and think of how the support studio may be able to help.” Aizawa said and the class nodded and left, some looking back towards Henshizo confused. “I apologize for taking up your time sir. But… your input would be best since you are the principal.” Henshizo said bowing lightly to Nezu. “Any way I can help a student is not a waste of time. Now do tell us what your idea is.” Nezu said and Henshizo nodded, taking a breath and he took his jacket off and the teachers watched as the under shirt of his costume changed into an exoskeleton. “What is this?” Aizawa asked as the teacher’s took a closer look at hit and Henshizo looked to the side.

“It’s… it’s a top-secret piece of American military technology.” Henshizo said and the teachers’ went wide eyed in shock. “What is it and how did you get access to it?” Nezu asked recovering first. “About four years ago; my father was contacted by a man who owed him a massive gambling debt, and the man said he could get my father access to this secret project. He was one of the world’s leading experts in micro electric technology, so to help finish it, the Americans snuck it over. Well, the man saw a way to get out of debt and once he finished it, the suit was ready to go but he made some bullshit excuse to get the Americans to leave it with him over night. That night my father sent me to the laboratory it was being housed at and I touched it and of course that’s all I need. No one was any the wiser, and once I was able to make them the debt was cleared.” Henshizo said bitterly as he looked at himself in the skeleton.

“I haven’t heard of the Americans or anyone else using technology like this.” All Might said seriously and Henshizo sighed. “Because there’s such a huge recoil it damages the exoskeleton too much to be used again by basically anyone else.” Henshizo said and Nezu nodded. “Anyone but you, since you can just make a new exoskeleton.” Nezu said and Henshizo nodded. “So what does this exoskeleton do?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo grimaced and looked at All Might. “It simulates America’s number one hero’s strength but it falls below her strength, and since her strength is below your prime strength this suit technically grants someone, if I had to put a number on it, about eighty percent of your prime strength.” Henshizo said looking at All Might and all the teachers’ mouths, apart from Nezu’s fell open. “To your knowledge Sesshada, does the American military use it?” Nezu asked and Henshizo shrugged.

“Officially? I don’t think it technically exists. Unofficially? I can’t say, but I doubt it.” Henshizo said and Nezu nodded slowly. “And you want to make sure you don’t get in trouble for using it.” Nezu said and Henshizo nodded and Nezu closed his eyes thinking. “Sesshada, you won’t get in trouble. Just don’t use it often.” Nezu said seriously and he nodded. “How do you expect the Americans to let him use it and not get mad?” Midnight asked seriously. “If they do I will handle it. I am giving my permission.” Nezu said and All Might looked at the exoskeleton. “Can you use it?” He asked and Henshizo gulped and looked at it. “You know how I mentioned recoil? Well it doesn’t stop at the suit. It takes a toll on the person wearing it.” Henshizo said seriously and they nodded seriously. “Use it once so we can assess it further, if you can and want to.” Nezu said and Henshizo nodded and walked to a concrete pillar and wound up a punch and punched the pillar full force. The resulting wind force from it was so strong all the teachers, apart from Cementoss, were blown back several feet, the concrete pillar was reduced to pebbles, the shockwave caused other pillars to fall, and the force traveled past the pillar and smashed through the side of the building.

Henshizo cried out and flew back and slid on the ground and quickly changed the exoskeleton off him and clutched his right arm as it was hanging limply beside him and he coughed and a couple drops of blood came out. “Sesshada!” Aizawa called out, scrambling up, seeing him cough the blood. “I’m ok.” Henshizo muttered standing up and swayed on his feet. “You’re heading to recovery girl now.” Aizawa said going over and helping Henshizo stay on his feet as two medical bots came in with a stretcher between them. When the bots got over Henshizo sat down and the teachers looked at the carnage. “I can see why he thought of it as an ultimate move.” Ectoplasm said as they looked at the hole in the side of the building. The bots took Henshizo away and up to the main building of the school, where Henshizo saw some students looking out the windows. He got taken to recovery girl’s office and she sighed seeing him be brought in.

““What happened?” She asked as she kissed his shoulder and he began healing up. “Just some tech I can use has drawbacks.” He said as he slowly moved his arm around. “Probably thought I was Midoriya.” Henshizo said chuckling as his arm was like how Midoriya’s would get. “For my sake don’t use it too much.” Recovery Girl said and Henshizo shrugged. “If I keep using my body might get used to the blowback.” Henshizo said nonchalantly and she sighed.

“You kids today, you don’t think long term.” She muttered walking away after handing Henshizo a candy to recover some energy. “I live in the now.” Henshizo said shrugging and he rubbed his shoulder and was happy to feel it back to normal. “Just be careful, you also had internal damage, that can’t always be healed. Too much and you risk permanent injury or even dying.” Recovery Girl said seriously and Henshizo nodded solemnly. He left her office and walked back to class, changing his costume back to his uniform along the way. ‘History with Midnight right? Could be worse.’ Henshizo thought as he got back to class but when he slid open the door everyone looked at him, including Midnight.

“Sorry. Recovery Girl healed me.” Henshizo said going back to his seat and taking his notebook out. He felt many eyes on him but ignored them and began writing down notes from the board. Midnight nodded and went back to teaching until the bell rang for lunch. Henshizo packed up, but before he could get up Midoriya, Ojiro, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, and Iida came up to him. “What did you do to the building?” Kirishima asked and Henshizo grimaced. “It’s nothing.” He mumbled trying to stand up. “Sesshada, we heard the blast and felt it. What happened?” Iida asked and Henshizo didn’t look at any of them.

“Look it doesn’t matter. So leave me alone.” He said quietly again. “Sorry Sesshada, it was unexpected and not something you’ve done before.” Midioriya said, putting his notebook away. “Yea, mass destruction isn’t like you.” Kaminari said trying to lighten the mood with a joke. “Yea, and I’m not like any of you, so get out of my way!” Henshizo shouted, his voice cracking and he pushed past them all and fast walked to the door. “Sesshada!” They called out and looked at each other confused as Midoriya looked at the door with sadness on his face.

Henshizo kept his head down and grabbed lunch from the cafeteria before going up to the roof. “I’m not like them. They’re good.” He muttered bitterly to his rice. He began eating his lunch and the door to the roof opened up and Yanagi walked over and sat down. “Is everything ok?” She asked quietly as she sat beside him. “Everything’s great. I’m doing amazing, just a tiny issue of questioning myself and if I even deserve to be here.” Henshizo said laughing in a pained way. “Why are you doubting yourself?” Yanagi asked worried.

“Last night, I didn’t feel bad when others did. Tsu talked to us about how she felt about how we went to rescue Bakugo, and she got all upset for some reason, and the others felt bad for Tsu being upset… but I didn’t. I couldn’t understand, I couldn’t connect with someone hurting.” Henshizo said looking out over the roof. “How can I be a hero, if I can’t understand someone’s pain? Because if I can t understand it, how can I help them?” He asked closing his eyes and sighing. The wind gently blew over them as they sat in silence for a few minutes, Yanagi figuring out how to phrase her response.

“You’re right, you’re not like anyone else at this school, but that’s not a bad thing. You may lack some things and abilities, but you also have things and abilities that no one else has. Remember at the mall you sensed Shigarki’s presence? And at the camp you felt the league? That’s something no one else has, so that makes you pretty special.” She said gently and he looked at her and she was just a bit red faced as she looked at him. “I admire your instincts and abilities above all our classmates, so do not fret about what you lack, but rather focus on what you have.” Yanagi said lightly smiling and Henshizo nodded.

“Thanks Yanagi. Really, I guess you’re right. We all have differences, no point in getting upset about what we can’t do.” He said and Yanagi nodded, glad to see him in a better mood. “Will you want to finally watch a movie tonight? As we promised before finals.” Henshizo asked quietly, both going red faced and she straightened up. “Um sure. What time?” She said quietly. “Seven-thirty?” Henshizo asked and she nodded. “Cool, you can pick the movie. And yes I’m fine with horror movies.” Henshizo said smiling and Reiko smiled lightly. ‘I mean, I’m worse than some of the monsters in them.’ Henshizo thought sadly. They ate their lunch and went back down to class, Henshizo obviously in a better mood as he sat down, causing Ashido to go to Yanagi. “How’d you calm the beast down?” Ashido asked smiling as Yanagi looked up at her confused. “Beast? Do you mean Sesshada?” Yanagi asked glancing over at Henshizo who was busy scrolling the news on his phone. “That is not polite Ashido.” Yanagi said seriously looking up and Ashido rubbed the back of her head. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It’s just that he’s got that dangerous edge to him that’s so luring. But how’d you get him to calm down?” She asked curiously.

“That is none of your business.” Yanagi said as the bell rang and they left the room again and went back to the training building in their costumes. As Henshizo trained he got annoyed with something and stopped his training and began looking at his costume. “What’s the matter?” The ectoplasm clone asked and Henshizo sighed as he played with a knife in his hand. “I keep having to grab things, either off the ground or from my pocket, which leaves me vulnerable in a fight.” Henshizo said annoyed. “That is fair, think about how you can fix that.” Ectoplasm said and Henshizo nodded and the class trained until the sun was beginning to set. After they got kicked out Henshizo made his way towards the support studio, up ahead he saw Iida and Uraraka talking and at the doors was Midoriya. Suddenly an explosion occurred, filling the hallway with smoke and it blew the doors of the entrance to the studio. Henshizo walked through the smoke, swiping it away from his face. “Hatsume! Don’t mix everything together!” A voice called out through the smoke. “Sorry, but now we know what happens!” The voice of Hatsume, the girl from the sports festival called out and the smoke cleared to reveal Hatsume laying on top of Midoriya and Midoriya went red faced as Henshizo realized he accidently looked down Hatsume’s tank top by accident, causing Henshizo to laugh hard.

“Sesshada, you shouldn’t laugh, they could be hurt.” Iida said beginning to scold him and Henshizo waved a dismissive hand as the two stood up. “Pull the exhaust pipe out your ass, they’re fine.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes. “You guys here to upgrade your costumes?” Power Loader, asked and the four nodded, Midoriya red faced still and Uraraka was pink faced. “Really?! Well I got just the baby for you!” Hatsume said happily before Power Loader cleared his throat. “You can have free reign in the lab now, but you cross the line I’ll ban you.” Power Loader said seriously and he waved them in to the lab. “Let me see your costume manuals, they should’ve been in your cases. I can make small modifications to your costume or repair them, but if it’s a big modification then we have to send it out to the company that made it.” Power Loader said as Hatusme read over their costume manuals. “I need a way to lessen the strain on my arms. Can that be done?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo raised an eyebrow. “Yea, that can be done with some braces, I can do that.” Power Loader said beginning to type in to the computer. “That’s great Deku!” Uraraka said happily. “What’s wrong with your arms?” Henshizo asked curiously and Midoriya rubbed his elbow.

“During my fight with Muscular, I pushed past my bodies limits and damaged the ligaments in my arms. If I get hurt like it a couple more times my arms will be wrecked.” Midoriya said looking at his arms seriously. “The doctor said I can’t have that injury two more times or else I may lose the use of my arms.” Midoriya said sadly and seriously, looking at his arms. “Damn. That sucks, sorry to hear that Midoriya.” Henshizo said seriously and he nodded but smiled. “It’s ok, I’ll figure it out.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded. “I can help ya.” Hatsume said as she grabbed Midoriya and put him in a body suit. “This baby helps by tracking your movement and increasing your reflexes and strength.” She said pressing a button on a remote she had and the body suit began to twist, but suddenly it started going to far and was painfully twisting Midoriya’s body.

“Too much! Too much!” Midoriya cried out in pain and Hatsume was able to shut it off in time. “Maybe a capture weapon.” She muttered to herself as Henshizo and Iida went up to Power Loader. “I need a way to cool my radiators.” Iida said quietly, trying to avoid Hatsume, but she heard. “Then try these babies!” She said, putting two weird devices on his arms and then pressed another button and the engines launched Iida up and pinned him to the ceiling. “He said his legs not his arms!” Henshizo cried out to Hatsume, grabbing the remote and turning them off, causing Iida to fall to the ground, but Henshizo caught him. “Well yea, but if your legs wear out, use your arms while they recharge!” Hatsume said as Uraraka checked on Iida. ‘She’s crazy.’ Henshizo thought as he tossed her the remote back and turned to Power Loader. “I need something in my suit that puts items in my hands, so I don’t waste time grabbing from my pockets or other stuff.” Henshizo said to Power Loader who nodded and began typing in to a computer. “We may be able to put something in your suit jacket what do you think would be best?” Power Loader asked and Henshizo paused while putting his arm out to stop Hatsume making him the next guinea pig. “Marbles would probably be easiest.” Henshizo said and Power Loader nodded.

“That’s a large enough modification I am going to check with the company. Anything else?” Power Loader asked and Henshizo shook his head and Hatsume grumbled as she set a machine down. “Iida, can you teach me something?” Midoriya asked excitedly. “What? What do you want?” Iida asked confused. “Teach me how to kick, it’s so obvious.” Midoriya said excitedly. “I can help a bit.” Henshizo said walking up shrugging. “Right! You’re a great hand to hand fighter Sesshada!” Midoriya said happily and Henshizo smirked lightly. “Oh yea, Uraraka; what are you here for?” Midoriya asked turning to her. “Just to see if there’s something to help with my nausea.” Uraraka said smiling lightly. “Then if that’s what you’re looking, try this!” Hatsume said hoisting up a barrel with a fuse sticking out and slowly walked towards them. “I don’t trust that.” Henshizo said as they slowly backed away and the barrel suddenly started spewing black smoke and then exploded, blasting the four back and out of the studio.

“How come I get blown up by an ally?” Henshizo groaned as he sat up brushing his suit off and he stood up, helping the other three up and they began walking down the hall. “So you want to learn how to kick? That’s one way to not use up your arms.” Henshizo said to Midoriya and he nodded. “It’s so obvious I didn’t think of it, but yea can you two teach me kicking techniques? I’ve already got notes on Iida’s style and motions so I have an idea.” Midoriya said pulling his notebook out and going to Iida’s page. “We can start tomorrow. Considering this is just an extension of the training camp we have all day to train.” Henshizo said stretching and they nodded and they went back to the dorm, after stopping in the locker room to get out of their costumes. Henshizo went in and quickly made some udon noodles and sat down on the couch and began to eat it. He ate in silence as he watched the news with the headline of Mt. Lady returning to action after the injuries sustained at Camino. ‘She’s lucky to be alive. Now it’s just Best Jeanist still injured.’ Henshizo thought sadly. He finished his dinner and went up to his room and changed into a t-shirt and shorts and checked the time. ‘Close enough, that time in the support studio really went long. I’ll head to Yanagi’s.’ He thought and he left his room and walked down the hall over to her side and knocked on her door.

After a moment the door cracked and open and Henshizo saw her visible eye peer out. “Oh Sesshada, you’re here for the movie?” She asked quietly, opening the door more. “Yea. Know I’m just a touch early but figured I would come over. Is that ok?” He asked as he rubbed his neck. “It is not an issue.” She said quietly and she walked over to the movie shelf. “You can pick the movie.” Henshizo said looking around her room again. “Ok.” She said quietly and he looked over at her, but couldn’t make much out due to the semi-darkness of her room. “You good?” Henshizo asked as she floated a movie from her shelf and took the DVD out with her quirk. “Yes. I just have never had someone want to watch a movie with me.” She said quietly as she put the DVD in her laptop and turned it on. “Oh… sorry.” Henshizo said quietly as he made a chair from a candy wrapper and set it by her chair.

The screen transitioned to the movie title screen, ‘Tetsuo: The Iron Man’, and she hit play and sat beside him. “Haven’t seen this one.” Henshizo muttered as the opening credits began playing. “You watch cinema as a child?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo nodded. “If they wanted to keep me busy they just threw something on and sat me down, telling me to watch it. I think they did to desensitize me a bit.” Henshizo said bitterly. “I apologize.” Yanagi said sympathetically and Henshizo shrugged. “Eh, it’s ok. I enjoyed the movies. Even if a seven-year-old shouldn’t have been watching them.” He said chuckling as he thought back. “I see.” Yanagi said looking at him from the side as the movie started. Henshizo had to bite his tongue at the gore scenes to stop himself from saying how fake or realistic they were. They sat in silence, enjoying the movie and Henshizo would steal glances over at Yanagi in her pale gray t-shirt and shorts, and as the movie ended Henshizo felt flushed. “That was most pleasant, and I must say the laptop you gave me is exceptional for movies.” Yanagi said turning to him and he nodded half-smiling at her.

“I really liked watching with you Yanagi.” He said and he wasn’t sure if it was screen reflecting off her or if she went a bit red when he said that. “We should slumber now, Aizawa will have us hard at work tomorrow.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded and stood up, stretching and changing the chair he had made back to a wrapper. “Agreed, goodnight Yanagi, sleep well.” Henshizo said going to the door and leaving her room, giving a wave as he left. After that he went down to the first floor to the shower and then went up to his room and got into bed, thinking back to using the exoskeleton. ‘Black skeleton, that’s a badass name for it.’ Henshizo thought as he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts going to Yanagi and he smiled as he slept.

Notes:

Had to have a huge blow back and sound reasoning for just now unveiling black skeleton. Henshizo still doesn't fully trust a lot of people, and he's not stupid enough to advertise it at the sports festival. And when the Nomu was chasing him he didn't want to cause collateral damage. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 38: Let's Get Ready for the Provisional Exam!

Henshizo woke up the following morning and went to his coffee maker he had on a small table in his room and made himself a cup of coffee. He changed his clothes into the UA gym uniform and walked out of his room and as he sipped his coffee banged on Midoriya’s door and heard a yelp and the unmistakable sound of Midoriya falling out of bed. Henshizo smirked as he listened to Midoriya struggle to the door and he opened it rubbing his head. “Sesshada?” He mumbled as his eyes were barley open. “Alright Midoriya, today is yesterday’s tomorrow. Time to learn how to kick.” Henshizo said leaning against the door frame and Midoriya groaned. “So early? What time is it?” Midoriya asked looking towards his All Might clock. “Just a bit after six, get dressed, your gym uniform will do.” Henshizo said taking a sip of his coffee. “Six? But… ok.” Midoriya said defeated as he shuffled to his closet yawning. “We should get training in before our day actually starts.” Henshizo said turning to give Midoriya privacy. “Right. Thanks Sesshada.” Midoriya called out and Henshizo finished his coffee and changed the cup to a wrapper and put it in his pocket. “We’ll eat first, and then go train.” Henshizo said in a bored voice as Midoriya got dressed.

Midoriya opened his door and came out with serious bed head and they walked, rather Henshizo walked and Midoriya shuffled, to the elevator. “Do you think you can teach me?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “I haven’t really taught before, apart from teaching my foster siblings some self-defense tactics. Nothing fancy, just enough for them to get away.” Henshizo said shrugging and Midoriya nodded. “You’ve never really talked about them.” Midoriya said and Henshizo looked at him as the elevator doors opened. “I don’t like talking about people close to me. Nothing personal, just a combination of my upbringing and my wanting to protect them.” Henshizo said and Midoriya nodded. “Could any of them be a hero?” He asked and Henshizo shrugged as they walked to the kitchen. “Quirk wise two of them. Mentality wise sure all of them.” Henshizo said with the faintest hint of pride in his voice and Midoriya nodded.

Henshizo made them both scrambled eggs and toast and they ate in silence for a bit before Midoriya looked at Henshizo. “Sesshada, can I ask you’re so helping me like this?” He asked and Henshizo shrugged. “Don’t know, maybe it has something to do with rescuing Bakugo from the most powerful villain ever, together.” Henshizo said nonchalantly and Midoriya nodded as they finished their breakfast. After cleaning up they went out into the woods and began stretching. “Kicking isn’t purely the legs, it also involves the hips.” Henshizo said slowly doing the motion for Midoriya who nodded and began imitating him. “Let me see what you can do, no quirk.” Henshizo said crossing his arms and Midoriya nodded and began to do kicks. “Not bad, it seems odd to say, but relax your leg, if you leg is completely straight a good block can snap your leg in half.” Henshizo said and Midoriya gulped and tried again.

“Better now kick that tree.” Henshizo said and Midoriya nodded; the two trained for an hour before heading back inside and by the time they went in most of the class was in the common area. “Midoriya, Sesshada, what were you two up to?” Kirishima asked as they walked in. “He was just helping me with something I’m trying out.” Midoriya said smiling as Henshizo retreated to a corner. Iida came down into the kitchen and raised his hand. “Attention everyone, class 1-B will have the practice facility this morning, so Aizawa sensei has instructed me to tell everyone that we will be focusing on other skills this morning. We will be meeting him at field delta at nine o’clock. Please tell anyone who is not in here, to ensure we are all promptly there.” Iida said and everyone nodded. As it got closer to nine, they began heading down to field gamma in their costumes, Henshizo just using his current version as he waited for the upgraded version, eventually Aizawa joined them.

“Since Vlad was so insistent on his class getting to use facility this morning, we’re going to work on your ability to clear a building quickly, subduing villains and rescuing hostages. Each of you have been assigned a building with various obstacles and different numbers of hostages and villains. Since we don’t know what will be on the licensing exam this will help develop skills that will should prove beneficial regardless of it; your stealth, ability to gather information, quick decision making, and some combat will all be worked on here.” Aizawa said starting out annoyed and then calmed down. He lead them inside and began directing them to various buildings, Henshizo getting a pharmacy as his building; and after a few moments Aizawa’s voice came over a speaker. “Do whatever you think will be best to get the job done. You will be scored on quickness, success of subduing the villains, health of the hostages and of yourself. Lowest score is on garbage duty.” Aizawa said giving them extra incentive. A horn sounded and Henshizo quickly reached into his pocket and took out three wrappers; beginning to change all three into different objects, a mini drone, a remote, and binoculars.

Henshizo raised the binoculars to his face and quickly assessed what he could see, “No one towards the front, likely in the back where the office and drugs are.” Henshizo muttered and he then began flying the drone and looked down at the remote which was receiving a live feed of what the drone could see, as he flew it in an open window and it began to quietly fly around. Henshizo saw three mannequins on the ground with four standing up, armed with fake weapons and another hostage mannequin at a safe. Henshizo lowered the drone to the floor and then quickly went forward, changing the door to a curtain so he could enter stealthily and kept low, using the shelves for cover as he made two uzis from the controller and binoculars. Once he got to a corner he stopped and then popped up, firing the guns quickly and easily took down all the villain mannequins with rubber bullets, aiming for the throat first and then just tracing a line down the body.

Henshizo jumped the counter and began tying the villain one’s up. “Go get out of here!” He shouted for realism and after tying up the last fake villain grabbed the civilian mannequins and got them out of the store and went back in and grabbed the villain mannequins and dragged them out of the store. “Great work Sesshada, in a real setting ascertaining villains’ quirks is important because you can’t always count on electronics.” Aizawa’s voice came from a news paper stand beside him, startling Henshizo. “Right, thank you Sensei. Um, what now?” He asked awkwardly. “Just wait until the horn sounds again and then head to the gate.” Aizawa said in a bored voice and Henshizo sat down and did just that. He had to wait almost thirty minuets and was busy bouncing a ball on the ground when the horn finally sounded and he made his way back to the gate and when he got there he saw that some of his classmates had clearly had a harder time. Kaminari’s jacket was torn, Ashido was covered in a purple goop, and even Bakugo was covered in glitter. “I hope you all realized areas you need to work on, and how simply blasting in can sometimes not work.” Aizawa said and Henshizo snickered as it was clearly directed at Bakugo.

“Shut the hell up yakuza!” Bakugo said turning his head towards him and Henshizo chuckled more. “Oh yea, Ashido, you scored the lowest.” Aizawa said as he turned and started walking back to the school. “Clean up, have lunch and then at twelve-thirty meet at the TKL.” Aizawa continued and the class began heading to the locker rooms, but Henshizo simply went back to the dorms and went up to his room. He laid down on his bed and pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his mom and put it on speaker so he could talk while stretching. “Henshizo! What are you doing calling at this time?” Giji said happily. “I just wanted to talk, we already had training this morning, well some training. We’ll be doing more after lunch.” He said smiling as he heard her voice. “How are the dorms? Buttai told me Momo thinks they’re small.” She said and Henshizo rolled his eyes.

“Her bedroom is larger than most apartments, of course she thought they’re small. They’re good. It’s weird just doing everything with my classmates.” Henshizo said twisting his back to crack it. “That’s fair.” Giji said giggling. “So what have you been doing?” Henshizo asked curiously and Giji sighed. “I’m catching up on things. Shows, movies, mostly. I also have had to do a lot of legal stuff.” She said in a bored tone. “I can only imagine. I’m glad you’re catching up on things.” Henshizo said in a brighter tone.

“Oh it’s been fun. Not enough time in the day to get to everything.” Giji said happily and Henshizo smiled that his mom was having fun. “Hey mom, I’m going to ask Aizawa later when you and I can do something together.” Henshizo said picking his phone up and sitting on his bed. “I’d love that, but I don’t want you to slip on your hero work.” Giji said with a smile in her voice. “Don’t worry mom, I’m not. I just want to have some time with you.” Henshizo said softly and just a bit sorrowful. “I know baby.” Giji said lovingly as Henshizo laid down in his bed. “What would you want to do?” He asked curiously.

“Hmm, oh. There’s a mini-golf and arcade place, that seems like fun.” Giji said excitedly. “That does sound great, I was just wondering so I could tell him exactly. Man likes details.” Henshizo said chuckling lightly. “Understandable. Hopefully soon, what’s your training for again?” She asked and he sat up in bed. “Training for provisional hero licenses.” He said seriously and she gave a grunt of affirmation. “That’s important, but… I really want to have our first true mother son time.” She said hopefully and Henshizo smiled at the thought. “I really want it too.” He said swinging his legs off the bed. “I’m going to go ask Aizawa now and let you know what he says.” Henshizo said heading to the door.

“Sounds good baby, have a good day. Love you.” Giji said as he left his room. “Love you too.” Henshizo said and they hung up, Henshizo making his way to the elevator and then left the dorm and made his way to the school. ‘He’s either in the teacher’s lounge or dorm. But I’m sure there’s a teacher I can find who can get him.’ Henshizo thought as he made his way to the teachers lounge. He lightly jogged there and to the teacher’s lounge and knocked on the door. After a bit the door slid open and Aizawa was there.

“Sesshada, is there a problem?” He asked raising an eyebrow. “No sir. Uh; I’m wondering when it would be possible for me to visit my mom.” Henshizo said quietly and Aizawa looked at him and lightly sighed. “Sesshada. I’m going to be honest, it won’t be for a bit. Your training for the provisional license alone makes it incredibly hard. But don’t forget, the League targeted you specifically for capture. You’re an at risk student.” He said and Henshizo lowered his head sadly.

“I know… but… you know.” Henshizo said quietly, his voice shaking, causing Aizawa’s eyes to widen a bit as Henshizo, one his most stoic students, was on the verge of crying. “Basically all my memories with my mom are in the hospital. I know life isn’t fair; but, this isn’t just.” He said clenching his fists and Aizawa closed his eyes thinking. “The exam is in two weeks on Saturday, if you pass, the day after I will let you have the whole day Sunday with her. That way you can act without repercussion if need be. And I will also be there to escort you.” Aizawa said firmly, letting Henshizo know there wasn’t going to be any negotiation, but Henshizo’s head shot up and he was smiling.

“Ok sensei!” Henshizo said happily and he turned to leave and Aizawa sighed and closed the door to the teacher’s lounge. Henshizo pulled his phone out and quickly texted his mom. ‘Aizawa says the day after our licensing exam, if I pass. So not next Sunday, but the following one.’ He typed out and hit send as he went outside again and walked back to the dorms. His phone buzzed and he read his mom’s response. ‘That’s perfect, you better train hard and pass, but I know you will baby. Love you.’ She sent him and he smiled and quickly sent a ‘I love you too.’ back, as he got back to the dorm.

“Where’d you go?” Ojiro asked as Henshizo sat beside him on the couch. “Had to ask Aizawa something.” Henshizo said shrugging as he settled in to the couch. “Ah. I’m having trouble thinking of an ultimate move. Ectoplasm says I rely on my tail too much, but that’s my whole thing.” He said groaning and Henshizo hummed in a thinking tone. “What if you use your tail to enhance something, but it’s not the primary. Like using your tail to gain extra speed on a punch or kick.” Henshizo said and Ojiro’s face lit up. “That’s great, I could also use it as a misdirection.” He said excitedly and Henshizo nodded, smiling lightly at his friend.

As it got closer to twelve thirty the class slowly started making their way to gym gamma where Aizawa was waiting for them. “Right, for the rest of the day until dinner you’ll be working on your special moves.” Aizawa said seriously and he opened the door and they began walking in, but stopped when class 1-B was still in the middle of practicing. “Vlad! Times up!” Aizawa called out, clearly annoyed. “We’re almost done.” Vlad called back just as cross.

“Oi! You extra extras, get the hell out!” Bakugo shouted and Iida sighed. “Oh? If it isn’t the inferior class A. Second here eh? Just like your second to us in everything else!” Monoma shouted coming over. “Really? How many of you guys made it to the semi finals in the sports festival?” Henshizo snapped back. “Class B has only gotten since then and we’ll show everyone that class A is just full of nothing but trouble makers and wannabes.” Monoma continued while beginning to laugh crazily and Henshizo growled and took a step forward but Aizawa put his hand on Henshizo’s collar and Henshizo stopped as Kendo came up behind Monoma and chopped him in the back of the head.

“You’re lucky I shut you up. I feel like I’d be taking you to recovery girl.” Kendo said, exasperated, to Monoma’s unconscious form as she began to drag it out of the gym as Vlad sighed. “Time to go!” Vlad bellowed and 1-B groaned and walked out. Aizawa let Henshizo go and Henshizo straightened his tie. “Get to work, Sesshada, Midnight and I want a word.” Aizawa said and both the class and Henshizo looked confused but Henshizo walked with Aizawa over to Midnight. “What’s this about? My… special move?” He asked, trailing the end off and they nodded. “We spoke to Recovery Girl after you left her office yesterday. We really don’t want you using it.” Aizawa said seriously and Henshizo shrugged.

“It’s not exactly something I planned on using for purse snatchers senseis. Only the absolute worst case scenario.” Henshizo said seriously and they looked at each other. “Given what you’ve demonstrated in judgment calls we trust in your judgment, mostly.” Aizawa said and Henshizo knew he was talking about rescuing Bakugo. “Oh yea, I do have a name for it.” Henshizo said just a bit sheepishly. “Oh? What is it?” Midnight asked, since naming things was her purview. “Black Skelton. Skeleton because well what it is and black for black market, a jab at the past.” Henshizo said smiling and Midnight smiled back. “That’s a great name, now if that’s all you’re good to go.” Midnight said encouragingly. “Right. I’ll work on other stuff then, would it be possible for me to practice outside?” He asked and they raised their eyebrows. “I want to work on my aim, and I’d rather not disturb my classmates.” He said rubbing his neck and smiling awkwardly. “We’ll arrange a range for you and any other students who could use it, but that will take a day to set up. So for now work on other aspects.” Aizawa said firmly and Henshizo bowed and went off to work.

“He’s basically unlike any student we’ve had.” Midnight said watching him meet up with an ectoplasm clone. “But he’s still a kid. He asked if he could be with his mom.” Aizawa said and Midnight looked at him. “And what’d you say?” She asked suspiciously. “That if he passes the exam I’ll take him and escort them the day after. I want him to have his license so he can legally defend himself if something happens.” Aizawa said solemnly as Henshizo began training and working on his object changing speed. “You’re such a softie Shota.” Midnight said giggling as he sighed.

Henshizo and the class trained all afternoon until 5:30 and they left some heading to the design studio while most went back to their dorms. Henshizo went to the kitchen and began making himself dinner and Momo came up to him. “What did Aizawa and Midnight want to talk to you about?” She asked curiously and Henshizo focused on chopping the chives. “About a move is all.” He said simply and she looked at him suspiciously. “You mean the move that knocked down half the wall?” She asked and he looked at her as he dumped the chives into the pot.

“We all heard it, and you come back after going to recovery girl.” She said with a hint of concern. “That’s just my ultimate ace up the sleeve. But I can’t say more.” He said seriously as he dumped the noodles in to the boiling water. “Ok. Mom said you and your mom have a plan.” She said happily and Henshizo smiled. “Yea. Our first mom and son day. Assuming I pass.” He said with just a hint of worry. “You will, you’re one of the most skilled in the class.” She said reassuringly and then looked at the pot as Henshizo started peeling and cutting up a ginger root. “I’m surprised you can cook.” Momo said and Henshizo chuckled. “The mom of the right hand was sort of the headquarters den mom, so she taught me to cook when I was young. That and I watched Sanae a bit.” Henshizo said as he added beef to it.

“Interesting.” Momo said as she went to the fridge and got a fish and rice out. Henshizo took a bit and finished making his dinner and sat with Momo and the cousins ate. “So how’s your ultimate move coming?” Henshizo asked and Momo sighed. “I have an idea but my body can’t quite handle it yet.” She said sadly and Henshizo nodded. “You’ll figure it out, I’m sure of it.” He said encouragingly and she smiled at him. Henshizo finished his dinner and quickly cleaned up. “I’m going to hit the gym up.” Henshizo said standing up and changing his clothes to workout clothes. “So not fair.” Momo said chuckling and Henshizo chuckled at her mild jealousy. “Everyone says that.” He said as he left the dorm and walked to the gym.

Henshizo spent the rest of the evening working out and eventually made it back to the dorm a little after ten. ‘Can’t wear myself out like this too much.’ He thought to himself as his body relaxed in the shower. He got cleaned up and went up to his room and laid on his bed, turning his TV on for something to watch as he fell asleep. He eventually passed out after watching a short documentary on the days before quirks.

Notes:

Some non-canon, but still in line with canon stuff. Henshizo given an extra bit of motivation to pass the exam. Hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 39: Shaking Heart

Summary:

Henshizo struggles with his past and can't reconcile with himself as the provisional licensing exam draws near.

A few days had passed since Henshizo was told that if he passed the provisional license exam he could finally have a mom and son day, so he has been hard at work either training in gym gamma with his class or working out to get just a bit stronger and in better shape. Henshizo’s new costume had come in and he was getting a feel for it, remembering what Hatsume and Power Loader had told him as he had gone to the design studio to pick it up. “Same jacket, but this marble dispensing device is attached to the jacket.” Power Loader said as Henshizo looked at it on the table. “When you put the jacket on, you’ll notice a small ring at the cuff, if you put a finger in that and then bend your wrist forward a marble will be dispensed into your hand, and yes you can do it with either hand.” Power Loader continued as Henshizo looked at the rings. “Currently it holds two-hundred marbles and my understanding of your quirk, you’ll be able to restock it anytime so long as you can touch some part of it.” Power Loader finished off and Henshizo nodded as he put the new jacket on and barely noticed the device on him.

“It’s super lightweight and won’t interfere with any motions whatsoever. Doesn’t offer any defensive capabilities really, but you now got a dispenser for quick and easy access.” Hatsume said excitedly and Henshizo nodded as he tested it out, putting his middle finger in the ring and curled his wrist forward and a marble went into his hand and he lightly smiled. “The ring is so that you can choose when a marble gets dispensed because that motion is common enough we didn’t want you to try to be doing something else and a marble get in the way.” Power Loader said and Henshizo nodded again as he pocketed the marble.

“Thanks, this is exactly what I had in mind.” Henshizo said and Hatsume smiled proudly. “A satisfied customer!” She said happily and Power Loader turned to her. “You didn’t do anything, it was all the company.” He said and her face fell in annoyance as Henshizo left the support studio and began heading to gym gamma. ‘Gotta see how this works in combat and if it does stay out of the way.’ Henshizo thought as he walked in to the gym where others in his class were working on their moves. Henshizo walked to his area and began doing punches and grapples with the Ectoplasm clone and was pleased that the marble dispensing device wasn’t in his way. After that he began jumping around, rolling, and dodging some of the clone’s attacks while testing how to quickly get marbles in his hands and quickly it became second nature for him. “This is amazing!” He cried out as he changed a marble to a bowie knife and jammed it up under the clones jaw, into its head, causing it to dissolve.

“AP shot!” Bakugo shouted out and Henshizo looked over and watched as Bakugo sent out a concentrated blast straight through a concrete block. ‘No shocker, he is excelling. I will beat you Bakugo.’ Henshizo thought looking up, and he saw All Might talking to Aizawa and then walk forward to watch the class. Suddenly a corner of the block Bakugo shot broke off and started falling towards All Might. “Look out!” Bakugo shouted and Henshizo saw a green dash and smirked as he watched Midoriya jump up and smash through the concrete with a kick, causing it to shatter. ‘Good, I didn’t waste my time.’ Henshizo thought as slowly he walks up to Midoriya after he landed.

“Not bad, angle of the foot could’ve been better.” Henshizo said in a just lightly teasing tone and Midoriya smiled at him and nodded. “Thank you Sesshada, between you and Iida I’m really getting a hang of it. Plus these iron soles Hatsume installed help as well.” Midoriya said showing the soles of his boots to Henshizo who nodded and quickly ran his finger along them. “Sorry, force of habit, something useful and I just add it to my inventory.” Henshizo said awkwardly, rubbing his neck and Midoriya chuckled. “It’s perfectly fine, it just means that if things go bad in battle you can fix me up.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded as Kirishima and Kaminari came walking up.

“Nice one Midoriya, thought you punched tho.” Kirishima said smiling and Midoriya nodded. “I used to, and still can, but to protect my arms I’m going to be switching to my legs. Iida and Sesshada have been teaching me and I’m getting the hang of it. And you guys! You’ve upgraded your costumes!” Midoriya said enamored, causing the two show-off their costumes, Kaminari now having a device on his wrist that Henshizo wasn’t sure how it worked.

“Heh, you aren’t the only one who’s upgraded their costumes.” Kaminari said and Henshizo smirked as he showed off the marble dispensing system. “We’re all getting better and you gotta check this baby out. It packs a real punch.” Kaminari said and Henshizo noticed All Might watching them, smiling at Midoriya before looking up at Bakugo. “Sorry for the fright!” All Might called out and Bakugo set off an explosion.

“Be careful All Might!” Bakugo snapped back and Henshizo found that weird to hear, but looking at the skeletal figure of All Might he knew it to be true. “Oi class A, time to leave. Class B has gym gamma in the afternoon! Aizawa get your kids out of here” Vlad King’s voice rang out and they turned and saw class B in the doorway and Henshizo checked his pocket watch confused.

“Are you trying to kick us out when we have ten minuets left Vlad?” Aizawa asked annoyed and Henshizo crossed his arms annoyed, while also stealthily getting a marble in his hand and changing it as Monoma appeared in the door way with his usual shit eating grin on his face. “Want to know something? There’s a fifty percent failure rate on the practical. You all should just forfeit!” Monoma shouted and began laughing and Henshizo grew really annoyed that Monoma was also in a suit for his hero costume Henshizo raised his arm up throw something at the annoying blonde but Aizawa’s binding cloth suddenly flew and wrapped around his wrist and he looked and Aizawa was holding the cloth tightly.
“Drop it.” Aizawa said and Henshizo sighed, dropping the rubber baton from his hand. “I wasn’t aiming for his head.” Henshizo grumbled as Kirishima and Kaminari were trying not to laugh and Kendo facepalmed at Monoma’s behavior. “Still, he brings up a point. If half fail and our classes fight, then we’re doomed to take each other out.” Tokoyami said seriously and both classes got varying levels of anxiousness on their faces. “And that’s why we’ll be at two separate locations.” Aizawa said and Monoma noticeably breathed a sigh of relief.

“What a shame, I guess we can’t best each other directly.” Monoma said and he began laughing again and Aizawa tightened his grip on the binding cloth still around Henshizo’s arm. “With only two exams per year, in June and September, all hero schools across the country don’t want their classes taking each other out so they split them up between the three testing locations.” Vlad King said and the students looked at each other seriously.

“It’s not something I’ve been thinking of, but we’ll be facing other schools, and we’re likely some of the, if not the only, first years going for them.” Sero said seriously and Henshizo smirked. “Not only that but you’ll be facing students who have trained more than basically any of you, and been perfecting their quirks.” Aizawa said seriously as he finally released Henshizo from his binding cloth. “So keep training, you’re going to need all the advantage you can get.” He continued to his class and they all nodded. He waved a hand for them to follow him and they did, letting class B have the gym. “Sir, where are we going for the test?” Iida asked as they walked out of the gym. “Class A will be taking it at the National Dagoba Arena. You have less than a week, so even if we aren’t in gym gamma I want you all training.” Aizawa said to them all and they nodded.

Henshizo broke from the pack and walked towards where UA had set the range up for him. “Got it Sensei.” Henshizo called out and he put a marble in each hand and the class watched as uzis appeared in his hands. “Sir, is Sesshada allowed to use guns in the exam?” Iida asked concerned and Aizawa sighed and pinched his nose. “So long as he uses rubber bullets yes. And even if he used real bullets it would be allowed, but not advisable.” Aizawa said exasperated as the class slowly broke off to do their own things. Henshizo was standing before a tablet, setting up the range to work on his ability to shoot objects out of the sky when he heard a noise behind him and quickly turned around, shooting at the ground of the person behind him, causing Kaminari and Kirishima to yelp and jump back and Henshizo sighed seeing them.

“A general rule of thumb, don’t sneak up on people with firearms.” Henshizo said exasperated. “Sorry, we wanted to see you shoot.” Kirishima said raising his hands and Henshizo raised his eyebrow in confusion. “Why?” He asked as he turned back around and set the gun down on the table. “Because you’re room is badass and we want to see your skills in action.” Kaminari said and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “One shot. Real bullet.” Henshizo said beginning to type on the screen and the range changed and in the distance a single clay pigeon target rose up and Henshizo picked up one of the guns and changed it into a sniper rifle before getting set up and laying on the table as Kirishima and Kaminari came up behind him.

“Eight hundred meters?!” Kaminari shouted and Henshizo nodded and made ear muffs for the three of them, and handed two of them to Kirishima and Kaminari. “There’s no way you can hit this. It’s so small.” Kaminari said crossing his arms as Henshizo got settled in and put his eye to the scope. Silence fell, apart from the soft rustle of leaves in the summer breeze, Henshizo made adjustments, wrapped his finger around the trigger, exhaled, and pulled the trigger, the shot ringing out across the grounds. The boys watched as the target exploded as the bullet shot through it causing Henshizo to smirk but pain filled his eyes, while Kaminari and Kirishima’s jaws fell open. Henshizo stood up and pressed the shut down button on the range and it closed up.

“There.” Henshizo said looking at them, his voice cracking ever so slightly as he changed the guns back to marbles and pocketed them and walking off, rapidly clenching and unclenching his fingers. “Kirishima, I’ve said it a few times, but now I’m deadly serious. Keep me from pissing him off.” Kaminari said in a scared tone and Kirishima nodded. Henshizo’s breathing was getting faster as he made his way back to the dorm and he went to the bathroom, some of his classmates seeing his pale face. Henshizo went to the sink and gripped the sides tightly as he looked in the mirror, his breath shaking and he was sweating as he closed his eyes.

Henshizo was looking through the scope of a rifle as he laid on an air conditioning unit on top of an office building three hundred meters away, and watched as his father, with two of his body guards greeted the drug supplier and his two body guards that had withheld their last three shipments. Henshizo thought back to the conversation he had had with his father before he took the rifle up in a guitar case, not arousing any suspicion from those in the office thanks to his age. “Henshizo, watch for my signal.” Dokuon said running his index finger along his cheek and Henshizo nodded. “We can’t have someone fuck us. Our reputation is everything, and if people don’t fear and respect us then we are nothing.” Dokuon said seriously and Henshizo nodded again, biting his tongue and Dokuon smiled proudly at him. Henshizo shook his head and centered his scope on the supplier and watched for the signal. After ten minuets of discussion, that was slowly becoming more heated, Henshizo saw his dad seemingly calm down before giving the signal and Henshizo pulled trigger, and he watched as red mist shot out and the supplier slumped in his chair.

Henshizo opened his eyes and saw tears running down his face as Ojiro came in to the bathroom concerned. “You good man?” Ojro asked and Henshizo wiped the tears from his face. “Y-yeah. Don’t worry.” He said quietly and Ojiro walked up and put his hand on Henshizo’s shoulder and Henshizo shrugged it off. “You’re not. You know you can trust me.” Ojiro said and Henshizo looked at him sadly. “I know… that’s why I’m not saying anything.” He said quietly and Ojiro looked confused but then nodded and Henshizo left him in the bathroom. Henshizo went into the elevator and then went up to his room and closed the door behind him, he leaned against the door and slid down to the ground and let out a long sigh and he hugged his legs as he put his head against his knees. Henshizo silently cried for a couple of minuets as he flexed his back and the tattoo seemingly grew irritated as he did. Henshizo uncurled and sat on the ground letting out one long breath before standing up and looking down at the floor. “I’m a hero now. I’m not… that. I’m not his tool.” Henshizo muttered as he felt a tear run down his face.

Henshizo wiped the tear from his face and opened the door to leave and found Momo, Ojiro, Yanagi, and Midoriya at the door. “Henshizo, you need to talk to us.” Momo said gently and Henshizo sighed and looked at them with confusion, sadness, and just the feintest hit of anger. “Why? Why do you care?” He said quietly clenching a fist to keep control. “Because we care about you, we want to help you.” Momo said gently and he looked at her and shook his head while a broken smile stretched across his face. “You can’t. My problems can’t be fixed. Can’t be taken off me. I can’t take back things I’ve done.” He said, his voice cracking as tears went down his face. “Sesshada, no matter what you can make up f-” Midoriya began before he was cut off by Ojiro wrapping his tail around Midoriya’s mouth.

“No. I can’t make up for it, but I’ll be ok. Better one suffers than he drags others with him.” Henshizo said bitterly and closed the door. “Henshizo.” Momo said quietly and sadly as Ojiro uncovered Midoriya’s mouth.

“Ironic, he doesn’t want help, and believes he’s helping us.” Ojiro said sadly and Yanagi sighed. “I fear that he doesn’t want to implicit us in any past misdeeds he did. No matter how he is now, his past stays with him, and we don’t know what happened in it, other than, being honest, villainous activity.” Yanagi said sadly and mildly painfully as she looked at his door and the other three looked at her as understanding slowly crossed along their faces.

“He really is protecting us.” Midoriya said quietly and they nodded as Henshizo lay on the bed, listening o them thanks to an audio device he had by the door. “We’ll be here for him, but we can’t force it.” Momo said seriously and the three nodded again and Henshizo sighed on the bed as he continued to listen. The four walked away and Henshizo waited a moment before getting off the bed and left his room and walked to the teacher’s lounge and knocked on the door, and after a moment Midnight slid the door open. “Sesshada, it would be my pleasure to help you. What’s up?” She asked smiling and Henshizo closed his eyes briefly. “How much does UA know of my past?” Henshizo asked quietly and Midnight’s eyes went wide and her smile faded somewhat.

“I can’t really answer that, and I mean can’t not won’t. Principal Nezu is the one who worked with authorities. I’ll see if he’s available.” Midnight said seriously, sensing Henshizo’s mood. “Thank you Sensei.” Henshizo muttered and she quickly went over to a phone and pressed a button before lifting the phone up. “Is Nezu available? Ok.” She said setting the phone back down. “You can go see him, he just got done with a meeting.” Midnight said and Henshizo lightly bowed before he walked down the halls to the principal’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Nezu’s voice called out and Henshizo opened the door and walked in, quietly heading up to the desk and sitting down. “Young Sesshada, what an unexpected surprise. I would have thought you’d be training for your provisional licensing exam. It is now less than a week away.” Nezu said in his usual jovial tone. “I have been. But I need to know something sir.” Henshizo said seriously and the mouse features didn’t change, but Henshizo saw his eyes grow a bit serious. “What is it?” Nezu asked politely as he poured two cups of tea, and passed one to Henshizo who took it and held it in his hands.

“How much in my background did you dig?” Henshizo asked quietly and Nezu took a pensive sip of his tea. “We conducted a thorough background check on you, we conduct background checks on all applicants, but yours was more thorough of course.” Nezu said calmly and Henshizo nodded as this wasn’t surprising to him. “We were satisfied and you have easily more than surpassed our expectations.” Nezu said happily, extending his paws out wide.

“Thank you. When you looked into me, what did you find or suspect? On the first day, Aizawa said there was a huge debate about me.” Henshizo asked quietly and Nezu slowly lowered his arms to his desk and took another sip of tea. “Our investigative team suspected you were a part of serious crimes, whether directly or indirectly, but we didn’t find anything conclusive. And yes there much discussion because it would be highly unusual for UA to accept the child of a villain, and you would be the son of the most notorious villain.” Nezu said seriously and Henshizo nodded, again nothing he didn’t already know or suspect.

“Then why take the chance? If you suspected I’ve done… evil things?” Henshizo asked quietly and Nezu smiled lightly. “Because at UA what matters more is the spirit and heart of our students. And everything you’ve demonstrated shows your heart and spirt is exactly what UA wants for in its hero students. I, and the rest of the staff, know you’ve had a difficult past, but we are all impressed with what you have done here at UA. Even if Aizawa does complain of your bluntness.” Nezu said chuckling lightly and Henshizo nodded, smiling lightly.

“Regardless of your past, and what you may have done, the you now is what’s important. The young Sesshada that reunited a family, the young Sesshada that risked his life to rescue a classmate, the young Sesshada who will make a remarkable hero.” Nezu said reassuringly and proudly and Henshizo smiled more and nodded. “Thank you sir.” Henshizo said humbly, bowing lightly and setting the tea back in the desk.

“Not a fan of tea?” Nezu asked taking it back and pouring the tea back in the teapot. “I’m a coffee guy.” Henshizo said chuckling lightly and Nezu nodded as he put the lid back on. “Well I hope I’ve put your mind at ease a bit.” Nezu said smiling at Henshizo, who nodded back. “Yes sir, thank you.” Henshizo said, standing up and bowing politely. He left Nezu’s office and Nezu’s smile faded slightly as he remembered the phone call he had with the head of the public safety commission.

“Nezu, this isn’t up for debate, UA is his top choice and being honest Shiketsu is too rigid for someone like him.” The chairwoman said causing Nezu to rub his paw into his temple. “You are asking me to potentially put other students at risk by ignoring the crimes he has almost certainly committed?” Nezu retorted, unsarcastically upset as he reached for a cup of tea to calm down. “There’s no evidence, and his quirk and abilities are too good for us to let him slip and become a problem for us. You saw him during the entrance exam, now imagine him as a villain.” The chairwoman said and Nezu closed his eyes remembering how Henshizo was with the grenade launcher. “Besides, it would be a real accomplishment of UA to ensure Sesshada becomes a great hero. Showing the country and world that heroes can come from anywhere. Doesn’t that sound nice?” The chairwoman said and Nezu sighed and lowered his head. “Very well, we will grant admission to Sesshada to UA. But if things go wrong.” Nezu said seriously, but got no response as he heard the click of the chairwoman hanging up and he sighed.

Henshizo went to the gym and began working out the rest of the day until well after dark. Henshizo returned to the dorm room and all the girls were sitting together. Well, all of them were sitting apart from Uraraka who was floating above them, clearly embarrassed as she had her hands on her face. “Do I want to know?” Henshizo said, as he walked up gripping the towel around his neck. “Uraraka won’t tell us who she likes.” Ashido whined causing Momo to sigh.

“It’s late, Yanagi, can you help Uraraka down?” Momo asked and Yanagi nodded and then stood up, Henshizo seeing her get just a hint of pink in her cheeks as she lowered Uraraka down as Uraraka stared out the window, so Henshizo glanced out and saw Midoriya practicing kicks. ‘Glad to see I’m not the only late trainer.’ Henshizo thought as he wiped his face and then changed the towel into a marble and pocketed it and then walked to the kitchen, not knowing some of the girls were looking at him.

“Since always wears suits, I forget how muscular looking he is.” Hagakure said, staring at Henshizo in his tank-top, with the edges of his dragon tattoo peaking out around the edges. “Toru.” Momo snapped quietly and Hagakure, seemingly, crossed her arms. “Come on Momo, she’s not wrong. Your cousin is one of the hottest guys in the class.” Jiro said teasingly as she smirked at Momo.

“We should be getting to bed. We do have to be fully rested for the exam since it’s so close.” Asui said and Momo nodded, and noticed Yanagi using her hair to hide where she was looking. Meanwhile Henshizo was making hot soba on the stove and was stirring the noodles. “Enough of this talk, they are our classmates and he is my cousin, this talk is inappropriate.” Momo said seriously and the girls sighed. “It’s all Ochaco’s fault, talking about love.” Ashido said pouting, causing Uraraka to blush hard.

The girls left and Henshizo finished his soba, and made a bowel from a marble, quickly cleaned up, and took his soba up to his room and ate it while going on the internet and began trying to find out information on the other hero schools that could be at the provisional licensing exam. ‘Ignorance kills.’ Henshizo thought as he slurped some noodles.

Notes:

That makes another kill of Henshizo's we've learned about. His struggles are very real, as he is quickly becoming his own worst enemy. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 40: Night Fun

Summary:

Tis the night before the exam and in the common area, some of the students find a way to calm their nerves before bed. Hopefully nothing gets out of hand before the big day.

Now reassured of who he is, rather than what he was, Henshizo had been training extra hard and hyper focused on obtaining a provisional license, as were everyone else in the class. It was the ast day before the exam and Aizawa had ordered them to go light on the exercises and more focus on preparation and ensuring all gear was ready to go. Henshizo had been doing some shooting to shoot objects in motion and had now developed a new ultimate move. Henshizo returned to the dorm once it got too dark for him to use the range and his hands were raw, but he was happy with his move.

“Hey Sesshada what’s up?” Ojiro asked from the couch and Henshizo raised a raw hand to waive and Ojiro cringed. “Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting how nasty it can get.” Henshizo said awkwardly, as he made a bottle of the special lotion before applying it and briefly winced as his skin regrew. “That is both amazing and disturbing to see.” Ojiro said as Henshizo sat beside him on the couch. “Tell me about it.” Henshizo chuckled as he stretched.

“I thought today was supposed to be a take it easy day.” Uraraka said and Henshizo nodded and then shrugged. “Me working on my aim is easy for me. Besides I’m good to go, although I already have an idea for another upgrade to my costume.” Henshizo said putting his hands behind his head.

“Really what?” Ojiro asked curiously and Henshizo leaned forward and picked up the lotion. “I’m going to see if they can somehow put this in my suit, so I can replenish my skin cells while in battle.” Henshizo said in a thinking tone. “Ooo, smart.” Uraraka said nodding.

“Yea Henshizo, that’s smart.” Momo said putting her book down as Jiro paused the music she had been playing and set her phone down. “You guys want to wind down with a game?” Jiro asked grinning slightly, looking at Momo, Uraraka, Ojiro, Henshizo, Midoriya, and Hagakure and everyone shrugged but Momo who cleared her throat. “We need to head to bed by ten at the latest. The bus leaves at nine in the morning.” Momo said and they all nodded.

“What do you have in mind Jiro?” Hagakure asked and Jiro picked up her glass bottle and set it on the table. “Absolutely not. We are not playing spin the bottle.” Momo said crossing her arms as Ojiro’s tail got stiff in shock. “Relax, instead of that way, I was thinking a person spins the bottle and whoever it lands on, the spinner asks the person a question. They can either answer it or have to do a punishment. Nothing extreme of course.” Jiro said and Momo sighed.

“You just want to cause trouble. I’ll put a stop if it gets too crazy.” Momo said as Kirishima, Ashido, and Kaminari came over from the kitchen. “Oh this sounds fun, let’s do it.” Kaminari said as they sat down. Jiro nodded and spun the bottle, with it pointing at Ojiro. “Ojiro, how do you sleep with your tail? It’s been bothering me since I first saw you.” Jiro said causing some chuckling to happen.

“Mostly on my side, in the winter I curl it close to my body.” Ojiro said draping it over his shoulders as he spoke. “Huh. Makes sense, your turn.” Jiro said and Ojiro spun the bottle and it stopped as it pointed to Hagakure. “Hagakure. How old were you when you’re quirk devolved?” Ojiro asked and Hagakure giggled. “I was born invisible. Now my parents can tell the story laughing, but they and the doctors were really freaking out when I was born.” Hagakure said and everyone laughed.

Hagakure leaned forward spinning the bottle and it stopped on Kirishima. “So Kirishima, how much time do you spend on your hair in the morning?” Hagakure asked and Kirishima rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Usually like twenty minuets.” He said and Henshizo shook his head at the thought of spending that much time on hair. “So much hair gel.” Hagakure said as Kirishima spun the bottle and it stopped on Ashido, who giggled in excitement and then looked at Kirishima expectantly.

“Hmmm, Ashido, have you ever accidentally melted your clothes or someone else’s?” He asked, going a bit red and Ashido giggled. “Yep, Aaoyama on the first day of heroics, and when I was young. My parents had to find specially made clothes until I learned to control my quirk.” Ashido said and they nodded. “My turn.” Ashido said happily and she spun the bottle and it stopped, pointing at Henshizo. ‘God fucking damnit, literally the worst possible person to ask me a question.’ Henshizo thought as he looked at Ashido.

“Sesshada, why wouldn’t you let Tokagae kiss you at camp?” Ashido asked curiously and Momo looked at her a bit angrily but Henshizo raised his hand to calm her down. “Because it’s like I said, I refuse to let girls kiss me if it’s even a little coerced.” Henshizo said leaning forward but Ashido put her hand on the bottle firmly. “But why? Most guys would love to kiss someone like Tokage.” She asked and Henshizo sighed as he leaned back into the couch. “Because it had happened a lot before ok? I hated it then so I refuse to do it now.” He said bluntly and they looked at him worried and confused.

Henshizo sighed and closed his eyes briefly before opening them and looking at everyone. “Surōdesu, the yakuza group my family had run for generations, was one of the most diverse in terms of fronts we had for making money. Drugs, guns, black market support items, you name it, a Surōdesu tentacle was in it. But you could never go wrong with prostitution, the world’s oldest profession.” Henshizo said, his voice dripping in bitterness but he also had them listening to his every word.

“The bastard got taken down by his greed, but he was a very cautious prick. He didn’t want an undercover hero or cop in any part of his operations, including posing as a prostitute. One of his favorite tests was bringing them to me, and then ordering them to do things to me. Kiss me, give me lap dances, and more. And yes he did this when I was real young. Because ‘no hero or cop could do that.’” Henshizo said as they all gasped. “Most tried to put on a show, make me feel good; however some of them would be crying as they did it. Even as a kid I hated it, so yea, that’s why I refuse to have someone kiss me unless it’s one hundred percent their choice.” Henshizo said finishing his story and they all looked at him with a mixture of sadness and anger.

“By other things? You don’t mean?” Midoriya asked quietly and Henshizo nodded. “As I got older. Why do you think I didn’t want to play never have I ever back at the camp? Because I had to do so much.” Henshizo said sighing and looking at the bottle. “Wasn’t that dangerous? Like diseases?” Kirishima asked and Henshizo laughed, a hollow laugh. “You want to know the ironic thing? The prostitutes were actually taken care of. The pimps thought of them as tools and if something is wrong with the tool you can’t make money. So they got tested, customers had wear protection, or they could pay more for different ‘packages’ Henshizo said doing air quotes.

“But even then there were rules. No killing, nothing to permanently injure, and only truly premium customers could leave marks like scars and stuff. And even then it couldn’t be on parts that would make them unattractive.” Henshizo said and everyone was so shocked by this and he sighed. “You’ll all see things once you start doing hero work.” Henshizo said shrugging and they looked at each other.

“If I’m being honest, I found it oddly fascinating in a way. There’s so much we don’t know.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded. “I understand your fascination. It’s easy to paint villains in the same light, but reality is anything but. One of the nicer women who had to pass the test, she had been forced by her parents to move to the big city to find a job to keep the family farm from failing. She didn’t have much in terms of skills so she couldn’t send enough back, until she met one of the pimps. After she was tested she was making enough to save the farm and was also a favorite. She was around often as the pimp who found her liked her, and she would play games with me.” Henshizo said smiling lightly at the memory before looking at them all.

“Because of people like her and other victims and customers of the bastard I know not to judge anyone for what they do initially. Life can be difficult, so it’s always important to remember people aren’t all lucky.” Henshizo said seriously and everyone nodded. “Don’t feel bad for me. Please, anyway.” Henshizo said leaning forward and he spun the bottle, startling people as it spun around and stopped on Midoriya.

“Midoriya, I have a super important question.” Henshizo said leaning in and acting super serious. “Do you have access to photos of Bakugo as a kid?” Henshizo asked breaking the seriousness with a grin and people went wide eyed and also grinned as Midoriya went red.

“N-not here. My mom has the scrapbooks at home.” Midoriya said, stammering slightly, causing Henshizo to snap his fingers. “Damn. Would’ve been good blackmail.” He said and Momo looked at him. “Kidding.” Henshizo said raising his hands up as Midoriya spun the bottle the mood already lightening back up.

“Shame about no photos of Bakugo. Would’ve been fun to see.” Kaminari said smiling as the bottle stopped on Uraraka. “Uraraka, I’m sorry for asking this. But have you been taking leftovers from the fridge?” Midoriya asked, causing Uraraka to go red and begin playing with her fingers. “S-sometimes. I just got hungry and don’t have time or money to make things.” She said quietly.

“It’s ok Uraraka, just ask but I’m sure most of us don’t mind. Although Kachan would be upset. Plus I don’t think you’d like what me makes anyway.” Midoriya said smiling and everyone nodded and she smiled while relief flooded across her face. “Thanks guys, and why wouldn’t I like Bakugo’s food?” Uraraka asked curiously. “Because any lunch or dinner food he puts a lot of spices in it.” Midoriya said and Kirishima chuckled.

“Yea, Kaminari snuck a bite as Bakugo was away for a moment, he then spent the whole lunch drinking milk.” Kirishima said laughing, as were Jiro and Ashido while Kaminari crossed his arms. “Yea, I wouldn’t be surprised if the water he drinks is spicy.” Kaminari said a bit grumpily as everyone else laughed. Uraraka leaned forward and spun the bottle, pointing to Jiro.

“Jiro. How much can you overhear?” Uraraka asked curiously, causing Jiro to go a bit pink as she began playing with her earphone jacks. “When I choose. In the cafeteria I make sure to not have my jacks active, but normally I always do. So I overhear a lot.” She muttered and the classmates looked at each other awkwardly wondering what she has overheard them talk about.

Uraraka yawned and Momo stood up. “I think it’s time we head to bed. I think all our nerves are relaxed a little with this, but now we need to relax and rest our bodies.” Momo said and they all slowly stood up, Momo looking at Henshizo concerned. They all got in the elevator and despite being on other floors, Momo and Ojiro got off with Henshizo on his floor, along side Midoriya. “I swear. If you guys try talking to me about it.” Henshizo said in an exasperated tone as he looked at his friend and cousin.

“Well, yes but also no.” Momo said and she quickly hugged Henshizo and he was taken aback. “I’m sorry we forget how much you’ve been through.” Momo said tearfully and Henshizo patted her back awkwardly. “Don’t feel bad, we can’t save others from the past. But I appreciate it.” He said prying Momo off him. “Now go and follow your own advice and go to bed. Both of you.” Henshizo said seriously and they both nodded, Ojiro offering a fist bump that Henshizo accepted.

“We’re here for ya man, but night.” Ojiro said and the two left and Henshizo turned to walk to his room, but sighed when he saw Midoriya standing there. “What is it Midoriya?” He asked exasperated.

“S-sorry. But I really found your talk about the structure and how things worked interesting. I know so much about heroes, but not that much about villains. Perhaps you can teach us someday?” Midoriya asked curiously and Henshizo chuckled. “I would be the only one qualified to give that lesson. Maybe some day, perhaps I can talk to Aizawa about it. Not much academia on villains.” Henshizo said chuckling and Midoriya nodded. “Thanks, I think we would all find it interesting.” Midoriya said with such and upbeat tone, Henshizo couldn’t help but smile. “Night Midoriya.” Henshizo said walking past Midoriya and going into his bedroom. “Night Sesshada.” Midoriya said as Henshizo closed the door and he took his costume off and laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling. ‘I have to pass tomorrow. To show everyone I am a hero. For mom. For myself.’ Henshizo thought determinedly and then closed his eyes, drifting to sleep where he dreamed of himself growing up with his mom, happy.

Notes:

Somewhat of a shorter chapter than my usual chapters, but more of what Henshizo has gone through revealed as well some of my (and some community) head canons put in the story. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 41: Provisional License Exam Part 1

Summary:

It's time for UA to take the provisional licensing exam. What will they face and what obstacles will Henshizo encounter? Will Henshizo pass or will his dream of becoming a hero hit a huge wall?

The morning of the provisional licensing exam Henshizo, and the rest of class 1-A, woke up with a mixture of seriousness, nerves, and determination. Henshizo got out of bed and put on his school uniform, rather than using his quirk to change clothes, as Henshizo wanted to ensure his body was as ready as possible. Henshizo made a double strength coffee and drank it as he got in the elevator and walked to the kitchen where most of the class was already either making or eating breakfast. “Morning Sesshada.” Ojiro said as Henshizo went to the fridge and got eggs out and began frying them at the stove, next to his tailed friend. “Morning Ojiro. You ready?” Henshizo asked as he flipped over the eggs in the pan. “For sure. Not going to waste this opportunity. You heard Aizawa, hardly any first years even attempt to get their provisional license. So if we can get ours, that just shows how amazing we are.” Ojiro said confidently and Henshizo nodded as he put bread in the toaster and started toasting it. “For me it’s another chance to prove I belong here and make people recognize I am a hero.” Henshizo said determinedly and Ojiro lightly smiled as the bread popped up and Henshizo put the toast on a plate and then put the fried eggs on the toast and then went over to a table and sat down and began eating quietly.

Iida came in to the common area and saw everyone was there. “Attention, Aizawa sensei has informed me that we will be leaving at nine thirty and that the bus trip will take approximately one and a half hours. Since the exam will begin at noon this will give us an hour before hand.” Iida said to them all and they all nodded and went back to their breakfasts, with just mild talking as everyone was beginning to psych themselves up or were too nervous to talk. As they all finished their breakfasts, they went up to their rooms and grabbed their costume cases and then walked to where the bus was, with Aizawa standing outside it. “Get on the bus, and behave.” Aizawa said seriously and they all nodded and got on, loading their costume cases in the overhead bins and sat down, Henshizo sitting beside Yanagi and pulling his phone out and began typing out a message.

‘On the bus and about to head to the provisional license exam. I will be busy all afternoon, hopefully. Hopefully I’ll be able to say I passed.’ Henshizo sent that message to his mom and Sanae and added a second message to Sanae. ‘And make sure Honoka doesn’t use her quirk.’ He sent before laying back in his seat and closed his eyes. “Trying to relax?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo lightly nodded but opened his eyes. “Not that it matters, honestly I’m not nervous or anxious. Stuff like this, I’ve basically been training my whole life for. But this is just a different context.” Henshizo said quietly and Yanagi nodded and she stifled a yawn. “You not sleep well?” Henshizo asked and Yanagi nodded. “I’m afraid that due to my nerves I spent way to long on my phone browsing horror stories on the internet and did not get adequate sleep.” Yanagi said and Henshizo took his uniform jacket off, folding it up and handed it to her. “Here you can use this as a pillow to nap if you want.” He said and Yanagi took it, going red slightly.

“Are you sure it is ok?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo nodded, so Yanagi took it and put it against the window and leaned against it and closed her eyes. Henshizo glanced at her and then looked forward, not realizing Ashido was watching the two with a grin. The bus drove along and after just under a hour and a half pulled up and stopped in front of the National Dagoba Arena, and Henshizo lightly tapped Yanagi’s shoulder and she slowly sat up. “I thank you for the makeshift pillow. It made my nap possible.” She said, handing his jacket back to him as he stood up. “No problem Yanagi.” Henshizo said smiling lightly and turning red as he put his jacket back on and he could smell her shampoo. Henshizo gabbed both of their cases, handing Yanagi’s to her and the class filed off the bus and stood on the sidewalk as they saw a bunch of students from all the different hero schools from across the country go walking towards the arena.

“So many people, it’s a bit overwhelming.” Jiro said anxiously and Aizawa turned to them all. “The stage may be big, but this is a big step in your journey to become heroes. If you all pass you will get your provisional licenses and basically be semi-pros. So do your best.” Aizawa said seriously. ‘Note to self, never ask Aizawa for a hype speech.’ Henshizo thought as the class turned to each other, but Henshizo felt a light shiver up his spine and he tensed up, Ojiro and Yanagi noticing it and instantly became worried as he had done this twice; at the mall when Shigaraki appeared and at the training camp right before the attack had started.

“You heard him guys, let’s do our best. And remember, let’s go plus…” Kirishima said trying to hype them up, but before the class could speak, a tall boy with a shaved head joined their group. “Ultra!” this boy said excitedly and everyone looked at him, and Henshizo recognized the hat he had on and he was more tense.

“Inasa, it’s uncouth to interrupt others and barging in to their group.” A voice said and Henshizo looked over and saw a boy with purple hair, who had been the speaker telling the tall boy off, a girl who was very attractive, a boy completely covered in hair, and a boy with a black mask on his face, Henshizo’s survival instinct was screaming right now and his breathing increased slightly, causing both Ojiro and Yanagi to place their hands on him. “Of course! I am extremely sorry!” Inasa said bowing so deep his head hit the sidewalk as some of the class freaked out. “It’s just that I love UA and am incredibly honored to be competing against your prestigious school!” He said passionately, confusing 1-A

“Their uniforms.” Jiro muttered and everyone knew what school they were from. ‘The only school that even comes close to UA, my second choice.’ Henshizo thought looking at them as Momo had now come over after seeing Yanagi and Ojiro consoling Henshizo. “UA in the east, Shiketsu in the west.” Bakugo said unimpressed as Inasa stood up and rejoined his classmates before they started in towards the arena, blood dripping from his head and the girl looked up at it intrigued.

“Inasa Yoarashi.” Aizawa said quietly for the whole class to hear. “You know him?” Hagakure asked Aizawa and he nodded. “He’s a first year, same age as you all. He applied to UA and had the top score for people based off recommendations, but for some reason turned down his acceptance into UA and went to Shiketsu instead.” Aizawa said and that caught everyone’s attention. ‘Highest score in recommendations? Then he was better than Momo and Todoroki?!’ Henshizo thought as he began relaxing.

“Henshizo, what was that?” Momo asked quietly as Yanagi and Ojiro looked at him still concerned. “I’d rather not say before the exam. Let’s just say something from my old life.” Henshizo said quietly and Momo grew more worried but nodded. “The guy got into the school he seemingly dreamed of but turned it down? Crazy.” Ashido said crossing her arms confused and some of the class nodded in agreement.

“Regardless his skills are real and he is incredibly powerful. So watch out for him.” Aizawa said seriously to the class. “Eraser? Eraser is that you?” A woman’s voice rang out and Aizawa grimaced and looked down the sidewalk and they saw a woman, who had to be a pro-hero, walking up waving at him. She had light green hair under a bandana and Henshizo vaguely recognized her. “I saw you on screen at the sports festival looking like a mummy, but it’s great to see you face to face again.” The woman said getting up to Aizawa who was clearly annoyed at her presence. “Let’s get married.” She said pointing between herself and Aizawa who was clearly fed up with her. “No.” Aizawa said bluntly and quickly, but Ashido was smiling happily at the interaction. The woman laughed hard, pointing at Aizawa. “No, so funny Eraser.” She said and he sighed. “As usual you’re over the top, Joke.” Aizawa said and Midoriya gasped.

“Ms. Joke, the smile hero. Her quirk, outburst, causes people to laugh. Her fights with villains are always fun to watch.” Midoriya said happily and Henshizo nodded, knowing he recognized her. “Thanks, resident hero encyclopedia.” Henshizo said to Midoriya, causing Midoriya to go slightly red in embarrassment and a couple of their classmates to chuckle. “And I take it you two know each other.” Henshizo said looking at the two pro heroes, with Ms. Joke nodding as she turned to the class.

“When we were just starting out as heroes, our agencies were close to each other. We worked together often and over time a mutual love bloomed!” Ms. Joke said in a sing song voice. “No it did not!” Aizawa snapped back and Henshizo had to stifle a chuckle since he had never seen Aizawa like this. “I do love your quick retorts my future husband.” Ms. Joke said laughing at Aizawa who sighed. “So if you’re here, then your students are too.” Aizawa said seriously and Ms. Joke nodded and turned around. “Over here you kids. It’s class 1-A!” Ms. Joke called out to a group of kids walking up in gray shirts. ‘Ketsubutsu, my third choice of hero schools.’ Henshizo thought seeing the kids walk up, being lead by a boy who looked vaguely like Midoriya.

The boy came up to them smiling, but Henshizo narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. “My name is Shindo, it’s an honor meeting you all. You guys have had it rough.” Shindo said greeting Midoriya first, then moved on to others, but Henshizo retracted his hand so the boy couldn’t shake it. “You know 1-A, so you must know me so let me tell you this. I’m pretty damn good at sniffing out bullshit, and right now, you reek of it.” Henshizo growled causing Shindo to lightly smirk and Bakugo to nod in agreement.

“Yea, your face ain’t matching what you’re saying you damn off-brand nerd.” Bakugo said harshly to Shindo. “Can you two not be so rude to people?” Iida asked exasperated but Shindo raised his hands and slowly backed away smiling.

“It’s ok, just friendly competition and shows how skilled and driven you all are.” Shindo said rejoining his class. “Alright, enough time killing. Go get into your costumes and then to the waiting area with all the other students.” Aizawa said seriously and the class nodded and they began walking off, some smiling in confidence. The class separated to go into the different locker rooms that had been designated for them, Henshizo ignoring the mutterings that were happening as he changed, but suddenly he felt hand placed on his shoulder and was spun around and pushed back into the locker by a boy just a little taller than him with bright yellow hair.

“The fact that someone like you is here a joke. Do you know who I am?!” The boy shouted and some other boys came over and pulled him back as Henshizo had his hands raised, Midoriya, Todoroki, Ojiro getting in front of him, glaring at the boy. “No, I don’t.” Henshizo said calmly and the yellow haired boy growled. “Your father ordered my uncle’s murder.” The boy said with pure hatred in his voice and Henshizo sighed. “I am sorry for your loss, but-” Henshizo began, but Midoriya stepped forward. “We are all sorry for your loss, but he,” Midoriya said pointing to Henshizo, “is not responsible. He is striving to be a hero, like everyone else here. He is not his father.” Midoriya said emphatically and the boy glared and then huffed and walked away.

“Thanks guys.” Henshizo said quietly as the locker room slowly went back to how it was before the confrontation. “You, ok?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo nodded as he finished getting dressed. “Just something I have to deal with forever. I’m stuck with his legacy no matter what.” Henshizo said just mildly bitter as he stood up annoyed but let out a deep breath to calm down. The boys finished getting changed into their costumes and they followed the signs to the waiting area where the reconvened with the girls and looked around at the hundreds of other students.
“There are so many people, it’s even worse than the sports festival.” Ashido said concerned and Henshizo didn’t like the odds but kept a calm face. A mic feed sound came on and a light groan came over the speakers, quieting everyone down. “Right, provisional license exam, that’s why you’re all here. I’m Mera from the public safety commission, and I… have lost way too much sleep over this.” Mera said and all the students were confused by the sleep deprived government official. “Right, before I fall asleep, I will explain the first stage of the exam. All one-thousand five-hundred and forty of you will be competing in one massive free-for-all. Nice and simple.” Mera continued and everyone grew serious. “They are so many heroes in Japan right now, and recent events have caused some to wonder what it means to truly be a hero. That a true hero doesn’t care about fame or fortune, that a hero can only really be one if they work tirelessly and would be willing to commit self-sacrifice.” The official droned on and Henshizo glared lightly. ‘Stain. He’s still causing trouble even after being put behind bars.’ Henshizo thought bitterly.

“But if one works hard and puts their lives on the line, what’s wrong with getting a monetary award, eh? Also seems wrong to ask people to risk their lives and get nothing in return. Anyway, nowadays incidents happen quickly and thus heroes are expected to resolve these incidents quickly. So therefore, only the first hundred of you who pass will move on to the next round.” Mera said and a shocked silence filled the room. ‘Only one hundred? That’s… just a little over six percent of everyone.’ Henshizo thought, now worried as there was a time limit.

“I thought half of us passed.” Jiro said quietly and Momo put a hand in her shoulder to calm her. “To pass you need these.” Mara continued, holding up a target and a ball. “You’ll be given three of these targets to put on your body, so long as it’s in place that’s exposed constantly. You’ll also be given six balls; the targets are designed to light up only from the balls themselves. If all three of your targets are hit you are eliminated. To pass you must eliminate two other students, and that’s it.” Mara said sighing and lowering his head as lots of men in suits began walking around with boxes, which held the balls and targets. Henshizo grabbed his set and placed one on his heart, one on his stomach, and one on his arm.

“Now, once this place opens up, the rest will begin one minute after that.” Mara said standing up and taking the mic with him off stage. “Open up?” Todoroki muttered confused but suddenly the floor shook while the walls and roof slowly opened up, lowering to the ground, revealing that the massive arena had multiple areas, from a little city with tall buildings to a mountainous area, for all the students to go to areas that were better suited for their quirks. “Yes it’s a bit overkill, so much lost sleep over this.” Mara said shuffling off the field as the walls hit the ground and the students began running, getting away from everyone and staying in their class groups.

“I don’t like our odds, we’re so badly disadvantaged.” Henshizo called out and people looked at him confused. “What do you mean?” Sero asked as they ran along. “People will be sticking together; it increases the odds of you passing. What also helps is going after people you know the weaknesses of. And only one school promotes their students’ strengths and weaknesses.” Henshizo continued and they all looked at him with sinking realization.

“Fuck this, I’m outta here. You extras would just hold me back.” Bakugo said running away from them, with Kirishima and Kaminari chasing after him. Todoroki then began running away. “Sorry, but I can’t use my quirk properly if we’re all bunched up.” Todoroki called back to them as the timer counted down.

“Kacchan! Todoroki!” Midoriya called out but Henshizo grabbed his wrist and kept him moving. “We can’t worry about them. We need to worry about us. If I had to guess all the other schools are going to attack us, so we have to do whatever it takes to pass. We’re UA damn it.” Henshizo called out to his classmates and they got determined looks on their faces as the horn to start the test sounded.

As soon as the horn sounded Henshizo used the dispensing device and got a marble in either hand and quickly changed them into micro smgs as suddenly they were surrounded by students from other schools, mainly from Ketsubutsu. “I remember your power from the sports festival, great strength, at the cost of breaking your body.” Shindo said smirking at Midoriya as dozens of balls were thrown at 1-A. Midoriya leapt up and kicked one of the balls away; with the force of his kick causing wind to blow other balls back, Ashido began spraying acid from her hands melting them, Momo made shields to protect a couple of their classmates, Uraraka floated herself over the foray, Tokoyami used dark shadow’s arms to swipe balls out of the air, Iida out sped the balls, Yanagi just suspended the balls in the air around her with her quirk, and Henshizo was able to shoot many of the balls out of the air, with the gunshots scaring some of the other students, but Shindo smirked seeing it all, while in the stands Aizawa was watching with Ms. Joke by him.

“Well there’s something not even my students are prepared for. Please tell me he’s using rubber bullets.” Ms. Joke said, watching 1-A survive the initial onslaught. “Yes, they’ll hurt, but that’s it.” Aizawa said with his arms crossed. “It’s odd you haven’t expelled anyone yet, this class must be special." Ms. Joke said teasingly and Aizawa lightly smirked. “This class is unlike any I have had. At most in the past there’s been a class leader that helps guide them. But now, two of them help drive and inspire the others, while a third is a natural leader that knows exactly how to lead and empower them through battles. I’m not concerned Joke, I’m proud to call them my students.” Aizawa said watching the chaos on the field.

 

“They’re good, they’ve improved and some were hiding abilities at the sports festival.” Shindo said to his classmates, and one, a boy who was blue and looked a bit like a robot was squeezing the balls in his hand and then tossed them to another classmate, who had long black hair, and they seemed more to be like rocks now. “No matter how good they are I always hit my shots.” The black-haired boy said and he locked an eye on Asui and then threw them. “Target lock on!” He shouted out and threw the balls and they went underground.

“We can’t block them!” Uraraka called out and Jiro stepped up and put her hands on the ground. “I got this, heart beat distortion!” She called out and shattered the ground around her, forcing the balls up and they continued towards Asui, but Ashido leapt forward and made a curtain of acid that the balls dissolved in when they hit the wall.

“Acid veil!” Ashido shouted out happily. Henshizo saw Shindo put his hands on the ground and Shindo grinned. “They’re not the only ones with ultimate move. Tremoring earth!” He shouted out and the ground broke apart and shook like an earthquake. 1-A and others yelled out as the terrain was broken up drastically, causing them to be separated from each other. Henshizo tumbled down and rolled under one of the large broken rocks and then stood up.

‘Powerful quirk.’ Henshizo thought assessing the situation and slowly making his way through the area and saw Yanagi standing with her back to a wall, peering around a corner. Henshizo quickly dashed over to her and covered her mouth so she wouldn’t scream. “It’s me.” He said quietly, as he felt her pick him up with her quirk, but she settled down. “Sorry for the sneak up.” He said letting her go as she turned to him. “Apology accepted. Being separated is disadvantageous.” Yanagi said as Henshizo heard some above them jump down and he raised his guns, but stopped when saw it was Ojiro. “Dude, be careful.” Henshizo said to him, startling him.

“Hey, sorry.” Ojiro said quietly and they huddled together. “Not shockingly plan a is dead, but we also didn’t have anyone eliminated. They can handle themselves, we have to have faith in them, like they have faith in us.” Henshizo said seriously and the two nodded, while also noting an odd confidence he had about him. “We need six opponents. So instead of being on the defensive like they expect, let’s go on the hunt.” Henshizo said punching his fist into his hand and the two nodded again.

“Surprisingly no one has passed. Oh yea, I’ll be giving updates and commentary for this.” Mara’s voice came over the speakers and the three looked up and around. “Right, let’s go find people to take out.” Henshizo said as they slowly began going around the ruined area and they heard booms and felt minor shakes in the ground indicating fighting was happening. “Someone finally passed. What?! One person took out one hundred twenty people?!” Mara shouted through the speakers and Henshizo raised his eyebrows in shock.

“Quite the impressive feat.” Yanagi said quietly and they rounded a corner and saw ten students up ahead, including the boy that had confronted Henshizo in the locker room. “You guys think we can take them?” Henshizo asked quietly and the two looked at his confident face and nodded. “Right. Looks like two mutant quirks, bull and wolf, or something similar.” Henshizo said as he began to plan and smirked as he handed the guns to Ojiro and got marbles in his hands. “Yanagi, control these flashbangs over and this will give us an element of surprise.” Henshizo said handing two flashbangs to her and pulling the pins. Yanagi zipped the flashbangs over and they blew up in the middle of the group and some fell to the ground in agony while others tried to blindly fight back.

 

As the three of them ran closer, the group scattered, Ojiro chasing after two, Yanagi going after three and Henshizo taking the remaining five. Henshizo changed the guns to tranquilizer guns and shot the bull and wolf students in the arms. “Damnit.” The wolf kid cried out, taking the dart out but he fell to his knees, and then slumped over. “You would use a cheap trick like that.” The yellow haired boy said and Henshizo pointed the tranquilizer gun towards him, but it was ripped from his hand by a boy with gray and red hair. ‘Must have a magnetic quirk or something.’ Henshizo thought as the boy grabbed it out of air and aimed it at Henshizo who dashed behind a column of rocks.

“I would thank you, but I hate you, so eliminating you will have to do.” Henshizo heard the yellowed hair boy call out and Henshizo peaked around the corner and saw a lightning bolt in the boy’s hand and he threw it at the rocks Henshizo was behind. Henshizo jumped back and the rocks exploded when the bolt hit them. ‘Three on one, two powerful quirks and an unknown. At least this is interesting.’ Henshizo thought as he got marbles back in his hands. “You can never be a hero. So, I’m just doing you a favor.” The lightning boy shouted, throwing another bolt at Henshizo, which Henshizo dodged and heard it go into the wall behind him.

Henshizo slid something on the ground towards them and they tried to jump away but it was one of the glue grenades he had used in the USJ attack and it caught the legs of the black- and red-haired boy and he became stuck to the ground. “I can and will be a hero. I have way too much to fight for. People believe in me as a hero!” Henshizo shouted back and the boy made another lightning bolt, but Henshizo had made a pistol and shot the lightning bolt as it was in his hand, causing it to explode and send the boy flying into a rock wall and fall to the ground unconscious.

“You bastard.” The last boy shouted and charged at Henshizo with his arms becoming fire and Henshizo leapt back to dodge them and shot the boy in his knees with the rubber bullets. “Ah fuck!” He cried out falling to the ground, as Henshizo ran up and pistol whipped him unconscious. “You’re not a hero. Heroes don’t act like this.” The black and red hair boy shouted and Henshizo walked up to him, putting the pistol in his waistband and squatted down by the boy. “I’m a hero saves people. You’ll see.” Henshizo said standing up, then going over to the two unconscious boys and dragged them over to the stuck boy and then pulled two of the balls they had been given for the test. Henshizo first fully tagged the flame arm boy, eliminating him and then tagged two of the targets on both the lightning bolt boy and the boy stuck in the glue. “I’m not going to waste this opportunity.” Henshizo muttered as he double tapped the remaining two, eliminating both of them at the same time. He heard running footsteps and stood up and saw Yanagi and Ojiro came running up and Henshizo saw their targets green and he smiled as his targets turned green.

“We did it!” Ojiro said happily and Henshizo could see Yanagi smiling beneath her mask. “I never suspected we would experience failure.” Yanagi said as she looked at Henshizo happily. “I remembered what you said. We’re UA and while fighting I could hear your voice.” Ojiro said chuckling and Henshizo smirked lightly.

“Those that have passed the exam please head to the Anteroom and wait.” A little mechanical voice said from their targets and the three began walking towards where the Anteroom was. “We’re just a bit over half way with fifty-five students passing. At this rate we’ll be done with soon enough and I can get sleep.” Mara’s tired voice came over the speakers, yawning towards the end. The three walked along and into the Anteroom and saw the other students who had passed and were milling about. Henshizo saw Todoroki, Shoji, Jiro, Asui, and Momo standing together talking. The three of them walked up to their classmates, and their classmates turned to them, smiling happily.

“We did it!” Momo said happily, hugging Henshizo briefly and Henshizo laughed a bit. “Is this everyone?” Ojiro asked looking around. “Yea. So far this is it, but I know the others will pass.” Momo said and everyone nodded and Shoji pointed to the door. “Don’t have many remaining.” Shoji said, and they turned and saw Bakugo, Kirishima, Kaminari, Uraraka, Sero, and Midoriya walking in.

“Huh, I beat Bakugo.” Henshizo smirking, and Bakugo growled. “Shut the hell up yakuza.” Bakugo snapped at him and Henshizo chuckled and looked to the side and saw the tall boy from Shiketsu looking over towards them, and seemingly more specifically at Todoroki with hatred in his eyes. “What the hell did you to him Todoroki? Shit in his rice?” Henshizo asked, standing beside his fellow ‘masterpiece’ and staring back at the boy glaring, causing Inasa to look away.

“I have no idea.” Todoroki said confused and Henshizo also noted that he didn’t have the feeling he had when he first encountered Shiketsu students. The doors opened again, and in walked the hair and black mask guy from Shiketsu, as well as Tokoyami, Sato, Hagakure, Iida, Aoyama, and Ashido. “We’re down to twenty spots, so clock is ticking.” Mana’s voice came through the speakers and all of 1-A, minus Bakugo, were smiling at each other.

“We all passed!” Ashido said excitedly, running up and hugging Uraraka tightly, Iida came up to Henshizo with his hand extended. “Before we were split up, I believed in what you were saying. Your words helped us focus, thank you Sesshada.” Iida said and Henshizo lightly smirked and shook Iida’s hand.

“Thanks, I mean don’t forget. I was a young head.” Henshizo said quietly, with bitterness and Iida nodded but Henshizo looked at Iida determinedly. “But something I’m learning to do is take my past and use it for good. I have a good idea of how to lead, inspire, and empower, so why not use that?” Henshizo continued shrugging and Iida smiled and nodded before going to Midoriya to talk. Henshizo nonchalantly went towards the Shiketsu students who were taking their targets off, and Henshizo did the same, grabbing a key from the table that could take the targets off. Henshizo didn’t get the feeling he had earlier either. ‘Must be either that short guy or the blonde.’ Henshizo thought to himself, dumping his targets in a box and walked back to his classmates. After a bit the Ketsubutsu group came in. “And we’re down to five spots remaining, make that four with a person from Shiketsu passing.” Mana’s voice said as Henshizo made a bottle of lotion and made sure his skin was fully healed for the next portion. “And that’s all one hundred spots! Those that passed please wait for the next portion of the test.” Mama said in an excited tone as those that were the last to pass started to arrive in.

Henshizo walked over to the food and drink table and grabbed a bottle of orange juice and began drinking it, while Kaminari was eating a sandwich. Sero came up to them and with everyone now in the room, Henshizo had that feeling back and he was tense. “You guys want to hear something spicy?” Sero asked the two quietly and Kaminari nodded as Henshizo raised an eyebrow. “What has ever given you the impression I care about this stuff?” Henshizo asked and Sero smirked. “Because this is good. You guys know that blonde from Shiketsu?” Sero asked and Henshizo looked over towards the girl and the hairs on the back of his neck went up.

“What about her? Besides being a bombshell.” Kaminari asked curiously as Henshizo was tensing up. “I saw her and Midoriya together, and she was naked.” Sero said grinning and Henshizo saw her turn towards them and wave, causing his spine to tingle. Henshizo walked up to her glaring. “Who the hell are you?” He growled and she took a step back, with both her and his classmates noticing the confrontation.

“I’m Camie Utsushimi. Like, what’s, your deal?” She asked as Henshizo snarled and his classmates came behind him and her there came behind her, his classmates sensing an odd aura about Henshizo. “No… I know you. Your scent.” Henshizo snarled and she backed up and the hair covered boy stepped forward protecting her.

“That’s enough. We’ll hear nothing from you.” The hair covered boy said indignantly and Henshizo glared at him. “Just a heads-up hairball, she’s hiding something.” Henshizo growled and he felt himself get lifted from the ground and began floating back, Yanagi using her quirk on him. The blonde peered around the hair covered boy, glaring deeply at Henshizo and Henshizo glared right back.

“I apologize for my classmate.” Iida said walking up to the hair covered boy, lightly bowing as Momo came up and put her hand on Henshizo’s chest. “Calm down, you can’t blow this. Think of your mom.” Momo said gently and Henshizo closed his eyes, then breathed slowly and calmed down. He slowly nodded and Yanagi set him down.

“Sorry for causing a scene.” Henshizo muttered as he went back and leaned against the wall, still watching the blonde with narrowed eyes. “What did you mean?” Momo asked quietly and Henshizo sighed. “I just… the feel I got from her is the feel I got near some nasty associates in my former life.” Henshizo said super quiet and Momo’s eyes went wide and she looked for the blonde, but she seemingly disappeared.

“I didn’t expect to have to restrain you.” Yanagi said and Henshizo went red. “Yea, sorry about that. Although I’m sure that’s how you passed.” He said with a bit of pride in his voice and Yanagi nodded. “They begged for me to not tag them, but mercy was not had.” She said and Henshizo smiled and blushed lightly.

“For those that passed the first stage of the exam, please turn to the screen.” Mara’s voice came over the speakers and everyone turned to the massive screen, where the testing area popped up on the screen. They watched confused when suddenly explosions occurred throughout the testing area, toppling the mock buildings and causing swaths of destruction. Once the smoke cleared it was a mess and Henshizo knew exactly what inspired this setting.

“Midoriya. You see it right?” Iida said quietly and Midoriya nodded. “Just like Kamino.” Midoriya said quietly, and Henshizo couldn’t help but think how eerily similar they were able to replicate the destruction.

“Look!” Someone called out and they saw a bunch of people suddenly in the rubble walking around. “Where did they come from?” Kirishima asked confused as it seemed to be a bunch of people covered in blood and Henshizo tilted his head confused.

“In the second of the exam, you will be going into the ruins of a terrorist attack and rescue bystanders who were injured in the attack. The bystanders are being played by people who are professionally trained to act as people needing rescued. They are from the Help Us Company, or H.U.C. Both H.U.C. and members of the public safety commission who have been assigned to one of each of you will be scoring you. Your job is to rescue all the injured civilians. The test will begin once all of H.U.C. are in place.” Mara said causing everyone to get ready and begin planning. ‘I’m so close. I can do this.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he made sure the marble dispenser was full. Once he was happy everything was ready, he stood at the ready, waiting to go in and get his provisional license.

Notes:

First obstacle down, but Henshizo hasn't made friends at Shiketsu after confronting that blonde, and also a reminder to him that his past sticks with him. Not a huge canon difference, but decided that having Henshizo help inspire the others and finish ahead of when they do in canon is good. Also the lightning bolt quirk is called Zeus. Also when Aizawa and Ms. Joke were talking I totally pictured a still frame of Bakugo, Midoriya, and Henshizo side by side by side. This was a long chapter, but just didn't feel right to pause it at any time. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 42: Rescuing and Fighting

Summary:

Now down to 100 hopeful students, the second round of the provisional licensing exam takes place. What old face does Henshizo run into? Is Henshizo able to pass the rescue or will he need rescuing himself?

The hundred students waited, anxiously and eagerly. Henshizo was pacing back and forth, eager to get going. A bell sounded and the walls and roof started retracting and going down, letting the students out and they all began running forward. ‘Rescue training, not my strongest area, but I’m not hopeless.’ Henshizo thought as they ran up to a disaster scene and found a small man dressed as a child crying.

“H-h-help! My grandpa is getting crushed over there!” The man-boy was crying and pointing to his left, while fake blood was coming from his head. “This is bad where is he?” Midoriya asked as Henshizo dispensed a marble and made gauze to wrap around his head. “What the heck is wrong with you? Minus points!” The man-boy shouted at Midoriya as Henshizo got up to him and got on a knee and to wrap his head, but the man-boy held a hand up. “You didn’t make note of any of my injuries, my breathing or anything. To rescue people, heroes must do much more than just lift a rock. It’s about reassuring them.” The man-boy said seriously, and nodded to Henshizo who began wrapping his head gently.

“Hey buddy. So, your grandpa is over there, right? Don’t worry my friends will help him.” Henshizo said gently and the man-boy nodded and Midoriya nodded as well. “Yahata once you’re done wrapping his head, I’ll take him to the triage center.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded, as some of the students from other schools were busy clearing debris and setting up the triage center. “His breathing is irregular, may have a collapsed lung, keep his head and neck steady, but good news is the ‘cut’ isn’t deep.” Henshizo said finishing the wrapping and then turned the gauze still in his hand to a neck brace and put it around the man-boy.

Midoriya picked him up and ran off and Henshizo straightened up. “Creati, take people and help dig people out of the rubble. Uravity and Emily will be excellent for this. I can provide medical aid.” Henshizo said as the medical aspect of rescue was easily his strongest aspect. “Everyone else go to an area of the arena you can excel in.” Henshizo barked out calmly and everyone nodded, Henshizo showing them the rare true leader side to him. Everyone ran off and began rescuing. Henshizo ran over and helped two of the Ketsubutsu students free an elderly couple from under a rock and made the couple wheelchairs, letting the Ketsubutsu students wheel them to the triage center. Henshizo went over to the triage center and began assisting with treatment.

“Oh hey, didn’t expect to a first year with medical knowledge.” The girl from Ketsubutsu said to Henshizo as he came up and began making splints for those with arm and leg ‘injuries’. “When it comes to rendering in the field first aid, I’m extensively trained, so please, let us work together to help these people!” Henshizo said firmly to her and she smiled at him. ‘Plus, I’ve had to dig bullets out and see up wounds, I’m fifteen for fucks sake.’ Henshizo thought bitterly but he didn’t let anything show as he put a splint on the leg of a man. “Don’t worry sir, this will help ensure no further injury to your leg, should help a bit with the pain too.” Henshizo said calmly and the man nodded, making Henshizo relieved as he stood up and helped the hair covered student from Shiketsu bring over a bunch of ‘babies’. Although Henshizo wasn’t sure how old these ‘babies’ were thanks to the grown adult heads.

“Seem to be superficial wounds, but be careful. Internal can be different.” The hairy kid said as Henshizo made cribs and put the ‘babies’ in them. “Right, don’t worry. You’ll be ok.” Henshizo said calmly to the ‘babies’ as time continued to tick on. ‘Just rescuing and treating them… it seems too simple.’ Henshizo thought as he made another cot for a man to lay on. Suddenly a huge explosion occurred at the wall of the arena, grabbing everyone’s attention; then more explosions ripped through parts of the arena, causing confusion and panic amongst the students.

Henshizo had bent over and protected one of the more ‘critically injured’ bystanders from the blasts and debris. “This is part of the exam!” Henshizo heard Midoriya call out, and from the now massive hole in the wall came a bunch of people in matching costumes and then finally Gang Orca. “Uh oh. The terrorists have launched a second wave of attacks. Hero candidates must both continue to rescue and suppress this wave of attacks.” Mara’s voice came over the intercom and Henshizo lightly growled as he saw the minions start towards their makeshift triage center.

“Get the bystanders away from here!” Henshizo called out to the other students, and the evacuation began as Henshizo flipped a cot and took cover behind it, getting a marble in his hand changing it to a type 89, the rifle used by the military and special police forces. ‘Rescue, treatment, evacuation, and fighting all at the same time? Even pros would have trouble doing this.’ Henshizo thought bitterly, as he saw Shindo run forward and place his hands on the ground. “One second interval blasts!” He called out breaking up the ground and causing the henchmen to get launched up and fall, but Gang Orca easily dashed forward and grabbed Shindo.

“No!” Henshizo cried out and brought the rifle up and began firing the rubber bullets at Gang Orca, interrupting his hypersonic attack that still hit Shindo. “Yahata. At least you all didn’t leave a single guard. But it’s still not enough!” Gang Orca started to charge at Henshizo, but was cut off by an ice barrage and he had to leap away. Henshizo glanced over and saw Todoroki, Ojiro, Ashido, and Tokoyami running over. “We we’re down at the river, but came to help with evacuation!” Ojiro called out and Henshizo nodded. “You guys help the evacuation, I’ll help cover!” Henshizo yelled back as his classmates ran to help move the ‘injured’ and the equipment. Henshizo ran around the cot and grabbed Shindo and began dragging back, when he got him behind the cot, Henshizo put his face to the cot and slowly changed the cot to a concrete barrier.

“I’m ok.” Shindo tried to argue and stand but he fell back down. “Just recover for now… I apologize for not knowing your hero name. But for now, rest.” Henshizo said looking at him and as he popped back up to fire, wind came roaring in, blowing the ice and some henchmen away as Henshizo looked up and saw the tall boy from Shiketsu flying above them, using the wind. “Don’t worry. Despite this, my blood is boiling and I’m super excited!” Inasa called out, but then he saw Todoroki and the two locked eyes, Inasa showing anger. “Why did you have to show up.” Inasa snarled at Todoroki.

“Go help the evacuation, I can take these guys.” Todoroki called back and Henshizo growled in frustration. “Stop talking and start acting!” He called out, as Inasa did a huge wind attack, but Todoroki used his flames and the wind was knocked off course by the heat. “What’s the big idea?!” Todoroki shouted at Inasa who growled.

“Your heat caused the wind to rise! You’re just like your father.” Inasa shouted back and Henshizo rolled his eyes, and popped up, just in time to shoot one of the weapons a minion had, destroying it as he had it aimed at Todoroki. “Instead of getting into a pissing match, let’s focus on the villain!” Henshizo yelled at the two boys. The two were startled at being called out, almost like they had been lost in their own worlds, and one of the minions managed to fire and hit Todoroki with what looked like cement.

‘Genius. A way to take us out without causing harm, I’m going to so get that.’ Henshizo thought and as he tried to shoot more of the minions, and they shot back, the cement blobs connecting with the rubber bullets, causing the cement to fall to the ground. Henshizo gritted his teeth as Inasa and Todoroki again tried to attack at the same time, causing both their attacks to miss, and shoot flames towards Henshizo who had to duck behind the barrier. “God damnit. What the hell is their deal?” Henshizo muttered angrily as he glanced at his hands and saw they were beginning to turn red.

“You and your father. You have the same look in your eyes, I will never accept either of you!” Inasa called out to Todoroki and Henshizo shook his head. “I am not him!” Todoroki retorted trying to stay standing and Henshizo dispensed another marble and put it to his cheek and began changing it.

“Moronic first years.” Shindo muttered beside Henshizo. “And this first year saved you, so save it.” Henshizo calmly said back as he watched Gang Orca unleash a hyper sonic attack at Inasa and it caused him to become paralyzed and fall to the ground, as Todoroki collapsed to the ground under the weight of the cement. Henshizo got out of cover and fired at Gang Orca and had to get back in as he faced a barrage of cement. “Todoroki and that wind guy are down.” Henshizo said to Shindo and Shindo shakily stood up. “Thanks to you I was able to recover enough for this.” He muttered getting in front of the barrier and unleashing another huge quake causing more of the minions to get shaken up.

As this happened Inasa and Todoroki used their wind and flames together again, but this time they made a tornado of flames around Gang Orca. “I’m coming Todoroki!” Henshizo called out, using his gun to provide suppressing fire at the minions, he tossed a grenade and when it hit the ground, thick red smoke and ran through it, stopping beside Todoroki on the ground. “Here.” Todoroki grunted, providing them with an ice barrier to shield themselves from the blind fire cement shots. Henshizo put his hand on the cement and he changed it to a blanket, ripping it off Todoroki. “You good?” Henshizo asked as Todoroki got to a knee. “Yea… thanks.” Todoroki said, now able to increase the intensity of the flames a bit.

Henshizo heard the sound of yelling and fighting behind the ice wall and peeked above it. “Midoriya, Tokoyami, Ojiro, Asui, Ashido, and that hair guy from Shiketsu are taking out the minions.” Henshizo said happily, as Ojiro ripped one of the cement launchers off and tossed it towards Henshizo, who grabbed it out of the air and put it on his wrist. “Let’s see how they like it.” Henshizo said grinning as he began shooting the minions with the cement gun as others took them out.

“Not bad, but what happens when a villain isn’t intimated by this?” Gang Orca shouted as he sent out a huge hypersonic blast, breaking the fire tornado, and Henshizo whipped around and faced his mentor. “What next?” Gang Orca shouted and Henshizo didn’t hesitate to turn his shoes to the jet boots and he changed a ring on his hand to the power glove he used at the sports festival. ‘Can’t believe the ring is working out.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he briefly thought back to the conversation that led to him putting a ring on either hand.

Henshizo walked in to the common area, still in his costume and went to the kitchen to grab a can of juice from the fridge. “Thank you Sesshada!” Ashido called out from the sitting area and he stood up confused as he cracked the can open and walked over. “Why thank me?” Henshizo asked going over to Ashido and Hagakure. “Oh, we’re ranking the class’s costumes based on fashion. And you are definitely the best.” Ashido said, moving an index card with his name on it to the top of the list they had.

“Uhh, ok.” Henshizo said as he took a sip of juice. “I think your look would be even better with an accessory.” Hagakure said looking at Henshizo and Henshizo tilted his head and then held out the pocket watch. “No not that. Like an actual watch or a cool ring!” Hagakure said excited and Henshizo furrowed his brough and looked at his hands. “Maybe. Maybe I could, actually.” Henshizo said dispensing a marble and he changed it to a pure black ring and put it on his finger. “Oh yea, that really adds to it.” Hagakure and Henshizo looked at it and then watched it change into a glove and smiled. “Perfect.” Henshizo said lightly smirking and Ashido groaned.

“Your quick change is so unfair!” She pouted flailing her arms and Henshizo chuckled. “I get that so often.” He said, changing it back to a ring. “Thanks for the suggestion, Hagakure.” He said and she giggled. “No problem. Fashion champion!” She said happily and Henshizo rolled his eyes and walked away.

In the present Henshizo dashed forward and wound a punch up, at the same time he saw Midoriya flying in from the other side with a kick and Gang Orca hunkered down, blocking both the kick and punch with gauntlets he had on his arms. Both students continued to put pressure into their attacks on the pro when suddenly a horn sounded through the arena, catching everyone’s attention. “The last of the bystanders have been rescued from immediate danger, and the test has now concluded. Scores will be calculated, in the meantime any test takers injured please report to the first aid station. The rest of you can either change back into your uniforms or not and then wait. We’ll be announcing the scores soon. And then, I can finally sleep.” Mara’s voice came through the speakers.

“What an anti-climactic ending.” Henshizo whined before looking up at Gang Orca smiling. “I’m glad to see you’ve recovered from your injuries.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca nodded. “I’m not a judge but I was watching what I could. You did good guppie. Although some of my sidekicks may object to you shooting them.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo laughed as some of the ‘henchmen’ took their masks off to show it was the sidekicks. “Yahata, long time. Didn’t know you had those skills in ya.” Hami smiling at Henshizo.

“That’s right, you interned with Gang Orca, seems so long ago.” Midoriya said pulling his notebook out and flipping through it. “Gang Orca, sir. Can I have your autograph?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo facepalmed as his classmate’s hero worshipping came out. Gang Orca chuckled and took the pen from Midoriya. ‘Seriously, where the hell does he have that?’ Henshizo thought to himself as he made lotion from the power glove and put it on his hands and they began healing.

Once his skin was healed, he changed his costume into his UA uniform and began the waiting game. Gang Orca signed a few more autographs and came back to Henshizo. “That boy from Shiketsu and your classmate, what happened there?” He asked and Henshizo shook his head. “Sounded like Endeavor/daddy issues. Like I’m one to talk. Those idiots.” Henshizo muttered the last bit. “Don’t insult them, but not wrong. They let emotions cloud their judgment and abilities.” Gang Orca said and Henshizo bowed lightly. “Right sir, apologies.” Henshizo said and Gang Orca chuckled. “Still have much to learn. But take care of yourself, Yahata.” Gang Orca said, with a hint of pride when he said Henshizo’s hero name. “I will sir. Thank you. For everything.” Henshizo said bowing deeply.

Gang Orca and all the others left, Henshizo noting that both gauntlets he had used to stop Henshizo’s and Midoriya’s attacks at the end were cracked, and all the students began gathering in front of a platform that had a video board behind it; with Mara leaning on a podium in the middle of it. Eventually all hundred were changed out and back into their schools’ uniforms. “Before I announce who passed, I may as well explain the scoring system. You were given a base score of one hundred points. Between H.U.C. and members of the public safety commission who were assigned to observe each of you, points were deducted for errors you made. If you fell below fifty, you failed and couldn’t make points back. Anyway, behind me will be the names of everyone that passed in alphabetical order, and keep the scoring system in mind.” Mara said as the names of everyone who had passed appeared on the board and there began a silent frantic search for names.

‘Please. Please. Please.’ Henshizo thought as his eyes quickly scanned through and right under Sero’s name was Henshizo Sesshada. He had passed and when he saw his name Henshizo felt tears in his eyes and he smiled, almost as happy as first finding and meeting his mom. Henshizo quickly wiped his eyes, but was still smiling happily as his classmates found their names, well not every classmate. “Wh-where is it?” Bakugo asked shocked and horrified, while Todoroki hung his head when his name wasn’t on the board. The tall boy from Shiketsu also didn’t find his name and Henshizo walked up to Todoroki.

“I’m sorry man, maybe if I freed you sooner.” Henshizo said quietly and Todoroki shook his head. “My mistakes beforehand were what cost me. Not how long I was in the cement. It’s not your fault Sesshada. Congratulations.” Todoroki said in his usual monotone voice, but Henshizo could pick up on the hints of disappointment. ‘Two of our strongest didn’t pass. It doesn’t seem real.’ Henshizo thought as everyone began congratulating each other. Inasa came over to Todoroki and looked at him intensely and then quickly slammed his head down to the ground in apology.

“I’m sorry Todoroki, it’s my fault you didn’t pass. I was blinded by my emotions.” Inasa said and Henshizo crossed his arms. “No, it’s my fault, I started it.” Todoroki said trying to calm the taller boy down and Inasa straightened up.

“People are only themselves. They aren’t their parents. I should know that, and now you both realize that.” Henshizo said and they both looked at him awkwardly, and nodded. “And now we’ll be passing out all of your scores. You’ll see where points were deducted and comments to improve.” Mara said and a bunch of men in suits began walking around carrying stacks of papers, handing them out to the respective students, one suit came up to Henshizo and held a paper out.

“Sesshada?” The suit asked for confirmation and Henshizo quickly nodded and took the paper and began looking over it. ‘Seventy-seven. Mostly taken points off for my language and lack of direct action in rescue or evacuation.’ Henshizo read along and walked over to Momo and Jiro. “You got a ninety-four Momo?!” Jiro asked incredulously and Momo was beaming with pride and Henshizo smiled at his cousin.

“Congrats Momo.” Henshizo said happily and she smiled at him. “And congrats to you Henshizo.”
She said and she hugged him and Henshizo lightly hugged back. Henshizo broke the hug and then went to find Ojiro and Yanagi. “How’d you guys do?” Henshizo asked and Ojiro held his paper out shakily.

“Sixty-one. Not great, but I passed.” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded. “Nothing wrong with that. Just means you have things to work on and can improve.” Henshizo said reassuringly and Ojiro nodded. “I achieved an eighty-eight. I was quite exemplary in most aspects apart from my speed.” Yanagi said floating her paper for them to see and Henshizo smiled at her, causing Yanagi to go pink in the face a bit.

Henshizo then glanced towards Todoroki and Inasa. ‘If they failed, why didn’t they get told or pulled? Why keep going?’ Henshizo wondered to himself. “Right. For those that passed the exam, in emergency situations you now have the same authority as heroes; allowing you to fight villains or save civilians from harm.” Mara said and everyone turned back to face him. “Of course, this also means you know bear responsibility for society. With All Might gone, those that are opportunistic in society will be eager to strike. Society will be in limbo, and you young heroes will help guide society through this troubling time. And for those that failed, don’t worry. To ensure that you all can experience the future I just described, those that failed will have the option of taking a multi-week special course, which will be running concurrent with your classes. It will be quite the challenge, but should you pass all the tests, you will be awarded a provisional license.” Mara continued and those that failed all looked determined and Henshizo lightly smirked.

‘Like Bakugo and Todoroki would pass this up.’ Henshizo thought looking at the two. “And now those that passed will be directed to areas designated to take your photo and get your physical license.” Mara said and those that had passed were directed into the arena and with mild horror saw it was only one area. ‘This is going to take forever.’ Henshizo thought annoyed as the line slowly trickled forward. Eventually Henshizo got his picture taken and was handed his license. He looked at it as he walked away, and although he had a light smile, he had been sure to keep it professional.

‘Oh, how I would love to shove this down that bastards throat.’ Henshizo thought happily as he walked out and waited for everyone. Eventually all of 1-A, who had passed, came out and were admiring their licenses and the sun was beginning to set. Henshizo stepped off to the side and leaned against a tree and called his mom. Kik I

“Henshizo?! Did you pass?!” Giji asked anxiously and loudly. “Yes. Yes, I did mom.” Henshizo said feeling a couple tears run down his cheeks, and Giji yelled in happiness. “I knew you would do it baby! I’m beyond proud of you. You just showed everyone you are a hero.” Giji said and it was clear she was crying a bit too. “We can finally have time together mom. Finally.” Henshizo said happily and Giji laughed. “I can’t wait. Tomorrow, meet there at ten?” She asked and Henshizo hummed thinking. “I’ll need to talk to Aizawa, I’ll text you when he says we can meet. That arcade and mini golf place, right?” Henshizo asked, as Ojiro and Yanagi watched him, lightly smiling at their friend being obviously happy.

“Sounds good, yes. I think that’s a good first spot.” Giji said and Henshizo nodded and began walking towards Aizawa. “Ok mama, I’ll let you know. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I’ll tell you all about the test then. Love you.” Henshizo said happily as he waited on Ms. Joke and Aizawa finished a conversation. “Sounds great baby, love you too.” Giji said and he hung up and walked up to Aizawa who sighed, causing Ms. Joke to laugh.

“You don’t waste time Sesshada. You passed so I’ll honor the deal.” Aizawa said and Ms. Joke tilted her head curiously. “Thank you, sir. My mom suggested ten, is that ok?” Henshizo asked and Aizawa nodded. “We’ll leave at eight-thirty then.” He said, causing Henshizo smiled and Ms. Joke to fake pout.

“Meeting a student’s mom Eraser? You cheating on me?” Ms. Joke asked clearly joking, but Henshizo flared up and looked at Ms. Joke very angrily and she quickly realized her mistake and Aizawa put a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder. “Ah. Sorry. I humbly apologize, that was inconsiderate of me.” Ms. Joke said quickly and lightly bowed. “Calm down Sesshada.” Aizawa said sternly and Henshizo calmed down enough to walk away back to the bus. “Yikes. I upset him bad.” Ms. Joke said rubbing her neck. “Sesshada is very sensitive about his family. Between his upbringing and his… psychological scarring, his mom is easily the most important thing in his life. He’s still, as you saw, easily able to lose his temper, he’s a real headache inducing problem child.” Aizawa said exasperated and Ms. Joke lightly frowned. “But he’s also one of the strongest students and is helping the others become better heroes.” Aizawa said and Ms. Joke smiled. “You sound proud.” She said teasingly and Aizawa rolled his eyes.

Henshizo was texting his mom as he walked towards the bus and overheard the end of Midoriya talking to the hairy boy from Shiketsu. “Yea, Camie left beforehand, saying she was sick. Although she’s been behaving a bit odd. Although your classmate’s actions may have also had something to do with it.” The hairy boy said and Henshizo rolled his eyes lightly, but happily got on the bus, still buzzing about getting his license. ‘Aizawa says ten is fine. See you then’ He sent his mom and then he held the license out in front of him and took a photo of it and sent it to Sanae with the message, ‘I passed! Another step forward and I couldn’t have done it without your support Sanae.’ He sent it and waited for a response as the rest of the class slowly came over to the bus, and not long after they started to board the bus his phone pinged and Henshizo saw the response from Sanae.

‘We all screamed when we saw it. We’re so incredibly happy for you Henshizo. Congratulations, we knew you could it. I am so proud, keep the hard work up. And I’m glad to have helped such an amazing person like you.’ Sanae had sent back and Henshizo smiled more at his phone. ‘Thank you all. Don’t worry, I’m going to continue making you guys proud.’ Henshizo replied back and Ojiro looked at him smiling.

“I haven’t really seen you smile like this. Except when you heard your mom woke up.” He said happy for his friend and Henshizo chuckled and rubbed his neck. “Yea, I suppose. It’s just… this will make people who doubted me, who didn’t believe I’m truly someone who wants to be a hero, call me that, a hero.” Henshizo said happily as the bus started up and they began the drive back to UA. “I know, it all feels so surreal.” Ojiro said looking at his license as well. All the students who passed were busy celebrating and showing off their licenses to each other, Bakugo growing more and more agitated the whole time.

When they got back to UA it was twilight and they walked back to the dorms, changing into normal clothes, and then went down to the common area. “I can’t believe we have classes on Monday. Only a day off.” Ashido said slumping over the couch and Henshizo was happily making dinner in the kitchen. Momo came over and pot a tea kettle on the stove. “My mom said you and Auntie are having a mom and son day tomorrow.” Momo said enthusiastically and Henshizo nodded and smiled at her.

“We’re going to an arcade that has mini golf. Sure, I can’t do everything there, but it’s a good spot and easy for both of us.” Henshizo said as he put soy sauce in his ramen. “That sounds lovely, and then what?” She asked and Henshizo shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends a bit on how things go. Plus Aizawa.” Henshizo said quietly and Momo raised her eyes. “Sensei is going too?” She asked confused and Henshizo nodded as he put the noodles into a bowl. “It was the only way he would agree. I was targeted.” Henshizo muttered quietly and Momo sadly nodded as her kettle whistled and she poured the water into a cup.

“But I don’t care if he’s there. Most likely he’ll just hang back and watch.” Henshizo said shrugging and Momo nodded as she put some leaves into the boiling water. “Just enjoy yourself. Don’t think of UA at all, ok?” Momo asked and Henshizo let out an exaggerated gasp. “Who are you and what have you done with my cousin? The Momo I know would never say forget about school.” Henshizo said laughing and Momo giggled. “Quiet. But I mean it. Just focus on having fun, it’s important for both of you.” Momo said and Henshizo nodded, then Momo giggled some more. “From what my mom has said, Auntie was highly competitive, so she probably still is.” Momo said and Henshizo smiled. “Just means fun.” He said as he ate his dinner.

After a bit everyone went up to their bedrooms and Henshizo was sitting at his desk researching possible activities that he and his mom could after the arcade. Henshizo could have sworn he heard what sounded like Midoriya walking past his door, but he ignored it and then went to bed, happy and almost too excited to fall asleep. ‘If it weren’t for the exam, I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.’ Henshizo thought as his body finally relaxed and he drifted off to sleep, now a licensed hero and able to see his mom.

Notes:

I've learned that when you think about time and when things happen in the calander year and common sense, that things don't make sense. But hey, I can write it so it does make sense somewhat. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 43: Game Time

Summary:

Henshizo finally gets to have some time with his mom and they can be a mother and son. What could possibly go wrong?

Henshizo woke up the following morning and leapt out of bed, getting dressed quickly and went down to the kitchen to briefly eat. When he got downstairs most of the class was standing there confused, looking into the common area where Midoriya and Bakugo were vacuuming the floors and both were bandaged along their arms and faces. “What happened with them?” Henshizo asked as he went to the kitchen and Momo sighed. “They fought each other last night and Aizawa has put them on house arrest.” Momo said and Henshizo couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. “What?! You idiots, the day of the practical.” Henshizo said unable to help himself and laughed more, causing Bakugo to grow angry and Midoriya to go red faced.

“Sesshada, it’s impolite to laugh at them.” Iida said but others were nodding in agreement with what Henshizo said and Henshizo continued to laugh. “I’m not laughing at that, fully. I’m more laughing that they got house arrest before me.” Henshizo said laughing as he went to the cabinet and got a plate out and a couple others chuckled at that fact as they started going about their morning. Henshizo fried an egg and made toast and quickly ate breakfast, and then quickly left the dorm and walked to the teacher’s dorm, since he wasn’t sure where Aizawa would be and he raised his hand to knock, but the door open and Midnight was there, and seeing a teacher in casual clothing was a shock to Henshizo she yawned as Henshizo glanced to the side and she smirked.

“Morning Sesshada, Shota is coming, don’t worry.” Midnight said and Henshizo nodded as Midnight leaned against the door. “Your classmates were naughty last night.” She said and Henshizo nodded lightly, getting hot in the face and he adjusted his tie. “Kayama, behave.” Aizawa’s voice came from behind her and he was sucking on a fruit pouch and Midnight pouted. “I was just commenting on how much energy our students have.” Midnight said and Henshizo cleared his throat. “Kayama.” Aizawa said in an exasperated tone, and Midnight sighed. “Fine, fine. You two have fun. Sesshada, try and make grumpypants here have fun.” Midnight said, causing Henshizo to lightly nod and Aizawa to lightly glare. “I’m merely escorting Sesshada, I won’t be participating in anything.” Aizawa said and Midnight sighed. “Such a wet blanket Shota.” Midnight said teasingly and she went back in to the dorms and Aizawa turned to Henshizo. “Apologies for her. Some of the other teachers celebrated so many students passing the provisional exam.” Aizawa said as he walked down the steps with Henshizo walking beside him.

“It’s ok sir, just more odd to see someone tease you.” Henshizo said lightly smirking as Aizawa sighed. “Thank you for this sir.” Henshizo added and Aizawa glanced at him. “UA teaches hero course students to fight for justice. While unconventional, this is a form of justice for you and your mom; so, denying it would be irrational.” Aizawa said and Henshizo smiled as they got into a car and the driver began driving to the station. “So, what happened with Bakugo and Midoriya?” Henshizo asked curiously and Aizawa sighed, annoyed. “You know how those two have been, paired with Bakugo not passing the practical the powder keg exploded. Speaking of confrontations, I heard about your confrontation with that girl from Shiketsu, care to explain yourself?” Aizawa asked sternly and Henshizo went a bit red. “I-I, uh, look, promise you won’t think I’m crazy or anything.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck and Aizawa nodded so Henshizo looked at him awkwardly. “Being in the life I was in, for as long as I was, one develops a sense. It's a survival instinct one develops that tells a person that there is a dangerous person here. I felt it in the mall, then before the training camp attack, and yesterday I felt it with her.” Henshizo said rubbing his arm and Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “I suppose an instinct like that is natural, heroes develop something similar, but why with her?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo shook his head. “No idea, I didn’t recognize her or her name; but I just felt it.” Henshizo said quietly looking down and Aizawa sighed. “Sesshada, there’s nothing wrong with that, just maybe go about it not as confrontational next time.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded as the car stopped in front of the train station.

The pair got out of the car and went in to the station, boarding the train they needed to take and rode in silence, Henshizo noting Aizawa closing his eyes, but still on alert as they rode along on the train. Once the train got to their stop the pair got up and walked out on to the platform, and once they got to the bottom of the stairs they stopped when they saw a man holding a sign saying ‘Henshizo’. “I guess my aunt arranged our travel to the arcade.” Henshizo muttered to Aizawa and Aizawa nodded. The pair walked up and the man nodded his head. “Madam Sozo told me to meet you here and drive you to your destination.” The driver said and Henshizo nodded and Aizawa shrugged as they got into the back of the car. “Saves UA an expense, right?” Henshizo said lightly smiling at Aizawa. “It saves me from paperwork.” Aizawa said and Henshizo chuckled as he looked out the window for just a bit. “I’m glad it’s just a SUV, not a limo.” Henshizo said turning to Aizawa but he saw that Aizawa was once again sitting with his eyes closed resting, so Henshizo turned back to look out the window as he got more and more excited as they drew closer.

Once they got to the arcade Henshizo eagerly got out of the car and almost dashed inside as Aizawa slowly followed in. As soon as Henshizo went in he saw his mom sitting at a bench and he went up to her, she stood up and they hugged. “Hi Mama. How’re you doing?” He asked as she rubbed his back. “I’m doing great, and I’m just so proud of you.” Giji said kissing his cheek and hugging him tight again. “Thanks mama.” Henshizo said happily, lightly picking her up. Aizawa came up to them with his hands in his pockets. “Can I see your license?” She asked as they finally let go of each other and Henshizo nodded. He pulled his wallet out and pulled his license out and she looked at it and smiled. “I can’t believe you managed to get a decent photo like this.” Giji said giggling and Henshizo chuckled and motioned to Aizawa. “Mom, this is my homeroom teacher, Eraserhead.” Henshizo said introducing them and she turned to Aizawa and lightly bowed. “Thank you for taking care of him and helping him along his journey to be a hero.” Giji said politely to Aizawa.

“It’s a pleasure meeting you, I’m just here to serve as his escort, so in reality I’m not here.” Aizawa said and Giji giggled lightly. “Does Henshizo cause trouble?” she asked and Henshizo groaned. “Yes, he is one of my biggest problem children, but not the worst. He’s also the only one I can count on for good coffee.” Aizawa said and Henshizo laughed, causing Giji to giggle. “Ok, want to go mini golfing first Henshizo?” Giji asked and Henshizo nodded, so they made their way outside and paid for the two of them to play and went to hole one. Henshizo motioned for Giji to go first and she put her ball down and lined up her shot. “I know this is silly, but, it’s nice.” She said as she hit the ball and it went off the wall and stopped a few feet from the hole.

“This isn’t silly, it’s something we deserve.” Henshizo said gently as he set his ball down and hit it forward and he bumped his mom’s ball further away from the hole. “Rude.” Giji said smiling and Henshizo chuckled as they went to their balls, Henshizo tapping his ball in, and Giji making her second shot. The went to the next hole which had the option of a narrow bridge or a large curve. Giji turned to Aizawa as Henshizo put his ball down. “So, are there are any embarrassing stories you can tell me about Henshizo?” Giji asked and Henshizo went a little red and Aizawa raised an eyebrow.

“Not particularly. He’s reserved for the most part in class. Although he is very over protective of Yaoyorozu which has caused a couple scenes.” Aizawa said as Henshizo managed to get his ball across the bridge and sighed. “Oh, defending Momo? How sweet.” Giji said as she put her ball down. “He once slammed one of his classmate’s face into a picnic table after that classmate made Yaoyorozu embarrassed.” Aizawa said and Henshizo rubbed his neck awkwardly and Giji straightened up looking at Henshizo.

“Momo was upset. I… was raised to protect my family. And I do.” Henshizo said quietly and Giji put a hand to his cheek. “And I will always feel safe with you protecting me and everyone else.” She said quietly and Henshizo smiled and Aizawa made a mental note. Giji elected to around the corner and hit off Henshizo’s ball into the hole. “Hole in one!” She shouted happily and Henshizo smiled at her happiness. Henshizo tapped his ball in and they moved on to the third hole. “What was Henshizo first like at UA?” Giji asked Aizawa curiously as she put her ball down and lined up the shot.

“He was very reserved and cautious. But after the USJ incident he opened up a lot more.” Aizawa said and Henshizo looked at Aizawa with a glance. “Another by-product of my upbringing, any new setting or people I’m paranoid of.” Henshizo said quietly and Giji looked at him sadly, before hitting her ball and bouncing it off rocks and it rolled by the hole.

“You shouldn’t be baby. Everything is ok now.” Giji said gently, rubbing his back as he put his ball down. Henshizo sighed and straightened up. “I’d like to think that, but… it’s hard to break some habits.” Henshizo said quietly and then he hit his ball and it rolled directly into the cup. “How?!” Giji asked and Henshizo smiled at her. “I am a fairly skilled marksman, so once I figure out the power it’s math.” Henshizo said tapping his head and Giji smiled. “So smart.” She said proudly as she walked over and knocked her ball in.

“That is one thing, he’s in the top third of the class academically now, which came as a surprise to some of the other teachers. Not because we thought he was stupid, but because his academic records were… nonexistent basically, apart from less than a year in middle school.” Aizawa said and Giji smiled more as they went to the fourth hole. “Yea, my teachings were more… practical. Can’t complain too much, because now I’m going to be a hero using what I learned.” Henshizo said smiling as he put his ball down and as he straightened up to take his shot he felt someone watching him and he glanced around. “Something wrong?” Aizawa asked seriously and Henshizo didn’t see anyone. “Just… felt someone watching. Probably nothing.” Henshizo said as he didn’t want this to be cut short. Aizawa nodded, but Henshizo could tell he was now on heightened guard and Giji rubbed Henshizo’s arm soothingly.

“It’s ok Henshizo. It’s nothing.” She said and he nodded and focused back on the game. As they continued along the course Henshizo was having fun as he and his exchanged good shots. “You set me up suggesting coming here. You’re amazing mom.” Henshizo said after she managed to sink a difficult shot on the fourteenth hole and Giji giggled. “Your Aunt may have mentioned I was competitive and I am.” Giji said smiling and Henshizo smiled back at her as they went along with Aizawa watching them. Once they finished the golf course, Henshizo won by two thanks to the All Might windmill blocking Giji’s ball on the sixteenth hole. ‘I refuse to have my image used like that.’ Henshizo thought as he saw Aizawa look at it with mild disgust. They went into the arcade, then to the little café inside for lunch. “Will you want something Aizawa?” Giji asked and Aizawa raised his eyebrows in shock that she was offering him.

“I don’t think-” Aizawa began speaking but Giji lightly giggled to stop him. “Before you say it may be inappropriate or anything like that, it’s just me doing something kind to someone who helped protect my son.” She said although there was a tone in her voice that told Aizawa she was going to get him a meal and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Just a beef ramen bowl then.” Aizawa mumbled and Henshizo began to chuckle that his homeroom teacher was bested by his mom, but Aizawa shut him up with a look. “Oh, now I can see how you keep your students in line.” Giji said seeing the look before walking up to the counter and placing their orders. “A beef ramen bowl, a chicken katsu ramen bowl for me, and what would you like Henshizo?” She asked and Henshizo glanced up at the menu.

“Tonkotsu ramen bowl please.” Henshizo said to the woman who had a snake quirk with her angled head, scales along her body, and tail standing up behind her. Giji paid for the bowls and they sat down to wait for their food, Henshizo noticing the janitor was sweeping and getting closer to them. “Third worst problem child.” Aizawa said catching Henshizo’s attention and Giji giggled that Henshizo responded to it. “Yea?” Henshizo asked tilting his head. “Were Bakugo and Midoriya cleaning the common area this morning?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo nodded as he lightly smirked. “Are they problem children one and two?” Henshizo asked and Aizawa nodded and Henshizo laughed as Giji looked confused.

“Bakugo… he won the sports festival, right? And Midoriya, that was the boy who’s arms were horrible broken right?” Giji asked curiously and Henshizo nodded. “Did they do something?” She asked and Aizawa sighed. “They’re being disciplined for a moronic decision. Which means they’ll miss the start of term speech tomorrow.” Aizawa said and Henshizo leaned back in his seat giving a deep exhale. “Has it really been a full term already? It seems like two years has already happened.” Henshizo said and he noticed on the floor beside him a napkin with the word ‘shatei’ written on it and Henshizo’s eyes went wide, before calming down and he glanced at the direction of the janitor and made eye contact with him. Henshizo nodded towards the bathroom and the janitor nodded and went inside, carrying his broom while Henshizo stood up.

“Just have to run to the bathroom real fast.” Henshizo said and Aizawa nodded, as Henshizo made his way to the bathroom where the janitor was waiting for him and Henshizo had a super serious face on. “Boss, I thought it was you. Then I heard that woman say your name.” The janitor said and Henshizo lightly smirked. “Inaku, it’s been too long.” Henshizo said adopting an authoritative tone with him and then Henshizo got angry. “You’re still a fucking moron. A napkin note?” Henshizo hissed at him quietly and Inaku flinched. “S-sorry sir. But can I call you that? I saw you’re at UA now.” He said suspiciously and Henshizo chuckled darkly and walked up to Inaku and flashed murderous intent at Inaku. “One thing my father always told me was to do what was least expected to come out on top. You’re the first of the old family I’ve come into contact with, you know? Because I know damn well the police have been watching me under a microscope. So, what do I do to throw everyone off? Say I want to be a hero. It’s a great story, right? The son of a notorious villain trying to shed his past and become a hero.” Henshizo said with mock excitement and then gagged.

“I knew it, you’re playing everyone.” Inaku said happily and Henshizo smirked. “Oh yea, sure my plan is a very, very, slowly moving plan, but it’s working to perfection.” Henshizo said smirking and Inaku nodded and then looked towards the door. “That woman you’re with, I recognize her.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “That’s my mom, one benefit of ‘being a hero’ is access to all the resources they have.” Henshizo said and Inaku looked at Henshizo incredulously. “You found her? How?” Inaku asked and Henshizo chuckled. “I’m just that damn good. Unlike my father who was careless and greedy, I am much more calculating and careful. I have another plan that’s running concurrently with my ‘redemption’ plan.” Henshizo said smirking and Inaku looked at him astounded. “I am slowly corrupting the next generation of heroes. Making them owe me favors, making items for them. You wouldn’t believe how many of them have asked me to hook them up with shit.” Henshizo said chuckling and Inaku began chuckling. “That’s the Sesshada way, always have plans on plans.” Inaku said happily and Henshizo nodded. “Exactly. Now, head out of the bathroom.” Henshizo commanded and Inaku nodded, starting towards the door. As he walked past Henshizo, Henshizo made a ring on his hand into brass knuckles and spun Inaku around, catching Inaku by surprise and he delivered a vicious right hook to Inaku, driving Inaku’s head into the sink.
Inaku fell to the ground, unconscious as Henshizo changed grabbed a paper towel and changed it into a pair quirk canceling handcuffs and handcuffed Inaku. Henshizo left the bathroom as Aizawa was coming up with a panicked looked on his face, but calmed down seeing Henshizo. “A fugitive has been detained.” Henshizo said quietly and Aizawa nodded and the pair went back to the table, where Giji had a worried look on her face.

“What happened? We head a crack or something.” Giji said worried and Henshizo sighed. “Just being a hero and detained a person I know is a fugitive.” Henshizo said looking down at the table, hating the fact that something like this happened. Giji reached across the table and rubbed Henshizo’s head, Henshizo just briefly flinching but then relaxed and happily sighed as she did it. “Don’t feel bad, nothing happened baby. We’re all safe and you did good. I’m proud of you.” Giji said softly and Henshizo looked at her and saw she was smiling. Aizawa meanwhile had his phone out and was busy contacting the cops. “Ah crap, I’m going to have fill out the paperwork.” Henshizo groaned and Giji laughed as Aizawa came back over.

“Yes, you will since you did everything. What’s done is done.” Aizawa said thumbing to the bathroom and Henshizo stood back up and walked with Aizawa to the bathroom and in, as the pair looked at the still unconscious Inaku. “Who is he?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo sighed. “Kire Inaku. He was in Surōdesu, acted as a clean up guy. Still was.” Henshizo said gesturing to the broom. “I thought that they rounded everyone up.” Aizawa said and Henshizo shook his head. “They got all the important people, my father, his lieutenants, most of the foot soldiers. But not everyone. If I remember correctly Inaku was on assignment somewhere in the north when the raid happened.” Henshizo said trying to remember but Aizawa put a hand on his shoulder.

“You recognized him, right?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo nodded. “I wasn’t sure until I saw the napkin note he left me. Inaku was never that smart.” Henshizo said as Aizawa sighed. “Should’ve let me handle him.” Aizawa said sternly and Henshizo shrugged his shoulders. “I handled it, and I did so without any damage to anything important.” Henshizo said and Aizawa nodded. “This makes the distance between fourth place and myself in the problem child rankings wider, right?” Henshizo asked and Aizawa nodded again, causing Henshizo to chuckle.

Henshizo went back out with his mom, who was now talking to the snake cashier and Henshizo stood beside her. “Is our food still coming?”
Henshizo asked curiously and the cashier smiled lightly. “Yes. Should be just another minute or two.” She said and Henshizo nodded and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Sorry for the disturbance.” Henshizo said lightly bowing and Giji rubbed his back.

“Don’t worry about it. You did what’s right.” Giji said gently yet firmly and Henshizo straightened up as a guy came with their bowls and set it at the table. “It’s on the house. We apologize for this incident. Rest assured we’re going to be figuring out how a fugitive got hired here.” The man said and Henshizo took his bowl as he saw cops enter the arcade and he sighed as he handed his mom her bowl.

The cops walked in to the little luncheon area and Henshizo stood up. “We were called about a fugitive.” One of them said and Henshizo nodded and walked them to the bathroom where Eraserhead was standing watch over a barely conscious Inaku. “I took him down. So, I’ll take the paperwork.” Henshizo said lightly annoyed and the one who had spoken gave him some papers after Henshizo unlocked Inaku enough to hand him over to the police.

“Y-you lied. You said you were faking it.” Inaku mumbled through a swollen jaw and Henshizo looked at him. “My whole life was hell, so I got good at faking things. But that’s my old life; my new life is that of someone who wants to make sure no one suffers. To make sure a kid doesn’t have his fingerprints removed with acid, to make sure a kid doesn’t have his entire rib cage broken, to make sure a kid doesn’t have to cry in bed at night because of what their parent does to them.” Henshizo said angrily, clutching his fists. “Heh. That’s funny, I remember cleaning up your messes. I’ll see you in a cell next to me.” Inaku said smirking and Aizawa nodded to the officers who began taking him away. “Try all you like. You’re still you’re father’s son. You’re still like everyone else.” Inaku called out and Henshizo looked away as he heard the police gag him.

“If you want to-”Aizawa began, but Henshizo shook his head. “I am going to have fun. He’s my past, this is the now. Our lunch is getting cold.” Henshizo said and he walked out of the bathroom, which Aizawa sighing behind him. The two rejoined Giji and she smiled at them.

“I’ve never seen hero work so close like that. So Henshizo, when we’re done eating want to play some arcade games?” Giji asked and Henshizo smiled at her and happily nodded as he chewed on some of the meat. “Ms. Sozo, are you ok?” Aizawa asked and Giji nodded and gave a dismissive wave. “My son took down a fugitive. And yes, I heard what he was saying.” Giji said, causing Henshizo to go pale, but Giji put a hand on his arm to reassure him. “You were that, but you are not anymore. Just like I was in a coma, but now I’m not. What matters now is who you are and you will become, just remember that.” Giji said softly and Henshizo nodded, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Thanks mom.” Henshizo said quietly, but very happily as they finished their food. They got up and left and went into the arcade, first going to the token machine and loading up on tokens for the games, and first went to a racing game and sat down. “Let’s do this, hope you’re ready.” Giji said happily and Henshizo chuckled happily as they put their tokens in and got ready. Aizawa was leaning against the wall, watching as Giji thoroughly beat Henshizo in the racing game. “No fair.” Henshizo said chuckling as he came in a distant second.

“Hey, your mom isn’t a slouch.” Giji said smiling as they stood up and Henshizo looked around and saw a shooting game and walked up to it. “Oh no. I know better than to try and beat you in that.” Giji said laughing lightly as Henshizo groaned and then pointed to the claw machines. “Ten minutes. Whoever gets more prizes, wins.” Henshizo said and Giji’s eyes lit up with excitement so they went over and began. Henshizo focused and managed to get an All Might plushie, a Gang Orca reusable bottle, an Endeavor plushie, a Mirko poster, a Wild Wild Pussycats lunchbox, and a replica pair of Hawks’ goggles. His mom had gotten the same All Might and Endeavor plushies, but got distracted a bit by looking at all the other heroes who were new to her, so she only wound up getting a Best Jeanist stress ball and then a Crust frisbee before the time expired.

“Can I have the stress ball?” Henshizo asked pointing to it and Giji nodded as Henshizo made a napkin into a bag that they put all the stuff in. Henshizo glanced at another machine and saw it was full mostly of stuffed ghosts and other generic scary stuff, causing him to think of Yanagi so he went up went to it and put a token in and easily got a stuffed ghost out and put it in the bag as well. Giji was smiling at him as he turned around and Aizawa walked up. “We should get back; you do have the paperwork to fill out.” Aizawa said and Henshizo groaned but nodded and Giji hugged him.

“It’s silly, but I had a really great time today. Lunch interruption included.” Giji said softly as she kissed Henshizo’s cheek and hugged him. “Same. Most genuine fun I’ve had in… a long time.” Henshizo said happily, hugging her back and the three left the arcade, where two cars were in the parking lot with drivers talking to each other. “Unte, you can take me home. Res, can you take them to the train station?” Giji said to the two drivers and they lightly bowed as Giji turned to Aizawa. “Thank you for agreeing to this. It means so much to me.” She said lightly bowing and Aizawa put a hand up.

“Thanks is not necessary ma’am.” Aizawa said as she straightened up. “But I wanted to thank you. For also protecting us.” Giji smiled lightly at him and then reached in her purse and pulled a card out and held it out to Aizawa. “If Henshizo acts up let me know. Also, I suppose it’d be good for UA to have my number on file.” She said as Aizawa took it and nodded.

“Oh great.” Henshizo grumbled and crossed his arms, causing Giji to giggle. “I love you Henshizo, keep up the great work.” Giji said hugging him and he hugged back. “I will mom, I love you too.” Henshizo said quietly and they broke apart and went to their cars, Aizawa getting in after Henshizo and the cars drove off.

“You showed me you can be trusted, so if there’s another time that you two would like to meet up that would be allowed. You would still need an escort however.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded as they drove along. “Thank you, sir. I was worried after Inaku, but my mom is right. I’m no longer that person; however, no matter how hard a person tries, their past never dies.” Henshizo sighed bitterly as he glanced down in the bag and looked at the prizes that he and his mom had won.

Res took them to the train station and they got out and got onto a train back towards UA, which Henshizo took to fill out the report on Inaku’s arrest. “Uh. Where should I send this? Gang Orca showed me how to fill one out, but he always took care of the final step.” Henshizo asked Aizawa who looked at him. “Office of hero incidents at the public safety commission. You can mail it once we get back to UA.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded as he settled in for the train ride back. Once they got back to UA Aizawa left to the teachers’ dorm and Henshizo went back to the 1-A dorm and was thankful to see the common room empty, quickly putting the report in an envelope and putting it in the outgoing mail slot in the mail room the dorm had, and then went up to his room.

Henshizo noted the little ‘under house arrest’ sign under Midoriya’s sign and shook his head as he went in to his room and dumped the toys on the bed and took the stress ball and put it on his desk and then began going through the rest, changing the Endeavor plushies to marbles and pocketing them. ‘Not sorry Endeavor. Can’t stand fathers like you.’ Henshizo thought as he did it. He put most of the other prizes in his closet, apart from the Mirko poster that he put up beside the Beat Jeanist poster. Henshizo then picked up the ghost plushie and walked over to Yanagi’s room and suddenly got anxious as he went to knock on the door.

After taking a moment to collect himself he knocked on her door and waited, lightly bouncing back and forth on his feet. The door opened and Yanagi liked confused before her face softened seeing Henshizo. “Back from the arcade with your mother, how was it?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo smiled. “It was amazing. They had a crane game, and I got this.” Henshizo said holding the little stuffed ghost out and Yanagi looked at it, her cheeks going a bit pink. “Just a thank you for helping me yesterday at the licensing exam, stopping me from doing something stupid.” Henshizo said, since that was the best cover, he could come up with as she took the ghost from his hand with her quirk, so now it was like a ghost floating in the air. “My many thanks, I will add it to my collection.” She said lightly and Henshizo smiled while rubbing his neck. “Cool. I’m going to prepare for classes tomorrow. Talk to ya later.” Henshizo said happily and she nodded lightly smiling at Henshizo as she went back into her room and closed the door. Henshizo walked back to his dorm, letting out a deep breath, trying to get his heart to calm down. ‘No rest for us.’ Henshizo thought as he picked up his textbooks and began studying for classes.

Notes:

Inaku was mentioned back in chapter 20, as one of the 'cleaners' for Henshizo's father. A not so fun blast from the past for Henshizo too, but he showed his true colors... right? Hope you enjoyed

Chapter 44: Make Those Kids Smile

Summary:

Class 1-A gets a unique heroics class, how can Henshizo work with kids? Should be fun right?

Henshizo woke up the following morning, quickly getting in his uniform, and then went down to the kitchen for breakfast, with most of the class already there. Henshizo walked over to the coffee machine, which he had made for the class and stopped and looked at it in horror. “Who used the coffee machine and didn’t fill it with water?!” Henshizo called out clearly angered and a few of his classmates gulped as a Henshizo deprived of his coffee was a hazard. “S-sorry. I was so tired I forgot.” Kirishima said raising his hand and Henshizo walked over and saw he still had half his coffee and took the mug. “Sesshada, that’s-” Iida began, but Henshizo glared at him with such intensity he backed off. Kirishima got up and went over and began putting water in the coffee machine. Henshizo began drinking the coffee and grimaced at the taste, but finished the coffee off. “Too sweet. What the hell is the point of making coffee you add so much stuff to it, it no longer tastes like coffee?” Henshizo grumbled as he tossed the mug to Kirishima as he grabbed bread from the counter and put it in the toaster.

“Isn’t the start of term assembly today?” Sero asked breaking the silence, causing Iida to nod. “Correct, we will be going to homeroom first and then the whole school will assemble outside.” Iida said seriously and they all nodded. “I’m surprised Aizawa isn’t pulling something to get us out of it.” Henshizo said as he took the toast and put it on a plate before grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge and sitting down.

The class talked while Henshizo read the news on his phone; he read how a gang of villains had robbed a convenience store, but then got into a fiery wreck and yet escaped without injury, Henshizo’s stomach also turned over when he read that a group of bodies that had been severely burned had been found in an alleyway and identification wouldn’t be likely, but they had clearly been burnt alive. ‘That sounds like that one guy from the League, but then again flame quirks are a dime a dozen.’ Henshizo thought as he closed his eyes and briefly imagined the smell of burning flesh, causing him to tense up and crush the bottle in his hands, startling the others as some juice fell to the floor. “Damn it. Not my morning.” Henshizo muttered, changing the bottle to a towel and went to clean it up, but stopped himself and looked towards the back of Bakugo smirking lightly. “Henshizo no.” Momo said quietly as she could tell the idea he had in his head.

“Whoops. Looks like I spilled this juice. If only there was someone who was stuck on house arrest and was ordered to clean the common areas including the kitchen.” Henshizo said loudly and he was happy to see Bakugo get angry, standing up and turning to Henshizo. “You fucking idiot yakuza! You did that on purpose didn’t you?!” Bakugo shouted at him and Henshizo shrugged. “Didn’t mean to, but I’m not a total idiot. Here.” Henshizo said putting the towel on the table for Bakugo, who was standing there with a vein pulsing in his head. The rest of the class watched nervously as the two confrontational students stared at each other. “Oi! You damn nerd, the kitchen is your area today!” Bakugo shouted at Midoriya who was coming in to the kitchen.

“Wha?” Midoriya asked confused and Henshizo nonchalantly knocked the towel onto the juice. With the chaos avoided the rest of the class slowly left the dorm and made their way to the main school building. “Why were you so antagonistic this morning?” Yanagi asked curiously, walking beside Henshizo causing him to sigh and rub his neck awkwardly.

“I had a bad sleep, and by that, I mean I could hardly sleep.” Henshizo said quietly and it wasn’t a lie as Henshizo thought back to all the nightmares he had had last night thanks to running in to Inaku at the arcade. “Ah. That is understandable; sleep is important for controlling one’s temperament.” Yanagi said calmly as they walked into their classroom, Henshizo realizing that the two people in front of him were both on house arrest so it would just be him, Momo, and Hagakure in their row, although with the always invisible Hagakure it may as well have just been him and Momo.

“Why’d they even have us come here first if we’re just going to go to the grounds for the ceremony?” Kaminari asked curiously. “It’s so that we can enter like they have in the past. Remember, the dorms haven’t existed before.” Momo said gently, causing Henshizo to roll his eyes at the stupidity of keeping the tradition of coming from the main building when it didn’t make sense. Momo leaned forward and Henshizo turned to face her. “What happened at breakfast?” Momo asked quietly and Henshizo sighed again and looked out the window.

“Just thought of something in my past.” Henshizo said quietly and Momo put a hand on his shoulder. Eventually the time came for the school to gather for the assembly, so 1-A lined up and began walking down the halls. “Stay in line and proceed to the grounds in an orderly manner.” Iida said directing them, out of line.

“You’re the only one out of line.” Sero said and Henshizo chuckled at Iida’s plight. They were walking along when they saw Monoma leaning against the wall, looking smug. “I heard something interesting. Two! You guys had two people fail the provisional licensing exam.” Monoma said gleefully and began cackling at 1-A, causing Henshizo to glare at him.

“Sorry everyone.” Todoroki said quietly while Monoma rejoined the rest of 1-B. “Let me guess, you failed like you did in the finals.” Kirishima said trying to throw Monoma off, but Monoma smirked and gestured to the rest of 1-B. “Actually, we’ve all pulled ahead of you 1-A.” Monoma said laughing more as one of them came up, a short girl with horns that Henshizo recognized as one of the girls he had put a mask on during the training camp attack.

“According to Vlad sensei, we’ll be doing classes together this semester. I’m really looking forward to it.” The girl said and Henshizo picked up on an American accent. ‘Exchange student, interesting.’ Henshizo thought and he stepped forward as Monoma was whispering something into the girl’s ear. “I’ll beat you up so badly you won’t get back up.” The girl said, catching Kaminari and Kirishima by surprise as Monoma laughed and Kendo went to knock him out but Henshizo pointed at Monoma. “You better pray I don’t get the chance to shut you up, because if I do you will never be able to live it down.” Henshizo said getting defensive of his class, causing some to smile and others to look at each other awkwardly.

“Don’t even think of it.” Kendo said, knocking Monoma out as Momo gently lead Henshizo away with the rest of 1-A following behind them. 1-A got outside and formed a group, joining the rest of all the students facing a stage where the teachers stood in front of the platform and Nezu walked up to the podium, up a small ladder, and the students quieted down. “Greetings everyone, I am the small mammal everyone loves! Welcome to the new semester! A new semester that is giving us new challenges that we have never dealt with before. The loss of a pillar, the attacks aimed at UA, and new life style changes. These challenges aren’t just being felt at UA, but the country as a whole. These changes are causing chaos, which I know can be felt most by those in the hero course. Which is why we encourage you to approach activities outside of the school; like the hero work studies that primarily second and third years do.” Nezu spoke to them all, and the work studies caught Henshizo’s attention.

‘Work studies… that sounds like actual hero work. Yes.’ Henshizo thought as he had trouble paying attention as he got lost thinking of the work studies, but brought back to the speech when Hound Dog, UA’s counselor, took the stage, growling into the mic with some barley distinguishable words thrown in before howling in anger. Vlad King got before the mic and cleared his throat. “What Hound Dog meant is that we are aware that adjusting to dorm life may be difficult, however that does not excuse acting out. Two students fought each other recently and they are being disciplined for it. That type of behavior is inexcusable. So please strive to adjust and behave.” Vlad King said in his gruff voice and Henshizo sighed, as they were painting Midoriya and Bakugo in a bad light. “With that being said; please return to your classrooms starting with the third years.” Vlad King said and the students slowly began heading back to their rooms.

Eventually 1-A got back to their room and Aizawa got to the podium and they looked at him. “A lot of unprecedented incidents have occurred, but nonetheless your education continues. We’re back to normal academia on top of your training to be heroes. The training is going to only get more difficult from here on out.” Aizawa said seriously and Henshizo saw Ashido lean back and whisper to Asui. “Something on your mind Ashido?” Aizawa said sternly causing Ashido to lightly yelp, but Asui raised her hand. “If I may ask, what are hero work studies? Principal Nezu mentioned them, while also saying second and third years usually did them.” Asui asked and the rest of the class perked up as Aizawa sighed. “I was going to talk about them at a later point, but it seems only logical to talk about them now. Hero work studies are hero work outside of school time. Basically, you’ll be acting in more official capacities and more hands on then… most of you were at your internships.” Aizawa said, glancing at Henshizo, Todoroki, and Iida. “However, these would be done during and outside school time; so, you would miss classes, have to make up all missed assignments, and risk grades slipping. Work studies provide hero course students with the ability to gain real world experience that is invaluable and can go a long way in furthering one’s path as a hero. But don’t get your hopes up, it’s been unprecedented that so many first years have provisional licenses; so, us teachers have yet to decide how you guys will be doing them, if at all.” Aizawa said and some of the class grumbled at maybe being left out and Henshizo raised his hand, Aizawa nodded for him to speak.

“Is the risk to our safety higher? Is that why the staff isn’t sure on letting first years do it?” Henshizo asked tilting his head slightly and Aizawa nodded, Henshizo noting him grip the podium just a bit tighter. “Yes. During work studies a student may find themselves actively involved in investigations, take downs of villains, rescuing people from dangerous accidents, and other dangers that pose a higher risk of injury and even death. Work studies are not to be taken lightly. Once the staff meets and discuss what to do with first years I will let you know. If that is all it’s time for your classes to start, oh yea, one more thing. You all are forbidden from discussing anything class or work study related to Midoriya and Bakugo. They’re being punished, and if any of you tell them you will be punished as well, and that punishment would be like theirs, revocation of privileges.” Aizawa said, glancing towards Henshizo and Henshizo understood what he meant. “Sorry to keep you waiting Mic.” Aizawa called out and the door slid open with Present Mic standing there.

“Who’s ready to rock with some grammar?!” Present Mic said excitedly as he came in and Aizawa left them. Henshizo quickly realized Aizawa wasn’t kidding when he said that this new semester was going to be much more difficult, as he was struggling to understand the grammar Present Mic was throwing at them. Ectoplasm’s math class wasn’t any better, with only a bit of relative reprieve coming from Midnight’s history class, but even that was much more difficult than normal as she went over the many revisions to the bill that authorized hero work. When the lunch bell rang, they were all thankful and went to the cafeteria. “First day back and they threw us in the deep end with sharks.” Henshizo grumbled as he picked out a soba platter and put it on his tray.

“Sharks are more desirable than trigonometry.” Yanagi said, floating a sushi platter onto her tray. “I hate it, because I can already do it practically, but actually just looking at numbers… ugh.” Henshizo groaned as grabbed a bowl of fruit and then a bottle of juice, as she grabbed a bowl of rice and tea. They went up to the roof and sat down, quickly beginning to eat. “I dread what All Might has planned for heroics tomorrow, if the teachers are all increasing the intensity.” Yanagi quipped as she floated a piece of sushi into her mouth. At least we can’t fight him.” Henshizo muttered darkly and Yanagi chuckled. They ate lunch and then went back down for their afternoon classes, classic literature with Cementoss and chemistry with Power Loader. When the final bell rang, they went back to the dorm all mentally exhausted. Midoriya was putting together the garbage to take out.

“Gah, that grammar was something else.” Henshizo complained to Yanagi and Ojiro as they sat down at a table, Midoriya in ear shot.” “Math is demonic.” Yanagi said putting her head down on the table. “Cementoss’ analysis made no sense this wasn’t good.” Ojiro said, holding his tail for comfort. “You guys think I should call Gang Orca to find out what work studies are? He would probably know right?” Henshizo said as saw Midoriya looking horror struck at their conversation.

“You should feel that way, Mr. house arrest.” Iida said coming up to Midoriya with a stern look on his face. “That’s mean. Iida, what’re work studies?” Midoriya asked causing Iida to sigh. “We’ve been ordered not to say anything to you two. I’m sorry, but you’re being punished so you just have to accept that. You hear that, Bakugo?” Iida called out to the other house arrestee who was visibly agitated.

“Shut the hell up four eyes, I heard ya.” Bakugo snapped back as Midoriya took the garbage bags and left the dorm. While I agree calling Gang Orca to find out information on work studies would be advantageous, I would say the best course of action would be to wait until we Aizawa informs us on if we will be allowed to participate in them.” Yanagi said, tilting her head to look at Henshizo with her visible eye and he nodded sitting beside her as Momo came over to them carrying a tray of tea.

“Here, this should help give you guys enough energy to get through the evening.” Momo said gently, setting three cups down on the table for them. “Thanks, cuz.” Henshizo said, actually drinking the tea to their surprise. “What? I need the boost.” Henshizo said seeing their shock and they were interrupted with Ashido coming over brandishing the paper.

“Guys look at this!” Ashido said excitedly as she pointed to the headline of one of the smaller stories on the inside of the paper, ‘Fugitive cleaner of notorious Surōdesu arrested.’, causing Henshizo’s heart to drop as the others looked at the story. After they finished up, they looked at Henshizo who was staring at his teacup, knowing what was coming since the story had said he had been arrested at arcade, meaning the others could put one and one together. “Henshizo… why didn’t you say anything?” Momo asked gently as Henshizo lifted his cup up, foot beginning to bounce on the ground.

“Because there was nothing to talk about. A fugitive was spotted and was arrested with no injuries to anyone apart from the fugitive.” Henshizo said stiffly, shakily sipping the tea and the four looked at him. “You were the one, right? To deal with him?” Momo said and Henshizo looked out the window. “So what? I could and I did.” Henshizo said still stiffly, gripping the cup tight. “Was she in any dan-” Momo began asking but Henshizo gripped the cup so tight, it shattered in his hand, startling them all. “Shit, sorry Momo. Here.” Henshizo said, and they watched as from the handle still in his hand the rest of the teacup seemingly grew back and he set it on the table. “And no. I made sure of it.” Henshizo said with just a hint of darkness in his voice as he stood up, not noticing that his left hand was bleeding. “I’ll be in my room trying to figure out that grammar mess Present Mic dropped on us.” Henshizo said stiffly and they watched as he walked away.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” Ashido said quietly and Momo sighed. “It’s not your fault. Henshizo just wants to try and leave his past behind.” Momo said gently as Bakugo saw the blood drops on the floor and began angrily muttering as he grabbed cleaning materials to clean it up. Henshizo got to his room and glanced down at his hand, seeing the blood he just walked to the bathroom and got the first aid kit he had under his sink out and easily patched himself up.

‘Shame, I have heroics tomorrow. Should be fine with just under two hands.” Henshizo thought to himself as he glanced at the mirror before heading to his desk and began working on the homework. After awhile Henshizo finished all his homework, went down to shower, and then went to bed. The following morning Henshizo woke up and made coffee in his room, not trusting the one in the kitchen after yesterday. He walked down to the kitchen with his cup of coffee still having steam come off it as he walked to the counter and grabbed fresh fruit and bread to toast for breakfast. “Attention class 1-A. I have been informed that heroics will be off campus today. We will be departing UA at eight.” Iida said coming in and Henshizo raised an eyebrow. “We’re leaving campus? Who’s going with us? All Might isn’t exactly able to stave off a League attack now.” Henshizo said bluntly and a couple looked at him shocked that he would be mildly disrespectful, but others nodded in agreement. “Ectoplasm will be accompanying us.” Iida said in a matter-of-fact tone and they all nodded. After everyone was done with breakfast the eighteen who could leave changed into their costumes and left the dorm.

“What do you think we’ll be doing that’s having us leave campus?” Ojiro asked Henshizo and Yanagi as they walked along, causing both Henshizo and Yanagi to shrug. “Might be a type of rescue training that they can’t replicate here.” Henshizo said nonchalantly as they got on to the bus, All Might greeting them, and despite the fact he still towered over them, his skinny form took away any sense of power. Once they were all on the bus, Ectoplasm sat at the front and All Might looked at them holding a clipboard.

“I am here, to teach you all how to interact with difficult people.” All Might said as the bus set off. The class muttered in confusion and Momo raised her hand, but All Might raised a hand for her to save her question. “A hero who can connect with, talk to, and tolerate difficult people will set them apart. When it’s an immediate emergency people don’t tend to be stubborn, but when it’s a cautionary evacuation order when the immediacy or severity of a threat isn’t apparent people can resist or be unreasonable. Think the people that refuse to leave their homes when typhoons are approaching. Today you will learn how to handle yourselves with people like this.” All Might said and the class nodded as they rode along. “I can’t decide if it’s a good or bad thing Bakugo isn’t here.” Kaminari quipped and the bus began laughing, even Iida had to stifle a chuckle.

They rode along on the bus, taking amongst themselves for the most part, eventually stopping before a building with a sign on it reading ‘Setagaya Home for at Risk Juveniles’ and the class grew quiet seeing the sign. “These are kids about five to ten years old. Typically, they have been taken from homes that saw their parents arrested or… had to be relocated here for other reasons. Just try and show these kids a decent path. I realize this may seem random, but sometimes a hero has to help a person heal mentally as well as save them physically.” All Might said as he stood up at the front of the bus and he couldn’t help but look at Henshizo briefly as he spoke.

Henshizo lightly shrugged and the class got out of their seats and walked in to the lobby where a woman was waiting for them behind a desk. “Welcome. Thank you all for coming. Some of the kids are really looking forward to this, others… well they may be hostile. Please understand that some of these children grew up in very difficult situations.” The woman said and some of the class couldn’t help but glance at Henshizo. “But please come in.” She said walking from behind the desk then opening a door and lead the class into a common area where a bunch of kids were at tables or playing with toys, running around. They all stopped when 1-A came in and stared at them.

Some came running up immediately and started dragging some of the class around. Henshizo watched as Aoyama was dragged by his cape and he fell to the ground and continued to get dragged. Henshizo took note of a small group of kids sitting at a table and glaring at them. Henshizo went began gently walking over to them, surprising them and they looked away from Henshizo as he sat down at the table. All Might was watching Henshizo with curiosity, since so many of the kids could mirror him.

“Hey, what are your names?” Henshizo asked quietly and one glanced at him while the other three kept looking away. Henshizo dispensed a marble into his hand and set it on the table for them to see and the four glanced at it confused before Henshizo put his hand on it and he changed it to a commemorative All Might twentieth anniversary coin and their eyes lit up in amazement. “So, what are your names?” Henshizo asked, knowing he had their attention for a brief moment. “Sami.” “Utsu.” “Kana.” “Naku.” The boys quietly introduced themselves and Henshizo nodded lightly.

“I see one of your students is trying to take on the gloom crew.” The woman said quietly to All Might and he turned to her as Yanagi walked by them floating some kids her with her quirk and the kids were laughing and having fun. “Gloom crew?” He asked confused and she sighed. “The four of them don’t care for much if anything. A fire, a car accident, a villain, and Naku’s quirk activating are why they’re here.” She said super quietly and All Might understood and watched Henshizo, ignoring the kid’s drawing on Aoyama’s costume with markers as they had him pinned to the floor by his cape.

“Going to try and make us feel better? You’re just a wannabe hero.” Utsu said lightly glaring at Henshizo who lightly nodded. “Yes. I do want to try and make you feel better. But I also realize I can’t truly bring what you want.” Henshizo said sadly and they looked away, but not angrily. “I get it, I was like you guys. Angry, lost, confused, sad.” Henshizo continued speaking and they slowly turned to look at him cautiously. “So?” Utsu said bluntly, annoyed. “So, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, ‘this kid is just pretending to be a hero and trying to relate to us so he can make himself feel good by trying to make us feel good.’ Am I right?” Henshizo asked and none of the boys disagreed with him and they looked more curiously at him and Henshizo played with the All Might coin. “Whether you believe me or not makes no difference. But I’m not lying, I was where you are, but I managed to get through it. And you guys can to.” Henshizo said lightly and they looked at him curiously, arms still crossed.

“I had to bet on myself. Bet on what the goal I had and put everything I had to make it become a reality. I realize that it may seem cliche or stupid, but it’s the truth. So, find the goal in you, that you want to achieve and focus on that.” Henshizo said gently and they looked at him, appealingly dismissive but Henshizo noticed their body language was much more relaxed. “Whatever.” Sami lightly grumbled and Henshizo smiled, getting three more marbles in his hand and changed them to the All Might coins and slid one to each of them. Their eyes lit up and they slowly picked them up, looking at them as Henshizo stood up. “You guys use those as a reminder to bet on yourselves ok.” Henshizo said and they lightly nodded, too enamored with the coins to think.

The woman put her hands to her mouth seeing that and All Might smiled. Henshizo turned around and just now took in the chaos that had ensued with the rest of his class, Momo was busy making things the kids wanted that she could make, Yanagi was still floating kids around, Kirishima was letting the kids hit him as he was hard to let out anger in a non-destructive way, Todoroki and Iida had managed to put some to sleep with how they talked, Uraraka and Asui were playing with dolls with some of the girls, while Hagakure and Ashido were doing the hair of some of the other girls, Shoji and Tokoyami were quietly talking to the kids who were heteromorphic like they were, Kaminari and Sero were playing video games with a few boys, while Jiro was playing a keyboard for a group of kids, Ojiro was letting kids play with his tail floof, while Sato was baking cookie for all the kids. Aoyama had slipped away from his tormentors for a moment, but was now in a corner as they threw balls at him.

Henshizo joined Momo and between them they were able to give the kids a lot, checking with the woman to make sure it was all ok and she nodded every time, with the exception of when one of the kids asked for the real life equivalent of a gun from Honor Call, and Henshizo started making it without a second thought. After three hours the woman came in smiling at the kids. “Alright everyone lunch time. Say thank you and good bye to them.” The woman said and all the kids, apart from the four Henshizo had talked to, all shouted out thanks and good byes. 1-A all bowed in farewell and as the kids left to the kitchen area, 1-A left the building and loaded back on the bus.

“That was different, but I liked it. It felt good to make them happy.” Kaminari said sitting down and smiling, All Might stood at the front of the bus smiling. “You all did great, remember that you’re not only fighting to protect a person, you’re often fighting to make them smile as well.” All Might said as the bus started back up and began going back to UA. “When we get back, change out of your costumes, and go to lunch. Then classes in the afternoon.” All Might said seriously and they nodded and began talking to each other about the kids.

“Sesshada’s, I noticed you initially went to the lonesome boys. Is there a reason for it?” Yanagi asked lightly and Henshizo shrugged. “Because someone needed to, and I knew what they were going through.” Henshizo said and Yanagi nodded and looked at him and lightly yawned. “Overuse of your quirk?” Henshizo asked and Yanagi nodded. “While the kids were enjoying themselves, levitating them for that long was taxing on my energy. I fear I may not have the energy to focus on the afternoon classes.” Yanagi said in tone that seemed her usual tone, but Henshizo picked up on the tiredness. “I’ll make you a coffee when we get back, the maker in my room is ready to go. I’ll let you on the roof.” Henshizo said and Yanagi lightly smiled. “I trust the coffee to you.” She said softly and Henshizo went a bit red and smiled and they settled in to their seats as the bus continued on.

The bus got back to UA and they quickly went back to the dorms, changing into their uniforms, and Henshizo made a coffee in a to go cup as the rest went to the cafeteria. Once the coffee was done Henshizo grabbed the coffee and left his dorm, going down to the kitchen to quickly grab a cup of ramen and some fruit, then left the dorm. He looked around and shrugged as he picked a rock up and changed it into a jetpack and flew up to the roof of the main school building and sat down on the bench as he changed the jet pack to a portable stove top, then made more rocks into aspects to make ramen. The door opened and Yanagi was floating two trays of food and he was surprised and so was she. “You didn’t have to get me lunch.” Henshizo said standing up and walking over as he took the one she floated towards him. “I felt it was only fair since you were taking the time to make me a coffee. I just hope you don’t mind what I chose.” Yanagi said as they sat down and Henshizo offered her the coffee which she took. “You kidding? This is great.” Henshizo said smiling at her and down at his plate which had teriyaki beef on rice with a side of noodles with a bottle of strawberry juice to drink. They ate happily on the roof as the sun shone down on them, Henshizo cleaning everything up with his quirk after they were done.

The afternoon classes went by and they went back to their dorms talking about the classes but stopped seeing Midoriya and Bakugo. “Midoriya you’re done after today, right?” Henshizo asked sitting down on the couch. “Yes. I just have to turn in my apology to Aizawa.” Midoriya said happily and Henshizo nodded. “Shame. I like being able to look ahead and see everything.” Henshizo said flatly and a few people chuckled and Midoriya laughed.

Henshizo turned down an invite to play games, choosing to work out in the gym instead and after dusk had begun Henshizo returned to the dorm, going up to his room, and worked on the homework. The following morning Henshizo woke up extra early and made coffee in his room. He then went down to the kitchen and quickly made a waffle for himself and ate it as a few began to come down. Henshizo left after finishing breakfast and went to homeroom and sat there, reading the news. ‘Polls show public favor of Endeavor as number one is lowest opinion of number one in over fifty years’ one headline said as Henshizo scrollers through. The class slowly began filling in with Midoriya being the last one in.

“Everyone, I apologize for the shame and disruption my actions caused.” Midoriya said intensely. “I will work extra hard to make up and catch up.” He continued fiercely and Henshizo smirked lightly. ‘There’s nothing that stops you, eh? Good.’ Henshizo thought as Aizawa silently got behind Midoriya. “Everyone sit down.” Aizawa said seriously and those standing quickly scrambled to their seats. “Right. With Midoriya back, we can revisit work studies and go into better detail. Now please come in.” Aizawa called to the door and the class looked at the door as three older students came in; a tall blonde boy who clearly strong, a girl with very long periwinkle hair, and a boy with short dark blue hair. “These three will tell you what sets work studies apart from internships since they have been in work studies and have first-hand experience. These are also the third-year students that sit atop of the hero course at UA. You may know them as the big three.” Aizawa introduced the three and Henshizo sat up at full attention.

‘The big three. The best of the best.’ Henshizo thought as the blonde smiled at everyone.

Notes:

A friend of mine proposed the idea of them going to a kid's place for heroics class. Hope you all enjoyed!

Chapter 45: Gut Punches

Summary:

1-A hears about work studies from the big three and a demonstration leaves people impressed.

“The big three!” Ashido said excitedly as the three upper classmen looked at them. “The title given to the three students. “The title given to the students at the top of UA.” Iida said admiringly. “The ones that are basically already pros and the ones we should strive to be like.” Momo said quietly and Henshizo was heavily intrigued by the three.

“Right, introduce yourselves. Starting with Amajiki.” Aizawa said, gesturing to the dark blue haired boy who had a weird expression on his face, before beginning to stare at the class intensely, unnerving some of the class. However; after this brief intensity he began shaking and muttering to the other two before turning to face wall. “I want to go home.” Amajiki muttered loud enough for the class to hear and Henshizo cleared his throat to stop himself from laughing.

“Uh, you are top of the hero course here at UA, right?” Ojiro asked awkwardly, causing Henshizo to bend over and silently laugh at Ojiro’s backhanded question. Momo kicked the underside of Henshizo’s chair to get him to behave and he straightened up. “Hey Amajiki, you got the heart of the flea.” The girl said and Henshizo felt Momo’s eyes boring into the back of his head as he struggled to contain himself. The girl faced the class smiling. “The flea is Tamaki Amajiki, I’m Nejire Hado and we were asked to come talk to you about our experiences at work studies. Wait… why are you wearing a mask? Are you sick?” Nejire asked walking up to Shoji curiously. ‘Come to think of it, why does he wear a mask all the time?’ Henshizo thought looking at Shoji. “Oh! You’re Todoroki, right? How’d you get burned there?” Nejire asked switching her attention from Shoji to Todoroki who was shocked at the question, but before he could answer, she turned to Ashido. “Ashido, if your horns break off, do they grow back?” Nejire asked curiously, causing Ashido to put her hands over her horns. “Isn’t?” Nejire began, turning and she looked at Henshizo. “Sesshada! You’ve committed crimes, right? How many? What’s it like?” Nejire asked and Henshizo’s demeaner changed instantly and his eyes flashed with anger. “Asui what type of frog are you? There’s just so many of you and I want to know everything.” Nejire asked changing back and Momo leaned forward, placing a hand on Henshizo’s back to calm him down.

“This is irrational and mildly insulting to my students.” Aizawa said irritated and the blonde raised his hand up. “Sorry Eraserhead, don’t worry I can fix this.” The blonde said hurriedly before turning to the class. “What’s the future going to be?” He asked in a leading tone but none of the class knew what to say and Henshizo was still mildly simmering in anger. “Grim. Yea, I thought so. You guys have no idea what’s going on, but I get it. We’re just third years that you don’t know, here to talk to you about work studies that aren’t even mandatory. Hmm, most of you got your provisional licenses, showing your passion for heroics is very high. I know, since my joke didn’t work on you guys, why don’t you all fight me at the same time?!” The blonde said raising a fist up, catching everyone by surprise. “It’s rational right Eraserhead? Have them experience what we experienced first-hand.” The blonde said, looking at Aizawa. “That’s fine, go change.” Aizawa said to the class who were shocked at the prospect. “Oh right! I’m Mirio Togata!” Togata said happily as 1-A stood up and began leaving to change.

“He can’t be serious right? Nineteen versus one?” Sato asked as they changed into their gym uniforms. “Eighteen. I’m not participating. I didn’t earn my license so it would be wrong.” Todoroki said closing his locker and they looked at him shocked. ‘Then why did you change into your gym uniform?’ Henshizo thought as he slammed his locker shut.

“Hey man, calm down. Hado didn’t mean anything by her question.” Ojiro said and Henshizo sighed. “I know, but it was the first question. Am I just that to others?” Henshizo asked quietly and Ojiro looked at him sadly as they began walking to gym beta, joining the girls and they went into the gym where the big three were waiting for them, also in their gym uniforms; Mirio stretching.

“So, you’re serious?” Sero asked Mirio, who nodded. “Yep, totally serious.” Mirio said standing up. “You guys can come at me whenever you want.” Mirio said in his happy tone and Henshizo held to torn bits of paper towels in his hands.

“This is unnecessary Mirio. We could’ve just said, ‘here’s what work studies are like, here’s what we did and learned.’ What happens if they’re unable to recover from this?” Amajiki said in his timid voice, head still against the wall. “Unable to recover? Huh?” Kirishima said just slightly worried.

“Oh yea. One time in the past, a student got so frustrated that he quit and it caused a huge issue.” Nejire said, as she played with Ashido’s horns, causing Ashido to squirm in discomfort. “Pause. Are you confident in your abilities or looking down on us? Because if it’s the later we’ve fought the teachers and villains before.” Tokoyami said cautiously towards Mirio who smiled.

“Come at me whenever you guys are ready. Who’s first?” Mirio asked causing Midoriya to step forward. ‘Always one for a challenge Midoriya.’ Henshizo thought as he changed the torn paper towel bits into uzis loaded with rubber bullets. “This is a good opportunity for you all. Take advantage of this and learn from it.” Aizawa called out to them and they all nodded. Midoriya got into a fighting stance and then leapt at Mirio who just stood there and then suddenly his clothes started falling off him until he was completely naked. Jiro screamed and most of the girl’s went red as Mirio scrambled to pull his pants up. “Sorry my quirk is a bit tricky.” Mirio said as Midoriya flew in and went to kick Mirio on the side of the head, but Midoriya’s foot simply went through his head and Midoriya landed behind him. Henshizo didn’t hesitate and brought the guns up and fired at Mirio, alongside Ashido spewing acid at him, Sero shooting tape at him, and Aoyama blasting his naval laser at him.

“Hold it!” Iida called out as smoke came up from where he had been, but when it cleared Mirio was gone. Henshizo was shocked and twisted around and saw him popping up from the ground behind them, more specifically Jiro. “First the long-range fighters.” Mirio said, causing Jiro to scream at his naked form and Henshizo fired at him again, but he saw the bullets pass through Mirio. “Did he warp?” Shoji called out as Mirio suddenly started delivering one powerful gut punch to all the long-range fighters, with the last being Henshizo. “You had fast reflexes.” Mirio said smiling at him before delivering the gut punch, causing Henshizo’s eyes to bug out of his head and fall to his knees in pain. ‘That precision… right in the diaphragm. Haven’t been hit like that in years. But I can still go.’ Henshizo thought as Mirio grabbed his pants and put them back on. “Power!” Mirio shouted, but a shocked expression briefly shot across his face as Henshizo staggered to his feet, as everyone else he had gotten were all laying on the ground done for the fight.

“Mirio Togata. The man, in my opinion, who is closest to being number one. That’s including the pros.” Aizawa said more to Todoroki who was standing beside him but Henshizo overheard this and gritted his teeth. Aoyama, Asui, Jiro, Kaminari, Shoji, Tokoyami, Ashido, Sero, and Momo were all laying on the ground in agony from the punches as Mirio looked at the remaining nine. “All that’s left is the close-range fighters, oh, and the multi-distance threat. By the way, you’re one of the few that can take one of my punches. You must be insanely durable, that’s amazing.” Mirio said looking at Henshizo who spat on the ground, getting the taste of bile out of his mouth.

“I don’t know what he did, but he took half of our friends out.” Kirishima said intensely and worried. “He can slip through things and warp?” Uraraka asked worried. “Is he unrivaled?” Ojiro asked nervous and Henshizo straightened up rubbing his chest.

“No. He’s human like anyone else. Besides it’s not just quirk, is it?” Henshizo called out and Mirio smiled at him. “Sesshada’s right. There may be a trick at play. He can slip through things, but he’s directly attacking us. So, if we focus on countering him, we can beat him.” Midoriya said and the remaining nine all got intense as Mirio began running at them.

“Show me what you got!” Mirio said excitedly before slipping through the floor, his pants laying on the ground. ‘Same as before which means.’ Henshizo thought bringing his guns to the back and he saw the blonde hair begin to pop out of the ground. Mirio fully popped up behind the group, but Midoriya was ready and tried to launch a counter, as Midoriya was also expecting him to be there. Henshizo had changed his uzis to pistols and fired a precise shot towards Mirio’s hands, but to his dismay, despite aiming perfectly the bullets still phased through Mirio’s hands and Mirio countered Midoriya’s thrust kick attempt by phasing one hand through Midoriya’s face, but gut punching him with his other hand. Mirio then delivered gut punches to Iida, Uraraka, Sato, Hagakure, Ojiro, Kirishima, and Yanagi, who tried to catch him in her quirk but she couldn’t, before again ending with Henshizo. Henshizo, in desperation, tried to change his gym uniform into knight’s chest plate, but to Henshizo’s show and awe, saw Mirio’s hand phase through the plate and connect in the same spot he had hit earlier and Henshizo fell to the ground in pain, changing the plate back to his gym uniform. “Power!” Mirio shouted again, this time in victory.

Mirio got his pants back on and squatted down by Henshizo. “You going to be alright? Two hits there can be bad. Sorry, it’s hard for me to hold back.” Mirio said offering a hand as Henshizo lightly groaned. “I’ll be ok. Just focusing on not tasting my breakfast again.” Henshizo muttered and Mirio laughed. “That’s a good idea.” Mirio said straightening up as the class began their slow recovery. Eventually all of 1-A was able to stand, albeit all clutching their stomachs. “Right. First, I’d like to say sorry for flashing you all, I tried my best to not do that, but things can’t always be helped. Sorry girls.” Mirio began speaking to them again. “So do you guys think my quirk is strong?” He asked and everyone looked at him as deadpanned as they could muster.

“You can warp and things phase through you, it’s too strong!” Hagakure shouted and others complained. “Are you a hybrid like Todoroki?” Ashido asked and Mirio smiled. “Nope, I just have one quirk.” Mirio said lightly confusing them.

“I know what it is? Can I say it? Can I?” Nejire said jumping in happily. “Permeation.” She said smiling and Mirio chuckled. “Yep, it’s called permeation. What you guys thought was warping was just an extension of that.” Mirio said as Hado tugged on his shirt, pouting that he took some of her thunder. ‘That’s a decent quirk, but his timing.’ Henshizo thought as he straightened up to help his stomach.

“How do you warp?” Midoriya asked curiously and everyone was curious as to how Mirio was able to pull it off. “When I activate my quirk on my entire body I can go through any and every thing.” Mirio said tapping the ground. “That includes the ground.” He said happily and people were beginning to understand.

“But how could you pop back up? Wouldn’t you just keep falling?” Uraraka asked and Mirio nodded. “If I just keep my quirk active, I would keep falling and falling and come out on the other side of the earth. But; when I deactivate my quirk something weird happens. Things with mass can’t overlap, so I get launched back out of the ground. If I move my body or change my pose, I can alter my course.” Mirio said and the class stood in awe.

“So, you can dodge all attacks and move where you want in an instant. It is strong.” Asui said and Mirio wagged his finger. “No. I made it into a strong quirk. You see when my quirk is active everything passes through me; and I mean everything. Oxygen just passes through my lungs, soundwaves go through my eardrums, and light goes through my retinas. So, I go blind, deaf, and can’t breathe when my quirk is active. Don’t you get it? What seems simple is actually really complicated. To go through a wall, I activate my quirk on every part of me except one leg, I phase through partially and when my other leg is through the wall, I deactivate it on the front leg and activate it on my other leg, and then I bring the rest of my body through the wall.” Mirio said and gasps went through the class.

“I would mess that up so often.” Kaminari muttered in awe. “So, because of these complications I fell behind and was last in the class. So, to get ahead of everyone I had to outthink them, so I got great at predicting things faster than those around me. So, to make these predictions accurate, I needed experience, experience I could only get practically. That’s why I wanted to show rather than tell you all about work studies. At work studies we’re not treated as guests, but rather as side-kicks and pros, which is scary actually. Because pros can see people injured or killed, but those experiences are needed because that’s not something you can learn here at UA, but only out in the real world. I took that experience, used it as a strength, and now I’m at the top. So that’s why I say, even if you’re scared, go do work studies!” Mirio said excitedly and firmly, concluding his speech and a few began clapping lightly.

‘I can see why Aizawa thinks so highly of him. Skills, speech, he can talk the talk and walk the walk.’ Henshizo thought now even more determined to do a work study. ‘Initially the treated me as a guest at Gang Orca’s, but after I proved myself, I was more welcomed. But even then, they treated things differently.’ Henshizo thought as the big three and 1-A bowed to each other before the big three left. Aizawa came walking up to them, hands in his pockets. “Go change, and if you need to stop by Recovery Girl’s office. You still have the rest of your classes. I hope you gleaned some insight from this, but a reminder; UA has not decided if you will even be allowed to participate in work studies. So don’t get your hopes up, but prepare if you are allowed.” Aizawa said seriously to them all. “Right, sir!” They all responded back and began walking back to the locker rooms. Henshizo took his shirt off and noticed the massive bruise forming on his chest. “I have to say Sesshada, while I never doubted you when you said you had a higher pain tolerance than normal, the fact that we all went down with one hit and it took two on you is a testament to your toughness.” Iida said as he buttoned his shirt back up.

“Yea man, it was so manly. You even had Togata shook.” Kirishima said smiling at him and Henshizo shrugged. “It’s a double-edged sword, sure I could withstand a hit, but I also sustained double the damage. In middle school, after the arrest but prior to UA, I was in gym class and some asshole pushed me down the stairs. I got up no problem, went to gym class, and as I was doing pull ups my right arm just went limp. The fall down the stairs partially dislocated my shoulder, but I didn’t realize it and then the pull up fully dislocated it. Still didn’t feel much pain.” Henshizo said nonchalantly as some of the boys looked horror struck.

“How the heck can you do that?” Kaminari asked a bit scared and Henshizo looked at him with a hint of bitterness on his face. “My training from a young age… that and… well I am a victim of that bastard to. He used his quirk on me often, he used small dosages of a spider’s venom to kill my nerves.” Henshizo said going quiet and all the boys looked at him with sadness as Henshizo struggled to maintain his composure. Eventually he relaxed enough to finish getting changed. “Don’t treat me with sympathy. I appreciate your concern, but it’s ok.” Henshizo said quietly before they could and they nodded respectfully.

Henshizo left the locker room leaving the rest of the boys behind. “Just when it seems we could’ve thought of everything he had to endure. He brings up more of what he endured that’s unimaginable. His father could’ve killed him.” Iida said quietly and they solemnly nodded. Todoroki said nothing as he closed his locker, but his face was one of understanding towards Henshizo as Henshizo left.

The class went back to their classroom, some still rubbing where Mirio had punched them, and in came Midnight for history to begin their classes. They had their morning classes and then went to lunch. “I don’t know how much I can eat; my stomach is still sore.” Kaminari grumbled as they walked down the balls to the cafeteria. “Oh yea, remember guys, be sure to gather all your trash when we get back to the dorms. Since it’s Bakugo’s last day of house arrest and cleaning the dorms, he has to take all the trash out.” Sero said smiling mischievously.

“Say no more. I can make a lot of garbage.” Henshizo said grinning wickedly and Momo sighed. “Please don’t antagonize him, no need for his house arrest to be extended and you get thrown in with him.” She said exasperated and Henshizo sarcastically put his hands over his heart. “You think I would take advantage to humble Bakugo’s ego? For shame Momo, I would never do something like that.” Henshizo said in a voice of fake sadness, causing a few others to laugh and Momo to sigh. They got their lunches, some grabbing less than normal, and in a rarity to the rest of 1-A, Henshizo and Yanagi joined them in the cafeteria, sitting by Todoroki and Hagakure respectively.

 

“It’s rare you guys join us, why today?” Uraraka asked curiously as she put rice in her mouth. “My diaphragm would not appreciate walking up all the stairs to the roof.” Yanagi said simply, floating a piece of beef into her mouth with her quirk. “And I’d rather not be alone up there.” Henshizo said shrugging as Ojiro sat beside him.

“Gotcha. Uh, Deku?” Uraraka asked concerned as Midoriya was rapidly writing in his journey and muttering to himself. “He’s found a new quirk to obsess over.” Henshizo said lightly smirking and Midoriya went red hearing that and sat up.

“It’s just a unique quirk, Togata must have put so much work into it and…” Midoriya began but stopped when he saw everyone looking at him, proving Henshizo right. “Right. Do you guys think they’ll let us do work studies?” Midoriya asked shifting the conversation from himself. “I hope they will. It is a unique experience and one that would be invaluable to us. Although, admittedly I could be a reason why they wouldn’t want first years at work studies.” Iida said glancing down at his hand and Henshizo went still.

“Oh yea. You guys running into the hero killer during our internships would be an issue.” Hagakure said and Henshizo resumed eating, but Yanagi had seen how he had gotten tense. “I just hope they let us. It would suck if we get all excited and then they say ‘no’.” Hagakure said and they all nodded, apart from Todoroki who just slurped his noodles quietly.

They finished their lunches and went back to 1-A for their afternoon classes, which were still as brutal on their brains as they had been the past few days, until they were thankfully able to retreat to the dorms. “I can tell I missed so much; this science homework is going to take longer than normal.” Midoriya said pulling his homework out in the common area. “Shut the hell up nerd! I’m back tomorrow and despite the head start I’m still ahead of you!”
Bakugo shouted and Henshizo rolled his eyes to Yanagi and Ojiro.

“My room to work on our homework?” Henshizo asked the two and they nodded, starting towards the elevator. “Henshizo, do you mind if I help you guys?” Momo asked coming over and they shook their heads. “Sure cuz, having number one in the class will help.” Henshizo said with a hint of pride in his voice for Momo. The four went up to his room and worked on their homework and getting through it despite the tenacious trigonometry. It was sunset when Henshizo went back down to the lounge area, carrying two large garbage bags and waited.

“Oi! If you have trash bring it here!” Bakugo shouted and Henshizo smirked as he picked up the two bags and carried them over, Aoyama, Kirishima, Kaminari, Tokoyami, Sero, Sato, and Ojiro also all brought garbage bags over, piling them in front of Bakugo with thuds and a mix of sincere and insincere ‘thanks’ “You yakuza bastard, I know you made trash.” Bakugo growled, grinding his teeth as Henshizo smiled.

Henshizo went to the kitchen, made dinner, and then went up to his room. Henshizo went over to his desk and began typing an email to Gang Orca. ‘Hello sir, I hope you are doing well. It was a pleasant surprise to see you at the licensing exam. Speaking of provisional licenses, we have been informed of the possibility of work study programs. Will you be offering any work studies? If so, I would greatly appreciate you taking me on as a work study. Thank you for your consideration. -Yahata’ Henshizo finished typing the email up, then sent it to Gang Orca before getting out of his chair and looking out the window at the night sky. As he did his back started itching like crazy and he scratched it, right on his tattoo. Eventually the itchiness subsided so he changed to his pajamas and then got into bed, his back still feeling raw so he made sure to sleep on his side, letting the dragon breathe.

Notes:

Henshizo's yakuza tattoo flaring up. Surely no reason, right? Hope you enjoyed! This ends 'season three' and on to the arc that I have been super excited to do. Also, the title is 'gut punches' because of A) Mirio's gut punches to everyone and B) the gut punch Henshizo had and delivered talking about his past.

Chapter 46: What the Future Holds

Summary:

Work study talk dominates 1-A and opportunities, or lack thereof, are the main point of them. How does Henshizo fare in trying to get a work study?

Notes:

Apologies for the long delay, life got busy. It's the start of 'season 4' which means new intro cover! https://youtu.be/XyIZKcJ7-7Y
If you watch the actual intro I can picture Henshizo in the same screen as Aizawa with his bare back to the camera.

The following morning Henshizo walked down to the kitchen, cup of coffee already in his hand, and went over to the cabinet and got some cereal out of the cabinet. “Morning Sesshada, not sleep well? Coffee smells stronger than usual.” Kirishima said coming up beside him and setting a pan on the stove. Henshizo merely grunted in response because it was true, he had a terrible sleep as he had had nightmares and woke up four times sweating. Kirishima nodded and lightly smiled, while also taking a small step to the side since a tired Henshizo was dangerous. Henshizo poured the cereal and then sat at a table slowly eating it while drinking his coffee. Henshizo finished up, brushed his teeth quickly, and then went to homeroom and set his head on his desk. ‘Should ask Aizawa for his sleeping bag.’ Henshizo thought as he listened to his classmates slowly walk in, talking to themselves. The bell rang and Henshizo straightened up, and now it was the full twenty of the class with Bakugo’s house arrest sentence ending. Aizawa walked in and up to the podium.

“As you all know, we had our faculty meeting yesterday and we heavily discussed whether you would be allowed to participate in work studies and most of us, including myself and the principal believe you shouldn’t do them.” Aizawa said seriously and the class went up in uproar. “Even after the demonstration? Just made us want to do them more.” Kirishima said as Henshizo sighed and Bakugo stood up and let out a shout of triumph. ‘Fucking prick, just because you can’t do one yet doesn’t mean we shouldn’t not be able to.’ Henshizo thought and Aizawa lightly glared at everyone to quiet them down. “However; some of the teachers believe that we can’t raise the next generation of heroes if we’re overprotective, so a compromise was reached. You can only go to agencies that have well established track records of accepting work studies. You will find that this eliminates a lot of agencies, but you still have a chance. That’s the best you can get, so be smart. Remember these are only optional and you would have to make up any work you miss. Keep that all in mind.” Aizawa said seriously as Bakugo punched his desk in frustration.

‘Gang Orca would easily meet this threshold. He’s number ten, just have to wait for his response.’ Henshizo thought as Aizawa passed out forms related to the work studies and then the first period bell rang to begin their classes. Henshizo could barely pay attention to Cementoss’s lecture on the themes of Osamu Dazai’s ‘No Longer Human’ and when Ectoplasm came in for math afterwards Henshizo found himself wishing for Present Mic to yell in his ear. The lunch bell rang, causing Midoriya to dash out of the class room, and Henshizo slowly got things together and Momo stood beside him, looking down concerned. “Are you ok? You’ve been off all morning.” Momo asked concern in her voice and Henshizo sighed. “Just had a real bad night. Between nightmares and not being able to fall asleep, I’d have been better off staying up all night cleaning my guns.” Henshizo mumbled as he put his bag over his shoulder.

“I see, well hopefully some of Lunch Rush’s food can give you the energy you need.” Momo said as Henshizo stood up and they slowly walked to the door, joined by Yanagi, Todoroki, and Jiro. “That limitation hinders our work study prospects greatly.” Yanagi said and they nodded, apart from Todoroki.

“I think Death Arms is already out, I don’t think he’s had enough interns to qualify.” Jiro said sadly and Momo nodded. “Uwabami hasn’t had enough either… not that I would want to go back to her for something as monumental work studies.” Momo said, with a hint of annoyance and embarrassment as she remembered her internship and the shampoo commercial she had been in.

“I emailed Gang Orca, but haven’t heard back from him yet. I’m sure the number ten hero would work.” Henshizo said quietly as they walked along. “I would have to inquire to Aizawa if Kamui Woods would suffice. For he has established himself very highly, but he is also an upstart.” Yanagi said, as she held her arms in her usual zombie like pose.

“Third year Mirio Togata, All Might is requesting you to come to the counselor’s office. Again, Mirio Togata please report to the counselor’s office.” The intercom announced in the hallways. “I wonder what All Might wants with Togata.” Momo said as they got in line for food.

“Probably to congratulate him early on becoming number one.” Henshizo said shrugging causing Momo and Yanagi to look at him confused. “Yesterday, Aizawa told me he views Togata as the closest to number one including the pros. I take it you over heard that after he punched you the first time.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded while he rubbed the spot Mirio had punched, which was sporting a nasty bruise. “Yea, guy is incredible. To master his quirk to be able to phase his hand through a chest plate and then make his hand solid enough to hit me again. That type of precision and skill is off the charts.” Henshizo said and the two girls went wide eyed.

“I didn’t see that.” Momo said and Yanagi lightly shook her head. “He managed to pass through my poltergeist. Perhaps if he were not nude I may have been able to grab something.” Yanagi said sighing at the end. “Possibly… actually now that I think about it, how would his costume work?” Henshizo thought out loud and the all tilted their heads thinking as they went through the lunch line, getting their lunches with Henshizo deciding upon miso chicken and yakisoba noodles for lunch.

They worked their way over to a table and sat down. “Huh, Midoriya isn’t here.” Jiro said looking around for the green haired boy. “Deku’s anxious about the work studies.” Uraraka said leaning forward in her seat to talk to them.

“Yea that tracks. I don’t think he knows the meaning of letting up.” Henshizo said lightly shaking his head. “Yaoyorozu, can you help us? The math killed us?” Uraraka said and Momo happily nodded.

“I’m going to have a study session this weekend. I love helping everyone with our studies.” Momo said putting her hands together while smiling. “I may join, but depending on what happens in heroics tomorrow I may train more.” Henshizo said shrugging and Momo nodded lightly. “Just don’t fall back on your class work.” Momo said lightly but seriously and Henshizo shrugged. “I’ll just bribe the teachers.” Henshizo said slurping his noodles and the rest of the table looked at him with a mixture of confusion, concern, and annoyance from Momo. “Kidding.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes.

“It’s hard to tell sometimes with you. But in a fun way.” Ashido said smiling and Henshizo shrugged as he put some chicken in his mouth and Momo looked at him shrewdly. “Actually that reminds me, at the class representative meeting there was a brief discussion on a school wide black market. Nothing illegal, but extra supplies and personal items, you wouldn’t happen to know anything.” Momo asked and Henshizo looked at her blankly while swallowed his chicken.

“Like you said. Nothing illegal.” Henshizo said shrugging and Momo sighed as the others looked at him shocked. “Henshizo why? If the teachers find out you could get in trouble.” Momo said worried and Henshizo shook his head. “First, I already have a couple teachers who bought stuff from me, business and support course teachers.” Henshizo said giving a dismissive hand wave and this shocked everyone, but then he looked down at the table. “But second… I don’t really charge anything for them. I do it to help others. The hero course as a whole makes up, eleven percent of UA students. First year hero course students make up seven percent, and 1-A is only four percent pretty much of the school. But it’s because of mainly us that everyone had to move in to the dorms.” Henshizo said, rubbing his arm a bit and Momo’s expression softened. “You’re just trying to bring a bit of joy to people, in your way of doing things.” Momo said softly and Henshizo nodded.

“As class rep I cannot condone your actions, but I commend you trying to bring smiles.” Iida said seriously and Henshizo nodded as he went back to slurping his noodles. “You said you don’t really charge, what do you mean by that?” Momo asked and Henshizo shrugged.

“More of a time fee. If someone calls me at one in the morning because they spilled something on a textbook, and this has happened, I charge them for waking me up. I don’t charge for the item. It’s like tutoring almost.” Henshizo said shrugging and Momo nodded lightly. “I suppose that’s fair.” Momo said, still conflicted but others went back to eating since it seemed fair to them. They all finished eating their lunches and then went back to their afternoon classes, with Midoriya rejoining them, before the end of the day bell rang and 1-A retreated to the dorms.

Henshizo changed into his workout clothes and went down to the common room where some of the class was hanging about. “Anyone want to go work out?” Henshizo asked, thumbing towards the door. Ojiro, Shoji, and Midoriya stood up and went to the elevator. “Sure. Let us get changed and we’ll come back down.” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded and waited for them as they went up and then came back down in clothes to work out in. The four left and Henshizo looked at Shoji and Midoriya’s arms, which still bore burn scars somewhat. “How are your arms doing you two?” Henshizo asked quietly and they looked at him shocked he noticed.

“All healed up. But thanks for asking.” Midoriya said happily and Shoji nodded. “I didn’t get it nearly as bad as Midoriya, but I appreciate it. Those flames were extremely hot.” Shoji said through his mask as they walked along to the gym.

“Where’d you run off to at lunch Midoriya?” Henshizo asked curiously, causing Midoriya to rub his neck. “I went to see All Might about the work studies, he then had Togata talk to me about them. I want to do my work study with Sir Nighteye, All Might’s former sidekick and it turns out Togata does his work study with Nighteye. I’ll be going to Sir Nighteye’s agency Saturday for an interview.” Midoriya said and the three others were shocked.

“Dude that’s cool. You’re a shoe in.” Ojiro said thumping Midoriya on his shoulder in a congratulatory manner as they walked in to the gym. “I’m surprised All Might doesn’t have a restraining order against you.” Henshizo said chuckling but smiling at Midoriya as Midoriya nervously chuckled. “But in all seriousness man, that’s great. Considering Kamino, I know damn well you deserve it.” Henshizo said nodding and Midoriya nodded as they began stretching. ‘Also if Togata wanted to improve predictions, Nighteye is the pro to go to for that stuff. Makes sense.’ Henshizo thought to himself.

The four of them worked out hard, getting into a bench press competition, which Shoji eventually won since none of the other three were using their quirks. When they got back to the dorms, they showered up, and while Shoji went up to his room, Henshizo, Midoriya, and Ojiro all went into the kitchen while all the girls were in the common area. “Thanks for the workout idea Sesshada, it’s great to workout with others.” Ojiro said flexing a bit and Henshizo smirked lightly. “I know, it figures Shoji would have some great arm workouts and I’m feeling it.” Henshizo said as he rubbed his arm but was also flexing a bit.

“I’m really impressed with you two. Your quirks don’t lend themselves directly to strength but you guys were able to keep up basically the whole time.” Midoriya said pumping his fists back, causing his arms to flex and while the boys talked, they were unaware of the girls staring at them, Uraraka, Yanagi, and, although it was impossible to tell, Hagakure were staring intently at the boys, while trying to hide their looks. Once the boys got their food they went up to their rooms and settled in to work on classwork before eventually showering and heading to bed.

After the following morning classes and lunch the boys were in the locker room, changing into their costumes and Henshizo noticed how eager Midoriya was. ‘Probably nervous and excited about the meeting tomorrow.’ Henshizo thought as he straightened his tie. “Thank fuck it’s starting to get cooler a bit.” Henshizo muttered as he sat down on the bench. “Yea, I can imagine how your suit is hard to wear in the heat.” Ojiro said smiling at him as he slipped his robe on. “Yea, doing patrols with Gang Orca were not fun as I was sweating a lot. Thankfully he always was well stocked on stuff to drink.” Henshizo said chuckling as he checked his phone again and slowly exhaled as he still saw no response to his email to Gang Orca about doing a work study with him.

“I understand what you say Sesshada, after my internship I requested a cooling mechanism for the inside of my costume. I cannot give it my all as a hero if I am fighting heat exhaustion.” Iida said, walking up in his costume. “Yea, between internships and quirk training our costumes have changed slightly.” Midoriya said happily as everyone started closing their lockers and made their way to gym beta to meet All Might for heroics training. When they walked in, they saw All Might in a suit with Recovery Girl standing beside him. “Welcome to medical day!” All Might said holding his arms out and they looked around and saw a bunch of realistic mannequins strown about the building with different types of fake injuries. “Sometimes as a hero you will have to render first aid in the field before paramedics can arrive or even during a fight.” All Might said, noticeably looking at Henshizo.

“If I may, not all of our quirks are able to help give medical attention, in fact most don’t.” Tokoyami said raising his hand politely and All Might nodded. “It’s true that most of you don’t have quirks that can help with first aid, and I’m not shaming anyone who can’t; my quirk wouldn’t help me render first aid, just getting a victim to the hospital quickly.” All Might said calmly. “Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Sesshada are the only ones whose quirks can easily be used for first aid. Ashido and Bakugo, it may be possible to use your quirks to give first aid in certain circumstances or with some practice. Again, I’m not dismissing any other of your abilities, but part of being a hero is knowing what you are capable of doing and what you cannot do.” All Might continued and the class all nodded.

“Yea, I can’t exactly help with my quirk.” Kirishima said disappointedly but also nodding. “Just means today is an important lesson.” Kirishima continued pounding his fists together. “Exactly young Kirishima, admittedly my medical knowledge isn’t the greatest. So, Recovery Girl is assisting today.” All Might said and Recovery Girl smiled at the class.

“Just don’t do more harm to the mannequins than you find them in. Treat them the best you can.” Recovery Girl said and All Might clapped his hands together. “By each of the mannequins will be random objects to help represent possible scenarios you may need to help someone. You’ll be going to all twenty mannequins since they all have different types of injuries. You also only have three minuets to treat them once you get there.” All Might said seriously and a couple of people in the class gasped.

“That’s not long, how can we treat them well?” Kaminari asked and Recovery Girl tutted. “When you’re treating an injury, seconds matter. Seconds can be the difference between life or death or saving a persons ability to walk or other aspects.” She said seriously and they all nodded. “One last thing that All Might forgot, be aware that sometimes when you try to treat them, you can do more harm than good. So, keep that in mind; now pick where you go first, after that we’ll go clockwise.” Recovery Girl said and All Might gestured to all the mannequins and the class walked around, settling on different scenarios. Henshizo got to a mannequin that had a few gunshot wounds and sighed as he counted the wounds and got that many marbles in his hand.

“Begin!” All Might called out and Henshizo began changing the marbles to chest seals and began checking the back and sides of the mannequin. ‘Through and through on three of the four wounds, not good one is still inside.’ Henshizo thought as he began applying the chest seals on both the entry and exit wounds and then he put his hands over two of the wounds and just sat there on his knees applying pressure. Once three minuets were up All Might sounded a buzzer and some stopped while others, like Henshizo, held pressure on people. The two teachers began going around giving feed back to everyone and then they got to Henshizo. “I’m not shocked you knew what to do. You’ve demonstrated more than once you have a good medical knowledge.” All Might said and Henshizo nodded, standing up at last.

“Just be sure to clean the wound area if possible.” Recovery Girl said lightly as she took the seals off. “Right, thank you.” Henshizo said and the class rotated with various types of injuries, including a knife stuck in the stomach, broken arms, a chemical burn situation, and also a swallowed bottle cap causing choking. Henshizo was able to treat everything that needed to be treated, although by the end his face was visibly darkened. All Might and Recovery Girl stood before everyone, and All Might put his hands together.

“Some of you did really well, Sesshada and Yaoyorozu, you both treated all twenty injuries exceptionally. Others, well, others are responsible for why I am assigning homework. Apart from Sesshada and Yaoyorozu, you all must read the national medical emergency situation instruction manual and then answer the questions in the back of it.” All Might said seriously and the class groaned and Bakugo growled. “That is all for today, now change and get to work on those papers. I will speak to Aizawa and they will be due Monday.” All Might said turning and, with Recovery Girl, left the gym with the students walking behind them before branching off to the locker rooms.

“How are you so good Sesshada?” Kirishima asked as Henshizo undid his tie. “Part of my training, between tricks of the trade and actual training to serve as a stop gap doc.” Henshizo said going a bit quiet towards the end and some of the boys looked at each other. “Right, sorry.” Kirishima said rubbing his neck, but Henshizo gave a dismissive wave. “I’m fine with it, I’ve been making peace with some aspects of my past. Saving lives, even the lives of villains, was one of easier things to make peace with. Because as a hero, it’s our duty to save everyone.” Henshizo said calmly and a few nodded.

The boys finished getting changed and went back to the classroom for their final class of the day and then the bell rang dismissing everyone. “All Might’s never assigned homework like this before.” Kaminari complained as they walked back to the dorm. “You wound up electrocuting three of the mannequins and put a further two in the grave because of your decisions.” Jiro said and Kaminari lowered his head in shame as some of the class laughed.

“Damn fragile mannequins.” Bakugo grumbled as they walked back. Henshizo pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that Gang Orca had finally responded to his email about doing a work study with him. ‘Yahata, pleasure hearing from you. Hope all is well. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to take any work study students. The reason why I was delayed in responding to you is the same reason why I cannot take a work study student, I have been busy preparing and training the remedial course students to get their provisional licenses. After the remedial course ends, sometime in December, I would be able to.’ Gang Orca’s email said and Henshizo’s face fell in sadness.

“Upsetting news?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo nodded. “Seems my shot of a work study is gone.” Henshizo muttered as they got back to the dorms. “Sorry to hear that, I am also without an apparent ability to get one. Kamui Woods is not experienced enough.” Yanagi said sighing and Henshizo nodded. “He may be one of the fastest rising heroes, but he’s still a rookie of sorts so he hasn’t had enough time to show how good he is at work studies.” Henshizo said in a somewhat ironic tone and Yanagi nodded in agreement. They got back to the dorms and Henshizo retreated to his room, pulling his phone out he decided to call his mom.

“Hi Henshizo! How are you? How were classes? Oh, hang on.” Giji said and Henshizo waited and heard the sounds, indicating she had put the phone on speaker phone. “Hi Henshizo!” Came Sanae’s voice and Henshizo was genuinely surprised to hear her voice. “We just got done doing a shopping trip together. And yes, I can see that fearful expression, your foster mom and mom are friends, so now we can talk about you a lot.” Giji said giggling and Henshizo let out a deep sigh.

“Must have fallen asleep in class and am in a nightmare now.” Henshizo said and the women chuckled. “So, what’s up?” Giji asked as Henshizo sat on his bed. “So we’ve been told that first years can participate in work studies, a program where we go to a hero’s agency during the week and it’s much more intense and hands on than the internships were.” Henshizo said as he played with a loose string on his pillow case. “Anyway; I emailed Gang Orca to do it with him, since we have restrictions because we’re first year, and he just got back saying he can’t. So, I just wanted to call to talk to you to cheer me up.” Henshizo said with a hint of hopefulness in his voice. “I’m sorry to hear that Henshizo, but you want to do a work study? Can you stay on top of your grades if you do it? Also, what about risks? I remember it was a few years before… well it was about twenty years ago, I remember reading a story of a UA student getting killed during a work study.” Giji said, getting a bit quite when she almost referenced her kidnapping.

“That’s why UA is heavily restricting us with where we can go. Only places with good track records of accepting and protecting work studies.” Henshizo said sighing and he heard both his moms sigh in relief. “Hey, I want to be a hero. We all know a dirty open secret is that heroes can die any given day.” Henshizo said and again he could hear them both give worried groans. “I hate the fact you guys are teaming up.” Henshizo said and now they giggled lightly. “It’s just that we both care about you and want you to be safe.” Sanae said gently before Giji lightly cleared her throat.

“I want you to be safe too Henshizo, and of course I care for you. However, I also know you want to be the best hero you can possibly be. If you think a work study will make you a better hero than do it. But please be careful.” Giji said and Sanae made an odd sound. “Of course, I support you too Henshizo. You’re an amazing person and will be a great hero. So if it’s something you want, go for it.” She said and Henshizo smiled lightly at their support.

“Thanks mom and… Sanae.” Henshizo said as he found it hard to not call Sanae mom too. “You can call her mom too Henshizo. I’m ok with it, I get it.” Giji said giggling and Henshizo chuckled. “Ok, maybe not when you guys are together because confusion but ok.” He said lightly. “How are the four trouble makers?” Henshizo asked Sanae and she sighed. “They miss you, but otherwise doing well.” Sanae said and Henshizo nodded, even though they couldn’t see him doing that.

“I’ll ask when I can have a weekend pass again.” Henshizo said hopefully but his face fell. ‘After last time I’m not sure.’ He thought to himself. “That sounds lovely.” Sanae said happily. “Yea. I’ll talk to you both later. Classwork is burying me alive almost.” Henshizo said groaning. “Please do Henshizo, proud of you.” Sanae said happily.

“Work hard baby, love you.” Giji said and Henshizo smiled. “I will, love you too mom.” He said quietly before hanging up. Henshizo sighed and went over to his desk and worked on his classwork all evening, thankful that it was the weekend so he could sleep in. Henshizo did just that, after staying up until two in the morning clearing his entire class work so he wouldn’t have to focus on it during the weekend. Henshizo woke up past ten-thirty, did some research online about items to add to his library, then worked out in his until before noon, and finally went down to the kitchen and made himself a coffee.

“You’re seriously having coffee this late?” Ashido asked as she put her plate in the sink. Henshizo grunted in response and grabbed his mug after it was done and took a sip. “Bye!” Midoriya shouted running past everyone and out the door. “What’s his rush?” Ashido asked as Henshizo watched him run out the windows, also seeing Todoroki and Bakugo leaving. “Oh yea, they have their remedial courses. Makes sense to do it on the weekend.” He muttered taking another sip.

Kaminari came up to the two of them, hand raised in greeting. “Yaoyorozu is having a study session later, want to join us?” Kaminari asked and while Ashido nodded happily Henshizo lowered his coffee while shaking his head. “I want to do some agility training today. Work on my parkour.” Henshizo said and Kaminari shrugged. “Suit yourself. Just don’t break a leg.” Kaminari said walking away. Henshizo made himself a gyudon beef bowl for brunch before changing his clothes to the UA gym uniform and going to gym beta. Some second years he didn’t recognize were in there working out, as were a few from 1-B. Henshizo loosened up by stretching and began working on his agility.

Henshizo worked on his parkour skills by running and jumping from cement post to cement post in the gym focused on his balance. “Figures a member of 1-A would put himself above everyone else.” A voice shot up at Henshizo and he didn’t need to see to know who was talking. “Or novel concept Monoma, I need to be at the top for practice.” Henshizo called back turning to look at the obnoxious blonde. “Feeling the need to defend yourself? Just shows that deep down you know the cold truth. That 1-B is superior to 1-A in every way possible.” Monoma retorted before beginning to laugh hysterically and Henshizo started running and jumping down the pillars to confront him face to face but Kendo came up and chopped the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

“Sorry about that, he hasn’t been able to talk to any of you guys much, so he’s been building up stupid things to say.” Kendo said apologetically as Henshizo got on the ground. “That’s fine, but if we ever have some interclass training he better pray to any and all deities he believes in he and I don’t face off in some capacity because of his disrespect to 1-A.” Henshizo said in a stone cold voice. “Right, I’ll try to tell him to knock it off but he’s not exactly one to let things go.” Kendo said and Henshizo took a small step towards her. “You don’t understand Kendo. I have risked my life for 1-A and 1-A has risked their lives for me. As far as I’m concerned, they are like a second family to me, and I do not tolerate disrespect to my family.” Henshizo said, lightly growling the not. “R-right.” Kendo said, getting a bit worried for Monoma’s sake. She dragged him off as Henshizo took a couple of breaths to calm down. Henshizo resumed training for the most of the afternoon, before going to the weightroom to work on his strength. ‘I should ask All Might on how to help my body deal with black skeleton.’ Henshizo thought as he did bench press.

Henshizo continued to workout until he was tired and went back to the dorm and the sun had begun to set. He slipped into the shower and came back out drying his hair as the door opened as Midoriya came back in to the dorm and a decent bit of the class were in the common area. “Well Deku, what happened? Did Sir Nighteye agree to take you on.” Uraraka asked as Midoriya sat down and everyone looked over towards him. “Yes, I’ll be doing my work study with Sir Nighteye.” Midoriya said smiling, but Henshizo noted an odd look in his eyes as he said it despite his smile. “That’s amazing, way to go Deku!” Uraraka said as Iida went over and shook Midoriya’s hand.

“Congratulations Midoriya, continuing to set an example for us all to follow.” Iida said proudly as Henshizo and others walked over. “That’s super cool, working at Sir Nighteye’s agency and beside him in the field. I heard Togata recommended you too. That’s awesome.” Kaminari said as Henshizo sat on the other end of the couch of Midoriya.

“I wish I could do one, but UA said Gunhead hasn’t had enough interns at his agency to do work studies.” Uraraka said sighing. “Selkie is out for the same reason.” Asui said sadly as Kirishima leaned over the couch between Henshizo and Midoriya. “Fourth Kind just doesn’t accept work studies.” Kirishima said annoyed.

“I feel your pain, Gang Orca is too busy right now to take me on as a work study.” Henshizo said just as annoyed. “Really? That sucks, would’ve thought number ten would be a safe bet.” Kirishima said before groaning. “Theses standards suck!” He cried out.

“Yea, but we’ll be more involved with things, meaning more danger. So, if something goes wrong…” Sero began saying before a voice cut him off. “Then the responsibility falls on the pros.” Aizawa said as he walked in. “Aizawa sensei!” Most of them greeted him in shock that he stopped by the dorm. “UA wants pros that know the risk of taking students like you on and will still be able to do everything. Those are legitimate pros. Tokoyami, Sesshada, you two have an offer from one of those pros.” Aizawa said and Henshizo sat up in shock and looked at Aizawa. “Hawks has offered both of you work studies at his agency. Do you have a response?” Aizawa asked looking between them.

“I humbly accept.” Tokoyami said curtly. “Yes! I accept it too.” Henshizo said excitedly as the rest of the class looked between them shocked and impressed. “He’s the number three hero! That’s amazing you guys.” Kaminari said awe struck. ‘More accurately he’s the de-facto number two hero with All Might’s retirement.’ Henshizo thought as he sat in shock.

“Congrats Sesshada! Way to go Tokoyami!” Ashido said happy for them and Henshizo glanced away as he wasn’t used to praise like this. “I’ll get you the paperwork, let me know when you guys are expected to go in, I’ll excuse the absences.” Aizawa said to the two of them and they both nodded. “Kirishima, Amajiki wants to speak to you. Uraraka, Asui, you also have a summon of the big three from Hado. You can speak to them tomorrow or whenever.” Aizawa said and everyone seemed intrigued as Aizawa left.

“Why do they want to talk to us?” Kirishima wondered confused. “The timing of it makes me think it could be about work studies.” Asui said and Uraraka’s face lit up. “No way, that would be amazing.” She said happily. “Tomorrow? No, I can’t wait that long. I’m heading over to the third years dorm now.” Kirishima said and the girls followed him over. Ojiro came over to stand beside Henshizo and he put out a fist towards Henshizo.

“Congrats man, you deserve it. You’re going to do great.” Ojiro said as Henshizo gave him a fist bump. “Thanks, just seems odd that someone like Hawks would want me.” Henshizo said smiling lightly. Henshizo stood up and stretched. “I gotta go tell people.” He said and Ojiro nodded and Henshizo went to the elevator up to the fifth floor and knocked on Momo’s door. After a moment Momo opened the door and smiled seeing Henshizo.

“Hi Henshizo. What brings you up here?” She asked and Henshizo smiled lightly as he pulled his phone out. “Just got some news, thought I would share it with you and the family.” Henshizo said walking in and sitting down at her desk. “Oh, what news?” Momo asked as Henshizo went through his contacts and pressed to call his mom. “I’ll say it when my mom is on the line. Would your parents be there?” She asked and Momo nodded. “Mom at least.” Momo said as Giji picked up and Henshizo put the call on speaker.

“Hi baby, how are you? What’s up?” Giji asked and Henshizo took a moment to compose himself. “So you know how I mentioned Gang Orca couldn’t take me on as a work study, but I wanted to do one? Well, I will be doing a work study! Hawks offered me a work study!” Henshizo said causing both Momo and Giji to gasp. “I’m so proud of you baby!” Giji screamed and Momo lightly hugged Henshizo. “Thanks guys, it’s going to be interesting.” Henshizo said and he filled them in on the details the work study entailed.

“Don’t worry Henshizo, I will ensure that you don’t fall behind in classes.” Momo said seriously and Henshizo smiled lightly. “Thanks Momo.” He said nodding as he heard Giji sniffle. “I’m so proud of you. You be sure to work hard, ok? I can’t wait to tell Buttai and Okane.” Giji said happily. “I will, thanks mom. I just wanted to tell people.” He said as he stood up with Mom standing up after him. “You’ll be amazing baby. I love you so much.” Giji said and Henshizo blinked a couple of tears away. “I love you too mom.” He said and eventually hung up.

“It truly is amazing Henshizo. He’s number three and only twenty-two. He’s almost a guaranteed number one someday.” Momo said happily as she went over to a tea set. “Thanks Momo. Aizawa will be getting our papers to us tomorrow, so I’ll find out more information soon.” Henshizo said and Momo nodded. “Well congratulations, and tell Tokoyami congratulations for me too.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Night cuz.” Henshizo said leaving and he went down to his room still too shocked to believe it. ‘Hawks, the number three hero, chose me. This will show people I truly can be a hero.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he got changed into his pajamas and went to bed, happy for the future will hold.

Notes:

Of course I had to give Henshizo a work study, so I went with Hawks. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Chapter 47: Hawks and the Work Study

Summary:

Henshizo and Tokoyami go and meet Hawks for the first day of their work study with Hawks. Why does Hawks want Henshizo as a work study? Does the day go smoothly or does it devolve into chaos?

Henshizo woke up early on Sunday, hopped out of bed, and quickly went to the elevator. As Henshizo was tapping his foot, waiting for the elevator, he heard quiet footsteps behind him. “Good morning Sesshada. Hawks does have the reputation of being fast so we should not be surprised as soon as we accepted his offer, he would put us to work.” Tokoyami said standing beside him. “Yea, I was almost asleep when he called. You did your internship with him right?” Henshizo asked as they got into the elevator. “Yes… I hope this goes better than the internship.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo looked at him surprised. “Really? What happened during the internship?” Henshizo asked and Tokoyami sighed. “It wasn’t as fruitful as I would have hoped. He wanted me more because we’re ‘birds of a feather’ and also wanted to hear about the USJ attack.” Tokoyami said annoyed as they walked out and Midoriya was eating breakfast.

“Morning guys, you guys heading in to Hawks?” Midoriya asked smiling and they both nodded as Henshizo went to the coffee machine and Tokoyami grabbed a couple of apples. “That’s so cool! He’s the fastest rising pro in history.” Midoriya said as they both slowly nodded, letting him talk. “And you’re heading in to Nighteye?” Henshizo asked as the coffee poured into his mug and Midoriya nodded. “Yeah. Togata and I are heading in; Bubble girl, one of Nighteye’s sidekicks, mentioned us helping an investigation.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded. “Sounds interesting.” Henshizo muttered as his coffee finished and he took a sip of it and Midoriya nodded. “Have a good day!” Midoriya said excitedly and he left the dorm as Henshizo pulled his phone out and looked at the weather. “May rain today, at least it will be cloudy for you.” Henshizo said looking at Tokoyami who nodded.

“Bad weather is advantageous for me.” Tokoyami said stoically. The two ate their breakfasts and then left the dorm and began their commute to Fukuoka, Tokoyami carrying his costume case while Henshizo just walked with his uniform on, sitting on the train both listened to their own music for the two-hour ride. Once they arrived Tokoyami lead the way and Henshizo looked up at Hawks’s building. “Pays to be top three.” Henshizo muttered at the skyscraper. They went inside and got in the elevator and went up to the top floor. At the end of the hall was a set of solid oak doors with several doors on either side of the hall, the pair walked down the hall and Tokoyami knocked on the door. The door opened and before them stood Hawks with a lazy smile on his face.

“Tokoyami, welcome back. I’m glad you took up my offer to be my work study.” Hawks said to Tokoyami before turning to Henshizo. “Henshizo Sesshada, despite your fledgling hero career you’ve already got a few feathers in your cap.” Hawks said extending a hand and Henshizo shook, both looking into each other’s eyes. “Thank you, it’s an honor sir.” Henshizo said lightly bowing and Hawks laughed. “No need to be so formal.” Hawks said as Henshizo straightened up, and Hawks thought back to when he was told to offer Henshizo a work study.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Gang Orca let us know Sesshada wants to do a work study, he legitimately cannot take Sesshada on, but we want you to.” The president of the public safety commission told Hawks in her office. “Look, I’m not much a mentor; Tokoyami I wanted to bring on as an intern to find out information about the USJ and being birds of a feather. Sesshada? He’s walking bad news, look at this, he ran into a former member of his father’s gang.” Hawks said patting the file. “And he took down a wanted fugitive. Gang Orca assured me that Sesshada is good and all reports from UA support this. Besides, just because his father is a criminal doesn’t mean he can’t be a hero.” The president said lowering her head at Hawks who sighed. “So, offer a work study to him? Fine, and what are you hoping to achieve?” Hawks asked opening his wings up. “Just watch him. Get a feel for things that aren’t in these reports. Train him. His power can be very beneficial for us, plus his… predispositions can lend themselves well in other aspects.” The president said and Hawks nodded. “You got it.” He said looking back down at the file.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So, what’s your hero name? I already know Tsukuyomi.” Hawks said smiling. “Yahata.” Henshizo replied causing Hawks to laugh. “I’m not laughing at your name; I think it’s good. Just now I have the god of the night and the god of war as work studies.” He said amused. Henshizo wasn’t sure of what to make of Hawks, but he was the de-facto number two hero. “Right, enough chit chat, we’re wasting time. Nothing big, but we’re going on patrol; so go change.” Hawks said and while Tokoyami nodded and went to a changing room Henshizo just stood there. “Didn’t ya hear me? I said go change.” Hawks said raising an eyebrow. “I did.” Henshizo said shrugging and then changed his UA uniform into his costume and Hawks lightly smirked.

“Huh. Guess you can beat me in the speed change game. Although not by much.” Hawks said as Tokoyami came back out. “I don’t have anything really planned apart form patrol but I have a challenge, try and beat me at capturing a villain.” Hawks said smiling and Tokoyami sighed quietly. “I look forward to the challenge sir.” Henshizo said in a determined tone. “Great, let’s go.” Hawks said leading them out of the office; they joined his sidekicks in the lobby and Henshizo held a hand out to greet them, but got greeted with suspicious looks.

“Three years ago, we found the bodies of three smugglers down at the docks with blood coming out of their orifices. Boomslang snake venom was found to be the cause of death, but no bite marks were on them, would that be your father’s doing?” The one with a wooden bird mask asked Henshizo who tilted his head thinking. “Probably… this was an important hub. If you’re asking, was I there? No.” Henshizo said simply and they nodded after sizing Henshizo up. “Now now, play nice. I invited him here because he’s earned it.” Hawks said giving a smile to them and Henshizo glanced at him and curiously. Hawks lead them out and flapped his wings and began flying up. Henshizo turned his suit jacket into the jetpack he favored and flew up after Hawks. Hawks looked behind him and saw Henshizo flying behind him. Behind Henshizo, Tokoyami used covered himself in dark shadow and also was flying along. “Oh?” Hawks said looking back at them as he flew along.

They flew for almost fifteen minutes before Hawks suddenly sent some feathers off his wings and the two students watched as the feathers hooked a woman and pulled her out of the way of a car running a red light. “I didn’t even see it.” Henshizo muttered, angry at himself as the crowd of pedestrians looked up and called out to Hawks. “Oh yea, hope you can handle the fanfare.” Hawks said smiling back at Henshizo. “Can you handle me staining your image?” Henshizo said back and Hawks smirked. “So long as you don’t shoot anyone, I should be good.” Hawks said, chuckling as they continued to fly along. After a bit Hawks suddenly flew right and sped up and the two students fell behind and by the time, they caught up Hawks had three men in masks suspended in the air and was helping a fourth guy up from the ground. “Have to love the cowards who try and use numbers. Take care of these three you two.” Hawks said, floating the crooks over to Tokoyami and Henshizo.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Henshizo said annoyed. “Yep. Go ahead and turn them over to the police. Oh yea.” Hawks said he pulled something out of his pocket and tossed them to to Tokoyami and Henshizo, both catching them. “Communicators.” Hawks said starting to fly away. “Catch ya later!” Hawks called out as the boys put their communicators in their ears. “I now see what you meant.” Henshizo said frustrated as he made quirk cancelling cuffs and put them on the three crooks.

“Yea that was his style. We just have to keep up. Although he is treating us like sidekicks now.” Tokoyami said sighing. “That makes me feel so much better.” Henshizo said sarcastically rolling his eyes as one of the villains chuckled and Henshizo kicked him in the balls to shut him up. “Yahata.” Tokoyami said in a warning tone. “Hey, it was just to subdue.” Henshizo said shrugging as the crook bent over whining in pain. After a couple more minuets the cops arrived and took the trio away, after which the pair took to the sky again. “Hawks, what’s your location?” Henshizo asked into the communicator.

“Sixteen blocks southwest from you guys.” Hawks responded and the pair went that direction and saw Hawks flying. “I need to drop this jetpack off in the support studio and have them boost the speed.” Henshizo muttered to Tokoyami.

“Police are requesting help with a hostage situation in an apartment building.” A voice came over the radio. “What’s the situation?” Hawks asked and Henshizo picked up just the slightest shift in tone. “Police were serving an arrest warrant on a domestic abuse subject. He pulled a gun and shot one of the cops in the leg and then activated an electricity quirk to drive everyone away. Sir, there’s two kids in the apartment.” The voice came over with a hint of concern in their voice. “Send the address; Yahata, Tsukuyomi meet me there.” Hawks ordered and once given the address they flew to it.

They arrived and the police were keeping people behind barricades. Hawks walked up to them. “So how would you do this?” He asked them and Henshizo scanned the building. “I’d attack where he’s not suspecting. Whenever you’re holed up you mostly guard the most obvious point of entry, his door. So, he’s probably watching that and glancing at the windows.” Henshizo said tilting his head to think. “First; find out where he is in his apartment. Then after determining that and the current condition and placement of the hostages determine the best way to extract or protect them.” Henshizo said thinking and Hawks turned to Tokoyami.

“I would use dark shadow to do recon and also apprehend him by having dark shadow go under the door.” Tokoyami said and Hawks nodded. “Both excellent plans, and exactly what I did.” Hawks said as suddenly a window smashed out and suddenly a man was being carrying down to the police. “And I employed both of your plans before you even said them. But the fact that you both came up with plans similar to mine is a good indicator of your brains and instincts as pros.” Hawks said as his feathers got back into his wings. “You had us come here, just to test our strategic ability?” Tokoyami asked and Hawks gave a thumbs up. “Had to have a real setting to test you guys properly. You’re not bad for some young ones.” Hawks said, smiling vapidly as a cop came up with a few forms and hawks stuffed them in his pocket.

“Back to patrol?” Henshizo asked and Hawks gave a thumbs up. “Just try and keep up.” Hawks said flying up and the two students glanced at each other before flying after him. As the day went on, it was more of the same; a call would come over the radio, Hawks would fly ahead of them with Henshizo and Tokoyami arriving to the scene with Hawks already having handled it. “Let’s get lunch.” Hawks said to them, pointing at a stand selling chicken yakitori. The three walked up and Hawks had to wave off fan girls, he paid for their three lunches before flying up to a roof, with Tokoyami and Henshizo flying up to join him.

“Hawks, is this going to primarily be our work study? Us flying around after you.” Tokoyami asked as Henshizo looked at the pro. “Well, considering this is primarily what hero work entails, yea.” Hawks said taking a piece of chicken and eating it. The two students nodded and looked at each other, quietly eating. “Tsukuyomi, you’ve improved with your flying. Well, you’ve shown off your flying.” Hawks said smiling. “Thank you, sir.” Tokoyami said as he took a bite. “And Yahata, showing off your control with a difficult object is nice.” Hawks said looking at Henshizo.

“Thank you.” Henshizo said finishing his yakitori quickly. They ate in silence, Hawks occasionally waving to fans from the building edge while Henshizo and Tokoyami stepped back so they were out of view, and then the three began flying again. After just under an hour there was a loud crash coming to their right and they flew over, Hawks getting their first, and a bus had crashed into a moving truck. “Yahata, make medical supplies, Tsukuyomi you and I help treat on the bus.” Hawks said and Henshizo got to making splints, air casts, neck collars, and other medical supplies for the passengers as Hawks used his feathers and Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to get them out. After the passengers and two drivers were out Henshizo began going around treating people, while also putting stickers on their clothing.

“What are the stickers for?” Tokoyami asked. “Triage.” Henshizo said putting a yellow sticker on a woman. “Green is ok, yellow is get checked out, orange is will need to go to the hospital for sure, and red is get them to the hospital now.” Henshizo said putting green on a man who was sitting up. Henshizo had to put a red sticker on the bus driver and one of the elderly passengers, and when the ambulances first arrived, those two got loaded up first. It took a while for the first responders to come and take care of everyone but after an hour the scene was released.

“Great job you two. You handled it well, Tsukuyomi you were good on getting them out, Yahata, great job establishing a triage system that could be followed. I’m curious about how you knew what to look for considering medical care hasn’t been part of the curriculum at UA.” Hawks said as he put papers in his pocket. “I, uh, would sometimes be asked to help with injuries. Also, I have some field medic training thanks to one mentor.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Well, it doesn’t matter where you got it from, what matters is that you used to help.” Hawks said giving a thumbs up before flapping his wings. “Back to the agency for a debrief, and then you two can head back to UA.” He said, flying back towards his building.

“I will admit, some of those injuries were not pleasant to look at.” Tokoyami said as the two began flying after him. “Yea. But we’ll see worse as heroes.” Henshizo said sighing. ‘That and I’ve seen so much worse.’ He thought as they got closer to the agency. The pair flew in the window they left and Hawks was already sitting at his desk, handing papers to his sidekicks.

“You two did good today, got things to work on, but hey, you’re only students.” Hawks said smiling at them. “Get changed and head back to UA. I’ll message you when I want you guys to come in again. I have your emails.” Hawks continued and gave a gently wave. Henshizo and Tokoyami bowed together. “Thank you for letting us work with you.” They said together and Hawks chuckled. “Knock that stuff off. You can relax here.” He said smiling. The two nodded and Henshizo waited for Tokoyami to change, and then the two left the agency together and began walking to the train station to head back to UA.

Hawks watched them leave on security cameras and was tapping a finger on his desk. “Something the matter sir?” One of his sidekicks asked. “Nope, just thinking.” He said smiling and he began typing a report up to send to the public safety commission president.

Tokoyami and Henshizo were standing on the platform, waiting for the train. “More the same as your internship with him?” Henshizo asked Tokoyami and he nodded. “Him actually directly having us help in the bus crash was a bit different but also with that many injured it was necessary.” Tokoyami said as the train pulled in to the station. They got on and sat down for the train ride back, Henshizo pulling his phone out to text his mom. ‘On the way back to the dorm, it went well. Hawks is interesting, we helped with a bus crash. Hope you’re doing well.’ He typed out and sent before staring out the window of the train.

After a bit his phone pinged with a reply from Giji. ‘That’s great! I’m proud of you. Keep it up.’ She replied and Henshizo smiled as he read the text. The two sat in silence for the ride back and when their stop came, they got up and began heading back to UA, walking in an hour after the school day had ended. “Do you have someone to help with the classes we’re missing?” Henshizo asked Tokoyami and he nodded. “Shoji and Tsu have offered to help me. I imagine Yaoyorozu has offered to help you.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo nodded. “Yea, between the help and that make up class for all six of us in work studies we won’t fall behind.” Henshizo said stretching as they got back to the dorm.

When they walked in some of their classmates waved. “How was it?” Kaminari asked and the two shrugged. “Hawks makes things interesting.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami nodded. “We saw you guys on the news!” Hagakure said and the two came over curious.

“The bus crash was one the main stories on the three o’clock news.” Iida said, as he rewound the tv for them to see. “Hawks and two UA students, sport festival third placers Yahata and Tsukuyomi, helped the seventeen injured passengers and drivers. The bus driver remains in critical condition and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.” The news reporter said and Henshizo had a light smile on his face.

“Cellphones don’t have great quality.” Henshizo said chuckling at the video of him putting a collar around someone’s neck. “You guys were amazing. Thank you for doing UA proud.” Iida said while doing a slight chopping with his arm. “Sure. I’m heading up to my room.” Henshizo said and people nodded in respect of it. Henshizo took the elevator up and went to his room, sat at his desk and pulled the news video up and watched it a few times. ‘I’m making it.’ He thought, smiling and he wiped a tear from his eye as he watched it.

Notes:

Sorry for the big gap in uploads, life happens. Will hope to upload better in the future. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 48: Darkness in the Night

Summary:

Henshizo and Tokoyami join Hawks for a night patrol. What goes bump in the night and has to be confronted?

Notes:

Once again life got super busy so I had to put this on the back burner, but I've been slowly chipping away at it when I can.

Henshizo woke up the following morning and a message from Hawks was waiting for him. ‘Hey, you and Tsukuyomi are going to be coming in for the night shift. Meet at the agency at 8.’ The message read and Henshizo signed as he stretched. “Going to be a long night, better have my coffee at dinner too.” He muttered to himself. After getting dressed he went down to the kitchen and got his coffee brewing while he cracked an egg into a pan to fry it. He made his breakfast and went to sit down, as he did Yanagi came walking in.

“Ah. Good morning Sesshada.” Yanagi said as she began to levitate things to make her breakfast. “Morning Yanagi, how’re you?” Henshizo asked, smiling lightly at seeing his friend. “I am fine, how was your work study yesterday? I would have inquired prior to this point but I fret homework is burying me alive.” She said and causing Henshizo to chuckle. “Well, I’m going to be buried deeper then you soon.” Henshizo said with a sigh. “Yes, I imagine that with less free time your workload will accumulate quickly.” Reiko said coming over with her breakfast. “But it is spectacular that you are doing a work-study with Hawks.” She said with a soft smile. “Yea, and he’s having Tokoyami and I come in for a night shift tonight.” He said, sighing. “That should prove to be interesting.” She said and Henshizo lightly rolled his eyes. “That’s one way to put it.” He said and finished his breakfast. “But it means I can go to classes.” He said with a light smile. “True we’ll be heading to the USJ today. It will be weird being back there.” She said quietly and looked at her food. “Don’t think of that day in any other light than our first fight.” Henshizo said seriously and Reiko looked at him and nodded.

The rest of their classmates began coming in and making their own breakfasts, and Henshizo slipped away to finish getting ready for the day and then went to homeroom. He did some of the classwork he had to make up and people began filling in for the day, Tokoyami coming up to his desk. “I assume you got Hawk’s message.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll be having coffee before I go.” He said tapping a pencil to his desk. “Wise. Hopefully the nightlife of Kyushu isn’t too rowdy.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo chuckled. “We can only hope.” Henshizo said and Midoriya sat in front of him while Tokoyami went to his seat. Henshizo noted Midoriya seemed off from his usual cheerful self and got beside his desk and knocked on it, getting Midoriya’s attention.

“Oh, hey Sesshada.” Midoriya said and the tone of his voice confirmed to Henshizo something was off. “What’s wrong Midoriya? You haven’t tried interrogating me about Hawks.” Henshizo said trying to humor him. “I guess I haven’t.” He said glancing back down and Henshizo squatted down beside him. “Everything ok Midoriya? Something happen at your work study?” Henshizo asked quietly and Midoriya glanced at him before putting his face in his hands and Henshizo nodded slowly. “Hey.” He said even quieter. “I get it, the world is a hell of a lot more fucked than most realize. It’s downright ugly sometimes, but I know that well. If you need someone to talk to.” Henshizo said putting a hand on his shoulder and Midoriya turned to him. “Thanks, Sesshada.” Midoriya said with a flicker of a smile.

The bell rang and Henshizo sat back down in his seat. “Uraraka and Tsu are absent.” Iida called out. “Kirishima isn’t here either.” Jiro said. “They all have excused absences with work studies.” Momo said.

“Oh yea. Kirishima’s with Amajiki at Fat Gum’s, while Uraraka and Tsu got recommended by Nejire to be with her at Ryukyu’s agency.” Kaminari said as everyone sat down. Cementoss came in for first period literature and they began reading as Cementoss walked around teaching them. As Cementoss walked past Henshizo he smacked Midoriya in the back of his head lightly as Midoriya had spaced out again. As the classes went on in the day Henshizo couldn’t help but see Midoriya not be his normal self, culminating in the wild water rescue training at the USJ. While Henshizo changed his hero costume to a wetsuit to rescue the dummy sinking in the water, Midoriya flailed around and had to get pulled out by Aizawa, with his binding cloth.

Henshizo swam to the shore with the dummy and was getting ready to dive back in when he heard Aizawa speak to Midoriya. “If you can’t handle the work study and classes, I’ll end it.” Aizawa said seriously to him. Henshizo dove back in and rescued the two child sized dummies and the rest of class went well. After the school day ended Henshizo went to the dorm and got through as much homework as he could before the night shift. At 4:30 Henshizo left his dorm, went down to the kitchen and made himself an early dinner as well as a cup of extra strong coffee and after he fueled up for the night, he went to the front gate to wait for Tokoyami. Tokoyami came up and was in a jacket and jeans.

“Greetings, I figured since you can change my clothes for the costume, I can just wear something casual and not attention grabbing.” Tokoyami said and the two began walking out. They did the trek to Hawk’s agency and when they walked into the lobby, Henshizo used his quirk on himself and Tokoyami to get themselves geared up for patrol. They rode the elevator up and went to Hawk’s office. “Evening. Hope you two are ready for the real excitement.” Hawks said lazily waving from his desk.

“Clearly you are brimming with excitement.” Henshizo said and Hawks laughed. “Oh, I am, shouldn’t be as crazy as your last night patrol.” Hawks said and Henshizo nodded. “I would be extremely worried if it tops Hosu.” He said, thinking back to the night he confronted the hero killer. “Maybe in terms of number of fights you get into.” Hawks said laughing and giving a knowing wink before swinging his feet off his desk and standing up. “Right. Let’s go ahead and enjoy some calm before the storm rolls in.” Hawks said and walked out with Henshizo and Tokoyami following behind. They walked outside and Hawks took off into the air with the boys sighing and began flying after him.

“Once it gets dark, we’ll have to fly closer to the rooftops.” Hawks called to them. “It’s mostly just drunk shenanigans, but you never know. Lots of things go bump in the night, right Sesshada?” He asked and Henshizo stared at him with just slightly narrowed eyes. “It would be meetings and large deals at this time. Picking up some imports, that type of stuff.” Henshizo said and Hawks smiled. “Great. We’ll head to the docks at some point.” Hawks said as they flew along.

“He loves to flaunt his knowledge of us.” Tokoyami said to Henshizo who nodded in reply. “And yet, despite being the de facto number two hero, not much is known about him.” Henshizo said looking at their mentor.

“Hey, while I believe public support is very important, it doesn’t mean I want the public to know things about me. That’s how you get creepy stalkers.” Hawks said smiling back at them and Henshizo looked at him. ‘Hawks, the number three hero officially and unofficially the number two. Burst on to the scene just a couple of years ago. Surōdesu kept files on all the heroes just in case, but we never found anything out on him. No trace of him before his debut, didn’t go to any of the accredited hero schools, and no one knows his real name.’ Henshizo thought. “Tell you guys what, since you’re my first work studies I’ll let you in on a secret.” Hawks said, flapping his wings to keep flying.

“And what is that?” Tokoyami asked curiously. “My favorite food. If! You guys impress me tonight.” Hawks said with a slight smirk causing both boys to sigh.

“Of course there’s a catch.” Henshizo muttered and the three flew along for a bit. The sky darkened and they started flying lower to see better. “Let’s say we do a sweep of the docks around midnight.” Hawks said and the two nodded. For almost an hour there was nothing until they were flying over a street busy with nightlife when they heard the sound of a window shattering. The three started to land and Hawks sent a bunch of feathers out and began hoisting people up. “Ah sports and alcohol, a combination that leads to a lot of paperwork.” Hawks said using his feathers to hoist them to the street. “Yahata, make some handcuffs for them and Tsukuyomi call the police.” Hawks said smiling as the brawlers were muttering and embarrassed. The two students did as they were told, Henshizo making eight handcuffs and handcuffed them all as Tokoyami got police to bring a van. “Stuff like this is small sure, but it can escalate and turn tragic in an instant.” Hawks said and Henshizo nodded.

“The cops will be here in about five minutes with a van.” Tokoyami said hanging up. “I’ve seen quite a few bar brawls turn tragic. Of course, they weren’t public bars nor was anyone called.” Henshizo said quietly and blinked a few times. “Apologies.” He muttered and looked away. They helped with some of the clean up until the police van arrived and then helped load the eight drunks into the van.

“Let’s go back in the air.” Hawks said after he got down signing stuff for some people. The two nodded and they flew back up to continue patrol. “So, how you like the night shift?” Hawks asked them as they flew along. “I don’t mind it; crime happens all the time.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami nodded.

“Thanks to training I can better control dark shadow at night. So now I’m more powerful than most have seen.” Tokoyami said and Hawks gave a light smile. “Hey, that’s good.” He said and the night remained quiet until midnight and Hawks started flying towards the docks. The boys followed behind and they got to the docks Hawks heading up to the top of the crane, Tokoyami heading to the top of the highest shipping container stack, and Henshizo situated himself on top of a warehouse. “Keep your eyes and ears peeled. Dock shouldn’t have people besides the skeleton security crew.” Hawks said to them over the communicator. Henshizo carefully walked along the roof and listened while peering around but didn’t detect anything.

“I have something; six cars and a box truck. North side of the docks.” Tokoyami said quietly into his communicator. Henshizo quietly made his way over to Tokoyami and Hawks, and the three watched. “Reeks of a transfer of something from one gang to another.” Henshizo said quietly as they watched.

“Think you can get us something that can be used in court?” Hawks asked and Henshizo nodded, making a special type of parabolic microphone and he listened in. ‘That’s the same type police use on surveillance operations, so how’d you get that?’ Hawks thought to himself.

“And you’re sure they have enough for the trip?” One of the men, with a European accent asked another. “So long as they trip is normal without delays yes. Although with the drugs in their system best make sure to check on ‘em a couple of times.” The other man said. “Very well, my clients are happy with the selection this time.” The European said chuckling.

“Ninety-nine percent sure we got some human traffickers. That one percent is animal.” Henshizo said disgusted. “Right, there’s ten of them that we can see, I’ll be the backup. Yahata, Tsukuyomi if you guys can take them all out without them getting any attacks off, you’ll find out my favorite food.” Hawks said quietly albeit with a small smile. “Such an amazing reward, but challenge accepted.” Henshizo said with a small eye roll and Tokoyami nodded. Henshizo stealthily got down to the ground, clinging to the shadows while Tokoyami flew himself over to the other side. Henshizo made the jet boots and put the power gloves on both his hands. “Ready Tsukuyomi?” Henshizo asked quietly into the communicator.

“Affirmative.” Tokoyami replied and Henshizo readied himself. “Fast and hard on go. Three, two, one, go.” Henshizo said and he dashed out and hit running punches on four of them, sending them crashing into the sides of two of the SUVs and they laid on the ground unmoving. Tokoyami cast dark shadow out and dark shadow used his massive arms to deliver backhands to the remaining six, sending two into a SUV, three into the side of a box truck, and the last flew into a shipping container; all six laid on the ground unmoving. Hawks gently flew down and was clapping.

“Impressive coordination. Nice and quick, would say painless but that only applies to you two.” Hawks said looking at the ten unconscious men. Tokoyami had dark shadow gather them together while Henshizo made ten handcuffs and arrested them. “I got the truck.” Henshizo said jogging over and touching the padlock he changed it to a candy wrapper and then lifted the door up, Hawks behind him with a large feather in either hand just in case. Henshizo rolled the door up and gave an angry sigh as they saw a bunch of unconscious boys and girls. “I’ll call for ambulances.” Hawks said seriously and Henshizo climbed in and began to check them. “They’re all alive, drugged for sure, some show signs of dehydration and all are dirty. They must have been kept someplace for different periods of time.” Henshizo said and he carefully picked a young boy up and gently carried him out, Tokoyami came over and was visibly disgusted and used dark shadow to help others out. Henshizo made blankets to lay them on as they waited.

“Sesshada, did…” Tokoyami began to ask but trailed off as, asking if a person’s father was a human trafficker is a question that is awkward to ask. “Not really. My mom was really an exception. ‘Too complicated and things can go wrong.’ He would say.” Henshizo said quietly and darkly.

“Good job getting them out.” Hawks said dejectedly looking at the 15 kids. “EMS are in rout. I’ll direct them here you two stay with the kids and garbage.” Hawks said flying to the gate. “I’ve never seen him so serious.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo sighed.

“Kids always get to people. We didn’t do anything involving kids. Least not directly like this.” Henshizo muttered. Tokoyami nodded and they watched the kids closely until Hawks came back with several paramedics in toe with some cops as well. “Right, let’s escort the garbage to the police van.” Hawks said and the three of them helped lead the smugglers to the police van and they watched as the kids were loaded up into ambulances. “Right, I’m calling it here for tonight boys, head back to UA. That type of scene is hard for a pro, so don’t feel bad if you feel sickened or anything.” Hawks said and they both nodded and he began to walk away. “Hold on, we passed your challenge.” Henshizo said before he flew off. “Oh yea, you did. I love me chicken, doesn’t matter how it’s made.” Hawks said with a light smile.

“Surprising.” Tokoyami said, and Henshizo was unsure whether Tokoyami was offended or not. “There may be more to this after tonight, cops will follow up, I have paper work, you two go and sleep. It may be a couple of days before I call you back in.” Hawks said and the two nodded. “Have a good night, Hawks.” Tokoyami said and the two students bowed lightly before they walked out of the docks as Hawks began flying back to his agency.

“I’ll call us a cab.” Henshizo said as he changed their clothes back to the casual clothes they had on before they left for the night shift. Tokoyami nodded and Henshizo did just that. After a bit a cab came and the two got in and they sat in silence for the moderate drive to UA. After just under an hour, they got back, Henshizo paying the fare with a wad of cash and they walked back to the dorms. “And we have classes in just a couple of hours, yay.” Henshizo grumbled as his watch said it was almost five. “May I have some of your coffee at breakfast? You have the strongest blends of anyone here.” Tokoyami muttered and Henshizo nodded. “Let’s catch as much sleep as possible, but we did good Tokoyami, I’ll take being tired if it means a happy ending for those kids.” Henshizo said as they got to the elevator. “Indeed, good night Sesshada, or perhaps morning?” Tokoyami said as they got up to the boy’s floor. “I am too tired to figure that out.” Henshizo said with a quiet chuckle. The boys went to their respective dorms and Henshizo fell into his bed and instantly fell asleep

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed, hope to have the next chapter done actually in under a month. All feedback appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 49: Past, Present, and Future Talks

Summary:

As Henshizo tries to recover from the night patrol Henshizo gets asked by Aizawa to come along for a meeting and his past comes back to him in a way he didn't expect. Can he handle being asked to head down memory lane? What darkness does he face now?

Notes:

A friendly reminder that in Japanese culture, calling someone by their first name, that isn't family, implies a close connection.

It had only been one full day since the night patrol and Henshizo was getting ready in his room when a knock came at his door. “Sesshada, you up?” Came Aizawa’s voice and Henshizo had a split second of panic. “Yes!” Henshizo called out falling back on his bed as he failed to put a shoe on due to this visitation. “Meet me at the main gate in ten minutes.” Aizawa said and Henshizo sat up now more confused than worried. “Yes sir.” He called back and finished getting dressed. Henshizo went down to the kitchen and grabbed some granola bars and a juice box before making his way to the main gate where Aizawa was waiting. “Before we leave, I have to see if it’s worth it. Do you know the Shie Hassaikai?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Y-yea. They and Surōdesu were, uh, close. I haven’t had contact with them since the raid.” Henshizo said quickly. “Relax, you’re fine, and you’re worth coming in.” Aizawa said as he began to walk out.

Henshizo was more confused and followed along beside him. “So, uh, where are we heading then?” Henshizo asked carefully, as he didn’t want to irritate Aizawa. “I got called in for a meeting, and given the nature of it your knowledge and insight could prove invaluable.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded, not wanting to prod further. They walked along in silence, occasionally broken by Henshizo’s sipping of his juice box. It took a little bit, taking a train too, but they stopped outside an agency. “Sir Nighteye’s agency? But Midoriya…” Henshizo began but trailed off seeing Aizawa give a light glare. “You are here to provide information, be respectful and stay silent.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded and they went up to Nighteye’s conference room and Henshizo’s eyes went wide seeing who was already there; the number nine hero and her sidekicks Ryukyu, the sixtieth ranked hero Fat Gum, the old hero that Midoriya had interned with and fought alongside All Might, Gran Torino, and of course Sir Nighteye was preparing at the head of the table. Several other smaller known heroes were also there, although Henshizo recognized quite a few, he also got some unsure looks directed at him from a few of the pros.

“Eraserhead, you’ve brought the young Sesshada. So that means he knows the subject?” Said a man with a centipede for a head, Nighteye’s sidekick Centipeder, walking up. “He’ll be able to help.” Aizawa said nodding and Centipeder nodded and walked back to Nighteye.

“I feel out of place.” Henshizo muttered as he looked at Aizawa. “Trust me Sesshada, you’re not out of place here.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded as Gran Torino came up to them.

“You’re that former yakuza boy who just loves sticking his nose in trouble still. Hosu and Kamino, I’ve seen you twice in places you shouldn’t have been. Then again, kind of your life, right?” Gran Torino said and Henshizo rubbed his neck awkwardly. “I just try and do what’s right.” He said quietly as the doors opened and in came Midoriya, Kirishima, Asui, and Uraraka who were surprised to see everyone.

“Hey man what are you doing here?” Kirishima asked walking up. “I’m not sure, I was asked by Aizawa to come.” Henshizo said quietly as he looked around again.

“It’s so great to see you again Gran Torino.” Midoriya said coming up to his elderly mentor. “Thanks to full cowling I was able to get my provisional license.” He said smiling. ‘That’s right, Midoriya interned with Gran Torino who fought with All Might and from what I was able to hear before I ran away, it seemed to be a teacher and student reuniting.’ Henshizo thought as he just slightly narrowed his eyes at Midoriya.

“Sesshada, with me.” Aizawa said and Henshizo straightened up and walked with him and Gran Torino, Henshizo sitting between the two as everyone took seats and Nighteye stood up. “I would like to thank everyone for coming here and also thank you all for the information you’ve provided. I called this meeting to discuss the takedown of the yakuza group Shie Hassaikai.” Nighteye said and the room grew serious.

“Why the heavy response to some Yakuza group?” Asked one of the smaller heroes. “We believe the Shie Hassaikai are plotting something evil and massive.” Nighteye said and Centipeder stepped forward.

“Nighteye agency began investigating them after their involvement in a car accident involving another group of villains. But the police couldn’t find any evidence of a crime, but our interest was piqued. After more investigating we found that Shie Hassaikai have been reaching out outside of their inner circle. Trying to secure funding and support for something. It was during this surveillance that their young head Kai Chisaki made contact with the League of Villains, through the villain twice.” Centipeder said as a picture popped up and Henshizo recognized the man he had spent time with growing up. “Due to them being paranoid I couldn’t trail them. But thanks to the police we were able to locate where they went and confirmed a confrontation between the League of Villains and Shie Hassaikai took place.” Centipeder said as a picture was shown of a partially destroyed industrial plant.

“With the League now involved they reached out to me and Tsukauchi. Sorry kid, I didn’t think the League could get involved and you in a spot of trouble like this.” Gran Torino said looking at Midoriya. “It’s ok.” Midoriya said to Gran Torino.

“Continue Bubble Girl.” Nighteye said as Henshizo stared down at his hands. “Right. After that, that’s when we reached out on the hero network for assistance.” Bubble girl said.

“We got all that, so mind telling us the plan?” A hero called out, that Henshizo recognized as Rock Lock. “Also, I know these kids are from UA, but they seem lost and I’m not wanting to slow this down even more for people who aren’t really a part of this.” Rock Lock continued his griping. “Nonsense, these two especially have played an integral part in this.” The large hero Fat Gum said standing up and gesturing to both Amajiki and Kirishima. “Also, hi everyone, I’m Fat Gum, nice to meet you all!” He said waving at everyone.

“The Shie Hassaikai used to be suspected in dealing illegal substances, so I asked people familiar with them here.” Nighteye said explaining why Fat Gum was here and Henshizo gave a very light cough since he knew this to be true. “Yep, first starting out I dealt with all types of drugs. But during Red Riot’s debut fight a perp shot up Amajiki with a drug I’ve never seen before. A drug that destroys quirks.” Fat Gum and it seemed the room dropped ten degrees.

“Tamaki, you, ok?!” Togata asked his friend worried. “Yes, I woke up and was better. See?” Amajiki said holding up his arm which was a cow hoof. ‘Interesting power.’ Henshizo thought looking at it.

“It’s good that this drug is temporary.” Rock Lock said. “Not quite, Eraserhead you may have the floor.” Nighteye said.

“From what I’ve seen it’s different than my quirk erasure. I block the quirk genes from activating with my quirk, but I don’t actually damage them.” Aizawa said pointing to his eyes. “We rushed Tamaki to the hospital after the incident was resolved and it was found that his quirk genes were damaged by this drug. Luckily his body could heal the damage on its own.” Fat Gum said

“Could police analyze what he was shot with?” Nighteye asked and Fat Gum shook his head. “The round emptied completely and apart from the injection itself, didn’t hurt Tamaki in any way. The gun got destroyed and the creep who shot him won’t talk. So, it seemed we couldn’t catch a break. That was until Red Riot stepped in and deflected a second round off his body. Which let us look at it.” Fat Gum said.

“Way to go Kirishima.” Uraraka said, proud of her friend. “Yeah, Red did good. But when I read what was inside the bullet, I lost my appetite.” Fat Gum said growing deathly serious. “They found human blood and cells inside the bullet.” Fat Gum said clenching his fist in anger and all the other UA students got horrified looks on their faces, while Henshizo looked unperturbed.

“This ability comes from a person? A quirk destroying quirk.” Ryukyu asked quietly but it went across the entire table. “While this is worrying, I’m lost as to how this connects to the Hassaikai.” A hero towards the opposite end spoke.

“It’s all about figuring out the network used to get the drugs out there. Through our investigation we found that the Hassaikai did do business with one of the middle men involved in the network that was involved with the crooks we took down.” Fat Gum said. “That’s it?” The hero asked clearly unconvinced and Henshizo gave a sigh with his mouth closed.

“Ryukyu with her people also arrested two feuding groups, the boss of one of these groups is the same middleman just mentioned.” Nighteye said “And one of these villains used a booster drug to extend his activation time.” Ryukyu said.

“I don’t know. It just seems that you’re seeing things you want to.” Another hero said looking at the papers before him. “I don’t see enough, and you’re painting the Hassaikai as the root of all this. I’m not convinced.” He continued and a few others nodded while Henshizo rolled his eyes and shook his head at the ignorance. The picture behind Nighteye changed to show a side profile of Chisaki with his plague mask on. “The group’s young head, Chisaki; his quirk, overhaul, grants him the ability to both break down anything and restore anything.” Nighteye said and Henshizo looked at the picture. “A quirk that can destroy anything, and a quirk that can destroy quirks.” Nighteye said and things began setting in while Midoriya and Togata got a horrified look on both their faces. “Chisaki has a daughter, but there’s no record of her birth or adoption. Midoriya and Togata encountered both Chisaki and his daughter and they saw that her limbs were wrapped in bandages.” Nighteye and Henshizo whipped his head in shock hearing of this daughter.

“No… that is inhuman.” Ryukyu said hollowly. “That’s a super-human society for ya, if you can dream it, it can be done.” Gran Torino said solemnly.

“Wait… what’s happening?” Kirishima asked confused. “This is why I don’t think it’s appropriate to have kids here.” Rock Lock said looking at the UA students. “We’re wondering if Chisaki is cutting up and using his daughter’s body to make these billets.” He said and Henshizo felt nauseated.

“Right now we don’t know if he’s selling them or merely getting them out in the market to drum up support. For now, they may merely disable a quirk, but a complete bullet? One that would completely take away a person’s quirk, something like that would cause widespread devastation.” Nighteye said seriously. “Just making it makes my blood boil.” Fat Gum said angrily.

“Is Chisaki really able to do something so horrific?” One of the lesser heroes asked and Nighteye pressed his fingertips together. “You are calling for speculation on information not privy to us, however that is why I asked Eraserhead to bring a student. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Sesshada name.” Nighteye said and all eyes turned to Henshizo.

“First I would appreciate no insinuation that I am anything like my father.” Henshizo said firmly. “My apologies.” Nighteye said. “And second… your ignorance is painful.” Henshizo said looking at some of the heroes.

“You sure you’re not like your father?” One of them snapped back and Henshizo clenched his fist under the table. “Yahata is here because he possesses inside knowledge and knowledge on the subject of the investigation. He has also demonstrated nothing but selflessness and I believe will make a fine hero one day. So, show him respect.” Aizawa said glaring at the hero.

“Anyway, Yahata, was it? Please tell us what you can to help fill in the picture.” Nighteye said, getting control of the meeting. “Right. For the most parts heroes have wiped out yakuza groups. Those that remain, have to survive under government surveillance, so it’s only natural to set up incredibly confusing and convoluted channels to conduct business. It’s all about survival. It’s only when yakuza groups make too much noise or do things like this that action against them is taken. The Surōdesu, the gang I… would’ve commanded someday, was taken down because my father got greedy and began making moves with weapons.” Henshizo said looking down at his hand. “The Surōdesu and the Shie Hassaikai would work together, so yes, I can say they use to sell drugs. But if you were hoping I could give you something for right now, I’m sorry I can’t.” Henshizo said looking at the heroes. “And yes, I know Kai. He and I spent a decent amount of time together when I was growing up. Whenever my dad and his boss needed to do private talks, Kai and I would do things. He loved playing Shogi with me.” Henshizo said thinking back. “But getting back to the case, Kai is incredibly smart, so I think he has the brains to make this… quirk destroying bullet. His issue will be with the logistical part of making them. It’s not cheap. And as for if he can make them… Kai is a sociopath. When I was eight this stray cat came up to us as we waited outside. He touched it… and it exploded.” Henshizo said tilting his head as he remembered it.

“Why?” Uraraka asked putting a hand to her mouth. “Kai is germophobic, and I mean extremely germophobic, that mask isn’t a fashion choice. He’s so germophobic his skin breaks out if you touch it. He would always go on and on about how unclean things are.” Henshizo said shaking his head. “But something is bothering me, Midoriya, Togata, how old is this girl?” Henshizo asked and the two boys have a start as they were clearly lost in their thoughts.

“I don’t know, she’s small. Maybe five or so.” Midoriya said and Henshizo got confused. “There’s no way this girl is his daughter, at least not a biological one.” Henshizo said shaking his head.

“Are you sure?” Nighteye asked and Henshizo sighed. “One hundred percent? No. But like I said guy is so germophobic, I doubt he can tolerate intercourse. Besides I would see him a few times a year in that time frame before the raid on Surōdesu, he never made any mention of a kid. Nor did I hear anything in the rumor mill about it. More likely this girl is the daughter of a member of Shie Hassaikai.” Henshizo said solemnly.

“Someone is letting him do this to their kid?” Rock Lock said angrily. “Most likely, but I can’t be sure. But… you do anything for the family. Groups like the Hassaikai and Surōdesu are very tight knit and it’s all about the family. And it doesn’t matter if you’re asked to burn your fingerprints off.” Henshizo said looking at his hands as he said this. “Get tattoos, or chop a bit of your body off to atone for a mistake, the family is what matters. It’s why they’ve been able to survive.” Henshizo said looking to the side.

“You mentioned a boss and yet our investigation hasn’t found what happened to him.” Nighteye said and Henshizo nodded. “A few weeks before I was freed, it was reported that the boss of the Hassaikai had taken ill and fallen into a coma. I don’t doubt he’s in a coma, but I bet it was Kai’s doing. You won’t be able to prove it though, his quirk, makes it impossible to tell.” Henshizo said shaking his head.

“We should go and kick the door down now, especially if this girl really isn’t his daughter.” Fat Gum said as he stood up angrily. “It would’ve helped if these two had gotten the girl away from this Chisaki bastard when they found her.” Rock Lock said looking at Midoriya and Togata who were both looking down at the table upset.

“Don’t blame them, I take responsibility. When they first encountered her, both acted to save the girl. Midoriya was going to take the risk then and there, while Togata opted for being able to form a plan that would have a higher chance of success. I can assure you though, there is no one who is more upset and frustrated than these two.” Nighteye said and the two of them stood up so fast that they knocked their chairs back. “Next time, we will rescue her.” They said together. “And that’s what we’ll do. To begin in doing that…” Nighteye began explaining what the parts of this operation would entail, but Henshizo’s mind drifted away, as he thought back to the last time he had been with Kai.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Checkmate.” Kai said putting his gold general in front of Henshizo’s king and Henshizo groaned. “No fair, I had you.” Henshizo said crossing his arms and leaning back in the couch. “Almost.” Kai said putting the pieces back in the right spots. Henshizo glanced behind him where his dad and the Hassaikai boss were talking. “So stupid. The old way isn’t working nowadays.” Henshizo said sighing. “I agree, I keep trying to convince pops but it’s fruitless.” Kai said sighing.

Henshizo nodded and played with his tie. “Despite the twelve-year age gap, we’re the next generation of yakuza.” He muttered and Kai nodded. “We’ll be the ones to restore the yakuza to its proper glory.” Kai said firmly. “I’ll be able to repay pops that way.” He said looking at the board. “Another round?” Henshizo asked leaning forward but before they could start the doors opened up and Henshizo’s father and the Hassaikai boss came out.

“Time to go.” Dokuon said to Henshizo who scrambled up to follow his father out. “See you around Kai.” Henshizo said giving a wave.

“Yes, and remember what we will do.” Kai said nodding and the two looked at each other for the last time.

______________________________________________________________________________

Aizawa tapped Henshizo’s leg bringing him back to the present and Henshizo shook his head and the meeting had ended with some of the heroes leaving while others were talking to each other. Henshizo stood up and followed his classmates out and all the UA students went out to a corner and while everyone else sat around a table Henshizo went and stared out the window. ‘Kai… what have you done?’ He thought and closed his eyes. “If only I had gotten her away from him then. No matter what I would’ve had to do.” Midoriya said quietly as he hung his head. “It’s so frustrating that something like that happened.” Kirishima said and Henshizo breathed out deeply but to himself. The elevator at the end of the opened and Aizawa exited and began walking down the hall.

“Is this a funeral?” Aizawa asked walking to them. “Sensei.” Tsu said and Aizawa gave a small sigh. “Call me Eraserhead outside of school.” He said before glancing towards Henshizo and then to the side. “To think I was going to suggest cancelling the work studies.” He said.

“What why?!” Kirishima said getting upset. “You did hear that the League of Villains could be involved right? And Midoriya, you still haven’t earned my trust back. But I realize that if I try to stop you from doing anything you’ll go and do something stupid. So instead, I’m going to be there, watching you. Making sure you do this properly.” Aizawa said seriously.

Henshizo took a deep breath as his classmates and seniors began rallying each other. “With all of that being said; Kirishima, Asui, Uraraka. You weren’t asked to be here and any role in this operation you guys would likely be minimal and supportive at most. If you don’t want to take part that’s fine.” Aizawa said to the others. “Aiz, I mean Eraserhead. If we can help even a bit, after hearing all that, of course we will.” Uraraka said.

“Yeah, I want to help in any way possible.” Tsu said and Kirishima banged his fists together. “I’ll protect her in any way I can.” He said and Aizawa nodded.

“Very well. To be clear the only thing we’re concerned with is rescuing Eri, nothing more. The League has a looming presence but both the cops and Nighteye don’t have any evidence of them being involved. So, while the odds are low, they could still appear, and if they do you four are out.” Aizawa said sternly. “Got it.” The four said and Kirishima looked at Henshizo.

“Aren’t you going to be coming along Sesshada?” Kirishima asked and Henshizo picked his head up and turned to them. “No. I can’t.” He said looking to the side. “What?! How can you just say no?!” Kirishima said and everyone was shocked apart from Aizawa.

“Is it because you were friends with him?” Tsu asked putting a finger to her lips. “No. It’s not that. I just… I can’t go and attack a yakuza group.” He said with a slight voice crack and he looked away from them. “I-I can’t. I can’t.” He muttered and Aizawa walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s ok. You weren’t being asked to either. You were asked to provide insight and information that’s all.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded, taking a deep breath as he did. “I’ll help, I can train with you guys, if possible, to try and prepare you.” Henshizo said turning back to his peers. “I’m sorry, it’s just not good for me to help with the raid.” Henshizo said quietly and they looked at him before Aizawa cleared his throat. “All eight of you head back to UA. Keep everything to yourselves. If you want to take Sesshada up on his offer to train do it.” Aizawa said and the eight students nodded and stood up to leave the agency. The students got back to UA after the day’s classes had ended and while the big three left, Henshizo’s classmates turning to him.

 

“We would appreciate the training.” Uraraka said and the other three nodded. “Very well, gym beta.” Henshizo said quietly and he changed into his costume and began walking there. Henshizo got there and let out a deep breath as he clenched and unclenched his fists. After a bit the four came into the gym dressed in their gym uniforms, while Henshizo had a marble in his hand that he was playing with. “Ka-, I mean Overhauls quirk is in his hands primarily, one touch will be all it takes, but there’s more that he can do that I can’t hope to imitate.” Henshizo said and Uraraka gulped. “As for the other members, I can’t replicate their quirks really. A couple are emitters, I’m sure the cops will have files for you. But just dodging in general will be good. So that’s what we’ll do. If I touch you, you’re out.” Henshizo said and he changed the marble into a plague mask. “Just to help you guys get in the mindset. And this is from a Halloween costume.” He said as he put it on. Henshizo put the mask on and closed his eyes briefly and then opened them, his classmates noticing an odd look in his eyes. “Come at me.” Henshizo said getting in a fighting stance.

“Let’s do this.” Kirishima said running forward and tried to swing at Henshizo who dodged his attempts and put his hand on Kirishima’s shoulder. “Dead.” Henshizo said simply; next Tsu and Uraraka tried to attack Henshizo together but Henshizo dodged their attacks, grabbing Tsu’s tongue and then grabbed Uraraka’s arm. “Dead.” He said and he looked up to see Midoriya falling at him, aiming a kick at him. Henshizo stepped back and when Midoriya landed he grabbed Midoriya’s head and drove him to the ground. “Dead.” Henshizo said emphatically and stood up.

“Man. It sucks we’re all melee.” Kirishima said as Midoriya sat up. Henshizo seemed unfocused and stared. “I don’t want you guys going.” Henshizo said quietly as he ripped the mask off and tossed it aside. “How can you say that?” Uraraka asked shocked and Henshizo hung his head. “I know what he’s capable of. What he’s done. I don’t want you facing him.” Henshizo said putting his head in his hands.

“This Chisaki guy this bad?” Kirishima asked looking at Henshizo. “You have no idea. Obviously, I had less training than I do now, but whenever we sparred it wasn’t even a contest; may as well have been some mugger trying to fight All Might.” Henshizo said and he straightened up. “If you rescue Eri and can get away from Ka- Overhaul, do it. I don’t even want this raid to happen, because I know a price will be paid.” Henshizo said as a tear rolled down his cheek. The four looked at him worried.

“Sesshada, you heard Aizawa, our roles will be minimal.” Tsu said and Henshizo sighed. “I know but I still worry. Overhaul won’t think twice of killing anyone to achieve his goal.” Henshizo said seriously.

“We’ve faced people like that.” Kirishima said and Henshizo sighed. “How can people get that far gone, so that they can kill people without thinking?” Uraraka asked and Henshizo looked at her with a deadened expression.

“You want to know? It’s up here.” Henshizo said tapping the side of his head. “Once you kill one person, it’s so easy to kill again and again and again and again and again and again and again! Something just… breaks in here.” He said quietly and gave a dark chuckle as they looked worried. “And no matter what you do, no matter how much time goes by, no matter how much good you do. You wake up every day feeling a bit empty, you sit in bed telling yourself you can be a good person. When you know deep down nothing can make right.” Henshizo said, his voice shaking and his four classmates looked at him more concerned. “You sit there knowing… you can never be fixed. Never make things right. Never be the same. So eventually… you just go numb to it. What’s another kill or two or more? It becomes just something you can do without thinking.” Henshizo said, his voice growing hollower. “And, even when you think you can move on from the killing, you find yourself constantly having to hold back and control yourself.” He said in barely more than a whisper. “If you face Kai, you’ll be facing someone who welcomes this numbness. He’ll kill you and forget he did it by dinner. I don’t want you to die.” Henshizo said finishing up and he wiped the tears from his face.

“Sesshada.” Midoriya said quietly and Henshizo hung his head. “I apologize for that. My past is mine to bear.” He said shaking his head lightly.

“So when you say you can’t… it’s because you don’t…” Uraraka said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “I can’t go numb.” He said quietly as he began to walk to the exit.

“Sesshada, it’s ok. We know you’re truly good.” Midoriya said to him and Henshizo stopped and glanced back at him. I’m glad you guys think that.” Henshizo said quietly and turned his head back forward and slowly walked back to the dorm, ignoring those that were in the common area he went up to his dorm and sat on the edge of the bed. Henshizo used his quirk to make himself shirtless and he stared down at his body, the scars on it, and even though he couldn’t see it, he felt his tattoo itching and sighed, before he went under the sheets trying to fall asleep; although it was interrupted frequently with nightmares of the past and terrifying visions of what could happen.

Notes:

Glad it didn't take me more than a month to upload this chapter. Easily the arc I've been looking forward to the most given Henshizo's history. More will be explored soon, but Henshizo basically admitted to his classmates he has killed multiple people, the fallout there will be something. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 50: Henshizo's doubts

Summary:

After seeing a dark ghost from his past, Henshizo finds himself doubting who he is and what people will think of him. Can he pull himself out or will the doubts get to him and cause his downfall?

Notes:

Holy shit am I sorry for the hiatus. Life, work, and lack of drive to write is the reason for the delay. I am sorry and hopefully it won't happen again.

Henshizo woke up the day after the meeting and sat up in bed with a familiar hollow feeling in him. He almost robotically got out of bed and got dressed in his uniform before heading down to the kitchen. He ignored everyone who was already down there and quietly made his breakfast. Henshizo finished frying his egg when Momo came up to set a tea kettle on the stove. “Good morning Henshizo.” She said with a smile and Henshizo merely replied with a grunt and took his plate to a table and began eating by himself. As he ate, Momo looked over a bit worried and upset. After he was done he put his dishes away and left the dorm to walk to the classroom. He sat at his desk and robotically got ready for the day while having a darkened and glazed look to his eyes. As his classmates came in he ignored them and kept to himself. Henshizo didn’t participate in any of the morning’s classes and when the lunch bell rang he quietly stood up and left the room and walked to the cafeteria.

“What’s wrong with your cousin?” Jiro asked Momo as they watched him leave. “I don’t know, he hasn’t spoken all day.” Momo said worried.

“It’s not just him in a funk, everyone who left yesterday is acting weird.” Ashido said coming up to the two. “Kirishima is acting serious and the other three are too.” She continued, talking about Midoriya, Uraraka and Asui. “Must be something to do with work studies.” Jiro said quietly. Meanwhile Henshizo had already grabbed some food and left the cafeteria and made his way up to the roof, the cooling autumn air blowing around him. He walked to the edge and sat down, setting his tray beside him, and he picked up his bowl of rice and began eating it slowly. He stayed up there for the entire lunch period until the bell rang and he walked back down to put his tray where it needed to be; after that he quietly walked to the locker room to change into his gym uniform for training. Once all the boys were dressed, they walked to gym gamma with some of them talking amongst themselves, but Henshizo ignored it and silently walked to the gym. When they walked in a giant wall was built in the middle.

“Climb the wall without using your quirks, strengthen your whole bodies.” Aizawa said to them, with the first group being Asui, Kirishima, Uraraka, Midoriya, Sero, Kaminari, and Momo. Henshizo blankly watched, as the others saw how those in the work study were outpacing their classmates and while Bakugo yelled at them, Henshizo was tuning everything out. After a bit the first group had climbed up and climbed back down, and it was Henshizo’s turn to climb, alongside, Tokoyami, Bakugo, Jiro, Shoji, Iida, and Ashido. They all began climbing at the same time, with Henshizo mechanically climbing up, but even in this mental state, Henshizo easily climbed to the top fastest of his group, causing Bakugo to yell at him when he got to the top, but Henshizo ignored him and waited for the signal to climb back down. After it was given Henshizo easily climbed down the fastest and walked back to stand with the class, Momo came over to stand by him.

“Sleep ok?” Momo asked trying to illicit a response from him, but Henshizo just gave a small grunt indicating he had. Momo sighed and left him be as the rest of class climbed the wall. They all went again with the same results, and Aizawa sent them away as the day was over. Henshizo went straight to his dorm room, dropped his bag on the floor, and laid down on his bed staring up at the ceiling. ‘I’m just the yakuza kid, nothing matters. I have my past and that’s all people see.’ Henshizo thought to himself bitterly. ‘There’s no escape from my past, once Midoriya and the others truly see how horrifying Kai is, they’ll wonder how I could ever have been friends with him. And then they’ll realize I was just as horrifying.’ Henshizo thought rolling over on his side and closing his eyes.

While Henshizo was in his room Momo was in her room, worried about her cousin. She pulled her phone out and called Giji. After a couple rings Giji picked up. “Momo! How’re you?” Giji asked happily. “I’m ok aunt Giji.” Momo said politely. “What has you wanting to talk to me?” Giji asked curiously. “It’s Henshizo… something is wrong. He’s gotten incredibly distant, and just seems upset, although he’s more emotionless.” Momo said and Giji grew sad. “Any idea as to what’s causing it?” She asked. “I think it’s related to the work study, but I’m not sure exactly how or what.” Momo said and Giji nodded on the other line. “I’ll ask his foster mom if he’s done something like this before, in the meantime can you try and arrange you guys meeting up with us? He may need some family time.” Giji said and Momo played with her hair. “I’ll try, we’ll need an escort if I can.” Momo said and Giji chuckled softly. “I know, I met your homeroom teacher.” Giji said as Momo smiled softly. “I’ll ask and let you know.” Momo said. “Thank you Momo, take care.” Giji said and they hung up, Momo going to ask the teachers and Giji began to dial Sanae.
______________________________________________________________________________

The following day
______________________________________________________________________________

Henshizo once again went through his day robotically and when the final bell rang he began to pack up until Momo tapped him on the shoulder and he turned back to look at her. “Come with me please.” Momo said gently to him and Henshizo sighed. “Sure.” He mumbled and put his bag over his shoulder. Momo gently smiled and lead him down the halls and then out of the building to the main gate where Midnight was standing there. “Why are we heading out?” Henshizo asked, and Momo grew saddened when she heard a suspicious tone in his voice. “I can tell something is wrong.” Momo said gently. “Trust me to help.” She pleaded gently and Henshizo looked at her for a long time, weighing his options. “Fine.” He muttered and walked to the main gate and Midnight was looking at him concerned, as she had noticed the behavior changes too. The three of them got into a cab, Momo getting in the middle, and they drove along for a bit. Henshizo quickly figured out where they were going and sighed; sitting in silence until they pulled up in front of the big gate at the Yaoyorozu residence. “A family meeting?” Henshizo said unamused as the gate opened for the three of them to walk in. “It’s us trying help.” Momo said softly as they walked along the path to the front door. When they got to it the doors opened, so they walked in and Giji was in the foyer with a worried look on her face. She quickly walked up and hugged Henshizo tight and he faltered as he stood there in her embrace.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Giji said quietly as she looked up at him. “I.” Henshizo muttered before closing his eyes to hide the tears. “I… can we talk just us?” He asked quietly, Momo leading Midnight away. “What’s wrong?” Giji asked again softly as she lead him to a small couch and sat down with him. “I… it’s nothing.” Henshizo muttered and looked away from her, but flinched when she put a hand to his cheek. “I heard that you’ve basically walked yourself off from everyone and don’t want to do anything with people. Have you shut yourself up in your room?” Giji asked gently and Henshizo looked out a window. “What does it matter?” He muttered and Giji frowned. “It matters because it upsets me knowing that you’re in pain and suffering but I can’t help ease it.” She said gently and Henshizo sat there in silence for a bit.

“It’s nothing… just a ghost.” Henshizo said quietly and Giji nodded a bit and rubbed his back. “Something or someone from your past?” Giji asked and Henshizo bit his lip, u sure if how much he could say. “Yes… although I can’t say much more than that as it is connected to work studies and it’s not supposed to be something that gets out. So just between us, don’t say anything to Momo, auntie, or anyone.” He said quietly and Giji nodded. “My… only sort of friend from before is doing horrible things. Inhumane. And now it just seems to me I can never make up for my past.” Henshizo said quietly and a bit scared towards the end. “I’m worried once things get out that people will just always see me as the villain for some reason. Or people wonder how I could stomach these awful things happening around me.” Henshizo said looking away and Giji wiped a tear from his cheek. “The past can’t change, what was done and said in the past can’t change. But people can, and you have. You have shown nothing but heroic tendencies since you were rescued from that life. You are a good person; that’s what matters to me, to Momo, to your classmates, to your teachers, to everyone who should matter to you.” Giji said getting firm at the end to instill confidence in him.

“You’ve said it yourself, you won’t be able to make everyone happy, you’ll always have some people angry at you, or fear you. But what matters now is that if they needed help you would jump in to save them without a second thought. You own your past, don’t let your past own you. This is letting it own you.” Giji said tenderly and Henshizo looked down and let his tears fall to the floor. “I was horrible. I did horrible, inhumane things.” Henshizo said sobbing hard. “But that was never who you were deep down. It wasn’t who you wanted to be.” Giji said gently as she rubbed his back. “You have had a tough journey so far in your life, but that journey ends with you becoming one of the greatest heroes who ever lived.” Giji said softly, causing Henshizo to stop crying and look at her as she sat there looking at him with a small smile. He sat there in silence for a bit until he leaned forward and hugged her tight.

Giji smiled more and hugged him back. Henshizo stayed still for awhile before eventually leaning back and wiping his eyes. “Thanks mom.” He said softly. “You’re welcome baby.” Giji said smiling at him. “Better?” She asked gently and he nodded, truly feeling the dark thoughts and doubt leaving his body. “Thank you. I don’t know how long I would’ve been wallowing in the past.” Henshizo said softly. “That’s what I’m here for.” Giji said smiling and she pat his leg comfortingly. “Want to go join Momo and your teacher?” Giji asked and Henshizo nodded, standing up with her and they began making their way towards where they thought Momo and Midnight were. “Admittedly I sometimes get lost still.” Giji said chuckling softly as they walked along. “I can imagine.” Henshizo said laughing a bit as they found Momo and Midnight in a lounge room.

“Seems someone’s feeling better.” Midnight said looking over at Henshizo who nodded with a small smile. “I’m sorry for you having to escort us for something like this.” Henshizo said to her with a light bow and Midnight gave a dismissive hand wave. “As your teachers we have to help whenever a student needs it. No matter what they need help with.” Midnight said, giving a gentle smile. Henshizo nodded and Giji looked at Midnight smiling.

“I still can’t help but thank you.” Giji said bowing lightly and Midnight bowed back. “Thank you for welcoming me.” She said while Henshizo looked at Momo.

“We should be getting back to UA before dark.” Henshizo said sadly and walked to Giji and hugged her again. “Love you mom. Stay safe.” He said quietly to her as she hugged back. “It’s ok baby. I love you too.” She said standing up on her toes and kissing his cheek. She rubbed his arm while he smiled and nodded as Momo and Midnight watched with smiles on their faces. The four of them walked to the front door, Henshizo and Giji having one last hug before the UA trio left with Giji closing the door behind them.

“The rest of 1-A won’t know what to make of you now.” Momo said happily as they got to the front gate. “Yeah yeah.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes lightly as they walked back to the car and got in. “If you want to talk at all about what happened I’m here for you always.” Momo said and Henshizo gave a small chuckle. “I can’t, even if I wanted to.” He said softly and pulled his phone out to check the news and emails. Momo then turned to Midnight and the two talked about history while they were driven back to UA. They got out of the car and the two began walking back to the dorm, as they walked in Henshizo noticed Tsu was anxiously checking her phone. ‘No news on the investigation.’ Henshizo thought as their classmates welcomed them back.

“Hey Sesshada, you feeling better?” Ojiro asked walking over and Henshizo nodded. “Just needed the right way to get pulled out of my self-pity.” Henshizo said chuckling lightly as Oniro smiled that his friend was feeling better. “Some of us are working on the math homework from Ectoplasm, want to jump in?” Ojiro asked thumbing to Hagakure, Jiro, Sero, and Sato. “Sure, I’ll happily help.” Henshizo said smiling as he pulled his math book from his bag and walked over and sat down with them.

‘They’re smiling now but they will hate the true you.’ Came a tiny voice in his head as he opened the book. ‘No they won’t. My true self who they know. And you can’t drag me down anymore.’ Came a more resounding voice in his head as he got his notebook out. The six of them got through the math homework with Henshizo dragging them along, after that Henshizo made himself dinner, and then went up to his room to unwind. Thanks to the day he had, Henshizo took a long time to fall asleep, although he swore he heard the sound of Midoriya leaving his room and taking the elevator, but not long after that Henshizo fell asleep, able to put his past to rest, mostly, for himself.

Notes:

I do hope you enjoyed it, any feedback is appreciated. Sorry for the gap again.

Chapter 51: Raid and Stakeouts

Summary:

It seems that today is the day Henshizo's classmates raid his former friend. Henshizo also has his own work study to deal with. How much will go wrong for the heroes?

Notes:

Not as long of a gap between chapters compared to last time. But still sorry for the gap.

Henshizo woke up and went down to the kitchen and began making his coffee. He looked over towards the table and saw Midoriya looking super intense at his breakfast, even more so than the past couple of days. ‘Must be the day.’ Henshizo thought as he took the mug from the maker and took a sip before starting to make breakfast. As he was making his breakfast, Henshizo saw Kirishima come in and he was serious too, confirming his suspicion. Henshizo put the food on a plate and walked over to the two and gave a subtle nod. “Good luck.” He muttered to them and they nodded in response before going back to their breakfasts. Henshizo sat down and his phone pinged, so he pulled it out and looked at the message. ‘Tsukuyomi is coming in the morning and then you are coming in this evening. Teaching you guys how to do stakeouts.’ Hawks had messaged him and Henshizo couldn’t help but roll his eyes just a bit. “More like you need stakeout work done and you can’t stand doing them so you pass it along to us.” Henshizo muttered but responded that he would be fine with that.

“Hey, you’re not going in?” Came Ojiro from behind. “I’ll be heading in, for the evening.” Henshizo said shrugging and Ojiro nodded. “Night shift?” He asked and Henshizo nodded as the work study students left. Ojiro and Henshizo took their breakfasts to the lounge area and turned the TV on to catch the morning news. “So, what’s the schedule today?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo tilted his head. “Homeroom, English, literature, history, and then lunch, with math science after and today will have training with Snipe.” Henshizo said and Ojiro groaned. “I swear UA takes pleasure in torturing us.” He said and Henshizo chuckled. “I think this is all normal.” Henshizo said with a shrug as Kaminari came walking over to hear the weather report.

“Today will sunny and 78 degrees, tapering off to 66 degrees tonight.” The meteorologist said. “So, everyone but you went in to work studies today?” Kaminari asked Henshizo who nodded. “I’ll be heading in later.” Henshizo clarified and Kaminari nodded.

“Sesshada, you’ve noticed Midoriya and the others being weird right? You know why, tell us.” Kaminari said and Ojiro looked over. “Yeah, they were really serious this morning.” He said with a worried tone and Henshizo kept a blank face.

“Just remember they’re with pros. Nothing crazy can happen.” Henshizo said giving a gentle smile which hid his feelings and thoughts. ‘But against Kai… I don’t know.’ Henshizo thought to himself and turned to look at the TV. After a bit Ojiro turned it off and the remaining students went to homeroom, only to find Present Mic there instead of Aizawa. ‘Yeah, the raid is happening today.’ Henshizo thought as he went to his seat. “Present mic? Where’s Aizawa?” Jiro asked as she walked in.

“Eraserhead got called in for something, but don’t worry I’m substitute Aizawa. Now, where’s my coffee?” Present Mic asked trying to imitate Aizawa. But the class looked at each other, unimpressed. “Is he with Midoriya and the others?” Sero asked, reading his hand and Present Mic shrugged. “Don’t know, but I’m going to quickly teach you all something about heroics. Often times heroes are on missions or part of an investigation that they can’t even admit to being a part of, because it may tip off the subject of the mission.” Present Mic said seriously and the class nodded, while a couple glanced towards Henshizo because they believed he also knew.

Henshizo ignored the glances and just focused on getting ready for the day. The class settled down and Present Mic waited until the bell rang and began writing on the board their grammar lesson. As the morning continued, Henshizo felt his back itch and although he ignored it, he just felt that the raid was happening and it was heavy. Henshizo looked at the empty seat in front of him and then put the window briefly as Cementoss talked about Kokoro. Henshizo focused on the lecture, to the best of his ability, and after Midnight discussed mutant quirk legislation reform they went to the cafeteria for lunch. As they walked down the halls, most of the class checked their phones and saw the notification of a massive fight between heroes and a yakuza group.

“Wait; Nighteye, Ryukyu, and Fat Gum? This is where everyone but Tokoyami was this morning.” Ashido said worried, as they all huddled together in the hall to read the different news stories. “Severe injuries reported.” Sero said anxiously and the class looked at each other fearfully.

“That’s not all.” Henshizo said looking at a different story and the class looked at him. “The League of Villains made a move, attacking the convoy that was carrying K-…. the leader of the yakuza.” Henshizo said and some of his classmates looked at him. “You knew what was happening.” Jiro said and Henshizo looked away and Momo put a hand on his shoulder.

“Henshizo was affected by this, as his behavior reflected when he shut down, but I’m sure he and the others were sworn to secrecy. Let’s head to lunch and hope that our friends are ok." Momo said to them all but Bakugo walked up and got in Henshizo’s face with a glare. “Did you know how dangerous it could be?” Bakugo snarled quietly and Henshizo looked away. “Did I consider the League would get involved no. Did I think my former brother in arms would be dangerous, yes.” Henshizo said and Hagakure gasped at the brother in arms part.

“How can you say that about someone who could have hurt your friends?” Kaminari asked upset and Henshizo looked at them all with a pained expression. “I helped train them, and it was hard because when I was young, he was one of the people who wasn’t awful to me. I didn’t have many bright spots, but don’t mistake my ‘nice’ memories for who I prefer, trust me I’m glad he got taken down.” Henshizo said and he began walking to the cafeteria before looking back. “And quite frankly the League should have killed him.” Henshizo said flatly, showing them, he was completely severed from his former life, and yet. “Not something a hero should say.” Iida muttered but Todoroki began walking forward to the cafeteria as well.

“It’s likely Sesshada knows something that would make any of us upset. And we know he’s not one to shy away from saying what he thinks. Let’s just get lunch.” Todoroki said to them and they glanced at each other before heading to the cafeteria. Yanagi and Ojiro catching up to Henshizo in the line. “It’s ok man, we get it, you don’t have to say anything.” Ojiro said gently and Reiko looked up at Henshizo with a slightly sad expression that Henshizo picked up on.

“I’ll be ok. I just hope everyone isn’t hurt too bad.” Henshizo said quietly and she nodded as they began getting their lunch. As they sat down at a table with their classmates, Hagakure had her phone out and she suddenly gasped, almost screamed, and they looked at her. “N-n-Nighteye. He… he….” Hagakure said clearly beginning to get upset. “Sir Nighteye died.” Henshizo said to help her out and the class gasped as he checked the news. “Snatch, the sand hero, was also killed in the attack on the convoy by the League.” He said, unaffected as others began tearing up or bowing their heads. Henshizo glanced to the side as he thought back to what he said during the training he did with the raid group to try and prepare them.

“I don’t want this raid to happen, because I know a price will be paid.” Henshizo’s words echoed through his head as he began to stare at his food. ‘A price was paid. Damn it. Why didn’t I do more? No… I couldn’t do more. It’s the job. Any day can be a hero’s last.’ Henshizo thought as he straightened up and began eating as the others sat in varying stages of shock and worry. “How can you eat?” Came the voice of Jiro and Henshizo glanced down at her. “My emotional turmoil isn’t the same as all of yours. Death of someone who is close to someone I know is not a new thing for me. The reaper and I have crossed paths before.” Henshizo said putting his fork down and looking at his classmates seriously. “And you will get acquainted with him too, heroes face death nearly every day. With us either saving people from it, fighting to prevent ourselves from being taken by him, or when we come across the aftermath of the reaper. But we all will see him; I’m just used to it.” Henshizo said going back to eating as the class just numbly looked at him and quietly tried to eat. “I’m sorry for the bluntness.” Henshizo said to the table and they acknowledged it and Henshizo felt his sleeve get tugged and Henshizo looked over at Yanagi.

“It’s ok. You’re just helping in your spooky way.” She said softly and Henshizo gave a light smirk. “I know you mean that nicely, so thanks.” He muttered and she gave a little nod before they went back to eating their food. After Henshizo was done he was walking his tray to the garbage can and his phone pinged, so after putting the tray where it needed to go, he pulled his phone out and saw a message from Hawks. ‘I heard about Nighteye, a loss for sure, I’ve already heard from UA but was able to convince them to let you finish out today. So, meet at the building with Eiyū-tekina okashi at the bottom in Fuchū at 7. Tsukuyomi will fill you in.’ Henshizo looked at the message surprised that he could still go, but wasn’t going to take it for granted. ‘Ok, will do.’ Henshizo sent back, having learned Hawks didn’t like being called by sir by someone only seven years younger than him.

Henshizo looked back at the table with his classmates and silently left the cafeteria, noticing other people reacting to the news. ‘Two pros dying in one day, only going to make it harder for the public to trust heroes, especially with All Might’s former sidekick being one of them.’ Henshizo thought as he walked back to the classroom to wait for their heroics class with Snipe. The rest of the class began coming back in and everyone was silently sitting at their desks as the bell rang, and after a minuet Snipe walked in. “First things first, I know you’re worried about your classmates and Eraserhead. Principal Nezu has spoken with the hospital and your classmates are basically fine. Bruises, some cuts, and one of the villains’ quirks drained their energy, but Recovery Girl will be all for them. However, the hospital is going to be keeping them overnight for observation. Again, they will be ok, just a precaution.” Snipe said and while the class gave sighs of relief, Henshizo included, Henshizo noticed that Snipe had done a slight inflection on "your”. ‘I wonder if something worse happened to one of the big three.’ Henshizo thought looking at Midoriya’s desk.

“Right, get dressed in your costumes and then meet in gym gamma. Going to work on a skill everyone needs.” Snipe said walking out as the class stood up, the mood lifted a bit with the news their friends were ok. “What do you think the skill is?” Sero asked the boys as they began changing in the locker room.

“Hopefully it’s something fighting related. What do you guys think I should make for those on the raid?” Sato asked and Henshizo couldn’t stop a light smile from forming as he took his jacket off. “Something with chocolate, chocolate always makes me feel better.” Kaminari said and Sato nodded in agreement.

Henshizo finished changing and made his way to the gym, where Snipe was waiting by a large metal wall piece that looked like it could be from a game show. Henshizo was trying to figure out what it would be helping them with as the rest of the class showed up and were just as perplexed as he was. “Today you’re going to be working on your evasion skills. This device will be trying to capture you, it’s got metal tentacle… things that will lock on to you and keep coming at you until it captures you. And don’t worry it doesn’t hurt.” Snipe said to them, but some of the class still didn’t trust it and Iida raised his hand.

“Did Hatsume have anything to do with the construction of this?” Iida asked and Snipe tilted his head, confused as to why Iida asked this. “No, we got it from Leviatech Support.” Snipe said and everyone gave a sigh of relief. “You’re all going to be going twice the first time without your quirk, obviously if you can help it, and the second time evade it with your quirk, if you can use it to help you. Order will be random for both times, those not going will be over to the side with me, and out of the way. You’ll be scored by how long you can evade it and the maneuvers you use to evade it.” Snipe said and the class nodded. “First up Ashido.” Snipe said walking over to the side and the class followed him apart from Ashido and she waited. Snipe pressed a button on a remote he had and suddenly a long metal claw, attached to an arm, started shooting at her, with Ashido spinning to the side to dodge it. The claw circled back and she ducked under this time and continued to out maneuver the claw fairly well with her natural agility.

“Right, let’s make this more interesting.” Snipe said and he pressed a second button, which caused a second claw to come out of the machine and chase after Ashido. She eventually got captured by it and she sighed in the claw. “Well done, Ashido, natural agility like yours is a gift to have in the field. Next up, Aoyama.” Snipe said and the blonde boy went out as the claws retracted into the machine and Ashido came over to watch. Aoyama stood ready but as soon as the claw came out, he screamed in panic and tried to run away but quickly got captured, causing Sero and Kaminari to chuckle and Snipe to sigh. “Sesshada.” Snipe said as Aoyama sheepishly walked back to the class as Henshizo walked out.

Henshizo waited and when the claw shot out at him, he gracefully jumped to the side and waited for it to come back, this time he spun out of the way with a light smirk on his face. Henshizo continued to expertly dodge the first claw so the second claw came out and Henshizo continued to dodge the claws, actually using the tentacle of one claw to dodge the other claw, as some of the class cheered him on. After four minutes, a third claw came out and Henshizo was able to dodge the three for almost a whole minuet until one claw managed to grab his leg and another grabbed him fully. “Excellent work, using your reflexes and environment is great evasion tactics and skill.” Snipe said as some of the class clapped and Henshizo gave a small nod of appreciation before heading back to join the class as Todoroki went out next. The rest of the class went through the round of not using their quirks, to whom it applied to, and Henshizo was the top scorer with Bakugo, Todoroki, Iida, and Ashido behind him.

“Now you can use your quirks, and Sesshada, pretend the claws are someone’s arms, so you can’t use your quirk on them.” Snipe said and Henshizo jokingly snapped his fingers in the disappointed way. “Let’s see… Yaoyorozu, you’ll go first this time.” Snipe said and Momo walked forward. Snipe began the test again and Momo did better using objects to help give herself more push off and range to get away from the claw, but not long after the second claw came out, Momo was caught again. The class proceeded to go again, some using their quirks to evade quite well, for others it didn’t matter, Yanagi had set the new score with over six minutes thanks to being able to float herself and dodge the claws. Henshizo had been watching her seemingly fly around with grace and Ashido came up to his side.

“Really enamored there.” Ashido said and Henshizo gave a small clearing of his throat. “Yanagi is basically flying and she’s doing it so gracefully, of course I am.” Henshizo muttered and Ashido smirked as Yanagi came walking back to the class. “Sesshada, your turn.” Snipe said and Henshizo walked out, ready. Snipe pressed the button and once again Henshizo began dodging the claws easily. This time Henshizo had the jet boots on to give himself more speed and he would make objects to get between him and the claw if it got too close. After seven minutes he had five claws chasing him but he still evaded all of them and decided to have some fun and began zigzagging as he ran and he did some jumps and slides, and before long he had tied the claws together into a knot and snipe sighed as he stopped it. “Obviously full marks.” Snipe said as Henshizo grinned at his handiwork. “I need some time to untangle this.” Snipe said walking forward.

“Nice going, slowing this class up.” Bakugo said annoyed but Henshizo chuckled. “Well just think if this was some dumb villain, I just made them tie their arms together.” Henshizo said chuckling as he walked back to watch Snipe slowly untangle them.

“You’re truly amazing with your reflexes and agility.” Yanagi said quietly to him and he looked down and gave a soft smile. “Thanks, and you were amazing with your quirk.” Henshizo said and Yanagi gave a small nod but Henshizo noticed at the fringes of her mask, her cheeks were tinged pink. After close to ten minutes, Snipe had managed to untangle the claws and Ashido went next. By the time the class ended, Bakugo, Henshizo, and Yanagi stood atop for evasion.

“Many of you did exceptionally well, and to those that didn’t do as well as some of your classmates, you can work on this, and remember that it will vary fight to fight so don’t beat yourselves up.” Snipe said and the class all nodded. “You’re all done for the day, go change and head back to the dorm. Or whatever you want to do that you can.” Snipe said and the class nodded before walking out of the gym, most heading back to the locker room but Henshizo started heading to the front gate. “Where are you going?” Ojiro called out and Henshizo turned back. “I’m still on for this evening, so I’m heading out now, I’ll grab a meal and then head over.” Henshizo said shrugging, only slightly changing his costume so it was more suited for going out in public. “Really? Despite what happened.” Ojiro said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “What I’m doing is arguably the safest thing a hero can do. Also, the most boring. But I’ll be ok.” Henshizo said and Ojiro nodded. “Just be safe.” He said with some worry in his voice and Henshizo nodded before heading to the front gate and began making his way down the hill to the bus stop. Henshizo waited and then got on a bus after it pulled up, he rode the bus into Fuchū and then got off. Looking around he saw a noodle shop and went to it, had some smoked pork ramen, after that he grabbed a couple of granola bars from a J store as well as a bottle of water, and he went to the Eiyū-tekina okashi building and waited. Once it got close to seven Tokoyami came out from the alley beside it and Henshizo walked up.

“How is everyone? I saw the news but I haven’t been able to find anything out.” Tokoyami said a bit anxious and Henshizo raised a hand to calm him. “Midoriya, Kirishima, Tsu, and Uraraka are ok. They’re being kept in the hospital overnight but just as a precaution.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami nodded, clearly calmed down and then he led Henshizo down the alley and then up some stairs through a side door. “Hawks received information that an armored truck robbery crew is in the area. So, we’re staking out the depot the armored trucks use to ensure things don’t go wrong. And we’re also seeing if we can spot them doing a stakeout with our stakeout.” Tokoyami said and inside a room they walked into were several monitors of views around the building and depot. “Got it, so just watching.” Henshizo said sighing and Tokoyami nodded before picking his bag up. “I didn’t see anything, of course if I were a heist crew I’d wait until the cover of night.” Tokoyami said as he put his jacket on. “Yeah, night hides a lot. Be careful Tokoyami.” Henshizo said as he sat down and Tokoyami walked to the exit. “I will, you too. Oh yeah, your relief will be at three in the morning.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo nodded as he got settled in to watch the monitors.

Henshizo sighed as he kept watch and the time slowly dragged on during the stakeout, although he was able to keep himself occupied with a bouncy ball he made, to work on his no look catching. As the night dragged on Henshizo saw the night life begin to emerge, people just a few years older than him dressed up to go out and Henshizo was bemused by some of the outfits they were wearing but kept a vigilant eye on all the depot cameras. Henshizo sighed and opened one of his granola bars just after midnight and began eating it as he glanced at the side alley cameras and paused. In the alley he saw two guys who were very grabby with a woman, and although he didn’t have audio Henshizo could tell she was not wanting their attention. Henshizo stood up and saw her jacket get pulled down and immediately started down the stairs before he calmly walked out of the door and looked to his right.

“Get off. No. Help!” The woman cried out and the guys drunkenly laughed. “W-we just want to show a good time.” One with white hair said and Henshizo cleared his throat.

“She said no. So leave.” Henshizo said and the two guys looked at him. “Beat it kid, this is a grown-up thing.” The other man said waving his hand to dismiss Henshizo but Henshizo stood there glaring. “I gave you a chance.” Henshizo said shrugging and he walked up before pushing them off her and knocking them to the ground.

“Thank you.” The woman said as she ran around them and back down the street. “What the hell kid? Someone has to teach you some manners.” The white haired one said standing up angry as he loosened his tie. Henshizo stood there, ready, as the black-haired man also stood up. They tried running at him and drunkenly throw haymakers at him, but Henshizo just quickly punched them both square in the face and they fell back out cold as Henshizo sighed and pulled his phone out.

“Hello, Fuchū police? Yes, things work-study of Hawks hero Yahata, can you send a police cruiser to the Eiyū-tekina okashi building. No lights or siren please, I just have two guys here who need to be arrested for attempted sexual assault, attempted assault of a hero, attempted assault of a minor, and public intoxication.” Henshizo said as he made handcuffs and handcuffed the men together and hogtied them with the handcuffs. “Oh, sure. Right away.” The dispatcher said and Henshizo leaned against the wall. “They’re handcuffed together in the alley, thank you.” Henshizo said as he looked down the alley towards the depot and saw someone at the other end looking at the depot. Henshizo quietly slipped back inside and then dashed up the stairs to the surveillance room and looked at them, didn’t see anything, until he rewound the footage.

Henshizo watched as three people walked down the street, one going to the end of the alley, and the two going to the depot, and one used their quirk to cut through the fence, or more accurately chew through the fence, and the two walked in while the third walked up and made another fence from his fingers and went back to by the alley, where he still was. Henshizo pulled his phone out and called the agency. “Yahata?” Came one of the sidekick’s tired voice. “The crew hit; they’re robbing it right now.” Henshizo said watching the live feed. “Really? I’m on my way hold tight.” The sidekick said and Henshizo didn’t respond as he watched and he made his way to the door to the stairs. “I’ll see you shortly.” Henshizo said and hung up, before going down the stairs and back out into the alley, peering down the end to the depot and saw the lookout still there. Henshizo quietly snuck up on the fence fingered foe, and covered his mouth before jamming a stun gun into his back to incapacitate as the man cried out into Henshizo’s hand. Henshizo then proceeded to bind and gag the man and made his way over to the depot, using his quirk to let himself in, before stealthily creeping around, listening carefully.

As he moved from garage to garage Henshizo suddenly heard, to him, the unmistakable sound of money being tossed into a duffle bag. Henshizo crouched down and made his way to the garage that the sound was coming from, and saw two guards on the ground with icicles in their throats before looking back and saw one man holding a duffle bag as stacks of money got tossed out. “Morning delivery is going to be a little short.” Henshizo heard one of the thieves say with a chuckle. ‘One has the monster mouth and the other has some form of ice quirk. Don’t get cocky.’ Henshizo thought creeping in and crouching at the front of the armored truck. “Yeah, but did you have to kill the guards?” Came the voice of the second guy and Henshizo glanced back at the guards for a second. “For over three-hundred-ninety million yen? Yea.” Came the voice of the person in the truck letting Henshizo know their positions. Henshizo peered around both sides of the truck briefly and saw both back doors were open, letting Henshizo think of a plan. Henshizo quietly but quickly crept along the side of the truck, making a gun in one hand as he did so, and got to the back of the truck. He closed the rear passenger door, surprising both thieves and he shot the bag holder in the stomach and throat with the rubber bullets causing him to fall tot eh ground in agony. Henshizo then quickly dodged around the open door on the driver side, changing the gun to a flashbang grenade and he tossed it into the back before mostly closing the door and waited until the flash bang went off. He then opened the door back up and the villain was clutching his head in pain. Henshizo grabbed his jacket and pulled him from the truck, delivering a knee to his face and the man lay limp on the ground. Henshizo walked over and kicked the other man in the side of the head to knock him out as well, before tying them up and waiting.

Eventually Henshizo heard footsteps and Basan, came walking in with some cops. “I thought I told you to wait. And why are there two guys also tied up in the alley?” Basan asked and Henshizo picked up the fence water first to hand to the cops. “I was watching the cameras, and saw those two try and assault a woman, so I put an end to that. I saw the third of the crew at the end of the alley, went back to look at the video, saw these two enter. So, I followed after calling.” Henshizo said and Basan sighed. “I told you to hold tight, clearly they didn’t mind killing.” He said seriously and Henshizo glanced at the thieves. “They’re only good at the ambush aspect.” He said shrugging and the sidekick sighed before giving a light smile. “Good work though, on both things. You did the right thing stopping that assault and you also were excellent in taking down a seasoned heist crew.” The sidekick said as a forensics team began coming in and the other thief and Basan saw the damage Henshizo’s knee had done to the man’s face. “You broke his beak.” Basan said chuckling at the man’s clearly broken nose and Henshizo shrugged. “Just was aiming for the knockout, I also used a flashback on him while he was in the truck, so his eardrums will need to be examined.” Henshizo said and a cop nodded as they took him away. “Well with all the cops here this depot is safe so you can either stay here or you can head back to UA.” Basan said and Henshizo slightly tilted his head thinking. “I’ll wait long enough for the paperwork to be handed to me, and then I’ll head back.” Henshizo said and Basan nodded and gestured for Henshizo to follow him which Henshizo did, back to their surveillance room. “Help me pack things up then, Hawks will get the cameras, but the monitors and stuff.” Basan said and Henshizo nodded, carrying over the boxes that the monitors had come in. As Henshizo was doing this, Basan had rewound the footage to watch Henshizo’s takedowns. “Very good on the lookout takedown. Covering the mouth isn’t something everyone thinks of. And you used the drunkenness of those clowns against them to land easy hits and end it quickly. Good call.” Basan said and Henshizo nodded.

“I didn’t want them to use their quirks while drunk. Wouldn’t be the first time a more serious injury happened because of quirk usage while intoxicated.” Henshizo said and Bansan nodded as they packed everything up. Once they were done, they went back to the depot where an officer handed the paperwork to Henshizo who put it in his jacket. “Suppose this is bye for a while.” Henshizo said to Bansan as they walked out. “Yeah. I can’t blame UA after the raid. Damn shame, it seems like the former generation of heroes is beginning to fade quickly. All Might, Snatch, Nighteye. And of course, Yoroi Musha is up there in age so he’ll retire soon enough, although he says he’ll still be going by the time we retire.” Basan said chuckling. “No, I get it, look at the last rankings. Of the top ten; one is gone, Endeavor and Musha are the only ones that were there for All Might’s career really, Crust is below them, but everyone else in the top ten is below thirty. It’s a new generation.” Henshizo said before glancing up. “And spearheaded by you Hawks.” Henshizo said looking up at his mentor who smiled.

“I heard things actually got busy, so I decided to see.” Hawks said flying down beside them. “And I’m not spearheading anything, just doing what I can so others don’t have to do anything.” Hawks said grinning. “Sure sure, and it’s not to see me one last time?” Henshizo asked and Hawks shrugged. “I made sure to talk to Tsukuyomi before he got back to UA and I owed it to you.” Hawks said giving a dismissal wave to Bansan. “I’m heading to bed, night boss. Take care Yahata.” Bansan said waving, Henshizo raising his hand in acknowledgement before Bansan walked away. Hawks sighed once it became the two of them. “I heard what you two were talking about, and yeah, the old is going away, but the heroes of now and tomorrow will be more than able to step up. How’re you doing? I saw you gave insight to the Hassaikai case team, must have been upsetting, dredging up those memories and Henshizo glanced down for a moment.

“Yeah. I reverted back to what I do, try and isolate myself, ignore people. But my mom helped me pull myself out of it and I’m better now.” Henshizo said as they walked along. “Good. Well, good job tonight. UA’s just putting the work studies on pause, but you and Tsukuyomi made good strides forward, both as pros and people. So, I guess it was a success.” Hawks said shrugging and Henshizo chuckled. “Maybe. Um, thank you.” Henshizo said looking over at Hawks who was a bit surprised at the thanks. “For what?” Hawks asked and Henshizo gave a small smile. “You took a chance on me. I just hope I didn’t disappoint.” Henshizo said and Hawks shook his head. “No, you went past my expectations. You’ll make a good pro one day, but you still have much to learn.” Hawks said and Henshizo nodded as Hawks got him to the bus stop. “Be safe Hawks, do what you gotta do.” Henshizo said and Hawks chuckled as a bus came up. “And you keep your head up, and don’t do what you have to do.” He said and Henshizo gave a small laugh before waving and getting on the bus to head back to UA.

Henshizo sat down and pulled the papers out and began filling the report out on the bus, by the time he got back to UA, he had finished the report up and walked to the dorm, first dropping the report in the outgoing mail, then going to the showers and got cleaned up before making his pajamas and walking out to the kitchen and he went up to his floor, stopping outside of Midoriya’s room and gave a small sigh, knowing Midoriya would be suffering right now. Henshizo walked into his room and got in bed staring up at the ceiling before falling asleep, only to be woken up by the nightmare of helping Overhaul kill Nighteye and Midoriya; causing Henshizo to stare up more but unable, or perhaps unwilling, to fall asleep again.

Notes:

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed and any feedback you have is welcome.

Chapter 52: Waiting to Welcome Back

Summary:

Henshizo and the others anxiously wait for their classmates to return back to the dorm after the raid, but in the meantime they have to contend with a challenge from their principal. What does Nezu have for them and is 1-A and UA coping with the fallout of the raid?

Henshizo sat up in bed as the sun began coming in through the curtains. He rubbed his faced having had almost no sleep, and slowly got out of bed and made his way to the door and shuffled to the elevator. “Robusta coffee for sure.” Henshizo mumbled as he waited for the elevator and heard footsteps behind him. “Morning Sesshada. How’d the stakeout go?” Came Tokoyami’s voice and Henshizo held out a thumbs up. “The crew tried to strike, but I got them. They killed two guards though.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami stood beside him and bowed his head softly. “Quite the deadly day yesterday.” He muttered and Henshizo nodded. “But justice will be served, I also stopped an assault on a woman by a couple drunk idiots.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami nodded. “That’s good of you. Darkness didn’t win.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo nodded as they got in the elevator. “But lack of sleep won. Thankfully no heroics today.” Henshizo muttered and Tokoyami glanced over slightly concerned. “Just need some coffee, don’t worry.” Henshizo said as the elevator opened up on the main floor and Henshizo changed clothes into his uniform as he walked to the coffee machine and got the strongest coffee beans had beginning to roast them. As he did this more of the class began coming in and getting their breakfasts ready; Henshizo’s coffee finally done and as Henshizo reached for a mug, it floated to him and Henshizo glanced over at Yanagi as she walked over. “Must have been a long night for that strong of coffee, judging by the smell.” Yanagi said and Henshizo chuckled softly as he poured some. “Yeah. Between a stakeout, some fighting, and just being unable to sleep.” Henshizo muttered to her and Yanagi nodded as Henshizo glanced around. “Although it seems I’m not the only one.” Henshizo said even quieter as he noticed a lot of people with signs of bad sleep.

“Hey, Sesshada’s in the news!” Sero called out from the TV and some went over and Henshizo walked over, surprised that the news already had this story, although with the two guard deaths he wasn’t surprised. “Yahata, a work study of the number three hero Hawks, stopped villains during an attempted robbery of an armored truck depot in the very early hours of this morning, two guards were killed in the robbery. Those arrested are facing several charges.” The reporter said but Ojiro muted the TV and most looked at Henshizo and Henshizo held a hand up to stop their praise and questions as he took a big gulp of coffee. “I don’t have any feelings really, it’s just… the business.” Henshizo said and he noted people seemingly swallow their comments and questions.

After a few minutes of silence Iida cleared his throat. “We have classes to prepare for, and a filling breakfast is part of the preparation.” Iida said doing a small arm chop and people walked away to finish their breakfast. Henshizo just stood there and looked at the muted TV as Yanagi came up to his side. “Death’s shadow doesn’t scare you? Does it?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo sighed as he looked into his coffee. “Of course, death itself scares me, but I’m not scared of seeing it.” Henshizo said quietly and Yanagi ever so gently put her hand on his arm.

“Just remember you’re not alone to face that shadow.” Yanagi said softly and Henshizo gave a gentle smile. “Thanks, I appreciate it truly.” Henshizo said, as from the kitchen Ashido was staring at them intensely before Yanagi walked to the kitchen. Henshizo finished his coffee, grabbed two apples, and began walking to class. Henshizo got to 1-A’s room, pulled his books out and quickly began doing the homework that was due today. ‘Should’ve done this during the stakeout, but then again I had to watch the cameras constantly so it really wouldn’t have worked too well.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he did a tricky calculation. As Kaminari came in last, Henshizo finished the final problem, after which the bell rang and Present Mic once again walked in.

“Hey hey listeners, good news. Your classmates will be leaving the hospital today, as is Aizawa.” Present Mic said and the class all gave smiles, while some gave excited fist pumps. Henshizo simply gave a small smile before glancing down at his desk. “Although their eta is unknown since there’s some follow up stuff, they’ll have to take care of. You’ll see them today at some point.” Present Mic said and Henshizo figured that it would be paperwork and questions that would be holding them up. Present Mic’s face went serious as he looked around. “Be there for them. Something like this can affect someone greatly. Don’t force anything, but just be there for them to reach out to.” Present Mic said seriously and they all nodded, apart from Bakugo, but Henshizo noticed his body language was slightly different. “So that means you’re with me for another homeroom. Hopefully that doesn’t bother you. I honestly don’t have anything more to say.” Present mic said smiling and a few members of the class shook their heads since they knew Present Mic liked hearing himself talk. Henshizo was amongst these but Henshizo just glanced out the window, wondering when the raid team would be getting back. Henshizo let his mind wander to rest just a bit before classes began, as the bell to begin classes rang Henshizo snapped back to the classroom as Present Mic picked up the lesson from the day before. Henshizo focused best he could, but the lack of sleep made it difficult as the English lesson transitioned into a literature lesson from Cementoss. Henshizo was able to make it to lunch after Ectoplasm’s math class, although he didn’t volunteer to answer like he usually did, and the class made their way to the cafeteria.

“It’s so weird having two days without them.” Kaminari said, glancing at the empty space where Kirishima walked beside him. “Yeah. But at least we know they’re coming back today and that they’re ok.” Ashido said and Henshizo gave a quiet deep nose exhale hearing that.

“We just have to support them, like Present Mic said.” Momo said to them with a gentle smile as they stood in line. “Just wonder when they’ll be back. Tokoyami, Sesshada, what is the paperwork like? Since that seems to be the thing holding them up.” Sero asked the only two work study students there and the two turned.

“It depends on the incident, but typically you have to go over exactly what you did and to who. You also get information from the police about injuries sustained by both sides, if it can be determined in the field.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami nodded. “Although we haven’t done anything like this raid, the closest was the stakeout we did yesterday. There’s probably a lot more, plus more villains were arrested so that is a form for each one of them.” Tokoyami said, causing Kaminari and Ashido to shudder at the paperwork. “And… well… I’m not sure how you deal with a death.” Henshizo said quietly but the class still heard him and they all looked sad and glanced away.

“My dad has had to do a couple of them, for accident victims. He hates them, and says they’re the longest forms because it needs to be determined how preventable the death was.” Todoroki said and Henshizo looked at him surprised, more surprised that Endeavor had told him that part of being a hero. “That makes sense, it just must be terrible to have to think back to it.” Ojiro said, playing with his tail’s tuft of fur to comfort himself as the class went silent and got their food without saying a word. They went to sit at their respective tables and began to eat. Henshizo’s coffee as strong as it was at breakfast, with Yanagi looking at him as he sipped. “So, who’s doing heroics lecture today?” Henshizo asked breaking the silence and other conversations began breaking out.

“Principal Nezu is actually teaching us today, and I’m excited for that since he’s so smart, the knowledge he has for us is second to none.” Momo said smiling and Henshizo chuckled. “His intellect is frightening; I wonder what it will be. Simple laws and regulations are beneath him in my opinion.” Yanagi said and Momo nodded. “My guess is that it will have to do with strategies.” She said and Henshizo shrugged.

“As long as it doesn’t involve a wrecking ball, I’m fine with it.” Ashido said and Henshizo smirked thinking back to her’s and Kaminari’s abysmal final exam against Nezu. “I don’t think Kaminari is looking forward to it regardless.” Henshizo said, causing Ashido to laugh as Kaminari pouted, but didn’t deny what Henshizo said. The mood was a bit better by the time they finished lunch and made their way back to the classroom. After the bell rang, the door slid open and although Henshizo couldn’t see him, Henshizo heard the sound of the principal walking in. Nezu climbed up some steps that had been set at the front and stood on top of the podium and raised a paw smiling at them.

“Good afternoon students it is I, your principal, and I will be your teacher today. I hope to sharpen your investigative tools in your arsenal as heroes, as today we will be working on code. Both how to make code and break them.” Nezu said and this caught Henshizo’s attention and he looked at the principal. “You all will have to sometimes convey information to allies stealthily, without detection from prying eyes, and other times you will be those prying eyes trying decipher what a villain is trying to send to their allies.” Nezu said as he pressed a button on the podium and the projector screen lit up behind him. “Sometimes villains purposely send coded messages to taunt us, but more often these coded messages are intercepted by police. Deciphering them tends to lead us to bust deals set up by villains. Of course, these groups are still very cautious with them and it is a chess match between the villains and heroes.” Nezu said and Henshizo thought back to how his father would stress the importance of code. Henshizo raised his hand and Nezu nodded at him. “Code is also used to provide deniability, since they know there is a good chance of them being recorded.” Henshizo said and he rubbed his neck awkwardly since he had done that often. “An excellent point Sesshada. First, we will work on cracking code.” Nezu said a picture of a text conversation popped up behind him. “Decipher this conversation to the best of your ability the only information I will give you is that it is a conversation to set up an illegal deal.” Nezu said and some of his classmates groaned but Henshizo read the texts carefully before he began to write his answer down.

“If he hadn’t said something was off about this, I’d have no idea.” Momo muttered behind Henshizo, trying to figure it out. After ten minutes Nezu cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. “Does anyone want to try first? Besides Sesshada.” Nezu said as Henshizo had begun to raise his hand. Bakugo raised his hand confidently. “Yes Bakugo.” Nezu said politely.

“The sender is setting up a buy for drugs.” Bakugo said and Nezu nodded. “But were you able to determine what drug and for how much?” Nezu asked and Bakugo just clicked his tongue annoyed, while a couple others sighed since they got it wrong. Iida raised his hand to try next. “I believe that the sender is trying to buy cannabis sativa from the recipient.” Iida said and Nezu just smiled. “Not quite, but good guess. Any other ideas?” Nezu asked but none of the class wanted to try since two of the top academics couldn’t crack it. “Very well, Sesshada.” Nezu said and Henshizo leaned back. “Sender is trying to buy meth; for I think, about seven million yen. I also believe that the pick up will be at a truck stop along the coast line.” Henshizo said and the class looked at him shocked but Nezu clapped his paws.

“Excellent work, I had a feeling you could decipher it. Care to explain to the class?” Nezu said and Henshizo nodded. “In the first message the sender says their wife is asking about the recipient’s wife. Which means I’m almost out. The recipient, presumably the supplier, says that his wife is good and asks what car they currently drive as he was looking at new cars. That’s just the supplier saying he can provide and is asking what the dealer needs. The dealer responds with a Mitska Gal. The mitsksa means meth and the gal is for an extra-large order. The supplier sends back a thank you and then asks for a restaurant to meet up for at dinner. Dealer sends a restaurant back, but the real information is the time frame. Six to seven, says the dealer, and the supplier says seven works best. So, seven million I’m assuming.” Henshizo said tapping his pencil to his journal and Nezu nodded while the class couldn’t believe he could deduce that much. “Code is fairly universal in the underworld, at least so that you can go anywhere and get what you need. Some nuances exist of course, but it’s straight forward.” Henshizo said to them. “He is correct, since the underworld is closely tied to each other the code can’t deviate too much. Even villains hate misunderstandings.” Nezu said with a smile and small chuckle and some of the class awkwardly chuckled too. “Today you will try to decipher different types of messages. A few more of these examples, cryptic letters that had been sent to police from villains, and then I want you to make up your own code and I will grade it on how long it takes for me to crack whatever message you put down.” Nezu said and Henshizo gave a small chuckle at that part.

“Stop thinking you’re better than me at this yakuza, I’ll make it uncrackable for him.” Bakugo hissed back at him and Henshizo shrugged as a small robot began passing the papers out for them to decode. The text messages that they were given to the class were easy for Henshizo to decipher, however the first letter gave Henshizo pause as he had to figure out what each symbol meant. Henshizo was able to slowly decipher it and got the fanatic letter decoded. Henshizo was able to solve the second letter much faster, despite it being a different author, and then looked at the blank paper thinking of his code. Nezu came walking up to the side of his desk. “I will be intrigued by your code the most, since you have actual experience with it. This is a tool many heroes wish they had, especially as developed as yours.” Nezu said looking up at him and Henshizo nodded.

“Thank you sir, I’ve truly accepted how my past can help me be a good hero. No matter what it is.” Henshizo said with a gentle smile. Nezu nodded and continued walking around the classroom as Henshizo decided upon his code and began writing it down. “Sir, for our code, do you want the answer as well to confirm?” Iida asked raising his hand and Nezu nodded. “I simply request that you write the answers in a separate paper and drop the answers off to the teacher’s lounge to one of the teachers there.” Nezu said to the class who all nodded in response. Henshizo refocused on making his code and worked on that until he was satisfied with his code; he used symbols that would need to be cracked, which if cracked revealed words that then would take specific letters from each word to form his message, the first letter from the first word, the second letter from the second word, and so on, using semi-colons and commas to separate when a word ended and a new one began. Henshizo also decided that Nezu needed a misdirection so he made sure the first letters of every word spelled a different phrase; the fake phrase being ‘Can never look bad in a suit’, the real message being ‘Coffee is better than tea.’ As others struggled, Henshizo let himself rest and patiently waited for the day to end. Once the bell rang; Sato, Kaminari, Ashido, and Aoyama groaned as they put all their papers, apart from the answers, on the robot that went around the classroom.

“Thank you for having me, it is always nice for me to be able to teach the heroes of the next generation. Instead of being in my office all day. Have a good day, and be there for your classmates.” Nezu said before going down the steps and following the robot out of the classroom. The class packed their things and made their way back to the dorm. “Anyone want to do anything?” Kaminari asked and for the most part people gave varied responses. “I’m going to go workout until dinner.” Henshizo said heading to the elevator so he could drop his bag off in his room. As he went up to his room and set his bag by his desk, he looked at the photo of his foster family and gave a small smile. He sat at his desk and pulled his phone out, proceeding to call Sanae and waited for her to answer.

“Henshizo, this is a lovely surprise! How’re you? Everything ok?” Sanae asked and Henshizo smiled a bit more. “Everything’s ok, just decided to call, and see how everything is on your end.” Henshizo said happily. “Well, we’re all going fine. Daiki isn’t doing great but it’s nothing to worry about.” Sanae said and Henshizo cocked an eyebrow. “What happened?” He asked and Sanae gave a soft chuckle. “His online girlfriend broke up with him.” She said and Henshizo laughed. “That’s hard but… he’ll get over it. Does he even know if it was a girl?” Henshizo asked and Sanae laughed now. “He swears by it.” She said giggling and sighed softly. “They miss you.” She said quietly and Henshizo’s smile faded a bit. “I miss them too. They’re on their way home, right?” Henshizo asked and Sanae gave a ‘m-hm’ of confirmation. “Well maybe I can stay on until they get back. At least if they don’t have any extra stuff.” Henshizo said and Sanae chuckled. “Not today. They’ll be home within fifteen minutes or so.” Sanae said and Henshizo leaned back in his chair.

“I can wait around until then. You wrapping up your garden soon?” Henshizo asked as he changed his uniform to workout clothes. “Yep. Now speaking of girlfriends, how are you and that girl you teamed up with in the sports festival doing?” Sanae asked teasingly and Henshizo felt his face turn red. “Yanagi is just a friend. And she’s fine.” Henshizo mumbled and Sanae chuckled knowing he felt embarrassed. “Your mom called about a week ago, worried about you. Everything ok now?” She asked more seriously and Henshizo sighed. “Yeah. Just… the past coming back.” Henshizo said and Sanae sighed sadly. “Don’t worry, I’m all good now, just was more surprised but I’ll be good.” Henshizo said happily. “Good. I was worried when your mom called, but I’m glad things are better. How are things in class?” Sanae asked and Henshizo told her about the code work as well as the evasion training from the day before. “Those sound interesting, and I’m not surprised you’re doing so well. By the way, the Yahata fan club has been established in my house.” Sanae said and Henshizo laughed. “I’m serious; they find any story on you, well any good one, they save it.” Sanae said and Henshizo smiled softly. “That’s nice… just hope they don’t mind me not being in the news for a bit now.” Henshizo said sighing and Sanae tilted her head, although he couldn’t see it. “Are they stopping them because of that raid?” She asked and Henshizo sighed. “Yeah. Obviously, something major like that happens UA is going to protect its students over everything else.” Henshizo said and in the background of Sanae’s end of the call, Henshizo heard the door open and the shouts of his foster siblings. “Hey guys! Guess who I’m talking to!” Sanae called back to them, and Henshizo heard them running in to presumably the kitchen. “Henshizo!” The four of them yelled excited and Henshizo chuckled.

“Hey guys, now that you’re home I’m going to hang up.” Henshizo said jokingly, causing them to cry out. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. How’re you guys doing? One at a time please.” Henshizo said leaning back in his chair with a smile. Henshizo heard some bickering before Hinata took ahold. “Hi Henshizo, it’s so nice hearing from you. I thought you forgot about us.” Hinata said teasingly and Henshizo sighed. “Yeah, sorry. I haven’t talked to you guys as much as I’d like but I haven’t forgotten at all.” Henshizo said and Hinata giggled. “I know, and I also know you’re doing well in classes but you’ll undersell yourself.” She said causing Henshizo to laugh. “That I suppose is accurate.” Henshizo said and after some muttering Goji got a hold of the phone.

“Dude you’re amazing! The robbery, helping with that bus, and everything. I always tell people, that my foster brother! They don’t believe me but it doesn’t matter.” Goji said excited and Henshizo smiled. “Yeah, it doesn’t matter if they don’t believe you. I just do my best and making you proud is an extra reward for me.” Henshizo said happily as he heard the phone getting passed and the tapping of metal, meaning Daiki had the phone now.

“Hey Shizo, it’s great to talk to you. I have a question.” Daiki said and Henshizo chuckled. “Is this about your internet girlfriend?” Henshizo asked and Daiki groaned. “Sanaeeee.” Daiki whined and Henshizo heard her laugh in the background. “Somewhat, I just want your thought about what I should do next.” Daiki muttered and Henshizo leaned forward in his chair. “Enjoy life, don’t get caught up in this, and I wouldn’t worry about something like that right now if I were you. Find what you like and want in someone, and then find someone real that you like.” Henshizo said gently. “Got it, thanks.” Daiki said and more noise of the phone being passed.

“Hey Henshizo, I hope you’re doing well.” Came the soft-spoken voice of Honoka. “I am, and are you doing well?” Henshizo asked gently with a soft smile. “I’m good, I’ve made a couple new friends at school.” Honoka said happily and Henshizo was glad for her. “That’s great to hear, and you still keep my tie nearby?” Henshizo asked curiously. “Yep, I have it in my school bag.” Honoka said proudly and Henshizo nodded. “Good work. Just hope I never ask you to use it.” Henshizo said chuckling, referring to her quirk. “I don’t think you will, you’re so strong, but I’m always at the ready.” She said excited and Henshizo nodded. “Good work, keep it up.” He said encouragingly and Henshizo heard the phone passed again.

“I’d let you talk to them more but they’d be here all day and not get any work done, and I’m sure you’ve got your own stuff too.” Sanae said and Henshizo chuckled. “That’s the right call, especially Goji.” He said and Sanae giggled. “Yeah, but they’re super happy now so that’ll get them through the week and more.” Sanae said and Henshizo nodded as he stood up. “It’s been great talking to you. And again, thanks for everything.” Henshizo said walking to the door of his dorm. “No, thank you. You helped us all out. You take care now and don’t be a stranger.” Sanae said and Henshizo chuckled as he walked to the elevator. “I won’t be, you take care as well. Let me know if you guys need anything ok.” Henshizo said as he got in the elevator. “I will, talk later.” Sanae said and they hung up. After that Henshizo left the dorm and went to the gym to workout, noticing some third years talk with worried and confused faces as he squatted. ‘Must be talking about the big three. I wonder if something happened to them.’ Henshizo thought to himself. As he did pull-ups with a forty-five-pound plate strapped to him Henshizo the three third years came up to him, two of them with anger in their eyes.

“How can you be here while your friend hurt ours?!” One shouted angrily and Henshizo gently dropped down. “If you’re referring to Hado, Amajiki, and Togata I hope they aren’t too badly hurt. But I have nothing but disdain for villains now. I’m not the one to be angry or yell at.” Henshizo said calmly and they looked at each other. “I am sorry for what happened, but just leave me out of your anger. It’s not good for those about to be pros.” Henshizo said seriously and they looked down a bit in shame. “My past is my past yes, but that’s it, my past. It’s not who I am now, so let’s just focus on wishing everyone a good recovery.” Henshizo said gently and the three nodded, walking away. Henshizo sighed and got back to his workout. ‘Figures, but… old me would’ve lashed out.’ Henshizo said happy with himself.

Henshizo finished his workout and went back to the dorms, rinsed himself off, made himself dinner before settling in the common room, working on some homework as the rest of the class were all in the common room too, an air of anxiousness in the common room as they waited for the raid team. Henshizo had finished helping Ojiro and Yanagi with their math homework, when the doors opened and in came Midoriya, Kirishima, Tsu, and Uraraka came in, causing an immediate rush to them from most of the class. Henshizo lingered back, straightening papers out as he watched them.

“We were so worried, you all had a rough go.” Sero said as Sato held out some chocolate cake for them. “First Kamino and now this. You guys.” Kaminari said to Kirishima and Midoriya, causing Henshizo to think back to their mission to try and rescue Bakugo and having to help him get away from All For One and the League. Henshizo stood up and walked towards the back, watching as Hagakure was hugging, almost strangling, Tsu and Uraraka.

“Are they ok?” Jiro was asking Shoji in front of Henshizo. “Physically yes… but mentally… they all went through similar but different things. I’d be more worried if they weren’t mentally affected.” Henshizo muttered to them and they looked at him worried but looked back at their classmates.

“Enough. Me all saw the news and heard what was said. Our classmates have been through a lot. Physically and spiritually, let them rest.” Iida said and Henshizo saw Todoroki walk away as he was looking at his phone. “Iida, it’s ok. This is fine.” Midoriya said smiling a bit, but Henshizo saw the pain in his eyes clearly. “Then if that’s the case.” Iida said before he began shaking Midoriya. “Why didn’t you say anything?! We’ve been worried sick! You’re a trouble magnet.” Iida said as Henshizo chuckled and walked forward to separate them, as Momo went to go make tea. Henshizo pulled Iida off Midoriya, while also giving Midoriya a sympathetic look.

“I’m glad you’re back. If you guys need anything.” Henshizo said to the four of them gently and they all nodded. Henshizo noticed Uraraka was looking at her hands for a bit until Ashido came over and hugged her again. Yanagi floated over the cups of tea Momo had made.

“I’m off to bed.” Bakugo said annoyed, walking away from Kaminari who he had pie-faced onto the couch as Todoroki came back in. “I’m glad you four are ok, but I’m also off to bed.” Todoroki said going to the elevator.

“That’s early.” Kirishima said and Henshizo took a sip of the tea. “They have provisional classes. Although it is a bit early.” Henshizo said as Midoriya ate some of the cake. After people either had some of the cake, tea, or both, Iida had everyone head to bed, but more so that the raid team could head to their rooms to try and sleep. Henshizo was sitting at his desk writing notes before ripping it up into four pieces. ‘I know the darkness you are facing, but I know you did everything you could do, and you shine bright. Don’t let the darkness swallow it. I’ll guide you through it.’ Henshizo wrote on all of them, signing them. He then got up and left his dorm, going to each of the raid team members dorm room and slid it quietly under the door, although every time he heard the bed move, indicating they were awake. ‘I remember those sleepless nights.’ Henshizo thought sadly as he got back in his dorm room, looked again at the pictures of his foster family and his mom before getting back into bed and closing his eyes, focusing on the light in his present, rather than the darkness of his past.

Notes:

Thanks for reading, and glad it wasn't almost 4 months between chapters. Hope you enjoyed and any comments are appreciated.

Chapter 53: Henshizo's Helping Hand

Summary:

Henshizo has offered a helping hand and some take him up on it. How does he do in terms of trying to help emotionally? What information does he learn as well?

Henshizo was woken up early in the morning with a knock at his door. Rubbing his eye, he walked to the door and opened it, seeing Midoriya. “Morning Midoriya. What’s up?” Henshizo asked blinking in the hall light. “Morning Sesshada, there’s something you should know, but I don’t think the whole class should know… but you deserve to.” Midoriya said and Henshizo tilted his head confused, but invited Midoriya in, closing the door behind him. “Get any sleep?” Henshizo asked as Midoriya sat at Henshizo’s desk chair. “Not really.” Midoriya admitted and Henshizo nodded. “You can help yourself to my coffee if you want.” Henshizo said and Midoriya chuckled. “I’ll be ok. Do you remember back at the provisional licensing exam, how there was that girl from Shiketsu?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo instantly narrowed his eyes, remembering the blonde girl that had set off his instinct. “How could I forget?” Henshizo growled softly and Midoriya nodded. “It wasn’t actually the girl.” Midoriya said and Henshizo tilted his head confused. “During the raid, we were separated up and for a period of time it was just Aizawa and myself. After I smashed the wall down there were two Rock Locks, but one tried to stab me. Aizawa used his quirk and this sludge or something popped off this fake Rock Lock and it was really Himiko Toga.” Midoriya said and Henshizo’s eyes went wide in surprise. “But how is this connected to the girl at the licensing exam?” Henshizo asked and Midoriya sighed. “There was a time during the exam it was just her and I, but she had disguised herself as Uraraka, and the same mud stuff came off her as the girl from Shiketsu appeared. So, it wasn’t the Camie girl, it was really Toga. That’s why you, uh, sensed something wrong.” Midoriya said and Henshizo sat down on the bed. “Is the actual Camie ok?” Henshizo asked and Midoriya nodded. “All Might told me she at the provisional license exam this weekend with Kacchan and Todoroki.” Midoriya said and Henshizo sighed in relief.

“Then I’m sure I had Toga scared.” Henshizo said chuckling and Midoriya nervously smiled. “Maybe, but I thought you would like to know that.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded. “What’s her quirk then?” Henshizo asked and Midoriya went a bit pale. “The police think she can turn into people if she ingests their blood.” Midoriya said and Henshizo shuddered. “Back at the camp… she got Uraraka’s blood. That quirk is a headache.” Henshizo said looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah. Although with you we can know.” Midoriya said and Henshizo laughed. “I suppose. How was the funeral for Nighteye.” Henshizo said looking at Midoriya who lowered his head. “It was… heavy. But he wants us to keep smiling so I’m trying that.” Midoriya said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “Just make sure it’s a genuine smile.” Henshizo said as he stood up and changed his pajamas to his uniform and looked at the calendar and couldn’t believe it was already October.

“I’m glad you’ve come to me and talked about the raid. How’s Togata holding up?” Henshizo asked and Midoriya sighed. “Every time I’ve seen him, he’s smiling and trying to act happy and hopeful. But…” Midoriya said trailing off and Henshizo nodded. “Losing your quirk and mentor in the same day would be catastrophic. Don’t beat yourself about it, he’s trying to cope in his own way. We all have our own coping mechanisms.” Henshizo said quietly and Midoriya nodded. “Thank you, by the way, Sesshada. For helping us, I know the others have appreciated it.” Midoriya said and Henshizo smiled faintly. “Who better to help you guys clean up after a dip into the yakuza pool of filth than me.” Henshizo said as Midoriya stood up.

“I suppose so, but still, thanks.” Midoriya said as they walked to the door and walked to the elevator. They went down to the kitchen and went about making their own breakfasts. As Henshizo was frying an egg, Yanagi came shuffling over and Henshizo smiled softly at her. “Morning Yanagi.” Henshizo said and she nodded a bit in greeting. Henshizo watched as she floated an egg to the pan and hovered it beside it. “Is this your way of asking me to fry you an egg too?” Henshizo asked and Yanagi looked up and nodded, with a small smile by her standards. Henshizo chuckled as he put his egg on a plate, letting Yanagi crack the egg into the pan. As Henshizo worked the second egg he handed the plate.

“Oh, thank you.” Yanagi said quietly and Henshizo nodded. “Everything ok?” Henshizo asked and she nodded. “I just didn’t obtain a proper amount of sleep, as I got caught up in finishing a horror franchise last night.” Yanagi said just a bit sleepily. “Ah, makes sense. You doing some horror themed stuff since it’s October?” Henshizo asked as he flipped the egg. “Yes, it is a tradition I have done the past two years.” Yanagi said with happiness in her voice as she used her quirk to salt her egg. “That’s nice, what did you watch last night?” Henshizo asked curiously. “The exorcist. Arguably the most classic horror movie.” Yanagi said and Henshizo smiled at her excitement that he could pick up on. “It sounds fun, what will you be watching tonight?” Henshizo asked as he put the egg on a second plate and walked to a table with Yanagi. “The Thing. I designate a theme for each week, and it is American horror movie week. Most American films are created with mass appeal in mind, which diminishes their luster to me, when they do make a good horror movie, it is amazing.” Yanagi said as they began to eat and Henshizo smiled at her so happy talking about it. “I’ve never seen The Thing, but I’ve heard it’s a great paranoia-centric movie.” He said as he began eating. “Then would you like to watch it with me tonight?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo tilted his head to think for a brief moment. “Sure, let’s just make sure it’s not an all-nighter.” He said jokingly and Yanagi nodded in agreement. The two silently ate together, with Ashido peering at them from where she was eating.

“Can you not stare?” Kirishima whispered to Ashido who squeaked and looked back as Kaminari snickered. “I can’t help it. Those two have zero emotional awareness but it’s clear they have feelings.” Ashido whined quietly as Kirishima sighed.

“Let them be them. Don’t make them feel awkward. Especially those two, the two scariest classmates we have.” Sero said and Kaminari nodded in agreement as Ashido sighed. “Yanagi isn’t scary. She’s into scary things, but she’s really kind and nice. Also, very insightful.” Ashido said and the boys nodded. “And Sesshada?” Sero asked and she tilted her head. “All those things but still scary.” Ashido said and they laughed. Henshizo finished up his breakfast and used his quirk to clean the plate.

“Your quirk helps so much with everyday tasks, it’s enviable.” Yanagi said looking at the plate. “Yeah, I like it.” Henshizo said chuckling as he got up and put the plate away. Yanagi floated her plate to the sink as she finished her juice. Henshizo cleaned it for her, as Ojiro came over and grabbed two bananas. “Not helping the monkey jokes.” Henshizo said and Ojiro punched his arm playfully.

“I slept in, so these will do.” Ojiro said as he peeled one of them. Yanagi came over, using her quirk to float her’s and Henshizo’s bags over them. “Shall we head to homeroom?” Yanagi asked and the two boys nodded.

“Did you see how much they did for each other?” Ashido whispered, causing Kirishima to sigh as the three walked out into the October air. “More brisk now, at least we don’t have to wait for buses.” Henshizo said as they walked along.

“Yeah. Want to hear a story about me in the cold?” Ojiro asked, causing both Henshizo and Yanagi to look at him curiously. “I was ten, and I made the mistake of showering in the morning. So, I was waiting for the bus and the water in my tail froze and I spent the bus ride taking icicles out of my tail.” Ojiro said a bit embarrassed and Henshizo laughed as Yanagi covered her mouth. “I shouldn’t laugh, but I can’t help but picture it.” Henshizo said as Ojiro chuckled. “Yeah, now I make sure to not shower in the morning in the winter.” Ojiro said as they walked through the halls.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? The 1-A thug, creep, and background character.” Came the voice Henshizo knew right away to be Monoma from 1-B. Monoma, Awasae, Tetsutetsu, Kendo, Tokage, and Honenuki came from the side hallway and Monoma dashed in front of them. “And it’s the jester of the first-year hero course.” Henshizo said annoyed, causing Monoma to laugh. “If that’s the best insult you can throw, it just shows how superior class b is to you losers.” Monoma said and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “I can attack you so much more that. And this is the last time I will say something about this, I don’t care if you insult me, but insulting my friends is not something I tolerate.” Henshizo hissed as Kendo walked up behind Monoma. “And what will you do? Nothing, just the rest of you class full of lo-” Monoma began before Kendo chopped him in the back of the head to knock him out.

“If you don’t stop, he’s going to beat you back to the Stone Age.” Kendo said to his unconscious form and sighed. “He’s lucky I had my coffee.” Henshizo said and Kendo chuckled softly. “Yeah, I tell him not to do stuff around you in particular, he just takes it as a challenge.” She said rolling her eyes before her and the rest of class b that were there walked to their room.

“I notice whenever you get defensive of us you exude an aura that is incredibly dark.” Yanagi said as they walked to homeroom. “Yeah. I just tap into what I know works in getting people to back off, being scary.” Henshizo said shrugging and Ojiro awkwardly smiled.

“Maybe you shouldn’t anymore.” Ojiro said gently, causing Henshizo to shrug. “It’s not like I do it frequently, just when necessary.” Henshizo said as Ojiro sighed. Henshizo went to his seat and got ready for the morning classes, made difficult by his classmates being themselves.

“You’re almost late, move at maximum walking speed but no running in the halls!” Iida yelled as Midoriya came power walking into the classroom. “Iida, your quirk is engine, but don’t be an obnoxiously loud car in the morning.” Henshizo called over to him rubbing his head. Henshizo also noticed an odd look Midoriya gave Aoyama an odd look when he walked past the possible French classmate of theirs. When Midoriya sat in front of him, Henshizo tapped his shoulder so Midoriya leaned back a bit and twisted his head. “Everything alright? What was with the look you gave Aoyama?” Henshizo muttered to him.

“Huh? Oh yeah, it’s just… during the night I saw Aoyama on my balcony and he left me a message on it, in cheese.” Midoriya said quietly and Henshizo tilted his head horribly confused. “Cheese? On your balcony? That’s not normal.” Henshizo muttered glancing over at Aoyama briefly. “Yeah, it’s why I didn’t sleep well and was nearly late.” Midoriya said sighing and Henshizo nodded as the bell rang for classes to start. Henshizo listened intently in the morning classes. After history with Midnight, the lunch bell rang and Henshizo packed up and walked with Momo to the lunch room.

“So my mom said something interesting.” Momo said grinning at Henshizo and Henshizo cocked an eyebrow. “Apparently your mom wants to get back into fashion.” She said and Henshizo nodded. “Yeah, she wants to get control of her life back and she’s doing something she likes.” Henshizo said happily and Momo smiled at it. “Oh yeah; while I was online last night, I saw something interesting.” Henshizo said teasingly and Momo cringed a bit, having an idea of what it was. “For the record, I think your hair looks better uncurled.” Henshizo muttered while grinning, causing Momo to groan. “Uwabami messaged Kendo and I that the advertisement would launch at the start of the month. I was wondering when someone would see it.” Momo muttered ashamed. “Could be worse, at least it wasn’t a bikini line.” Henshizo said shrugging and Momo smacked his arm. “Don’t say such things, I’m your cousin.” She said and Henshizo laughed. “I know, that’s why I said it. I’d probably wind up taking a crowbar to people if it was.” Henshizo said smiling.

“I concur with Sesshada, your hair is better uncurled.” Came the voice of Yanagi behind them, Momo giving a small start. “Oh, thanks Yanagi.” Momo said with a small smile at the compliment. “I wouldn’t mind doing an advertisement, but only if it was for something scary.” Yanagi said tilting her head and Henshizo chuckled and Momo blushed a bit since it was because of her they were talking about commercials.

“Yeah, I guess that’s something to think about when we become pros. What side things we want to do. Naturally I’d go with some suit lines.” Henshizo said and Momo giggled at him. “I think your mom would be happy to help with that. She still loves fashion, maybe you get that from her.” Momo said and Henshizo smiled happily at the thought. “Even when I was younger and, well you know, I took pride in my outfits and made sure to always be well dressed. That probably is from her.” Henshizo said proudly, finding something inherited from his mom. 1-A got to the cafeteria and got their lunches, sitting together in their usual groupings, although Henshizo made sure to sit near Midoriya. As the class ate and talked, Henshizo leaned over to Midoriya for as much privacy as a crowded cafeteria would allow them. “Where’s your cheesy pal?” Henshizo muttered and Midoriya glanced at him.

“He eats his lunch in the classroom.” Midoriya muttered and Henshizo looked around and realized that Aoyama was indeed missing. “Really? Weird.” Henshizo muttered going back to his lunch, with the class getting excited about the hero training in the afternoon. As they each finished their lunches, the 1-A class members walked back to 1-A to relax until they got told they can go to gym gamma. As they waited around Kaminari came over to be with Midoriya, and a few others.

“Hey guess l, check this out.” Kaminari said holding his phone up to show a news article that Henshizo glanced at. “Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Edgeshot are teaming up. Pretty cool.” Kaminari said, causing Yanagi to come over and glance at the article, since she had done her internship with Kamui Woods.

“That is exhilarating news, I’m sure Kamui was very excited to team up.” Yanagi said as she went to stand by Henshizo’s desk. “I saw a rumor that they’ll be going by The Lurkers.” Jiro said looking at the article too.

“Lots of heroes are teaming up nowadays, it’s kind of crazy.” Kaminari said pulling his phone back to read the article. “It makes sense, there’s an uptick in crime, so to reassure the public they team up and cover their weaknesses. This is no exception.” Henshizo said analytically. “I just think it’s cool.” Kaminari said a little bummed Henshizo was being a buzzkill. “It’s interesting but-“Henshizo began to talk until Momo poked the back of his head, her way of getting him to stop talking.

“Ok everybody, grab your cases, go change, and then we’re heading to gym gamma!” Iida called out to the class and they all went to the wall to grab their cases. “Hey Uraraka, we should team up. You can float me up and I can rain acid down on all the villains.” Ashido said excited. “And Sero can use his tape to hold onto me and control my movements. Shoji and Jiro can be the scouts and we can ourselves team rainy day!” She continued excited, as Jiro and Sero were confused about getting drafted into this fantasy team up.

“Would you want to team up when you’re a pro?” Ojiro asked Henshizo and Henshizo tilted his head. “I don’t know about having a fully-fledged team, since it could mean that it’s harder to stand out but I wouldn’t say no to frequent missions working together.” Henshizo said and Ojiro smiled.

“Sesshada, why are you always so forward thinking, it’s a bit of a drag.” Kaminari said with a mixture of teasing and whining. “Because this is a serious endeavor and everything matters.” Henshizo said flatly as they walked along the halls to the locker rooms. The class changed into their costumes and made their way to gym gamma where Cementoss was waiting for them.

“Today you will either be working on making a second ultimate move or shoring up both of your ultimate moves to the best of your ability.” Cementoss said to the class and Henshizo tilted his head trying to think, black skeleton was his ultimate move, but nothing could top it; he just couldn’t practice with it while his classmates were around. Kirishima hardened up into what Henshizo recognized as his unbreakable ultimate move. “Sato, Bakugo, Midoriya, use me as a punching bag!” He called out, causing Henshizo to chuckle but also feel a twinge of sadness knowing why Kirishima wanted them to beat him up.
______________________________________
“So you and Fat Gum fought a powerful fighter and a guy with a shield quirk?” Henshizo asked leaning back in his chair as Kirishima sat on his bed. “Yeah, we got sent to this area together, the big guy came rushing at us out of the dark and I hardened up thinking I could take his punch, but he punched be back right into the wall, cracking my body hard.” Kirishima said quietly. “Must have been scary.” Henshizo said gently and Kirishima sighed and nodded a bit. “One punch. Rappa, that was the puncher’s name. Rappa basically beat me in one punch. Fat was able to take it but I just stood there for the longest of times, it made me feel powerless.” Kirishima said and Henshizo gave a soft smile. “But you didn’t stay there the whole time, did you?” Henshizo said and Kirishima looked at him and nodded. “I stepped in and took more blows from Rappa, I tried to attack but the shield guy stepped in. But Fat used the time I bought him to deliver the winning punch. Afterwards, in the hospital, Fat told me that Rappa actually respected me, called me a man.” Kirishima said and Henshizo laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like Rappa, I had heard of him. One hell of an underground fighter, actually helped one of my mentors one time.” Henshizo said tilting his head to think back. “I didn’t know he had joined up with the Hassaikai but I’m glad you and Fat are still alive and ok. Not many can say that after facing him.” Henshizo said and Kirishima nodded. “Yeah, I just felt ashamed for becoming weak.” Kirishima said clutching his fists, and Henshizo frowned slightly. “You’re not weak Kirishima, you’re only fifteen, almost sixteen. Don’t feel like you have to be perfect now, that’s why we’re here at UA. To learn how to better ourselves, and by the sounds of it you did. You got knocked down hard, but you got up, found that plus ultra gear in you and stepped up. That’s what matters, you broke down a wall holding you back, and I can promise you many pros would’ve been frozen the full time down there after one hit from Rappa.” Henshizo said firing Kirishima up who looked at Henshizo with a smile. “Thanks man, that makes me feel better.” Kirishima said standing up, so Henshizo did too. “Any time ok.” Henshizo said and they shook hands. “Thanks man. It’s real manly for you to help us.” Kirishima said grinning and Henshizo smiled.
______________________________________

“Sorry, I’m going to be working on my own thing.” Midoriya said to Kirishima who nodded that it was ok. “If he can’t, I’ll hop in.” Henshizo said making the power gloves and Kirishima grinned at him as the class began splitting up so people could work on their moves. Sato ate some sugar and began rapidly punching Kirishima, while Bakugo delivered rapid explosions at the same time, and Henshizo was delivering hard hooks to the side of Kirishima with the power glove. The three of them would then stop when Kirishima’s unbreakable form gave out and waited for Kirishima to recharge. During one of these pauses Henshizo noticed Midoriya and Aoyama talking as Midoriya was helping Aoyama out after, what Henshizo guessed, Aoyama’s quirk took too much of a toll on him. Henshizo went back to delivering powerful punches to Kirishima. After Kirishima decided to start on trying to make a second move Henshizo went outside to the range that had been constructed and decided to work on his shooting against moving targets. He set the difficulty to the highest setting and made the guns with rubber bullets. Henshizo waited and a mix of targets appeared for him to fire at, including flying ones. Henshizo was able to take all of the targets down before they entered the danger zone, but he did miss some shots which annoyed him. “Have to be better than that, seconds matter.” Henshizo said pressing the button to go again. Henshizo continued to work on his shooting until the end of the session and the class went back to the locker room.

“That power glove of yours really packs a punch.” Kirishima said to Henshizo who chuckled. “Yeah, remember I was able to punch the pillars at the sports festival.” Henshizo said and Kirishima nodded. “Thanks for the help today. And in general.” Kirishima said, the second sentence quieter for just Henshizo who simply smiled and nodded. Once they were all changed, with the day being done, the boys left the locker room and had some minor split ups in terms of where people were going. Henshizo went back to his dorm, locked the door behind him, and went to the wall of video game consoles and did the sequence to reveal his hidden stashes and the case of victory trophies he had. Henshizo then took a piece of paper and tore it in half, before changing one half to a pad lock and the other half of paper into a leather jacket. Henshizo looked at the padlock and remembered the human trafficking ring he, Tokoyami, and Hawks busted. He put it to the side of the case before beginning to fold up the jacket from the heist he had stopped and put it in the case as well, before closing it up and looking at it with a bit of pride in himself. Henshizo then set everything back and unlocked his door before beginning to work on his homework. After a bit, Henshizo’s phone buzzed and he checked the message.

‘Will you still be viewing The Thing with me this evening?’ Yanagi had messaged him, causing Henshizo to smile. ‘Yep, 7?’ He sent back and waited for confirmation. ‘Highly acceptable’ she sent back and Henshizo smiled and went back to his homework for a bit. Once he finished his homework, he did some quick exercises in his room before heading down to the kitchen to make himself dinner. As he began to make some shogayaki on the stove he glanced over at the tv where the news was reporting that a J Store had been robbed and that five heroes had been treated for injuries, although the injuries weren’t serious. “Five heroes? Must have been either a strong villain or those heroes aren’t that particularly strong.” Henshizo muttered and went back to poking the pork around the pan. After he finished making his dinner and eating it, since it was ten minutes until seven, Henshizo went up to Yanagi’s room and knocked on the door. The door opened and Henshizo walked with Yanagi laying on her bed.

“Good evening.” She said looking over at him, Henshizo thankful her room was darkened as he felt his face get a bit hot as she looked at him. “Hey, you have dinner yet?” Henshizo asked curiously, trying to make small talk. “Yes, I ate some gyoza. I have the movie prepared.” Yanagi said and Henshizo nodded, making a chair he sat down in it. Henshizo adjusted himself as Yanagi started up the movie, and Henshizo noticed that she adjusted herself to be a bit closer to him. They watched the beginning and Henshizo chuckled at the helicopter chase scene. “The odds of them hitting anything is low, just luck at most.” He said and Yanagi nodded. “A desperate attempt to stop the alien.” She said in agreement. As they continued to watch Henshizo couldn’t believe at the monstrosity that the alien became. “Nomu are tame by comparison.” Henshizo muttered and Yanagi glanced over at him before moving her arm out towards him. Henshizo didn’t notice this as he was absorbed in the movie, but after a bit he stretched and rested his arm on her bed, both watching the movie so they were unaware that the only thing that separated their hands was a folded bit of her bed cover. The movie ended with its cliffhanger and Henshizo tilted his head thinking. “Ambiguous endings are almost always great.” Henshizo said sitting up and Yanagi nodded, sliding herself up to sit against the backboard of her bed. “Yes, it causes great debates and conversations.” She said with a very small smile. “Yeah, I can imagine. Thanks for inviting me.” Henshizo said smiling and he felt flushed as Yanagi brushed her from her face and he stood up, changing the chair to a marble and pocketing it. “And my thanks for helping me celebrate horror during October.” Yanagi said with happiness in her voice. “Of course, it’s always a good time to be with you.” Henshizo said before he shut his mouth going a deep red and, although he couldn’t see it, Yanagi got pink in the face too. “Good night Yanagi, thanks again.” Henshizo said a bit quickly and went to open the door, but it opened for him. “And have a good night as well Sesshada.” Yanagi said, in just a slightly higher pitch than normal. Henshizo nodded and left her dorm, going back to his dorm while tugging at his shirt collar. He cleaned himself up and went to bed, with the image of Yanagi on his mind before he shook it from his mind and went to sleep.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is welcome

Chapter 54: A Normal School Event?!

Summary:

Aizawa tells 1-A something is happening and it gets them all excited. But to Henshizo what does this announcement represent?

Notes:

Glad to be back in a swing of things in terms of writing and uploading. Hope you enjoy. Also fully into the new arc so a new cover intro! https://youtu.be/DS1Ke9lNnDM?si=6BTCR_ev7kphIUXv

Henshizo was reading the news on his phone as he waited for the homeroom bell to ring, he also looked at the text messages he had had with his mom and softly smiled at the photos of her going out and about, and being fascinated by some things. Near the door Ashido was showing off her dance moves, with Midoriya and Aoyama trying to dance but not exactly doing well. Henshizo chuckled watching them as he noticed Jiro getting upset at something Kaminari said, but Kaminari having no idea what he said. The bell rang and Henshizo pocketed his phone and looked forward at Aizawa, who was pulling on his sleeping bag as he stood at the podium. “We have the UA school festival next month.” Aizawa said flatly but this caused the class to erupt in cheers, with Henshizo smiling since this would actually be his first festival. Kirishima stood up with his hand raised. “Is it really ok to have the festival? Villains are going crazy right now.” Kirishima said worried and Henshizo thought it was valid. “While true, one must remember that UA is more than just the hero course. We get our moment in the sports festival, but this is more-so for the support, business, and general studies courses. Who also had to move into the dorms and are dealing with extra stress because of the hero course.” Aizawa said getting a tone at the end. “When it’s said that way, it would be unfair to cancel it.” Kirishima said sitting back down. “But, like I said, that point is valid. Which is why, unlike in the past, it will be basically for the school only, with a couple of exceptions but those will be vetted.” Aizawa said going to the corner. “You all will need to figure out what the class is doing, and do that today.” Aizawa said as he sat down in the corner and quickly fell asleep. ‘How?!’ Henshizo thought as the whole class did a double take at that. Iida and Momo walked up to the podium to lead the discussion.

“As a class we must decide, so let’s start. Any ideas?” Iida asked and the class erupted in noise as everyone was trying get their idea heard, while Henshizo quietly raised his hand. “One at a time!” Iida called out, quieting the class down. “Kaminari.” Iida said and Kaminari smiled. “A maid cafe! Think about it, just picture the outfits and what we can do.” Kaminari said, but before he could continue Henshizo had made a knitting needle and threw it right into the edge of his desk to shut him up. “Serving the others isn’t a bad idea, but a modest setting.” Iida said as Henshizo nodded and Kaminari stayed silent, not objecting to the modification of his idea.

“Let’s move on, Uraraka.” Momo said, looking at Henshizo briefly to calm him down. “Mochi!” Uraraka said excited and the class began sharing their ideas. “A banquet of darkness.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo smirked lightly at the idea. “A fight to the death!” Bakugo shouted and Henshizo rolled his eyes and one eye twitched a bit. “And Henshizo?” Momo asked after Bakugo’s idea. “A shooting gallery.” Henshizo said hopefully and they wrote it on the board too.

“Yanagi?” Iida asked as she hadn’t said one yet. “A haunted house.” Yanagi murmured just loud enough for them to hear. After all the class went through their ideas the class stared at the twenty options on the board. “Let’s eliminate the ideas that are either inappropriate or not really possible.” Iida said and eliminated the banquet of darkness, the death tournament, and Aoyama’s twinkling show.

“Take mine out but keep Yakuza’s in?” Bakugo asked annoyed while crossing his arms. “The local history seminar and study sessions don’t really scream school festival activities.” Kirishima said and others agreed, Henshizo having to stifle a laugh at how Momo was acting with how her idea was shot down. Henshizo rolled his eyes as most of the class devolved into trying to sway people into choosing their idea.

“Enough! Everyone please one at a time!” Iida cried out, but the bell rang, ending homeroom as Iida froze up as Aizawa woke up and rolled his sleeping bag up. “What waste of time, if you don’t have an idea by tomorrow’s homeroom, you’ll do my idea. A public education seminar.” Aizawa said threateningly.

“Just a class? No one will like that.” Kaminari said. “We’ll figure something out!” Kirishima said as Momo and Iida went back to their seats and Midnight came in for their first class of the day. Henshizo paid attention and the class got through their classes until the lunch bell rang. Henshizo packed up and alongside Ojiro and Yanagi, with the others, made their way to the cafeteria for lunch.

 

“Want to hit up the gym after classes?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo sighed. “I will, but I have my last make up session this afternoon.” Henshizo said annoyed. “Oh yeah, at least it’s your last one. The raid team probably has another one.” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded. “I didn’t miss that much, but they’re just making sure I didn’t have something slip through.” Henshizo said shrugging as he walked with his tray to the table.

“Extra lessons with Aizawa is a terrifying prospect.” Yanagi said and Henshizo laughed. “It could be worse, it’s the academic stuff mainly so he wants to get it over with as soon as possible.” Henshizo said and Ojiro chuckled. They sat down, and began eating their lunches, Henshizo just enjoying his spicy soba before they went back to for their afternoon heroics classes.

“Good afternoon.” All Might said walking in, and Henshizo still wasn’t one-hundred percent used to seeing skinny All Might in his suit. “It will be more environment education today, so pay attention. This helps separate the pros from the wannabes.” All Might said seriously, and he dimmed the lights and began showing videos of many different fights, some involving him, others involving other pros, and then amateurs. Henshizo saw that often times the amateurs let the fight spread well beyond what could be considered the fight area, causing much more destruction, while pros would force the villains to either stay in the fight area, or move to a less dangerous area for those caught up in the fight. After All Might dissected the fights and how to use existing environments and quirks to limit the size of the battle field, the bell rang and most of the class left. Henshizo, Tokoyami, Tsu, Kirishima, Uraraka and Midoriya stayed behind and moved up to the six desks in the front. After just a little bit Aizawa came in with papers and handed them out. “Tokoyami, Sesshada, you two are going to be fully caught up after today. I’m satisfied you’ve managed to catch up.” Aizawa said flatly to them and they both nodded. The six began writing on the papers before Aizawa cleared his throat. “Midoriya, there’s something you should know.” Aizawa said seriously and they all looked up.

“What is it sir?” Midoriya asked confused. “Eri is requesting to see you and Togata, it’s been her only request since she’s woken up. Doctors are still monitoring her and haven’t cleared her for visitors yet. But, if you and Togata want to, I’ll escort you both to the hospital.” Aizawa said, causing Midoriya’s face to light up. “Whenever I can see her, I’d like to. I’m still worried about her.” Midoriya said and Aizawa nodded. “Get back to work now.” Aizawa said to them all and they did just that. Aizawa put them through a mental ringer and then had them do physical tests afterwards.

“This is more than we did in class.” Henshizo said wiping sweat from his head. “It’s just the darkness of Aizawa’s teachings.” Tokoyami said panting as they walked back to the locker room. They changed back into their uniforms and began heading back to the dorms. “I hope they’ve decided on something for the school festival.” Henshizo said to the other five as they walked along in the darkness.

“Yeah, honestly I realize my frog song may not be enough.” Tsu said and Henshizo nodded. “A shooting gallery was dumb too. Although maybe a dunk tank with Bakugo could work.” Henshizo said, causing all of them to laugh hard for a bit before they walked in.

“Hey guys!” Ashido said excitedly running up to them. “We’ve got our festival idea! A concert slash dance performance!” She said excited and the six were surprised at that. “That wasn’t one of the original ideas.” Kirishima said tilting his head. “Todoroki thought of it, he got the idea from the license training.” Ashido said and Todoroki gave a nod behind her to confirm this.

“And we already have some groupings and positions! Momo will be on keyboard, with Jiro on bass, while Mina is going to be leading the dance team. We’re also thinking of a special effects team to add to the spectacle.” Hagakure said happily. “We need another guitarist, a drummer, and a singer too.” Sero said and Uraraka tilted her head.

“Singer? Isn’t that you Jiro?” Uraraka said and Jiro went pink faced. “What? No, I can’t.” Jiro said embarrassed and looked away as Henshizo walked over to sit by Yanagi and Ojiro.

“What, you have a great voice, and you’re a good teacher. When we’ve been in your room and you teach us to play you really like it.” Hagakure said imploringly. “I just don’t know if…” Jiro muttered shyly and looked away, Momo walking over to her. “If Jiro doesn’t want, we can’t pressure her, it’s not fair.” Momo said to them all.

“I-it’s ok Momo, if we want to put the best show and lift people’s spirits. I have to give them what they want.” Jiro said looking back at them all. “I can sing too.” Kaminari said excited but people looked at him unsure.

“No, I can sing. Just listen.” Aoyama said and he began to try and sing like he was in an opera. Kaminari tried to sing and it didn’t work out well. “You guys’ suck.” Henshizo said flatly to them and their faces fell.

“Show them how it’s done Jiro!” Hagakure said and Jiro looked embarrassed being put on the spot. “And I even have a mic.” Hagakure said, forcefully handing it to Jiro who looked at it and took a breath before singing beautifully, stunning everyone who hadn’t heard her sing before. Henshizo was mystified by it and the applause easily sealed Jiro being the singer as well as the bass player.

“So we have most, but we need drums for the beat.” Ashido said and they looked at each other trying to figure out who would do it. As they did, they heard the sound of a can being opened in the kitchen and Bakugo was there. “What?” Bakugo asked as they stared at him.

“Didn’t you let slip your mom had you take drum lessons as a kid?” Kirishima asked him and Bakugo looked stunned as Henshizo covered his mouth to stop his laughter. “Really? We need one, Bakugo, can you?” Jiro asked and Bakugo glared.

“And make a fool of myself in front of all the true extras? In your dreams.” Bakugo said rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I bet they’re too hard for you.” Sero said teasingly, causing Bakugo to tense up, stomp over, take the drumsticks Sero had and easily performed some good drumming, impressing everyone.

“That was amazing! You have to be our drummer now.” Jiro said and Bakugo shook his head. “Fuck that.” Bakugo said, getting up and tossing the sticks behind his back. “Why not?” Jiro said confused and Bakugo snapped his head back at them. “You’re all trying kiss up to all the other students with some bullshit performance. Wake up, they hate us because of all the shit villains have done to us.” Bakugo said angrily. “I’m sure as hell not going to sing happy go lucky songs with them and make myself believe that the performance will make them feel better. No; instead, I’m going to kill them with music!” Bakugo roared, now seemingly on board.

“That was more mental hoops I’ve seen someone jump through to justify themselves doing something than most of the underlings back when I was a kid.” Henshizo muttered as others in the class cheered about Bakugo now being on the drums. Ojiro chuckled and Yanagi gave a silent giggle. “Now that we have most of the music settled, we need to think bigger. After all, music and dance are fine, but this is a spectacle we’re putting on! We need effects.” Ashido said looking around and slowly people turned their head towards Henshizo. “Huh?! What do I have to do with effects?” Henshizo asked surprised.

“Well, we got the idea of it being like a dance club and you’ve mentioned that the Surōdesu used clubs a lot.” Iida said to him and Henshizo sighed. “First some clarification, most of those clubs we couldn’t get into even if they were legitimate.” Henshizo said sternly before sighing. “But I do know some of the workings of lighting rigs, audio mixing, smoke machines, and pyrotechnics.” He conceded to smiles from the class. “I can get us hooked up with the latest stuff clubs are using.” Henshizo said, tilting his head thinking.

“Really?” Ashido asked excited while a few tilted their heads. “Yes, and legitimately through actual businesses. Not all business associates were law breakers.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes as everyone gave a sigh of relief. Henshizo crossed his arms and sunk into the couch.

“I didn’t doubt you.” Yanagi said softly to him, as the rest of the class decided who was doing what for instruments, with Kaminari on electric guitar, fittingly Henshizo thought, and Tokoyami surprising them with guitar skills to round out the actual band. “I’m not shocked uncle and auntie made you get piano lessons.” Henshizo said teasingly to Momo who smiled at him.

“Yanagi, you want to be in the dance group.” Ashido asked and Yanagi pondered. “I feel like my quirk would be more advantageous for the special effects.” Yanagi said and Ashido sadly sighed. “I had already thought of a cool all girl spot, but it makes sense.” She said and Yanagi nodded. “Perhaps I can work with you all for some dance spots.” Yanagi said as a middle ground and Ashido got excited. “Yes! With you and Ochako, we can have some amazing bits!” She said super excited. After that the class divided itself up into the three groups needed for the performance; the band team with Jiro, Momo, Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Kaminari, alongside the dance team lead by Ashido with Ojiro, Sato, Iida, Midoriya, Tsu, Hagakure, Uraraka, Aoyama, and Shoji, with the special effects team backing everyone up, consisting of Henshizo, Yanagi, Todoroki, and Sero.

“Thank you all! I shall turn this into Aizawa in the morning and this weekend we can begin truly working on it.” Iida said excited as people were glad the process was over. “I think you should join me on the dance team.” Ojiro said jokingly to Henshizo who laughed.

“While I admit I could probably do alright at the dance, I don’t think I should be out on the stage.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck and Ojiro’s face fell slightly. “You don’t think people blame you or hate you still, right?” Ojiro muttered to him and Henshizo sighed. “I still get looks in the halls and the cafeteria. I ignore them, but I notice them. It doesn’t bother me; I just don’t want to be a distraction from the performance or give people more of a reason to not like us.” Henshizo said standing up from the couch before walking to the window. “It’s how the world works; those that don’t know someone, judge that person with what they do know about that person. And what people know about me is the fact that I’m the son of a yakuza crime lord who brutally beats his own classmates and may be borderline crazy.” Henshizo said looking back at Ojiro and Yanagi, before giving a small smile. “But it doesn’t matter to me, if I try to win them all over, I’d drive myself crazy. I’ll just focus on being me, and doing the best I can. And now that calls on me being the best special effects person possible.” Henshizo said determined before getting a sheepish grin. “Plus, this is my first true school festival so I’m excited.” He said rubbing his neck, causing both Ojiro and Yanagi to give small smiles, but both also felt sorry for him, since they were reminded, he was robbed of a childhood.

“I believe you will have a lot of fun at the festival.” Yanagi said gently and Henshizo smiled. “Thanks, I hope so too.” He said as the three walked to the elevator. They took the elevator up, Henshizo and Yanagi getting off on the second floor. “Night Ojiro.” Henshizo said and Ojiro waved at them as the door to the elevator closed. “Want to enjoy another horror classic tonight?” Yanagi asked, causing Henshizo to tilt his head thinking. “Let me take care of Ectoplasm’s homework, but sure.” He said smiling softly at her. “A reasonable idea, and now I request to join you to help me with it.” Yanagi said and Henshizo chuckled. “Tell you what, I’ll grab my stuff and we can work on it in your room, and then jump right into the movie.” Henshizo said, and Yanagi nodded in agreement. They went to their rooms, Henshizo grabbing his notebook and math book, before he went to her room and the two of them did the homework together, with Henshizo helping her on the homework before they watched Gurozuka for the night. Once the movie was finished, Henshizo packed up and went to the door. “Night Yanagi.” Henshizo said softly to her as she floated the disk to her and put it in the case. “Night Sesshada, I appreciate your help.” She said softly and Henshizo smiled at her, giving a small nod before leaving to his dorm. After the door closed Yanagi glanced at the door to make sure Henshizo left and floated the pillow he had been on to her and held it close to her for a bit before getting ready for bed. Henshizo meanwhile had gone down to the showers, cleaned himself up, and then went to his room to head to bed, excited at having the festival to look forward to.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed! Any feed back is appreciated.

Chapter 55: Lights, Tales, and Plans

Summary:

Henshizo begins to get things in motion for the school festival, going to see a colorful character from his past. He also gets an interesting invitation.

Henshizo woke up the following morning and went down to the kitchen to make himself breakfast. After scrambling two eggs and scooping some rice, he sat down to eat as others began to come in. “Hey Ashido, Momo.” Henshizo said as the two came in, and he beckoned them over. “I’ll check with the rest of the effects team, but how does a confetti cannon that shoots out confetti shaped like the UA logo and spot lights with the UA logo swinging around sound?” Henshizo asked, causing Mina’s face to light up. “You think you can get stuff like that?!” She asked excited and Henshizo nodded as he took a sip of coffee.

“That sounds good, and I don’t think any of the effects team will object.” Momo said softly. “Cool, I’ll get permission to leave the school and meet the guy I know.” Henshizo said going back to his eggs.

“Hooray for club connections!” Ashido said no giggling as she walked away to the fridge. “He is legitimate right?” Momo asked tentatively and Henshizo nodded.

“Kura is his name. He owns Japan Nightlife Equipment. You can look it up, completely legit and the best in the business.” Henshizo said and Momo smiled, sighing in relief as well. “A little faith.” Henshizo said both exasperated and teasingly. “Sorry. I also just don’t want you getting in trouble or anything.” Momo said and Henshizo smiled softly. “Thanks, but this will be fine.” Henshizo said shrugging as he finished his food. “I’m going to go ask one of the teachers now.” Henshizo said making a blank permission form from a napkin. “Good luck.” Momo said as she began to eat her breakfast. Henshizo picked his school bag up and left the dorm and stood out front looking between the direction of the teacher’s dorm and the main school building. “Less creepy if I go to the school.” Henshizo muttered and began making his way to the school. Henshizo went to the teachers’ lounge and knocked on the door. After a moment the door slid open and Midnight stood there smiling.

“Ah, Sesshada. A surprise, and I’m sure you don’t mind seeing me to start your day.” Midnight said posing. “Kayama.” Came the exasperated voice of Aizawa and Midnight rolled her eyes. “Such a buzzkill, anyway, what brings you here so early Sesshada?” Midnight asked and Henshizo held the form out.

“For the school festival I’ll need to go to a business to order things.” Henshizo said and Midnight raised an eyebrow. “What are you guys doing? Is it something exciting and youthful?” She asked excited and Henshizo chuckled as he heard Aizawa groan. “A concert.” Henshizo said to her and Midnight smiled. “I see, well I assume you’re going to ordering stuff for it then.” Midnight said taking the form and pulling a pen from her boot. “Yes. Uh, Japanese Nightlife Company is where I’ll be going.” Henshizo said and Midnight paused from her signing and looked at him. “Yes, I know him from back then, but he’s legit and not connected in any way to the underworld.” Henshizo said exasperated. “Very well, I do suppose even villains can do legit business.” Midnight said just a bit teasingly as she wrote her signature. “Thanks Midnight!” Henshizo said happily, taking the paper back and putting the paper in his bag. Henshizo then went to homeroom to prepare for classes. As his classmates Henshizo checked with the rest of the special effects team about his idea.

“Those sound awesome! I knew you’d have a knack for the effects.” Kirishima said with Todoroki and Yanagi nodding in approval. “I’ll also pick out the usual assortment for a concert; smoke machines, pyro, lights, and everything else.” Henshizo said and they nodded, happy to let him take the lead.

“And how much will this cost?” Todoroki asked curiously and Henshizo shrugged. “Not sure, but I can cover it.” Henshizo said and Todoroki nodded. “Let me know and I’ll help. This was sort of my idea so I should cover a bit.” Todoroki said as the bell rang. “Sure, both of us spending the paternal money. Worth it.” Henshizo said with a light smirk as he went to his seat. Iida properly turned the form in for the concert to Aizawa who sighed and nodded.

“I hope you all know what you’re getting into.” Aizawa said putting the paper on the podium. While most were excited some just nodded. Classes dragged through the day, with Henshizo often scratching ideas down for the concert into his notebook. Once the day ended Henshizo dropped his bag off at the dorm, used his quirk to change his clothes, walked to the main gate, down the hill into town and called a cab. “Four two, Furu Hagan please.” Henshizo said, and the cab drive put the address in to the gps and began driving there. Henshizo sat silently, continuing to think of ideas for concert until the cab stopped.

“We’re here.” The driver said and Henshizo glanced out and saw they had arrived. “Thanks.” Henshizo said, paying and tipping the driver before getting out and walking to the business. He walked in and began looking around at the equipment.

“Hello. Oh, you’re uh, a bit young.” An employee said coming up to him, causing Henshizo to chuckle. “I sometimes forget that. Is Kira in?” Henshizo asked and the employee got more confused. “Uh, yeah.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Excellent, may I speak with him?” Henshizo asked and the employee glanced back towards the office unsure. “Tell him Shizzzo is here.” Henshizo said with both an eye roll and soft chuckle. “Uh… ok.” The employee said and walked to the office and opened it and talked briefly.

“What?! No way!” Came a man’s voice and out came a guy with three spikes of hair, one red, one yellow, and one pink, and looked at Henshizo. “It is! Shizzzzoooo. It’s been a while.” Kira said coming up with a big smile, leaving the employee baffled. “Yes, it has. Glad to see life is still treating you well.” Henshizo said offering a handshake. “Oh, it has been. I remember mini you following me around since I had all the cool toys.” Kira said laughing and Henshizo chuckled. “Of course, a kid will be fascinated with lights and fire, but then again you wouldn’t be in business if we all didn’t like lights and fire.” Henshizo said, causing Kira to laugh more. “As always you’re scarily wise, but I liked having you around when I was… well you know those accounts of mine.” Kira said and Henshizo nodded. “I’ve seen you in the news and on tv ya know. And it makes me glad that you escaped.” Kira said softly to him. “Thanks.” Henshizo said sincerely before clearing his throat. “But I didn’t come here to talk the past, I came here for some business.” Henshizo said and Kira’s face lit up some more. “Really? A little young for the club life still.” Kira said teasingly and Henshizo shrugged. “Maybe those clubs. But you know I’m at UA, the school festival is coming up, and my class is putting on a concert, and of course we need some equipment for that, so naturally I thought of the best in the business.” Henshizo said and Kira laughed. “You flatter me, so what do you need?” Kira asked gesturing around the store. “Smoke machine, fire, lasers, custom lights and custom confetti cannons.” Henshizo said listing them off and Kira nodded, in business mode. “What’s the custom aspects?” He asked curiously. “The confetti bits to be the UA logo and the spot lights to shine in the shape of the UA logo. So, a UA logo cover.” Henshizo said and Kira nodded. “All doable, and how many of them do you want? I will ask you not to copy them with your quirk.” He said and Henshizo laughed. “Don’t worry, I never had any thought of doing that. Uhh; not sure, twenty of each.” Henshizo said shrugging, causing Kira and the employee to get shocked. “See I’m thinking having them all over the gym and to go off at different points.” Henshizo said tilting his head. “And worst case is we have leftovers to practice around with.” Henshizo said shrugging and Kira nodded. “Let’s see… normally that would run four and a half million yen, but for you, I’ll do a flat four million.” Kira said after doing math in his head and Henshizo nodded. “I’ll pay when I come pick them up. That, ok?” Henshizo asked and Kira nodded. Henshizo made his business card and handed it to Kira. “Of course, I would assume you want to inspect things before paying anyway.” Kira said and Henshizo nodded. “Just business there.” Henshizo said and Kira nodded. “Should only take about two weeks or so to get everything made and brought in.” Kira said and Henshizo nodded. “Works for me, thanks Kira.” He said and held his hand out. Kira shook it and gave a smile. “Glad you’re doing well; you continue to do well.” He said and Henshizo nodded. “Thanks Kira, see ya soon then.” Henshizo said and walked out of the shop as Kira walked back to his office. Henshizo began walking down the street to a busier intersection and began looking around for a cab. As Henshizo waited he began to mull over where to get the money. ‘Ironically I think an old club of his has more than that stashed.’ Henshizo thought and as he looked around, he saw a man pickpocket the wallet out of the back of a businessman’s pocket. Henshizo quickly walked over, watching the pick pocket put the businessman’s wallet in his jacket pocket. Henshizo caught up to the pick pocket, and walked past him while taking the businessman’s wallet back. Henshizo smirked as he felt more wallets, then proceeded to swipe the wallets from him, and got a good look at the pick pocket before carefully putting a tiny gps tracker on his jacket. Henshizo then made sure to have wallet of the businessman in his hand and went back, catching up to the businessman. “Excuse me sir, your wallet.” Henshizo said holding it out.

“Oh! Thank you, I thought it fell out.” The businessman said and he took his wallet back, before checking the contents and was happy to see it all as it was. “Thank you young man.” He said and pocketed his wallet again. Henshizo nodded and before the businessman could thank him more, Henshizo walked away and went to the closest police station. Henshizo walked in, slowly breathing to keep himself relaxed, and walked to the front desk.

“Can I help you?” The desk officer asked and Henshizo put the wallets on the desk. “I’m provisional hero Yahata and I confiscated these from a pickpocket thief. I also placed a gps tracker on the thief, as it’s likely he has more stolen goods at his place.” Henshizo said and the cop began looking at the wallets. “I see, mind speaking to a detective briefly?” The officer asked and Henshizo nodded. “Just briefly.” Henshizo said and the officer nodded before picking up the phone. “Detective Gori, Yahata has some information about the pickpocket ring you’ve been investigating.” The officer said and Henshizo walked over to a bench and sat down. “He’ll be right out.” The officer said, platting an evidence bag and putting all the wallets in the bag. Henshizo nodded and let out a long sigh as he looked at the wanted posters on the wall, mostly made up of the League of Villains. After a couple of minutes, a man who had a gorilla head and an enlarged body.

“Yahata right? Follow me briefly.” The man, Henshizo assumed was Gori, said and Henshizo followed him back. “I can describe the pickpocket.” Henshizo said as they walked into an office. “That will help. We’ve had an increase in the area of pickpocket and similar crimes. We’ve deduced that it’s a ring of thieves.” Gori said and Henshizo nodded, taking a wrapper from his pocket and he made a small device that looked like a large remote control with a screen in the middle. “I attached a tracker to the jacket of the pickpocket.” Henshizo said powering the remote on and he saw a dot to the southeast of them. “This will track him; it shows distance so maybe you can use data to track specific locations.” Henshizo said putting it on the table. “Why didn’t you take the pickpocket down?” Gori asked curiously as he looked at the tracker. “I wanted to get the wallet he stole that I saw back to the owner and… I know that pickpockets tend to hoard things, maybe at their place but sometimes others. He was a pro so I wanted to see where.” Henshizo said and Gori nodded. “I appreciate your restraint, now we can find where they have been taking things.” Gori said with a smirk. “Yeah. So, am I good to go?” Henshizo asked and Gori nodded. Henshizo stood up and began to walk to the door. “I’m glad you’ve done the best possible work with the second chance you were given. Many have failed with the second chances they were given, keep it up.” Gori said and Henshizo looked back at him. “To me it’s not a second chance it’s the first chance to be who I want.” Henshizo said and Gori nodded. Henshizo left the police station, now just calling a cab to pick him up. He waited and a cab came, he got in and told the driver UA. Henshizo sat in silence until the cab got outside the gate. “Thanks.” Henshizo said once again paying the driver. He got out and walked to the dorm, as he walked in, he saw Todoroki with Tokoyami at a table working on homework. Henshizo walked up to Todoroki and the bi-colored haired classmate looked up at Henshizo. “So, he gave an estimate of four million.” Henshizo said and Tokoyami went a bit wide eyed.

“I can cover a bit. Probably five hundred thousand worth.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded. “Cool, don’t worry, I can cover the rest.” Henshizo said causing Tokoyami to cough in disbelief.

“I forget that you have money.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo shrugged. “I don’t care for it too too much.” Henshizo said as Tokoyami nodded. “I will need help for whenever they’re ready to be picked up. I’ll see what he can offer for transport. Worst case I have to ask to borrow some robots.” Henshizo said shrugging. As he stood over there, Momo and Ashido came walking in.

“I’ll have to get used to hearing the synthetic sounds over a traditional piano.” Momo said to Ashido who nodded, Momo saw Henshizo and walked over. “Have you told your mom about the festival?” Momo asked and Henshizo shook his head. “There’s nothing exciting about what I’m doing. You’re going to be center stage but I’m behind the scenes, just trying to wow people with fire and lasers.” Henshizo said, causing Momo to giggle. “I think she’d still like to know. I was about to call my mom and dad, so would want to talk to them together?” Momo asked curiously. “Sure, it’ll be a surprise for them.” Henshizo said shrugging, causing Momo to clap her hands together excited. “My phone is in my room.” Momo said heading to the elevator, with Henshizo following behind. “Why don’t you have it on you?” Henshizo asked curiously and Momo shrugged as she got in. “I wasn’t intending to be gone from it long. Plus I don’t need my phone on me all the time to live.” Momo said and Henshizo chuckled. “Fair enough.” He said as they got off on the fifth floor and walked to her room. They walked in and Henshizo shook his head at her large bed. “You still haven’t gotten a new bed?” He asked Momo who got embarrassed. “I make it work, plus I wouldn’t want to get it out and put a new in.” Momo said, causing Henshizo to look at her blankly. “Are you forgetting I can literally change that to a piece of paper?” He asked and Momo shook her head. “It’s fine, anyway.” Momo said, walking to her desk and picking up her phone before dialing a number. Henshizo sat on her bed, so she sat beside him while putting the phone on speaker. The phone rang a couple of times before the click of it being answered occurred.

“Momo, sweetie. How are you?” Came the voice of her mom. “Hi mom, I am fine. How are you? Are you with dad and Aunt Giji by chance?” Momo asked happily. “Yes, the three of us are on our way to dinner.” Buttai said and the cousins heard her put the phone on speaker. “You’re on speaker now with the three of us.” Buttai said and the pair shook their heads softly, knowing that. “I’m with Henshizo and we’d just like to say that the UA school festival is happening, and that our class will be putting on a concert.” Momo said excited and sounds of interest came from the other side.

“What are you guys doing in the concert?” Came the voice of Okane curiously. “I’m going to be on the piano, well a synthetic version of the keyboard so it’s close to the training I had.” Momo said excited.

“And I’m on the special effects team, can’t play an instrument and I’d rather not try to dance.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Awww, I wouldn’t see you dance.” Giji said and Henshizo rubbed his neck.

“So are parents allowed to come?” Buttai asked, causing Momo to sigh. “Unfortunately, thanks to everything that happened, it’s a school only event.” Momo said and sighs of disappointment could be heard.

“Aizawa said there’s a couple of exceptions, maybe like special guests, but the only real exception is support companies for the support course from what I’ve heard. Of course, I’m willing to bet highly vetted ones.” Henshizo added. “It’s understandable, I’m perfectly fine being unable to come to a festival if it means you guys are kept safe.” Giji said softly.

“It would have been nice but I agree with Giji. It’s the right decision.” Buttai said.

“I’ll be sure to get it recorded for you guys.” Henshizo said reassuringly. “Thanks, Henshizo.” Giji said happily. “I’ll have to do it for all the parents, fortunately I can make some good cameras.” Henshizo said tilting his head.

“That’s good; and I’m sure that they will greatly appreciate it.” Okane said, with just the tiniest shred of pride. “So how much has been decided?” Buttai asked curiously.

“Who’s doing what, and what effects are being used. As to any details, not really. But we’ll figure it out.” Henshizo said shrugging. “We have a lot of ideas, will just be tough putting things together so that it all works cohesively.” Momo said smiling.

“I’m sure your class will figure it out. Oh, while we’re on the topic of extravagant events. Henshizo, this is just so we can put it on your radar.” Buttai said and Henshizo titled his head confused and intrigued. “If your teachers give the go ahead, we host a big new year’s ball. Obviously Giji being found and you would be the big talking point of it, but we would be very happy to have you for it.” Buttai continued, Henshizo going a bit red faced but also pale. “Um, I’m flattered and, you’re sure it would ok for me being there? Would there be lots of people?” Henshizo asked tentatively.

“Yes, it’d be a lot of our friends and also business associates.” Okane said, causing Henshizo to grimace just a bit. “Uh, you’re sure it would be ok for me to be there?” Henshizo asked unsure.

“If anyone causes any problems, I will have them kicked out and banned from future events.” Buttai said defensively, causing Henshizo to smile. “Thanks. I realize this may be a bit much, but would it be ok if I invite my foster family?” Henshizo asked gently.

“Of course, they’re more than welcome. Just make sure they’re ok with it. Also make sure they realize that it’s formal.” Giji said and Henshizo chuckled. “Don’t worry about that, between Sanae and I they’ll be good.” Henshizo said, causing Giji to laugh. “Sounds good, let us know what they say.” Giji said happily. “Will do, have a good dinner you guys. Love you mom.” Henshizo said smiling broadly.

“Yes, have a good dinner you three; love you mom, love you dad.” Momo said, as all three parents laughed. “Love you guys too.” Giji said.

“Yes, love you both. Take care.” Buttai said and they hung up. “I apologize in advance for the new year’s ball.” Momo said and Henshizo shrugged.

“It will be interesting let’s say that. But we have a few months until then.” Henshizo said standing up. “I’m going to ask Sanae, see ya tomorrow, Momo.” Henshizo said walking to the door. “See you later Henshizo.” Momo said waving as he opened the door and left. Henshizo pulled his phone out, as he stepped into the elevator, he waited until he was back in his room before dialing Sanae’s number, it didn’t take long for her to pick up.

“Henshizo, how’re you?” Came Sanae’s voice, clearly happy. “I’m doing fine, how are you and the peanut gallery?” Henshizo asked, causing Sanae to chuckle. “Be nice but they’re fine. Would you like to talk to them?” Sanae asked curiously. “No, not for this.” Henshizo said after thinking for a moment. “Oh? For what?” Sanae asked, causing Henshizo to rub his neck. “So apparently the Yaoyorozu’s have a big New Year’s party and of course I, uh, will be a part of it.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck. “A fancy party? You’ll be trying pull your teeth out.” Sanae said, causing Henshizo to laugh. “Yeah, not exactly high on my list of favorite things to do. So, I thought, why not spread the joy? If you guys want, you’re all invited too.” Henshizo said, causing Sanae to go speechless for a few moments. “Wait… the Yaoyorozu ball, which will be filled with people wearing outfits worth more than I make in a year? You had us be invited?” Sanae asked faintly, Henshizo grinning. “Of course, you guys are still family to me.” Henshizo said smiling. “Oh, wow. I will have to talk to them about it, but that sounds lovely and amazing. Thank you Henshizo.” Sanae said excited. “Of course, and I’ll worry about outfits for people should all of you decide you’re coming.” Henshizo said calmly. “Oh, thanks, I hadn’t thought of that. But yes, extend our thanks for the invitation and that we’re considering it.” Sanae said happily. “I will Sanae, people don’t have to come if they don’t want to.” Henshizo said softly. “You’re kidding right? At this point, they’ll take going to the dentist if it means they get to spend time with you.” Sanae said, causing Henshizo to laugh hard. “That’s fair. Well, let me know once it’s all been discussed, and do be sure to stress to them what being there will entail.” Henshizo said getting just a bit serious. “Of course, don’t worry.” Sanae said, now being the reassuring one. “Ok, good night Sanae take care.” Henshizo said smiling softly. “I always do, you take care too.” Sanae said happily before Henshizo hung up. Henshizo glanced at the calendar he had on his desk and it would only be two months and a couple of weeks before the ball occurred. “Why will this be the most difficult thing I’ve done?” Henshizo muttered as he got to work on his homework before turning in for the night.

Notes:

I'm happy I'm able to quickly, by comparison of what I used to do, get chapters written and published for you all. Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 56: School Festival Planning

Summary:

Henshizo and the effects crew begin to truly plan for the festival, while Henshizo continues to move on from the past. Also some other interesting things get planned.

A week had passed since Henshizo had gone to see Kira, and now Henshizo and the entire special effects team was waiting outside the main gate of UA, Henshizo holding a large duffle bag. “You really have four million yen in there?” Sero asked faintly. “Yep, money counter confirmed it. All neat and bound, it took me back.” Henshizo said both nostalgically and sarcastically.

“Where did you get it?” Kirishima asked and Henshizo gave a soft smirk. “Yakuza often have many safe houses for their money and other things like weapons or drugs. Sesshada probably knows all of the hiding spots.” Todoroki said in his neutral tone. “So cool, and spending it on our class, so manly.” Kirishima said, causing Henshizo to chuckle.

“I must say you have spent a good sum of that money on this class.” Yanagi said softly while looking over at Henshizo. “I’m content in life with what I have, I’ve given money to my foster family since they need it. I also know that if it’s taken by the cops it will sit in a warehouse for years before being used. So, I’m doing what best.” Henshizo said turning his head to the sound of an approaching engine. A large box truck came rumbling up the hill, and Henshizo saw Kira behind the wheel. Kira waved and pulled up to them, stopping the truck, before hopping out.

“Ah, the rest of the effects team I guess.” Kira said looking at them. “Yeah, thanks for this. Helps us a whole bunch.” Sero said smiling as Henshizo walked to the back of the truck.

“How was it with the customization?” Henshizo asked as Kira walked back to open it. His classmates noting a much more serious demeanor as he stood there. “Easy enough, not even close to the hardest custom etchings.” Kira said opening the back of the truck and hopped inside. Kira opened a box and held up a metal disc with the UA logo cut out of it. Henshizo took it from him and held it out, letting the sun go through and inspecting it. “Good work.” Henshizo said handing it back for Kira to put away. Kira put it away, before opening a second box, pulling a bag out, and tossed it to Henshizo. It was the bag of UA confetti and it was all perfect. “I knew you were the best man for this.” Henshizo said tossing it back to him and Kira smiled. “Thanks, I also have tutorials for everything in the boxes. I know you mostly know, but for them and a refresher is good for everyone now and then.” Kira said as the others saw how much was in the truck.

“It didn’t sound like a lot.” Sero said awkwardly. “It isn’t, a club takes double, almost triple this.” Henshizo said as he fixed the tie on his shirt.

“Aizawa said to put it all in the storage building by gym gamma.” Todoroki said as Henshizo picked up some of the boxes. “Should I get Uraraka to help?” Sero asked as Todoroki took a box.

“Nope, this was our thing, so we should handle it.” Henshizo said handing a spotlight to Kirishima. “Besides, they’re busy practicing their dance moves right now.” Henshizo continued as they slowly took everything out of the truck. “I’ll make some dollies to help as well as some other things, we’ll be fine.” Henshizo said reassuringly as they continued to put everything on the sidewalk. Once they were done Henshizo walked back to the duffle bag, picked it up, opened it and showed Kira. “All four million, plus a little extra for the delivery and for you.” Henshizo said as Kira went wide eyed. “I’ve never seen that much, but thanks.” Kira said as Henshizo zipped it back up and put it in the back of the truck for him. “Thanks Kira, I’ll let you know if we need any more or if there are any problems.” Henshizo said, seemingly to his classmates still in the business mode he had. “Yep, no problem. Thanks again for the business, but I’m just glad you’re doing well now.” Kira said smiling and shaking Henshizo’s hand. Henshizo smiled softly before Kira walked back to the front of the truck, hopped in, and began to drive away. Henshizo picked up rocks and began making dollies, wooden dollies, and transport cases.

“If never ceases to amaze me, the range of your quirk.” Yanagi said softly, causing Henshizo to get a tinge of red in his cheeks. The five of them began to put all the new equipment on or in the items Henshizo made, and once they were done Yanagi used her quirk to guide most of them into the school grounds to the area by gym gamma. “And yours is just as impressive.” Henshizo said to Yanagi, who was now the one with a bit of red to her cheeks, causing Kirishima and Sero to look at each other and roll their eyes. The special effects team then went back to the dorm, passing the dance team who were practicing outside.

“Right, let’s figure out how to maximize Aoyama as a disco ball.” Kirishima said as they sat down. “I could use my quirk.” Yanagi said simply as Sero began sketching things out.

“Yeah, but with so many moving parts it wouldn’t be good if there was a distraction.” Todoroki said seriously and Yanagi nodded. “Plus, it could cause something weird with his costume.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“Excellent points, then perhaps a pulley system.” Yanagi suggested. “Yeah, that could work, Sesshada can use his strength to pull Aoyama around.” Kirishima said excited.

“I appreciate your vote of confidence and volunteering me for that. But I may have to be busy with the pyrotechnics.” Henshizo said tapping the table with a finger thinking. “Ah, true. I’ll be running around shaving Todoroki’s ice with my quirk for the sparkles so I can’t.” Kirishima said leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling.

“It also depends how exactly the harness will go on Aoyama.” Yanagi said calmly. “Right, maybe an automatic rotating device.” Sero said tapping the drawing and Henshizo nodded.

“I think I have something that could work. An industrial garage door opener, don’t ask how I touched that, but maybe just a little repurposing and retooling can get it to work.” Henshizo said tilting his head. “How loud is it?” Todoroki asked. “Ah, you’re right. It could distract.” Henshizo groaned and leaned back too. “Maybe with a power glove I can pull with one hand and direct the pyrotechnics I’d have to with the other. Just would need a lot of rope.” Henshizo said and the others got excited.

“Let’s go talk to the dance team about it.” Kirishima said standing up and heading to the front door with the rest of the effects team following him. As Kirishima opened the door, Henshizo saw Aizawa, Togata, and a little girl with Midoriya, Tsu, and Uraraka close to her. Henshizo stiffened up briefly, as Kirishima lightly jogged up to the girl. Henshizo changed his outfit into the school uniform, catching the effects team by surprise. “Who’s the girl?” Sero asked as Kirishima was talking to her.

“I think that’s Eri, the girl they all rescued.” Henshizo muttered, going just a bit pale, lightly clutching his fists. The effects team walked outside, Henshizo calming down to follow behind them. “Alright let’s take a tea break!” Ashido called out to the dance team. Henshizo crept along the side to look at Eri, sadness mixing with anger as he knew what Chisaki had done to her.

“Ok Eri, Deku and I will show you all the fun things here at UA.” Togata said, gently taking one of Eri’s hands so that she could hold onto him as he and Midoriya began walking her to the main building, Aizawa staying behind. “Sir, what is Eri doing here?” Henshizo asked quietly walking up to him.

“Midoriya wanted Eri to come to the festival, Principal Nezu agreed; but he pointed out that, considering everything she’s gone through, the festival could overwhelm her. So, I brought her today so that she can get familiar and comfortable with UA.” Aizawa said, watching the three walk. “That’s a good call. She’s been through so much.” Henshizo muttered, anger seeping into his voice. “I noticed you changed your outfit when you saw her, any reason?” Aizawa asked curiously. “She grew up around people that were dressed the exact same way basically. I’m not having her be reminded of that while she’s here.” Henshizo said seriously and Aizawa nodded. “That was a quick decision. I do have to ask, could she recognize you?” Aizawa asked and Henshizo narrowed his eyes as he thought back. “How old is she?” Henshizo asked curiously. “Six, we were able to confirm with records now that we know the former Shie Hassaikai boss is her grandfather. That stays between us.” Aizawa said and Henshizo let out an angry snort. “He wouldn’t have stood for what Overhaul did. Yes, he was a yakuza leader, but he had principals and honor. But if she’s six, she would have been four or five the last time I was over when Surōdesu did business with the Hassaikai, but I never saw her. Doesn’t mean she couldn’t have seen me through a two-way mirror or a window, but I doubt it.” Henshizo muttered. “Good, I won’t tell you to stay away from her, but be cautious.” Aizawa said, Henshizo nodding in agreement. “So why does Midoriya want Eri to come to the festival? Not that I have a problem with it, if anyone deserves a day full of happy excitement it’s her.” Henshizo asked curiously, causing Aizawa to sigh. “When I took Midoriya and Togata to the hospital to see Eri, she didn’t smile once. I got the impression she can’t right now.” Aizawa said, causing Henshizo to sigh sadly. “I see, well, that just means I’m going to go all out to make our performance the best possible experience for her.” Henshizo said determinedly. “Just not too much, as you’ll have to clean it up.” Aizawa said seriously but he had a faint smile. “And? I have that planned for already.” Henshizo said shrugging before heading back to the dorm to regroup with the effects team.

“Hey, what were you talking to Aizawa about?” Sero asked as Henshizo sat down. “Nothing important.” Henshizo said quietly as Yanagi floated him a cup of tea.

“It concerned the young girl, correct?” Yanagi asked, causing Henshizo to glance at her. “Oh yeah, you had said…” Kirishima began talking, but trailed off.

“What? Is it some secret?” Sero asked confused and just a bit annoyed. “It’s nothing.” Henshizo said flatly, looking around the table. “I just want to focus on making this the best damn school festival concert in history.” Henshizo said seriously to them.

“Heck yeah!” Kirishima said excited. “I spoke to Ashido and Aoyama and they agree that a long pulley system would be best. We’ll just have to figure out where to put things to keep him moving in an interesting way.” Todoroki said looking at the drawing Sero had done. The rest of them nodded and began working on figuring things out.

“Perhaps going to gym gamma will help us in our decision making.” Yanagi said softly. “Yeah, even if others are in there, we can still figure things out.” Sero said smiling, so the five stood up, walked to gym gamma, and walked in to get better ideas for placements. There were some second- and third-year hero course students in there, getting some training in, but the effects team were able to visualize where to put things.

“This is great!” Kirishima said excited as they walked out. “Oh yeah, having where things will go already planned is great.” Henshizo said smiling.

“What will be next?” Todoroki asked curiously. “Next is technically waiting on the band group, meaning Jiro, to send a recording of the song so we can plan the timing of things. I guess we can get familiar with the equipment.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“The guy said there were instructions, right?” Kirishima asked tilting his head, Henshizo nodding in response. “Right, let’s just grab those and read them. We did a lot today.” Kirishima said smiling. The rest of the effects crew nodded, so they went to the storage room they had everything, and after a little searching and rummaging, got all the manuals, taking them back to the dorms. “I’ll let you guys read them first, I need a refresher but I know some already.” Henshizo said waving at them as he made his way to the mail room.

“If I have any mail, can you bring it?” Sero asked, and Henshizo gave a thumbs up as he opened the door. Henshizo checked his mail slot and saw a small box in it, he also saw Momo had a similar box in her slot. Henshizo grabbed the box, also grabbing a hero magazine from Sero’s mail slot, and walked back out. Henshizo took the magazine to Sero while looking at the box. A small card was taped to the top, so he plucked it off and opened it. ‘Hi Henshizo, while we were shopping, we came across this rare coffee, while your uncle and aunt still can’t believe you like coffee more than tea, we thought you would enjoy this. -Love mom.’ The note read and Henshizo felt a huge smile grow across his face. “What’s in the package?” Yanagi asked seeing the smile on Henshizo.

“A rare coffee apparently.” Henshizo said, pocketing the note, and unwrapping the box. Inside the box was a bag of Kona beans, and Henshizo was floored seeing the fact it was one-hundred percent Kona. “Holy crap, this stuff is supposed to do good.” Henshizo said excited, causing chuckled to come from Kirishima and Sero, while Yanagi got a very tiny smile, seeing Henshizo excited about it. “I’ll take your word for it; I haven’t seen you get excited like this too often.” Kirishima said just a bit teasingly. “I really like coffee.” Henshizo said shrugging as he looked at the bag some more.

“How old were you when you got familiar with these?” Sero asked, holding up the manual for a revolving spotlight. “Ten.” Henshizo said, just a bit quietly. “Really? Wow, no wonder you’re one of the top in the class.” Sero said as he was clearly impressed a ten-year-old Henshizo was able to grasp all of this. “Thanks, I just found it interesting, plus it was something I could do in the clubs and not get in trouble or cause awkward situations. Which would cause me to get in trouble.” Henshizo muttered, his eyes going dark and he subconsciously rubbed the back of his head. The other four looked at each other a bit awkward but Kirishima clear red his throat.

“I say we call it here, ideas for placement and we’ve gotten familiar with the lights and everything.” Kirishima said and they all nodded. “There is not much more we can do from here, not without input from the band and dance teams.” Yanagi said in concurrence.

“I’ll take the manuals back to the storage room; I’ll get some training in as well.” Henshizo said picking the papers up. “Thanks man, you’re the best.” Sero said as Henshizo walked to the kitchen and put the coffee behind the coffee maker, out of sight, and left the dorm. Henshizo dropped the manuals off, before using his quirk to change into the gym uniform before heading into gym gamma. Henshizo began to work more on his agility for a bit, before deciding to go for a run through the woods around the school. As he jogged through the woods he came to a small clearing where a bunch of trees had had branches broken off and they were strewn on the ground. ‘Interesting, we haven’t had wind to cause this. Maybe someone has been training.’ Henshizo thought as he continued to jog along and hopped over some of the obstacles that filled the woods. Once was done with his jog he went to the gym and began doing strength training. Henshizo had been getting stronger ever since they had moved in to the dorms, with him getting new personal bests on all the workouts. By the time he was done he was a sweaty mess and it had gotten dark outside. “Maybe I should have a partner to keep me accountable for time.” Henshizo muttered as he walked back to the dorm. When he walked in, he saw most of the class hanging about in the common area.

“Ah, so that’s where you’ve been Henshizo.” Momo said smiling softly at him from the kitchen, he walked over with a nod. “Did you check your mail?” Henshizo asked, Momo nodding happily in response. “I guess they sent you something as well, and look what they sent me.” Momo said holding a canister up of tea. “Gold tips imperial?” Henshizo said reading it as Momo poured him a cup. “Yes! It’s incredibly hard to come by.” Momo said, and Henshizo nodded. “They sent me a hard-to-get coffee so of course it would be tea for you.” Henshizo said taking the cup from her. Henshizo walked away towards the couch where Midoriya and Uraraka were.

“Hey Sesshada, been working out huh?” Uraraka said looking over at him as he walked around the couch. “Yeah. How’re you guys?” Henshizo asked sitting down. “What do you know about Gentle Criminal?” Uraraka asked curiously, Henshizo cocking an eyebrow in surprise. “Why do you ask about him?” Henshizo asked tilting his head.

“I accidentally clicked on a video of his.” Midoriya said, holding his phone out and hitting replay. Henshizo watched it and shook his head slowly. “He’s not taken seriously in the underworld, despite being able to do what he’s done for years. He doesn’t hurt unless he has too, and he’s only really doing things for attention. Although I’d rather only deal with villains like him, he isn’t evil like Muscular or Overhaul. Just, someone who got beat up by the universe.” Henshizo said melancholy like. “I see. I have to admit your knowledge of villains and their mindsets is second to none compared to all the rest of us.” Midoriya said encouragingly, causing Henshizo to chuckle. “I saw all the different types growing up, I’ve still occasionally asked Aizawa for me to teach villain one oh one.” Henshizo said smirking. “It’s important to understand why villains do what they do. Because you can predict them and also sometimes you can talk them down, or make deals.” Henshizo said shrugging before going serious. “Most criminals aren’t awful villains, and being a hero sometimes means helping them.” Henshizo said quietly.

“Of course, a helping hand can do better than a fist sometimes.” Uraraka said and Henshizo nodded with a small smile. Kaminari came over and stood on an ottoman and gave a whistle to get everyone’s attention. “Hey everybody, I know the festival is what we’ve been focusing on and stressing about, but I think we should have a Halloween party!” Kaminari said excited and hopeful.

“Heck yeah!” Kirishima shouted in response. “That would take more planning.” Jiro groaned.

“I think it will be fun, it doesn’t have to be a huge thing, just something for us to relax.” Ashido said smiling. “Yeah, plus we can show off some wicked costumes.” Sero said giving a wink.

“I haven’t gone to a Halloween party before.” Todoroki said blankly. “I’ve gone to masquerades, but never a party with my classmates.” Momo said excited as Yanagi and Tokoyami were seemingly getting excited at the prospect of the party.

“I mean… I’ve been to some interesting ones.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck with an awkward smile on his face. “I see the value in us taking sometime for ourselves, that way we can go even harder for the school festival. It’s decided! Class 1-A will have a Halloween party.” Iida said to mostly cheers.

“What should we have for it?” Ashido asked, raising her hand. “I just say some costumes if you want, drinks, themed snacks, and maybe some basic decorations.” Iida said after momentarily thinking.

“Costumes!” Hagakure said excited and Henshizo cocked an eyebrow, wondering what the always serious Iida would dress up as. “I’ll see if Lunch Rush can help with food.” Momo said clasping her hands together excited.

“We should also tell horror stories, and over course have some horror movies going.” Kaminari said and Henshizo looked over at Yanagi since she had the horror movie collection. “I have multiple selections for us to choose from. From iconic domestic films, to the best foreign films. Also ranging from campy to nightmare inducing.” Yanagi said, Henshizo noting a glint in her eye at the nightmare inducing comment.

“Heck yeah, this will be great. We haven’t had a true holiday party as a class before. Sure, we have had a couple of small birthday celebrations since moving in together, but this will be a big one.” Kirishima said, smiling since one of the birthdays had been his.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me, if we do have the Halloween party, that would be three days of parties in a row.” Momo said and the class looked at her curiously. “On the thirtieth is Tokoyami’s birthday, then would be the Halloween party, and on November first is Henshizo’s birthday.” Momo continued to talk, and the class looked at the two of them.

“I was going to ask how come you guys haven’t mentioned it, but then I remembered you two are the two are the most private.” Hagakure said teasingly. “I think they got that from Hawks.” Kaminari said jokingly.

“Just because we don’t advertise everything doesn’t mean anything.” Henshizo said crossing his arms unamused. Ojiro and Yanagi came walking over to him. “You never said when your birthday is.” Ojiro said quietly and Henshizo could tell both were a bit upset. “Look, I haven’t told anyone. Mostly because my birthday is… a date for me that also means something else.” Henshizo muttered and looked away and the two immediately understood. “Sorry.” Ojiro said walking over and putting a hand on his back. “It’s fine, I understand where you guys are coming from, but I also have to move past everything. So yeah, November first is my birthday.” Henshizo said with a small smile, causing Ojiro to grin and Yanagi to have a small smile as well. “But you guys don’t have to go crazy or anything.” Henshizo said waving his hands back and forth as he didn’t want it to be a big deal.

“I think that ship sailed once your mom found out your birthday.” Momo said from behind him, causing Henshizo to sigh. “She’s the exception if she wants to be, but you guys don’t have to go crazy.” Henshizo muttered rubbing his neck.

“I will honor your request to not go crazy.” Yanagi said politely. “Yeah, if you want a chill birthday that’s fine.” Ojiro said, giving a thumbs up.

“Thanks guys, I’m going to go shower now.” Henshizo said giving an awkward chuckle, as he felt the sweat lingering on him. “Oh yeah, totally fair.” Ojiro said laughing as Henshizo finished the tea. “That truly is some great tea Momo.” Henshizo said, handing her the empty cup.

“I’m glad you like it! Maybe I can pull you away from coffee at last.” Momo said, causing Henshizo to was a finger. “Not that that good.” Henshizo said, making his way to the showers. After cleaning himself off, he walked back into the common room and walked to the kitchen to make himself dinner. As he began rolling meatballs and putting them in the pan, Midoriya came up and got rice out to prep his dinner.

“Hey Sesshada, thanks for the talk earlier. You’re really insightful.” Midoriya said smiling, causing Henshizo to chuckle. “Insightful or experienced? Well, I guess my experience makes me insightful.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Say, how did the tour for Eri go?” Henshizo asked quietly, causing Midoriya’s face to light up. “It went well, she found things fascinating and wants to see how things work out. We did have a bit of a run in with Monoma from class one b.” Midoriya said, causing Henshizo to roll his eyes. “Let me guess, even in the presence of a little girl he was his usual self.” Henshizo said and Midoriya gave an awkward chuckle. “Yeah, Togata called him the bad part of UA.” Midoriya said, causing Henshizo to laugh hard. “And I’m not? That’s good to know.” Henshizo said laughing as he rolled the meatballs in the pan as Midoriya chuckled. “I did learn something from Monoma though. Apparently, there’s a beauty pageant as well. And signups are closed for it.” Midoriya said, and Henshizo tilted his head at Midoriya. “Really? Although, I’m not shocked Aizawa would’ve either forgotten to tell us or purposely neglected to tell us.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Yeah, and I’m not sure who would want to do it from our class. Although I’m glad Momo isn’t in it, I’d hate to hear all the comments about her.” Henshizo said glaring at the wall. “It’s really nice seeing you so protective of your family.” Midoriya said kindly and Henshizo smiled softly. “Thanks, I’ve learned to redirect some stuff that’s too engrained in me, and I’m getting better just a bit every day.” Henshizo said, causing Midoriya to smile more. “And.” Henshizo said looking around before leaning into Midoriya. “I heard about what Eri can’t do, I’ll do my part to make her smile.” Henshizo whispered sincerely. “Thanks, Sesshada, and thank you for ensuring I can dance fully on stage for her.” Midoriya said and Henshizo nodded, putting the meatballs in a plate before working on some rice and sauce. The two went about making their separate dinners, Henshizo eating his, before heading up to his room to read copies of the manuals he made. ‘I owe it to Eri, to make her smile.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he made notes, determined to break the spell of sadness his former friend held over her.

Notes:

Thanks for reading, I'm happy to get chapters uploaded at a better rate. Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 57: Halloween Party

Summary:

Class 1-A decides to throw a Halloween party for themselves. What will people dress up as and what spooky shenanigans will the class get up to?

Class 1-A had gathered supplies the supplies for the Halloween party when they could; between classes, preparing for the festival, and extra training some did, it was a collaborative effort to get everything prepared and decorated. The class had agreed on getting their own costumes, and Henshizo was busy looking over his costume one last time before he put it on. Henshizo looked in the mirror, making sure the lines of fake blood on his face were still good. “Maybe I should have gone for something less bulky.” Henshizo muttered, looking down at the old and worn samurai armor, that he had put arrows in parts of it. He also picked up the worn sword and was happy with the dried blood effect he added to it. Henshizo put the samurai armor on and fixed the sword to his side. “At least it isn’t heavy.” Henshizo said moving in it and smiling to himself. He walked out of his dorm, the armor clattering just a bit until he got to the elevator and went down to the common room. Henshizo walked out and took in the decorations; they had turned the lights off and Henshizo had made them an old chandelier that they could put candles in, which added to the eerie atmosphere they were going for.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Ok, I have to ask, where on earth could you have touched this?” Kaminari asked as he helped place candles in it. “Let’s see… when I was nine, I was put up in an old manor that was run down, and this had fallen from the ceiling.” Henshizo said tilting his head as he thought back. “Huh. How much traveling have you done?” Kaminari asked putting the last of his candles in. “I’ve been to every major city, and some of the countryside. But that was for when I had to tag along for deals or pickups.” Henshizo said placing his last candle in. “Right, how are we going to get this to stay up there?” Kaminari asked looking up at the ceiling, stumping Henshizo until Momo came and helped them rig it so that it was safe and wouldn’t make marks. “Thanks Momo, I’ll also be able to fix any damage.” Henshizo said smiling as they looked up at it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most of the class was already in the common room, admiring the others costumes. “Woah, Sesshada! That’s legit.” Kirishima said coming up in his astronaut outfit. “Thanks, and it is all authentic. I’m surprised at yours though.” Henshizo said gesturing to Kirishima’s costume. “Yeah? Astronauts are actually really manly. You know the training they have to go through? It’s so cool, plus even you have probably thought about what it’d be like to go to space.” Kirishima said smiling and Henshizo nodded with a smile. “Who hasn’t?” Henshizo said before walking to the drink bar and poured himself a cup of punch. As he turned around, Ojiro came up dressed as a painter, causing Henshizo to cock an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me that way, I’ve always liked art… just never been good at it.” Ojiro said rubbing his neck, causing Henshizo to chuckle. “Fair, it is a chance for us to be what we can’t.” Henshizo said as Ojiro looked at Henshizo’s costume. “I’m just guess that’s a real sword.” Ojiro said flatly. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Henshizo asked patting it.

“Oooo, an undead samurai?” Came the voice of Ashido from under a Xenomorph costume. “Basically.” Henshizo said nodding at the costume. “I’m both impressed and not shocked you went with that, since you wanted to be alien queen.” Henshizo said chuckling as Ashido took the head off, shaking her hair out. “Yeah, and I’m glad that it’s not hot in here.” She said gesturing to the punch bowl, Henshizo stepping aside for her to get a drink. “And there’s the most unshocking thing.” Henshizo said, looking at the elevator as Midoriya came out in an All Might costume.

“Yeah, I would’ve been shocked if he picked something different.” Ojiro said chuckling and the two boys walked around. “Greetings samurai.” Tokoyami said in his druid robe.

“Ah, nice one.” Henshizo said nodding at Tokoyami. “Thank you.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo seeing Dark Shadow being the one to hold the candle in front of Tokoyami. “I see he can handle a little fire.” Henshizo said, with Tokoyami nodding.

“He said I could bob for apples.” Came the voice of dark shadow from the hood, causing Tokoyami to sigh. “And you will.” Tokoyami said annoyed, causing Henshizo and Ojiro to laugh.

“I sometimes forget Dark Shadow is sentient.” Henshizo said snickering still. “Oh, he never lets me forget.” Tokoyami said, causing Dark Shadow to pout. Tokoyami sighed and walked to the apple bobbing station, so Dark Shadow got out from under the costume and dived into the tank.

“Geez, Dark Shadow is really into this.” Came Sero’s voice from a ninja, Shoji and Sato came up as well with Henshizo shocked Shoji picked the kraken to dress as. “Dang Shoji, nice costume, although I didn’t think you would feel comfortable with it.” Henshizo said politely, Shoji nodding.

“It’s fine, yes, I was called an octopus freak when I was younger, but I am now comfortable with who I am. I do appreciate your concern though.” Shoji said appreciative. “Of course, I know better than anyone appearances doesn’t matter, so it’s great seeing you sort of flip off those that hated on you.” Henshizo said smiling, causing Shoji to laugh. “I could do it many many times.” He said gesturing with his arms, now causing Henshizo and Ojiro to laugh.

“But that’s a crazy good outfit, the details are great.” Ojiro said nodding at Shoji, as the three talked a girl came up to them and she was covered in red paint. “Hey guys!” Hagakure said, and they could actually see her face somewhat, and her mouth moving.

“Hey Hagakure, it’s nice to finally see you.” Henshizo said chuckling, causing Hagakure to giggle. “I know, but could you imagine me just walking around the school like this? That would be weird.” She said and Henshizo snorted, considering a floating school uniform already looked weird. Henshizo also saw in the candle light that Ojiro had gone just a bit red faced and his tail was stuck up straight behind him. Henshizo gently nudged him in the side as Hagakure walked away.

“What?” Ojiro said, snapping back to reality. “Dude, your face was redder than hers.” Henshizo said teasingly as Sato showed Shoji the fact he had actual salt in his salt shaker costume. “What? No, it wasn’t.” Ojiro said looking away as Shoji took some salt.

“Yeah, I don’t like salt taste so it works for me.” Sato said laughing. “Yeah, it was, you like her, don’t you? And don’t lie, your tail was stiffer than whatever Aizawa drinks on the weekends to tolerate us.” Henshizo said flatly, causing Ojiro to look at him confused.

“I’m not sure what that means, but quit it ok. I don’t mess with you when it comes to Yanagi.” Ojiro said, now Henshizo being the one confused. “Huh? What do you mean?” Henshizo asked, causing Ojiro to give him a look. “Oh, come on, you’re one of the most perceptive people in the class and you can’t tell that you like her?” He asked causing Henshizo to look away. “She and I are friends… besides I don’t know about that stuff.” Henshizo muttered before finishing his punch. “Right, sorry.” Ojiro said finishing his punch as well. “And sorry to you.” Henshizo said giving a gentle smile, with Ojiro smiling back. As they walked back to the lunch table, a girl in a dirty and long writhe dress with a matted long black hair came up to them, Henshizo and Ojiro instantly recognizing who it was because of her body pose. “Nice Sadako, Yanagi.” Henshizo said smiling at her.

“I’m impressed you recognized it so quickly, but many thanks Sesshada.” Yanagi said appreciative. “The wet hair is a nice touch.” Henshizo said looking at it. “I am glad you think that, as it is causing me discomfort as it is still wet.” She said, her tone seemingly not changed but Henshizo picked up her unamused tone. “And your costume is spooky as well, the blood effects at the wound sites are, is a nice touch.” Yanagi said looking closer. “Thanks, I had thought of a blood coming from my mouth, but fake blood tastes disgusting.” Henshizo said chucking awkwardly. “Ah yes, fake blood instead of jam or something similar.” Yanagi said, in a teasing tone, causing Henshizo to shrug. “That would get my face sticky.” He said shrugging and Yanagi sighed at the response, meanwhile Ojiro was watching and shaking his head lightly while chuckling with a smile.

“Hey Bakugo!” Kirishima’s voice rang out through the common area and people turned, seeing their explosive classmate in the kitchen with the fridge door open, looking murderous at Kirishima for calling attention to him. “Where’s your costume man? Come on and join us.” Kirishima said unperturbed. “Shut up shitty hair! I’m not dressing up and looking like an idiot for a stupid party.” Bakugo yelled back at him with Henshizo rolling his eyes at the negative attitude.

“Yeah, it kinda makes sense that you’d be too scared for this party.” Sero said, causing Bakugo to tense up in anger. “Probably thinks he can’t compete with Sesshada’s or Midoriya’s costumes.” Kaminari said smiling, making Bakugo crush the can of juice he had in his hand.

“I’ll show you morons what a real costume is.” Bakugo growled, stomping to the elevator, shoulder bumping into Todoroki who was just wearing an Endeavor face mask. “Todoroki, what is that?” Jiro asked, and Henshizo wondered how Jiro got such good tire marks on her jacket to make it look like she had been run over.

“I asked Ashido what I should wear, and she said something either scary or ghoulish. So, I went with the latter.” Todoroki said nonchalantly, causing most of the class to laugh, with awkward sighs from a couple of people. Henshizo was double over from laughing so hard at what Todoroki said. Yanagi and Ojiro exchanged glances and knew that Henshizo’s hatred for his father made him love any paternal humiliation. “I haven’t seen Sesshada laugh like that before.” Uraraka said walking up, she was wrapped in toilet paper and some medical tape.

“Nice mummy.” Ojiro said smiling politely at her as Midoriya came up, as Henshizo was calming down from his laughter. “It’s really great Uraraka, it’s well done for home made.” Midoriya said politely, and Henshizo saw Uraraka blush heavily.

“Th-thanks Deku, your All Might costume is pretty nice too.” Uraraka said, now causing Midoriya to blush and Henshizo, Ojiro, and Yanagi to give varying eye rolls at how the two were acting with each other.

“Greetings you medaling heroes.” Iida said walking up to them wearing a fake mustache that made him look like an old cartoon villain. “Iida?” Midoriya asked and Iida wagged a finger in his face. “Nay nay, am Evilda. A smart and fearsome villain.” Iida said and Henshizo snorted at how stupid it was.

“So you break rules right?” Henshizo asked as he reached inside his armor for something. “Yes, I scoff at all rules.” Iida said confidently and rolled his fake mustache between his fingers while their classmates looked at each other exasperated. “Then drink some of this.” Henshizo said pulling a flask out, causing Iida, Yanagi, Ojiro, Midoriya, and Uraraka to look at him shocked.

“Wait is that really?” Ojiro asked unsure and Henshizo nodded, unscrewing the top and holding it out. “I’m just offering it to a person who scoffs at rules.” Henshizo said swirling the flask around.

“Sesshada, that is not only against the rules but the law.” Iida said breaking character, causing Henshizo to sigh disappointed. “I thought you had finally begun to pull that stick out of your ass.” Henshizo said walking over towards the punch bowl and began tilting the flask over it. “No!” Iida said going over, grabbing Henshizo’s arm to stop it, Henshizo now laughing hysterically. “Dude, it’s just sugar water.” Henshizo said yanking his arm free, also accidentally knocking Iida back a few steps because of the strength he used. “Sorry.” He quickly apologized, pouring just a little of the liquid into a cup and offering it to Iida. Iida took it, sniffed the cup, put a finger in, and tasted it before nodding. “I see, just a prank.” Iida said as the others sighed and Henshizo nodded.

“I approve, Halloween is always better with harmless mischief.” Yanagi said, causing Henshizo to blush a bit. “Oi, Deku!” Came Bakugo’s voice as he stomped over, now dressed up as All Might, but in All Might’s golden age outfit.

“Oh wow, great outfit Kacchan.” Midoriya said excited. “Of course it is, because unlike you and that stupid green hair of yours, I can actually look the part.” Bakugo said smirking as Henshizo walked away to join Tokoyami and Tsu, who was dressed as a swamp thing.

“I forget Bakugo is just as much of an All Might fan as Midoriya… well without all the merch.” Henshizo muttered to them as Yanagi got beside him. “It is easy to forget.” Tsu said nodding.

“Hey guys! Let’s watch a movie!” Kaminari called out by the TV, and some went over, Henshizo now noticing Aoyama’s costume, which was mirrors on either side of him. “What is Aoyama wearing?” Henshizo muttered, causing Tokoyami to sigh.

“I asked him and he said, ‘the most horrifying thing, your reflection’.” Tokoyami said in a bad French accent. “Impressions aren’t your strong suit.” Tsu said bluntly, causing Tokoyami to lower his head. “I see.” He mumbled as Momo came walking over, in a dress with icicles as earrings and fake ones extending from her fingertips, as well as an ice crown.

“An ice queen?” Yanagi asked and Momo nodded happily. “I don’t get to dress up and have fun with it very often.” Momo said energetically. The five of them walked over to the tv to join most of the rest of the class.

“Hey Sesshada, that’s a real sword, right?” Sero asked and Henshizo nodded, putting a hand on the sword. “Are you good with a sword?” Ashido asked excited, Henshizo shrugging; however, Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki remembered back at Hosu, how Henshizo was able to keep even with Stain, despite using a pipe.

“We’ve seen, and some have felt, him use pipes and bats, so I think he has some good skills.” Kaminari said and Henshizo sighed. “I thought we were going to watch a movie.” Henshizo said flatly.

“We were, but we haven’t seen you use a sword… so, could you? Please. It’d be so manly to see.” Kirishima said, and Henshizo lightly shook his head, noticing Bakugo watching intensely. “I can’t use this sword for anything like you want, it is real, but it’s also really old. It’s too brittle.” Henshizo said tapping it.

“Come on, we all know you most likely have a strong sword you can call upon. Let’s see.” Hagakure said getting excited at the thought. “Yeah, Yoroi Musha is so cool with his sword. But seeing swords up close is something else.” Sero said, and Henshizo sighed deeply.

“I take it we won’t watch the movie until I show something right?” Henshizo asked with a slight eye roll, most of the class nodding. Henshizo sighed and pulled the sword out of the saya, visibly the sword changed and Henshizo looked at it almost curiously. ‘Been awhile since I held you.’ He thought, before walking up to the tv and tv stand, touch both, and then stood before it. “Wait, not that.” Kirishima said unsure.

“He touched it, it’s fine… probably.” Midoriya said, the class not wanting to try and stop Henshizo. Henshizo readied the sword as everyone watched curiously. Henshizo then brought the sword down, causing some of the class to flinch, but as Henshizo stood up they looked. “Did you mi-” Sero began to ask before the TV split down the middle cleanly, causing cries of shock to erupt.

“Holy crap! That’s amazing!” Kirishima said as Henshizo watched where he had cut. “Pfft, big deal. It’s just a TV.” Bakugo said dismissively as Henshizo sheathed the sword. As he did a sudden groaning could be heard and the entire table the TV was set on collapsed with a clean cut down the middle as well, causing more cries of shock, but much louder.

“Impressive.” Tokoyami said to Henshizo as Henshizo touched one of the halves of the table and made it into a cup, before using the other half to seemingly grow the table back. “It’s weird watching things grow like that.” Kaminari muttered to Sero who nodded as Henshizo repeated the process with the TV.

“I was heavily trained with the sword, as almost no matter what a person’s quirk is, a vast majority can’t do anything with a limb chopped off.” Henshizo said simply as he sat back down, Yanagi put Halloween in the player. “You’re amazing Sesshada, truly.” Midoriya said, and Henshizo felt a bit better as Bakugo mumbled to himself and walked away. The class watched the movie, feeling great about spending time together and enjoying the fright, while Henshizo was enjoying being around people who didn’t judge the skills he had and enjoyed them. After the movie ended the class began to clean things up, Iida having taken the mustache off so now he was ‘free’ according to him.

“We’ll each take a garbage bag to the disposal area.” Iida said as they tied off the nineteenth bag. They all picked a bag up and walked out of the dorm and to the dumpster that they had to take garbage to. “That was as lot of fun.” Uraraka said happily as they put the last bag in the dumpster.

“Yeah, it was great to have some fun with everyone. I can’t believe we even saw Bakugo dress up.” Jiro said chuckling. “Yeah, but tomorrow it’s back to preparation for our concert, we can’t lose focus.” Momo said to everybody, and they all nodded.

“Jiro, you’re going to send the effects team a copy of the what the song should be so we can prep timing of things right?” Henshizo said looking at the fake hit and run victim. “Yeah, I can put it together tonight.” Jiro said smiling and nodding. “Thanks, we’ll play around with effect ideas.” Henshizo said as they got back to the dorm, Henshizo sighing as he looked at the chandelier still hanging up. Henshizo dragged a chair over and climbed up onto it, managing to touch the chandelier with a fingertip, and it slowly went away until he made it into a large soda box, that he proceeded to tear up and throw away. As he did that some of the class had gone up to their rooms.

“Sesshada’s sword slash was so cool, clean through the wood.” Kaminari said referring the motion. “It’s also a reminder that we really don’t see him go all out.” Shoji said cooly and those in the elevator looked at him.

“Shoji’s right, even during the work study, he never got to go all out. He always holds himself back.” Tokoyami said and Momo sighed. “Yeah, and we all know why. But I’d rather not have any more talks about him behind his back.” She said firmly.

“Sorry.” Shoji and Tokoyami said as Kaminari continued to mimic the sword motion. Henshizo went up the stairs to get up to his room. As he did, he changed the armor into his night clothes before walking out onto his floor and to his dorm. Henshizo went in, got into bed, and stared up at the ceiling smiling. ‘Best Halloween ever.’ Henshizo thought as he rolled over and went to bed.

“You’re doing it wrong.” A man said, before smacking eight-year-old Henshizo in the head with a bamboo stick. Henshizo stubbed the spot and glared up at his instructor. “And don’t look at me like that.” He said trying smack him again, but Henshizo brought the small sword he had up to block it. “Not bad, but not good at all.” The trainer said raising the stick up and hitting Henshizo again. “You’re treating it like an object; you have to treat it like a part of you.” The man said and Henshizo looked at it confused and the door opened.

“That will do for today.” Dokuon said as he walked in with his two bodyguards. “Right.” The trainer said bowing to Dokuon as Henshizo went numb at his father’s presence. As the trainer left, Dokuon walked over and placed his hand on Henshizo head. “Did those hits hurt?” Dokuon asked bluntly, and Henshizo nodded a tiny bit. “Pathetic.” Dokuon said and after a moment Henshizo felt his scalp burning and he cried out in pain. “Just hold still, I’m just killing more nerves.” Dokuon said forcing Henshizo to a knee as Henshizo whimpered in pain. Henshizo cried out again and by instinct he thrust back towards his father with the sword. Dokuon was able to side step it, but it cut his pants. “Insolent child.” Dokuon hissed, knocking the sword from Henshizo’s hand and pinned him to the ground. “Now you have to endure more.” He growled and Henshizo felt the intensity of the venom his father was using grow worse. Henshizo suddenly shot up in bed, a sword in his hand, and his bed missing a pillow.

“Gotta be careful.” Henshizo mumbled, changing the sword back to a pillow and going back to sleep, still thinking of the party, rather than the memory.

Notes:

It took me a little bit to decide on what people's costumes would be, some were obvious but not everyone. Henshizo's childhood was a real horror movie, so he isn't bothered by anything. Hope you enjoyed! Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 58: Sesshada's Sweet Sixteen

Henshizo woke up to his phone buzzing on the nightstand. “Someone calling?” Henshizo mumbled as he groggily reached over and picked it up without looking at who was calling. “Hello?” Henshizo mumbled into it as he rubbed his face. “Happy birthday Henshizo!” Came the voices of Sanae, Goji, Hinata, Daiki, and Honoka. Henshizo chuckled and stretched in bed. “I take it you were all eagerly waiting to do this.” Henshizo said more awake and smiling. “We wanted to do it before the day started so we wouldn’t interfere with anything.” Sanae said softly. “I appreciate that but I don’t have things planned.” Henshizo said getting out of bed, going to his bathroom to deal with the bed head he had.

“We also sent a gift!” Came the voice of Hinata and Henshizo looked at the phone. “That wasn’t necessary.” Henshizo said, appreciative as he walked out, changing his night clothes to his school uniform. “But I greatly appreciate it.” Henshizo said as he got in the elevator.

“We made sure to send it so it would arrive today. You realize you are incredibly hard to shop for since you basically have all you want at your fingertips.” Sanae said and Henshizo laughed as he walked out of the elector and into the kitchen. “Yeah, I guess I am tough to get things for.” Henshizo said as he began making some coffee. “We won’t keep you any longer, have a good day of classes and enjoy it.” Sanae said softly. “Happy birthday again!” All the foster siblings gleefully, causing Henshizo to smile as he took out some eggs.

“Thanks again guys, you take care now, and keep up being good.” Henshizo said to them before hanging up. He made himself cinnamon french toast, a treat for himself, before sitting down as others came in. Tokoyami came walking up to Henshizo as Henshizo was sipping his coffee. “Happy birthday Sesshada. A work study companion I wouldn’t change.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo smiled softly. “Thanks, Tokoyami. Hawks may have also picked us because our birthdays are so close to each other.” Henshizo said chuckling, causing Tokoyami to chuckle as well. “Speaking of Hawks, he likely sent you something.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo cocked an eyebrow curiously. “Although be warned, it’s possibly a bit of a gag gift. He sent me a book on birds of Japan.” Tokoyami said flatly causing Henshizo to both laugh and groan. “That tracks with him, polite and unserious.” Henshizo said shaking his head as he took a bite of his french toast. “Indeed, knowing him outside of his hero work, really makes me wonder how he became number three so quickly, now the de facto number two.” Tokoyami said shaking his head as well. Tokoyami walked away to make himself breakfast and Henshizo quietly finished his.

“Happy birthday.” Ojiro said walking up with a smile and pulled a gift out from behind his back. “Thanks, you didn’t have to.” Henshizo said taking the gift, feeling it to be clothes of some kind. “I know, but I wanted to.” Ojiro said smiling and Henshizo smiled at the gift. “Mind if I unwrap it now?” Henshizo asked and Ojiro nodded, so Henshizo tore the wrapping paper off and revealed a black martial arts robe. “Oh wow, this is so soft.” Henshizo said, running a hand over it. “I know, it’s a bit like my hero costume.” Ojiro said and Henshizo smiled as he stood up. “I’ll take this to my room.” Henshizo said as he also took his plate and mug and put them in the sink. “Sounds good, I’ll see you in homeroom.” Ojiro said going to the fridge. Henshizo went inside the elevator and unfurled the robe to admire it fully, when the elevator got to his floor he walked to his dorm and saw Yanagi walking away from his dorm with a gift in her hands.

“Oh Sesshada, I thought I may have been able to catch you before had gone down, clearly I was mistaken.” Yanagi said matter of factly. “Yeah, sorry. Foster family woke me up earlier than normal so I decided to just have an early breakfast.” Henshizo said shrugging a bit. “No need to apologize, I have a present for you.” Yanagi said softly and she floated the gift to him. “You didn’t have to.” Henshizo said again before taking the lid off the box. Inside was a replica of Freddy Kruger’s glove, Henshizo carefully taking it out as it was real metal. “Holy crap, this is amazing.” Henshizo said in awe of it. “I am ecstatic you like it.” Yanagi said, a small smile in her face. “You didn’t have to get me something like this.” Henshizo said quietly as he slipped the glove on and wiggled the blades. “I thought something that could maybe be used in combat while also horror themed would be an appropriate gift.” Yanagi said, causing Henshizo to chuckle. “It would certainly make a villain think twice.” Henshizo said as he carefully took it off and opened the door to his dorm. He set the robe on his bed and the glove on his desk, before grabbing his notebook and picking up his book bag. “You mentioned you already had breakfast, correct?” Yanagi said softly from the doorway. “Yeah. I can wait for you and Ojiro though. No sense in me heading to homeroom this early.” Henshizo said looking at his watch as there was still about forty minutes to go. Yanagi nodded appreciatively and the two went back down to the kitchen, Yanagi making herself breakfast while Henshizo was bombarded with birthday wishes from the rest of his classmates. Henshizo graciously thanked them all, and lastly Momo came up as Yanagi sat down with her breakfast.

“Happy birthday Henshizo!” Momo said happily, her hands behind her back. “Thanks Momo. What do you have there?” Henshizo asked curiously, Momo revealing a form to leave campus. “It’s to head out and celebrate with the family.” Momo said to him quietly but excited. “Really? Mom, auntie, and uncle?” Henshizo asked, eagerly and Momo nodded in response. “Aunt Giji also mentioned that after dinner we could take a car to your foster home briefly, as a surprise for them.” Momo said smiling more and Henshizo smiled more broadly. “I’d like that; I know they sent me something, but I’m sure they’d be more than excited to see me.” Henshizo said happily and Momo leaned down to whisper to him. “Also, no escort from one of the teachers, we’ll be picked up at the gate, go to the restaurant, so we’re covered. Mom and dad already take privacy and security very seriously.” Momo said and Henshizo nodded. “That all sounds good… I just can’t help but feel awkward about it a bit.” Henshizo mumbled while he rubbed the back of his head and Momo gave a reassuring smile. “You’re part of our family now, and both my mom and your mom insist upon celebrating it. It’s not awkward for us, a little weird to be celebrating a new birthday admittedly, but not awkward.” Momo said with a soft giggle towards the end, calming Henshizo a bit. “Just so long as they don’t insist on catching up on the previous fifteen. I don’t need baby toys or anything.” Henshizo said chuckling and Momo laughed as well as Yanagi giggling very softly.

“I think you receiving toddler toys at presumably a fancy restaurant would be a hilarious spectacle.” Yanagi said and Henshizo laughed as both he and Yanagi got pink faced. “Yeah, but that all sounds good Momo. What time?” Henshizo asked tilting his head.

“We’re being picked up at six at the gate, the three of them will be in the car already.” Momo said, Henshizo nodding as Yanagi floated her plate to the sink. “Let’s head to homeroom then.” Henshizo said, picking his bag up and the three of them, with Ojiro joining them and they walked to homeroom. Everyone was settled in their seats as Aizawa came walking in and surprisingly walked up to Henshizo’s desk.

“As a birthday gift, but not really, sometime next month I will have you lecture about villains.” Aizawa said to him quietly. “It’s only rational to do that in the wind down phase of the semester.” He continued and Henshizo nodded excited at the prospect. “Let me know if you require any technical assistance, but you’ll be responsible for preparing the materials themselves. And once you’re initially done send it to me and I’ll have to approve of it.” Aizawa said and Henshizo nodded before Aizawa walked back to the podium, Midoriya turning around excited.

“That will be very interesting, I mean, you are knowledgeable and I also think you’re actually a good instructor.” Midoriya said politely, causing Henshizo to chuckle. “Yeah, I just hope to be able to talk about everything I’d want to.” Henshizo said, tilting his head up, already thinking about what, more specifically who, he would talk about. The bell rang, pulling Henshizo from his thoughts, and they all focused up. “You all have two weeks before the festival. I know you all have your own things going on, but don’t lose focus on that.” Aizawa said seriously and they all nodded.

“We’re already a good two thirds of the way there sir, at the minimal.” Ashido said smiling and Aizawa nodded a bit. “Just get there.” He said sternly and they nodded again. Aizawa left and Midnight walked in as the bell to begin first period rang. Henshizo eagerly listened for the lecture during the violence of quirk recognition protests. After that, Henshizo was able to keep up with Ectoplasm’s math lesson, before silently suffering in Present Mic’s grammar. The lunch bell rang and Henshizo packed up his bag and began heading to the cafeteria with Momo, Ojiro, and Yanagi.

“Why must Ectoplasm subject us to horrors every class?” Yanagi said sighing softly. “It wasn’t that horrible today. Not saying it was easy, but only about… a ghost face level horror as compared to a Jason level.” Henshizo said shrugging, with Ojiro and Momo looking at each other, as Ashido was walking ahead of them grinning.

“They have their own method of measuring something.” Ashido whispered ecstatically to Kirishima and Kaminari. “And I’m not calling them out for anything, least Sesshada decides to set a new record for breaking bones of a classmate.” Kaminari said as Kirishima rolled his eyes at the two of them. 1-A got to the cafeteria and after getting their food, sat all together. “Hey dance team, I have the gym reserved tonight so I want us there to get used to it.” Ashido said to everyone, with the dance team nodding.

“It’s nice being as ahead as we can be, compared to you guys.” Henshizo said to Momo and Ojiro, with Yanagi nodding, sipping her juice. “I’m not surprised you guys basically have things planned out. With you in charge, your planning is amongst the best.” Momo said smiling and Henshizo shrugged.

“Sesshada has us prepared, and we’re good to go whenever we want to do a full run through. It’s been very interesting to learn and I’ve actually somewhat improved my quirk doing this.” Yanagi said, catching them by surprise and they looked at her. “How so?” Henshizo asked curiously and Yanagi gave a very tiny smile. “My control over objects from a distance.” She said and Henshizo picked up the proud tone in her voice. “Well, that’s great. Glad it’s helped to make you even more amazing.” Henshizo said happy for her and smiling, Yanagi going just a bit pink cheeked and they went back to eating, Henshizo now growing red faced at what he had said to Yanagi. After they finished their lunches, they went back to the classroom to finish up the afternoon classes, with a grueling in class essay by Cementoss to end it.

“I don’t like those types of questions. How can we know if we put an actually correct response?” Midoriya muttered as he put his journal away. “It’s why I just put what I think, it literally asks what we think.” Henshizo said shrugging and Midoriya sighed. “But we could be thinking wrong.” Midoriya said and Henshizo rolled his eyes. “Sometimes it’s not about the thought, it’s the belief you put into it. Even if Cementoss thinks it’s wrong, if you defend it well, he’ll give you credit.” Henshizo said reassuringly and Midoriya smiled.

“Shut the hell up you two, it was easy to know what to think of you just paid attention.” Bakugo snapped back at them, causing Henshizo to roll his eyes again. “Then clearly one would just be a simpleton, not being able to have their own thoughts.” Henshizo said with a tiny smirk and Bakugo rounded towards him, with Midoriya keeping them separated, Momo grabbing the back of Henshizo shirt and Kirishima coming over to hold Bakugo back.

“You know, it’s been a while since they had a confrontation.” Kaminari muttered to Jiro as they watched Yanagi float Henshizo away by his clothes, Henshizo not resisting as Bakugo tried to get free of Kirishima. “Thanks, Yanagi, I’d actually kill him if Henshizo got in trouble today.” Momo said exasperated and Henshizo chuckled as Yanagi set him down.

“That was just a gift to myself, I can’t help myself. It’s fun making Bakugo mad.” Henshizo said shrugging and the two girls sighed, both annoyed. “You’re welcome, Yaoyorozu, do be careful Sesshada. Although calling Bakugo a simpleton and seeing his reaction was amusing.” Yanagi said giving a tiny giggle, causing Henshizo to get a bit pink and he looked away rubbing his neck.

“Just remember to be at the front gate at six.” Momo said sighing and Henshizo nodded. “Uh, what should I wear?” He asked looking at his uniform. “If it were anyone else, I would say dress up, but for you it’s your normal clothing.” Momo said teasing him a bit. “Hey. Just because I like fancy clothes.” Henshizo began but shut up as Momo laughed as she walked away.

“You walked into that one.” Yanagi mused to him and Henshizo grumbled as Ojiro walked up. “Want to work on the homework together?” Ojiro asked to them, and they both nodded as they began walking back to the dorm.

“I’ll catch up, just gotta check my mail.” Henshizo said walking to the mail room. Ojiro and Yanagi nodded, going to one of the couches as Henshizo went into the mail room and in his slot were two packages. Henshizo pulled the packages out and both had cards taped to the outside, he checked them and saw one was from Hawks and the other from his foster family. Henshizo opened up Hawks’s present first after reading the card. ‘Was going to see if UA could send you back to me for a stakeout, but wouldn’t be fun for a birthday. Enjoy- Hawks’ the note read. “He would want me for another one.” Henshizo muttered as he opened up the package and pulled a stuffed dragon out, knowing it looked like his back tattoo. “Oh Hawks, you have one warped sense of humor.” Henshizo said smirking and tossing the dragon into the air before setting it down and began reading the card from his foster family.

‘Happy birthday Henshizo, it’s been great having you in our lives. Keep pushing forward, we’re proud of you. Love Sanae, Goji, Hinata, Daiki, and Honoka’. Henshizo smiled reading the card and unwrapped the gift. Henshizo smiled as big as he could as the gift was a coffee mug with the family photo they had taken together after the sports festival. Henshizo kept the cards, tossed the boxes, and walked out of the mailroom and over to Ojiro and Yanagi, setting the gifts down on the table before getting his schoolwork out. “That mug is very touching.” Yanagi said looking closer at it, and Henshizo smiled as he set his notebook down. “I know.” Henshizo said softly as Ojiro looked at the dragon closely.

“Is that the one on your back?” Ojiro asked gently and Henshizo nodded. “Hawks. He certainly likes pushing a person.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes but chuckling.

“I often forget you have that on your back.” Yanagi said softly and Henshizo shrugged. “Honestly, I do sometimes as well. It doesn’t itch or anything really now. But with the cooler weather I have to be conscious about it. Dry skin.” Henshizo said chuckling more as he opened his math textbook up. The three of them began dissecting the subjects until it got to be five-thirty and Henshizo stood up. “I’m going to go get prepared.” Henshizo said packing his books away.

“Enjoy it man.” Ojiro said smiling at him and Yanagi nodded. “Have a good dinner.” She said softly to Henshizo with a soft smile.

“Thanks guys.” Henshizo said smiling as he picked his two gifts up and went to the elevator. He went up to his dorm, set the gifts on his desk, took a photo of them, and then went to the mirror he had and began trying to decide on what he would wear. After a bit of mental picturing Henshizo went with a white suit, with some black embroidering on the side. “I touched this outfit when Sanae first took me clothes shopping.” Henshizo muttered, thinking back to how he had been. He gave a soft sigh and fixed a gold tie. Henshizo left his dorm and went into the common area to wait for Momo.

“Holy crap man, you look great!” Kirishima said coming up to Henshizo, who smiled at the compliment. “Thanks.” Henshizo said as a few more came over to look at his suit. After a bit, Momo came in and smiled softly at Henshizo and Henshizo smiled at her in a simple black dress, the rest of the boys averting their eyes, since Henshizo’s threat from the locker room was an ever present one.

“The car should be outside.” Momo said so Henshizo opened the door and the pair walked outside. “White looks good on you.” Momo said as they walked along. “And you in heels is dumb. You’re as tall as I am now, you’re already tall.” Henshizo said teasingly and Momo giggled. “But you look nice Momo.” Henshizo said softly and sure enough they saw a nice car out front. “Thanks.” Momo said as they walked up to it, Henshizo opening the door for Momo and she climbed in. Henshizo got in after her and was immediately caught in a hug.

“Happy birthday baby.” Giji said happily as she hugged Henshizo tightly. Henshizo felt his face turn red, but more because he was getting choked out in the hug. Momo giggled at the sight and Buttai sighed. “Unless you want us to go to the hospital because he loses consciousness, let him go sister.” Buttai said with just a hint of teasing to Giji. Giji let Henshizo go, who caught his breath as he sat down and buckled up.

“Thanks mom.” Henshizo said smiling as he fixed his hair. “You look great, clearly my fashion sense.” Giji said smiling happily at Henshizo.

“He and I have talked about that before.” Momo said smiling softly and Giji smiled proudly. “A good suit goes a long way.” Okane said as he nodded in approval.

“Thank you uncle.” Henshizo said nodding in agreement. “So how has your birthday been so far?” Giji asked curiously as the car began to drive along. “It’s been great! Ojiro, Yanagi, Hawks, as well as Sanae and them all got me gifts. Well, Hawks was sort of a joke but it was cool he sent something.” Henshizo said smiling with a small shrug.

“Of course it is, having a top pro send you something for your birthday is great.” Giji said smiling. “What was it?” Buttai asked curiously and Henshizo pulled his phone out, bringing up the photo of the mug and dragon.

“Hawks sent the dragon. Its uh… well he probably say he saw it from the processing photo from the night of the raid.” Henshizo said quietly as the three adults looked. “So that’s your foster family?” Buttai asked, changing the subject with a smile, causing Henshizo to go back to smiling. “Yeah. Have you not met them?” Henshizo asked tilting his head.

“I’ve befriended Sanae and have spent time with her as you know, but Buttai is usually too busy sadly.” Giji said smiling. “Sanae seems like a truly wonderful person, taking in foster children and helping Giji reconnect.” Buttai said complimentary.

“Sanae is great, as pure hearted as one can be.” Henshizo said smiling proudly, talking about his foster mom. “And his foster siblings are very amusing. You wouldn’t know they weren’t real siblings with how they act.” Momo said giggling and Henshizo nodded. “They keep things lively.” Henshizo said smiling softly and he turned to the adults. “So where exactly are we going?” Henshizo asked curiously.

“Araga.” Buttai said smiling and Henshizo couldn’t stop his mouth from going partly open. “Really? That place is incredibly difficult to get into. It’s also incredibly expensive.” Henshizo said rubbing his neck, showing he was still conscious of them spending money on him.

“You belong Henshizo. We are a family, a unique circumstance of it, but family and I know you love us in your way.” Okane said, catching Momo, Buttai, and Giji by surprise. “It’s not a problem at all Henshizo, just enjoy it.” Buttai said smiling and Henshizo nodded.

“How much longer until the festival?” Giji asked curiously as they were at a light. “It’s two weeks. Not this Friday but next Friday, but we are incredibly ready.” Momo said excited and the three parents nodded, causing Henshizo to tilt his head curiously.

“I think we’ll be busy with business that day, so you’ll have to tell us how it goes.” Okane said and the cousins nodded. “How are your classmates that were involved in that raid?” Buttai asked gently and Henshizo sighed softly.

“Physically all are fine. I’ve helped them deal with some of the… effects you can’t see.” Henshizo said glancing out the window and Giji put a hand on his leg to reassure him. “It’s good you’re helping them, it’s amazing to say that someone who is as kind, caring, and helpful as you, is my son.” Giji said smiling at him, causing Henshizo to smile and blink away tears. After a couple moments of silence Momo smiled at Henshizo.

“He also made a code that principal Nezu took four hours to crack. Which for reference, mine was the fourth longest to crack for Nezu, and it took him seventeen minutes.” Momo said, causing Henshizo to go red faced.

“Really? That is very impressive, I’ve tried to get principal Nezu to join a couple of company boards because his genius is like no other.” Okane said, Henshizo picking up pride in his voice. “Yeah, I had a false message that if you tried to crack symbols a more obvious but not so obvious way it would spell something out. I had difficulty making it the right balance of obvious, but not too obvious or else he’d know it was a misdirection.” Henshizo said smiling as he pulled a wrapper from his pocket and changed it to the code he had made, showing the three.

“Oh I can’t even begin to try.” Buttai said seeing it and chuckling. Giji smiled and shook her head softly. “I prefer spot the difference for brain exercises.” She said as Okane took it and studied it.

“If nothing else, I can hire you as a secure communication consultant.” Okane said trying to figure it out, causing Henshizo and Momo to laugh. “Maybe that will be my retirement work.” Henshizo said as they stopped in a parking lot.

“We’re here.” Came the voice of the driver, which caused Henshizo and Okane to get out of the car and held the doors open for Momo, Giji, and Buttai. The five of them walked inside and Okane walked up to the greeter and the greeter looked at him. “Five for Yaoyorozu.” Okane said and the greeter looked down to confirm and nodded. “Follow me please.” The greeter said, and began walking back, with them following. A circle table with five seats was towards the back and he stood by it and they happily sat down, Henshizo noting they were near an exit to slip away. “Your waiter will be with you momentarily.” The greeter said before walking away as the five sat, Henshizo between Momo and Giji.

“I can smell the money.” Henshizo muttered and Giji chuckled as a waiter came over with glasses of water for everyone. “Welcome to Araga, my name is Tabehako. Can I get you anything else to drink?” He asked taking a notepad out. All the Yaoyorozus and Gino ordered some type of tea before Henshizo smiled awkwardly. “I’ll stick with water.” He said looking at the glass and the waiter walked away.

“Momo said you’re not really a tea drinker.” Buttai said sighing but clearly teasing him. “It’s not that I don’t drink tea, it’s just that I like a small amount of tea.” Henshizo said shrugging very lightly.

“He did try the gold tips imperial and liked it, so I’m slowly converting him.” Momo said playfully and the table laughed, Henshizo nodded. “I never said I hate tea. So of course I’ll try some. Besides, I saw they have a dessert coffee.” Henshizo said looking at the menu.

“Of course your eyes found that in an instant.” Giji said smiling and she pat his leg. There was brief silence as everyone decided on what they would order for dinner. Once the waiter came back with their drinks he got the notepad out. “Is everyone ready to order?” Tabehako asked them.

“I’ll have the signature beef steak.” Henshizo said, setting the menu down. “I’ll also have that.” Giji said smiling as she set her menu on Henshizo’s. “Smoked salmon please.” Momo said softly. “A third beef steak.” Okane said and he began collecting the menus. “And a second smoked salmon.” Buttai said as Okane handed all the menus back. The waiter lightly bowed and walked away to put their orders in.

“Clearly we like variety.” Henshizo muttered and the table chuckled softly again. “You’re the effects lead for the concert basically, right?” Buttai asked curiously and Henshizo shrugged.

“Yes, he basically is. Apparently, he knew a good bit and he paid for all the equipment himself almost.” Momo said and Henshizo looked at her from the side. “That must have cost a bit, because I doubt you guys would hold back.” Okane said raising an eyebrow and Henshizo shrugged before glancing at Giji almost apologetically. “Henshizo used it as an opportunity to redistribute ill-gotten gains.” Momo said curtly and the three knew what she meant.

“I see, well I know it’s a bit of revenge as well, so do it frequently.” Giji said quietly but gave Henshizo a pat on his leg to let him know it was ok. “That’s good, we’d be happy to help as well.” Okane said nodding and Henshizo smiled softly.

“So have you caught up on everything you’ve wanted to?” Henshizo asked his mom and she giggled while shaking her head. “Yes and no. I’ve caught up on the shows and stuff I had been working on before, but then I have to catch up on stuff that came out after. And then I’m watching one thing and find something else and I want to watch it. It’s a never-ending cycle, plus I’m getting back into the swing of things at actually working some.” Giji said smiling happily. “Really? What type of work?” Henshizo asked before taking a sip of water. “Just slowly getting back alongside the family on the board and stuff like that. I also have to catch up on rules and regulations that changed in fifteen years.” Giji said looking at Buttai and Okane.

“That’s great to hear auntie.” Momo said smiling at her and Giji nodded. “So, I suppose if I suggest something it gets added to a list longer than I am tall.” Henshizo said chucking and Giji giggled.

“Yeah, lots of things but I’d be happy for suggestions.” Giji said smiling at him. Henshizo smiled back and looked at the table briefly before sighing contently. “Thank you, guys.” Henshizo said quietly before looking back at them. “I know I’ve had the opportunity to celebrate a birthday with Sanae but it came at a time when I was still… caught up in myself so I couldn’t really enjoy it. But this is the best birthday I’ve ever had. Be it my classmates, friends, or my family, people genuinely wishing me happy birthday has been one of the best feelings I’ve had in a while.” Henshizo said smiling happily. The four smiled back at him, Giji tearing up slightly, matching Henshizo’s eyes as he blinked tears away.

“We’re happy to give you something, someone as kind as you deserves.” Buttai said softly and Okane nodded as Momo put a hand on his arm. Giji meanwhile leaned over and hugged him lovingly. “We both know you came to be from bad. But I mean this, when I pictured the kid, I would want to have; you are what I envisioned. Kind, loving, smart, funny, and someone I’m proud to call my son.” Giji whispered to him and Henshizo couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his face as he turned into her and hugged her tight.

“And I’m happy you’re alive, and able to be happy.” Henshizo said blinking the tears away. They hugged for a couple of moments longer before letting go of each other so they could wipe their eyes. Okane reached into his suit jacket and pulled a box out that had a bow tied on it. “This is a family gift.” Okane said as he handed it to Henshizo who untied the bow and took the lid off to reveal a beautiful golden watch, that Henshizo gently pulled out and admired it more.

“It’s impeccable.” Henshizo said looking at Okane who had a small smile on as Henshizo put it on. “I wouldn’t wear it around all the time, but it would be good for grand occasions.” Okane said and Henshizo nodded in agreement as he clasped it to his wrist. “I’m a little surprised you don’t have a watch for your hero costume, and yes, I know you have a pocket watch. But it’s not the same.” Momo said and Henshizo chuckled.

“I thought of it, but it wouldn’t serve a good purpose. The rings I wear work better.” Henshizo said shrugging. “I saw it on the news when you helped with the bus, it is a very good-looking costume.” Buttai said smiling as the waiter came back and began setting their respective dinners down.

“Anything else?” The waiter asked, and the family, respectfully, shook their heads as they put their napkins in their lap. They began eating and the food was delicious. “Amazing steak.” Henshizo said as he was halfway through.

“The salmon is perfect.” Momo said happily, with the parents happy the kids were enjoying it. The five finished their food and the waiter came out. “Any dessert this evening?” He asked and Henshizo nodded. “Your dessert coffee please.” Henshizo said and the Yaoyorozus gave very tiny sighs. “Green tea and wagashi please.” Momo said, with Giji and Buttai ordering the same. “I’ll pass on dessert.” Okane said and the waiter walked away again as Okane checked his watch. “I’ll pay when he comes back, your desserts shouldn’t take too long, and from what I understand your foster family live just under twenty minutes from here.” Okane said to Henshizo who titled his head thinking.

“Sounds about right, and you’ll be fine with taking me there?” Henshizo asked, Buttai and Okane nodding in response. “It’s been said, but Sanae has also helped Giji so it’s no problem for us.” Buttai said smiling and Henshizo smiled greatly as the waiter came back with their desserts. ‘At least this was quick.’ Henshizo asked as he looked at the pattern on top of his coffee, before picking it up and beginning to sip it. As they quietly finished their desserts, Giji bent down into her purse and pulled a gift out.

“Here Henshizo.” Giji said smiling softly and Henshizo unwrapped it, showing it to be a photo of them hugging outside the arcade after their first mother son day together. “What? How?” Henshizo asked floored as he looked at it. “I had asked your teacher for help and he took that photo for me.” Giji said as Momo looked at it.

“Wait, Aizawa did this?” Momo asked surprised with Giji giggling as she nodded as the cousins looked at her flabbergasted. “I don’t know what I’m more shocked at, Aizawa doing something nice like this, or knowing how to take a good photo.” Henshizo said causing Momo to cover her mouth from the laughter that she had.

“I get the feeling the Eraserhead that came to our house and the Eraserhead they deal with are different.” Buttai said to Okane smiling and Okane nodded, handing the waiter a card for the bill before the waiter could even say anything, and he walked back. Henshizo had the picture on the table and he helped get everything together for the bus staff. The waiter came back and gave the receipts to Okane, who handed him cash, before they stood up, Henshizo grabbing the picture. “Thank you so much uncle.” Henshizo said giving a light head bow.

“It’s my pleasure Henshizo, don’t mention it” Okane said and the five left the restaurant, their car already waiting for them outside. ‘Either incredible prediction or communication.’ Henshizo thought as they got into the car. “Will we be disturbing them coming this late?” Giji asked as they began heading to Sanae’s.

“No, it’s only eight. They’ll all be awake and probably haven’t even begun to get ready for bed.” Henshizo said shaking his head and they nodded. “I haven’t seen them since I moved in to the dorms. Although it’s been difficult too, between either preparing for the provisional license exam, my work study, just general class stuff alongside training, and now preparing for the school festival, it doesn’t leave much time for things.” Henshizo said sighing and Momo nodded in agreement. “It’s odd to think you guys are busier than we are, and we run companies.” Buttai said giggling, causing the students to nod in agreement.

“It’s all our choices that cause our lives to be as busy as they are, but does make one wish for more time in a day.” Momo said sighing and nodding in agreement. They drove along until they stopped outside Sanae’s house and Henshizo eagerly got out of the car. “Should we go in as well?” Momo asked and the parents looked at each other. “I’ll head in, I have to see when she’s next available to have tea with anyway.” Giji said smiling softly as she got out of the car.

“It’s great seeing her have a friend.” Buttai said watching her sister follow Henshizo to the front door. “Didn’t she have friends before?” Momo asked quietly and Buttai sighed sadly. “Your Aunt’s disappearance initially brought people close to us. But naturally it took a while for me to recover, and our ‘friends’ had grown tired of waiting for me. It was lonely but I found new friends. She’s doing the same, granted our old friends were still really glad she was alive, but they had moved on so it made things awkward.” Buttai said as Henshizo excitedly knocked on the door. Momo looked at her mom and then out at her aunt sadly. After a couple of seconds, the door opened and Honoka was standing there.

“Henshizo!” She cried out and hugged him, causing Henshizo to laugh and hug her, while he heard the sound of running and the rest of his foster siblings came running around the corner and also hugged him. “Hey guys, thought I’d give you a gift for my birthday.” Henshizo said laughing as he gently walked them in, Sanae watching from the doorway to the living room smiling happily.

“It’s great to see you Henshizo, you’ve gotten bigger and your suit is nice.” Sanae said walking over and hugging him, after the siblings let go for her. “Thanks, Sanae.” Henshizo said hugging tightly. “Giji!” Sanae said excitedly, seeing Henshizo’s mom at the door and beckoning her in. Sanae let go and walked to her, hugging her as well. “It’s great seeing you too, that dress is lovely.” Giji said as Henshizo lead the siblings into the living room. “I have something for the four of you.” Henshizo said pulling four candy wrappers from his pocket.

“Wrappers, how generous.” Daiki said teasingly, they all knew he’d be changing them into something. Henshizo chuckled and changed them into small ships of paper, all with Hawks’s signature on them. They all gasped and each took one carefully. “Perks of my work study, and my sleight of hand.” Henshizo said smiling as they looked at the signature excited. Henshizo had touched one of the police reports Hawks had signed off on, and had carefully cut the paper for it just be Hawks’s signature.

“This so cool, we have All Might’s and now Hawks’s autographs!” Goji said excited to his siblings. “You guys’ help keep me going, don’t forget that.” Henshizo said ruffling their heads playfully.

“Thanks Henshizo, we also use you to push ourselves, Goji even got an a on his math exam.” Hinata said teasingly and Goji rolled his eyes but Henshizo smiled. “That’s great guys. I promise to try and come see you guys more ok. Should have more free time soon, once the school festival is over.” Henshizo said smiling at them, causing them to excitedly nod as Sanae and Giji watched from the doorway.

“It’s amazing how he’s both so childlike and so mature.” Sanae said quietly and Giji nodded. “He’s truly enjoying life for the first time, having everything one wants will do that. And I admit that every now and then when I see his eyes I get uneasy, but once I look past the color, I only see Henshizo’s kindness which calms me instantly.” Giji said and Sanae nodded, putting an arm on Giji’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re doing so much better, every time I see you, I can tell you’re better.” Giji said happily as Henshizo began hugging each of his siblings tightly. Giji nodded and smiled at her. “Next Saturday for tea? If things work out it will be a great time.” Giji said and Sanae tilted her head curiously but nodded. “Sounds good to me, where?” She asked and Giji shrugged. “Depends, I’ll let you know that Friday afternoon, sorry but just depends on a few things.” She said smiling and Sanae gave a hand wave. “I like the excitement, see you then.” She said as Henshizo came up and hugged her.

“It was great seeing you.” Henshizo said to her, as she hugged back. “And you as well, happy birthday again.” Sanae said rubbing his back. Henshizo smiled and they separated. “Take care and let me know if you need anything.” Henshizo said to Sanae who nodded, letting Henshizo and Giji leave, Henshizo waving to the five foster family members before going back to the car. The two climbed back in, Henshizo closing the door, and the driver began driving back towards UA.

“Enjoy that?” Buttai asked and Henshizo nodded happily. “How happy were your foster siblings?” Momo asked curiously.

“Over the moon, I may have to have Recovery Girl check my ribs to make sure they didn’t break them with how tight they hugged me.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Which one answered the door? With the pink hair?” Buttai asked curiously. “Oh, that was Honoka. She’s the youngest technically of us five.” Henshizo said happily, before going into her foster family more with them on the drive back. They pulled up outside the front gate at UA, so Momo and Henshizo got out of the car, followed by the parents.

“Happy birthday baby.” Giji said hugging him and kissing his cheek, as Momo said bye to her parents. “Thanks mom, love you.” Henshizo said softly to her. “Love you too baby. Take care and keep up the good work.” Giji said giving him another kiss before stepping back, so Henshizo could head to UA. “Thank you, uncle and auntie.” Henshizo said to them and they both smiled and nodded.

“Take care guys, this evening was great.” Momo said happily and the parents nodded before going back to the car as Henshizo and Momo walked in the gate and towards the dorm. “That was a perfect day… well apart from the classes.” Henshizo said chuckling and Momo giggled. “I’m glad you had a good day. You deserved it.” Momo said as Henshizo looked at the photo of him and his mom hugging. The two got back to the dorm, with only a few stragglers in the common area since it was nine at this point, and went to the elevator. “Good night Henshizo.” Momo said as they got to his floor. “Night Momo.” Henshizo said giving a one-armed hug before stepping off the elevator and heading to his dorm. Henshizo set the photo on his desk beside the photo of his foster family and smiled at the both of them. He then took the watch off before pulling the box out of his suit jacket and putting the watch in the box, then putting it in a desk drawer. Henshizo changed his clothes to night clothes, went down to the showers, cleaned up, went up and laid down on his bed, the happiest he had been since the day Giji woke up from her coma. Henshizo fell asleep and dreamt about past birthdays, only now how they would’ve been if they were like his sixteenth.

Notes:

Like I mentioned in the chapter, Henshizo was being a secluded shit for his fifteenth. I also really debated on having somewhat of a confrontation occur but decided to make it a fully good birthday. Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated

Chapter 59: Penultimate Practice

Summary:

Henshizo and the rest of 1-A have one last day to get everything ready for the school festival. However, Henshizo gets thrown a curveball.

The days to the school festival ticked down until it was the day before the festival and 1-A was growing both excited and anxious. Henshizo was having a bowl of Gang Orca’s brand of cereal, Beluga Bites, as he read the morning news on his phone. “Morning Sesshada.” Ojiro said walking up smiling as Henshizo nodded in greeting as he lifted his new mug and took a sip of coffee from it. “Morning Ojiro.” Henshizo said as Ojiro got some rice into a bowl. “Anything in the news of importance?” Ojiro asked curiously and Henshizo shook his head. “Just general stuff, crime being up four percent compared to this time last year.” Henshizo said just very mildly annoyed. “Only four percent? That’s hardly much to make news headlines about.” Ojiro said as he grabbed two bananas and sat across from Henshizo. “It’s only because All Might is gone, if he were still active, they wouldn’t report this, or at least not phrase things how they are.” Henshizo said scrolling through more news. “How’s the dance coming along?” Henshizo asked Ojiro who smiled. “Great, we basically have it all down and read to go for the festival. You guys have long been ready, I know that.” Ojiro said lightly smirking and Henshizo chuckled. “What can I say? I have good timing and like fire.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“It’s not only that, he’s actually very imaginative.” Yanagi said walking over with a bowl of yoghurt and strawberries mixed in. “Hardly, you guys come up with stuff, I just try and make it a reality.” Henshizo said trying to be dismissive about it, but his cheeks got a tinge of pink. “You’re still very creative with the flames.” Yanagi said taking a bite of her breakfast.

“It was crazy seeing it the first trial run.” Ojiro said nodding in agreement. “Hey, I don’t pay attention in Snipe’s science in heroics workshop for nothing.” Henshizo said smiling a bit. “More power to you.” Onto said chuckling awkwardly as Henshizo finished his breakfast and cleaned the bowl before putting it back. He waited for Yanagi and Ojiro to finish their breakfasts; and after they did, the three of them walked to home room. They weren’t surprised that they were beaten to the room by Momo, Iida, Midoriya, and Bakugo, as Momo came walking up to them, with a puzzled look on her face.

“Henshizo did you read the news?” Momo asked and Henshizo nodded. “What’s got you confused?” He asked curiously and Momo showed a news article from the business section of JP Daily. “Oh, I don’t read the business section.” Henshizo mumbled and he began reading it. “Rumors are circulating that Yoyao holdings will be purchasing Jinso Iryo, the largest medical support company and seventh largest support company in the country.” Henshizo mumbled to himself before looking at Momo. “Isn’t that your parents’ holding company.” He muttered and Momo nodded. “Why are they trying to buy a support company?” Henshizo wondered tilting his head. “I’m not sure. Maybe your mom’s medical treatments inspired them to make medical equipment better.” Momo said unsure. “Well, I guess I hope it works out.” Henshizo said shrugging, before walking to his seat with Momo behind him.

Midoriya turned around to Henshizo with his math notebook in his hands. “Hey Sesshada, did I do these variances right?” Midoriya asked and Henshizo looked at them. “Yeah, I can tell it took a bit but you got it.” Henshizo said and Midoriya smiled. “Thanks.” He said turning back around as the rest of the class began filing in. Everyone got into their seats and the bell rang, Aizawa walking in slowly and he got to the podium.

“This morning will be one long heroics exercise, so get your costumes on and head to field alpha.” Aizawa said, opening up the costume case wall. The class excitedly grabbing their cases and going to the locker rooms. “I love these long classes, they’re always something special.” Kirishima said as he put a boot on.

“My brain is thankful, one more of Cementoss’s analysis I would’ve permanently fried myself.” Kaminari said causing some of the others to laugh. Henshizo got his jacket on and straightened his tie. “Are you going to be adjusting for winter?” Ojiro asked Henshizo as he walked up.

“At most I’ll get an overcoat, but it wouldn’t do me much good practically. Could go and have thicker materials.” Henshizo said tilting his head thinking as he closed his locker. “I’ll be getting an extra layer and longer pants for winter.” Ojiro said looking down as the two walked out of the locker room to head to the field. “Smart, cold legs can be a hindrance.” Henshizo said as he played with the pocket watch. “Oh yeah, at our latest dance run through, Ashido was talking to Tsu and Uraraka about 1-A doing a Christmas party next month. Obviously not something for sure but I think it would be fun.” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded. “So long as mistletoe isn’t involved.” Henshizo mumbled and Ojiro laughed as they entered the field, waiting for the rest of their classmates. Once everyone got there, Aizawa and All Might came up to them.

“Today is going to be an assessment of your ability to assess and protect. You will all be on bodyguard duty, protecting All Might as he gives a speech.” Aizawa said and All Might chuckled. “Pretend I’m some ordinary politician or something. Not a former hero, so don’t count on me to get out of the way.” He said and they nodded. “There are multiple types of threats that could attack at any time, but you will only have to deal with one of them. As in the real world, once there’s one attempt, the person you are protecting will be taken to safety.” Aizawa said to them all. “But also remember in real life sometimes you will have to deal with a coordinated attack that has multiple fronts.” All Might said seriously.

“So we’re playing the role of the security police? They already exist for this purpose.” Bakugo said annoyed. “Protection details is actually a very common thing for heroes to do. Heroes serve as a deterrent for many wannabe assassins and have also prevented many.” All Might said to Bakugo.

“It also wouldn’t always be a politician, heroes serve as escorts for transporting villains to prevent escape attempts, protect witnesses in important trials, and more.” Aizawa said, although Henshizo thought brining up prisoner escort was not the best since the sand hero Snatch had died doing that while escorting Chisaki. “Ashido, you’ll start, follow All Might to the staging area. The rest of you will follow me.” Aizawa said, with Ashido going with the retired pro, as the rest of the class followed Aizawa into a building.

“Will you be watching our concert at the festival sir?” Kirishima asked hopefully. “I have to be there as your homeroom teacher, but I am not going out of support.” Aizawa said causing half the class to look either disheartened or upset at his lack of support. Henshizo used this time before his turn to calm himself and tap into his alertness that had been beaten into him since he was able to walk. The class waited mostly in silence, since they had no idea what was happening and they knew Aizawa would make things harder for them, if they annoyed him. After a few more minutes a light above the door went green. “Iida, you’re up, head out and make a left, All Might is waiting at the corner of the street.” Aizawa said, causing Iida to walk to the door and leave.

‘Interesting, could just be so that All Might guides us to where we need to be, but could also be part of the test.’ Henshizo thought to himself and went back to swinging his pocket watch around bored. Henshizo then had to wait for Todoroki, Shoji, Sero, and Tsu to go before the light turned on again. “Sesshada.” Aizawa said, Henshizo nodding and walked out the door, already on alert and doing quick glances around and up. All Might was waiting for Henshizo at the end of the street. “Thank you, hero, for assisting me today.” All Might said smiling at Henshizo who glanced around again.

“Of course sir, happy to help keep things safe.” Henshizo said looking back at All Might who laughed and turned his back to Henshizo and began walking down the street. ‘Definitely has the mindset of a politician or CEO down.’ Henshizo thought as they walked along the street, Henshizo getting beside All Might. “Lovely day to meet the adoring public.” All Might said as they walked through some cutouts, Henshizo quickly scanning each of them. “Indeed.” Henshizo said as All Might stopped to pose for a photo from a fake journalist. Henshizo kept looking around and had made rocks in the palms of his hands, to be at the ready. All Might started walking again, and up ahead Henshizo saw the stage with more cutouts and a podium. All Might continued to act like a politician and Henshizo kept an eye out for anything suspicious, which was hard since it was only cardboard standees they were using. As they got closer to the stage, Henshizo looked at the stage and under the stairs he noticed a red wire under where the podium was situated. “Hold up sir.” Henshizo said putting a hand on All Might’s shoulder and Henshizo heard a beep, causing him to make All Might’s suit into a bomb disposal suit, as well as changing his costume into one, and took All Might to the ground. At the stage the podium blew up in a haze of pink smoke with a small explosion. All Might patted Henshizo on the back. “Great work young Sesshada. Um, mind changing me back into my suit.” All Might said and Henshizo gave one last look around before doing it. All Might got up, dusting himself off as Henshizo watched the podium change itself to be as it was. “I was watching you; you were super alert and were able to quickly assess the cutouts, granted that made it both easy and difficult for you.” All Might said and Henshizo nodded. “It was hard not being able to read faces or feel emotions.” Henshizo said and All might chuckled. “Right, I’m aware of your… shall we say bloodlust detecting ability. Which would help in a scenario like this in reality.” All Might said and Henshizo nodded again. “Also, I’d give bonus points for going along with my character and the scenario.” All Might said smiling more. “If you were going for political, you need more arrogance.” Henshizo said shrugging a bit and All Might laughed. “I don’t have much arrogance to tap into to fake. You know young Sesshada, it has been great to see your growth since you began at UA.” All Might said and Henshizo gave a small smirk. “What growth has that been?” He asked as All Might began walking him to another building. “You’ve grown personally, you’re sociable, smile, laugh, make others laugh. When the school year started, I could tell you were untrusting and kept people out.” All Might said and Henshizo nodded. “I was still lost in my head and past. But it only took a few encounters with monstrosities, pure evil, and finding my mom to get me out of it.” Henshizo said shrugging as All Might awkwardly smiled. “I realize that you use that type of humor to undersell things, but it is great to see you out of the past.” All Might said and they stopped outside a building: “I’m out of the bad part of my past.” Henshizo said firmly and All Might smiled. “Good, now just wait in here for the rest of the class.” All Might said and Henshizo nodded, walking in.

“Ah, Sesshada, what trap did you have to deal with?” Iida asked walking up alongside Tsu. “There was a bomb under the podium.” Henshizo said and Iida nodded. “We thought there was an explosion.” He said and Henshizo chuckled. “I think it was like the mines from the sports festival. All flash no real danger.” Henshizo said and Iida nodded. “I had to deal with a standee lunging at us with a knife.” Iida said.

“I had a car that drove through the crowd.” Tsu said and Henshizo was surprised at that one. “That must have been difficult.” Henshizo said and Tsu nodded. “I saved All Might, but I don’t know I did score wise.” Tsu said a bit anxious. “I wonder what the others will have to deal with.” Henshizo said as he went and took a seat. Todoroki came walking up and sat across from him.

“Was Gang Orca brutal during your internship?” Todoroki asked and Henshizo thought back to what actual training he had done. “Most would say he was; put me through brutal workouts, had me spar against his sidekicks and himself, while also taking me out on patrol. Let me guess, he’s been making your provisional license lessons difficult.” Henshizo said and Todoroki nodded. “I suppose he’s been difficult to try and ensure only the students who truly want to get the license get them.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded. “He takes his job of being a mentor seriously, so I’m not surprised, if it won’t get you in trouble, at your next lesson tell him I say hello.” Henshizo said, Todoroki nodding to say he would. Henshizo gave a small smile of appreciation and then looked at his pocket watch. “How much longer in theory before you and Bakugo get your licenses?” He asked Todoroki curiously. “Just over a month or so.” Todoroki said and Henshizo nodded before going back to waiting for the rest of the class. Some of his classmates came in with no real indication something had gone wrong, like Tokoyami and Midoriya; while others, like Kaminari and Aoyama came walking in, the former covered in pink powder while Aoyama was covered in red paint. Bakugo was the last person in, followed by Aizawa and All Might, All Might’s suit heavily disheveled.

“Some of you were excellent, others need to remember being nice is fine, but protecting your person of interest is the most important thing.” All Might said politely as Aizawa glared at a couple of the class that bore the marks of failure. “Now go clean up or use the rest of the morning for some training.” Aizawa said sternly. Ojiro and Yanagi came walking up to Henshizo as the class began breaking apart, some to clean, while others went to train.

“What should we do?” Ojiro asked as Yanagi looked to Henshizo, deferring to him. “I say we use the city setting to practice chasing after a fleeing villain.” Henshizo said and Ojiro smiled at the idea.

“Focusing on our agility, conditioning, as well as our own evasion abilities. A very comprehensive exercise.” Yanagi said approvingly and Henshizo smiled happily that she liked it. “I figure we each go twice, giving the chance to both catch and evade the other two. Since we have different methods at our disposal, gives us a good range of stuff we’d see.” Henshizo said they both nodded. The trio walked out of the room and to a corner in the street. “I say the runner goes down two streets and then we begin. More realistic since almost no villains are stupid enough to try something in front of heroes.” Henshizo said and the two nodded.

“Ok, I’ll be the villain first, I’ll see how long I can last with you chasing me.” Ojiro said chuckling as he clapped Henshizo on the arm playfully before lightly jogging down the street. Henshizo waited until Ojiro got to the agreed upon distance and began running. Henshizo chased after him, turning his shoes into the jet boots and began quickly closing the gap. Ojiro tried using his tail to help parkour himself away from Henshizo, Henshizo was just as adept at parkour, bouncing off the walls to close the gap; then after three minutes of pursuit Henshizo tackled Ojiro on the roof of one of the fake buildings. “You are terrifying to see behind.” Ojiro said laughing and Henshizo smiled while helping him up. “Now the hard part, getting down.” Henshizo said walking towards the edge of the building, he made the jet pack and began flying off. “What about me?” Ojiro asked and Henshizo shrugged before he flew over and picked Ojiro up under his arms. “This is embarrassing, but cool.” Ojiro mumbled as Henshizo gently set him down and then set himself down before the pair walked all way back to where Yanagi was standing, in her natural standing pose.

“Your quirk’s utility is incredible.” Yanagi said to Henshizo causing him to get a tinge of red in his face. “Thanks, I’ll go play the villain. Easy for me.” Henshizo said chuckling while rubbing his neck. “Deprecating humor, be it of yourself or others, is your main form of humor, isn’t it?” Yanagi asked and Henshizo gave a fake gasp. “I do no such thing as self-deprecation, anyway time for you to chase me.” Henshizo said to her, and she nodded. Henshizo then began to jog down the street and got to the start point for them. He then began running away, looking back Henshizo saw Yanagi using her quirk to glide after him and she was beginning to close the distance rapidly. As he crossed the road there came an alley way to the right and in his hands, he made a smoke bomb that he threw onto the ground, engulfing him in smoke. Instead of running down the alley, he continued forward, throwing a rock down the alley to confuse her. Henshizo ran more and then went down the following alley, continuing to try and get away. After he turned the corner out of the alley, he felt himself begin to float. “Well done.” Henshizo said turning to see Yanagi, clearly smiling under her mask. “You are your own enemy here, as it was you who taught me, I can manipulate my clothing for agility.” Yanagi said and Henshizo chuckled. “My kindness has cursed me.” He said as Yanagi set him down. “The smoke bomb was a nice touch, and I believe I was only able to deal with it because I know you, in a real scenario it would be harder to predict an actual villain.” Yanagi said as they began to walk back. “Yeah, that’s a disadvantage of going up against people you’re familiar with so much. It’s easy to predict what they will do, and you can also develop some weird habits which can hurt long term.” Henshizo said as they got back to Ojiro.

“I’m not sure I like my odds of trying to catch Yanagi.” Ojiro said chuckling while rubbing his neck. “I have faith you can give me a good pursuit.” Yanagi said simply to him; before, in Henshizo’s opinion, elegantly walking down the street to the starting point. Henshizo watched as she began to run away, with Ojiro giving chase, and soon the two of them were gone from his vision. Henshizo leaned against the building and waited, seeing hie much time passed with his pocket watch. Eventually Ojiro came back with his hanging and tail drooping. “Note to self, call for backup if a villain can fly.” Ojiro said defeated and Henshizo nodded.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, all quirks have bad matchups. Won’t have to deal with too too many of those.” Henshizo said reassuringly as Yanagi came floating back to them. “Yes, I will have to worry if I had to chase someone with a speed boosting quirk, as I can’t control myself to go too fast or else risk not being able to react to anything else.” Yanagi said, then the three of them began walking out of the fake city and to the locker rooms. They split up briefly but reconvened to head to the cafeteria for lunch. Once they got their food they sat together and began eating. As they ate, Momo came up to them with her phone in her hand.

“Henshizo, have you checked your phone?” Momo asked and Henshizo shook his head, pulling it out of his pocket and saw he had a text a message from his mom. ‘I have exciting news, call me when you can.’ The message said, causing Henshizo to look at Momo confused.

“Exciting news?” He said to her, Momo nodding in response. “Let me finish my noodles.” Henshizo said, setting his phone on the table to do just that. Momo nodded and walked back to her seat. “Family news?” Yanagi asked as Henshizo swallowed his noodles. “Not sure. Seems both our parents said exciting news to us, but not exactly what. I doubt they’re asking us to call them to celebrate a business purchase.” Henshizo said a bit confused but shrugged, putting more noodles in his mouth. Once he finished, he excused himself from Ojiro and Yanagi, walking over to Momo. “I suppose we should go someplace quiet.” He said to her as she stood up.

“Agreed. Shouldn’t be too hard.” Momo said and the cousins left the cafeteria and walked briefly down the hall into an empty classroom. “I’ll call.” Henshizo said as he had his phone in his hand, beginning to call his mom. After a couple of rings Giji picked up.

“Hey Henshizo! How’re you? Care to guess the exciting news?” Giji asked quickly and excitedly. “Hey mom, I’m with Momo, and we have an idea but not sure.” Henshizo said as Momo lightly giggled at Giji’s energy. “Ah perfect, I’m with Okane and Buttai.” Giji said and they heard her put it on speaker. “Would the exciting news be that you guys bought a support company?” Henshizo asked and the cousins heard the adults laugh lightly.

“It’s related to that, yes Yoyao holdings now owns Jinso Iryo and you are speaking to three board members of Jinso Iryo.” Okane said, causing Henshizo and Momo to nod slightly. “You never call a business purchase exciting though father, what makes this one exciting?” Momo asked curiously.

“Well, since we’re on the board of Jinso, it means that we can come to the school festival and see you all perform!” Buttai said excited, causing Henshizo’s and Momo’s jaws to fall open. “And I know you aren’t in in the concert, but I’ll be watching the effects and enjoy them, knowing you’re behind them Henshizo.” Giji said happily.

“So… you guys bought the largest medical support company in the country… just so you could come and see the festival?” Henshizo asked dumbstruck. “Well, admittedly this was more of a happy coincidence. We had wanted to get a good medical support company in the holdings for a while, Jinso was looking for something big on the corporate side due to… well no company is squeaky clean, so our interests aligned.” Okane said, causing Henshizo give a slight eye roll. “Sounds like someone on the board screwed up, would’ve put the company on the line, but you guys came in at the right time.” Henshizo said and Okane chuckled. “I admire your knowledge of corporate politics, that’s one way of putting it.” Okane said and Momo smiled.

“And don’t worry, we will actually do corporate duties at the festival, scout the support and business courses, but our primary reason will be too come see the performance.” Buttai said happily and Henshizo smiled softly at the thought of being with his mom again. “I have a request.” Henshizo said suddenly, causing Momo to tilt her head. “Can one of you record the concert as a whole? I just think everyone else’s parents would like to see.” Henshizo said, causing Momo to smile, and they heard Giji sniffle.

“That sounds lovely, I will do it. I’m proud you thought of that.” Giji said, causing Henshizo to rub his neck. “Just think it’d be nice for them since they can’t come.” Henshizo muttered as Momo gave him a proud smile.

“It will be great seeing you guys, just please control yourselves.” Momo said softly. “We will, don’t worry. Love you Momo. See you two tomorrow.” Buttai said happily. “Love you too mom, and you too dad.”

“And I love you Henshizo, I’ll be waiting anxiously.” Giji said excited. “Love you too mom, see you tomorrow.” Henshizo said smiling and he hung up. “Damn, there’s fuck you money and then there’s whatever that level of money is.” Henshizo muttered, causing Momo to give him a gentle smack on the arm.

“Language, but I admit you’re not wrong. This is a little insane by them.” Momo said shaking her head slightly. “Yeah, let’s just hope that they don’t cause too much of a scene.” Henshizo said as they walked back out, starting back for the classroom. “They shouldn’t, I doubt UA would let them take advantage of their wealth too much.” Momo said tilting her head to the side, Henshizo nodding in agreement. They walked in, sat down, and waited for the afternoon classes to begin. The rest of the class filed in, they slogged through afternoon classes, before the final bell rang. As Present Mic left, Ashido walked to the podium.

“Remember that we have one last run through starting at seven in the gym. Don’t be late!” Ashido said seriously, the class giving varying responses. “Don’t tell me what to do raccoon eyes!” Bakugo shouted back, Henshizo ignoring him as Henshizo had long learned Bakugo was full of bluster. The class went back to the dorm to take care of their homework and rest up. Henshizo sat in his room to work on the homework, after which he briefly worked out before heading down to make himself dinner. As he was making himself dinner Ojiro came over, getting rice from the cabinet.

“Last run through before the concert.” Ojiro said and Henshizo nodded as he flipped the beef around in the pan. “Yeah, obviously we won’t use the full effects but we’ll be simulating it to the best of our abilities.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Yeah, we can’t exactly spend time on clean up tonight.” Ojiro said chuckling, Henshizo nodded in agreement. “I cannot stress how thankful I am that we found those robotic vacuums. Will save so much time on cleanup tomorrow.” Henshizo said and Ojiro nodded. “Yeah, lets us go and enjoy the festival.” Ojiro said excited. Henshizo nodded and then put the beef on the rice he had already prepared. Henshizo ate his dinner, joined by Ojiro after he had made his dinner, after that they hung out until it was time to change and head to the gym for the last run through. Ojiro left Henshizo to be with the dance team, Henshizo joined the effects team who were mostly there to make sure they had the timing down to be in tune with the band group.

“It’s crazy how much both the band and dance teams have improved since we first started.” Sero said to them, the other four nodding in agreement. “Between Jiro and Ashido, you have two team leaders who insanely passionate about that they’re a part of. It’s admirable.” Kirishima said, Henshizo noting he was looking solely at Ashido as he spoke. The effects teams went into their positions like they would be in the morning for the concert and as the band team performed, they would either hit buttons or move the lights like they had planned out. Henshizo had gotten them so in-sync and prepared, they could do it with their eyes closed; which Henshizo had actually done with them to make sure they could operate in darkness if something went wrong during the concert. The effects team mostly watched as the band and dance teams ran through everything, and to Henshizo it seemed they were ready.

“Alright, one last run through!” Ashido called out, but the doors to the gym slammed open and Hound Dog was in the door. “It’s nine o’clock, students should have already left the gym by nine!” Hound Dog shouted at them and all of them began scrambling out of the gym. They walked back to the dorm, some going up to their rooms to head to bed, while others stayed down in the common area as they were too excited or anxious to head to bed. Henshizo was among those who chose to be in the common area, but more because he wanted to.

“Is it weird I’m so pumped, that I can’t sleep?” Kaminari asked them and Jiro shook her head in response. “It’s best to not think of anything bad right now, so I understand. We can’t be shy or anxious now.” Jiro said as she twirled one of her earphone jacks. Henshizo tilted his head to look at Yanagi’s phone as she was reading a horror story.

“Jiro’s right, it’s easy to do things when you’re trying to do them for others.” Midoriya said from the table he was sitting at. “Oh, the rope is fried, Aoyama and I must have overused it a bit.” Midoriya said holding it up. “Yaoyorozu can make some or Sesshada, you up for it?” Kaminari asked, causing Henshizo to glance back. “No, it’s ok, I have training in the morning and I have other shopping I need to do in the morning.” Midoriya said putting the rope down.

“Don’t treat Momo like a factory.” Henshizo said seriously, causing Kaminari to gulp. “And if you’re going to go out anyway, I won’t fix it.” Henshizo said shrugging to Midoriya who nodded with a small smile. “But isn’t that risky? Are performance is at ten, and most places open at nine.” Kaminari said looking at Midoriya.

“There’s one close by that opens at eight, so getting everything won’t be too much of a hassle.” Midoriya said reassuringly. “Still cutting it close in my opinion.” Kaminari said, shaking his head slightly.

‘He also mentioned having training in the morning. I’m surprised he’s still awake then.’ Henshizo thought as he went back to reading Yanagi’s phone. Once she finished the story, she put her phone away, both realizing how close Henshizo had gotten to be able to read it and now were looking opposite directions with different shades of pink on their faces. Ojiro shaking his head softly at how they were acting. “Alright, we should go and try to get some sleep!” Ashido called out, with it being after eleven. Henshizo stood up, and with a couple others, went to the elevator to head up to their rooms. When the elevator got to his floor, Henshizo got off and went to his room and took a breath after listing on his bed. “Don’t worry Eri, I’ll help get Kai’s shadow off you.” He muttered to himself as he got under the covers and tried to get relaxed enough to be able to sleep.

Notes:

Apologies for the slight gap in chapters. Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 60: School Festival!

Summary:

It's festival time at UA, and nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

Henshizo woke up early, the sun barely visible over the horizon outside his window. He got out of bed, changed into the gym uniform, and quietly left the dorm to do his morning jog around the inside of the UA wall. Inside the main gate’s pathway Henshizo saw a bunch of tents and food stalls set up, alongside some of the other possible activities that others were putting on. ‘Gotta check out that obstacle course later.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he jogged past. He proceeded to do his three laps, by the third a few students had already come out and were getting the stalls ready and preparing food. Henshizo jogged back into the dorm and went to the kitchen to make breakfast, some already in the common room having their breakfasts. Henshizo went to the fridge, got eggs, ham, and cheese out and began making tamagoyaki for breakfast while also getting coffee going. As he was cutting the ham up his phone buzzed, so he pulled it out to read the message. ‘Morning Henshizo, we’ll be there and be ready to walk in at nine. Apparently support company representatives have their own entrance rather than the main entrance. We can talk after your concert, love you.’ Giji’s message said, causing Henshizo to smile softly. ‘Sounds good, take care. Can’t wait to see you, love you too.’ He sent back before going back to the ham and making his breakfast. As he sat, eating his breakfast and drinking his coffee, Kirishima came up to him smiling and holding a shirt out.

“Here you go Sesshada, the official class 1-A special effects team shirt.” Kirishima said excited as Henshizo took it from him and looked at it. “Thanks, I’ll clean up after I eat and put it on.” Henshizo said giving a small smile. “Heck yeah, where’d you even go?” Kirishima asked curiously. “I do a few laps alongside the wall every morning.” Henshizo said, Kirishima giving a bigger smile. “Heck yeah man, you’re always working, aren’t ya?” Kirishima asked, causing Henshizo to shrug. “I have habits, and I can’t slack if I want to be the best.” Henshizo said, Kirishima nodding in approval. Kirishima left him to finish his breakfast, and after doing so, Henshizo went to the showers, quickly rinsed off, and then put the team shirt on, joining most of the class out in the common area.

“Come on Bakugo, we’re all wearing them.” Ashido was pleading with Bakugo to put his shirt on, Bakugo denying their attempts to put it on him. Henshizo walked past this and over to where Yanagi and Ojiro were along with a few others. “The dance team outfits are something.” Henshizo said looking at Ojiro’s outfit.

“I like it, it’s nice to have something not ordinary.” Ojiro said smiling, Henshizo chuckled at his response and checked his phone and saw the time being 8:45. “Midoriya isn’t back yet?” Henshizo asked as he looked around. “Guess not.” Ojiro said as his tail drooped slightly.

“Wasn’t he just running to get rope?” Todoroki asked curiously. “Yeah; he mentioned grabbing a couple of other things, but nothing that should’ve taken him this long.” Henshizo said looking out one of the windows on the slim chance he’d see their classmate come running up. ‘Hope that dumbass hasn’t gotten caught up in something.’ Henshizo thought to himself and turned to Ashido. “Do you have Midoriya’s dance uniform?” He asked his pink classmate. Ashido nodded before walking over to a table and picking a uniform up. “Here.” Henshizo muttered and quickly touched everything.

“So smart, think you’ll be able to get him to the gym on time?” Ashido asked with just a hint of worry in her voice. “For sure, I’ll wait for him.” Henshizo said, giving a reassuring smile before turning to Yanagi and Todoroki. “I’ll be up in the rafters as soon as I can, but we got this.” Henshizo said confidentially to them, and they both gave their small nods. “A little enthusiasm wouldn’t hurt.” Henshizo mumbled, causing Ojiro and Ashido to laugh. The class waited around for a little bit until they heard the speakers outside turn on.

“Good Morning UA! Today is going to be a great and fun filled day, so lose yourself and get excited! The UA school festival has begun!” Came Present Mic’s voice from outside, covering all of UA’s grounds. “Right, you guys go ahead to the gym and get ready. I’ll wait for Midoriya at the entrance.” Henshizo said to the effects team and some of the dance team.

“Thanks Sesshada, I know we can count on you to handle that troublesome Midoriya.” Iida said with a smile, clearly joking about calling Midoriya troublesome. Henshizo nodded, everyone leaving the dorm at the same time, with Henshizo turning right as everyone else went left to the gym. Henshizo walked past the food shops, getting a closer look at them as he did. ‘I will have to get some of these with mom.’ Henshizo thought as he picked up a brochure to look at all the events classes were putting on. ‘Haunted house, the obstacle course, one of the third-year classes is doing a maid cafe, and of course the main attraction, the beauty pageant.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he waited for Midoriya. Henshizo was growing more worried and agitated as the time on his phone went from 9:15, to 9:30, and then to 9:45. “Where the hell are you Midoriya? You better not have gotten kidnapped or something.” Henshizo muttered to himself as he waited. Five minutes after that Henshizo saw Midoriya carrying a bag and running to the main gate with, what Henshizo presumed, to be an Ectoplasm clone. “What on earth took you so long?” Henshizo asked before seeing Midoriya’s cut and bruised face. “What the hell happened?!” Henshizo asked more annoyed.

“I tripped, but I’m ok.” Midoriya said as Henshizo put his hands on Midoriya and changed his clothes to the dance team uniform, sparing the gloves Midoriya had on before taking them off. “Recovery Girl has a tent for people in case they get hurt, I’m sure she’ll love seeing you.” Henshizo said, grabbing Midoriya’s wrist and quickly dragging him to it. “S-sorry Sesshada.” Midoriya said as he stumbled behind him. “And don’t lie to me, I can tell you were in a fight but I’m not interested now, we have to go.” Henshizo said, pushing the tent flap to the side. Recovery Girl turned in her chair curiously and then gave a deep sigh when she saw Midoriya’s face, Midoriya rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Sorry Recovery-” Midoriya began before he was cut off by Recovery Girl pointing her cane at him threateningly, causing Henshizo to cover his mouth to hide his smirk.

“Save it. I knew it had been too long since I had to treat you.” Recovery Girl said before kissing Midoriya’s cheek and like magic, the cuts, scrapes, bruises, and minor swelling disappeared. Henshizo then dragged Midoriya out as they made their way to the gym. “Tell me whatever happened later, I’ll hold onto your stuff apart from the rope.” Henshizo said taking the rope out of the bag.

“Right, sorry again.” Midoriya said as they went in one of the side doors of the gym to the backstage area. Henshizo turned to look at Midoriya seriously. “I don’t care what happened, just focus on making Eri smile.” Henshizo muttered, Midoriya got a serious look on his face before nodding, and then he began smiling as he joined the dance team. Henshizo took the rope and quickly rigged it to be how it needed to be, and then climbed up a side ladder to join Todoroki in the rafters.

“Close call.” Todoroki said in his monotone voice as the lights went out exactly at ten. “Tell me about it.” Henshizo muttered as the curtains drew back showing the band and dance teams. Henshizo listened to the crowd as they were chanting.

“Yaoyorozu! Yaoyorozu!” Chants could be heard, causing Henshizo to sigh but he got ready. Bakugo set off an explosion with his quirk and the band began playing while the dancers began dancing too. Henshizo and the effects team began moving the lights and lasers around, somewhat to the beat of the song. Once they got to the first part of the song the effects team cued the first colored smoke to shoot out along the walls as Aoyama shot up and lit the gym up with his lasers. Henshizo nodded along as the effects team did everything to perfection, with the lasers, lights, and pyrotechnics. Henshizo stole a glance over to Yanagi who was orchestrating all the lights and lasers using her quirk; as she moved her fingers like she was playing the piano. Henshizo smiled as he grabbed the rope after making a power glove and he began running along the rafters to make Aoyama move about the gym like he was flying, to compliment the ice crystals Kirishima was shaving off. As Henshizo continued to run around and the prelude to the final chorus began up, Henshizo was able to glance down in the darkened gym and saw the outline of Eri being held up by who he presumed was Togata. As soon as Jiro began singing the last chorus of the song, with the effects team started setting everything off, with Uraraka making some of the students float, as the dance team took positions around everyone on the ice made by Todoroki, Henshizo saw Eri raise her hands up and when a light went over her and Togata, Henshizo saw the unmistakable look of a smile spread all across Eri’s face. Henshizo’s face split into a smile too seeing it, and he even felt himself have to blink a tear away as the band finished the song, with the confetti cannons going off as the crowd all cheered. Henshizo gave a small smirk, seeing the other students who he knew had been bad mouthing the hero course were cheering their heads off. Once the curtains closed, the spectators began slowly piling out of the gym, Henshizo got to making the little automated vacuums after climbing down from the rafters. Once the gym was clear the class began cleaning up, either taking care of the ice, picking up larger bits of trash, or helping Henshizo line up the vacuum bots. After setting the vacuums they began either helping with the ice or packing up the equipment, as they were doing that, Henshizo noticed All Might talking to Midoriya, who was holding his head down. Using the excuse of going to get one of the confetti cannons to walk by, Henshizo listened in. “Forgetting your phone was not good young Midoriya, I’m glad you’re ok, but expect to see a lot of missed calls.” All Might said sternly to Midoriya.

“Sorry sir, I didn’t mean to worry everybody. I just felt I had to protect the festival.” Midoriya mumbled. “I basically know what happened thanks to Ectoplasm’s report.” All Might said before Hound Dog got in Midoriya’s face with a growl.

“You should’ve counted on us. We want to protect the school like you. And we’re fully licensed, unlike you with only your provisional. You’re lucky you weren’t too hurt, now go enjoy the festival!” Hound Dog shouted and batted Midoriya away before rounding on All Might in anger. Henshizo walked up to Midoriya giving a chuckle. “So, when you going to tell me what happened?” Henshizo muttered, giving Midoriya a start before he looked around them, picking up a block of ice.

“I had a fight with a villain, Gentle Criminal, he was going to try and get in here at UA. Even if he wouldn’t have truly succeeded, he would’ve set an alarm off.” Midoriya said quietly, causing Henshizo to sigh. “And that would’ve ended the festival.” He muttered, Midoriya nodding in response. “Well, congrats on taking down an elusive villain but you’re a dumbass.” Henshizo said quietly and Midoriya chuckled as he put the ice into a tub so Bakugo could melt it with his explosions. As Henshizo went to pick up more ice, he saw Eri walk excited up to Midoriya, and was glad to see she smiling as she began to excitedly talk to Midoriya, Togata mimicked Eri’s movements. Soon the class had gotten rid of all the ice, so they walked out of the gym, activating the automatic vacuum bots as they did, and most of the class began heading to where the beauty pageant was being held. Henshizo glanced around, and nearby he saw Giji, Buttai, and Okane seemingly looking at a brochure acting like they were lost. Henshizo walked over to Momo as she was walking with Jiro towards the pageant. “Check your three o’clock.” Henshizo whispered to her, Momo looking to her right and saw her family, a smile spread across her face.

“I’ll catch up Jiro.” Momo said to Jiro, who looked confused but nodded as the cousins walked away together. The parents saw them walking up and all smiled big. “That was amazing.” Giji said excited, as she took a camera out of her bag before putting it back in.

“While the song isn’t our normal type of music, it was enjoyable and we could tell you all put an incredible amount of effort and heart into it, which made it great to listen too.” Okane said, proudly putting a hand on Momo’s shoulder. “And the effects were timed great, you had it down to an art form.” Buttai said smiling at Henshizo.

“Thanks, it was a lot of hard work but I’m glad that everyone enjoyed it. Even those who wanted to see us fail.” Henshizo said proudly, causing slight frowns on the parents’ faces. “Why would they be rooting for your class to not do well?” Buttai asked a bit hurt as Momo looked at Henshizo with a very tiny bit of annoyance that he had worried their parents. “Others blame the hero course for the dorm system. But we set out to make everyone happy and that is what we did. I also heard chants for you Momo before we started.” Henshizo said teasingly, Momo’s face changing to a slight red out of embarrassment.

“That freaking shampoo commercial has apparently given me a cult following.” Momo muttered looking away embarrassed as the other four laughed. “Well, you gave them an excellent performance to reward their admiration.” Buttai said rubbing Monoma back as Okane checked his watch.

“To actually uphold our duties to the company and not get in trouble with UA, we have to go and check out the support course’s devices. Admittedly I’m intrigued by them, and will actually be scouting them.” Okane said, Henshizo and Momo nodding. “Have fun being professionals.” Henshizo said chuckling, before they hugged each other.

“We’ll meet back up later, enjoy the festival.” Buttai said as Giji gave Henshizo a quick kiss on the cheek. “Sounds excellent, have a good time.” Momo said, Henshizo smiling and nodding before their parents walked to the main school building to head to the support course showcase. “I’m going to meet back up with Jiro and some of the others, want to come along or are you going to do something else?” Momo asked Henshizo.

“I’m going to find Ojiro and Yanagi, we were going to walk around together.” Henshizo said, Momo smiling as she nodded, before the cousins walked away to find their respective friend groups. “Sesshada!” Came Ojiro’s voice from the side a little way over, he and Yanagi were in line at one of the food stalls. Henshizo walked over with a smile. “Hey guys, what’s this one serving?” Henshizo asked looking at the menu curiously.

“This second-year business course stand is selling a variety of dango.” Yanagi said, Henshizo nodding as he pulled his wallet out. “Before you even offer, we will be paying for our own food.” Yanagi said looking at Henshizo who paused pulling money out. “We appreciate it and fully understand why, but we just feel like we’re using you too much.” Ojiro said politely and Henshizo pulled enough out for himself before putting the rest back.

“That’s fair, I appreciate your consideration. And I never intended to takeover stuff like that.” Henshizo said as they got to the counter. “We’re aware of the lack of intent.” Yanagi said before turning so they could order, Ojiro going with mochi dango, Yanagi and Henshizo picking soba dango. They walked down the sidewalk taking in more. “After we eat, what do you guys want to do?” Henshizo asked the two, taking a bite of his dango. “Class C has a haunted labyrinth I am intrigued by.” Yanagi said as she floated her skewer.

There’s also the obstacle course.” Ojiro said excited. “I say we finish eating and then go to the labyrinth for something to do while the food settles. After that the obstacle course.” Henshizo said smiling lightly as they both nodded in agreement at their tentative schedule.

“I am curious about something, I saw you and Yaoyorozu speaking with your parents, how were they able to attend?” Yanagi asked, causing Henshizo to rub his neck. “They, well their company, bought a support company and it’s one that UA allowed access to for the sports festival. I imagine that if another company had bought the support company access may have been revoked as UA would want to investigate the new buyers to ensure no shady characters or motives, but UA probably knew they bought it so they could come here.” Henshizo said awkwardly.

“They’re that rich?” Ojiro said shocked, Henshizo nodding in response. “I was floored too, and my mom did record the performance so if you guys want, I can get copies of it.” Henshizo said to them causing both to look intrigued. “Granted I haven’t watched it so I don’t know how good it is and if you would want it, so maybe I’ll let you know how it is before I truly offer it.” Henshizo said with a chuckle, causing Ojiro to chuckle as well and Yanagi giving a very faint smile. The three finished their dango and got in line for the haunted labyrinth. “You two better not be so caught up in judging the effects to not simply enjoy it.” Ojiro said to Yanagi and Henshizo.

“I would never critique a passion project.” Yanagi said softly as the line moved along, occasionally hearing screams come from inside. “Isn’t 1-C the general studies course Shinso is in?” Henshizo asked curiously, Ojiro’s tail stiffened in response as he remembered the sports festival.

“I think so, although he wasn’t talkative outside of getting me under the spell of his quirk.” Ojiro said, Henshizo nodding in response. “Still such a spooky quirk.” Yanagi said as they got closer to the entrance.

“Then this should be a well put together labyrinth.” Henshizo said as they went in to the darkened tunnel. As they went in fog covered their feet and they felt the air get cooler. When they went around a corner, they saw blood on the walls with little thumps happening in the darkness, and a bad smell filled the air. “Yuck. Guess trying to go for rotting body.” Ojiro said covering his nose, Henshizo was glancing around and saw up ahead a square on the ceiling, that looked like a trap door opening. ‘Probably something or someone will drop out and scare us.’ Henshizo thought and as they walked up to it, the trap door opened up and the bloodied body of Shinso fell in front of them, causing Ojiro to jump back in fright, while Yanagi looked up at him admiring the effects and Henshizo nodded. Shinso dangled there, letting a sigh out as the trio walked past. “How did you two not get scared at that?” Ojiro asked mildly annoyed.

“Jump scares like that, when I am anticipating something like a jump scare, rarely affect me.” Yanagi said softly. “I saw the trap doors so I was able to prepare myself for something dropping out of it. Wasn’t sure what for what it’s worth.” Henshizo said, causing Ojiro to sigh as he was the only one to fall for the scare. They exited the haunted labyrinth, blinking in the sunlight. “That was a good labyrinth for a school festival.” Yanagi said, nodding in approval. “I’ll take your word for it.” Henshizo said smiling softly as they began walking to where the obstacle course was set up.

“Right, I can do this better than not being scared.” Ojiro said getting excited as they saw the small course and saw Ashido, Shoji, Sato, Kaminari, Sero, and Momo outside it, with Kirishima and Bakugo at the starting points inside. Ashido turned and saw the three, cracking a smile. “Hey guys, just in time, they’re going to race.” Ashido said smiling as more turned and waved at them.

“I assume quirks aren’t allowed to be used.” Henshizo said walking up, and stretching as he did. “If you can help it, they don’t want you using quirks.” Sero said nodding as Bakugo and Kirishima got in position. A small horn sounded and the two began running the course. Henshizo jumped in place, loosening up as he watched, Bakugo using his superior agility to get a head of Kirishima, climbing up the half pipe at the end and slapping the button to win the race. A small screen on top, by the button, show a time of 22.47 seconds for Bakugo.

“That’s been the fastest run of a first year I’ve seen.” One of the upperclassmen who was operating the obstacle course said. Henshizo walked over to where you enter the course, Ojiro walking with him, and got in the starting positions. “Good luck beating my time you losers!” Bakugo yelled at them as he stood where everyone else was. Henshizo got down in a sprinter’s start and waited. The horn sounded and Henshizo dashed out, expertly navigating the rise and falls of the course, bounding up the obstacles with leaps, and he climbed up the last half pipe, lunging forward and hit the button while straightening up, and looked at the time, 22.38.

“Let’s go!” Ashido said as everyone but Bakugo clapped. “You yakuza bastard! This doesn’t mean you’re better than me.” Bakugo barked up at Henshizo, who pointed at the timer to speak for itself. Kirishima sighed and grabbed Bakugo under the arms and dragged him away as Bakugo was kicking trying to get at Henshizo. Henshizo and Ojiro stepped out of the obstacle course, Momo and Reiko walking over, with Momo shaking her head lightly. “You truly do love to poke the bear, don’t you?” She asked, Henshizo shrugging.

“He makes it too easy, and he needs to lose it to be a good hero.” Henshizo said as they watched some second years do the obstacle course. “Just don’t get in trouble.” Momo said sighing as Henshizo, Reiko, and Ojiro began walking away. “Relax, I know how to stay out of trouble.” Henshizo said looking back at her grinning.

“I suspect it’s your knowledge of how to stay out of trouble that causes your cousin such angst.” Yanagi quipped, causing Ojiro to snicker and Henshizo to shrug. “Let’s enjoy the rest of the festival, we can finally relax and not think of timing or dance moves, or what button to press.” Henshizo said, smiling at them. They both nodded and they went around the festival, enjoying the attractions and items put together by other classes, in particular the Cementoss juice boxes. The three of them went back to the beauty pageant to see that Hado of the big three had been declared the winner.

“Look at Monoma.” Ojiro said, laughing as he pointed up to the side of the stage where Monoma had fallen to his knees beside Kendo who was shaking her head. “Guess he tried to have Kendo win to get something on our class.” Henshizo said laughing at how distraught Monoma was.

“Hey guys, what’s so funny?” Midoriya said, walking up with Uraraka, Tsu, Togata, and Eri who was being carried by Togata. “Monoma is more upset Kendo didn’t win than Kendo.” Ojiro said pointing, and the five looked.

“The bad part of UA.” Eri said seeing Monoma, causing Henshizo to laugh harder. “Sesshada.” Midoriya said, awkwardly sighing, as he was encouraging that. Henshizo straightened up and gently smiled at Eri, who leaned into Togata to hide a bit. “Hey, you’re Eri right?” Henshizo said softly before showing her a rock and the rock behind her back. “What’s your favorite animal?” Henshizo asked her, Eri tilting her head a bit. “Penguin.” Eri said super quietly, Henshizo smiled softly and after a moment he brought his hands back forward and now held a blue stuffed penguin out to her.

“That’s a fun magic trick.” Togata said as Eri tentatively took with one of her hands. “I hope you liked our performance.” Henshizo said softly, showing a side to him no one had seen before, causing Ojiro, Momo, and Yanagi to smile softly seeing him like this. Eri nodded and held the penguin closer to her. “Enjoy the rest of the festival.” Henshizo said happily to Eri.

“Thanks Sesshada.” Togata said smiling at him. Henshizo nodded, the Eri babysitting group walking away, Henshizo turning to see the smiles on Momo, Ojiro, and Yanagi’s faces. “What?” He asked confused.

“Just you with Eri, it was cute.” Momo said, causing Henshizo to roll his eyes. “I was just being nice.” He muttered as the four of them walked together. “This has been a great festival.” Momo said as things were beginning to wrap up.

“Yeah, it was good to be able to enjoy the day with everyone. Just seeing smiles on everyone’s faces is a good change.” Ojiro said as they walked towards the main building. “May I inquire as to why we are walking in this direction?” Yanagi asked curiously.

“Henshizo and I were going to meet up with our parents, they’ve been busy examining the support course’s showcase.” Momo said, the two nodding. “If you guys want to go enjoy the last bits of the festival that’s fine.” Henshizo said smiling gently.

“I have no energy to do anything more.” Yanagi said in her neutral tone. “Yeah, I’m beat, besides nothing more I’d like to do really.” Ojiro said shrugging as he rested his tail on his shoulder.

“Fair enough. And it’s not a problem our parents are here?” Momo asked, both shaking their heads. “I think it’s funny, and Sesshada mentioned that his mom filmed our concert so I’ll just want to mention my parents could want a copy.” Ojiro said smiling as they walked along.

“I haven’t seen it yet, so I hope it is actually watchable for other parents.” Henshizo said shrugging. As they walked closer to the school one of the side doors opened and a bunch of business people came walking out, most of them walking towards the main gate to exit, but some were grouped around Okane, Buttai, and Giji. “Gotta love having the big money, suppose they can’t pass up trying to get our parents to invest.” Henshizo said to Momo, who sighed, nodding in agreement. “The business world legitimately terrifies me. Numbers and money matter the most.” Yanagi said quietly. “And that’s why I was never interested in the business course here.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“I’d like to say my parents are different, but I’m sure to others they are just like any other business people.” Momo admitted quietly. “They’re at least not assholes to people. When we’ve been with them, I never see them treat a nurse, waiter, or anyone like that badly.” Henshizo said, which made Momo smile softly. After a bit the rest of the business people left, letting Momo and Henshizo walk up to the three parents.

“You guys enjoy the festival?” Buttai asked as she hugged Momo. “It was a fun time.” Momo said happily as Giji hugged Henshizo. “And how was the not so fun business times?” Momo asked, Okane chuckling.

“It was fascinating, obviously a good bit of the support equipment was designated for hero work, but there was a surprising amount for medical equipment too, which made it worthwhile for us.” Okane said approvingly. “That’s good, anything intriguing?” Henshizo asked curiously as Ojiro and Yanagi held back. “Lots, but for the company there were some compact splints that you push a button and it expands to be able to be used for any limb.” Okane said nodding.

“I liked the in-field blood type testing kit, could help save time and preserves blood supplies.” Giji said smiling and then looked over to Ojiro and Yanagi. “Some of your friends?” Giji asked smiling softly. “Yes, mom this is Ojiro and Yanagi.” Henshizo said, introducing them as they lightly bowed. “I know you from the sports festival.” Giji said smiling at Yanagi who nodded before Giji turned to Ojiro. “And you’re one of the boys who withdrew before the finals which let them get into the finals.” Giji said, causing Ojiro to awkwardly smile. “While I still sometimes wish I could’ve showed off in the finals, I’m they both made the most of it.” Ojiro said, and then he looked astonished as Giji bowed more deeply to him. “You helped my son greatly, so thank you.” She said as Ojiro went a bit red faced. “It wasn’t anything like that. I’m- that’s not necessary ma’am.” Ojiro said in a mildly panicked voice.

“Just accept her thanks.” Henshizo said chuckling at his friend’s reaction. Giji straightened up, chuckling as well. “It’s just great to meet some of my son’s friends.” Giji said happily as she one armed hug Henshizo, who rolled his eyes.

“Unfortunately we do have to leave the campus, so mind walking us to the exit?” Buttai said softly to Momo and Henshizo, who both nodded. “See ya guys in a bit.” Henshizo to Ojiro and Yanagi, Ojiro waving a hand as he and Yanagi walked towards their dorm. The family walked to the main gate before they began hugging each other. “Today was amazing, and it was worth the paperwork.” Buttai said, a giggle at the end.

“I’m so glad you guys got to enjoy it.” Momo said smiling. “Hey mom, before you guys go, can you show us the video?” Henshizo asked curiously, Giji nodding and she pulled the camera out of her bag, and selected the video. Henshizo and Momo watched the video, and Giji had done a great job of capturing at least everybody she could at least once and then had also done a good job of capturing the whole show. “Thanks mom, I’ll let people know.” Henshizo said happily, lightly kissing her cheek.

“Happy to help.” Giji said happily as she put the camera back in her bag, before kissing Henshizo’s cheek as well. “I love you, and I’m so proud of you.” She said to him as Momo said her goodbyes to her parents. “Thanks mom.” Henshizo said happily and gave one last hug before the three left out the main gate. “Let’s head back to the dorm. I am going to sleep so well.” Henshizo said stretching to Momo, who nodded in agreement, and they began walking to the dorm. As they did, they passed by Togata, Midoriya, Eri, and Aizawa walking to the exit, Henshizo noticing a candy apple in Midoriya’s back pocket. The two of them went back to the dorm where everyone besides Midoriya was in the common area.

“What an amazing festival!” Hagakure said happily as she raised a glass of juice. “We killed it on the stage!” Kaminari said grinning as he turned the tv on.

“Elusive villain, Danjuro Tobita, who dubbed himself Gentle Criminal was arrested today. Although police declined to say how he was captured, Tobita’s years long evasion of the police has come to an end.” The reporter said, Henshizo giving a gentle smirk as he watched it before walking to the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of cereal as his dinner, since he was full from festival food. Henshizo ate the cereal as Yanagi came walking over to him. “Your mother is very kind.” Yanagi said softly, Henshizo smiling.

“Thanks, that reminds.” Henshizo said before turning his head to the common area. “If anyone wants a video of our performance, let me know and I can get one to ya!” He shouted over and cheers came from most people. “Just text me!” Henshizo said as he didn’t want to deal with the requests then and there. “Wise decision.” Yanagi muttered to him. “I like calm after chaos.” Henshizo said smiling softly as he went back to his cereal. Yanagi nodded and went to make her own light-meal as Henshizo finished up, cleaned up, and went up to his room after wishing people a good night. After Henshizo showered and collapsed onto his bed his phone pinged with a text message.

‘Had an amazing day sweetie, you were great. I’ll send Sanae a copy of the video don’t worry. Also, that Yanagi girl is nice.’ Giji texted him and Henshizo felt himself get hot at the teasing. ‘Thanks mom, glad you enjoyed it, take care. Love you’ Henshizo sent back. ‘Love you too.’ Giji sent back, so Henshizo plugged his phone in, and settled in for sleep, able to just relax while thinking back on the day.

Notes:

Sorry for the slight gap but less than a month is still good. Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 61: Returns and Rankings

Summary:

1-A gets news of some visitors and then look forward to the unveiling of the hero billboard chart rankings.

After the school festival ended the days seemed to melt away until it was the close to the end of November. Class 1-A was finishing Friday’s day of classes with the not so fun side of heroics, learning the laws. “If a villain breaks into a woman’s apartment and makes her unable to leave her apartment, blocks escape routes, and restrains her to her bed, has he committed kidnapping?” All Might asked the class as some were unfocused. Kirishima raised his hand to answer. “Kidnapping?” Kirishima asked tentatively. “Incorrect.” All Might said, making Kirishima groan a bit. Yanagi raised her hand, with All Might pointing to her for a response.

“False imprisonment with all the spooky actions taken as you described.” Yanagi said just loud enough to be heard. “Correct young Yanagi. The difference between kidnapping and false imprisonment can be viewed as this; kidnapping you take someone from somewhere, whereas for false imprisonment you keep someone somewhere.” All Might said as he wrote this on the chalkboard. “And it doesn’t make a difference if you take someone five meters or five towns over, that would be still be viewed as kidnapping. But you can keep someone in your house or their house for five days and it would be false imprisonment.” All Might explained as most people wrote things done, Henshizo not one of them as his knowledge of laws was high. The bell rang to signal the end of the day and the class began packing up. “Two more things!” All Might called out, stopping the packing. “Not class related, first; this evening you all will have guests stopping by the dorms, so make sure you’re ready and the dorm is too.” All Might said, the class nodded, intrigued by who the guests would be. “Second, Kirishima, Asui, Uraraka, and Midoriya, your presence has been requested at the faculty’s dorm.” All Might said as he put his papers away, the class resuming packing.

“The faculty’s dorm?” Midoriya asked quietly, confused. “It’s not the principal’s office or even the teachers’ lounge so I doubt it’s anything bad. Also, I can’t help but notice it’s the raid team.” Henshizo muttered back to him as he put his notebook away. Midoriya nodded as he put his bag on his shoulder. The class left the building, the raid team heading in the direction of the faculty’s dorm while the rest went back to their own dorm.

“I wonder who the guests will be.” Hagakure said excited. “It is exciting yes, but we must make sure our dormitory is impeccable. We need to clean up and make sure it’s presentable and up to the standards of UA.” Iida said determined, causing Henshizo to look around and the common room was already well maintained. He gave a small eye roll and then went to the elevator to go up to his room. Henshizo dropped his bag off before getting out of his uniform and put on his gym uniform, he then proceeded to head out while some of the class was straightening things up. “Aren’t you going to help Sesshada?” Iida asked as he was trying to get the napkin stack perfectly in a square.

“I have faith in you, but too many spoons in the stew could happen.” Henshizo said shrugging as he walked out and began jogging around the wall of the school to warm up. Henshizo completed six laps before strolling towards the gym, passing by the teacher’s dorm where he saw Aizawa talking to Midoriya, Kirishima, Tsu, and Uraraka with Amajiki and Togata by Aizawa.
“Just stop by and spend time with Eri when you can ok guys?” Togata said loud enough for Henshizo to hear as he walked past to the gym. ‘Stopping by to see Eri? Did UA take her in? Good.’ Henshizo thought, glancing back at them before heading to the gym. Henshizo briefly stretched before going to a rack to lift. Placing plates on either side, Henshizo began squatting as he glanced around the rest of the gym. He saw some of class b also in the gym, the class representative Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Shishida.

“Oh hey, Sesshada.” Tetsutetsu said looking over and seeing him, lightly jogging over grinning at Henshizo. “Tetsutetsu, how are you?” Henshizo asked as he continued to squat. “Doing great, want to jump in with us?” Tetsutetsu asked, as Kendo and Shishida walked over. “I’ll do my own thing for lifting, but thank you for the invitation. Besides, if one of your classmates shows up, I’d rather not have the headache while working out.” Henshizo said with a slight eye roll at the end.

“You mean Monoma? If he tries anything I’m chopping him even harder.” Kendo said with a hint of annoyance. “Why the annoyance? Did he do something out of line by his standards?” Henshizo asked, racking the bar after his first set. “He put me in the beauty pageant and is trying to find enough people to say our play was better than your class’s concert. He’s gotten really obsessed with trying to upstage you guys.” Kendo said sighing.

“Sir Monoma has indeed gotten a tad bit more passionate about the rivalry lately.” Shishida said as Henshizo got the bar on his shoulders for his second set. “Well just as a reminder, I owe him some comeuppance, so he better not try anything around me.” Henshizo said nonchalantly as he began squatting again.

“From what I’ve heard there’s a chance it could happen soon.” Kendo said quietly, Henshizo cocking an eyebrow as he squatted. “Yeah, Vlad King let slip that we’ll be doing a joint training exercise with you guys sometime in the beginning of December.” Tetsutetsu said grinning, pounding his fists together.

“Sir Vlad only said it would be something with you guys, not what it was. So, it could be something we work together in or be in a combative scenario.” Shishida said, Henshizo nodding as he squatted, Kendo doing the math in her head of what he was squatting. “Two-hundred twenty-five kilograms?” She asked, mildly impressed, Tetsutetsu counting the plates too and grinned

“Yeah, going just over halfway to start out.” Henshizo said, squatting with no issues. Tetsutetsu now surprised too. “What’s your max?” He asked impressed, Henshizo slightly frowning as he thought. “About three hundred twenty, just my own muscles.” Henshizo said after thinking. “Th-three hundred twenty?! I can do two hundred seventy-five, that means… you’d be second to Shishida in our class.” Tetsutetsu said impressed.

“Sirs Bondo and Koda are up in that range, but I do believe under three hundred twenty.” Shishida said impressed as Henshizo racked the bar after his second set. “If we do face off against you guys, just know nothing will be personal, except if it’s Monoma. But he has some humbling owed.” Henshizo said, Kendo sighing as Tetsutetsu grinned.

“I hope I can face you, hope you guys don’t underestimate us. You guys get all the talk, but we don’t do nothing.” Tetsutetsu said, as Henshizo added a plate to either side. “I don’t underestimate anyone, Goliath got beat by David, and I don’t want to be Goliath.” Henshizo said looking over at him before getting back to squatting.

“Well, just know we won’t hold back.” Kendo said with a smile as Henshizo hardly acknowledged it. The three of them left him to his workout after that, Henshizo pushing himself until his gym uniform was darkened almost everywhere from his sweat. After he was done, Henshizo walked back to the dorm, first stopping in the shower to clean up, before heading back into his room to change into loungewear, before heading down to the common area. “There you are Sesshada, we could’ve used your help. It wasn’t very team like of you to not help us prepare.” Iida said as Henshizo walked into the kitchen. “If it was dire I would have, but it was not. Unless the visitor is the head of the public safety commission, I think we had it handled before.” Henshizo said calmly as he got some beef out of the fridge. Iida sighed, leaving Henshizo to it as he began making his dinner. After he finished making his minced beef and rice he sat down to eat while looking around at how all the class was around the common area, waiting for the guests. Henshizo quietly ate his dinner, before walking over to a couch and sitting beside Ojiro.

“So who do you think our guests will be?” Ojiro asked him curiously, causing Henshizo to tilt his head thinking. “No idea, would have to be people vetted by UA.” Henshizo said shrugging as he relaxed into the couch. “Fair enough.” Ojiro said, before getting up. “Just getting something to drink.” Ojiro said, Henshizo nodding as he took his phone out. As Ojiro walked to the kitchen, he passed Tokoyami, who then sneezed as he joined the class in the sitting area.

“You’re not getting sick right?” Uraraka asked Tokoyami who shook his head. “Just my body taking care of itself, no need to worry.” Tokoyami said calmly.

“Maybe someone was talking about you. Just like how Yaoyorozu had some people shouting her name during the festival.” Kaminari said jokingly. “Don’t tease me for such things, I’m just glad to have some admirers… even if it’s from that shampoo commercial.” Momo said both excited and a bit embarrassed.

“Just so long as those fans keep their distance and don’t cross lines.” Henshizo said, crossing his arms, clearly still unamused about the potential threats to his family’s safety. “It could be a fan, I bet both of you have fans from your time with Hawks.” Uraraka said to Henshizo and Tokoyami.

“Doubtful, things were either going too fast or happened out of the spotlight.” Tokoyami, Henshizo nodding in agreement as Ojiro came back over with a cup of tea. As he sat back down, a knock came from the front door. “Our guests are here, let’s give them a UA welcome!” Iida said as the doors opened, and the guests walked in.

“Rock on with these sparkling gazes! We’ve come to lend a paw and help! Coming out of nowhere. Stingingly cute and catlike! Wild wild pussycats!” The wild wild pussy cats all said as they did their entrance, although to Henshizo it didn’t feel quite the same with them not in their hero costumes. “It’s great to see you guys again. What brings you by?” Iida said, as Hagakure, Ashido, and Uraraka ran up to Tiger as he handed them a package of paw pad buns.

“Sorry for not being able to do anything back then.” Tiger said to Bakugo. “It’s the past.” Bakugo said, annoyed, although Henshizo noticed a hint of pain Bakugo’s eyes. ‘Still blaming yourself?’ Henshizo thought to himself as Midoriya walked over to Kota.

“I’m so glad to see you Kota, and that you’re ok. I will always treasure it.” Midoriya said, shaking the little boy’s hand excitedly. Kota mumbled something Henshizo couldn’t quite hear but Mandalay smiled softly. “Look at his shoes Midoriya, seem familiar?” Mandalay asked pointing at the line of their shoes by the door, Henshizo looked over and saw a small pair of red shoes that looked similar to the shoes Midoriya typically wore.

“Ahhh, it-it’s not what you think!” Kota said frantically waving his arms up and down. “I think they’re cool.” Midoriya said smiling, instantly calming the young boy down, Henshizo smirking very softly at how Midoriya had already gotten a fan.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” Shoji asked them politely, gesturing to the couch. “Sorry we can’t stay too long; we also have to see class b.” Mandalay said politely declining.

“We’re to say to you guys that we’re back on active duty.” Pixie-Bob said happily. The room filled with congrats from most of the class, although Henshizo glanced at Ragdoll since she had had her quirk stolen by All for One. “So, wait Ragdoll, are you…?” Midoriya asked what Henshizo was thinking.

“Still powerless, I’ll be staying in the h.q. and support the rest in the field. Office car style.” Ragdoll said, mimicking typing on a computer. “Although we did get a report from Tartarus, from him. He, quote, feels bad for what he did. Just can’t help himself when he sees a good quirk, so he offered to return it to her. But we’d have to let him be able to use his quirk, and we don’t know what he has. So, the safer thing to do is keep him as locked down as possible.” Pixie-Bob said seriously.

“With the stories I heard growing up, that’s the only move. May as well be the devil, any deal with him, always a price.” Henshizo said crossing his arms. “So why are you guys choosing to go back into active duty at this point?” Momo asked, walking over to make sure Henshizo didn’t go too deep.

“It will be announced tomorrow, but our place on the hero billboard charts will be four-hundred and eleventh.” Mandalay said simply. “So that’s why, your rank went down, you guys were thirty-second in the last rankings.” Midoriya said, as Henshizo thought of what the billboard chart would look like tomorrow.

“It’s not that, don’t you find odd our ranking is still triple digits despite almost a year of inactivity?” Ragdoll asked them, some getting confused looks. “Our approval rating is high as ever, meaning people want us to come back.” Tiger said a bit excited.

“I get it, give the people what they want. You’re so manly.” Kirishima, getting emotional, as Henshizo questioned his thought process. “I haven’t even thought of that, we haven’t had the second rankings released for this year.” Ojiro said surprised.

“And so much has happened, it’s going to be crazy.” Sero said, shaking his head in disbelief. “A hero billboard chart without All Might, it almost doesn’t seem real. Should be exciting.” Ashido said, Henshizo looked over to Todoroki who had the same neutral expression on his face, although he noticed Todoroki slightly looking off to the side.

“We’ll be cheering for you guys, it will be great seeing you back in the field.” Midoriya said excited to the pussycats. “Thanks kittens, and also we’re rooting for you all.” Mandalay said smiling at them all. After a bit more talking, Henshizo choosing to slink away from the guests and join Yanagi in a corner of the common room.

“It is intriguing, how the billboard chart will fall.” Yanagi said quietly to him. “Yeah, one can assume a couple huge jump ups, although I feel like number one is predictable.” Henshizo said looking over at Todoroki. “Endeavor. Can’t say I hold him in as positive of light.” Yanagi muttered quietly, Henshizo nodding, knowing what Endeavor had done to do Todoroki. “It’s a new era, and we’ll be part of the one after it.” Henshizo said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. Yanagi nodded and they politely waved as the pussycats left their dorm to head over to class b’s dorm. After that Henshizo simply went up to his dorm, finished getting ready for bed, and went to sleep, dreaming of the future where he would be ranked on the hero billboard chart. The class was able to sleep in, as it was the weekend, but even so Henshizo woke up at the same time as he always did to get his morning workout in before making himself breakfast.

“Good morning Henshizo.” Momo said, coming over with a cup of tea in her hands. “Morning Momo.” Henshizo replied as he watched his coffee pour into the mug. “The class will be having a watch party for the top ten, will you join us?” Momo asked as Henshizo picked up his mug and walked to where his plate of eggs and rice was. “Yeah, it will be interesting to watch, especially since they’ve never done a top ten like this.” Henshizo said giving a nod and small smile. “Excellent.” Momo said clapping her hands together after setting her tea down. “I will say don’t go crazy with Todoroki should Endeavor finally become number one.” Henshizo said quietly to her. “I would ask why not, but I know he and his father are second only to you in the bad relationship department.” Momo said giving a small smile and Henshizo laughed hard. “Yeah, that gap is big but he would be second.” Henshizo said as he began eating. Momo smiled, glad Henshizo wasn’t upset at the joke, and with the billboard chart show starting at noon, Henshizo simply worked on some homework in the common area to kill time. As it got closer to noon, more of the class came in, all taking seats to be able to watch.

“This will be so interesting to watch.” Ashido said eagerly as the show began, showing an aerial shot of the arena with hundreds of people still trying to get in. “Welcome to the Tokyo Dome, where the Billboard Chart’s top ten heroes will be announced. Thousands of people have gathered here as this country looks forward to the next era. All Might, the symbol of peace, being forced into retirement after the Kamino incident, has been number one for decades, with his departure new heroes have emerged to fill the void.” The announcer said as the camera cut to the inside of the arena where it was seemingly full, with close ups on some of the heroes in the crowd, notably Fat Gum, Death Arms, and My. Lady. “Never before has this country seen the presentation like this, but we all know how important it is for this country at this time.” The reporter continued and the lights began lighting the stage up. “Here we go.” The reporter said and the class watched with minor excitement.

“Number ten, falling one spot from number nine, the dragon hero, Ryukyu!” The announcer in the arena said and Ryukyu began walking up to the stage. “Aww man, I wanted her to go up.” Uraraka said sadly, watching one of her mentors go up. “Number nine, also down in rank but never defeated. The equipped hero Yoroi Musha!” The announcer continued presenting the top ten.

“How is he still at such a level? Guy’s been a pro longer than All Might was.” Kirishima said impressed. “Number eight, you know him from the commercials, cleaning hero, Wash!” The announcer said and more cheers in the arena were heard. ‘If ever an example of needing to rid the popular support criteria.’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Number seven, a huge jump in the chart and one of the most promising new heroes, Kamui Woods!” The announcer said, the first real shock of the chart.

“Most excellent, I will have to congratulate him.” Yanagi said quietly, to most in her neutral tone but Henshizo picked up the happiness for the hero she had interned with. “Number six, maintaining his rank and a man who strives for kind justice, the shield hero crust!” The announcer said as it seemed that Crust was fighting back tears. “Number five, this aggressive and competitive bunny has leapt up the charts, rabbit hero Mirko!” The camera went to the number five hero, and all the boys went quiet and seemingly focused more just a bit. “Number four, the mysterious ninja who has seen a surge in popularity and cases being resolved, ninja hero, Edgeshot!” The announcer said as Midoriya really got to writing in his journal. “All heroes involved in the Kamino incident have seen a surge in popularity, bringing us to number three; currently on hiatus as he recovers, and we’re all eagerly awaiting his return, finer hero Best Jeanist!” The announcer said with a video of Best Jeanist playing, Henshizo sighing.

“I hope he gets better soon, although I’m just glad he’s alive and not having to retire either.” Henshizo said a bit sad. “Number two, he does things his way which has let him shatter all sorts of records and in the youngest hero ever to be number two. Winged hero, Hawks!” The announcer said, both Tokoyami and Henshizo now smiling that their work study mentor was officially the second-best ranked hero in Japan. “And finally.” The announcer said as the lights on the stage went out, and an orange glow began growing brighter on it. “He was the temporary number one hero but now his years of hard work and dedication payoff, becoming the true number one. Flame hero, Endeavor!” The announcer said as he waked out on to the stage in somewhat of a new costume for the occasion.

“And there you have it, the top ten heroes just announced. Some new comers who have made waves while Endeavor’s quest to be number one is finally over. Coming up, the head of the public safety commission will speak, followed by comments from the newly minted top ten heroes.” The commentator said as some of the class left, not wanting to hear boring speeches. “That was a bit boring honestly, would’ve liked some cooler entrances.” Kaminari said, getting up from the floor.

“It would’ve been inappropriate, this is to show the heroes are still strong.” Iida said sternly to Kaminari. Henshizo got up and went to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water alongside Ojiro. “Not one for speeches?” Ojiro asked, Henshizo shrugged. “Most will say stuff along the same lines of, ‘We’re honored to have earned a top spot, thank you, and we’ll do our best to fill the All Might void, thank you all might, wish you were still here.’ Henshizo said shrugging before taking a swig. “Yeah, I can see that.” Ojiro said as Henshizo slowly walked back over. “Still, got to see what Hawks has to say.” Henshizo said as he walked back to where he had been sitting. Henshizo sat down just as Edgeshot was speaking.

“… I’m not a hero for support, although I’m thankful for it, I’m a hero to uphold law and order.” Edgeshot said before a groan from Hawks was picked up by the mic. “Seriously guys? This some pr sound bites that only Stain wants to hear.” Hawks said, causing awkward silence in the arena, but Henshizo to nearly choke on his water from laughing. Hawks took the mic and flew up a bit. “If public support is the only thing that matters; Best Jeanist would be number one, I’m still second, Edgeshot is third, with Endeavor being fourth. Sure, public support matters, but talking about the past and what’s been done? Boring. We have to look forward in this post All Might era, so let’s say something actually heroic.” Hawks said flying back down, to some grumbles from the crowd. Hawks tossed the mic to Endeavor, Henshizo having a silent laughter fit.

“Hawks just loves doing the unexpected and keeping people on their toes.” Henshizo said wiping a tear from his eye. “I would hope your time with him would show the professional side of heroics, clearly my hopes were sadly misplaced.” Iida said sighing as Endeavor raised the mic.

“After that provocation by the young hero, I don’t have much to say, except just watch me.” Endeavor said confidently, catching many by surprise. Henshizo and the rest of his classmates watching. ‘Very well Endeavor, I will.’ Henshizo thought to himself as the camera showed one last shot of the top ten heroes on stage, before going to commercial, the new era of heroes in Japan officially beginning.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed and sorry for the gap in posts. Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 62: Watching His Start

Summary:

It's the day after the top ten hero ceremony, what could possibly happen to shake Japan?

The day after the top ten rankings presentation; most of the class were doing their own thing, with many of them doing homework. Henshizo, Yanagi, Ojiro, Momo, and Jiro had formed a study group in the common area, but were mostly staying quiet as they pull help each other when needed. “The proverbs assignment by Cementoss is so boring.” Jiro said groaning as she looked at the list of proverbs provided by Cementoss for them to analyze. “I don’t know, some are cool. ‘The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.’ Honestly, I almost fit that.” Henshizo said as he wrote stuff down.

“Exactly, it’s just a matter of perspective.” Momo said gently to Jiro. “I don’t know how much of a different perspective can make this not boring.” Jiro said sighing as they continued to work.

“One’s act, one’s profit. Would a proper analysis be something along the lines of, a person is responsible for all effects of their actions?” Yanagi asked Momo who nodded. “Your analysis is so well worded Yanagi, makes me think you’d be a great author one day.” Momo said smiling at her. “Thank you, I have given thought to writing horror stories and you are not the first person to say that.” Yanagi said looking at her.

“I know I’ve got a heck of an autobiography I’ll be able to write when all is said and done.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Yeah, lots of heroes write memoirs after they retire, but yours would be more interesting than most.” Ojiro said smiling as he chuckled. As they sat at the table Kaminari was changing the channels on the tv before stopping on a news channel.

“Holy crap!” Kaminari cried out, getting everyone’s attention. “Kaminari, it’s not polite to… oh my.” Iida began, walking over to scold Kaminari but stopping when he saw what was on TV. This naturally caused everyone else to get up and walk over to the TV, which was the news, and they saw a distance shot of Endeavor hovering outside of a building as what looked like a Nomu was also hovering there.

“This is live footage from NHA’s ground crew in Fukuoka, it appears the new number one hero Endeavor has begun to battle what appears to be a Nomu.” The news reporter said as the class watched in silent horror. ‘A black one, that probably means it regenerate.’ Henshizo thought to himself. They watched as Endeavor tried attacking the Nomu, but it seemingly dodged and shot an enlarged arm at Endeavor, catching him before pushing him through the skyscraper they had been by. As they watched Endeavor let out a huge ball of flames to escape the Nomu’s, and to 1-A it looked like the Nomu was regenerating much faster than the one from the USJ had. The Nomu flew around the building with its arm still in the building, completely cutting through the top third of the building, some of the class gasping seeing this destruction since they knew the building had to be occupied and it would fall down onto the busy street. “Unbelievable, the creature Endeavor is fighting tore through the building with no problem. Oh my gosh, people are flying out of the building!” The reporter called out and the camera zoomed to show people being flown out and down to the street and rooftops of other buildings.

“Hawks.” Henshizo said quietly, but everyone heard him, Tokoyami nodding in agreement. “The numbers one and two heroes are there to fight that thing. That’s enough, right?” Ojiro asked as they watched Endeavor shoot seemingly ropes of his fire out to try and cut the Nomu up, while he nicked the Nomu he completely diced up the torn part of the building, sending pieces flying, Henshizo seeing most of the pieces glide safely away, telling him Hawks was using his feathers to stop the debris from flying everywhere as the camera angle cut to one above the action.

“This is NHA’s news helicopter, as you can see now the numbers one and two heroes, Endeavor and Hawks are doing battle against the villain which has sent Fukuoka into chaos. As you can see at the edges of your screen, the citizens on the ground are running away in fear. Some other heroes are trying to assist Endeavor and Hawks.” The helicopter reporter said and the camera zoomed to some local heroes shooting at the Nomu. 1-A watched in disgusted horror as it seemed the Nomu shot large projectiles down towards the ground, the camera following them and it was revealed to be some gray skinned Nomus. “Was it carrying those in it?!” Sero said freaked out a bit, and they saw the Nomus go after some business men before Hawks used his speed to fly down and slash the Nomus with some large feathers, before using other feathers to get the business men away from the scene.

“Hawks is engaging in the other villains that the villain Endeavor is currently fighting spawned from itself. This is unbelievable, the chaos and destruction already high. And look up!” The reporter on the ground said and the camera panned to show a bright light. “Endeavor is so bright even from this distance I can feel the heat of his flames!” A reporter on the ground said and the camera showed a bright fireball shooting forward and seemingly enveloping the Nomu, but even from the distance ground camera was at, the class could see something was falling from the Nomu which suddenly shot tendrils up at Endeavor, with one stabbing through his side and the other drawing blood from his face. The class all gasped and watched in shock as Endeavor fell from the air all the way down to the ground, a plume dust cloud covering where he landed briefly before the helicopter zoomed in to show the Nomu standing over Endeavor. Henshizo turned his head and saw Todoroki watching the TV with worry and shock on his face, Todoroki even had a couple flames come off his left side in shock. “Todoroki.” Momo said concerned.

“You’re seeing this right folks, this single villain has appeared and caused all this destruction, and we’re getting reports that even more of the bio-engineered villains known as Nomu are on the rampage. Heroes are either fighting them or helping with evacuation, but Endeavor, who was the first to start fighting has been severely wounded. Looking down at this chaos and destruction, I can’t help but think back to Kamino just those few months ago.” The helicopter reporter said as they watched Endeavor suddenly fly at the Nomu, but the Nomu made its arm into a long tendril, swatting the number one hero into a building, with the tendril being so long and strong it hit another building which began falling over. “Endeavor.” Kirishima muttered worried as Henshizo watched the TV zoom in on a bloodied Endeavor as the Nomu jumped up to the top of a building, cracking the top of it as it looked to where all the people were running away. The feed cut to one of the crowd trying to run away, and the only thing the class saw was the look of pure fear on everyone’s faces.

“This… this is a society without a symbol of peace.” The reporter on the ground said to the camera as Aizawa came in to the dorm. “It’s sheer panic, how awful.” Tokoyami said quietly.

“Todoroki, I see you know.” Aizawa said quietly. “Hey! You can’t say that stuff!” Came a voice near the reporter on the TV and the class turned from Todoroki and Aizawa to look at the TV where a boy younger than them was angrily looking at the camera and pointing behind him. “Look! See those flames? Endeavor is still fighting, he won’t give up, so why should we give up just because All Might isn’t around? No symbol, Endeavor is giving it his all for us!” The boy said before getting pulled away by, Henshizo and others presumed, to be friends of his before the camera feed switched back to the helicopter feed, showing the Nomu flying towards the evacuees, but Endeavor was flying behind the Nomu, distracting the Nomu as it shot some tiny tendrils, once again piercing Endeavor but Endeavor continued to charge at the Nomu. As the Nomu turned its head to Endeavor they saw Hawks fly over and slash the Nomu’s neck.

“If Hawks lacks one thing, it’s raw power.” Henshizo muttered to Tokoyami who nodded, but the two of them were able to distinguish Hawks’s feathers being sent into Endeavor’s back and it pushed Endeavor forward to the Nomu. Endeavor made contact and flew along right above the buildings as the camera on the ground followed the streak of flames. “Look! Up there, you can see the flames! Endeavor is still fighting!” The reporter said, the whole class sitting or leaning forward as they could tell this would be the deciding point of the fight.

“I’m watching you dad!” Todoroki shouted at the TV as the feather and flames mixed to give endeavor flaming wings as he began flying up, well above any of the skyscrapers of Fukuoka and above some clouds, before the screen showed a big blast of flames and light. Everyone, both in the city and in the common area were watching in anticipatory silence, suddenly they saw Endeavor and the Nomu falling from the sky straight for the ground and a huge cloud of dust got kicked up. After a few moments the dust clears and Endeavor is standing over the Nomu with his fist held high, all the class giving a relieved sigh. “Endeavor is standing! Signaling his victory, no his start!” The helicopter reporter called out as Todoroki squatted down in relief. The rest of the class watched as Hawks was helping Endeavor hold himself up, but from the right of the screen they saw someone walking towards the two pros and suddenly a massive ring of blue flames.

“Oh, you have to be kidding.” Henshizo said both pissed and worried. “Him? Dabi from the league of villains? Why in the open?” Aizawa said as the class couldn’t see anything happening in the circle of flames, but all remembered the heat that the flames had emitted during the camp attack. Then they saw a figure came flying down from above the flames and a dust cloud kick up.

“Who was that?” Midoriya asked as the figure bounced back up and they saw tall ears on top of the figure’s head. “I think that’s Mirko.” Momo said quietly and after a moment the flames seemingly disappeared with Dabi nowhere to be seen. ‘Must have used that warp quirk they used in Kamino, but didn’t All for One have that? Then again can’t put anything past them.’ Henshizo thought to himself, glaring at the screen, but was relieved to see Hawks was ok.

“They did it, the crisis is over and danger is gone! I know they can’t hear me, but thank you Endeavor and Hawks for risking your lives and saving the city. Our new top hero has arrived!” The helicopter said as it began to pan to the civilians cheering on. ‘No; the danger is not gone, just merely on hold.’ Henshizo thought to himself.

Notes:

Thus concludes season 4 with the shortest chapter I've written. Hope you enjoyed and got a cover of the ending song linked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8uJBmuGEKw

Chapter 63: Emergency Attack Drill

Summary:

After watching Endeavor get pushed to the limit, UA is going to make sure the current class of heroes is as strong as possible. So naturally that means throwing difficult curveballs at them. What will 1-A have to deal with?

Notes:

Today, 7/7/24 is My Hero's tenth anniversary exactly, congratulations Hori on making it. And since we're into a new season, here's a new cover of the intro: https://youtu.be/h-N-QprJXbs?si=f7unBd8oDWfHmDZ6

The day after Endeavor had fought the Nomu, 1-A were all together in the classroom; Henshizo sitting at his desk as he looked at the texts he and Hawks had exchanged. ‘Glad you’re ok. Let me know if you need anything.’ Henshizo had first sent a few hours after the fight had concluded. Hawks had replied a couple of hours later. ‘Why’re you checking in on me? Roles should be reversed.’ Henshizo lightly smirked again reading it, Hawks never showed his gratitude, but Henshizo had solved enough of Hawks to know he appreciated it. Henshizo turned his head to look at Kirishima who was replicating Endeavor’s pose. “So manly.” Kirishima said as his voice cracked.

“Hawks was incredible too.” Uraraka said a bit excited. “He’s incredibly hot too, say Sesshada, Tokoyami. You guys wouldn’t happen to have some good pics of him, would you?” Hagakure asked, pulling Henshizo out of his thoughts fully.

“Why would I have pictures of my mentor in any way that could be construed as hot?” Henshizo asked, tilting his head. “I-I didn’t mean just those types. Don’t make me sound like a perv.” Hagakure said, clearly flustered. “I don’t, nor does Tokoyami.” Henshizo said glancing over at his work study partner, who nodded in confirmation as the door opened. Todoroki walked in, Midoriya walking over to him.

“Hey Todoroki, how’s Endeavor doing?” Midoriya asked anxiously, the class looking over curiously. “Endeavor isn’t seriously injured; he’ll be discharged soon apparently.” Todoroki said calmly, Henshizo noting how he used his dad’s hero name, rather than saying my dad. “I’m glad to hear that.” Midoriya said as Todoroki walked to his desk, Aizawa then walking in the front door and people quickly got seated.

“Aright. UA would like to remind you all what you are, individuals who have been granted proposal licenses to act as fully fledged heroes in emergency situations. While two of you are still in remedial lessons, we will be making training more difficult for you all, to push yourselves and get better. Which is why for homeroom-” Aizawa spoke to them before the lights turned red and alarms went off in their room. “Emergency drill, emergency drill. Some faux villains have infiltrated the grounds of UA and class 1-A is being requested to report to the scene, which will be ground beta.” Came Nezu’s voice from speakers, the class stood up as the costume cases came out of the wall, Henshizo using his quirk to change his uniform to his costume and was the first out of the door as the others scrambled to the locker rooms. “Wait for everyone before you do anything Sesshada, it is a class drill. Just wait there.” Aizawa called out to him, Henshizo sighing but gave a thumbs up as he left the classroom. As the class ran down the hall to the locker rooms, Henshizo calmly made his way to ground beta and waited, already seeing smoke come from the outskirts of the fake city. As he played with the pocket watch chain, his classmates came running up and they surveyed everything.

“Tentacole, Earphone Jack, go and begin recon. We should split up into three groups.” Iida said, as Henshizo began making a drone and flew it up high above them. “Yahata they can handle recon.” Iida said as the two ran off. “They can provide updates I’m just giving us an early understanding.” Henshizo said as he looked at the screen. “Buildings knocked over eight blocks west, a fire on the outskirt’s northeast, and it seems someone or something is in the water. No sign of these alleged villains.” Henshizo said as he brought the drone back. “Right, let’s split into three teams.” Iida said, the class nodding and quickly divided themselves up into a firefighting squad, a river rescue squad, and the rest of the class ran towards where the destruction in the city was, well most of them.

“Hey, where are you going Bakugo?” Kirishima asked as Bakugo dragged Kaminari away towards a car, Kirishima now following them. “We’re going to look for the villains.” Bakugo said as Henshizo rolled his eyes while running with Momo, Yanagi, and Ojiro.

“Why aren’t you two going ahead?” Ojiro asked curiously to Yanagi and Henshizo. “In a large disaster it’s better to go with numbers then trying to go solo. Especially with hidden villains.” Henshizo said simply and the group continued to run along the street until they came to the destruction.

“First things first let’s clear the road for emergency vehicles!” Momo called out, Yanagi and Uraraka walking forward and began working together to clear the road as Ashido and Henshizo began breaking down the rubble. ‘This is going too easy.’ Henshizo thought, as he was thinking that a second explosion occurred, which seemed to cause a much stronger fire so they began running to that one. Ashido, Uraraka, Yanagi, and Sero worked together to guide Ashido over the flames before she used her acid to put the flames out.

“Hey watch out! Something is coming at you guys!” Jiro called out over the communicators, and right after she said it, an energy surge shot at them, causing most to duck, Henshizo looking up as Nejire of the big three grabbed Ashido. “Hey hey, there are still villains on the loose. Do you guys remember me?” Nejire asked them while holding Ashido as hostage in Sero’s tape.

“If she’s one villain, then Amajiki’s the second one.” Henshizo said and looks around, finding the other third year behind them. “Th-that’s right another villain is here.” Amajiki said nervously, as the class looked at each other a bit confused.

“What do you want villain?” Midoriya said trying to get back into the scenario, as Amajiki was muttering to himself. “I want to go home.” Amajiki said loud enough for them to hear, turning around and began walking away.

“Huh?!” The class cried out in surprise as he walked slowly away. “Amajiki stop!” Nejire’s voice called out and he stopped in his tracks. “We agreed to help the younger classes, it’s what Mirio wants.” Nejire said to him, as Ashido just awkwardly floated by her. The class awkwardly stood there, as this break in character action wouldn’t happen in a real combat situation. Amajiki straightened his back. “I want to go home, but… Nejire would get mad at me, and Mirio would be disappointed. He asked me to help you guys become proper heroes as soon as possible. So that’s why…” Amajiki said and he transformed his leg to chicken legs, one hand to an oyster, and another to tentacles. Henshizo used the marble dispenser he had in his one sleeve and held it in his hand. “Right, none of you move!” Nejire called out to the class, resuming the exercise. Henshizo looked at her and was gauging things as Nejire turned around. “I said don’t move!” She called out angrily.

“The river rescue team must have tried to make a move.” Momo whispered to them. Henshizo changed the marble to a shuriken and quickly threw it up, cutting the tape that Nejire was holding to hold Ashido hostage, this let Yanagi successfully pull Ashido away with her quirk. “Hey hey! That’s cheating!” Nejire said as she lined her palm up with the class, clearly intending to fire a surge blast at them.

“Say cheese!” Hagakure called out from the side of a building, refracting the sun light, somewhat blinding Nejire, allowing Henshizo to make a whip that he cracked around her ankle and dragged her down, allowing Momo to make a net gun, shooting it which trapped Nejire to a piece of rubble. As they did this, Ojiro was stalling Amajiki, but get captured by Amajiki’s tentacles. “Now Deku!” Ojiro shouted out as Midoriya began soaring over Henshizo to punch Amajiki who tensed up in fear. Midoriya landed right by Amajiki.

“Please surrender.” Midoriya said to Amajiki, clearly conflicted about fighting them. “Why didn’t you hit me?” Amajiki asked as Henshizo made his modified jet boots getting ready. “I-I couldn’t do it.” Midoriya said quietly. “Hesitation can be fatal.” Amajiki said before kicking Midoriya in the gut and sending him back.

“Deku!” Uraraka cried out, Amajiki turning to the rest of the class getting ready to say something, but then saw Henshizo streaming at him, Henshizo having a wicked grin on his face as he had his fist cocked back, power glove on, and drove it right into the upperclassman’s stomach, having such speed that Amajiki actually flipped over his fist before landing on his back groaning. Henshizo catching Ojiro as Amajiki dropped him to clutch his stomach. “Thanks.” Ojiro said as Henshizo set him down before he walked over, changing the power glove to a sword, and pressed it to Amajiki’s throat.

“Don’t move a muscle villain.” Henshizo said sternly. “Why were you so scary? I knew I should’ve stayed home.” Amajiki groaned as suddenly they heard a car engine revving towards them with Kirishima on the hood, Kaminari driving, and Bakugo primed to jump in, but seeing Henshizo standing over Amajiki and Nejire pinned to the debris Bakugo blasted forward clearly pissed.

“You slow electric dunce! You made us miss the villains!” Bakugo shouted at Kaminari, sparks flying from his hands as he walked towards the rest of the class. “I told you it takes me a moment for me to get something like this going.” Kaminari whined as he stopped the car.

“Relax Bakugo, you’ll get another chance.” Kirishima said as Henshizo smirked. “You know; it’s funny because I heard you say you were going to look for the villains, but you went away from the chaos which is where villains tend to be. It almost seems to me that you… ran away from the fight.” Henshizo said with a grin, causing a vein to pop in Bakugo’s head and the rest of the class look at Henshizo in fear for provoking Bakugo like this.

“What the hell you just say yakuza?! I never run from any fight! If you want I can show you right now! Bakugo said having more mini explosions shoot from his hand as Midoriya, Ojiro, and Kirishima ran forward to separate them. “Sorry, I don’t think I can do anything more.” Henshizo said mockingly fanning himself. “I’m just so tired from picking up the slack because you were nothing but dead weight.” Henshizo said, the class going dead still as Bakugo’s eye twitched in anger. “Dead… weight?” Bakugo repeated, dripping in anger. “I’ll show you dead weight. Die!” Bakugo yelled and he unleashed a massive explosion that enveloped everyone in the vicinity, Henshizo making a bomb disposal suit in the nick of time, but still got sent flying back by it. The mushroom cloud climbing over the buildings as the class wearily walked out of the smoke, Kirishima holding Bakugo back as Henshizo walked out, Ojiro beside him with stuck up hair thanks to the explosion.

“Was that worth it?” Ojiro asked as Henshizo pat his hair down. “One hundred percent.” Henshizo said chuckling as he saw a robot making its way towards Bakugo.

“Bakugo, Eraserhead has requested me to bring you to the staff room. Do not resist.” The robot said, causing Henshizo to snort in laughter. “You fucking Yakuza bastard!” Bakugo shouted but followed the robot, Henshizo trying to contain his laughter. As he stood there, Momo came up behind and gave him a smack to the back of the head.

“What was that for?” Henshizo said as he rubbed the spot she smacked. “How many times do I have to tell you to not provoke Bakugo? What if he gets in trouble for this?” Momo asked sighing as Henshizo shrugged. “He had it coming today; rather than working with us, he tried to show off and went off on his own, leaving us to deal with Amajiki and Hado.” Henshizo said as he helped Momo brush the soot off her back. “I suppose, thanks for the assist on Hado.” Momo said smiling. “Of course, good shot with the net gun.” Henshizo said smiling back at her. The class, minus Bakugo who had to go to the teacher’s lounge, and Henshizo who used his quirk to change his costume back to his uniform, went to the locker rooms. Henshizo made his way back to the classroom, waiting for everyone to come back by reading the news on his phone. As some came in, Midoriya sat in front of him and turned to talk to Henshizo.

“Hey Sesshada, can you and I train together today?” Midoriya asked a bit hopeful. “What would you want to train in?” Henshizo asked curiously. “Help me train on not thinking twice about things.” Midoriya said quietly, Henshizo nodding. “Yeah, you froze against Amajiki, you may find yourself having to fight friends or allies later. Can’t hold back a punch just because you like who you’re punching. May be they have succumbed to a quirk, they’re being blackmailed to do things, or… their true colors are revealed.” Henshizo said smirking at the end. “True colors? But anyone I’d hold back against would be a hero.” Midoriya said confused and mildly worried, Henshizo chuckling. “I forget you’re still a bit innocent. Sometimes ideological motives or personal goals can be what’s lurking under a person’s mask. It goes both ways; villains hide their nature from other villains.” Henshizo said shrugging as Midoriya nodded. “I see, it makes sense.” Midoriya said quietly as the rest of the class came back, Ectoplasm following in and closing the door to begin the morning math lessons. The classes dragged on after the excitement of the morning heroics lesson, with 1-A being relived as they stood up for lunch. “So, what time will you want to train later?” Henshizo asked Midoriya as he put his bag on his shoulder. “Is after dinner, ok? I’ll be wanting to do the homework before being worn out, I’m banking on our training being intense.” Midoriya said, Henshizo smirking and nodding in response. “Sounds good.” Henshizo said walking past him and joining up with Ojiro and Yanagi.

“We fared much better against those two of the big three compared to Togata.” Yanagi said, putting a hand on her stomach as she remembered how Togata had decimated them before work studies had been formally announced. “Yeah, it helps that we can actually hit them.” Ojiro said chuckling as Henshizo laughed. “I suppose that’s true; Tsu told me about their river rescue of Togata… it’s still sad he’s in the situation he’s in.” Yanagi said quietly and the three went somber.

“He’ll be back, and it’s why he wanted to have us do that today.” Henshizo said quietly and simply. “Yeah, he’ll be a great mentor for us.” Ojiro said smiling as they got in the cafeteria, picked out their lunches, and sat down with the rest of 1-A. As they ate their lunches another student came up to all of them.

“Hello, 1-A?” The student said and they all nodded. “I’m from the support course, Mr. Power Loader wanted me to say that your winter modified costumes are in, you can pick them up at the end of the day.” The boy said with a small bow. “Really? That’s great!” Kirishima said excited as some of the class wondered how’d their modifications would look.

“I have a thicker robe; did you do something similar Sesshada?” Ojiro asked, Henshizo nodded in response. “Just thicker clothing, no need to change it too much. Although I am looking forward to the cold, the internship sucked doing patrols in the sun. Most water I drank in a week.” Henshizo said, Ojiro laughing. “What about you Yanagi? Any changes to your costume?” Henshizo asked curiously.

“Just some added lining. I can’t have too much mobility restrictions, but I prefer the cold so it won’t bother me.” Yanagi said softly, Henshizo driving the thought of her having stockings on from his head. “It is almost December now, so it’s good timing.” Henshizo said as the class went back to eating. Once they were done and the bell rang, they went back for the afternoon classes which Henshizo paid attention for Midnight’s history course as it had to do with dissolution of organized crime from its peak. Once the final bell sounded Henshizo packed up, joining Yanagi and Ojiro on the walk back to the dorm.

“Want to work on the homework together?” Ojiro asked. “Yeah, I’m going to train with Midoriya tonight, he wants me to teach to not hold back.” Henshizo said nodding.

“You are certainly the best of the class to teach how to not hold back.” Yanagi said, causing Henshizo to laugh. “I hold back a lot; I suppose I’m the best at showing how to hold back and not hold back.” Henshizo said tilting his head as he tried to make sense of what he said. “I understand.” Yanagi said nodding and she gave a small smile, making Henshizo smile happily as they left the school building and walked back to the dorm. The trio went to Ojiro’s room to work on the homework, finishing up the trajectory work assigned by ectoplasm as well as finished their respective essays for present mic. “Would you guys’ object to me making dinner for the three of us? I’m asking because I have a recipe in mind and it’s easier to make for multiple people.” Henshizo said after closing his notebook.

“Really? Heck yeah, need any help?” Ojiro asked. “That’s a kind gesture Sesshada. What dish would you be preparing?” Yanagi asked curiously.

“Ankake meatballs, I’ll make them big so it’s more filling.” Henshizo said, both nodding in agreement. “Right, let’s try and get through the reflective papers for All Might.” Henshizo said, the two nodding and they began writing. “Sucks I got caught in his tentacles.” Ojiro muttered as he wrote it down. “Yeah, but you kept in check for a bit which isn’t something to sneeze at. I heard during raid he took on three of the more prominent members by himself and won. He’s strong so don’t beat yourself up.” Henshizo said reassuringly.

“Sesshada is right Amajiki is part of the big three for a reason. I project him to a be a top fifty hero easily within five years.” Yanagi said gently, Ojiro nodding at them both. “Thanks guys.” He said with a smile as Henshizo wrote about Midoriya freezing. “I suspect Ojiro, that we are working with a future top ten hero though.” Yanagi said looking over at Henshizo with a soft smile, Henshizo chuckling and lightly shook his head. “Yeah, you are dude, you’re insanely skilled already, you’ll get better and I think maybe even top five.” Ojiro said smiling at him.

“I doubt I’ll ever truly be able to climb that high. Not when I have the past holding me back, and before you say anything I’ve basically shed it… but there will be people won’t ever see me without seeing the poison of the underworld all over me.” Henshizo said sighing. “Even if you don’t have as much popular support as you can, there are other ways to climb up. Besides as time goes on things will fade from people’s minds.” Ojiro said as Yanagi lightly cleared her throat.

“Pardon my language, but those people can be tormented by demons if they don’t see how amazing and incredible you are.” Yanagi said clearly annoyed at the thought of people judging Henshizo. Henshizo slightly smiled at his friends’ confidence in him. “Thanks guys, I suppose we’ll see in like seven years, right?” Henshizo said chuckling as they finished the post combat training writings. “I suppose this is good practice for the paperwork side of being a pro.” Yanagi sighed as she closed her little notebook.

“Yeah, my internship loved having me do the paperwork as much as I could.” Ojiro said sighing as he closed his up. “Try helping with the paperwork after a gang takedown.” Henshizo said remembering how much he and Tokoyami had to do after breaking up the human trafficking ring during their work study.

“I hope that before we become pros that they update things so we can digitally upload reports.” Yanagi said sighing as Henshizo stood up with a laugh. “The government moving quickly to make things easier and more convenient? Maybe when we’re all grandparents that might happen, but I wouldn’t count on it.” He said, all three chuckling. “How many meatballs will you guys want?” Henshizo asked walking to the door.

“Four please.” Ojiro said with a nod. “Three please.” Yanagi said gently, Henshizo nodding in response and he walked out, going down to the first floor before going to the kitchen and began prepping everything. Ojiro and Yanagi followed behind him and waited in the common area for him to finish making the meatballs. Henshizo worked away on them, making the meatballs the size of his fists, before putting them in the pan and began making the sauce. He was able to make eleven meatballs for the three of them, pouring the sauce over them before putting them on plates and carrying them over to Ojiro and Yanagi.

“Hope you guys enjoy.” Henshizo said smiling as he used his fork to cut one of the meatballs on his plate up. The two copied him and each took a bite. “Oh wow, that sauce is terrific.” Ojiro said happily surprised and stabbed another bit of the cut-up meatball.

“Indeed, so savory.” Yanagi said smiling softly at Henshizo as she used her quirk to float her fork back and forth. Henshizo chuckled at the way she ate it, finding it cute before going back to eating his own. The three ate, before Yanagi and Ojiro picked the dishes up. “We’ll clean up, it’s only fair.” Ojiro said firmly but smiling to Henshizo.

“Ok, thanks guys. Glad you guys enjoyed it.” Henshizo said smiling before walking to the doors and heading out, walking to gym beta. ‘I’ll be in gym beta, come whenever you’re ready.’ Henshizo messaged Midoriya, before walking in to the gym and using his quirk to change his clothes to the gym uniform. To kill time Henshizo worked on his swordsmanship in a corner, while also working on his ability to chase and climb while carrying something. While at the top of the wall, Henshizo saw Midoriya walk in, so he decided to surprise Midoriya by leaping off the wall, landing perfectly in front of him while putting the sword into one of the cracks in the ground right beside.

“Holy crap!” Midoriya said jumping back in fright as Henshizo laughed. “Oh wow, you should’ve seen the look on your face.” Henshizo said laughing hard as Midoriya looked annoyed. “You surprised me is all.” Midoriya said defensively as Henshizo calmed down. “Well, I also would have been able to take you out no hesitation.” Henshizo said seriously, Midoriya surprised by this response. “When a hero is fighting a villain, what is a hero trying to do?” Henshizo asked, pulling the sword out of the ground. “Stop them from either doing something or getting away.” Midoriya said confused as Henshizo nodded a bit. “A hero is trying to capture the villain, meaning the villain is fighting for their freedom. And when a person is fighting for their freedom, they will do anything to win, meaning you, as a hero, can’t let them have any chance to win their freedom.” Henshizo said, Midoriya rubbing his neck. “When you put it like that, it’s almost like we’re the villains.” He mumbled. “Oh, but we are, we’re villains to villains. But the point is you can’t hesitate just because you don’t want to fight the villain. Ending a fight as soon as you can is the safest thing for you and everyone else. What if Ojiro was really in danger?” Henshizo asked and Midoriya nodded. “Right.” He muttered, clearly ashamed still of his hesitation. “So, for this, pretend I’m a villain. Should be easy enough.” Henshizo said laughing as he changed his gym uniform to what looked like Stain’s outfit, Midoriya gasping seeing it. “Hey, I had to frisk the guy to find all his weapons so of course I touched all his clothes.” Henshizo said walking away from Midoriya. “Right, your quirk doesn’t turn off in that regard, does it?” Midoriya asked, Henshizo shaking his head. “Not the aspect of adding things to my library so to speak. That part is always active, so all it takes is just a mere glance on any part of my skin.” Henshizo said shrugging as he readied himself. Midoriya got ready as well, nodding he was ready so Henshizo dashed at him and tried slashing with the sword, Midoriya easily jumping up and out of the way. Henshizo looked up and saw Midoriya aiming what looked a flick at him, he flicked and Henshizo raised the sword up and blocked the air bullet, but still felt himself slide back a bit. “Impressive stuff.” Henshizo said as he tried to slash at Midoriya as he fell back down, but Midoriya used this air move to dodge out of the way and land. “Is this what you’ve been working on?” Henshizo asked looking at Midoriya. “Yeah, after the fight with Overhaul I realized I need to have some range, so I use the wind pressure I cause to send attacks.” Midoriya said excited. “That’s pretty cool.” Henshizo said nodding and suddenly dashed at Midoriya with another slice and Midoriya yelped, ducking down and he went to punch Henshizo. “Don’t.” Henshizo said in a pleading voice, Midoriya faltering and held his fist right in front of Henshizo’s stomach. “You idiot.” Henshizo said, lightly tapping the handle of his sword on the top of Midoriya’s head. “Sorry.” Midoriya said, Henshizo sighing, but chuckling as Midoriya rubbed his head. “No hesitation for any reason.” Henshizo said, changing back into the gym uniform. “Right. That was a dirty trick.” Midoriya said with a small smile to indicate he was joking. “Thanks. Gotta does what it takes to win.” Henshizo said chuckling. “You want to know something Midoriya?” Henshizo said softly, Midoriya nodding in curiosity. “I think out of all of our class, you’ll be the highest rated pro.” Henshizo said sincerely, Midoriya’s eyes going wide. “Really? You think that?” Midoriya asked, amazed at Henshizo’s faith in him. “Yeah, you’ve grown exceptionally from the beginning of the year when you couldn’t use your quirk without breaking something, and it’s not even been a full year. You’re always positive, smart, and passionate about being a hero. And you have All Might’s backing it seems.” Henshizo said, this last sentence making Midoriya tense up just ever so slightly. “What do you mean?” He asked rubbing his neck. “Well, it just seems you train with him a lot. It makes sense, and will help. You have the symbol of peace behind you, and I just have… a poisoned past.” Henshizo trialed off at the end bitterly. “Sesshada.” Midoriya said quietly, Henshizo wagging his finger at Midoriya. “That, that damned name. It will follow me.” Henshizo said quietly. “Can’t you change it?” Midoriya asked, causing Henshizo to sigh. “I’ve looked into it, but changing names as a minor is difficult.” Henshizo said making the sword disappear. “But not impossible. I can’t change my name to anything, but I could change it to my mom’s name. Sozo. I’d have to have her sign a form, but once I shed my paternal namesake, it will be easier to separate my past.” Henshizo said smiling softly, Midoriya now positively beaming. “That will be great, just hope you forgive us if we call you Sesshada.” Midoriya said chuckling, Henshizo giving a dismissive hand wave. “I’ll provide a grace period don’t worry. Now, want to get back to training? Also don’t mention my plans to anyone, especially Momo.” Henshizo said seriously. “Don’t worry, I won’t. And yes, if you are.” Midoriya said getting ready, Henshizo grinning and they trained for more than an hour more before finally calling it quits. “You’re so incredibly skilled Sesshada.” Midoriya said panting as Henshizo had made contact with him more than Midoriya had made contact with him. “And you’re a fast learner, suppose I just had to beat that hesitation out of you.” Henshizo said chuckling as they walked to the exit. “Yeah, thanks for that. If you want to train more just let me know.” Midoriya said as they walked back. “I will.” Henshizo said, before looking up at the sky. “The season is changing and times continue to change. We’re in uncharted waters Midoriya, think we can handle it?” Henshizo asked, glancing down at his classmate. “Yes.” Midoriya said firmly, causing Henshizo to smirk lightly. “Damn right we can.” He said as they walked back into the dorm, Midoriya joining Uraraka, Iida, and Tsu on the couch to do some studying, while Henshizo went to the showers. After getting clean Henshizo went back up to Ojiro’s room to collect his work.

“Hey man, how’d training go?” Ojiro asked as Henshizo put his notebooks in his school bag. “Good, beat the hesitation out of Midoriya.” Henshizo said chuckling. “With you I don’t doubt it.” Ojiro said chuckling. “Yep, good night, Ojiro.” Henshizo smiling softly before heading down to his room. Henshizo checked his clothes, making sure everything was accounted for, before changing into his pajamas and looking at the desk where he had photos of both his foster family beside a photo of him and his mom. Smiling softly, he got into bed, looking forward to the next challenge UA would throw at them.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed; any feedback is appreciated. And again, happy ten-year anniversary to My Hero Academia.

Chapter 64: The First Year Hero Class Duel Begins

Summary:

Something goes bump in the night, and the following day Henshizo and the rest of class 1-A square off against class 1-B for a joint training exercise. But there's an interesting guest that shows up.

The calendar on Henshizo’s desk had rolled over to December and classes had progressively gotten harder, but that didn’t stop some from training extra. Henshizo often trained well into the night, either by himself or with an assortment of classmates. This night he had trained hard with Midoriya again, this time they had done work on dodging attacks; both were worn out with Henshizo hitting the showers, but Midoriya was so tired he went straight to his room. Henshizo cleaned up, before going up to his room and settling in for bed. As he slept, he awoken by a suddenly loud bang from Midoriya’s room. This caused Henshizo to leap out of bed, changing his pillow to a gun while dashing out of his room. Midoriya’s door was open, Aoyama slowly getting out of his room to check what was happening, and Henshizo went into Midoriya’s room with the gun drawn and saw Midoriya laying on his bed panting while looking at his hand. Seeing no real issues, Henshizo changed the gun into a marble before walking over to Midoriya. “Are you ok Midoriya?” Henshizo asked looking at the trashed room and broken deck windows. “Y-yeah. I activated my quirk in my sleep. Weird dream.” Midoriya muttered as Henshizo picked up his desk chair. “You better watch it, could’ve broken one of your All Might collectibles.” Henshizo said chuckling as he put stuff on the desk. “Thanks, but I’ll clean it up.” Midoriya said beginning to get out of bed. “Hold on.” Henshizo said, before handing Midoriya his slippers. “Glass.” He muttered pointing to the glass bits on the floor. “Right, thanks again.” Midoriya said as Henshizo walked to the deck doors and the panes in the window frame seemingly reappeared. “Least I can do that for you, and this.” Henshizo said, picking up two shards and making them into a broom and dustpan before handing them to Midoriya. “Thanks so much. And I’m so sorry for waking you two.” Midoriya said, also looking over at Aoyama.

“So long as you are ok that is what matters. Be sure to eat some cheese to help.” Aoyama said, causing Henshizo to get confused, but he decided he was too tired to really ask or care about it. “Night.” Henshizo said to them both, walking back to his room, making his pillow back from the marble, and then flopped back onto his bed falling asleep. Once his alarm went off, Henshizo woke up, and went to the gym for his morning workout, seeing Midoriya jog around the grounds at the same time, and then went back to the dorm to clean up and have breakfast. After walking out of the shower, Henshizo walked to the kitchen where Momo, Jiro, Ashido, and Hagakure were sitting together while eating.

“Morning Henshizo.” Momo said happily, seeing her cousin. “Morning Momo.” Henshizo said with a small smile back. Before he cracked a couple of eggs into a frying pan. “So, any thoughts on us having heroics for the entire afternoon?” Momo asked as he added salt. “I find it interesting, either we’re doing something that will take a lot of time or we’re heading off campus.” Henshizo said shrugging, as others walked in.

“Yeah, I can’t wait.” Kirishima said grinning as he walked past, going to the fridge. Aoyama came shuffling in yawning, clearly, he had been much more disturbed by Midoriya’s wake up call. Henshizo finished up his eggs, grabbed his coffee, and sat beside Momo, brushing his hair back as he did making the girls glance away and Momo lightly shook her head at their reaction. The class ate their breakfasts before walking together to the classroom for their morning classes. Before the first period bell rang, Midoriya turned around to face Henshizo. “Thanks again, for coming in when that happened.” Midoriya said quietly.

“Yeah. You feeling, ok?” Henshizo asked quietly, Midoriya nodding in response. “Good, and for the record, I wasn’t packing rubber bullets.” Henshizo muttered, making Midoriya gulp, quickly nodding before turning back around as the bell rang. Thanks to the afternoon being blocked off for heroics, the morning classes felt extra crammed full of information, Henshizo barley could keep up in math class, with all of 1-A being relieved when the bell rang for lunch. While most of the class walked to the cafeteria, Henshizo noticed Midoriya walking towards the lounge areas, he shrugged and went to grab lunch with Yanagi and Ojiro.

“I suspect our afternoon long heroics course will be here, since Aizawa did not tell us anything about leaving the school.” Yanagi said quietly to them. “If it were any other teacher I would agree, however Aizawa is both uncaring of sharing details and also would maybe want to test us.” Henshizo said shrugging, both of them nodding in agreement.

“While you’re not wrong Henshizo, Yanagi is right, we’re staying here for the afternoon. After lunch we’re reporting to field gamma.” Momo said, leaning forward to look at them from her seat. “That’s great! Isn’t that the industrial one? I wonder what we’ll be doing.” Ojiro said excited as the class eagerly finished their lunches before heading to the locker rooms to change, now with the winter modifications to their costumes. Henshizo put on his thicker suit jacket before waiting for the rest of the guys to walk out, joining up with the girls before heading to field gamma.

“I am so pumped for this.” Hagakure said, moving her arms and legs in both excitement and trying to stay warm. “Aren’t you cold Hagakure?” Jiro asked, as the only way for Hagakure to be effective was to be naked. “Freezing.” Hagakure said, causing some to shake their heads.

“But what about my winter costume huh? So stylish.” Ashido said posing to show off her little vest jacket. “It’s truly incredible that all our costumes have undergone such evolutions.” Iida said in his suit.

“Not sure how you got through the summer heat in that suit.” Sato said as he adjusted his hood. ‘Probably has a fan system in it.’ Henshizo thought as Bakugo, Kaminari, and Kirishima finally joined the rest of the class.

“You’ve gotten a new costume too Kacchan.” Midoriya said, Henshizo seeing how Bakugo was much more wrapped up in his costume. “Huh? You got something to say about my costume you damn nerd? Say it to my face!” Bakugo snapped at him, Henshizo rolling his eyes while turning away from Bakugo overreacting to what Midoriya said.

“We’ve all had some changes, but your costume has probably changed the most Midoriya.” Ojiro said, once Bakugo was done being a hothead. “Yeah, I still remember that real bunny you were on the first day of heroics.” Henshizo said laughing a bit.

“Y-yeah. As I gain more abilities, I have to make sure my costume helps. These are actually different gloves from the original ones Hatsume made.” Midoriya said, showing the gloves off. “Hatsume is either going to be one of the greatest inventors of all time, or cause an explosion that wipes out a third of the country, no in between.” Henshizo said, nodding; as he did this Uraraka punched her helmet, flustered at something.

“Uraraka!” Ojiro cried out in surprise at her actions. “Well, well well, looks like one a is slacking off as usual.” Came an arrogant and smug voice as the class heard steps, 1-A turning and saw their counterparts.

“About time we see ya.” Kirishima said eagerly. “You wish you weren’t. The tide is turning class A! Today you will see just how superior we are and settle this rivalry once and for all!” Monoma said as 1-B were together, most looking at Monoma with annoyance. “Guess what? I surveyed people after the school festival, seeing which they thought was better. Our amazing play or your silly concert, read the results and weep!” Monoma said showing them a paper that said that two more people had liked the play more than the concert.

“Not exactly trust worthy survey.” Henshizo muttered as some of his classmates fretted over it. “You guys have been enjoying the spotlight for too long, but today marks the end of it! It’s class-A versus class-B! Our first joint training battle! And we’re going to-” Monoma continued to monologue until Aizawa used his binding cloth to shut Monoma up, causing Henshizo to stifle a laugh. “That’s enough.” Aizawa said sternly, as some class-B freaked out at Aizawa’s use of his binding cloth, but class A didn’t blink twice at it. ‘Please let me go against him.’ Henshizo thought staring at Monoma.

“Now that you all have cooled off, get on your best behavior.” Vlad King said, staring at all of them seriously. “We have a guest today.” Vlad King continued as Aizawa relaxed his grip on Monoma. “So don’t make fools of yourselves.” Aizawa said as they heard the steps of someone behind the two teachers.

“Fresh meat?” Bakugo said while grinning wickedly. “Hope it’s a girl.” Kaminari muttered to Sero but Kaminari’s hopes were dashed when the guest stepped forward around the teacher’s Ojiro became both shocked and tense as he saw who the guest was.

“He’s hoping to transfer into the hero course; so please welcome, from general studies class 1-C, Hitoshi Shinso.” Aizawa said, Henshizo genuinely surprised seeing Shinso, two things catching his eye immediately; first what was another version of Aizawa’s binding cloth, and second was a weird mask that Henshizo studied, trying to make out what purpose the mask served.

“He’s the one who can brainwash people right? Quite the display during the sports festival.” Aoyama said to Ojiro who nodded. “I had no chance, it’s incredibly powerful.” Ojiro muttered before looking at Midoriya. “But you broke out of it somehow.” He said smiling, Henshizo glancing over at his classmate.

“Yeah, but it was kind of a lucky fluke.” Midoriya said, smiling embarrassingly. “Introduce yourself.” Aizawa said to Shinso, and it struck Henshizo, as Shinso took a step forward, how similar the two looked, especially with the dark circles under their eyes.

“Some you I encountered during the sports festival, and I want one thing clear. We are not friends because we fought then. I don’t care for niceties and I’m already behind you all, so I’m going to do everything I can to catch up. I’m going to be a great hero, that will use my quirk to help people, and to achieve that I have to get past all of you. You’re obstacles and I’m not here to make friends.” Shinso said with conviction as the hero course students mostly clapped, although Henshizo was thinking back to middle school after being placed with his foster family. Henshizo looked back with regret about how he acted, isolating himself and being cold hearted to people; however, he was still observant during middle school and had noticed how others had talked to Shinso about how he could use his work for whatever thing he like, only they talked about villainous things. Henshizo hated his classmates for only seeing the dark side to Shinso’s quirk, as it confirmed to him that they only saw him as a villain, but now the two of them were here, while their middle school classmates were memories now. “With that out of the way, we can begin.” Aizawa said as he and Vlad King picked up boxes.

“It’s battle training time.” Vlad King said showing that the boxes were lots boxes. “Class A against class B. Both classes will split into teams of four and battle the group of the same team number from the other class.” Vlad said explaining the rules, but quite a few glances at Shinso, since he made it an odd number. “How are we going to account for Shinso, as he makes forty-one?” Shishida from class B asked. “Shinso will be participating twice, once with class A and once with class B. Meaning two of the matches will be five against four.” Vlad king explained.

“That’s so unfair to the group of four.” Hagakure cried out annoyed. “Actually, it’s more likely the team of five will be at the disadvantage. Shinso is inexperienced in combat so that team will have to deal with that, so yes, a numbers advantage but also a handicap. Listen carefully, the scenario is this; you and your teammates are a group of heroes working together to catch a group of villains. So, think of your opponents as villains, to win you have to capture four of your opponents.” Vlad King explained, with the handicap easily becoming apparent to Henshizo. ‘The five-person team can lose even if a member is still free, tough.’ Henshizo thought, as he tuned out Iida having an identity crisis about what to role play as. “Each team has a cute prison cell at their home base, an opponent is only captured when they are put into the cage.” Vlad King continued his explanation of the rules of the exercise. “Teams start in their home bases and there is a twenty-minute time limit for each round. Should the time limit expire with no clear winner, then whichever team has the most people captured wins.” Vlad King said, explaining everything.

“So that’s the disadvantage you’re talking about.” Bakugo growled. Vlad King nodded and confirmed what Henshizo had thought. “So, you’re going to make us carry around dead weight?” Bakugo said angrily.

“Hey man, that’s not nice.” Kaminari said to him apologetically. “It’s ok, he isn’t wrong.” Shinso said to Kaminari. “Already more mature than most of us.” Kaminari said defeated.

“Enough chit chat, draw lots to see what team you’ll be on.” Vlad King said as he and Aizawa held the boxes out for their classes. One by one everyone walked up, drawing balls out; when Henshizo pulled his ball out with a five stamped on it, looking around he found his teammates in Midoriya, Uraraka, and Ashido. Ashido was absolutely giddy having Midoriya and Henshizo on her team, while the rest of the class looked at team five with awe that two of the heavy hitters were on the same team. “Right, Shinso draw the teams that you’ll be joining for each class.” Vlad King said as Shinso walked up and pulled a ball from each one, joining Yanagi on team one for class an and team five for class b which had.

“Oh yes! There is a god!” Henshizo cried out in warped glee seeing Monoma on team five for class b, not even caring that they’d be at a numbers disadvantage. Henshizo continued his little celebration of finally being able to lay hands on Monoma as all of class B looked at Monoma with concern, Vlad King looking at Aizawa to make sure it would be safe his pupil. “A reminder that even if you are viewing yourself or the opposing team as villains, that you should have some restraint.” Aizawa said, causing Henshizo to cross his arms at the lack of faith, albeit having fun with it.

“You’re getting a rematch with Shinso Deku.” Uraraka said to Midoriya, who nodded in response. “I know he’s gotten stronger, so I can’t wait to see how he fights.” Midoriya said, pulling his notebook out from seemingly nowhere, confusing Henshizo and Uraraka. “Where’d you pull that from?” She asked looking down at it. As the first two teams left the platform they were on, the remaining teams grouped together and sat down to watch the fights, Henshizo’s team near the steps up to the platform and they turned when they heard the sound of two people coming up the stairs, seeing Midnight and All Might.

“Midnight and All Might together? Is this a date?” Ashido asked cheerfully and playfully. “Now now, I don’t get with older men.” Midnight said smiling gently before turning to the older man. “So which class do you think will come out on top?” Midnight asked the retired pro.

“Hard to say, obviously class A as a whole and some members have faced crises and gotten stronger through that, but when you peel back the curtain clad B has actually gotten the better grades and grown much more. So, it will either be class A with real experience or class B who has shown steady improvement with quiet hard work. I can’t wait to see, because it will be fun to watch.” All Might said, looking at the video board that showed each team now at their respective camps. Henshizo looked at class A’s team of Yanagi, Kaminari, Kirishima, Tsu, and Shinso before looking at class B’s team consisting of Shiozaki and her vine quirk that he had been impressed with at the sports festival, the physically imposing man-beast Shishida, the Chinese exchange student Rin who Henshizo remembered having some type of scale quirk from the festival, and Tsuburaba who had that tricky air quirk. “So, what would your strategy be?” Uraraka asked Midoriya and Henshizo as they watched their classmates discuss things, unable to properly hear them.

“Information will be key, and then trying to decide who to target. Shiozaki arguably has the strongest quirk and it can nullify Kaminari’s quirk. But Shishida is a legitimate powerhouse and you can never underestimate anyone.” Henshizo said leaning back on his hands, paying most attention to Yanagi. “And on the flip side if I’m on the other team it’s almost a pick your poison, two incredibly powerful quirks with poltergeist and electrification, tried and true experience in Kirishima, Tsu thinks everything out, and Shinso is a wild card.” Henshizo continued as they watched class b use the factory setting to disappear from view. “But you think they’ll win?” Ashido asked, Henshizo nodding in response.

“Typical class A arrogance.” Monoma said looking over at them. “Monoma, normally I would find you out, but for your health and all of our safety please don’t say anything to him.” Kendo said coming over as Henshizo ignored him. As they watched, Yanagi, Kaminari, and Shinso all began getting shot by the tiny scales of Rin from the shadows in the pipes, Kirishima jumping in front of them to take as many of the shots as possible while Tsu used her agility to evade. As this happened, Shishida burst through one of the walls of pipes with Tsuburaba on his back, knocking Kirishima back with a powerful backhand; while simultaneously vines began shooting out from the other side.

“Using the cover of the area to help against the numbers.” Midoriya said in worry. “There we go Apocabeast!” Tsuburaba said celebrating on the back of his classmate. “Next take out Emily.” Came his voice as the Kaminari ran from the vines.

“Got it.” Shishida said but he suddenly went limp on his feet. “Hey…. That wasn’t me.” Tsuburaba said confused and then looked at Shinso. “Did he speak with my voice?” Tsuburaba asked confused as all those that were watching were surprised and some awestruck.

“That explains the mask, must be able to mimic voices it records.” Henshizo said as the vines chasing Kaminari were seemingly getting cut out from nothing. “What’s happening to Shiozaki’s vines?!” Tetsutetsu cried out, Henshizo noticing Yanagi directing her hands towards the vines.

“Yanagi is using the scales Kirishima deflected to cut through the vines. Those would have to be moving incredibly fast.” Midoriya said as he frantically wrote things down. Tsu used her tongue to try get Tsuburaba off of Shishida’s back before Tsuburaba could snap Shishida out of the brainwash. Tsuburaba blew air in front of him, Tsu’s tongue making a barrier for it to bounce off of.

“Get your classmate off your back.” Shinso said, Shishida then whipped arm back and knocked Tsuburaba off, letting Tsu wrap her tongue around him. At this time Kirishima came jogging back as Yanagi continued to use the shot scales to keep Shiozaki’s vines in check. Kirishima went in to find Rin and after a few moments, Rin got sent flying out before being wrapped up by Shinso in the binding cloth. Shiozaki tried to save both Shishida and Rin, but Yanagi’s improvised scale saw kept her vines in check. “Help me, Vine!” Rin called out but no response came, clearly Shiozaki was unable to trust the words because of Shinso’s presence. As the vines retracted back there was a bright flash as Kaminari lit up the area with his electricity forcing Shiozaki to wrap herself in vines to insulate herself from the surge. As she was wrapped up Yanagi used her quirk to pick Kirishima up in his hardened state.

“Scary red gun turret!” Kirishima called out as Yanagi used the scales from Rin to cut open the vines before she sent Kirishima flying in, driving his fist into Shiozaki’s stomach. “Sorry!” Kirishima said, catching Shiozaki before she hit the ground. “What an incredible combination, Yanagi adding the speed of her quirk to Kirishima’s power.” Midoriya said excited as most of the class celebrated as team one either dragged or carried class b’s members back to the cage, Shinso having Shishida walk back and put himself in the cage. Vlad King sighed before raising the mic to his mouth.

“With teamwork class 1-A takes the first round.” Vlad King said in a defeated tone. “No need to be so upset.” Aizawa said to him, as the participants began coming back to the platform for evaluations, Shishida carrying Shiozaki in his arms since Kirishima’s punch hurt. The teams lined up shoulder to shoulder as each teacher walked up to their students. “What did you guys do wrong?” Aizawa asked the victors, Tsu and Kirishima looking the most pensive.

“We let them get the drop on us, we should’ve been more mindful of our surroundings rather than trying to strategize.” Kirishima said taking his helmet off. “We got put on our back foot early and got overwhelmed by so many attacks. We have to be able to keep our nerves under control.” Tsu said looking down.

“Meanwhile I held it down.” Kaminari said, the beginning of the side effect of his quirk setting in. “I agree more with Asui, apologies, Tsu. I let myself be an easy target.” Yanagi said, pulling her mask down.

“It’s fascinating how those that did the work study are much more reflective on this exercise.” Aoyama said quietly to a few others. “Because they saw real action, with the worst outcome, and know what can happen in the field. So, they realize they have to take everything seriously, even training like this.” Henshizo muttered, Midoriya looking down at his notebook sadly.

“I couldn’t use a quarter of what you taught me, my reflexes weren’t fast enough.” Shinso said to Aizawa as he played with the binding cloth. “Not bad. Kirishima, focus on forcing a fight with your enemy head on, that’s your strength. Yanagi, really have a plan to use your quirk. Asui, don’t think about the mistakes after they happen, overcome them. Kaminari, are you only able to use your power when in danger? Be more offensive with it and take every part of a fight serious.” Aizawa told them all sternly.

“Yes sir!” They called out, the four walking away to rest up. “We should really strategize now, with knowing Shinso’s abilities now.” Midoriya said, Henshizo nodding, sitting with him, Uraraka, and Ashido, while teams three and four also began to strategize, well try to in team four’s case as Bakugo just yelled at them to follow his lead.

“We should come up with some combo moves!” Ashido said excited while Uraraka looked at Henshizo. “Do you have something you want to do to Monoma.” Uraraka asked quietly as Henshizo stared at the loud blonde from class b.

“Oh I got something planned for him, but we have to be careful with him, if I remember correctly from the sports festival, it’s any body part, he touches he can then copy the quirk, including hair. I’m not sure if it works if he touches clothes, at the very least we have to avoid him touching anything of our body.” Henshizo said seriously the other three nodding and began formulating ideas and plans. A few minutes after they began doing this Vlad stepped forward away from Aizawa, All Might, and Midnight. “Teams in the second match, go to the starting points!” Vlad King bellowed, causing Momo, Tokoyami, Hagakure, and Aoyama to head down the steps of one side of the platform, while for class b; Kendo, Komori, Fukidashi, and Kuroiro walked down the other side. “I suppose we should support our classmates, right?” Henshizo said, the three chuckling and nodded in agreement, so they turned to the video board and waited for the second fight to begin.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 65: Fight on Dear Classmates

Summary:

Henshizo watches as his classmates battle on, including his cousin Momo and work study partner Tokoyami. How will they fair and how will Class B try to upstage class A?

Henshizo looked at his cousin as she led team two to their starting point anxious for her to do well. “Begin! And good luck to class B team 2!” Vlad bellowed into the mic, to the chagrin of some of class A. “How about no biased commentary!” Ashido cried out as they watched the teams begin to go towards the center of the battlefield. Henshizo watching his work study partner Tokoyami spawn dark shadow to go around them to act as a defense, and Henshizo thought back to a patrol they had together with Hawks. ______________________________________________________________________________

“Sesshada, may I have your opinion on something?” Tokoyami asked as they rounded a corner, Hawks waving to some fans. “Depends, I can give really good advice on what suit will look good on you.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami shaking his head politely. “While I admit your suit knowledge is second to none in our class, I have more of a tactical advice question, and you have more direct knowledge about this.” Tokoyami said, as Hawks looked back at them a bit. “What are tactics villains employ the most since their quirks tend to be weaker than pros?” Tokoyami asked him, Henshizo tilting his head thinking while Hawks watched curiously. “Typically, it’s two things; one use something or someone like a hostage or weapon of some kind. Second is use the hero’s powers against them. Take Mt. Lady for example, when she grows her power goes up, but she sacrifices speed and agility, so use her limitations against her to tip the scales in your favor. But be aware that people will be trying to take advantage of dark shadow to use against you.” Henshizo said seriously.

“Yahata is right. It’s something I like to do too, use my opponent’s quirk or moves against them.” Hawks said nodding lightly. “I see… so I should be aware of how others can use my strength against me.” Tokoyami said, both Henshizo and Hawks nodding. “Yeah, I suppose with you, anyone who has a shadow or darkness manipulation quirk they would try to use dark shadow against you. Those aren’t common quirks, but they’d be ones to be wary of.” Hawks said looking back ahead as they walked along.
______________________________________________________________________________

‘Dark manipulation quirks rare… but Kuroiro is the personification of darkness, odds are he would cause trouble for dark shadow, smart Tokoyami.’ Henshizo thought as he watched dark shadow defend the other three. “So Sesshada what do you think of this fight?” Ashido asked curiously, Henshizo sighing. “You have one of the most dangerous quirks in class arguably period, I just hope that they’re ready for it.” Henshizo said glancing to the part of the screen that showed class B’s team doing prep work on a plan they devised.

“You already know huh?” Tetsutetsu said walking over to them with a grin on his face before looking at the screen. “Komori may not look like much, but like you said her quirk is dangerous.” He said with pride in his classmate as some of class A looked at each other worried. On the screen, Momo pointed to the side and they saw Hagakure’s gloves and boots run off to the side and out of sight. “Class B’s team can do sneak attacks, given Fukidashi’s ability, so trying to split up and be careful is the best move for right now.” Midoriya said as they watched Fukidashi and Kuroiro disappear into the pipework as well. After several moments of watching Kendo, Komori, Tokoyami, Aoyama, and Momo jogging towards each other, the trio from class A had suddenly dodge in different directions as large letters shot out from the side, separating the three that were still in the main pathway. “Fukidashi’s quirk, quite formidable and destructive.” Midoriya muttered as Tokoyami, Aoyama, and Momo were separated.

“They’ve set up one on one matches while also making it harder for Momo and the others to take any of them back to the prison.” Henshizo said seeing how the words had been built up. “But no one knows where Hagakure is.” Uraraka said, Henshizo nodding as Tokoyami had to dodge another line of letters. Aoyama was looking around worried as Henshizo saw Kuroiro poke his head out of shadows in the pipes before sneaking back down into the shadows before Aoyama saw him. Henshizo then went to see Momo as she made a metal bo staff as Kendo walked up to her, cracking her knuckles. “I think things didn’t go exactly class B’s way with these matchups.” Henshizo said looking at the three.

“What do you mean?” Sero asked as he walked over to them, the class slowly coming together to root for their classmates, apart from Bakugo. “Aoyama makes light, taking away shadows which is Kuroiro’s thing; while Tokoyami can possibly get himself over the letters of Fukidashi. Kendo versus Momo though… that’s what Kendo probably wanted.” Henshizo said as Momo and Kendo began circling each other. The girls began fighting, Momo using the Bo staff to keep the martial arts trained Kendo at bay as Aoyama stayed in the light, unknowingly keeping Kuroiro away. The video board then switched to show Tokoyami surveying his area, then dodging another word.

“Fukidashi has him now!” Awase said excited, but most people watched confused as Tokoyami took his cloak off and wrapped it around dark shadow, Henshizo however lightly smiled. Suddenly Tokoyami began flying gracefully up slipping past the top of the words and surveyed the scene. “Since when can he fly so well?!” Kaminari asked as most of the people watching were surprised. ‘Since Hawks showed him the beauty of the sky.’ Henshizo mused to himself as he watched.
______________________________________________________________________________

After a day of patrol Henshizo, Tokoyami, and Hawks’s sidekicks were heading down the hall after a debrief from Hawks. “Hey Tokoyami, hang back briefly.” Hawks said from the door to his office, Henshizo and Tokoyami looking back at him, before Tokoyami looked at Henshizo apologetically. “Don’t worry, I saw something earlier I wanted to check out. I’ll be waiting at the bakery at the end of the street, I’ve been wanting to try their chocolate chip melonpan.” Henshizo said giving a reassuring nod. Tokoyami gave a light bow and went back into Hawks’s office. Henshizo left the building, walked across the street, and as he opened the door to the bakery, he saw movement above him, causing him to look up. Above him and the city flew Hawks, holding Tokoyami under him. Henshizo chuckled softly to himself, before walking into the bakery, ordered the chocolate chip melonpan he had seen alongside a cup of royal milk tea and waited outside for Tokoyami. After a few minutes Tokoyami came walking over, Henshizo stood up, and the two began walking to the train station. “So, what did Hawks want to talk to you about?” Henshizo asked curiously. “He wanted me to stop shying away from my strengths. He said it’s not bad to work on my weak spots, but to not forget what I can do.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo nodding as he thought it was good advice from someone who had said he wasn’t looking to train the next generation of heroes.

______________________________________________________________________________

Tokoyami flew up with what he called dark fallen angel before he flew down very quickly at Fukidashi, the camera having to switch feeds to into the piping to continue to show the confrontation. Fukidashi desperately tried to launch a word at Tokoyami, but Tokoyami dodged to the side, cocked his right arm back and dark shadow sent a large shadow fist at Fukidashi, crushing him under it, while also causing some pipes to fall around them and dust to kick up. “Way to go Tokoyami!” Ashido cheered out as most of class A cheered at the hit. Henshizo however turned his eyes to another corner of the screen as Kendo was putting Momo on the ropes. “It’s not looking good for the rest of our classmates.” Henshizo muttered, as Aoyama was trying his best to keep Kuroiro away with his naval laser, and Hagakure now had mushrooms sprouting on her, taking away her invisibility as she got too close to Komori. Tokoyami used dark shadow to take the unconscious Fukidashi back to the prison cell at class a’s base.

“Holy crap, look at all the mushrooms.” Kaminari said, mushrooms sprouting more and more around the field and even began sprouting on Momo and Aoyama. “How? They’re nowhere near Komori. They shouldn’t be growing on them.” Uraraka said confused, Henshizo’s brow furrowed as he thought.

“It’s the spores… class b must have some spores on their costumes and all the moment they’re doing, coupled with Fukidashi’s quirk, is letting them spread.” Midoriya said awe truck, Henshizo nodding in agreement. “But how come they aren’t sprouting on Kendo or anyone else?” Kirishima asked confused. “Komori must either be able to control them really well, or has a trick to keep the spores off them.” Midoriya said unsure as to which it was.

“My guess is some sort of trick.” Henshizo muttered as they watched Tokoyami closed the door on the prison cell scoring one point before, he began to fly again towards the center to back up his classmates. Kendo smashed through a second shield Momo had made and brought her arm back for a finishing blow until Momo suddenly made a cannon, causing Kendo to leap to the side. Momo however tilted the cannon upwards and shot it up, just as Tokoyami flew by and grabbed the bag the cannon had shot out of the air and continued to fly towards Aoyama and Kuroiro. Henshizo had a small smirk, but closed his hand in his pocket knowing what was about to happen. As Kendo went for the final blow, Momo in desperation had cables shoot out of her arms that wrapped around part of Kendo on one side, and around the cannon on the other; this however did nothing to stop the giant punch Kendo landed on Momo, making her go limp as she stood. However, thanks to the cables Momo had tied herself standing upright to Kendo. Tokoyami was giving chase to Kuroiro through the pipes, now wearing night vision goggles that Momo had made for him and was in the bag. Kuroiro was using the darkness to stay ahead of Tokoyami while Ashido gasped seeing the form of Hagakure collapse to the ground, almost completely covered in mushrooms. Kuroiro fled to where Komori was slowly trying to drag Hagakure back to their prison cells, but Tokoyami came flying down and delivered dark shadow assisted punches to both of them. The blow sent Komori skidding along the ground while Tokoyami used his cloak to trap Kuroiro in. “They’ve lost.” Henshizo muttered sighing. “What do you mean? They got the edge, one locked up, Kuroiro restrained and Kendo is literally tied up.” Uraraka said confused as they watched Tokoyami walk towards Komori to restrain her. “The fool, he’s underestimating her.” Monoma said smugly, Henshizo growling ever so lightly hearing that. As most watched Tokoyami go restrain Komori, Henshizo and others say Aoyama try and laser Kendo, but she dodged enough to cut the wires binding her and Momo.

“Aoyama, you aren’t great precision.” Ashido sighed as Kendo, now free, charged at him; Aoyama started to rapidly shoot his lasers, but Kendo dodged his lasers showing surprising agility before swinging her arms out, enlarging her hands to be bigger than the dumpsters they had at UA before clapping them together with Aoyama in the middle. “Let’s go Kendo! Dodged like back in the forest and made him into a pancake!” Tetsutetsu said pumping his fist in the air as Kendo picked both Aoyama and Momo up in one hand each.

“Simple, brutal, and effective.” Midoriya said looking at Aoyama as the glasses he had on him fell off his face in pieces. “What’s happening to Tokoyami?” Sero asked worried as Tokoyami was now bent over and coughing hard, dark shadow trying to help him.

“Komori… nasty trick, she must have done the same thing to Hagakure but for obvious reasons we couldn’t really see.” Henshizo said crossing his arms. Kendo had managed to drag Momo and Aoyama back to that point as Komori got Kuroiro out of Tokoyami’s cloak. “Guess you would recognize symptoms of a poisoning eh Sesshada?” Monoma said looking over and Henshizo snarled and tried dashing at him but was restrained by Midoriya, Sero, Kirishima, and Kaminari before Yanagi came over and simply put Henshizo in her quirk and floated him while Henshizo strained to get at Monoma.

“Monoma, antagonizing him before facing him in combat is unwise, for your safety and the safety of your classmates if you do it again, I’m giving detention.” Vlad King said seriously as Momo put Momo and Aoyama in the prison cell, Kuroiro carried Hagakure into the cell as Tokoyami staggered into the cell due to Komori ordering him to. Kendo closed the door and the horn sounded, Henshizo still straining against Yanagi’s quirk. “A heroic come from behind victory for class B!” Vlad said into the mic, annoying class A. “Stop the biased commentary!” Ashido cried out as Henshizo finally cooled down enough that Yanagi set him back down on the platform and out of her quirk. They watched as Komori began helping Tokoyami and Hagakure with the mushrooms.

“Yaoyorozu will make a fine leader one day.” Midnight said pleased despite Momo being taken away by some medical bots. Henshizo heard this and gave a gentle smile, happy to see his cousin’s potential be acknowledged. Monoma started walking over towards them to taunt about class B’s victory, but remembered Vlad King’s threat of detention and decided to just go celebrate with his class. “Listen up everyone! We’re going to have to switch to a different area, so for now we’re taking a break.” Aizawa called out to everyone as Class B, along with Hagakure and Tokoyami came back to the platform, Aoyama also having to be taken to Recovery Girl’s office.

“Yes, partly because Kendo and Fukidashi need to remember to control the damage to the areas they’re fighting in.” Vlad said looking at his two students who promptly apologized. Most of the two classes began to mingle and talk to each other to pass the time, but Henshizo and his teammates just stayed together in the ground as Midoriya was writing in his notebook. “It’s not just everyone’s quirks that have gotten stronger, but everyone’s got mentally stronger which helps them push their quirks past their limits.” Midoriya said eagerly, causing Henshizo to lightly smirk at his classmate’s analytical habit.

“You’re writing a lot. You know, you’ve grown a lot too, Deku.” Uraraka said to Midoriya, catching him off guard and getting him to pause his writing and mumbling. “Yeah? I hope so.” Midoriya said sheepishly.

“We’ve all grown a lot… well not physically for some.” Henshizo said chuckling causing Mina to giggle, as the four of them heard soft footsteps walk up behind them. “I am here… quietly.” All Might said looking down at them in a quiet tone.

“All Might.” Midoriya said happily but also a bit quiet. “A moment, young Midoriya?” All Might asked politely. “Of course.” Midoriya said standing up to follow the retired great.

“You two are friendly.” Ashido said looking at the two as Henshizo looked at them, studying them slightly as the pair walked away. “All Might and Midoriya spend a lot of time together. I mean, sure their quirks are similar and Midoriya is easily the biggest fan of All Might in the whole world, but still odd.” Henshizo said to the two girls.

“I heard All Might has really been helping Midoriya train since the school festival.” Uraraka said, causing Ashido to grin behind her. “I’m not surprised you have the details on Midoriya.” Ashido teased, causing Uraraka to get flustered and begin wave her hands back and forth. “I said I heard that, that’s all.” Uraraka said in a mildly panicked voice, which did nothing to stop the ideas Ashido and Henshizo had in their heads; but Uraraka accidentally touched Ashido and in her flusters state, Uraraka activated her quirk which caused Ashido to float above them. “Sorry!” Uraraka cried out as Henshizo stood up.

“Don’t waste your energy and get sick before our match.” He said to her as he positioned himself under Ashido to catch her, Ashido now having fun with it and making herself spin in the air. Uraraka released her quirk, causing Ashido to fall right into Henshizo’s arms, causing just a tiny grunt to escape from him, but impressing Ashido as he set back down on the ground. “Thanks, Sesshada, I forget you’re so strong.” Ashido said teasingly, but Henshizo remained unflustered; however, Yanagi who had been watching got tinges of red on her face that was mostly covered by her mask. Henshizo then glanced over to where All Might, Midoriya, and now Bakugo were talking, Bakugo now seemingly scolding All Might and Midoriya, but Henshizo found it really odd that the normally boisterous All Might and loudmouthed Bakugo were talking quietly so that the conversation the three were having was private.

“Time for the third match! We’re moving the field two blocks east of the previous rounds.” Vlad King called out to everyone, causing the third teams from each class to start heading to the stairs. Henshizo got up to walk over a bit. “You got this Ojiro.” Henshizo said to his friend, who smiled back.

“Thanks man.” Ojiro said with a nod. “Todoroki.” Tokoyami said also coming up, causing the dual-colored haired boy to turn to him.

“Tokoyami, what’s it? Is your throat, ok?” Todoroki asked as Henshizo stood there curiously. “Yes, the medicine Recovery Girl gave me has already cleared my throat. I’m fine.” Tokoyami said, Todoroki giving a tiny nod in response. “That’s good.” Todoroki said, a little confused still as to why Tokoyami had come up to him. “My performance was shameful, so now it’s up to you, and you as well Sesshada.” Tokoyami said, confusing both boys. “Why us?” Todoroki asked speaking what Henshizo was thinking. “Hawks and Endeavor. We three have studied under the heroes of the last great battle, numbers one and two. It’s our duty to uphold their honor, as our actions reflect on them.” Tokoyami said seriously, Henshizo tilting his head because he had not thought of that. “Yeah.” Todoroki said before heading down the stairs to join Iida, Ojiro, and Shoji.

“I’m not sure telling Todoroki to uphold the honor of his father is the best move.” Henshizo said quietly to Tokoyami as they began walking back to join the class. “I’m aware of the strained relationship between them, but I mean what I say. I apologize for adding more pressure to you.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo chuckling softly. “You think Hawks would care about us trying to uphold his honor? The same guy that likes to make fun of himself.” Henshizo said chuckling more. “I suppose that’s fair, but I still believe it reflects on them, because it shows how they’ve taught us.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo nodding as he couldn’t disagree with that. Henshizo walked back to his team before turning to look at the split screen showing the two teams.

“Iida’s turn, as well as Todoroki.” Uraraka said eagerly before turning to Henshizo. “How do you think they’ll do Sesshada?” She asked, causing Henshizo to tilt his head. “Honenuki got in on recommendations like Todoroki, he may not have the pure attack power like Todoroki, but he can turn the battlefield on its head, which is invaluable. Tetsutetsu is also tough because you’d have to either wear him down or overpower him in raw physical strength, none of those on our team can easily do that. Kaibara and Ojiro sort of cancel each other out, both excel in close combat, leaving Tsunotori and her ranged precise attacks. They may not have the scouting ability, but in a head on fight it’s going to be a tough out for Ojiro and the others.” Henshizo said seriously as the horn sounded to officially start the third round.

“I forget that you’re smart when it comes to fight planning. Smart, strong, and mysterious.” Ashido said teasingly as she glanced over to Yanagi unknowingly, Yanagi not liking how Ashido described Henshizo. Class A’s team calmly walked down the middle towards the other team, but they saw Tetsutetsu turn metal before beginning to smash the pipes and structures in front of class B’s team. “Did you listen to what I said?” Vlad King asked unamused at his student, having ignored what Vlad King had told Kendo and Fukidashi to limit the damage to done to the area.

“Huh, there’s something that doesn’t happen often.” Henshizo muttered as he watched Tetsutetsu smash more of his surroundings as his team tried to get him to stop. “What happened?” Midoriya asked confused, looking up from his notebook. “I underestimated him, well I underestimated his intelligence. He used the criticism Aizawa gave Kirishima and applied it to himself. Didn’t think he had the ability to be that critical.” Henshizo said crossing his sitting down on the ground.

“I just think he likes to smash things.” Ashido said as they watched Todoroki send the same type of massive ice wave attack as he had used against Sero and Henshizo at the sports festival, encasing Tetsutetsu, Tsunotori, and Kaibara in ice. “So powerful, but different from the sports festival.” Henshizo muttered about Todoroki’s ice attack. “Yeah, he’s no longer blocking his vision.” Ashido said excited as Iida began speeding towards the trapped members of class b but he fell through the ice that seemingly turned to Jello.

“Honenuki!” Hagakure cried out frustrated seeing Honenuki on a pipe. “Quirks that change the environment can turn the battle in a heartbeat.” Uraraka said, Henshizo nodding in agreement as they watched Ojiro leap from his hiding spot onto a pipe and suddenly get caught into a softened portion of another pipe. “And class b’s team with a perfect counter to Todoroki’s ice attack and can now launch a counter-offensive.” Vlad King said into the mic.

“Surely that’s a form of cheating, helping them.” Henshizo muttered as Ashido, Jiro, Hagakure, Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima protested his commentary. As that was happening, Momo came walking back up the steps so Henshizo stood up and walked over to her. “Hey Momo, how are you feeling?” He asked softly, Momo giving a gentle hand wave back. “I’m ok, just feel a bit upset I lost to Kendo like I did. Do you think I did well?” Momo asked as they turned to watch Tetsutetsu bull rush Todoroki and push him back. “I think you were great on the strategy front and the sacrifice play at the end was great. You just have to find that edge in you to help win fights.” Henshizo said reassuringly, Momo nodding in response. “What would you have done in that situation, with Kendo on the attack like she was?” Momo asked as they watched Honenuki begin to walk away from the now trapped Iida. “I would have added spikes to the shield, she was already hurting her hands with the attacks, but it’s natural instinct to avoid sharp stuff, so she would have likely hesitated for a moment or two to assess where she could attack, giving you time to strike.” Henshizo said as they saw the ice around Iida begin to crack, now able to hear what the fighters were saying.

“Ingenium will always be able to rush to the scene to help those that need helping!” Iida called out as he began cutting through the ice, going straight for Honenuki. “I’ve raised my limit to ten minutes! Ten minutes where no one can stop me!” Iida called out, the cameras able to hear him and he began speeding around and around Honenuki so fast that neither he nor anyone watching could keep up with his speed. After a couple of moments, the spectators saw the streak of white Iida had become go right to Honenuki before Honenuki got kicked up, clearly Iida had landed a blow on him. When Honenuki landed Iida took a moment to recover from his speed blitz, and as he lined up for another dash at Honenuki, Honenuki slipped under the ice and got away, Iida looking at where he had disappeared. “I see how he got in on recommendations.” Henshizo muttered, rejoining his teammates, Momo going to hers to watch.

“Recipro turbo, he’s even faster than Gran Torino.” Midoriya said, writing down in his notebook again on the page for Iida. “Yeah, your shoot style kind of copied him, so needed something to distinguish himself again.” Henshizo said to Midoriya. “I should ask him for help with my kicking again.” Midoriya said looking at his notebook.

“Forget that guys, Ojiro is in trouble.” Ashido said worried as they looked at the screen as it cut to Ojiro fighting Kaibara in the pipework. “Come on Ojiro.” Henshizo muttered, worried for his friend, who was still on the defensive.

“Kaibara’s quirk might be causing secondary damage.” Midoriya muttered, frantically flipping pages in his journal as Ojiro tried to get away by using his tail on a pipe, but Kaibara punched part of the pipe that Ojiro was on and the vibrations from his quirk caused the pipe to shake too much, which caused Ojiro’s tail to slip off the pipe and him to fall, with Kaibara getting ready to deliver a devastating blow to Ojiro’s back when suddenly Iida appeared dashing along and grabbed Kaibara and began taking him to jail, Kaibara spinning rapidly to try and free himself. “Thank you, Iida.” Henshizo said, glad to see his friend land safely in the pipe. The feed the spectators were being shown followed Iida until he got to the jail and put Kaibara in it, the cameras then cutting to Todoroki, Tetsutetsu, Shoji, and Tsunotori; Tsunotori having pinned Shoji to a large pipe with her horns as Todoroki tried to fend off Tetsutetsu with his ice, but Tetsutetsu kept punching through it since he was staying in his steel form.

“Using the same attack that doesn’t work is such a rookie move.” Bakugo said, amused at the struggle Todoroki was finding himself in. The classes watched as Todoroki switched to using his flames, which sent Tsunotori running away, letting Shoji free himself. The flames engulfed Tetsutetsu as Shoji gave chase to Tsunotori, before Tetsutetsu came charging through the flames now red hot. “Thats it Tetsutetsu, overwhelm Todoroki in close quarters combat! Don’t let him rest!” Vlad King called out over the mic.

“Knock off that type of biased commentary!” A quarter of class A called out as Tetsutetsu delivered a gut punch to Todoroki. “Half cold, half hot does nothing to me!” Tetsutetsu yelled at Todoroki and it was picked up by the mic so the classes could hear that as he grabbed Todoroki’s jaw with a hand and began repeatedly punching him. “He really has Todoroki on the ropes.” Henshizo muttered as they watched Todoroki put his left hand up and the cameras caught the heat waves around him and Tetsutetsu get worse until Tetsutetsu let go of Todoroki, waving his hand side to side indicating the heat was really intense. Todoroki’s flames grew stronger and brighter, Henshizo thinking that the way the flames were billowing that Todoroki looked like Endeavor a bit, before the camera that had the angle for the fight suddenly had static go across it and then blacked out.

“The camera melted.” Vlad King said in astonishment, everyone floored by the display of power Todoroki had displayed before they lost visual. The camera feed switched to Tsunotori scrambling away from Shoji before she positioned herself and began launching waves of horns at Shoji, who made several arms and began punching the horns as rapidly as the horns were shot at him, Shoji even stopping a behind the back attempt by Tsunotori, putting the two into a stalemate. The stalemate broken by Ojiro leaping down from the pipes, wrapping his tail around Tsunotori and then grabbed her horns with his hands, making her unable to fire more horns. Shoji walked up to help Ojiro but suddenly the ground softened under Shoji, causing him to sink in and the metal box Tsunotori and Ojiro were on began sinking too. “Honenuki.” Midoriya said shocked at the sudden appearance of Honenuki behind Shoji. Honenuki made the ground even softer, causing Shoji to sink even further as Tsunotori and Ojiro sank in as well. Honenuki dived under the softened ground, disappearing from sight, but Ojiro suddenly began really struggling, so Henshizo guessed that Honenuki had gone over to free Tsunotori from Ojiro’s tail.

“Fist of the tail, swamp smack spin!” Ojiro cried out, causing the softened ground to be blended around, freeing Shoji and sent Honenuki into a pipe. Shoji began trying to free Ojiro while Ojiro was still holding on to Tsunotori, when suddenly two horns came up from the softened ground before stabbing themselves into Ojiro’s tail, blood being drawn. “Come on Ojiro.” Henshizo muttered as two more horns came out of the ground to also stab Ojiro in the tail and suddenly Ojiro was yanked from Shoji’s grip and was being flown away through the pipes while still holding on to Tsunotori. The camera feed began shifting rapidly to show Tsunotori gliding herself and Ojiro with her horns right to class b’s base and slammed into the jail cell.

“Doesn’t matter how, if you’re in the cell, you’re out”. Vlad King said as both Ojiro and Tsunotori laid in the cell, moving slowly thanks to the impact. “You had her Ojiro.” Henshizo said sadly as his friend was now imprisoned and the score was tied one to one. The camera feed then cut back to Todoroki and Tetsutetsu locked together in a sea of flames, as both seemed to be moving slower than the last time the classes had seen them. “What’s wrong with them?” Henshizo asked Midoriya, because if anyone would have an idea of what was wrong, it would be Midoriya.

“I think both are overheating, while both have a high tolerance there’s probably a limit still. Todoroki can’t cool himself down because Tetsutetsu is still close to him.” Midoriya said as Tetsutetsu threw a punch at Todoroki, but Todoroki blocked it, both staggering a bit before Todoroki slapped away Tetsutetsu’s follow up attack with his left arm and kept it raised; seemingly sucking the sea of flames up and the classes watching were shocked at the bright fire ball that Todoroki had on his hand. As Todoroki was going to punch Tetsutetsu, he suddenly sunk a bit as Honenuki appeared behind Todoroki in the ground, his softening causing the structures and pipes around them to move and fall apart, one pipe falling and landing directly to the back of Todoroki’s head. As Todoroki fell forward there was a sudden flash and Iida came dashing in, managing to kick Honenuki as he ran by, shattering half of Honenuki’s helmet, before Iida skidded to a stop and picked up the unconscious Todoroki. Iida then began gliding away, blowing past Tetsutetsu who was barley standing on his feet. “Rescue is my first priority!” Iida called out and the classes heard, causing Henshizo to smirk ever so slightly as he thought back to Hosu and the fight with Stain, how Iida has learned from his mistake. As Iida was getting away with the unconscious Todoroki, Honenuki managed to quickly crawl to a tall silo and put his hand against it.

“Knock it over Tetsutetsu!” Honenuki cried out, Tetsutetsu turning himself into steel again and charged right into the silo like a ram, the force of his charge combined with Honenuki’s softening caused the entire silo to shake before falling directly towards Iida who tried to get away, but the silo was too tall and the top of it crashed down onto Iida, Iida tossing Todoroki out of the landing zone to protect him, before the silo and its contents solidified, trapping Iida under it. “Everyone is down! But until they’re put into a cell they’re not out!” Vlad King called out as Todoroki, Tetsutetsu, and Honenuki all lay on the ground not moving.

“Look.” Kirishima said pointing as the camera as it switched to Shoji chasing after Tsunotori who was gliding along on a pair of her horns towards where the silo had fallen. Tsunotori stayed just outside Shoji’s grasp as she sent a pair of horns forward, hooking them into Tetsutetsu’s and Honenuki’s costumes and lifting them up while she quickly glided over and picked up the unconscious Todoroki and began trying to get back to her base, however Shoji was closing the gap much quicker now. “Tsunotori must have a limit on the weight she can carry with her horns, so with three people she can’t go as fast.” Midoriya said before writing in his journal. Shoji duplicated some arms to almost catch her when Tsunotori suddenly flew straight up and out of his reach.

“What’s she doing Deku?” Uraraka asked as Henshizo crossed his arms. “It’s the safest route. She made sure Shoji can’t take her teammates to jail.” Midoriya said looking on seriously. “But why did she take Todoroki?” Uraraka asked confused, looking at the screen too.

“Todoroki has the range to get them potentially even if in the air. But controlling him means they don’t have to worry about it.” Henshizo said with a hint of disappointment in his voice at how things had unfolded for his classmates. “But she can’t win if she doesn’t do anything.” Ashido said looking at the feed of the floating foreign exchange student. “She can’t win, but she can’t lose either.” Henshizo said heavily annoyed as the timer in the upper left corner of the screen grew large as the timer ticked under thirty seconds. “The time!” Ashido cried out in disbelief as it ticked down until eventually a horn sounded.

“The twenty minute time limit has been reached, with a score of one to one, this round is a draw!” Vlad King declared through the mic as medical bots began going out into the field to take Ojiro, Tetsutetsu, Honenuki, and Todoroki after Tsunotori landed away to Recovery Girl’s office, while a couple of other robots began chipping away at debris that were trapping Iida. “Such an unsatisfying end.” Kaminari complained.

“In real combat, retreating to wait for back up is a valid strategy.” Shishida said to him, causing Kaminari and Kirishima to sigh as they knew he was right. “Like round two with a high number of injured we will do the assessments for the fighters later.” Vlad King said into the mic.

“Poor Iida, he must be disappointed with how it ended.” Uraraka said sadly as they watched the excavation effort. “Yeah, but he was really awesome in that match.” Midoriya said a bit cheerfully. Once again, the field for fighting had to be shifted for the fourth match, thanks to the destruction of Tetsutetsu and Honenuki’s quirks as well as Todoroki’s.

“Those of you on your class’s team four make your way to your team’s base!” Vlad King called out; for 1-A this was Jiro, Sero, Sato, and Bakugo who was leading the other three down the steps, as they still tried to talk to him about forming a plan. Monoma began sauntering around the platform. “Oh, how I’ve waited for this battle. Why you ask? Because our Tokage is in it! She’s the other recommendation entry student and can be quite troublesome.” Monoma said laughing manically.

“How many teeth can I knock out of his mouth without getting in trouble?” Henshizo asked his teammates annoyed at the blonde’s baseless smug laughter. “I just hope you do something to put him in his place.” Ashido said, as between Vlad King’s biased commentary and Monoma monologuing everything, she had grown very agitated.

“Once the teams are in position, we will start the fourth match!” Vlad King called out into the mic, 1-B’s team of Tokage, Awase Kamakiri, and Bondo having to walk longer to their starting point but they quickly got there. “Let the fourth match begin!” Vlad King called out, pressing a button to sound the horn for the round to start. Once the horn sounded, Sero began zipping around the pipes, leaving tape as he went along, forming a spider web almost of his tape while Jiro went to the side and plugged her earphone jack into the wall. “This may be the most balanced team our class has had.” Uraraka said, Henshizo and Midoriya nodding in agreement.

“Strength, speed, agility, recon ability, all in one team.” Henshizo said as they watched 1-B’s team split up, and in Tokage’s case literally as she split herself into several pieces before going throughout the field. “That is easily one of the most disturbing and yet cool quirks I’ve seen.” Henshizo muttered as Midoriya began frantically writing down in his journal with mutters. They watched as Bakugo lead the charge while the other three tried their best to keep up with him. “As match four begins you may think that the classes are even with one win apiece and a tie from the last round. However, that isn’t true! Class A’s win came from the help of Shinso. Showing class B is better!” Vlad King said laughing into the mic.

“Thats too mean Sensei!” Kirishima and Kaminari cried out. “Really leaning into the cold-blooded aspect of being a vampire.” Midnight muttered as Henshizo’s eye really twitched at the disrespect show to his classmates and that included Momo. As Aizawa went over to quiet down the protest of Vlad’s commentary Henshizo walked away from people and put a marble in his hand before changing it to the version of a holding board that prisoners would wear as necklaces and began putting letters on it, ignoring the derisive laughter of Monoma, once the board was finished he changed it back to a marble and pocketed it, using the lotion dispenser he had in his suit to repair his hands to be sure he was fully ready to go for their fight before turning back to the video board to watch. As Bakugo’s team ran through, Jiro was periodically checking the surroundings by sticking her earphone jacks into the pipes, when suddenly she looked panicked. “They got us!” Jiro cried out, picked up by the cameras, as the classes looked closer and saw a bit of Tokage right behind Bakugo, who tried turning around to blast the piece, but Tokage dodged it before sending pieces of herself and began buffeting Bakugo who blasted away to evade. As Bakugo did this Sero leapt around, weaving a web of tape around them to catch Tokage’s pieces. The four regrouped in the web but suddenly Bondo was on top of the pipes way above them and poured out a bunch of glue that caught itself on all the pipes and tape above the four from class A.

“Class B has turned their defense around on them.” Henshizo said crossing his arms as Kamakiri came soaring in and used the blades he produced on his arms to cut the pipes up, which sent the pipes and glue falling directly towards Bakugo, Jiro, Sero, and Sato. Sato raised his arms up to block one of the pipes to protect Sero and Jiro, but Bakugo blew apart the pipe to protect him and the rest of the team. In the chaos after that explosion, Kamakiri kept diving down, slicing through another section of pipe, and aimed to attack Jiro; Bakugo however came over, pushed Jiro out of the way by stepping on her back before kicking her away, and then blasted Kamakiri point blank, sending him flying into a pipe, Kamakiri however had been able to block most of the damage thanks to his quirk and reflexes. After watching that Monoma rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry my eyes must be deceiving me. Did Bakugo just actually save Jiro?” He asked incredulously, as he and everyone else who had been watching were shocked that Bakugo had saved Jiro, as he had never expressed care for others before.

“He did… by kicking her.” Kaminari said, causing Henshizo to smirk and Monoma began freaking out that Bakugo had changed himself a bit. Class B began retreating away since their first attack failed, Jiro began trying to find them again with her quirk. After a couple moments Bakugo blasted away, giving chase after class B and he found Bondo, who began scrambling away, cutting corners before leaping through a gap. Bakugo chased after him but Awase suddenly appeared from behind a column to cut Bakugo off. “Was he hiding in silence?” Ashido cried out as Awase pulled a bunch of metal from pouches on his costume, before welding them to Bakugo’s gauntlets and back, and subsequently to the pipes beside them, catching Bakugo. Awase then began running away as Sero tried to catch him with his tape, but missed. Bakugo screamed out in rage, fortunately Sato came rushing in after popping some sugar and punched the welded parts until they shattered, freeing Bakugo who instantly began blasting after Awase. Awase produced a shield once Bakugo got close to shield himself from Bakugo’s blast, but unexpectedly Bakugo blasted up letting Sero and Jiro handle Awase as he gave chase. Jiro used the mini speakers on her wrists to unleash her sonic attack which heavily buffeted Awase until his shield broke away and he got the full effect of her attack. Meanwhile Bakugo had caught up to Bondo, Tokage unable to intercept Bakugo with pieces of her, and did a series of mini explosions, all over Bondo before blasting away. While Bondo was hurting and disoriented from the explosions Sato came running through the smoke and tackled Bondo to the ground, putting him in an armbar to subdue him.

“With unexpected teamwork class A has captured two of my beloved students!” Vlad King cried out in disbelief, as Jiro directed Bakugo to where Kamakiri was leaping around, dodging attacks from Sero. Bakugo shot right to Kamakiri, grabbed him by the face with one hand before beginning to spin around very quickly before releasing him, sending Kamakiri smashing into a wall. “Bakugo trusts Jiro and the others, letting them do what’s best.” Uraraka said excited, as all of 1-A was smiling as they watched team four dominate. Sero caught the falling and unconscious Kamakiri, as all of them began running around to get Tokage, an explosion went off near a chimney, before Bakugo appeared and the camera showed Tokage’s head and torso right in front of Bakugo’s open palms.

‘Sero used the grenade Bakugo gave him, attached it to a piece of Tokage, and let her call that piece back to herself.’ Henshizo thought smirking as Bakugo unleashed a monstrous explosion which sent Tokage crashing to the ground. After that it was a simple matter of them carrying the members of 1-B’s team to jail and the horn sounded. “That, that… that didn’t even take five minutes!” Vlad King cried out incredulously. “With unexpected teamwork, class A wins with a perfect score of four to zero.” He declared much to his chagrin. Class A on the platform were celebrating, as it meant that they wouldn’t lose to class B, but could still draw if class B won the last match. After a few minutes both teams came back up to the platforms and got reviews from their respective homeroom teachers. After the reviews there was a brief interlude as robots cleaned up some of the debris from the fourth match before Henshizo’s team would go down.

“Kachan, you were amazing!” Midoriya said going towards where Bakugo was walking. “Out of my way you trash!” Bakugo yelled back at him. “But I’m not in your way.” Midoriya said, Henshizo letting out a small sigh. “I’m moving forward, fast than you could catch up to me.” Bakugo said annoyed before walking away from Midoriya. “I’ll move faster.” Midoriya retorted in a positive tone, causing Henshizo to smirk as he walked away as All Might walked up to Midoriya. Henshizo rejoined Ashido and Uraraka; as across the platform their opponents were putting together last-minute plans.

“I think we should do something similar to what Tokage’s team did. Our quirks are all technical based and we have five people, engaging this team in direct confrontation won’t end well.” Shoda said looking at his teammates. “Yeah. Especially with both Midoriya and Sesshada on the other team.” Kota said in an anxious tone. “Midoriya is basically the same if not better than Bakugo in power and agility, and I’ve heard he can do long range attacks now. Meanwhile Sesshada is powerful and can end the fight from any range.” Shoda said before turning to Monoma. “Plus, there’s the matter of Sesshada wanting to in his mind shut Monoma up.” He said as Monoma scoffed.

“So who should we make the priority?” Shinso asked and the five of them looked at each other torn. “Midoriya. With my quirk we can use him to turn the tide. And there’s your brainwashing too.” Monoma said confidently to Shinso before the two teams began walking down the stairs to get to their respective start points. “Remember; only use code names and only talking when facing each other so as not to let Shinso brainwash us.” Henshizo said to Ashido and Uraraka as Midoriya was busy warming up by jumping around pipes.

“Right. We got this, you and Midoriya are more than enough.” Ashido said smiling. “Let’s not overestimate ourselves and in turn underestimate our opponents. They have troublesome quirks which they don’t need to reveal themselves to use. So, we’ll have to hunt them down.” Henshizo said seriously. “Right, sorry.” Ashido said sighing before Midoriya landed in front of them.

“And that’s why I’ll be bait.” Midoriya said, Henshizo tilting his head. “Why do that when I can make a drone and find them?” Henshizo asked. “Just because you can do that, doesn’t mean they’ll come out. Plus, you’d be tethering yourself to the drone and it would be five on three.” Midoriya said, Henshizo nodding in agreement. “They’ll probably utilize massive attacks with Koda’s quirk, I can handle the animals.” Henshizo said with a smirk.

“Don’t kill them!” Ashido said panicked and worried. “I won’t!” Henshizo snapped back at her as Ashido looked at Midoriya. “Midoriya, you sure being bait is a good idea? You said your quirk was being weird.” Ashido said with a bit of concern, Henshizo turning with a confused face. “When was this?” He asked confused as to how Midoriya’s quirk could act up.

“During the third match, I think it was when you went to talk to Yaoyorozu. But don’t worry guys, it’s totally fine now.” Midoriya said giving a reassuring smile. “We’ll win this.” Midoriya said confidently, cussing the girls to cheer and Henshizo to lightly smirk. “This is the final match of the day!” Vlad King’s voice boomed out over the speakers, both teams prepared and everyone else eagerly watching. “Begin!” Vlad shouted as a horn sounded, causing the two teams to rush forward, both eager to prove themselves.

Notes:

Sorry for the almost two-month break, between life and just wanting to get all three fights into one chapter it took a bit. I do hope you enjoy it, and up next will be Henshizo and company trying to shut Monoma up. Surely nothing crazy will happen there, right? Anyways thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 66: Fifth and Final Round

Summary:

It's time for Henshizo and his teammates to battle against Class B's fifth team which includes Shinso, what will happen to make things a challenge?

Henshizo, Ashido, Uraraka, and Midoriya ran along, Henshizo dispensing four marbles into his hands. “Here.” Henshizo said tossing them little monocle like devices attached to skullcaps. “Some thermal goggles special forces use… no comment about where I got them.” Henshizo said as they put them on their heads, Uraraka having to take her costume’s helmet off to do so. “This should help, I’m going to go ahead and lure them out.” Midoriya said testing lifting and lowering the goggle. Henshizo and the two girls nodded before Midoriya hopped away along the pipes. The three began somewhat keeping pace with him, Midoriya landing on a pipe and pointing that he would go ahead, leaving the other three. Henshizo took this time to make a device that looked like a portable speaker, but had a large light strip on one side and held it in his hand.

“What’s that for?” Ashido asked, Henshizo glancing over to make sure her mouth was moving so as not to be brainwash. “Something that could save us.” Henshizo said making sure they saw him talking. ‘What a pain, it’s doubtful he’s nearby, but you never know.’ Henshizo thought to himself as suddenly there was a loud scream they heard. The three of them were confused though as it sounded like a girl screaming despite Ashido and Uraraka being right there.

“Must have been Shinso.” Uraraka said as they looked around. “I’d love to see him scream like a girl.” Ashido said happily, but with her back to Uraraka and Henshizo. “Remember to make sure to look at us when talking.” Uraraka said seriously, Ashido nervously chuckling at her mistake before the three began moving forward again. As the three walked along, the sky above them darkened, they looked up and saw a bunch of birds flying above them.

“Koda.” Henshizo muttered and when the birds spotted them, they began quickly diving towards them, Ashido and Uraraka screaming in fright, but Henshizo held up the device. “Close your eyes!” He called out, the girls doing that, and he pressed a button on the underside of the device which lit up the light strip he had aimed at the birds. The birds cried out and flew away blinded, some smacking into parts of the field, but not before dropping tiny objects directly towards the three of them. Suddenly these objects enlarged so it was a bunch of large screws, bolts, barrels, and boxes. “Kodai’s quirk.” Ashido said before the objects suddenly accelerated way faster at them, causing them to desperately dodge out of the way as the objects slammed into the ground and surrounding walls and pipes. When they got up and walked clear of the dust cloud, they saw that some of the bolts and screws had embedded themselves into the pipes.

“And that boost must have been Shoda’s.” Uraraka said anxious. “If that was more concentrated, we would’ve been squashed.” Henshizo muttered as he began jogging away, with the two following behind. Up ahead they heard loud bangs, indicating Midoriya was likely fighting someone. “They’re likely regrouping to launch a second attack, and they’re probably hiding back, so let’s take the fight to them.” Henshizo said turning his head to look at them, the two nodding in response. As they ran along, they heard more loud impacts when suddenly they heard an exceptionally loud boom with something appearing above the structures catching their eyes. “What is that?” Henshizo asked shocked and lost as they saw a black flailing around, smashing through some pipes wildly. Suddenly it split up even more; smashing into more pipes and walls before it suddenly shot at them, causing them to dive out of the way. Henshizo reached out and put his hand on it, but he couldn’t change it into anything; before it lashed out, and hit him right in the stomach sending him into a wall. Henshizo grunted and got out of the way as it whipped at him again. ‘There isn’t much I can’t change. Things that are living, liquids, and energy. What is this?’ Henshizo thought to himself and traced this tentacle to its origin and saw Midoriya being flung around by it, this black thing seemingly coming from him. “Midoriya!” Henshizo shouted out as Midoriya got slammed into a wall and Uraraka began running towards him.

“What’s happening?” Ashido cried out as Henshizo watched. “I have no idea, no one in either class has a quirk like that so it’s not like Monoma copied it from someone. And it’s coming from him so it’s most likely a quirk but he’s never shown something like this.” Henshizo said as he began running towards Midoriya too, Ashido running behind him. As they got closer, the two watched as Uraraka floated herself towards Midoriya and hugged him despite the weird quirk still going haywire. The quirk kept freaking out, destroying more of the arena as both teams had to dodge this frenzied attack.

“Shinso!” They heard Uraraka cry out in desperation. “Use your quirk to stop Deku!” She cried out, Henshizo looking up and saw Shinso on a level of a building. Shinso stared at the scene of chaos before him, unsure of what to do as more destruction was brought by this rogue quirk. Shinso took his mask off and looked determined at Midoriya. “Midoriya! Fight me!” Shinso called out, Henshizo hoping that this would work as the only other thing that could work in his mind was Aizawa’s erasure.

“Ok!” Midoriya called out and instantly the black thing stopped flailing about and was seemingly stuck before it began retracting back into Midoriya before Midoriya and Uraraka began gently descending to the ground. Henshizo and Ashido kept running towards them while Uraraka slapped Midoriya in the face to snap him out of the brainwashing. The two of them got to the ground and looked at each other happily that that crisis was over with, this brief relief was short lived though, as Monoma came lunging in, taking a swipe at Midoriya who dodged back to avoid the blow. On a platform above and behind Monoma; Koda, Shoda, and Kodai appeared, just as Henshizo and Ashido leapt over a pipe to join them in the area. Henshizo dispensed a marble in both hands, quickly changing them into the uzis he had loaded with rubber bullets and began firing at them. Kodai enlarged a barrel to protect them briefly, but Ashido shot acid onto the barrel and it began melting away. “Twin impact, fire!” They heard Shoda shout from behind the barrel and it suddenly shot at them. The two dodged to either side.

“You two alright?!” Henshizo called out as he tucked and rolled before firing back at the other team. “We’re ok!” Uraraka shouted back as birds came flying in to attack them. Henshizo switch the guns in his hands to the net guns that Hatsume had used at the sports festival and rapidly fired the nets at the birds, catching them in the net so they fell to the ground where they chirped and flapped their wings against the net but couldn’t escape. As Henshizo was doing this, Shinso tried to ensnare Uraraka with the binding cloth he had, but Midoriya grabbed it and stared up at Shinso. Henshizo ran over, reaching out to touch the binding cloth to change it into something, causing Shinso to pull it back, overpowering Midoriya and dragging him off the platform they were on to the ground below. “What?! How’d he overpower you?!” Henshizo cried out looking down at Midoriya confused since Shinso shouldn’t have been able to beat out Midoriya’s super strength.

“I can’t use my quirk right now… not without putting everyone at risk.” Midoriya said up to Henshizo. Henshizo clicked his tongue annoyed, but gave a light smirk back. “Don’t worry, we got this.” Henshizo said as he changed his shoes to the jet boots and turned back around, giving a death glare and wicked grin to them. Changing the net guns in his hands to modified escrima sticks, he ran forward towards Koda who went blue faced from fright and pointed at Henshizo.

“Bugs all around, come and-” Koda began crying out but Henshizo cut him off with a double escrima stick strike, one stick to Koda’s stomach, and the other to his face. Henshizo then dashed towards Kodai, who enlarged a pipe she had previously shrunk to protect herself. Henshizo changed the ring on one of his hands to the power glove and punched the pipe away before reaching forward with his freehand as he thought back to when he and Hawks had one on one time.
______________________________________

“You know Yahata, you’re an odd hero.” Hawks said as he took a sip from his coffee. “In what way? I’m fairly unusual in many ways for a hero.” Henshizo said cocking an eyebrow before taking a bite of his muffin. “You both use your quirk in combat, but don’t. You like making items that boost yourself, rather than use your quirk directly against an opponent. Not that it’s a bad thing, but your quirk is a strength. Use it in every way, don’t limit yourself.” Hawks said with his usual half-baked smile as Henshizo nodded slowly, thinking about how he could do it.
______________________________________

Henshizo grabbed ahold of the collar Kodai’s costume and smirked as he lifted her up. Her costume quickly changed into a full body straight jacket before letting her fall to the ground with a thud and grunt. “Kodai! Koda!” Shoda cried out seeing two of his classmates defeated but this allowed Ashido to use her acid to slide in quickly and deliver a massive uppercut to him, sending Shoda spiraling to the ground out cold. Henshizo turned his head to see Monoma lunge towards Midoriya and Uraraka. “Wait Monoma don’t! You can’t handle it!” Midoriya cried out in fear for the blonde opponent. Before Monoma could land a hit, Uraraka stepped forward and blocked his attack, using her quirk to float Monoma up.

“A blank?!” Monoma cried out as he floated, Henshizo getting a wicked grin now as he dashed towards the floating Monoma with the jet boots on, before leaping up thanks to a quick change of the jet boots to spring shoes, and then lined up the trajectory of his descent right to Monoma as he floated helplessly, seeing Henshizo fall towards him, power glove fist cocked back. The classes on the platform saw what was going to happen and all of class A were on the edge of their nonexistent seats while class B were mostly preemptively wincing, apart from Kendo who just sighed and shook her head. “He did this to himself.” She muttered as they watched Henshizo deliver a punch right to Monoma’s face with the power glove, at the same time Uraraka released Monoma from zero gravity, letting Henshizo drive Monoma to the ground, causing a huge dust cloud up. As this was happening, Midoriya floated up to deal with Shinso thanks to an assist from Uraraka. Henshizo picked up Monoma and dragged him to his classmates, Kodai wiggling in the fully body strait jacket to try and escape but it was futile.

“Uravity, would you mind making them weightless?” Henshizo asked as he made ropes before wrapping up Shoda and Koda, also taking the time to gag Koda as Uraraka tapped them with her quirk and Henshizo began taking them back towards their base. “Oh right!” Henshizo said snapping his fingers and he made four of the mugshot boards that could be worn around the neck that he had made earlier and put them on Koda, Kodai, Shoda, and Monoma, making sure the cameras could show what the signs said, ‘Class A is better’. “Is that really necessary?” Uraraka asked seeing them with an awkward look on her face. “I wouldn’t have done this if Vlad King and Monoma hadn’t run their mouths. That’s life, be prepared to pay the price for hubris.” Henshizo said looking back at the floating loudmouth. Henshizo walked back and touched Monoma’s costume, changing it to a clown suit before continuing the march back to their base, Ashido giggling and Uraraka holding back her laughter. Henshizo, out of courtesy, changed the straight jacket he had put Kodai in, back to her costume, Kodai giving a little grunt of thanks. As they got close, Midoriya came jogging over from the side with Shinso wrapped up in his own binding cloth.

“You got them all? Wait what’s Monoma wearing?” Midoriya said, covering his mouth with a hand as Ashido opened the cage door up. “I just gave him what truly represents him.” Henshizo said shrugging as they put all of class B in the cage and closed the door, causing the horn to sound.

“This battle had some unexpected excitement, but as the dust settles with a score of five to zero technically, your winners, class A!” Came Midnight’s voice over the speakers. ‘Why isn’t it Vlad King?’ Henshizo thought to himself as he looked up towards one speaker. “And with that this joint battle training comes to a close. Every fight was amazing, showing how well you know yourselves, your teammates, and your opponents. Now let’s go over the results; the first match was won by class A, while class B took the second round. The third match was a draw, before class A won matches four and five. Meaning with a score of three wins, one loss, and one draw, your winners, class 1-A!” Midnight declared as class A celebrated while class B sighed in defeat. Henshizo opened the door to the cell before making a knife and cutting the roped ones free, helping untie Shinso, and tossed Shoda some smelling salts for Monoma. After doing that Henshizo and his team walked back to the platform with class B’s team not far behind, Koda having to help Monoma walk along. Shinso walked over to Aizawa and Vlad King to discuss something privately as the teams made their way up the stairs. The two teams lined up and the rest of the classes were closer than the past assessments.

“May as well start with Midoriya, what was that?” Aizawa asked pointing at Midoriya, clearly just as confused by the quirk outburst as everyone else. Midoriya stood there making awkward noises as he clearly didn’t know how to respond. “You had something really dark manifest.” Tokoyami said seriously.

“What’s it called?” Kuroiro asked intrigued. “It’s not a new move, it’s not like your super strength.” Kirishima said with his hands in his hips.

“And I couldn’t change it at all after touching it. So, is it a form of energy or something?” Henshizo asked looking at his partner. “I’m not sure what it was either. It felt like a power built up inside me and it exploded out. Something I trusted suddenly turned on me, and I was scared for myself and everyone else. But thanks to Shinso and Uraraka I was able to see things clearly and regain control. After he brainwashed me, Shinso asked if I had been bluffing, but I truly had no idea what was happening. So, thanks you guys.” Midoriya said looking at Shinso and Uraraka.

“It was truly a spectacle to watch. Shinso did great when Midoriya was out of control, but Uraraka was just as moving. Leaping in, putting her body on the line to help stop her friend so great! I loved it!” Midnight said excited as Ashido leaned forward to look at Uraraka’s face. “Yeah Uraraka, you really leapt in there quickly huh? You hugged him really tight right?” Ashido asked Uraraka a bit teasingly, causing Uraraka’s face to go red in response.

“I jumped in without thinking, so maybe I should be more rational. But I’d rather do something than nothing and regret it later.” Uraraka said looking down and playing with her fingers. Henshizo looked over at her, understanding she was thinking of the raid where Nighteye had died.

“You’ve matured Uraraka.” Aizawa said to her, Uraraka looking up at him and nodding. “I didn’t stop Midoriya for his sake or because Uraraka told me to, I also did it because I saw it attacking Monoma and the others. If I didn’t stop it, we would have no chance of winning. I stopped him because I wanted to beat Midoriya, everything else is just luck. In my heart, all I could was take care of my-” Shinso spoke until Aizawa walked forward and cut him off by somewhat strangling Shinso with Shinso’s own binding cloth. “No one is asking that much of you right now. Everyone here has been training every day to become a hero who can help and save others. To be able to be that level right away is impossible, unless your name is All Might. To do something for others, prioritizing that doesn’t mean you can save other people. But to protect others, you have to be able to do something on your own, which you did. So, in that respect, what you did was able to earn you a passing grade.” Aizawa said to Shinso, who glanced down. “I see, but I have a long way to go. After fighting with, against, and watching everyone I see just how amazing the hero course is. Passing isn’t enough… I’m going to embrace that plus ultra mentality the hero course embodies and aim higher.” Shinso said growing determined as he looked up to the sky.

“You’re not as far behind as you think Shinso. Your reflexes trying to get me with the pipes were really quick and you’re already moving like Aizawa sensei. You have amazing analysis, judgment, and moves; they’re just like anyone else in the hero course.” Midoriya said smiling at Shinso before looking at himself. “Honestly, I have to improve about using my strength for others.” Midoriya said solemnly. “I agree on that assessment Midoriya.” Aizawa said as Vald King turned to look at everyone.

“While there are still some formalities and paperwork to be done, but more than likely Shinso will join the hero course at the start of the second year.” Vlad King said, causing everyone to get excited and happy for Shinso. “Which class? A or B?” Kirishima and Tetsutetsu asked in sync. “That will be determined later, and we’ll be doing full reviews of everyone later as well.” Vlad King said, everyone nodding in response. Monoma began quietly chuckling towards the back.

“Sure we may have been defeated today, but we didn’t lose if you at the content. Ow ow, my jaw. If I had known Midoriya’s quirk was a blank we would’ve planned around that. So, if we were to fight again, we don’t know who would win… ah my nose.” Monoma said trying to be his usual self but his busted nose and fat lips made it hard for anyone to take him seriously. “We’re not doing that, class is over.” Vlad King said as Monoma nursed his jaw.

“Speaking of that, Monoma. Tomorrow, I want you to come see Eri.” Aizawa said walking up to Monoma. ‘Eri? Why does Aizawa want Monoma to see her?’ Henshizo thought to himself. “Like I said, class is done for the day. So, if you need to see Recovery Girl, Monoma go, go and see her. If you’re fine otherwise you’re all dismissed for the day. Change and rest up.” Vlad King said to everyone.

“Right!” All forty-one students said and they began making their ways back to the locker room. “Hey Ojiro, why did Midnight take over commentary during my round?” Henshizo asked his friend curiously.

“When Midoriya had that weird black thing go out of control; Aizawa, Vlad King, and All Might left to go help. Obviously, they didn’t need to, but when it started, they didn’t know that.” Ojiro said, Yanagi walking on Henshizo’s other side nodded. “All Might was quite worried, he told Aizawa that Aizawa had to stop the match. But I’m glad they didn’t.” Yanagi said softly, Henshizo turning to her a bit shocked.

“All Might wanted the match called off? Why? I mean I get it that it was a chaotic situation, but it’s All Might. Never exactly one to run from a challenge and encourages us not to stop.” Henshizo said surprised and confused. “Yes, and it was peculiar as you said. But then again, Midoriya seemingly manifesting a second quirk is even more peculiar. And you tried to change it to stop it correct?” Yanagi asked, Henshizo nodding in response. “It was the only thing I could think to do, and it has some power.” Henshizo said, rubbing where he had been hit by it. Once they got back into the school, the boys and girls separated to go into their respective locker rooms. Henshizo changed out of his costume, and as he was pulling his shirt out of his locker, Shishida walked past him from behind.

“Oh my, I forgot from the training camp of your tattoo. It’s still a bit jarring to see.” Shishida said to Henshizo who looked back at him as he fixed a sleeve. “Yeah. I honestly forget I have it a lot of the time too. Just when I see it in a mirror or if my back actively itches do I remember its existence.” Henshizo said with a small smile. “I see, that sounds excellent for you.” Shishida said, relived to have not upset Henshizo. Henshizo and all the other boys finished getting dressed before leaving the locker room and walking back to their respective dorms. Henshizo walked up to his room and changed out of his uniform and into a blue cardigan sweater with fleece pants before walking back down to the common area where most of his classmates were resting, having also changed. Momo and Iida came walking in from the outside.

“Hey everyone, how does a big beef stew sound for dinner?!” Momo called out into the common room. “Sounds great!” Kirishima said excited and others nodded in agreement.

“Good, because we spoke to Kendo and Shoda of class B. They said that most of class B would like to come over to socialize and talk about today’s training.” Iida said doing little chopping motions. “Are we making the stew?” Hagakure asked, Momo nodding in response so Henshizo walked to the kitchen and began getting the ingredients out. Momo, Sato, and Uraraka came walking over to help as well and the four got working on the stew.

“I’ll chop everything up.” Henshizo said taking a knife from the block and grabbing a cutting board. “Sounds good, I’ll work the meat, Uraraka can do the prep work, and Yaoyorozu can do the spices.” Sato said grinning. The three nodded and did their tasks to get the stew on quick so that it would have time to warm up properly before class B arrived.

“Hey Sesshada, thanks for finishing our fight up like you did.” Uraraka said to him as she handed a washed carrot. “Oh, it was nothing, but I won’t lie I did want to avoid that thing going crazy again. Speaking of Midoriya’s weird quirk thing where is he?” Henshizo asked, turning his head to look in the common area but Midoriya wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Midoriya went to talk to All Might. And I think Bakugo went with them.” Uraraka said sighing as she washed the celery before handing it to Henshizo for him to cut. Henshizo’s brow furrowed a bit as continued to cut things up before handing it all to Sato for him to mix in with the beef he had prepared. After that it was time to just let the stew stew so Henshizo went and sat down with Yanagi and Ojiro on the couch.

“Anything interesting on tv?” Henshizo asked as he glanced at Yanagi in her gray turtleneck sweater before looking at the TV. “Not really, just the news and nothing super interesting. Hawks reduced a woman and her dog from a car accident, Endeavor stopped a villain after the villain robbed an illegal gambling place.” Ojiro said, Henshizo chuckling hearing that. “Just means some group had some bad luck today. Because now they can investigate the gambling site and see where it takes them. Gotta burn everything asap if something like that happens.” Henshizo said amused.

“Tokoyami has mentioned to me that you would often judge gangs’ hideouts and setups during your work study.” Yanagi said softly, Henshizo shrugging in response. “Can’t help it, my brain sees things and it flashes back a bit to how I was in places exactly like it and I’d judge it.” Henshizo said as the news switched to the forecast, with temperatures slowly decreasing as the week went on. People for the most part just relaxed, as the fights had taken energy from them all and some were having to recover stamina from Recovery Girl treating them. As it got closer to six o’clock, members of class B began showing up so Sato went into the kitchen and began finishing the stew up. From class B came: Kendo, Shishida, Kodai, Tetsutetsu, Kuroiro, Komori, Awase, Tsuburaba, Tokage, Honenuki, Shiozaki, and Tsunotori. “Here Kendo.” Henshizo said walking up to her and handing her a garment bag.

“Monoma’s costume?” Kendo asked before taking it and draping it over a chair near the door. “Yeah. For the record I have no regrets over what I did to him.” Henshizo said, Kendo sighing but chuckling a bit. “I’ve always told him his words would catch up to him. At least now I can say ‘remember what happened in training?’.” Kendo said chuckling, Henshizo nodding in response.

“Hey Kendo, will any more be coming?” Momo asked smiling and came walking over with a tray with cups of tea on it. Kendo and Henshizo each took one and wrapped their hands around the cup to warm up. “Shoda and Fukidashi will be, Bondo, Koda, and Rin probably won’t as they aren’t that sociable, Monoma and Kamakiri are definitely not coming. The sting of defeat to their pride is too strong.” Kendo said sighing at the last two.

“No one has anything to be ashamed of. Everyone showed their strengths off and gave it their all.” Henshizo said taking a sip of the tea. “How unexpectedly mature Henshizo.” Momo said just a bit teasingly. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Henshizo asked in mock offense before snorting a bit. Kendo shook her head but smiled at the banter between the cousins before Henshizo walked off to join Ojiro who was with others as Yanagi had gone to go quietly talk to Kodai.

“Sesshada, Koda wanted me to pass along a message” Shishida said and Henshizo tilted his head. “He wanted me to thank you for not hurting the birds, just capturing them or driving them away.” Shishida said with a small chuckle, causing Henshizo to smile softly. “His quirk grants him control over animals, right?” He asked the furry student who nodded in response. “That’s what I thought, I just treated them as hostages in my head. It’s happened before, a villain uses hostages to fight heroes. What, five years ago you had the coward Dictator use his quirk to have civilians fight Crust for hours until Crust defeated him.” Henshizo said, Shishida’s eyebrows going up in surprise. “Are you saying Koda is a villain to animals?” He asked getting just a bit defensive of his friend. “Not at all, a quirk is a quirk, Shinso demonstrates it best. Just because a quirk may viewed as dark doesn’t mean it is. It’s all about how you use it. Koda is a nice guy, but I’m just explaining why I chose to go the slightly harder route of capturing the animals instead of making them mist.” Henshizo said, those around them slightly cringing at the thought of Henshizo shooting the birds. “Right, my mistake. You’re very astute and admirable.” Shishida said with a light bow as Sato began passing out stew bowls and people began eating. The stew warmed everyone help as well as filled their stomachs up as the mood continued to be happy. After seven o’clock the doors opened and Bakugo came walking in to the dorm in his gym uniform, Henshizo glancing over at him and his curiosity was peeked again but turned away as he didn’t want to deal with Bakugo’s temper. A few minutes after Bakugo walked in, Midoriya also walked in, also in his gym uniform as Iida dashed up to greet Midoriya. Henshizo was still intrigued but let it be so he could finish his stew. Once he did, he picked his bowl up and walked it to the kitchen, watching the Kirishima and Tetsutetsu manliness off before they went off to have fun. Henshizo cleaned his bowl up in the sink and set it to dry before walking back seeing Todoroki and Midoriya talking, so Henshizo silently walked close enough to listen in as he leaned against a wall.

“I didn’t know you had two quirks as well.” Todoroki said to Midoriya who got flustered. “I was shocked the person who told me at the sports festival to not hold back and embrace myself wasn’t doing that.” Todoroki said, Henshizo flashing back to the quarter final matchup Todoroki and Midoriya had had. “It’s n-not like that Todoroki. I think it’s derived from the same quirk, so it’s just one quirk, just a different aspect I didn’t know about.” Midoriya said trying to calm his friend, Henshizo’s eyes narrowed as that didn’t make sense to him. Todoroki and Midoriya began talking about Todoroki using his fire, so Henshizo walked away, but as he did the front door opened and Aizawa was standing there.

“Ah, good, Sesshada come here.” Aizawa said gesturing Henshizo over. Henshizo complied and walked over to his homeroom teacher. “Something the matter sir?” Henshizo asked just slightly tilting his head. “No, not yet at least. We’ve gotten the schedule figured out so that next Wednesday for heroics you can teach the class about villain motivations. Are you still willing to?” Aizawa asked, Henshizo smiling and eagerly nodding. “Yes sir. I want to teach this, I’m a firm believer that if we can understand why villains do something, we can eliminate the risk factors that create them.” Henshizo said determinedly, Aizawa nodded in response. “Very well, just let me go through your plans by Monday evening.” Aizawa said, Henshizo nodded in response. “Yes sir, thank you.” Henshizo said with an eager smile, Aizawa nodded again and left, closing the door behind him. Henshizo happily walked over to Ojiro. “Hey man, I have to go take care of a couple of things so I’m going to head up to my room.” Henshizo said to him apologetically.

“No worries, that’s fine. Have a good night.” Ojiro said looking up at him from the couch with a smile. Henshizo walked over to Yanagi. “Have a good night Yanagi, I have some work I need to start on.” Henshizo said softly.

“That is reasonable, have a good night as well Sesshada.” Yanagi said with a gentle nod, Kodai also giving a tiny nod. Henshizo gave a small smile to her before heading up to his room, firing up his laptop and began preparing the presentation, also sending an email to Hawks asking if Hawks could send any background on the League of Villains for the presentation. ‘If I use the League, it will be easier since we’ve dealt with them.’ Henshizo thought as he began typing away to make the presentation, and he worked on this well into the night before heading to bed, happy that he and his class won, while also happy at the prospect of teaching them.

Notes:

I've been working and uploading this story for just now over two years, so if you've only read one chapter or them all I thank you for your support. As always, I hope you enjoyed, and any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 67: My Villain Academia

Summary:

Henshizo finally gets to teach his classmates about why villains become villains. What insight will he gleam and what else happens in the world?

The Sunday after the joint training exercise, Class 1-A finally had a day that they could rest and relax with the semester winding down. Henshizo walked down to the common room after being able to sleep in, and was in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, with almost everyone in varying winter lounge outfits. As he walked, he looked out the window and saw snow falling and it was already covering the ground. “Let’s test our body against the elements!” Kirishima yelled out excitedly, opening the door and running outside as he took his shirt off. Momo and Iida walked to the door to watch. “Be careful!” Momo cried out, somewhat being the mom of the class, she had slowly become. Henshizo chuckled as he walked to the kitchen and glanced out at Kirishima making snow angels.

“Hey close the door! Tsu’s going into hibernation!” Uraraka cried out as Asui was now curled on the couch seemingly sleeping. “Got it!” Jiro said closing the door after Mina ran outside with a jacket on.

“I’m going to see what the news is saying about the snow. I love the weather forecast.” Kaminari said, walking to the tv. “You just like the meteorologist because she’s attractive.” Henshizo called over to Kaminari teasingly. “And? Makes the viewing experience better, at least I tune in.” Kaminari said picking the remote up and began flipping the tv to the channel.

“When are Todoroki and Bakugo getting back? There’s a new volume of manga Todoroki had I want to borrow.” Sero asked as he ate a bowl of rice. “I heard sometime around six.” Midoriya said happily.

“That’s when they’re done with the license course training, and assuming they pass today they’ll get their provisional licenses; meaning everyone in class A will have their provisional licenses.” Iida said a bit proudly. “They’ve probably already begun their last exam.” He continued, checking the time on the clock. “I messaged Gang Orca to see what he had planned for their final exam. He only responded with hell.” Henshizo said chuckling. “Why did you try to find out?” Iida asked in an almost scolding tone, Henshizo merely shrugging in response. “Call it curiosity.” He said as he went over and sat down to watch the forecast.

“You know, getting my provisional license is the only thing I’ve beaten those two in, it’s a bit sad.” Kaminari said happily. “Don’t be petty Kaminari.” Iida scolded him as others came over to see the forecast. “Give me a break Iida, I don’t have much I can say about them.” Kaminari whined.

“You have good traits of your own Kaminari.” Shoji said politely as he sat down. “Thanks Shoji.” He said as he turned the volume up a couple notches.

“The snow will continue to fall until well into the night even into the Chubu region, so give yourself extra time in the morning and be careful. Now on to today’s big news stories.” The forecaster said and the camera cut to the news desk. “Support item industry titan Detnerat shocked the support industry today, with the announcement that they are entering the hero support item industry.” One anchor said, as it showed a file image of the Detnerat building. “And here is the video announcement put out by Detnerat featuring CEO and president of Detnerat, Rikiya Yotsubashi.” The news anchor continued before the feed cut to the announcement video, Henshizo spacing out as he just viewed this as an ad, but he did think the CEO was an odd-looking guy, with his long-pointed nose and very bad hairline. There was also something in the CEO’s eyes that didn’t sit right with Henshizo but he knew that being the head of a big company doesn’t happen without being an asshole in some way so Henshizo didn’t think anything of it. As he sat there, Momo came walking over and sat by him.

“So Henshizo, with the holiday break coming up, what are your plans? You’re welcome to stay with us, but I also know you could want to stay with your foster family.” Momo said with a gentle smile. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, I think I’ll stop by there first, do something with them, but stay with you guys. Sanae would rather me be more secure, we talked about it the other day. But I will still want to see them, and your parents said they’ll be able to come to the new year’s ball you guys throw.” Henshizo said with a small smile, causing Momo to smile. “That sounds good.” She said happily.

“Hey, I was thinking of baking a cake for Todoroki and Bakugo, think we can throw a little congratulatory party for them for when they get back?” Sato said walking up. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. What type of a cake?” Momo asked excited. “I’m thinking a four-tier strawberry cake.” Sato said grinning. “That sounds delicious. Henshizo and I can make some party supplies.” Momo said and Henshizo turned his head to her.

“Who said I was?” Henshizo asked and she looked at him seriously. “I was joking, jeez.” Henshizo said putting his hands up. “So, they’re done about six so they’ll be back what… about seven to seven-thirty?” Henshizo asks, looking over at Iida. “That’s a good guess, so we have time to bake that cake Sato mentioned.” Iida said as Kirishima and Ashido finally came in from the outside, Kirishima having his arms wrapped around him. Hagakure came walking over with a towel and handed it to Kirishima who began drying himself off. “Be sure to use multiple towels so that you don’t use a wet one eventually.” Iida told Kirishima while chopping with his arm.

“Right, thanks”. Kirishima said as he dried an arm off. After that most of the class began helping prepare the cake, Henshizo included since he could cut the berries the best out of everyone besides Sato. This took up the afternoon, but was only really slowed down by the fact they only had one oven. “How will we know when they’re coming? While I’m all for surprising them, I’d rather not be waiting for forty minutes in my surprise pose.” Hagakure said as they were placing berries on the second tier of the cake.

“Hmm, that is fair.” Iida said thinking as he directed them. “I can install a camera near the gate that feeds to a laptop I set up.” Henshizo said shrugging as he leaned against the wall.

“So it can be like a little stakeout!” Kaminari said excited, causing Henshizo and Tokoyami to both shudder a little bit as they remembered the stakeouts they had to do for the armored truck heist crew. “What? Isn’t it?” Kaminari asked confused by their reaction. “Yes and no. Yes, because you’re watching a camera feed, no because you’re not alone in some dingy apartment for hours on end and can’t look away.” Tokoyami said solemnly. “Oh… I can see why you don’t like that.” Kaminari said awkwardly as Henshizo walked outside to set up the camera. He hid the camera and walked back to the dorm, making a laptop that received the feed from the camera, having to switch it to night vision as the sun was already setting, making it hard to see. Once they were finished with the prep work for the congratulatory surprise party, they settled down in the common room with people watching the laptop to make sure they were ready. Around six-thirty as the class was relaxing Ashido suddenly gasped while on her phone.

“Holy crap, you won’t believe this!” She said doing some quick typing and everyone’s phones buzzed with a message from Ashido in the class group chat, a social media post showing Bakugo and Todoroki having stopped a gang of thieves robbing people who were doing holiday shopping. “Let’s go!” Kirishima said excited for his friends.

“So that means they’re going to be a bit later than expected. Looks like Todoroki used a lot of ice which he’ll have to melt.” Henshizo said but was grinning at the story. “That’s true but isn’t that badass?” Kaminari said grinning. “Oh yeah, it’s really great they stopped it right after getting their licenses. Shows that we’re all going to be great.” Henshizo said chuckling as most of the class was now scouring social media to find videos and pictures of what had happened. After a bit more time, Hagakure looked at the laptop and saw Bakugo and Todoroki walking in from the front gate.

“They’re coming!” Hagakure cried out, so everyone quickly got into positions, turning all of the lights off and waited for the two of them. Not long after the front door opened and the two boys walked in to almost complete darkness. “Did the power go out?” Todoroki asked looking around as everyone readied the poppers.

“You got your licenses!” Ashido said as Shoji flipped the lights on and those with poppers popped them. “Congratulations!” The rest of the class shouted in excitement. “Have some cake.” Sato said carrying the four-tier cake over.

“That thing is massive!” Bakugo said shocked. “Congratulations Todoroki.” Momo said happily, Iida giving a thumbs up to Todoroki. “Thank you.” Todoroki said politely and with a small smile.

“Congrats Baku-bro!” Kirishima said excited. “Now we can do hero work together Kacchan.” Midoriya said happily to Bakugo, who had taken a slice of cake and taken a bite before Bakugo got angry and crushed the cake in his hand. “Are you saying that because you got your license first, you’re looking down on me you damn nerd?!” Bakugo yelled angrily at Midoriya. “That’s not what I meant at all.” Midoriya said panicked as he didn’t want Bakugo to ruin the party. Henshizo sighed softly at the yelling and began walking to the elevator to go upstairs to his room.

“Where are you going Henshizo?” Momo asked walking over curiously. “I’m going to put the finishing touches on my presentation for Wednesday.” Henshizo said with a small smile. “Hawks helped me get the background information that’s not necessarily publicly available.” He continued with a slight chuckle. “I see… well I hope to learn from it.” Momo said smiling softly but had a faint hint of uncertainty on her face. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to paint them in a nice light, just a factual light.” Henshizo said quietly with a shrug. “Right. Well, I’m more looking to seeing how you handle teaching the class.” Momo said giggling slightly. “Think Aizawa will let me throw things at people if they’re not paying attention?” Henshizo asks chuckling, causing Momo to laugh more before Henshizo got to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. “Have a good night.” Momo said as the elevator doors opened and Henshizo stepped in, Henshizo giving a gentle wave to Momo, as well as Ojiro and Yanagi before the doors closed and he went up to his room. Once there he got working on the presentation until he got ready for bed. The next two days passed by and on Tuesday Henshizo went to the teacher’s lounge after classes to show the presentation that he had prepared to Aizawa. After going through it and asking a couple of questions, Aizawa gave a nod of approval.

“I’m impressed with everything you’ve put together.” Aizawa said as Henshizo closed his laptop. “Thanks, I was able to apply some stories I had heard from lots of different guys growing up to what the files on the league had.” Henshizo said just a bit quietly. “And that’s ok. Your life experiences are nothing to be ashamed of, your choices and mindset now show that you were always good.” Aizawa said quietly, Henshizo looking at him and giving a small nod. “By the way, as it’s taking place during heroics All Might will be sitting in, as well I and Vlad King mentioned he should be there. It will also be recorded and potentially adapted into lectures in the future for other classes. So, no pressure.” Aizawa said, causing Henshizo to laugh. “Yeah, no pressure. Thanks.” He said smiling before leaving the lounge to go to the dorm and take care of actual homework. After that he went to bed and awoke excited to teach despite the subject of what he would be teaching. The morning flew by, and then the lunch bell rang, 1-A walking to the cafeteria.

“So your presentation was approved by Aizawa as it was?” Momo asked curiously, Henshizo nodding in response. “I am quite looking forward to this, you’re the one person who can accurately tell the origins of villains.” Yanagi said softly beside him.

“I’m sure you mean that as a compliment.” Henshizo said with a light smirk, teasing her. “Of course.” Yanagi said going a bit red from the teasing. “But I get it, I’m the only one who’s seen and heard why people go into the dark.” Henshizo said exhaling heavily. After that they had lunch, talking about upcoming holiday break plans, before Henshizo got up early and walked back to the classroom to prepare. Henshizo hooked his laptop up and had the presentation cued as his classmates came walking back in. As the bell rang; All Might, Aizawa, and Vlad King came walking in, with Aizawa sitting in Henshizo’s desk as All Might and Vlad King sat in chairs Vlad King had carried in.

“I know Sesshada is your classmate, but for this class consider him a guest instructor and you all will show him the respect you would any other guest.” Aizawa said to the class sternly. “As long as we don’t have to call him Mr. Sesshada.” Ashido said smiling a bit, but Aizawa glared at her as Henshizo broke a bit of the lectern off as he gripped it hard, causing most of the class to give a small jolt.

“I will never be called that, that was how Dokuon was addressed, not me.” Henshizo said throwing the bit of lectern into the garbage before fixing the lectern. “Speaking of… him.” He said giving a head twitch and pressed a button on his laptop to start the presentation, showing an assortment of pictures of the League of Villains, putting the class into silence. “Most criminals heroes encounter are fairly one note; driven by a need they have, either financial or emotional. While they are dangerous, in the world of villains, they are the lowest rung. Muggers, stalkers, that kind of criminal. Sadly, the circumstances for those criminals will never really go away, poverty, emotions, and mental illness will always exist, and yet from what has been investigated and dug up by the police, of the identifiable League members; most could’ve been prevented from going down the roads that took them to the League. I must preface this by saying I am not excusing what the League has done and they all must face justice for their crimes.” Henshizo said seriously and looked around the room. “But what I am saying is that it’s possible their crimes may not have happened if things had been different for them.” Henshizo said and tapped the space bar for the slide to show Himiko Toga from footage. Uraraka and Asui looked at the picture uncomfortably as Iida raised his hand. “Is using the League of Villains the best example, considering what they’ve done to us?” He asked glancing at those that had been particularly hurt by the League. “Yes, for that very reason. Showing how those that have hurt us came to be can prevent the next Toga, Twice, and others.” Henshizo said, Iida and a couple others nodding in response.

“So what, in your opinion, caused Toga to go down the path she did, especially since she’s only one or two years older than you all?” Vlad King asked, getting the discussion back on track, Henshizo nodding and showed a photo of Toga from Toga’s elementary school. “Toga’s quirk, transform, having to ingest blood to activate her quirk presents a host of challenges, not least of which is how our society views taboo quirks like that. Shinso touched on it during the joint training exercise we just had, since his quirk is viewed by many as a villainous quirk, they just assumed he would become a villain, while not looking at Shinso’s character.” Henshizo said looking at the young Toga with a sigh. “Toga became a villain after attacking a classmate in middle school with a box cutter, and eyewitness reports say she drank the blood from the wound.” He continued, causing a couple people in the class to get queasy at the thought of it. “Her parents were quick to condemn her, say they did all they could, and call her a quote, demon child’, that tells me they didn’t try everything. They saw their child have something and do something that wasn’t normal and instead of trying to take her to proper quirk counseling where Toga could have healthily embraced her quirk, they just sent her to therapy to get her to be normal.” Henshizo said, putting air quotes around normal, nodding to Kaminari when he raised his hand.

“You say that, but what could she do with a quirk like hers to help control herself.” Kaminari asked tilting his head. “While I haven’t take psychology classes, I can say that sitting your child down and talking to them about behaviors that they do and just explain things gently and listen to them can go a long way to help them.” Henshizo said sighing a bit sadly as Jiro raised her hand.

“Are you saying her quirk compelled her to do things? If so, what could have been done to help?” Jiro asked curiously. “I am, while it’s not true for all quirks, some quirks do cause certain thoughts and behaviors to manifest in people. For Toga it was a fascination with blood, but her parents couldn’t stand the thought of having a child deviate from societal norms, so they made Toga suppress her fascination and feelings related to it. The only problem with that is when you suppress feelings like hers for so long when she doesn’t know any better, these feelings explode out.” Henshizo said changing the slide to the headline of when Toga attacked a classmate at her Middle School graduation. “After that she’s been on the run, her fascination of blood still present as she told Midoriya how much she liked him being beaten up and bloodied in the woods.” Henshizo said, Midoriya rubbing his neck awkwardly.

“Could she have gotten help even after attacking her classmate?” Sero asked quietly, raising his hand. “Sure, but she’d be either in prison or a psychiatric hospital. So, for her it was either get help while imprisoned or flee, so she fled.” Henshizo said simply.

“What drew her to the League?” Hagakure asked, just asking the question since Henshizo wouldn’t be able to see her raise her hand. “Her obsession with blood likely meant she was captivated with bloody crimes, and while she was hiding Stain became active.” Henshizo said, Bakugo clicking his tongue as he remembered Toga never shutting up about Stain while he had been held captive by the League. “Thanks to Hosu people thought that the League and Stain were connected, so to get close to her idol, she went to the League.” Henshizo said sighing at the end. “And we know the rest, Toga can mimic and act like people scarily accurate and right now the only thing to truly distinguish her apart from the person she’s trying to copy is the fact she can’t use their quirk.” Henshizo said seriously, the class nodding in solace. Henshizo transitioned the slide to show Jin Bubaigawara’s mug shot. “This is Jin Bubaigawara, or as we more know him as, Twice. Before he found his way into the League, he was on the most wanted list already for a series of robberies using doubles of himself to act in every way for the robberies. However, after he robbed a jewelry store, he went quiet; no robberies, no sightings, nothing until he popped up as a part of the vanguard action squad. But something interesting changed in his actions, does anyone know what it is? I mentioned it.” Henshizo said looking around the classroom before Midoriya raised his hand.

“You said he used multiple doubles of himself to commit the robberies, but at the training camp attack and during the Hassaikai raid he only made copies of other people.” Midoriya said, Henshizo smiling and nodding in response. “Cookie for Midoriya, that is correct. And let me tell you all something… Twice scares me. Because on record it’s noted he can make two clones of whoever, however he often had a dozen or so of himself to help with robberies and we know the doubles he makes can use the quirks of those he makes copies of. So, the doubles of himself can make doubles of Bubaigawara over and over again. Granted their durability would be abysmal, but the numbers he could make is technically endless, so the question is why hasn’t he doubled himself since emerging from hiding?” Henshizo asked looking at the mugshot. The classroom sat in silence for a while as no one had any idea before Aizawa cleared his throat.

“The double of Dabi I fought had his personality, so if he copies the personality of the person he doubles, then copying himself could have a drawback, like being unable to remember which Bubaigawara is the original.” Aizawa said, Henshizo shrugging. “Probably, but who knows, only thing for sure now is having to be aware of his potential.” Henshizo said before scoffing lightly. “The damn thing is, he’s someone who had bad luck that forced him down the road. Parents killed by a villain while he was in middle school and got placed in the foster system, where he slipped through the cracks. When he became an adult, he struggled to find work, one morning while driving to work he accidentally struck a person on his motorbike. Because of what happened that got put on his record, and the kicker is that the man he ran over was a big shot at one of the companies that contracted where Bubaigawara worked, so to settle the angry client, they fired him. Even though the police report indicates the man was more at fault for the accident than Bubaigawara was. After that he was living in the streets at rock bottom and his crime spree began.” Henshizo said with a sigh. “And now he’s one of the biggest threats in the country, all because of some bad luck and no one who helped.” Henshizo said before transitioning the slide to the next one, showing a picture of Spinner. “Shuichi Iguchi, or as he calls himself now, Spinner. Quirk; lizard, obviously it affects his appearance, slight strength boost, and can climb walls. For combat he truest to mimic Stain, using swords and knives. Iguchi became Spinner after Stain’s defeat and viewing the viral video of Stain’s arrest.” Henshizo said, clicking his tongue at the end as he had a part of causing it. “His costume is modeled after Stain and he tries to adhere to Stain’s principles, but I’m not sure how much of Stain is actually in the League, and yet he remains with them. From all reports Spinner was a shut in before the attack on the camp. No criminal record, but also not much of a record at all. Seemed to live online, playing games, browsing social media, and being a shut in.” Henshizo said as a picture popped up of what had been Spinner’s room with empty ramen cups stacked very high and not much activity.

“Then why did he join the league? Shut in to terrorist is a big leap.” Ojiro said raising his hand. “Why he was a shut in plays a part into it. He’s a heteromorph, and reports have him be the target of some nasty anti-heteromorph hate over the years.” Henshizo said, looking at Asui, Tokoyami, and Shoji briefly. “As we all know, since quirks began spreading, those with heteromorphic quirks have faced prejudice and hate for their quirks. The more the quirk affects their appearance the worse it is, Spinner is no exception. This type of hate and discrimination goes well beyond the creature rejection clan, sadly many still have a distrust and hate for those that look different.” Henshizo said, Shoji nodding, letting Henshizo know that he is both correct and can continue.

“Why do they hate what people can’t help? No one can help what quirk they’re born with.” Ashido said a bit angrily. “It’s human nature to be wary of those that aren’t like us. Be it from another country, another religion, another tribe, whatever it is. That has been occurring for millennia, heteromorph discrimination has just been the next chapter in this nasty bit of human nature. Even quirks themselves were discriminated against when they first started emerging, people with quirks heavily persecuted against, and even killed. I do apologize I only meant to talk about the discrimination Spinner faced, but I suppose peeling the curtain back even further is warranted.” Henshizo said, the class wrapped around his words.

“If I may ask, young Sesshada, how are you so well versed with history?” All Might asked from the side, Henshizo sighing lightly. “One of the trainers I had taught me the importance of history, if you know how things in the past have shaped the present, you can shape the future. That and the old timers in Surōdesu could only talk about the old days.” Henshizo said shrugging. “And history is a very fascinating subject, so that’s why I know so much.” He said smiling softly. “But, back to the lecture, this discrimination against quirks caused its own issues and as quirks began becoming more and more prominent, then came the fact that legislation had to pass and there was a lot of varying ideas about how quirks should be regulated. Some thought that given the dangerous aspects of some quirks that they should be heavily regulated, like we mostly see today. However, there were some that quirks should be able to be freely used, most notably Destro who was the commander of the meta liberation army which was responsible for several terrorist attacks at aiming to change how quirk regulation was written. Of course he was defeated, imprisoned, and that’s where he killed himself after doing what all political wackos do, write a memoir.” Henshizo said rolling his eyes. “But that brief detour was to show how society has changed and also not changed with how, sadly, many still face discrimination for things beyond one’s control; Spinner being the latest in a long long line of people who have been targeted, discriminated, and attacked for something beyond his control, stripped of his power so he latched on to something that gave him power. Stain inspired him, and he stays with the League as they have accepted him.” Henshizo said formally as he concluded the slide on Spinner, before taking the next slide to a picture of Tomura Shigaraki and Dabi.

“You really went through the whole League basically, what about that magician guy?” Todoroki asked raising his hand. “Compress is fairly easy to figure out really. Traditional in honoring the family and one his ancestors was a notable villain who was like that folklore hero Robinhood. Also joined the league because he’s a showman and they’re the biggest headline grabbing group in Japan… and a couple more thoughts from Hawks that aren’t classroom appropriate.” Henshizo said with a chuckle, causing some of the class to laugh before turning to look at Dabi and Shigaraki. “Both of these guys are unique, no trace of who they actually are, but both are very angry at something.” Henshizo said sighing. “We know Shigaraki hates heroes, like truly hates.” Henshizo said looking at the photo of the leader of the League of Villains.

“All villains hate heroes.” Bakugo said dismissively. “Oh, they do, but this hatred runs very very deep. It’s personal with him. The last leader of Surōdesu, hated heroes, but I can say having been near both, Shigaraki’s hatred is much higher. His whole mission is to tear down society, kill heroes, in particular All Might.” Henshizo said looking over at the retired pro.

“So what does that have to do why he became a villain?” Ashido asked as Midoriya looked over to All Might as well. “If it’s personal… it’s likely Shigaraki had a hero in the family and something went wrong. I don’t know, but it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. I could be wrong, maybe a hero accidentally killed his family, it happens, or they didn’t get saved.” Henshizo said, bobbing his head side to side. “But to him, heroes let him down so he wants to take heroes down.” Henshizo said solemnly.

“And what about staple man Dabi?” Kaminari asked Aizawa crossing arms at Kaminari’s comment on Dabi’s appearance. “Truly nothing. A powerful flame quirk user, seems to almost be second in command behind Shigaraki since he led the attack on the camp. But other than it seems his quirk hurts himself, there’s really nothing on him.” Henshizo said annoyed, looking at the blue flame user. Before bringing up the last slide which had pictures of Toga, Spinner, Twice, and Shigaraki. “These four, Shigaraki is admittedly speculative by me, are all victims of something and could’ve been prevented. Instead of Twice, Spinner, and… Toga the killer; we could have Bubaigawara, Iguchi, and Toga the high school student. Villains are people, be it someone who has a quirk that causes taboo urges, someone who has faced hate for them being a heteromorph, or someone who just had some bad luck. I truly believe that if they were truly given a chance, like I was, they wouldn’t be at the top of the most wanted.” Henshizo said, ending his lecture. The class respectfully clapped, as did the three teachers, All Might standing up, and walked to the front.

“Young Sesshada made many valuable points in that lecture. A common gripe many heroes say to each other is that villains seem to be never ending, take one down and another just takes their place. If anyone can vouch for that it is young Sesshada, for obvious reasons.” All Might said, Henshizo sighing slightly. “Yeah yeah, I could’ve taken over Surōdesu and been a true villain. Been there, talked about it.” Henshizo said dismissively, causing a few of his classmates to chuckle.

“Even though I gave the approval of it and had an idea of what you would talk about, you were correct in many regards, or at least your theories were very sound.” Aizawa said standing up from his seat. “Thanks, I had help with some aspects of it.” Henshizo said, with a polite head bow to Aizawa, his help being Hawks giving him the files on the League of Villains with investigators theories on the members.

“Regardless it’s clear you put a lot of thought into this, and it’s a good lesson.” Vlad King said standing up before walking to the door and turning the lights on before leaving. “Is he still upset about what I did in the joint training exercise?” Henshizo asked curiously.

“He won’t admit it, but he was definitely upset by the last two rounds being complete sweeps.” All Might said with a small smile. “Regardless I do hope everyone was paying attention. If you can prevent people from becoming villains now, then you’re keeping people safe in the future.” Aizawa said, the class almost all grinning a bit hearing how Vlad King was a bit bitter of the results of the training. The final bell of the day rang, so All Might and Aizawa left as the students packed up, a few checking their phones.

“Holy crap!” Kaminari said in shock as he looked at his phone. “There was a major attack in Deika city!” He said holding his phone out, causing everyone to look at their phones and the varying news headlines on it. “Dozens feared dead and missing. Over half the city destroyed.” Kirishima said reading the headlines out loud in a worried tone. Henshizo tapped on one news story and it showed a picture of the destruction, several buildings were destroyed and there was even a large crater in one part of the city. The roads were all split open, and Henshizo was able to see red dots meaning bodies or at least where bodies had been. The class was all quietly reading the news.

“It looks worse than Kamino or Hosu.” Momo said putting a hand to her mouth. Henshizo finished reading the story he had picked, pocketed, his phone away, and left the classroom with Ojiro and Yanagi. “Deika isn’t a huge city… maybe it’s not as bad as it looks.” Ojiro said a bit hopeful.

“Regardless, that level of destruction is scary, and not in the way I like.” Yanagi said softly. “Yeah, although it’s weird for something like that to happen in a city like Deika, although that might have been the point of whoever is responsible. Hit a place that isn’t thought of as much.” Henshizo said as he continued to read the news and saw something else interesting. “This is also weird and disturbing. There’s been a series of fingers being left in certain spots around Japan.” Henshizo said showing the headline to the two of them.

“Yuck. What sicko is doing that?” Ojiro asked, with a disgusted look on his face. “Not sure who, but the locations are no accident.” Henshizo said scrolling through and seeing all the locations. “Huh? There’s a pattern?” Ojiro asked as he and Yanagi peered at Henshizo’s phone screen. “Outside the leader of Shie Hassaikai’s house, in Hosu outside a terminal, on the highway where Overhaul’s prison transport was hit, Kamino near All Might’s statute, and today in Fukuoka where Endeavor and Hawks fought that Nomu.” Henshizo muttered as he examined photos of the sights, also noting that clothing and glasses were at the scenes.

“I may believe in a lot of things, but coincidences are not one of them, those are all places where the League did something.” Yanagi said, Henshizo nodding in response. “I swear I’ve seen that scarf before, but I can’t place who wore it.” He muttered before shrugging. “But yeah, this is no coincidence, I just can’t figure out who. Is it the League doing a greatest hits tour? Is it some fan of the League paying tribute? Or is it someone defying the League?” Henshizo muttered quietly as they left the main building and walked back to the dorm.

“Huh, that is weird. I just hope Deika isn’t like Kamino.” Ojiro said, Henshizo and Yanagi nodding in agreement as they got back to the common area, sat down, and began doing their homework together, as they had the TV on for background noise at it covered the Deika City incident, Henshizo sitting there with a feeling that things would only get worse before they got better.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter; any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 68: Interview fails and media 101

Summary:

As members of Class 1-A become more notable, they have to either deal with interviews or prepare to deal with interviews. How bad are the fails and who's a natural at working the camera?

Four days after the Deika city incident, the reports that had come out of it were both horrific and astonishing. Henshizo read the different reports and news stories, finding it odd that the villains behind the chaos had lured the heroes in Deika out of the city by using a false emergency signal before going on their rampage. Henshizo sighed thinking of how the civilians were caught off guard and unprotected, so they had to defend themselves using their quirks, which was technically against social norms but now most people were praising them, but a few said that the destruction was exasperated by the civilians being unable to use their quirks properly. Henshizo found himself in the middle of the two camps, inclined to believe that laws are too restrictive thanks to his upbringing, but also knew that using quirks in a combat setting can be overwhelming and normal people lacked the training that takes everything in a combat scenario into account. Henshizo was sitting in the kitchen reading one story about the victims of the Deika City incident, brow furrowed, when Momo came walking over with a warm cup of tea for him and set it down. “Thanks… and for the record I still prefer coffee, I just know that coffee in the afternoon is a bad idea.” Henshizo said taking a sip, causing Momo to giggle and then look down at his phone. “The victims of Deika?” She asked softly, Henshizo nodding in response. “Yeah, I’m not sure why, but there’s something off about this whole thing to me.” Henshizo said setting the tea cup down. “What do you mean?” Momo asked tilting her head curiously. “The villains that reports say were behind it and killed were released, but none of them reek of being the masterminds to plan something like this. I don’t know it just isn’t sitting right with me.” Henshizo said letting a sigh out. “Yeah, the public safety commission is doing an investigation into it I heard.” Momo said nodding, Henshizo pausing on a name. “Something else that’s really weird to me are two of the people were caught up in the chaos. The executive director of a book publishing company was killed, while the CEO of Detnerat lost his legs.” Henshizo said, Momo covering her mouth with a hand. “How awful.” She said Henshizo slowly nodding. “Yeah, but I’m just trying to think of a reason those two would be in Deika. Deika isn’t some remote fishing village, but it’s also not exactly a town for such high-end people.” Henshizo said mildly annoyed that he couldn’t figure out why those two were there. “Maybe they were making their way to someplace else and both got caught there.” Momo said now a bit confused as well. “Maybe, but I don’t know.” Henshizo said closing the story on his phone and took another sip of tea. Henshizo let out a deep breath and looked over to the sitting area where a cameraman and reporter were setting up for an interview. “Another interview for Bakugo and Todoroki?” He asked taking another sip of tea. “Yep, their third.” Momo said looking over as Todoroki and Bakugo sat on the couch, on opposite ends. “And the first two went so well.” Henshizo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up yakuza!” Bakugo yelled over at him, causing another eye roll from Henshizo. The reporter lady cleared her throat and Bakugo settled in before the cameraman gave the signal he had begun recording. “Today I’m here with the two young men who just thirty minutes after getting their provisional hero licenses, stopped a gang of villains from committing a massive robbery of holiday shoppers. Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo.” The reporter said in an energetic voice, causing Bakugo to tense up while Momo, Henshizo, Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka watched from the side. “You two must have become good friends during all that extra training and lessons to get your provisional licenses.” The reporter said smiling politely. “Huh? Do you think that? You got something wrong with your eyes, maybe your head.” Bakugo retorted.

“Yes we’re friends.” Todoroki said in his monotone voice, causing Bakugo to turn his head to Todoroki. “And what awful logic causes you to think we’re friends icy-hot?” Bakugo said angrily. “We’ve spent a lot of time together because of the training.” Todoroki said deadpanned. “That doesn’t mean anything! You need your head examined as well!” Bakugo snapped at Todoroki, Henshizo doubling over in silent laughter as everyone else was watched horrified at Bakugo’s behavior. Momo put a hand on Henshizo’s back and lead him out of the common area, and to the elevator, as Bakugo continued to explosively rant at Todoroki.

“How is he so bad at being not angry?” Henshizo asked laughing in the elevator, Momo sighing. “I’m not sure, but you never help with your antagonization.” Momo said giving a light smack to his back. “Hey, my mere presence pisses him off… at least it’s not Midoriya level, don’t think anyone apart from villains can sink below that bar.” Henshizo said shrugging but still having little snorts of laughter. Momo sighed and the doors opened to Henshizo’s floor. “Just go and finish up your homework, even though our semester is nearly done doesn’t mean you can coast.” Momo said, Henshizo walking off the elevator. “Yeah yeah. So, what’s the schedule for us for Christmas?” Henshizo asked looking back at Momo. “We’re having a class Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas Day you and I get up early to be escorted to my home for Christmas. Midnight will be escorting us, she volunteered. Your foster family will already be at our manor, I believe getting there on Christmas Eve. Dad is making necessary security protections for us, but he and mom have plans for us. And your mom is apparently about to burst with excitement.” Momo said with a smile. “I can say this, if any villain tries anything, that security would have to worry about protecting the villain.” Henshizo said with a smile and chuckle. Momo sighed but had a light smile as she shook her head. “I don’t doubt that. Have a good night.” Momo said, letting the elevator doors close, Henshizo then went to his room and opened up the closet to look at the bags and boxes. “Have gifts for everyone apart from Sanae, but that’s on its way.” Henshizo muttered, smiling at the gifts. He closed the closet door and got back to working on the final essay for Present Mic. After completing that and doing some training in the gym, Henshizo turned in for the night. The next five days were a mixture of last of semester tests, assessments, and training for Henshizo and the rest of 1-A. In the afternoon after lunch, but before their afternoon classes, all of 1-A was hanging out in the classroom, most watching the interview of Bakugo and Todoroki that had just aired on the news. Sero and Kaminari burst out laughing as the interview was mainly focused on Todoroki, and Bakugo could only be seen in the corner of the screen most of the time.

“Th-they were interviewed for an hour and it’s only five minutes! And none of Bakugo’s answers made the cut!” Sero said laughing, Henshizo laughing too as Bakugo gritted his teeth angrily. “Why didn’t they use my answers?” He growled as the laughter continued.

“They kind of did him a favor not showing anything.” Uraraka said sighing. “And this was their third interview. What a waste of a chance for good pr.” Jiro said playing with an earphone jack. Henshizo was still laughing a bit in his seat as he heard the continued morning show in front of him with Midoriya watching it, so he got up and watched it over Midoriya’s shoulder.

“While they were only licensed for so little time, those boys proved themselves to be reliable and able to get the job done. Hopefully they become pros quickly so that a tragedy like Deika city is avoided in the future.” The lead talk show host lady said solemnly. “It’s been nine days since the tragic incident, where a group of twenty villains caused mass chaos in the previously quiet town. Causing massive destruction and claiming dozens of lives.” The newsman continued, Henshizo crossing his arms as he still wasn’t fully sure of things as Iida came walking over.

“They’re saying the physical damage is higher than Kamino, but less lives were lost compared to Kamino because of how small Deika was.” Iida said quietly as they continued to watch. “While the motive is unclear, some speculate it was villains trying shake our country’s trust in heroes, but let’s see what people on the street are saying.” The woman said before it cut to some street interviews.

“I think it’s dumb to criticize the heroes. The system is too strict on them.” One man said to the camera. “Going after the heroes who stepped up is ridiculous.” A woman with a bizarre haircut said scoffing into the mic. “I just hope this pushes heroes to try harder, because we will too.” A pair of women said imploringly to the camera.

“The reaction is certainly interesting. In the past, heroes would face very tough criticism for what happened, but instead we’re seeing a groundswell of support for them. Perhaps this is the beginning of a shift in the current era of heroes.” A man who looked like a ghoul said, who was listed as a hero expert. ‘Can only be an expert of something if you actually do it. Other than that, you’re just a lame ass.’ Henshizo thought with a small eye roll. “It’s all thanks to that ‘look’ boy during Endeavor’s fight against that Nomu, people have really been supporting heroes.” Uraraka said smiling as she made her eyes really open up as the door slid open.

“Not so fast you baby heroes! Not everything is on the rise.” A voice said as Midnight came strutting in trying to pose, but Mt. Lady posed, jutting her butt out. “It may seem like support, but really it’s a plea for us to win our fights and save everyone.” Mt. Lady said looking over her shoulder at them. “Basically, enough of the spectacle and instead they want results.” The blonde pro continued at Midnight lightly frowned at her, Henshizo guessing annoyance that Mt. Lady was taking the spotlight.

“Mt. Lady?” Midoriya said confused as Aizawa walked around the corner in his sleeping bag, clearly uncaring. “Mt. Lady is here as a guest lecturer to help you deal with the media, since you’ll only be getting more exposure to them at this rate.” Aizawa said leaning against the door frame. “And midnight is here to assist since the media isn’t my thing.” He said as Bakugo growled.

“I’m not asking for this stuff to happen.” Bakugo said as Henshizo tilted his head. “No offense, but to me it seems Mt. Lady is more about spectacles than anyone else.” Henshizo said, Mt. Lady snapping her eyes over to him, Midnight smirking ever so lightly.

“Today is media one oh one. Lead by me a full-time active pro who’s shooting up the ranks. Who better to teach you all how to handle the media, than a media darling like myself.” Mt. Lady said holding up a fake media badge. “Not sure what we’re going to do, but let’s do our best everyone!” Kirishima said, trying to rally the class.

“Now go change into your costumes.” Midnight ordered them, the class grabbing their costume cases and walked to the locker rooms. “Anything with the media will never end smooth for me.” Henshizo sighed as he took his shoes off.

“Oh yeah… can’t imagine it will be easy to be in the same newspapers that had your father’s mugshot.” Ojiro said quietly as he got his uniform pants off. “That and my eyes.” Henshizo said throwing his shoes a bit harder than needed into his locker. “Your eyes?” Ojiro asked, Henshizo sighing as he opened his costume case. “Same eyes. Same, and I quote, venomous, green eyes.” Henshizo said bitterly as he got his costume out and began putting it on. “I’m sorry man, but hopefully down the line it won’t be that way.” Ojiro said trying to comfort Henshizo. “Yeah; that’s the one good thing about time. Those that care stop caring.” Henshizo said, finishing up getting dressed and closed his locker door. Ojiro nodded and after they all got dressed, made their way to the out to field alpha, where a stage was set up with fake photographers.

“You’re going to be practicing hero interviews!” Mt. Lady declared as Midnight adjusted the stairs up to the stage. “Hero Shoto, you first.” Mt. Lady said, and Todoroki nodded before walking up on stage. “You were great out there Shoto, any comments on your job well done?” Mt. Lady asked holding a mic to Todoroki. “Huh? What’re you talking about?” Todoroki asked confused. “Pretend you just finished up a mission.” Mt. Lady quietly hissed at him, but the mic picked it up. “Oh, ok.” Todoroki said, Henshizo covering his mouth to hide his smirk.

“Todoroki doesn’t have much imagination, does he?” Henshizo whispered to Ojiro who covered his mouth with his tail. “Now tell me, what type of hero do you want to be?” Mt. Lady asked like a reporter.

“One where people feel at ease when they see me arrive.” Todoroki said curtly. “Sounds great, but you’re so good looking that if you showed up women like me would faint.” Mt. Lady said grinning. “Do you have a medical condition that explains it?” Todoroki asked, Henshizo having cough to stop his laughter. “Right. Anyway, what are your ultimate moves?” Mt. Lady asked, moving on from Todoroki’s awkwardness, Todoroki walking off the stage and then did his massive wall of ice attack. “Heaven piercing ice wall. Good for both stopping criminals and crowd control. I also have flash-freeze heatwave but that’s a bit more messy.” Todoroki said as Mr. Lady clapped at the display of power.

“What about the move you nearly used on class b?” Sero asked as Todoroki began walking up the stairs to get back on the stage. “Flashfire fist, Endeavor’s signature move.” Hagakure said excitedly.

“That’s his move, I’m not on his level yet.” Todoroki said resolutely as he got back on the stage. “It’s ok to have personal issues, but since you want to put people at ease, smiling would be a good place to start. I’m sure you have a smile that is a real lady killer.” Mt. Lady said smiling herself. “My smile would kill women?” Todoroki asked worried and shocked. “Ok, that’s enough. And no, it wouldn’t.” Mt. Lady said exasperated as half the boys all snorted at Todoroki’s comment.

“Will we all be showing our ultimate moves during an interview, for what reason?” Tokoyami asked, a bit skeptical. “You’re showing how naive you guys are.” Mt. Lady said walking over to the edge of the stage and squatting down. “Even with the sports festival and some of you having other experiences, not everyone in the world or even country knows who you guys are.” She said looking at them, the class actually listening to her. “Showing off your ultimate moves and who you are to the media, helps people learn what you’re capable of and be reassured in your abilities, should they need rescuing and you show up. It also helps other heroes learn about you as well which helps with sudden team ups or can help break the ice for other projects. It also shows the villains that you’re not one to mess with. We don’t just shout the names of our ultimate moves because they’re cool, there is a lot more meaning to them than that.” Mt. Lady said to them, everything she said making sense to them.

“Am I crazy in remembering her only caring about where a camera is?” Henshizo muttered near Aizawa. “No, but it’s not just her.” Aizawa said, Henshizo glancing towards his homeroom teacher. “Her and every other hero is being pushed to new levels because of Endeavor becoming the number one hero.” Aizawa said, Henshizo shrugging a bit. “New era I suppose.” Henshizo muttered.

“Now let’s keep the interviews going!” Mt. Lady said excited, standing up with Iida next walking on the stage. “I’m Ingenium because I want to honor my brother and what he stood for when he was Ingenium.” Iida said sincerely. “Sincerity is good.” Mt. Lady said as Henshizo briefly thought back to the alleyway in Hosu where he, Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki fought and defeated Stain. Momo went up next, Henshizo hoping she’d do well but wasn’t nervous for her. “I’m Creati, and the knowledge I have will guide me everywhere.” Momo said sure of herself. “The confidence you have really assures me.” Mt. Lady said smiling at Momo, Momo giving a small smile back and walked off the stage before Uraraka went up.

“Glad you have confidence in yourself.” Henshizo whispered to Momo as Uraraka showed off her floating. “Thanks, Henshizo, admittedly I’m still not as confident about my combat skills, but my knowledge is something I’m very confident in.” Momo whispered back, excited at the end. “Playing to your strengths isn’t a bad thing.” Henshizo said watching as Tokoyami cloaked himself in dark shadow. Momo nodded while smiling and watched everyone else go. After Shoji went, Henshizo decided to walk up to the stage.

“Yahata, is it? So, tell me, how can you assure people you’ll protect them. Given the blood shed by your father.” Mt. Lady said holding the mic to him, Henshizo remaining calm despite some of the class getting angry at her. “Because I will fight with every fiber of my being to protect them and make sure they no longer suffer.” Henshizo said determined as he changed the marble in his hand to a shield that he held up. “Perfectly said, making them feel protected is a good thing to do.” Mt. Lady said as Henshizo changed the shield back to a marble and pocketed it, walking off the stage, with Hagakure going after him.

“That was really good, you don’t get upset when she brought up… him.” Momo said softly as Ojiro walked over. “I can contain my emotions for stuff like that. Besides, I’ll always have to deal with it, so getting practice in is a good thing.” Henshizo said shrugging as Ojiro gave a pat on his back.

“I got upset for you; guess I shouldn’t have.” Ojiro said chuckling. “I appreciate it, but please don’t get upset on my behalf.” Henshizo said as Hagakure got off the stage and Yanagi went up to the stage and having objects spin around her, Henshizo turning his full attention to her.

“So Emily, how can you let people know they don’t have to be afraid when you show up?” Mt. Lady asked Yanagi, Henshizo being able to tell she was a bit anxious. “The only people that should be afraid are the villains doing wrong.” Yanagi said into the mic, trying to sound confident. “Always good to be thematic with responses.” Mt. Lady said politely as Yanagi went off the stage and rejoined Henshizo and Ojiro. “That was terrifying.” She muttered.

“I could tell you were anxious but you did fine.” Henshizo said reassuringly as Bakugo walked up the stage. “Besides, if it wasn’t great to her, Mt. Lady is about to forget it.” He muttered, them all knowing Bakugo wasn’t going to do well. “Bakugo, is it? What do you have to say after that performance?” Mt. Lady asked

“Sound bites are stupid, so just shut up and follow my lead!” Bakugo proclaimed into the mic; the class not shocked at his response at all. “I see… you interview ok by yourself; you just don’t interact well with people.” Mt. Lady muttered.

“I’m sorry Bakugo, they must have cut you out of the interview because I was there.” Todoroki said looking up at Bakugo in the stage. “You seriously think you’re better than me, like I care what you say!” Bakugo snapped back at Todoroki, Henshizo snickering at how bad Bakugo was. Mt. Lady had Bakugo get off the stage and Midoriya be next for the mock interview.

“Aizawa, maybe have Bakugo do your strategy of avoiding the press.” Midnight said quietly enough that Bakugo didn’t hear her, but Henshizo did and he smirked even more. He turned his attention to the stage and was shocked at how stiff Midoriya had gotten on the stage. “It’s Deku, right? You were great from what I saw.” Mt. Lady said nicely.

“I’m… glad. That’s great” Midoriya said nervously, almost robotically. “And what do you think of how you did out there?” Mt. Lady asked the still tense Midoriya. “Thats great.” Midoriya repeated, causing Henshizo to sigh at his friend’s nervousness. ‘He beat Chisaki but is too nervous for a mock interview?’ Henshizo thought to himself with a small shake of his head. “You seem to emulate yourself a lot like All Might, so you admire him?” Mt. Lady asked and suddenly Midoriya lit up. “Yeah. But I’m not copying him as my style of fighting has shifted since I first began here, for example I now have…” Midoriya began going off on a muttering tangent that Henshizo and the class had learned to tune out.

“Speaking of moves, have you made any development on that move that burst out of you?” Midnight asked up to Midoriya, cutting his muttering off and catching everyone’s attention. Midoriya took a moment and composed himself, holding his arm out, he closed his eyes in deep thought and Henshizo watched curiously, also ready to leap out of the way if need be. After a couple of moments, a tiny wisp of the black energy thing came out of one of the points on his glove before quickly disappearing. “See that?! I know it wasn’t a lot but it’s my first step to control it.” Midoriya said excited.

“Seriously? Thats it?” Mt. Lady asked, not impressed. ‘Considering last time, he couldn’t control it at all it’s something.’ Henshizo thought to himself. After that, Midoriya walked down the steps and joined the rest of the class since he was the last one. “Most of you already have a good grasp on how to handle a basic media interview. Obviously, this was only one type of way that the media can interact with you or you can interact with the media and public at large. Have confidence in yourself and those that need help from you will feel confident they’ll be saved by you.” Mt. Lady said with a smile and the class politely clapped for her. “That concludes today’s classes, go to the locker room and change. And I do hope you haven’t left end of semester exam studying for the last minute. Tomorrow won’t be easy.” Aizawa said seriously. The class all nodded and went to the locker room to change.

“How are you feeling about the exams tomorrow?” Ojiro asked Henshizo, as Ojiro took his robe off. “I feel fine. Momo is having a study session tonight and I think most of the class will be there, so I will to.” Henshizo said taking his jacket off. “I’ll also be there.” Ojiro said chuckling and they finished getting changed they dropped their costume cases off in the classroom and went back to the dorm. There Henshizo finished his final assignments before going down to the common room for the study session. There Momo was able to drag Kaminari and Ashido alongside everyone else to feel confident for the exams the following day. After the study session, at Iida’s insistence, everyone went to their rooms to unwind and then get a good amount of sleep; Henshizo’s version of unwinding doing some exercises in his room. Then came the final day of the winter semester before holiday break, which was chock-full of exams, Henshizo and everyone else mentally drained as they turned the last exam in and made their way back to the dorm, crunching snow under their feet.

“A break!” Kaminari said excitedly as he sat down in a chair with a sigh. Henshizo walked to the kitchen and got a bottle of Aquarius out, before walking back towards the front door. “Going to go workout?” Yanagi asked him softly as he passed her.

“Yeah, after a long day of tests like that, it’s the only thing that can help me relax.” Henshizo said, changing his uniform into the gym uniform with his quirk before walking out and going to the gym. ‘Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve, which means our big class Christmas party. Think I have everything ready for that.’ Henshizo thought to himself as he walked along. Henshizo was able to clear his head from all the exam induced fatigue and walked back to the dorm. As he was walking back, Aizawa was also walking towards the dorm. “Hello Sensei, is everything ok?” Henshizo asked jogging up to him. “Define ok, but no one is in trouble if that’s what you mean.” Aizawa said, glancing over at him. “That’s good at least.” Henshizo said as they walked up the stairs. “If anyone isn’t in the common room, I’m putting you in charge of getting them there. I have an announcement.” Aizawa said as they began opening the doors. “Oh, ok.” Henshizo said, sighing internally at the prospect of messaging a couple people. Fortunately, everyone was in the common area or kitchen.

“Aizawa sensei, what are you doing here?” Midoriya said causing everyone’s attention to turn to Aizawa as Henshizo walked to the kitchen and stopped to hear as to what Aizawa had to say. “I have come here to announce that UA is resuming the work studies, those that had work studies reach out to the agencies you were at and see if you can go back. However, this is going to be different from the last round of work studies, as everyone will be doing them, so use any connections you may have gotten from the sports festival to try and find one; however, if you can’t us teachers will be working with some of the top agencies in the country to find a place for everyone. So, if you do find a work study let us staff know so we can cross you off the list.” Aizawa said, the whole class getting excited at the prospect of doing work studies, although those that had done work studies were more reserved with their excitement, knowing what work studies will entail.

“When will we be starting the work studies?” Iida asked raising his hand. “The day after new year’s. You’ll be participating in a work study the rest of your winter break from that point on. I’m also sure that the pros you go with will want to have you return during the semester as well, which means you’ll have to balance school and the work study. That is all.” Aizawa said, turning to leave and the class burst out into excited mutters.

“I can’t believe it, we get to do work studies! Think Hawks will take me on?” Ojiro asked happily to Henshizo. “Not sure, I’ll ask but wouldn’t hold my breath. Besides, I don’t think he’d be a good fit for you. And I’m not saying that to keep you away, I’d love to work with you or Yanagi, but Hawks is a bit… interesting to work with, and his style wouldn’t suit either of you.” Henshizo said looking at his friends.

“That is very reasonable, and I have no interest in doing a work study with him… although I would’ve liked to work with you.” Yanagi said quietly, causing Henshizo to blush a bit and look away to the tv where the news was talking about Best Jeanist still missing, which had Henshizo worried, but he knew Best Jeanist could handle himself. He turned his thoughts back to the work study and pulled his phone out to write an email to Hawks about coming back, but he already had an email from Hawks, saying that Hawks expected Henshizo to come back for the work study. ‘Damn, I know he’s fast, but this is too fast. How’d he know?’ Henshizo thought as he typed up his reply, saying he would be coming back to Hawks’s agency for the work study, filling Henshizo with cautious excitement about doing the work study again, as he joined his classmates to talk about the next chapter in their incredibly busy first year.

Notes:

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and any feedback is appreciated. I'm happy to be turning out chapters in relative quick succession again, no months long gaps.

Chapter 69: A Plus Ultra Christmas Party!

Summary:

1-A throws a Christmas party on Christmas Eve, what shenanigans will Henshizo and the class get into?

Henshizo woke up in the morning and found himself filled with excitement for the day. The class 1-A Christmas party would be occurring practically all afternoon and into the night, with the morning used to put all the final decorations up and make all the food they would be gorging on for the festivities. Henshizo thought back to the Christmas he had at Sanae’s, back when he was still shut in, and how it was one of the biggest things to get him to warm up to his foster family. Henshizo got out of bed and noticed a piece of paper on the floor by his door, so he walked over to it and picked it up. ‘Outside the door is an outfit for you to wear for the day if you want to. -Your class reps Iida and Yaoyorozu.’ The paper said and curiously Henshizo opened the door and looked down to see a package in brown paper on the floor, so Henshizo picked it up before tearing the paper off, revealing a Santa outfit and hat, the hat having a little uzi on it. Henshizo smiled at it, and didn’t mind it because he knew his dual wielding uzi approach had become a trademark of his. Henshizo put the outfit on over some comfy clothes of his and walked to the elevator and got on to head down to the common area. “Hmm, what should I make?” Henshizo muttered to himself, thinking. “Sanae showed me that Kasutera recipe, I’ll make that.” Henshizo said walking out of the elevator and into the common area. “Morning Sesshada!” Ojiro said waving at him from the couch. “Morning.” Henshizo said smiling as he walked over. “Your hat is cool; I just have a white fluff ball.” Ojiro said turning to show his hat decoration off. “Nothing wrong with a classic.” Henshizo said reassuringly, Ojiro smiling in response. “Plus, a tail might look a little weird on a hat.” Henshizo said chuckling, Ojiro laughing because he understood. “I’m going to make some Kasutera, want to help?” Henshizo asked walking to the kitchen. “Sure.” Ojiro said happily, getting up and going to the fridge, getting what was needed from it. For the next few minutes, the two of them laid things out, letting others also prepare their dishes, and began making the sponge cake. “And next the honey.” Henshizo said looking for it, and the honey floated into his hand. “Thanks, Yanagi.” Henshizo said happily before squeezing the honey in.

“Of course, you don’t bake often do you?” Yanagi asked walking over in her costume, a little ghost hanging from the end of her hat. “Sanae showed me this recipe, so it’s also something to think of my family with.” Henshizo said smiling softly. “That’s good to hear. If it’s Sanae’s recipe then it will be good.” Yanagi said, causing Ojiro to snort in laughter and Henshizo turn to face Yanagi with fake indignation on his face, Yanagi lightly giggling, Henshizo blushing a bit before turning back to the bowl. “I can bake.” He muttered playfully. Yanagi giggled again before floating the pan into the oven for him as he set the timer. The three of them then walked to the common area and helped set up the rest of the decorations, Yanagi’s quirk coming in handy greatly to get the tinsel up. More and more of their classmates arrived to do their own food preparations.

“There you are Henshizo.” Momo said coming over smiling happily in her Santa outfit, a book on the end of her hat. “Do you like your costume? I made them and thought of the custom hat ends.” She said very happily. “Yeah, I do. Admittedly not my usual wardrobe but I like it.” Henshizo said chuckling happily. “I was thinking of trying to do a suit, but that was too complicated.” Momo said teasingly before turning to the Christmas tree they had set up with generic decorations, but also one decoration representing each member of the class.

“Hey Yaoyorozu, you did a great job planning everything.” Ojiro said happily. “Thanks Ojiro.” Momo said happily as the oven beeped, Henshizo getting up and taking his Kasutera out of the oven and setting it on the counter before pouring icing on and letting it cool.

“It smells amazing.” Henshizo said to Sato as he was busy with preparing the turkey. “I know, it’s why I love Christmas. All the smells of recipes people love and just the feel.” Sato said grinning as he put some stuffing in. Henshizo nodded in agreement and walked over to the couch where Yanagi, Ojiro, Sero, Kirishima, Kaminari, Hagakure, Ashido, and Jiro were hanging out.

“Hey Sesshada we’re split four to four on what movie to watch first, Until the lights come back or Tokyo Godfathers?” Jiro asked holding the two of them up. “Tokyo Godfathers, and yes I’m aware that they mean Godfathers in the more familial role.” Henshizo said with a light chuckle as he took the movie from Jiro and walked to the tv to put it in.

“Didn’t even think of it that way.” Kirishima said laughing as Henshizo smiled to himself, glad his classmates hadn’t thought of that. Henshizo put the movie in and walked back to the couch and sat down to watch the movie; enjoying it as people finished up with their own parts of the Christmas feast, they’d be having or adding a couple last minute decorations. After the movie was over, all the food had been prepared, so the class got the food all laid out on the tables and around the common area. Henshizo couldn’t believe all the food put together by them; fried chicken, pizza, cake, dumplings, specialty deserts, and so much more. Iida, with a Santa beard, walked around poured everyone juice into cups. “Let’s all raise our cups and say Merry Christmas!” Iida said holding his cup in front of him. “One, two.” Iida said before raising his cup high to signal to the class. “Merry Christmas!” Everyone shouted happily, apart from Bakugo who was also the only one not wearing the costume. After that everyone began digging in to all the food and drink that was all over, Henshizo having a constant small smile on his face as he listened to tales of past Christmases of his classmates, and plans for what they would do with the family for the new year’s break.

“After the holiday it’s straight into the work studies, we’ve gotta be the busiest first years in UA history.” Kirishima said, wiping his hands from the grease, smiling. “You two going back to Ryukyu?” Jiro asked Uraraka and Asui.

“Yea, have you decided on a place yet?” Uraraka asked Jiro, as Shoji walked over towards Henshizo and Tokoyami. “I assume you two are going back to Hawks.” Shoji said, both Henshizo and Tokoyami nodding in response.

“Literally the same night that Aizawa announced that work studies were coming back, Hawks emailed us saying we could come back. Naturally we both agreed.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami nodding again. “Yeah, it’s great to go back to where we were, I’m heading back to Fat Gum’s agency, and where are you going Midoriya? Centipeder took over Nighteye’s agency, right? He was great to work with.” Kirishima said smiling at Midoriya, Henshizo and Tokoyami looking over at him, Nighteye’s death was still hard to believe at some points.

“I’d like to, but when I called and spoke to him, Centipeder said he and Bubble Girl were too busy with paperwork and to really train me. Gran Torino is also busy so he can’t take me on either.” Midoriya said, clearly a bit bummed about his situation. “But since it’s required unlike last time, so if nothing else UA will find a place for me to go to.” Midoriya said a bit happier at the prospect, Henshizo also watching Ashido try to put the Santa cloak on Bakugo, but being caught. “Are you going to go back to Jeanist’s agency Bakugo?” Kirishima asked, distracting Bakugo which let Kaminari get Bakugo’s Santa hat on him, Bakugo baring his teeth at being dressed up before looking down at the ground.

“I haven’t decided.” Bakugo said as he took the hat off, Henshizo knowing Bakugo wouldn’t go to the agency if Best Jeanist wasn’t there. “You had so many offers after the sports festival; you can go almost anywhere though.” Kirishima said, trying to lift his spirits. “I’m not going to learn from those that can’t push me.” Bakugo said walking away as Ashido tried again to put the coat on him. “Put that on me and I blow you away!” Bakugo said, causing Ashido to pout.

“Come on, just give in to peer pressure and join us.” Ashido whined, Todoroki muttering something but Henshizo couldn’t hear him. “Hey guys, come on. This is supposed to be a fun time, and all this trying to find a work study isn’t fun.” Kaminari said from the couch.

“Kaminari is right guys, so let’s dig in.” Sato said carrying over the main course, a delicious looking turkey. “Sugarman can make regular food too!” The class said excited as the front door opened.

“Sorry we’re late, have you started already?” Aizawa asked walking in and with him was Eri, dressed adorably up in her own little Santa outfit. “Trick or… treat?” Eri asked, Aizawa kneeling down to be on her level. “Not quite, wrong holiday.” He said gently. “Eri Claus!” Those that had been part of the raid to rescue her cried out and dashed over to her. Henshizo and Tokoyami also walking over a bit since they knew the details of the raid.

“So cute.” Uraraka said sliding on the ground as Eri pulled some salt out and tossed it. “Demons in, and demons out.” She said. “That’s not for another two months.” Aizawa said gently, Henshizo smiling at the cuteness and glad to see Eri being happy. “Go enjoy yourself.” Aizawa said to Eri softly and she walked over to Uraraka and pulled out some painted eggs. “I painted these eggs.” She said, handing them to Uraraka.

“That’s Easter but thank you.” She said, accepting the eggs as Tokoyami and Henshizo went to rejoin most of the class. “It’s excellent seeing her happy. From what I heard she had gone through.” Tokoyami muttered to Henshizo. “I agree… she’s getting a chance to have the memories become distant and easier to forget.” Henshizo said quietly, with a sigh. “Nothing that happened to her is your fault, so don’t think that and let us focus on the festivities.” Tokoyami said reassuringly. “Yeah, you’re right.” Henshizo said, smiling again as he joined Momo, Yanagi, and Ojiro to settle in and watch Jiro sing some Christmas Carols, the whole class getting involved with the carols between the food they were eating.

“Ok everyone, time for the class 1-A, present luck draw!” Iida said, so everyone briefly left the common room and returned with various wrapped presents which they all put under the tree, Tokoyami bringing what was clearly a sword and put it in the pile, Aizawa adding a present so Eri could participate. Once all the presents were in Sero put twenty-one pieces of tape to all the presents and the class moved all the tape strips around so that no one which piece of tape was connected to what present. After that everyone picked a strip, getting ready to pull, Ashido stealthily adding a tape strip to Bakugo’s leg as he walked away. “On three. One. Two. Three!” Iida called out and everyone pulled on their respective tape piece, a present in black wrapping paper flying to Henshizo thanks to how hard he pulled on the tape. Henshizo caught the present easily and opened the lid off the box to find a DVD collection of the Scream franchise, Henshizo smiling wide as he took it out, knowing exactly who this was from, turning to look at Yanagi who was holding up a knife curiously. “I’m guessing we got one another’s secret gift.” Henshizo said chuckling as he held up the movies.

“It seems so, what a pleasant coincidence.” Yanagi said as Ojiro freaked out about Eri getting Tokoyami’s sword. “Mind telling me about this knife?” Yanagi asked politely, Aizawa also coming over to watch Eri as she happily clutched the sword. “It’s made with Damascus steel and on the butt of the handle is the UA logo.” Henshizo said, Yanagi turning to look at the logo. “Custom made I take it.” She said smiling softly. “Yeah, not shockingly I know a guy, legit, and when this gift swap was announced I thought this would be good. And the sheath works with most costumes so if you’re needing an extra edge in for the work study.” Henshizo said happily. “I will use it with both care and honor.” Yanagi said with a small smile.

“Guys, Eri got the sword. What should we do?” Ojiro said coming over as Eri walked around, shouldering the sword. “It’s fine, first it’s not even that dangerous of a sword, second Aizawa can handle it.” Henshizo said chuckling as he glanced over to see Aizawa anxiously watching Eri with the sword. “Oh yeah, since you two guys are here, mind coming up to my room real fast? I have some personal gifts to give you two.” Henshizo muttered, rubbing his neck a bit. “Really? I got something for you guys too.” Ojiro said smiling.

“As have I.” Yanagi said with her small smile. “Cool, so I suppose we can take care of that after the clean up.” Henshizo said nodding, the two also nodding in agreement and rejoined the festivities. After another hour the party began dying down, lead off by Aizawa taking Eri away, Eri still carrying the sword with her as she walked out the door. After that began the not fun process of cleaning everything up, Yanagi floating Shoji to help get the wall and window decorations off, Ojiro helping clean the kitchen, and Henshizo was busy helping pick plates up and move the furniture back to where it had been. As he was helping Midoriya put plates on a tray and Bakugo was pushing an ottoman back into place with his foot, Todoroki came walking over.

“Midoriya, Bakugo. If you two are having trouble finding a work study, why don’t you come with me? Do a work study with the number one hero.” Todoroki said to the two of them, Bakugo and Midoriya showing faces of shock. Henshizo looking between them, both happy for Midoriya, but also annoyed that they were, in all likelihood, being gifted a chance to work under Endeavor. Henshizo put the plates he had on the tray Midoriya was holding, and then took the tray from Midoriya, walking to the kitchen so Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki could talk about the details privately. He helped finish the dishes, and after the last plate was put away Henshizo went up to his room and grabbed the gifts he had gotten for Yanagi and Ojiro out of the closet and waited, a knock coming not even thirty seconds after he had leaned on his bed. He opened the door and there was Ojiro holding his gifts while Yanagi was floating hers. “I already know one thing about your gifts, they’re not super heavy.” Henshizo said chuckling to Yanagi.

“A smart deduction.” Yanagi said, giving him her little ghost of a smile. “I hope mine are ok, haven’t really given gifts outside of family before.” Ojiro said setting his on the bed and rubbing his neck. “I am in the same predicament as well Ojiro, do not feel bad.” Yanagi said, while Henshizo chuckled.

“Meanwhile I only have one normal Christmas to gauge things about giving to others.” He said giving them their present. Yanagi floated theirs apart and Ojiro handed them as well. Henshizo opened the gift from Ojiro and it was a set of sai, Henshizo taking them out and began fiddling with them. “The family tale is my grandfather took them from a mugger defending himself, really I’m ninety percent sure he won them in a card game.” Ojiro said chuckling as he opened the gift from Henshizo, gasping as he took out a pair of boots like from his costume. “I used the boots from your costume but got some extra stuff put in them, give your kicks some more power and also hold some stuff to help in a pinch.” Henshizo said proudly as Ojiro looked them over. “Thank you, adds some flare to my costume.” Ojiro said putting them back in the box as Yanagi opened hers from Henshizo.

“How on earth?” Yanagi asked floored as she pulled a Michael Myers mask out, the signature of the actor on the side. “American connection.” Henshizo said shrugging with a smile, Yanagi floating the mask in front of her to admire it.

“Gotta say, you killed it.” Ojiro said smiling as he opened the gift from Yanagi, which was a set of horror movie themed karate belts and also some wraps for his tail. “Thanks, Yanagi, these will be great, and thanks for the wraps.” He said smiling. “I’m thankful you like them; I wasn’t sure on your tastes so I went with some practical items.” Yanagi said opening the gift from Ojiro, a black kimono like her hero costume. “It’s beautiful Ojiro.” Yanagi said slipping it on to try it out. “Good, I was worried.” Ojiro said letting a sigh of relief, leaving Henshizo to open Yanagi’s gift, a ring box inside the big one. He took it out and opened it up, a golden skull ring with tiny ruby eyes.

“Oh wow.” Henshizo said pulling it out and putting it on his finger, a perfect fit. “How’d you get my finger size?” He asked a bit shocked. “A girl has her ways.” Yanagi said, giving a small smile. Henshizo chuckled and the two walked to the door. “I am exhausted, turkey always makes me tired.” Yanagi said stifling a yawn floating her gifts.

“Yeah, Merry Christmas guys, and take care Henshizo.” Ojiro said giving Henshizo a fist bump and leaving with his gifts. “Yes, Merry Christmas, and I’ll be thinking of you.” Yanagi said quietly, Henshizo and her going pink a bit.

“Merry Christmas.” Henshizo said to Yanagi, both giving little nods before Yanagi left. Henshizo put his gifts on his desk, smiling at them before getting ready for bed, given the early wakeup call in the morning; excited for a true family Christmas, he got into bed and closed his eyes.

Notes:

A fun chapter to write and I really find it interesting how Japan celebrates Christmas. Hope you enjoyed, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 70: Henshizo's Special Christmas

Summary:

Henshizo and Momo make their way to the Yaoyorozu manor for Christmas. What emotional and fun times will occur?

Henshizo’s alarm went off at four in the morning and he slowly woke up, sitting up and stretching before making a large sack and out the presents for everyone into it. After that he walked down to the common area and made himself a coffee to wait. As he was sipping his coffee, Momo came down, also with a large bag of gifts. “Merry Christmas Henshizo! Midnight will be here at five to take us and then be with us until the manor.” Momo said happily. “Merry Christmas Momo, sounds good.” Henshizo said taking another sip of coffee. Momo smiled and made herself a cup of tea as well. “Your parents are having private security too, right? Feel bad for them, working on Christmas.” Henshizo said looking out the window but it was still pitch black. “Yeah, my mom said that those working don’t mind, but they will be paying extra to help.” Momo said as she waited for her tea to be ready. Once it was, the cousins sat and waited, sipping their drinks before cleaning up; promptly at five one of the doors opened and Midnight was there in fully gear.

“Ah good, don’t have to wake you up.” Midnight said walking over and smiling. “Thank you again Midnight sensei, I hope waking up early didn’t bother you.” Momo said with a light head bow. “Oh, young Yaoyorozu I haven’t gone to bed yet.” Midnight said with a mischievous giggle, Momo looking confused, but Henshizo smirked as he finished his coffee and put the mug away. Momo finished her tea and the cousins picked up the sacks of gifts before walking out to the main gate, just a couple snowflakes falling in the early morning. When they got to the main gate, a large SUV was waiting for them.

“Unte right?” Henshizo said, recognizing the driver who opened the trunk for them. “That would be correct, merry Christmas sir and madam.” Unte said to Momo and Henshizo. The pair responded in kind before all four got in the car, Unte beginning to drive them. “Mrs. Yaoyorozu expresses her hope you two did not eat before leaving so that the Christmas feast prepared can be fully enjoyed.” Unte said glancing in the mirror.

“Just our morning tea and coffee.” Momo said smiling softly. “Hey Unte, how has my foster family been?” Henshizo asked curiously. “And please be honest.” Henshizo said, looking at the mirror.

“For the most part they’ve been pleasant, when they first arrived your foster siblings were quite enamored and energetic, exploring the whole manor. Miss Sozo has let them have free rein mostly, but the lovely Miss Ikari keeps them on good behavior, apart from with each other.” Unte said, Henshizo chuckling. “Glad they haven’t caused too many headaches.” Henshizo said happily, as they pulled up to a stoplight.

“How are you getting back to UA Midnight sensei?” Momo asked curiously. “I’ll be returning her after I drop you off.” Unte said, Midnight nodding.

“I’ll stay a little, just to check things out and report to Nezu, but it will be a quick turn around.” Midnight said looking back at them with a smile. The two nodded and settled in for the drive, which took little over an hour before the pulled up outside a gate, a guard in light armor stopping them and Unte rolled the window down, the guard looked inside the car and then stepped back, the gate swinging open. “Your parents were all very I insistent on the best security, makes me dread the complaints the guests will have for the new year’s ball.” Unte said driving up the drive towards the front of the manor.

“Well they can deal with it, won’t kill the rich people get held to the same level of scrutiny as the average person.” Henshizo said shrugging, Momo lightly shaking her head but Midnight nodded a bit. “It’s good that you think everyone should be treated equally.” Midnight said to Henshizo as Unte stopped up near the front door and stopped the cars outside the front door were two more guards who watched them get out, Henshizo and Momo grabbing their bags of gifts from the car and the four walked in. Unte directed Midnight off to the side as Momo and Henshizo went to the big family room where a tree that was at least twenty feet tall and decorated from base to top.

“Mother loves the decorations on the tree, although the cleaning staff don’t like the needles that fall on the ground.” Momo said as she and Henshizo began taking the presents out of the bags and put them with the others that were under the tree. “I think it’s a bit big, but then again this room is so big it works.” Henshizo said stacking one present on another. The two finished putting their presents under, Henshizo changing the sacks into marbles, and then they sat down on the couch waiting. “What time do you think they’ll come down?” Henshizo asked, checking the time and it was almost six-thirty. “Seven, so they’re all most likely awake.” Momo said with a small smile as the doors opened and a very muscular man walked in, looking around.

“Ah, you two are Momo Yaoyorozu and Henshizo Sesshada. Did you bring any presents?” The man asked walking over. “What’s it to you?” Henshizo asked looking at him with narrowed eyes. “My apologies; I’m head of security, Polmo Oplo.” The man said giving a light bow.

“Your accent, where are you from?” Momo asked curiously, as Henshizo tried to place his accent. “Good hearing, I’m Greek. Myself and all the guards here are all either former military or former special forces in police departments from across the world. You’re in good hands.” Oplo said to them before looking at the presents. “All presents are accounted for? You know what’s in them?” He asked walking over towards the tree.

“Yeah don’t worry, no bombs or anything.” Henshizo said, crossing his arms on the couch. “Of course, just doing my job.” Oplo said curtly before walking to a set of doors. “Which were you? Military?” Henshizo asked and Oplo looked back. “I was, but that’s all I can say.” Oplo said before he walked out. “Such a ray of sunshine.” Henshizo muttered, Momo giggling. The two of them then perused their phones for a little bit, and after a little bit they heard running footsteps outside one set of doors. “Must be the frightful four.” Henshizo muttered but his face broke out in a huge smile as the door opened and his foster siblings came rushing in.

“Henshizo!” They all cried out happily, going to him, all diving onto him in a massive hug. Henshizo coughed a bit from the impact but hugged them back to laughing happily. “Merry Christmas guys.” He said smiling at them as Sanae and Giji walked in more calmly.

“Merry Christmas darling.” Giji said walking over first and hugging him from behind, kissing the top of his head. “Merry Christmas mom.” Henshizo said looking up at her, smiling happily, fighting back tears as he did. He looked away and wiped his eyes. “Sorry… just sort of dreamed of this when I was younger.” He muttered, causing everyone else to tear up a bit.

“Didn’t want to cry before opening presents.” Goji muttered as he wiped his tear away, causing some chuckles as Momo’s parents walked in, Momo getting up and walking over, hugging them. “Merry Christmas mom and dad.” Momo said happily.

“Merry Christmas Momo.” They both said together, as Sanae walked over to Henshizo. “Merry Christmas Henshizo, you’re looking great.” Sanae said happily to him.

“Thanks Sanae.” Henshizo said, reaching back and giving an awkward one-armed hug as his foster siblings finally got off him. “Shall we eat first? You two didn’t spoil yourselves, right?” Buttai said looking at Momo and Henshizo.

“Just tea and coffee to wake up.” Momo said with a smile, Buttai nodding, before all of them left to go to the grand dining hall. “Isn’t this place amazing Henshizo?” Goji asked as they walked together.

“It is very big yes, and I understand why Momo thinks the dorms at UA are small.” Henshizo said, looking at Momo teasingly. “They didn’t provide us with the size of the rooms, I didn’t know.” Momo said going a bit pink. “And my bed fits… barely.” She said, causing everyone to giggle or chuckle. After a brief walk, they arrived and a full Christmas breakfast buffet was set for them. Henshizo made his way to the omelets that had been shaped into presents, while his siblings went for the Christmas tree waffles. The ten of them all sat down around the very long table and began eating.

“Henshizo, Momo, did you two bring gifts?” Giji asked. “Yep, brought them in our own sack of gifts.” Henshizo said with a nod. “Although that security guy wanted to make sure of things with them.” Henshizo said slightly rolling his eyes.

“Oplo? Not surprised, he’s amongst the best in the industry, so it’s his job.” Okane said nodding. “I’m not saying he isn’t, I’m glad he did as it shows his competence, but I’m also annoyed he did, because from a logic standpoint we came from UA and straight here. Not exactly time for a surprise to be added.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“That’s true.” Giji said smiling softly. “You brought me the grenades I wanted for Christmas, right Henshizo?” Daiki asked snickering, Henshizo winking in response, Henshizo being able to actually do that made Sanae cock an eyebrow, but Henshizo gave a reassuring look to her as he went back to eating.

“Ah yes; as requested Momo, the training room has been renovated, so you and Henshizo will be able to train to your heart’s content.” Buttai said smiling at them. “Thank you very much mother. Henshizo and I will be training hard for sure.” Momo said happily, Henshizo nodding in agreement.

“You mentioned work studies were starting back up, and that everyone will be doing them, do you know where you’ll be going?” Okane asked Momo curiously. “I haven’t been told yet, but likely the day after tomorrow.” Momo said smiling excitedly.

“And you’re going back to Hawks, right Henshizo?” Goji asked excited. “Yeah, alongside my classmate Tokoyami.” Henshizo said with a small smile.

“What’s it like? As in what will Momo have to look forward to?” Buttai asked curiously, Henshizo looked up thinking before looking at Momo. “Assuming she goes somewhere good; she’ll be forced to push herself in ways that she hasn’t thought of before. Everyone is unique and heroes have different styles, but no matter who it will be, will be someone who makes her into a better hero. Our homeroom teacher told us that it will be places that meet UA’s criteria, so it will be a good place regardless. And of course she’ll see real stuff. Crimes, vehicle accidents, and be expected to help up close.” Henshizo said not sugar coating but also not going dark as to avoid spoiling the mood.

“I’m excited for whoever I get to work under. I’ll strive to become an amazing hero, and catch up to you Henshizo.” Momo said happily. “You sure don’t think you have that much of a gap between you two.” Okane said, looking at Momo imploringly. “Actually, I think Henshizo is in the top tier of our class in terms of combat and hero work. Alongside, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya.” Momo said looking at Henshizo.

“And Henshizo can beat them all, he only lost to Todoroki in the festival because of the teacher’s.” Goji said smiling as Henshizo chuckled. “I appreciate the compliments, but I have much to learn still and get better.” Henshizo said gently raising his hand a bit to stop them.

“Would you like to practice together on bo staff training with me?” Momo asked Henshizo. “Sure, another day.” Henshizo said nodding, the adults all smiling that this expanded Christmas was a happy affair. The nine of them ate their breakfast, and afterwards Sanae, Henshizo, and his foster siblings began cleaning the table up.

“Oh, that’s not necessary.” Buttai said gently. “It’s ok, we always clean up.” Sanae said smiling, the foster kids nodding in agreement. The Yaoyorozus looked at each other and then smiled, helping as well before some staff came and took the plates and glasses from them. “Still haven’t gotten used to that.” Sanae said softly chuckling. Once all plates had been transferred the families went to the grand hall and began setting up positions for unwrapping presents, Henshizo sitting by Giji before getting up and going to the presents and began handing them out. People began opening the gifts once Henshizo sat back down. Henshizo’s first present was from Okane and Buttai, a pocket watch and matching wallet.

“Incredible, the leatherwork is spectacular.” Henshizo said inspecting it. “I’m glad you can appreciate it, most just take face value of leather work.” Okane said nodding with a smile. ‘I mean, I did help flood the counterfeit goods market for almost six years.’ Henshizo thought to himself as Momo opened the gift from him.

“Oh my gosh.” Momo said taking the custom tea set he had had made. The teapot having a wrap around photo of UA, and the cups having her costume traced along the cups so it looked like a nice design. “This is magnificent. Where?” She asked as Buttai took the teapot to look at it in amazement. “There’s a website for everything.” Henshizo said happily as more presents got unwrapped. After a bit his foster siblings got to four identically shaped and wrapped presents from Henshizo.

“What are these?” Hinata asked as they all unwrapped the presents and they were all small leather journals. “Oh, uh, thanks Henshizo.” Goji said smiling but confused as the others looked at them.

“Open them.” Henshizo said, chuckling and smirking lightly. His foster siblings did this and all gasped; inside were all autographs from the pro-hero teachers as well as Gang Orca and Hawks. “And as you can see with some, there are all separately made for each of you.” Henshizo said, smiling at their shock and happiness. “Even Aizawa?” Momo asked shocked, at the idea of their homeroom teacher signing anything. Henshizo nodded. “I used some trickery on him to get it. He had to sign some forms and I just slid them in as he was robotically signing them, don’t think he even noticed.” Henshizo said chuckling, Momo giggling.

“I take it you tried asking.” Giji said, giggling lightly as well, remembering how Aizawa was when he was escorting Henshizo. “Yeah, went as well as one could expect.” Henshizo said as his foster siblings continued to compare the autographs. As more presents were opened, highlights included Goji gifting the Yaoyorozus golden plates, Giji giving Sanae some gardening boxes and rich soil, Momo giving Henshizo a weighted vest for working out in, and Henshizo jokingly giving Momo a bottle of the shampoo that she had done the advertisement for during her internship, but inside the bottle, that had been cut in half, was the actual gift of another container of gold tips imperial.

“This has been one the most fun Christmas’s in a while. Just nice to have so many people and to be doing this again with you.” Buttai said, finishing her sentence looking at Giji, with tears in her eyes. “I can easily say it’s my best Christmas ever.” Giji said also tearing up, Henshizo smiling happily, seeing his mom be so happy. He got up from the couch and walked to his bookbag that he had brought with him and walked back over with it before sitting down.

“I realize you’re very happy right now, but I have one last gift for you, if you’re ok with it and accept it.” Henshizo said softly as he opened his bag up and took out a folder, setting it on Giji’s lap. Giji picked it up curiously after wiping the tears from her eyes and then opened it. Inside the folder were the documents needed for Henshizo to change his name from Henshizo Sesshada to Henshizo Sozo, truly becoming her son. She stared at the papers in shock and began tearing up again. “Henshizo… are you serious? How did you even get theses?” Giji asked quietly as everyone else in the room began tearing up. “Hawks helped. They have my signature and a judge’s signature. So, all it would need is yours.” Henshizo said, making a pen from a piece of wrapping paper and held it out. Giji looked at him, tears in her eyes and a smile growing across her face. “When I first woke up and saw you, I admit there was some fear seeing you. But that quickly disappeared when you showed me who you are. A kind, loving, passionate person who wants to do the most amount of good he possibly can. Someone who I can be thankful for having in my life and would be honored to have carry my name.” Giji said, taking the pen and pulled the papers out, and signed where she needed to. As she did that; Sanae, Honoka Hinata, and Buttai were freely crying, Goji was doing his best to not cry as Okane grinned happily. Once she signed the last paper she needed to, Giji closed the folder and hugged Henshizo, Henshizo hugging back and they silently cried happily into each other as snow fell outside the window; on what had been Henshizo’s best Christmas ever.

Notes:

A Christmas chapter uploaded on Christmas and it actually fits with the story and timeline? Pretty neat. Hope you enjoyed and any feedback is appreciated. Also a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Chapter 71: A Tour and Training

Summary:

Henshizo and his family go on a tour of the medical company Okane, Buttai, and Giji bought so they could come to the school festival. What wonders will be seen? After the tour Henshizo and Momo train together, how will that go?

Two days after Christmas, and the day after they had submitted the name change paperwork to the court, the Yaoyorozus, Sozus, and Henshizo’s foster family were having breakfast together, when Momo set her tea cup down and cleared her throat. “I woke up to an email from Midnight and I now know where I will be going for my work study.” She said, smiling at the exciting news. “That’s wonderful darling, who is it?” Buttai asked happily and curiously. “Majestic.” Momo said excitedly, everyone either giving a small gasp or smiling at her.

“Hey that’s pretty great. He was in the top ten and still very well regarded.” Giji said happily to her niece. “I know, he’s someone who uses his quirk to make things to help, and he’s quick with his decisions on how to use his quirk. Which is what I need to work on the most.” Momo said smiling and nodding.

“That sounds amazing Momo, just out of curiosity do you know if you’ll be with anyone else from UA?” Henshizo asked before sipping his coffee, Momo nodding in response. “Setsuna Tokage from 1-B.” Momo said, Henshizo’s eyebrows going up in surprise. “The girl who can split herself into pieces right?” Henshizo asked, causing his foster siblings to gasp at the thought. “Yeah. It’s funny because we both got in through recommendations, so just an odd quirk of fate of us being together.” Momo said smiling.

“Back up, how does this Tokage girl’s quirk work?” Daiki asked before looking at his steel fingers. “She’s just able to separate her body into pieces. Admittedly it’s one of the more interesting quirks at UA and that’s saying something.” Henshizo said tilting his head slightly.

“It can be easy to understand pieces like her hands and head, but she can also split her body up much smaller, I believe fifty pieces is her current limit.” Momo said holding her hand up. “And there’s no harm to her? Is she able to reattach them or does she have to grow them back?” Okane asked curiously. “I don’t think it hurts her, there isn’t any blood when she does it. And both, she’s able to reattach the pieces or regenerate if the pieces don’t come back to her in time.” Momo said, Henshizo nodding in confirmation.

“Woah. Sounds cool.” Honoka said softly. “What’s the coolest quirk at UA in your guys’ opinions?” Goji asked excited, Momo and Henshizo both taking moments to think.

“There’s a lot, and we haven’t even seen most.” Henshizo said shrugging. “But of those we have seen, Yanagi’s poltergeist is fascinating, Tokage’s as well. As well as two of our third year senpais.” Momo said, Henshizo glancing at her since he guessed she was talking about Togata and Amajiki, but he didn’t want to talk about Togata, the less that knew, the better. After that the families went back to eating their breakfasts briefly.

“So Henshizo, Momo, we have to go to the Jinso Iryo headquarters today, would you two care to tag along? See a little bit of the business side of things?” Giji asked them. “That sounds lovely, a tour of it?” Momo asked smiling.

“Yes. We haven’t been able to assess everything in the headquarters yet, and doing it in a down time so as to not disrupt the workflow too much is a good time to do so.” Okane said. “I think it would be fun to do.” Momo said smiling.

“Not sure how much fun it will be, but I don’t mind.” Henshizo said lightly shrugging. “Ah, that works out perfectly. I have to take these four shopping for the spring semester.” Sanae said pointing at Henshizo’s foster siblings with her fork.

“I’m not sure which is worse, going to a work place or shopping.” Goji said, causing the table to laugh. After that everyone finished up their breakfasts and the families loaded up into separate vehicles, both being driven by drivers of the Yaoyorozu’s, and went off in separate directions. “So, they’re the biggest medical support company and you bought them, what’re your long-term plans with them?” Henshizo asked curiously to the adults.

“We don’t typically change up much of the companies we invest in. Sometimes we have to shut down projects or ideas that are causing the company to hemorrhage or we have to do other things, but we don’t like rocking the boat as we don’t want people losing their jobs if we can help it. Plus, if you change a company too much it can mean the company loses its base and falls apart. The only thing we did was remove a few board members and… shall I say complicit managers that were a liability to the company.” Okane said in a measured tone. “Ah, the board members putting the company at risk and their soldiers.” Henshizo said nodding, Okane shaking his with a light smile.

“We can’t say things like that Henshizo, as they haven’t been convicted of anything.” Giji said with a wink. Henshizo shook his head chuckling as they drove along. “When we get there wait for me to let you all out.” Oplo said from the front passenger seat, Henshizo lightly rolling his eyes.

“Of course Oplo.” Okane said and they settled in for the remainder of the drive. When they arrived Oplo got out, scanned the area, and then opened the door for the five of them to get out. The five got out and walked in to the lobby of the building, where they were greeted by two women, one in a gray suit jacket with a gray skirt and the other in a lab coat.

“Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Yaoyorozu, Ms. Sozo, and young Yaoyorozu and Sess.” The woman in the suit jacket began but Henshizo raised his hand up gently. “It’s Sozo now.” Henshizo said politely, as the paperwork had only been submitted the day before. “Apologies, young Mr. Sozo. Welcome to Jinso Iryo’s headquarters. I’m Hisha, the senior marketing president and this is Dr. Kagasha, our head of medical research and development.” Hisha said, both her and Kagasha bowing their heads lightly.

“A pleasure to meet you both.” Okane said, the family all reciprocating the bow. “I’ll show you around the corporate side of our building first, and then Dr. Kagasha will guide you through our medical labs.” Hisha said before gesturing for them to follow her, Oplo going ahead of them to the elevator. Hisha called for the elevator and they all got on.

“Please tell me we’re not going to all the floors.” Henshizo muttered, seeing the over twenty floor buttons. “Oh no, don’t worry about that. We divide our floors up for different departments. We’ll just visit each department.” Hisha said with a smile, Henshizo glad to hear that. The first stop was on the third floor and they all got off and began walking around. “This is one floor of our customer service department, answering calls, emails, or customers directly. Customers being both the average consumer or medical providers.” Hisha said as they walked past people talking on the phone or typing on computers. “Is there a twenty-four seven system?” Henshizo asked clearly thinking.

“Not currently, why do you ask?” Okane said glancing back at Henshizo. “Oh, I’m sure Henshizo is thinking of heroes having to maybe need help at night or just an average citizen who needs it at night.” Momo said, Henshizo nodding showing that the cousins trains of thought were growing similar. “I see, I suppose that will have looked into.” Okane said nodding. Hisha led them to elevators at the back of the floor and pressed the button to call it, when it arrived, they got on and went up to the seventh floor.

“This is our sales, marketing, and advertising departments. The ones that generate the money for everything here.” Hisha said happily as they looked at the laser focused workers. “And they’re all prepared for the expansion?” Buttai asked as they continued to walk along. “Yes, some have admitted being very excited to maybe talk to heroes or at least have an impact on their favorite heroes.” Hisha said with a soft giggle.

“That’s great to hear, excited and enthusiastic workers always do great.” Okane said nodding with a smile. “Yes, there is one small worry by some of our analysts that our entry into the hero, rescue, and first responder market virtually right after Detnerat could make it harder to standout, but our quality of items and focus on the medical side of heroics is separate from Detnerat’s support item goal.” Hisha said in both an optimistic and business-like tone as they got to the other side of the floor and to the elevators again.

“While a bit of overlap may occur, I agree, our markets are different.” Okane said nodding as they got on the elevator and went up more floors until they got to the top floor. “Beneath us are the personnel floors, human resources, payroll, and in house counsel; and this is the executive’s floor.” Hisha said and they walked around, Henshizo lightly shaking his head as he looked around.

“Is there a problem Henshizo?” Giji asked noticing it. “No problem, just… past offices I’ve been in tried to emulate this level of success… they were a lot tackier.” Henshizo said, his family knowing that he meant his father and other yakuza bosses styling their offices. “I see, do you have opinions on interior decorating like you do fashion?” Giji asked a bit teasingly and Henshizo laughed, shaking his head, as they got to the conference room.

“This is the end of my part of the tour, but it has been a pleasure. Off the record I can tell you three will be great to have on the board.” Hisha said smiling at them. “Well, we’re happy to be on the board now. Hopefully we can make an impact and save lives.” Okane said, the parents all bowing lightly as Hisha also bowed, Dr. Kagasha stepping forward.

“This has been fun, I haven’t been up on these floors since I had to last sign a new contract.” Kagasha said stepping forward and lead them to the elevator, taking a swipe key from her lab jacket pocket. “But now it’s time for me to show you the labs.” She said as they, apart from Hisha, walked into the elevator and as they did this, Henshizo just lightly touched the card with the knuckle of his pinky finger before she swiped the keycard in a card reader and she pressed one of the basement levels. The doors closed and they descended down until the doors opened and they began walking through a hallway. “Naturally our lab is highly secure; both for security and safety purposes.” Kagasha said as they got close to the sole door at the end of the hall and she typed a code into the keypad beside it before a buzzer sounded and she opened the door and led them in to another corridor. “Please put lab jackets on and these shoe covers.” Kagasha said, gesturing to lab coats and boxes of shoe covers on the wall. The family all put the items on and Kagasha resumed walking and got to the last door and opened it. “Welcome.” She said excited and they walked in to a clean laboratory where other people in lab coats were either walking around, working at benches, or sitting at desks at a computer. “Clean, good.” Buttai said quietly as they looked around. “Our health and cleanliness standards are second to none.” Kagasha said leading them around.

“So what floor is this?” Okane asked looking around. “This is the final test floor primarily; everything is made below us and this is the final checkpoint for them before being shipped out. The three floors below us are the assembly floors, and then below the assembly floors are the real fun floors, the research and development floors.” Kagasha said smiling.

“Sounds exciting, and we’ll be seeing them all?” Giji asked as they got to a door that Kagasha opened and lead them down some steps. “Yes, although I won’t go into some details of certain research products, more because those projects are in the infancy stage so there’s nothing to discuss apart from the concept.” Kagasha said as she opened a door onto a much busier floor with assembly lines and machines working on building the products. “From heart monitors to EpiPens, to surgical beds. We also do ventilators, stretchers, and numerous other devices.” Kagasha gesturing to a line of defibrillators. The adults nodded while Momo and Henshizo just walked along, Henshizo keeping his hands in his pockets.

“And with the new products we’ll be making pushing forward, it won’t be a problem?” Okane asked as they got to an elevator. “Nope, we already have machines here, just need to be put in, new hires going through the initiation process, and materials are here.” Kagasha said eagerly as they got in the elevator. “Do you want to see the rest of the assembly floors or go to the research and development floor?” She asked as her hand hovered over the buttons.

“The research floor. The future of the company interests us the most.” Buttai said smiling softly, but also business like. Kagasha nodded and pressed a button and the doors closed and they traveled further down. Once the doors opened, they got to what was easily the quietest occupied floor of the whole building they had been on. People quietly working at computers or at machines. “Here our team works on conceptualizing ideas to try and get them to work as products. Of course some don’t come to fruition, but our company proudly invented numerous tools that have helped extend medical care for heteromorphs or those with skin related quirk effects.” Kagasha said proudly.

“That’s good, I know you mentioned that you wouldn’t be talking about much that goes on here because there isn’t much to talk about, but is there an item that is really close to leaving here?” Giji asked, Kagasha looking up, thinking. “Yes, follow me.” Kagasha said walking to one of the walls of the lab they were in and opened a display case, taking what looked like an EpiPen. “We call this one; project regrow. It’s a device that if you inject at the site of a broken bone, in particular a limb, it causes the bones to heal together.” Kagasha said, handing it first to Giji for her to look at.

“Sounds amazing, why is it still here?” Okane asked taking it after Giji looked it over. “A couple problems we’re still working out; delivery of the serum on hardened skin so that the bones heal, we’ve also had some problems of the bones properly forming back together cohesively and it would require the user to have surgery to fix it, it also causes a high amount of pain and could induce shock which causes more harm than good. And in a couple test subjects the serum went over board and caused bone growth in non-broken areas and that was a real problem.” Kagasha said in a lightly disappointed tone as they passed the device around, Henshizo handing it back to Kagasha after he looked it over. Kagasha set it back in the container and closed it. “But we’re close to completion on that, hence why it’s here.” She said patting the container.

“That would be incredibly helpful in a rescue setting. Being able to heal someone and then them be able to get themselves out of the situation.” Momo said excited a bit. “One of the scenarios that we thought of with this, yes.” Kagasha said nodding.

“That would be an amazing tool in a hero’s kit, keep us updated on the progress of this.” Giji said with a smile. “Do you take ideas?” Henshizo asked tilting his head.

“We’re not ones to not listen to ideas, some of the best marvels in science have come from unexpected places.” Kagasha said smiling respectfully. “Well, I’ve found through and through bullet or piercing wounds to be quite challenge, so maybe there could be something that can injected at wound sites to help stop the bleeding and apply pressure, but also be able to be removed easy for surgery, like a putty or something.” Henshizo said, Kagasha listening and she tilted her head a bit, thinking. “That’s not in the realm of highly improbable. We’ll get going on that idea.” She said nodding slowly.

“That’s a good idea Henshizo.” Giji said proudly and gave a one-armed hug. “Thanks. Applying duct tape in battle isn’t as effective as something that’s designed for wound care.” Henshizo said with a chuckle, the Yaoyorozus having awkward smiles go across their faces.

“Any other questions or ideas?” Kagasha asked them. “I think we’re good. Are we?” Okane asked, looking at the family who nodded that they were satisfied with the tour. “Thank you, and Hisha, for the tour, we’ll make another round after the launch to see how things are going.” Okane continued as Oplo lead them back to the elevators. “Of course, I must admit it’s nice that prominent figures actually take interest in what makes the company.” Kagasha said smiling and bowing to them. “I’ll do my best to ensure that your faith in us isn’t wasted.” She said as the family got on the elevator, Oplo talking into a mic on his collar. “Thank you.” Okane said and the adults bowed before the elevator doors closed, taking the family back up to the main floor.

“The car will be waiting out front.” Oplo said to them. “Thank you Oplo, and sorry for dragging you along.” Buttai said with a gentle smile to him. “It’s not a problem, this is a building I can appreciate going to, some other clients… well I shouldn’t speak ill of them.” Oplo said with a sigh at the end. Henshizo gave a light snort because he knew the type of people Oplo would have had to protect in the past wouldn’t appreciate the danger they put themselves in. After that; the doors to elevator opened and they walked back to the car they had risen there in, and once the doors were closed, began the drive back to the manor.

“So what did you two think?” Okane asked Momo and Henshizo. “I quite enjoyed it, it’s fun to be with you for business.” Momo said smiling.

“The lab was more interesting to me.” Henshizo said shrugging. “It is the heart of the business.” Buttai said nodding. After that they chatted about their personal highlights of the morning for the car ride back. When they pulled up to the front door of the manor, Oplo let them out with another guard opening the door for them. The family walked in, Henshizo checking the time. “Think I’ll get a workout in before lunch.” He muttered and changed his clothes to a gym outfit and began making his way there.

“So convenient.” His entire family mumbled, Henshizo chortling as he walked along the halls to the gym. Once in the gym Henshizo did jump rope for cardio for thirty minutes before doing a full body weight session, after that Henshizo went to one of the shower rooms and walked out for lunch, his foster family in the dining room. “Henshizo!” The siblings said happily and went over to him.

“Hey guys, how’d shopping go?” Henshizo asked, giving them each a one-armed hug. “It was fun, despite attempts of sabotage.” Hinata said while looking at the boys.

“Not our fault you and Honoka were taking forever.” Daiki said, rolling his eyes. “And what was this sabotage attempt?” Henshizo asked raising an eyebrow, Sanae giggling a bit.

“The boys just began making comments about every bit of clothing.” Sanae said shaking her head. “We were merely giving constructive criticism.” Goji said smiling as the girls crossed their arms.

“Saying it ‘looks like a strawberry puked on you’ isn’t constructive criticism.” Honoka said, pouting. “And how was the tour?” Sanae asked Henshizo, cutting off the back and forth.

“It was fine, not my world really but had some interesting stuff. So, lunch?” Henshizo asked, the five nodding and sat down as Momo, Buttai, Okane, and Giji came in.

“How was the shopping?” Giji asked Sanae smiling. “I succeeded, even if it was by pulling teeth.” Sanae said chuckling as servers came in and sat either bowls or bento boxes down, featuring udon, soba, ramen, rice, onigiri, fried beef and more. Henshizo loaded up on protein mixed in with ramen noodles for his lunch, while everyone else ate what they wanted.

“Henshizo, after lunch do you mind if we do some sparring with bo staffs?” Momo asked looking at him. “That’s fine with me.” Henshizo said smiling.

“Can we watch?” Goji asked excited. “Yeah, it will be fun to watch Henshizo spar. He doesn’t train in front of us often.” Honoka said also excited.

“We’re not a zoo exhibit.” Henshizo said giving a look at them. “Oh, come now Henshizo, it’s only because they want to see what you do.” Sanae said gently, Henshizo rolling his eyes with a sigh. “Fine, if that’s ok with you Momo.” He said glancing over at her.

“That’s fine with me.” Momo said nodding with a smile. His foster siblings celebrated as Henshizo just finished his lunch. “Mother, can you lead them to the training area you set up? I have to change.” Momo said smiling to Buttai. “Of course, darling, and yes I will be watching too, I didn’t get to see many of your training lessons.” Buttai said, Momo nodding.

“Yeah, I’m going to watch to. You’ve only shown off at the sports festival, I want to watch the work.” Giji said to Henshizo, who looked at Momo. “Are you still ok with it?” He asked unamused at the growing spectator numbers.

“Yes. Could you make my gym uniform from UA?” Momo asked happily. “Fine.” Henshizo said, taking his and Giji’s boxes and making them into the top and bottom of Momo’s uniform. “Before anyone asks, I have copies of all my classmates’ uniforms and costumes. And not all of them are aware of that.” Henshizo said, chuckling at the end as he changed into his hero costume while Momo walked off to change. Henshizo made his way to the area Buttai and Okane had set up for him and Momo, finding his family there as well as Oplo and a couple members of his security team who were sparring each other.

“They’re almost done.” Oplo said watching with his arms crossed as a man with a pointed goatee feigned a right hook but then drove his knee up into his opponents side and as the man was briefly bent over, delivered an elbow strike to the side of his opponents head, dropping him to the floor. Oplo clapped walking forward as the goateed man stepped back, Henshizo lightly frowning as he watched. “Excellent work Roberto.” Oplo said patting the man on the back as a fourth guard came over and dragged Roberto’s opponent off the mat and began tending to him. “Thanks sir.” Roberto said, Henshizo picking up a Spanish accent, with a nod and the two walked off and sat on some chairs as Momo came in carrying two bo staffs.

“Here Henshizo.” Momo said smiling, handing him a staff before the pair went onto the middle of the mat. “No holding back?” Henshizo asked, as he twirled the staff in one hand. “I have to get better.” Momo said determined and got ready. “You got it.” Henshizo getting ready as well and waited. Momo stepped forward and did an overhead swing which Henshizo easily blocked, as well as her attempt at a jab to his stomach. Twisting his staff in his hand he caused her to stumble forward before shoving her back with his staff, his foster siblings cheering. “Basics won’t work on me.” Henshizo said with a wink. “I know, just figuring you out.” Momo said determined and she went at him with rapid swings, but Henshizo blocked them all and knocked Momo in the leg with his staff after the last block, causing Momo to step back, shake her leg out and reassess.

“His training is really apparent, I remember watching Momo get trained very studiously and she beat all the other students.” Buttai muttered to Giji. Momo walked forward and tried more precise strikes in between rapid attacks but Henshizo blocked them all yet again. “Ok. Try coming at me now.” Momo said a bit put off but still determined. Henshizo nodded and took a step at her briefly swinging the staff down, then sharply raised it up, but once again stopped the motion and brought it down, smacking Momo in the left shoulder as she had committed too much to block the low swing. Henshizo followed this up but quickly sweeping her leg out with his staff, the two briefly looking at each other before a small smile broke out on Momo’s face. “You’re amazing.” She said, accepting his hand to help herself up.

“And you’re good. Your speed on your attacks were impressive.” Henshizo said to Momo as his siblings clapped happily. “They’re ok. Just ok.” Came the voice of Roberto in Spanish while talking to Oplo, Henshizo understanding enough Spanish to know what he said and slowly turned towards Roberto. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spanish well, could you repeat?” Henshizo said, in what he would admit was very broken Spanish. Oplo chuckled as Roberto flexed his jaw a bit.

“You can understand Spanish?” Sanae asked from the side a bit shocked. “Past international trade partners.” Henshizo said shrugging, everyone realizing what he meant by that.

“Well Roberto, you’ve made a tactical error.” Oplo said patting his guard on the back, the family looking at the man curious. Roberto said nothing besides giving a sharp exhale. “Oplo, I have a request slash question.” Henshizo said looking at the head of security. “I think I know what it is, but go ahead.” Oplo said with a smile. “Would it be permissible to spar with Roberto? I’m ok with it, and I’m sure my mother, aunt, and uncle would want me to stay sharp for my work study.” Henshizo said as Giji had a soft chuckle. “I have no objection; as we like to train in every way possible, and you do give a unique opportunity.” Oplo said nodding. “Hand to hand combat only, no quirks.” Henshizo said, Roberto smiling a bit. “That’s fine, I should warn you however; Roberto was a member of Spain’s elite counterterrorism force, the GEO.” Oplo said as Roberto walked forward.

“Doesn’t matter, Henshizo will kick his butt.” Goji said, Sanae lightly smacking his leg to get him to be quiet. “One more thing before you start to think about. Should you somehow beat Roberto, I insist on fighting you right after. If one of my top guys lose, I have to avenge him, and that fight will have quirks involved.” Oplo said to Henshizo who looked at him.

“Fine.” Henshizo said with a nod, checking with Okane who nodded since Okane was paying for the security. Oplo walked forward after Henshizo changed into a tank top and track shorts to match Roberto’s outfit. Oplo stepped forward with a hand raised, looking at the two of them. “Begin.” He said while bringing his arm down, the two began circling each other staring intensely. Henshizo gave faint lunge forward before stepping back and Roberto barely braced himself for the lunge. Roberto then threw a fake punch at Henshizo, who didn’t bite for it and they continued to circle a bit.

“I was hoping for more.” Daiki muttered as they watched. “This is normal for fights like this, the feeling out process. Henshizo is also showing Roberto that he’s not going to be some dumb fighter.” Momo said quietly as Henshizo went for a quick leg sweep that Roberto had to leap back to dodge. Henshizo smiled softly and winked at Roberto, who glared at him. Roberto stepped forward and feigned a knee raise but instead used it to lunge forward to try and grab Henshizo. Henshizo grabbed him as well and the two began jostling around, both trying and blocking kneeing attempts, Henshizo’s family cheering him on while the security team was cheering on Roberto. Roberto pushed forward to drive Henshizo back, but Henshizo did a little leap up and fell onto his back while tucking his legs, causing Roberto’s chest to fall onto his knees. When Roberto bounced back a little, Henshizo slipped his feet up, pinned them to Roberto’s stomach and rolled further back, flipping Roberto around and landing on the mat.

“You fell for the monkey flip Roberto?!” One of the guards called out, trying not to laugh. Roberto growled lightly and gripped Henshizo’s wrists as he used his legs to twist himself up while Henshizo did the same and both went for a knee strike, but just cracked their knees together, causing most of the spectators to wince. The two pushed off each other and paced in a circle when suddenly Henshizo leapt forward and up with a knee strike, just as Roberto’s feet were shuffling, so Roberto had to try and block with his hands, but Henshizo’s strength forced his hands back and Roberto could only block some of the impact of the knee, staggering Roberto back, Henshizo propelling himself with the same leg that he just used to hit Roberto when it landed to launch himself at Roberto, ducking under an attempt to clothesline him and he put a rear naked chokehold on the guard. “Tap out!” His foster siblings shouted as Roberto struggled to block Henshizo from fully locking it, the two stumbling around the mat as Henshizo was trying to properly cinch in the chokehold. Roberto bent over to get Henshizo off the ground and ran forward briefly before jumping up and twisting his body, so that Henshizo hit the ground and it jolted his arms, allowing Roberto to slip out and try to pin Henshizo to the ground, but Henshizo hit a palm strike to Roberto’s ear, disorienting Roberto enough for Henshizo to leverage himself free. Henshizo then followed up with a knee to Roberto’s ribs to create separation between them, but an overhead kick from Roberto connected, staggering Henshizo back.

“This is over!” Roberto cried out as he went for a right hook, but was caught by surprise as Henshizo jumped at him, wrapped his arms around the back of Roberto’s head, and then fell back while raising his knees to Roberto’s face; so that when Henshizo hit the ground, his knees were driven right into Roberto’s face, Henshizo then quickly transitioned into a triangle choke on the stunned Spaniard. His family all smiling and cheering as Roberto’s struggles quickly subsided. Oplo walked forward, examined Roberto, and then stood up with his arm raised. “Roberto has been choked out! Winner, Henshizo Sozo.” He declared to the room, Henshizo letting go and gently pushed Roberto off him, Roberto’s nose bloodied and broken, two of his fellow guards coming over to carry him off the mat.

“That was incredible Henshizo!” Sanae said excited and clapped happily as Henshizo walked over. “I got lucky a bit, that man let’s his emotions be triggered easily.” Henshizo said as Honoka gave him a bottle of water that he drank from.

“I’m not sure if I should be happy, you won or worried that one of the guys, I’m paying to protect us got beat. I’m just joking, it was impressive stuff.” Okane said nodding with a smile. “Watching you fight like that was thrilling, so proud of you.” Giji said happily, causing Henshizo to smile more.

“Thanks guys, although now I guess it’s not over.” Henshizo said looking back as Oplo began stretching and got out of his suit, folding it on a chair.

“You don’t have to, you did just fight.” Momo said softly, Henshizo shook his head in response. “Gave my word; besides, I’m not one to turn down additional training. This also helps simulate a real fight, since I don’t know his quirk while he knows about me. Just as heroes have to deal with, with most villains.” Henshizo said, Momo nodding in agreement as Henshizo made his hero costume, giving hi-fives to his siblings before walking back out onto the mat.

“It will be nice to fight someone new.” Oplo said getting ready, this time Momo walked forward to the edge of the mat with her hand raised, Henshizo nodding in response getting ready. “Begin!” Momo called out and dropped her arm for the fight to begin. Henshizo instantly making the power glove and launched himself at Oplo with the spring-loaded boots, Oplo transforming and caught the fist with a massive lion’s paw, Oplo now almost twice the size he normally was.

“A transforming quirk, interesting.” Henshizo muttered and leapt up to dodge a tail being swung at him, drove his feet into Oplo’s chest and kicked him back and Henshizo stared at his opponent. While Oplo’s head remained, it was surrounded in a lion’s mane, his body, while still clothed, had grown to be thick and very muscular, and he had a scorpion’s tail trailing behind him. “I’ve never gotten to seen the boss’s manticore quirk in action.” One of the guards on the side said as Henshizo looked things over.

“Incredible.” Momo muttered as his foster siblings gasped at the sight. “Just going to guess, massive boost in strength, speed, agility, heightened senses, and functional tail.” Henshizo said to Oplo.

“Very astute guesses. From the sports festival, rumors from Hosu, your work study, and just now with Roberto I knew I couldn’t fool around with you.” Oplo said and sent the tail at Henshizo who made a knight’s shield and deflected it away and then had to jump above it as the tail tried to wrap around him. “Don’t worry, I won’t use the venom in the tail.” Oplo said as rushed towards Henshizo leapt way up and changed the shield to a taser and shot it at Oplo, hitting him but it didn’t really affect Oplo other than causing the pectoral muscle he hit to flex before Oplo yanked it out and reached up to smack Henshizo out of the air. Changing the spring-loaded boots to a pair that let him shoot bursts of air out, he redirected himself in the air, allowing himself to dodge Oplo’s attack and then grab a hold of his arm and Henshizo yanked back, trying to get him off balance. Instead Oplo pulled his arm back and flung Henshizo behind him, Henshizo arching in the air and landing gracefully on the ground behind him, having to dodge to the side as the scorpion tail shot straight back at him. “Can you drop the tail stuff? It’s annoying.” Henshizo said dropping under a tail swing. “If it works, why change?” Oplo said turning around and charged at Henshizo, the scorpion tail above his head. Henshizo ran at him as well, making two power gloves on his hands and suddenly the tail shot towards him, Henshizo able to sidestep it and then he karate chopped the tail, Oplo wincing and quickly retracting the tail.

“There you go Henshizo!” Goji called out excited. Oplo went for a punch down but Henshizo dashed forward and then leapt up, hitting him in the stomach with a punch, causing him slide back and wheeze. His family cheered more after the hit, and Henshizo went for a follow up attack, but Oplo fell back onto his tail and used it to launch himself forward and kick Henshizo in the body, sending him flying to the edge of the mat. “Hit him again boss!” One of the guards yelled out. Henshizo looked with a light smirk on his face and Oplo responded with one of his own, the two then charged at each other, Henshizo changing the power gloves to special brass knuckles that had pointed knuckles, Oplo tried to grab Henshizo but he slid on the ground to dodge and punched Oplo in the side of the elbow, the security boss grunting and then Henshizo delivered a punch to both of his thighs, causing Oplo to try and knee Henshizo, which Henshizo took the chance to punch him in the knee, hurting his arm but also hurting Oplo’s leg further. Henshizo shook his right arm out while making the jet boots and did a sped up pele kick to Oplo’s stomach before quickly sliding between Oplo’s legs and kicked the base of his scorpion tail, Oplo reeling and trying to step on Henshizo. Henshizo kept dodged around, punching the sides of his legs, on both the calf and thigh; before leaping up to dodge a tail swing, Henshizo changing the knuckles on his right hand to a power glove and punched Oplo in the kidney before getting smacked backwards and rolling along the ground. Henshizo stood up smiling with a mildly wild look in his eyes.

“He loves a good fight.” Momo said softly, Giji nodding as Oplo began to lunge towards Henshizo who dodged and suddenly Oplo lurched and fell to a knee wheezing. “What’s wrong with him?” Buttai asked as Henshizo sprung up with the spring boots. “The kidney blow can be debilitating, doesn’t matter how strong or big you are, it can happen to anyone.” Momo said as Henshizo dove done and punched with the power glove right into Oplo’s jaw, driving him to the ground and Oplo splayed out, unconscious. The guards were shocked as his siblings cheered, Oplo transforming back to his normal self as Henshizo walked off the mat, wiping sweat from his head.

 

“Damn he’s good.” Henshizo said shaking his arm before trying to crack his back. “You were incredible.” Giji said happily as his siblings came up and Henshizo giving hi fives to them. “Say Momo, how much would Midoriya love seeing Oplo’s quirk?” Henshizo asked snickering.

“Uraraka said Midoriya wanted to know all about Ryukyu’s transformation during the work studies, so I’d imagine he would love to see Oplo’s.” Momo said giggling softly into her hand. Henshizo chuckled some more and looked at his arm. “Should be ok, that knee was something though.” He muttered and squeezed his arm to feel it.

“Do you need to see a doctor?” Giji asked worried. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Let me see.” Henshizo said and he made a sixty-pound dumbbell and lifted it up to the side holding it. “Yeah, I’m good, nothing feels off.” Henshizo said changing it to a marble and pocketed it.

“That’s not how you should test your arm.” Sanae said sighing, as well as Momo sighing. “It works for me.” Henshizo said shrugging as Oplo sat up.

“You got a hell of a right hook.” Oplo said rubbing his side and nodding at Henshizo. “Thanks, you’re very quick and strong.” Henshizo said giving a light bow. Oplo smirked softly and got up, grunting and walked off the mat gimping. “You guys enjoying seeing me fight?” Henshizo asked his foster siblings, all of them nodding and smiling.

“It’s amazing how you change everything so quickly, you’re just awesome!” Hinata said happily. “Thanks, Hinata, and everyone for the cheers.” Henshizo said smiling.

“That was a grand spectacle for sure; although the day has been different types of exciting for me and I can’t have anymore.” Okane said standing up from his chair. “I can tell you’re going to be a great hero Henshizo, and I know that Momo will be just as amazing in her way. And what I mean by that is that you two are different and will be different, but amazing, heroes.” Okane said, Momo and Henshizo smiling happily. “Thank you, father.” Momo said hugging him, Sanae gently leading the foster siblings out and everyone began walking out of the sparring room.

“A reminder that we will be having the new year’s ball in four days, so make sure all your outfits are set.” Buttai said, Momo nodding happily while Henshizo let out a sharp nose exhale. “Something wrong Henshizo?” Giji asked looking at him.

“No, I’m sure your ball will be spectacular, just not looking forward to having to interact with people who think they’re the best in the room.” Henshizo said shrugging. “Ah, that is fair, not even this manor is large enough for the egos of everyone who will be coming.” Giji said with a soft chuckle and rubbed Henshizo’s back. “But it will be ok, and who knows; maybe you’ll actually enjoy yourself.” Giji said a bit teasingly at the end. “As long as I’m with you, I will.” Henshizo said smiling at her, Giji smiling more and they went to the library together so Giji could show Henshizo a book she loved growing up, Henshizo enjoying the moments with her as he slowly got back what was taken from both of them.

Notes:

This was a long chapter but glad to get it uploaded. Hope you enjoy, any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 72: New Year's Ball

Summary:

The Yaoyorozus extravagant new year's ball is here, how will Henshizo and his foster family deal with the different social event?

Henshizo stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and began drying himself off, feeling certain scars on his body as he did so. It was New Year’s Eve, Henshizo having just finished up a workout of jogging several laps around the outside of the manor while wearing a weighted vest. Once he got dried off, Henshizo went to his closet and got a white suit on with a red tie. After that he walked out, Goji coming out of his room with a red suit and white tie. “I know I’ve asked a bunch, but why do they do this fancy ball thing again? This suit is tight.” Goji complained. “Because you have it buttoned wrong.” Henshizo said, fixing it. “And the Yaoyorozu New Year’s Eve ball is basically an excuse for the elite of Japan to come together at the end of the year and either brag about the money made, new yacht, or make fun of those that had misfortune. Not our family’s way, but one of the maids told me that’s what happens. She says she just moves about the party and none of the guests notice her which is typical behavior for the type of people coming.” Henshizo said as he and Goji went to where Sanae and the girls were.

“You two look great.” Sanae said smiling at them, walking over and adjusting Goji’s tie. “Honoka, remember this day, as it’s the first time that Goji is actually presentable to the public.” Hinata said teasingly.

“And you still aren’t.” Goji said crossing his arms, Henshizo putting a hand between them, ending it. “Everyone looks good, and just use this time to work on social skills. Also never know when a connection can be formed and help you down the line.” Henshizo said, his siblings sighed and nodded. “Momo also said the food is amazing, so if nothing else behave for the food.” Henshizo said, knowing how to bribe his foster siblings.

“I can’t wait to see the dresses people wear.” Honoka said softly and smiling. “Yes, do that, judge the outfits.” Henshizo said snickering and Sanae sighed.

“Just be good, this event means a lot to the Yaoyorozus. As their guests we must not make it negative.” Sanae said both softly but with a subtle stern tone. “Yeah, and at least you guys can disappear anytime, I won’t have that luxury.” Henshizo said shrugging.

“What do you mean Henshizo?” Daiki asked, tilting his head slightly. “I’m one of the main attractions. This will be their first ball here with my mom. It made the news and as her son I’ll also be featured. Plus, Momo will be shown off for getting into UA on recommendations and having her provisional license.” Henshizo said, Sanae sighing again.

“Your optimistic side is showing.” Sanae joked to Henshizo who shrugged in response. The six of them walked out of the room and to the ball room where the catering staff was setting everything up, the security team watching everything. “You six look lovely and amazing.” Buttai said coming over in a red dress.

“Thank you again for the outfits, they’re all amazing.” Sanae said to Buttai with a smile. “Oh, it’s nothing, fashion is my favorite hobby.” Buttai said smiling and looked around. “Do enjoy yourselves, I know it’s not your scene, but I promise it will be fun.” She said to them before turning to Henshizo. “Do you mind to come with me briefly?” She asked smiling.

“Sure.” Henshizo said, curtly nodding and followed Buttai. “This is our first ball with you and Giji, so you two will be very popular.” Buttai said softly as they walked along. “I just said almost the same thing like thirty seconds ago, I know.” Henshizo said as he glanced at a painting on the wall. “A presentation has been planned, I know you don’t think highly of it, but it’s better than having to do and say the same things over and over again.” Buttai said, Henshizo chuckling lightly. “One of the things I hate more than being featured, repeating myself.” He said with a light smirk. “That will be at eight o’clock, one hour after it starts. Ensuring everyone who matters is here and minimizes the people missing it.” Buttai said as she gestured to a projector screen on the wall. “Ok… and if any guest is rude to me or my foster family?” Henshizo asked looking at her. “Then that guest is insulting my family, they will be removed.” Buttai said curtly, Henshizo smirking in response. “That will be fun when it happens.” He muttered Buttai glancing over. “Just don’t instigate.” She said, Henshizo raising his hands to indicate he would behave. Buttai nodded and walked away to discuss something with the catering supervisor. As Henshizo looked over the ice sculpture Giji came over and put a hand on his back.

“That looks great on you, glad you got my fashion taste.” She said smiling and rubbing his back. “Thanks mom. So, who’s coming to this thing anyway?” Henshizo asked softly, enjoying the back rub. “Oh, you know the cast of elites that come to balls; various industry leaders, politicians, and others like them.” Giji said with a soft shrug. “Not even a single hero, joy.” Henshizo muttered. “Sadly know, apparently a couple have come in the past, but as guards for a politician or two.” Giji said shrugging. “Probably easy extra money.” Henshizo said tilting his head thinking, Giji giggling in response. Henshizo watched the catering staff get set up and after a bit Momo came walking in, wearing a long simple red dress and her hair done up.

“Hi Henshizo, you look nice.” Momo said, Henshizo nodding. “Thanks, you do as well. How long did the hair take?” Henshizo asked looking at it. “A little over an hour.” Momo sighed, Henshizo chuckling a bit. “Thankfully I don’t have to worry about that.” He said, brushing his hair to the side. “Guys have it so easy when it comes to hair.” Momo muttered, Henshizo laughing. “Most of the time, but then you have guys like Kirishima who spend more money on hair gel than food.” Henshizo said, Momo giggling in response. “That is fair.” She said nodding as Sanae and the others came in. “And don’t you two look lovely.” Momo said smiling to Hinata and Honoka.

“Thank you Momo, your hair is amazing.” Hinata said, Honoka lightly smiling and nodding in response. Henshizo walked away to let the girls talk and went to one of the little standing bars that was set up for the guests, and at the table was a girl with cat ears and tail poking out the back of her, who couldn’t be much older than eighteen. “Can I help you sir?” The cat girl asked softly, looking at him both professionally but also cautiously.

“I’m ok, maybe just a glass of water.” Henshizo said smiling gently. The girl nodded, got a cup, scooped some ice into it, and then poured water into it. “Here you go sir.” The girl said politely, Henshizo nodded, took the glass from the little table, and took a sip before walking towards the family table set up under the projector screen. Henshizo sat down and just quietly sat there for a bit, watching Momo, Honoka, and Hinata pose in their dresses, as Goji and Daiki eagerly waited near the buffet so they could eat. As he finished the first glass of water, Giji came over walking over smiling.

“Oplo just received word that the first guests are arriving.” Giji said happily, Henshizo checking his watch. “Just after six, makes sense.” He muttered, standing up to walk with his mom. After a few minutes a man in a suit walked beside a woman in a yellow dress. “And who is that?” Henshizo asked, as he realized he really wouldn’t know anyone. “Goshi Zass, president of the Tokyo Times. Not surprised he’s here first, he’ll want as many chances to get stories as possible.” Giji said, Henshizo nodding as Zass walked up.

“Obviously I published the story but I still couldn’t believe it, it’s amazing to see you again Sozo.” Zass said, lightly bowing. “You always did love coming to my fashion shows.” Giji said smiling softly and bowing back, as Zass straightened up he glanced over at Henshizo. “The sports festival third place winner. It was reported that the poison of the underworld was- “Zass said, but Giji cleared her throat. “That won’t be discussed here.” She said both curtly but a bit sharply, Zass nodding sensing the line he crossed. Meanwhile, Henshizo was doing his best to not lash out. “But I am serious, I am happy to see you again, and that you were saved.” Zass said, sincerely. “I appreciate it, it does feel amazing.” Giji said with a small smile. Zass nodded and walked off to the bar with his companion.

“Journalists, politicians, and CEOs; going to be so fun.” Henshizo sighed, Sanae rubbing his back to calm him down. “Zass always loves pushing buttons, but unlike most he knows when to take his toe back behind the line when he crosses it. Why he’s as good as he is, still remembers that most of his stories involve people.” Sanae said gently, Henshizo letting out a deep exhale. “When is the food getting brought out?” Henshizo asked, changing the topic. Giji checked the time. “In fifteen minutes.” She said, Henshizo nodding and the two of them kept to themselves as slowly more guests began arriving; Henshizo noting that they all gave the air of thinking they were the most important and famous person there, which did cause him to relish a bit when he and his mom were the main talking points. As Henshizo walked to the table with a plate of tempura and rice, Oplo came walking in from the door by the buffet.

“Mr. Sozo, everything going well?” Oplo asked as he grabbed a plate. “As well as it can, people of course know which makes every conversation a pain. Speaking of pain, how are these oh so important people reacting to getting treated like an average person?” Henshizo asked with a light smirk at the end. “Most haven’t objected too much according to my men, a couple were not amused with one person asking if my men knew who he was. Obviously, they’ve all passed the screening.” Oplo said, Henshizo chuckling. “Two words for Mr. ‘Do we know who he is?’ Himiko Toga.” Henshizo muttered Oplo nodding. “An annoying quirk to deal with, but with precautions it can be made difficult for her.” Oplo said glancing around, Hinata and Honoka walking over and standing close to Henshizo. “Something the matter?” Henshizo asked, seeing the odd looks on their faces.

“Nothing really, we’re just not used to older women commenting on how we look.” Hinata said, as she held her dress in her hands. “Good, if there any real problems let me, Sanae, Oplo, or one of the Yaoyorozus know.” Henshizo said softly to them, the two girls nodding. “Now go and enjoy it, the food is amazing.” Henshizo said giving a smile to them, the girls smiling a bit back and walked off. Oplo had walked off, and Henshizo checked the time and saw it was getting close to eight o’clock, so Henshizo went to the family table and sat down, the Yaoyorozus and Giji coming over to sit at the table, Giji sitting by Henshizo and Momo sat on his other side. The guests were all gathered, standing around in front of the table as Okane stood up promptly at eight.

“Thank you all for coming to our home, and for ending the year together.” Okane said raising his glass appreciative as Buttai stood up, the guests raising their glasses if they had them. “This year was one we were really looking forward to, as our beloved daughter would be starting her journey to becoming a hero, attending UA by getting in through recommendations.” Buttai said happily and proudly, Momo smiling at the crowd as they looked over at her. “And the year began as we had expected; Momo passing her recommendation exam, getting in to UA, our businesses and investments doing well, but then the first unexpected thing happened, when Momo came home one day after villains attacked her class.” Buttai said, the people remembering the USJ attack, Henshizo letting out a long exhale from remembering it. “Naturally, we were scared if something had happened, but nothing did, Momo telling us how she and two of her classmates fought off a group of villains and got out of it unscathed.” Buttai said smiling. “After that it went back to what we expected somewhat, Momo making it to the finals in the sports festival, and securing an internship… but it was at this time that our worlds were turned upside down and also righted.” Buttai said, her voice quivering some at the end. “As most of you know; Buttai’s sister, Giji, was kidnapped over sixteen years ago, and we were always longing to have closure, whatever type of closure it may have been.” Okane said, taking over as Buttai dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. “During the time of the internships we received a call we had long desired but had admittedly long given up on. Giji had been found, and not only found, but found alive.” Okane said happily, as both Giji and Henshizo smiled happily. “When we got to the hospital, we were told of how she was found, thanks to Gang Orca who looked into the case unknowingly, helping his intern find his mom. So that’s how our year was turned upside down, but for the better. Not only did we get reunited with Giji and our family made whole, but our family was expanded. The intern looking for his mom at Gang Orca’s was accepted by Giji as her son, and now we have a nephew, Henshizo Sozo.” Okane said, emphasizing the Sozo to let the audience know that Henshizo’ former last name was gone and they didn’t want to think of it. Henshizo raised his hand slightly, and Okane lead a round of applause, Giji standing up.

“It’s incredibly difficult to put into words what it means to be here. I was saved by Henshizo and it has been a long road to recover and I’m still recovering. But having a loving family has helped greatly, so I have a message for you all. Spend time with those you care about and care about you. You never know when the last time can be. Money, influence, and power can get you a lot, but what truly matters can’t be bought by any of that.” Giji said, setting a hand on Henshizo’s shoulder. Some of the women in the audience were wiping at tears and even a couple men were sniffling to keep their tears in. “So, thank you all for coming here and letting us celebrate the best year as a family we’ve had and to lead into a year where I wish everyone here great prosperity and fortune!” Okane said raising his glass again, everyone raising their glasses and gave cheers. After that the music cued back up again and some guests came up to talk to the Yaoyorozus. Henshizo sat there, not paying attention to the people coming up to primarily talk to Giji, with a couple coming up and talking to Momo, Henshizo did notice that no one came up to talk to him, apart from some token greetings.

“You ok Henshizo?” Momo asked, leaning over a bit. “Yeah, I expected this. I’m dirty to them.” Henshizo muttered, shrugging. “You’re not.” Momo said sincerely. “I know, but they will mostly see me as something else. For now, at least, soon things will fade.” Henshizo shrugged, Momo about to reply but stopped herself and gave a small smile. “I’m going to get more water.” Henshizo said standing up and grabbing his glass, before walking towards the little bar with the cat woman.

“Why the hell you ssssaying no?” A man who was slurring his words asked angrily to the cat woman. “W-we can’t serve anyone who is intoxicated.” The cat woman said a bit tearfully, as it was clear this exchange had been going on for a bit. “You people can’t say no to people like me. I’m the important and you… you’re not normal. You’re a freak.” The man said as Henshizo got close, drunkenly pointing at her cat tail, the cat woman trying hard not to cry.

“Hey. You’re out of here.” Henshizo said, his temper flaring up. “Huh? Go away k-kid. Go get me a drink.” The man said and tried to turn back to the cat woman, but Henshizo put a hand on his shoulder and spun him back around. “I’m a member of the family throwing this party. And you’re out.” Henshizo said sternly, and he saw Roberto come walking over. “Go away scum.” The man slurred and tried to push Henshizo, but both Henshizo and Roberto grabbed the man’s arm.

“Would you like this man removed?” Roberto asked, Giji also coming over. “Yes, his behavior is appalling and ruing the party.” Henshizo said, as some people were watching. “His disgusting heterophobic crap doesn’t being here.” Henshizo said, loud enough for people to hear, Roberto nodded in response, grabbing the back of the man’s neck and began dragging him out.

“Hey, let go of me. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.” The man said trying to fight, but the guests parted ways as Roberto effortlessly carried him out. “Are you ok?” Henshizo asked walking to the cat girl.

“S-sorry for causing a scene.” She said looking down at the floor. “Why are you apologizing? You did what you’re supposed to, not serve someone who’s drunk. You have nothing to be sorry for.” Henshizo said as Giji stood behind him.

“My son is right, if anything we should be apologizing to you, he was our guest and he said those abhorrent things. He does not represent our beliefs or who we want to be associated with.” Giji said apologetically. “Needless to say, he is forbidden from future events, and we’ll be looking at other actions.” Giji said seriously. “I didn’t mean to have this happen.” The woman said quietly.

“Of course not, you did nothing wrong. There’s nothing wrong with being who you are.” Henshizo said gently but seriously to her. Henshizo pulled the wallet out he had and pulled several thousand yen out. “I’m not trying to buy your forgiveness or anything, I’m just making up for what you had to go through.” Henshizo said quietly and put it on the bar for her. “Th-thank you.” She said as she took the money from the bar. “What’s your name?” Henshizo asked softly. “Kuta.” The woman said quietly.

“We’ll be sure to tell your boss what happened Kuta.” Giji said gently, Kuta nodding. “Thank you, people say things often, thinking that since I’m working, they can say things without consequence.” Kuta said softly. “Don’t worry, there will be for him.” Giji said, giving a soft smile at her, Kuta nodding at her before getting Henshizo more water and turning to help another guest.

“So who even was that drunk idiot?” Henshizo asked Giji. “Vice president of a restaurant group.” Giji said, Henshizo nodding. “So, by this place’s standards a low rung on the ladder, no wonder he was trying to seem big, some things really don’t change.” Henshizo muttered as he sipped his water. “As Okane likes to say; staying silent lends the illusion of being smarter than you are.” Giji giggled softly as they joined up with Okane and Buttai who were talking to someone, and as they got close, Henshizo started feeling a bit off.

“Is everything ok Giji? I saw a man getting escorted out.” Buttai said curiously and mildly concerned. “Just a fool who let alcohol show his true self.” Giji said reassuringly.

“He was saying some things that have me believe he reads some CRC crap.” Henshizo muttered. “I see, then it’s good he’s gone.” Okane said with a nod before gesturing to the man they were speaking with. “And I’m sure you agree; Giji, Henshizo, this is Hanabata. The leader of the Hearts and Minds Party.” Okane said with a small, Giji politely smiling and doing a light bow, but Henshizo felt even more off being around him, so just looked at him.

“A pleasure meeting you two, it’s good to see a young man who is aiming to do good. I heard of some of the actions you did during your work study with Hawks, enthralling reads.” Hanabata said with a smile. “They may make for enthralling reads, but it’s something else to experience them.” Henshizo said curtly, studying the man. “I know, a dear friend of mine was caught up in Deika.” Hanabata said a bit sadly and angrily.

“We were just talking about that awful incident.” Okane said solemnly. “That’s terrible, who was it?” Giji asked putting a hand to her chest.

“Yotsubashi, the CEO of Detnerat. He and I are dear friends thanks to Detnerat’s contributions to the country.” Hanabata said a bit forlorn at his friend’s injury. “I saw he had been injured, and heard many say he lost his legs.” Buttai said putting a hand to her mouth. “That is sadly true, his legs got pinned under rubble and had to be amputated. Thankfully he’s recovered and from my understanding has some legs from Detnerat.” Hanabata said, nodding at the end, Henshizo still feeling something being off, however Henshizo did register it wasn’t like when Toga had been at the provisional license exam.

“Extend our sympathies to him.” Okane said, nodding, Hanabata nodding back. “Thank you, I shall. Your speech mentioned how upturning this past year has been for your family; it’s also been a year where the entire country has been upturned, I hope that your family will be supportive of The Hearts and Minds mission to calm the waters and providing positive change.” Hanabata said, and Henshizo gently tugged on his mom’s wrist, Giji glancing at him, and saw the odd expression on his face.

“We will certainly be aiming to help the people in what we think is best.” Giji said, surprising Okane who had opened his mouth. “Good to hear.” Hanabata said with a smile before walking off.

“What was that for? He would be able to perhaps get contracts with the government for some companies.” Okane said quietly, and Giji tilted her head to Henshizo, Okane and Buttai looking at him. “I’m sorry… but being around him gave me a weird feeling; and my feelings haven’t failed me yet.” Henshizo whispered to them.

“Feeling? What do you mean?” Buttai asked and Henshizo sighed, rubbing his neck. “Thanks to… the environment of my youth, I have a survival instinct to watch out for dangerous people. And before you say I’m being paranoid it’s flared up a few times in the past year; when we were at the mall and Shigaraki confronted a classmate, at the training camp right before the league began to attack, and another time that we aren’t technically putting out in the public.” Henshizo muttered, the Yaoyorozus looking shocked, and a bit worried. “I’m not getting that same feeling right now, but I’m feeling something off about him.” Henshizo said imploringly as Momo came walking over with a bowl of strawberries.

“Is something the matter?” Momo asked, seeing the looks on her parents’ faces. “Henshizo is saying he’s having an off feeling; do you know about his feelings?” Buttai asked, Momo’s eyebrows going up and she looked at Henshizo.

“It’s not like when you had to pull me off, it’s different, but I have one.” Henshizo muttered, Momo studying him and nodded. “He does have a penchant for sensing things.” She said to her parents quietly, the three adults looking at each other.

“I see, thank you both.” Okane said quietly and slowly, clearly thinking. “If Henshizo’s feeling is right we’ll have a lot to consider.” Buttai muttered, Okane nodding in agreement. “Anyway, let’s put this behind and enjoy the rest of the night.” Okane said after a moment, smiling and everyone nodded before going off, Henshizo finding Daiki and Goji sitting at a table together and a gold napkin.

“So who’d you try to impress?” Henshizo asked, smirking lightly at the napkin. “Daughter of a CEO of some tech firm.” Goji said shrugging.

“She said the gold could be useful for helping to make computer chips. Never ending gold.” Daiki said and Henshizo sighed. “We’ve talked about this.” Henshizo said, Goji rolling his eyes. “Creating too much gold would cause havoc on the economy.” Henshizo and Goji said at the same time.

“I know, you’ve said it enough.” Goji said sighing. “I know, and I also know you like to try and use the golden touch for girls.” Henshizo lightly teased. “Do not.” Goji said, going slightly red faced, as Daiki laughed. Henshizo smiled softly as he turned to look at the guests who were wrapped up in their own worlds. Sanae came walking over as Henshizo changed the napkin back from the golden napkin.

“Just spoke to Buttai, and some are already leaving, she guesses about half an hour more.” Sanae said softly, Henshizo checking his watch. “Makes sense, last leave around eleven.” Henshizo muttered as he looked up and glanced around again, the politician nowhere to be seen to Henshizo’s relief. Sanae sat down with them, and after a bit Honoka and Hinata came walking over, sitting on either side of Sanae.

“I didn’t realize being sociable was so tiring.” Honoka groaned softly. “Why do all the old people like talking to us?” Hinata groaned as she slipped her heels off.

“Because they long to be young again.” Henshizo said lightly smirking causing the two girls to smile softly. The foster family sat at the table for almost the rest of the party, Henshizo and Sanae saying goodbyes to the last of the guests, after the last guests left, Henshizo let out a long sigh. “Felt like a zoo exhibit sometimes.” He muttered, walking over to his mom. “I know dear, but soon that won’t happen.” Giji said, rubbing his cheek with a thumb.

“Thank you all, that was our best ball in years.” Buttai said happily, Okane walking beside her. “We’re going to head to bed, tomorrow we will be having a feast for dinner; for Momo’s and Henshizo’s work studies. Also don’t worry, we have a shrine if you want to go for good fortune for the new year.” Okane said to them, all six nodding, before his foster siblings left.

“Good night Henshizo.” Sanae said smiling. “Good night Sanae.” Henshizo said softly before she walked off; Okane, Buttai, and Giji coming up to him, an awkward look on their faces “If this is about my feeling about that politician, don’t worry. I’m going to ask Hawks to either dig around himself or let me dig around. I don’t want to be wrong.” Henshizo said, the three sighing happily and nodding.

“Thank you, I can’t imagine him being caught up in something, but I also realize that experiences can help one form a sense for things.” Okane said quietly. “Do you want to enjoy the countdown with me?” Giji asked Henshizo hopefully.

“That sounds great.” Henshizo said happily, his eyes lighting up as he smiled. Giji smiled back and they went to one of the media rooms the manor had, Giji picked a broadcast, and they stayed up together, watching the ceremonial bell ringing at a temple to ring in the new year. “This year will be one we will fully share together, and I’m looking forward to it.” Giji said softly to Henshizo, giving a kiss to his cheek. “Thanks mom, I’m excited for it too.” Henshizo said giving a hug; in the back of his head, he was still worried that he got a weird feeling from the politician. After that Giji and him went to their bedrooms to go to bed, so that they could be well rested for the final day together, before the second round of work studies.

Notes:

Thanks for reading, thus concludes what can be considered the first half of season 5. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Chapter 73: Back at Work Studies

Summary:

Henshizo joins back up with Tokoyami at Hawks's agency for the second round of work studies, how will the two of them be challenged this time?

After New Year’s Day, in which a large banquet concluded the day of prayer and contemplation for the new year, Momo and Henshizo were in the foyer of the manor with both families before leaving for their respective work studies. “Try and actually get a cool souvenir this time for us.” Goji said, smiling to Henshizo, who let out an exasperated sigh but smiled. “Yeah, see if you can convince Hawks to go on like a country tour and bring us stuff.” Daiki said hopefully.

“It’s not a vacation, and I don’t have control over where we’ll be going.” Henshizo sighed, but ruffled their hair to indicate he’d do his best. The two chuckled and walked back, Honoka and Hinata came forward and hugged him one at a time. “Be safe Henshizo.” Hinata said softly, Honoka nodding to share the sentiment. “Don’t worry, I will be.” Henshizo said with a reassuring smile, his foster siblings returning the smile and stepped back for Sanae to walk forward and hug him.

“You keep up the hard work you’ve been doing.” Sanae said quietly to him, Henshizo hugging back. “Thank you again Sanae. You’ve been in my corner since I was dropped at your home.” Henshizo muttered, Sanae letting go and smiling at him. “Do try and keep in touch.” She said gently and then stepped to the side for Giji.

“Be safe and let me know what you can.” She said softly as she hugged him tight. “I will be mom, don’t worry.” Henshizo said hugging back. Giji kissed his cheek and let go. “I’ll be sure to save every news article.” She said smiling, Henshizo giving a playful sigh. “Yay, my first stalker as a hero.” He said laughing lightly, Giji giggling. “You know it.” She said before giving him another kiss on the other cheek. “I’m proud of you, love you.” She said softly. “I love you too.” Henshizo said softly back and after one last hug walked out with Momo who had been saying goodbye to her parents and then the two walked out, with Midnight waiting for them.

“If it isn’t my two favorite cousins.” Midnight said with a smile, the two lightly bowing their heads. “Thank you for escorting us Ms. Midnight.” Momo said smiling a bit at their teacher. “Oh, it’s my pleasure, and Majestic has been kind enough to meet you and Tokage at the Hiroshima train station, Tokage will join you two on the train.” Midnight said as they began walking to a SUV.

“Feel bad making escorts happen and divert heroes.” Henshizo muttered. “It’s for all UA students with a provisional license, including the second and third years. As demonstrated during the provisional exam, the league doesn’t just focus on you all.” Midnight said reassuringly. “Fair.” Henshizo nodded as they got in to the car and it began driving away, Henshizo and Momo looking at their families wave from the door before they got too far. Henshizo put headphones on and listened to music as Momo and Midnight talked for the journey to the train station. Once they arrived, Henshizo put his headphones away and Midnight escorted them to a train. “Ok, fortunately it’s only an hour and half before our first stop, so rest up or do whatever.” Midnight said smiling at them as they sat down.

“If I may ask Midnight sensei, why are you still with us? A couple of our classmates have said the pro escorting them only went to the train or bus stop with them.” Momo asked just a bit confused, Midnight lightly giggling. “I’m taking advantage and taking the train to Fukuoka and doing some shopping. I don’t get many chances to have a day to myself, and I’ll have the afternoon.” Midnight said happily.

“Two birds one stone, nice.” Henshizo said as he looked out the window, the train speeding through the countryside. He could see Midnight nod in the reflection, before he adjusted and closed his eyes, resting since he knew Hawks would likely not give him time to rest. When the train arrived at Hiroshima station; Momo got up and grabbed her case, Henshizo also stood up. “Take care and show off how amazing you are.” Henshizo said, smiling gently at his cousin. “Thanks, Henshizo, you do the same.” Momo said smiling and hugged him, Henshizo gently hugging back before she let go and got off the train. The doors closed and Henshizo watched as Momo walked quickly over to Tokage who was sitting on a bench.

“Majestic will make those two much more creative.” Midnight said to Henshizo. “I can’t wait to see how much she’ll improve.” Henshizo said with a small smile, rooting for Momo, as well as all his classmates to get stronger at their work studies. Midnight smiled and nodded as the train continued on to the next station. After forty-five more minuets the train pulled in to Henshizo’s stop so he and Midnight got off the train. Henshizo glanced around and saw Tokoyami sitting on a bench with Basan standing by him.

“Long time no see Yahata. Hope you’ve been doing well”. Basan said with a smile. “I’ve been well.” Henshizo replied politely to the pro sidekick as Tokoyami stood up. “Right, let’s get you guys to the agency.” Basan said turning and began leading them out of the station. Henshizo walked should to shoulder with Tokoyami, glancing around. “So, where’s Hawks?” Henshizo asked Bansan, Tokoyami giving a small sigh at the question.

“He is going to be ‘testing us’ by not really being around.” Tokoyami said, clearly annoyed. “What?” Henshizo asked both shocked and annoyed.

“Don’t say it like that Tsukuyomi.” Bansan said looking back at them. “However he is right, Hawks won’t be around as much. Busy with something so he wants you guys to do patrols and investigations with us. But Hawks has also given us permission to grant you two access to things to help you two truly be like pro heroes. Access to the hero network and such.” Basan said, Henshizo putting his hand in a pocket. “So basically, he’s tossing us out of the tree and seeing if we can fly or splat on the ground.” Henshizo said, going with a bird related joke.

“It appears that way, although you could have phrased it better.” Tokoyami said as Basan laughed. “You get it, and you will still need to be with one of us sidekicks. Because people forget we are pro heroes, licensed and what not. Only difference right now is I can’t be on the billboard chart. Hawks keeps me as a sidekick because he knows I’d knock him off the two spot.” Basan said chuckling.

“Clearly.” Henshizo said, still unamused at Hawks, but wouldn’t waste the chance to test himself. Basan gave a small sigh as they continued to the agency; once they arrived Tokoyami and Henshizo went up to the rooms they had stayed in during the first time they were there. Henshizo unpacked, still a bit annoyed, and once again did a sweep for bugs, figuring if Hawks wasn’t going to be there, he might try to keep an eye on them, but not shockingly found nothing. As he changed into his hero costume, a knock came at the door and Henshizo opened it up to see Tokoyami. “So, what do you think we should do since Hawks won’t be around?” Tokoyami asked as Henshizo straightened his tie. “Figure we do patrols and look for something to sink our teeth into. Maybe we can take a drug network or something.” Henshizo said with a small smile at the idea. “I see, look for something that tests are ability to work long term. Not a bad idea, since some cases take weeks or months.” Tokoyami said, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, Basan said we’d have access to resources so it’s a good sampling of how we’ll have to do things as pros.” Henshizo said, as he put the pocket watch in the pocket and played with the chain. “Shall we do a night patrol then? The creatures of villainy do revel in the dark.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo chuckling. “Sure, go ask Basan if that’s ok and then we can rest until then.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami nodding before walking away to go ask, so Henshizo glanced down the hall once Tokoyami disappeared and walked down towards Hawks’s office and tried the door, finding it unlocked, so Henshizo went in and looked around to see if there was any clue as to what Hawks was doing. He quickly touched Hawks’s desk and computer, but didn’t see anything of value so he left the office as it had been and went back to his room.

In Tokyo Hawks’s phone vibrated, getting an alert from the hidden cameras in his office. Hawks watched as Henshizo snuck around, touching the desk and computer before leaving. “Not bad kid.” He said as he heard a disturbance in the distance. Back in his room Henshizo changed the desk to Hawks’s desk and then began going through it, finding mostly office supplies, some snacks in the drawers, files on old cases, a book, and a couple of letters, but nothing about what he was currently doing. Henshizo then made a copy of Hawks’s computer and turned it on, not surprised he found it password protected. Henshizo sighed and got rid of it all and sat in his chair, making the lotion and applied it to his hands to heal himself before their patrol. Henshizo perused his phone for a bit, killing time. As he sat there a news alert popped up about Endeavor taking down a bizarre villain with an assist from Hawks who took out the villain’s henchmen. Henshizo shot up in his bed when he saw the picture that captured the moment that Hawks swooped in to stop the feeble attack attempt by the henchmen to Endeavor. Henshizo also saw Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya right behind Endeavor in the alley. Henshizo clicked his tongue annoyed as a message from Tokoyami popped up. ‘Basan is fine with an evening patrol. Seven to one in the morning is his window, I told him that’s adequate for me. Is that acceptable?’ The message said, Henshizo smiling a bit at the prospect of going back out and doing hero work.

‘Works for me.’ Henshizo said, plugging his phone in to charge, setting an alarm, and then dozed for a cat nap. Henshizo woke up at the alarm and stretched in his room before heading to the little cafeteria the agency had, meeting up with Tokoyami. “Did you see the news? About Hawks?” Tokoyami asked, a hint of annoyance while cutting his apple. “Yeah. I’m about to text Midoriya about it.” Henshizo said also a bit annoyed still, taking his phone out as he let his chicken cool. “What will you say?” Tokoyami asked curiously. “Why have you spent more time with Hawks at your work study today compared to me and Tokoyami? Did he say anything?” Henshizo said while typing it out and sending the message to Midoriya. “Well said.” Tokoyami said as the two ate their meal. As they finished up Basan came walking over with a can over juice.

“So you two ready for the early night shift? Pick a sector?” Basan asked with a smile. “I think sector nineteen will do us well. Police reports indicate many instances of drug deals and prostitution. Both crimes that can lead to larger fish.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo nodding in agreement. “Sounds good, I’ll be sure to have sector nineteen, as well as eighteen and twenty, calls for assistance routed to us.” Basan said nodding. “Just remember, patrol does have some luck to it.” He said before walking off.

“I have a good feeling, start of the new year where people will either be celebrating or drowning sorrows, both aspects will be busy.” Henshizo said to Tokoyami. “That does make sense, may I ask about before?” Tokoyami asked, Henshizo nodding. “Yes, I know that because of before. Sure, exact things may be different for different groups or places, but behaviors like that are near universal.” Henshizo said shrugging, Tokoyami nodding back to him. They finished their dinner and as they left Henshizo’s phone buzzed, Henshizo looked at it and Midoriya had replied to him.

‘I was surprised to see Hawks too, he wanted to talk to Endeavor and gave him, and us, a book. I’m sorry he’s not with you, he didn’t say why, but you and Tokoyami should do well, you two are amazing.’ Midoriya sent back, Henshizo furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. ‘What book?’ Henshizo asked as Basan came up to them in the lobby.

“Alright, let’s get this patrol started.” Basan said enthusiastically, Henshizo and Tokoyami nodding, still having small hints of disappointment on their faces. Basan continued to smile and lead them out of the agency to head to the sector they chose. “I’m sure the creatures of the night will be surprised to see us.” Basan said trying to keep the mood light. ‘Could also see us as a way to boost their reputation.’ Henshizo thought as they walked along. They got to the sector at seven and began patrol, the sun already set, their breath hanging in front of them as they walked and looked around. “Could’ve at least picked when the sun is up guys.” Basan said chuckling, still choosing to be shirtless.

“We chose costumes that let us layer for winter, that is a choice you made.” Tokoyami said as he kept his cloak tight around him. “Winter fashion is my favorite.” Henshizo said with a shrug.

“Oh yeah, you’re definitely the fashion guru of the agency. Think you can get some nice suits for us?” Basan asked smiling a bit. “My definition of nice is probably a couple week’s pay.” Henshizo said, Basan playfully grabbing his pocket. “My wallet felt that. But it would be nice to have something to wear to those formal events Hawks winds up sending us to in his place.” He said with a chuckle.

“Why does he do that?” Tokoyami asked looking up at Basan. “He likes people feeling a connection to him, but hates being committed to something like that. At least that’s what he says.” Basan said shrugging as they looked around for anything. They continued to patrol, the night quiet so far, as they stopped at a little cafe and got some warm tea to keep them warm.

“Would prefer coffee but having to go to sleep after this at some point would be hard.” Henshizo said as he took a sip. Basan laughed as he walked and held the tea close to himself, before immediately going serious when their communicators clicked on. “We’re getting a call about a disturbance at the love hotel in sector nineteen.” The dispatcher at Hawks’s agency said into their communicators.

“Affirmative, patrol team responding.” Basan said and quickly finished his tea. “Hot.” He muttered as Henshizo and Tokoyami did the same, Henshizo taking their cups and making them into marbles that he put into his pocket as they quickly made their way to the hotel and walked in, the manager waiting for them in the lobby.

“Room eight. They’re getting loud and I heard the breaking of objects, I don’t want things getting bad.” The manager said pointing down the hall. “Don’t worry, we’ll stop it from getting there.” Basan said reassuringly and they went down the hall to room eight, where they could hear the shouts grow louder.

“You dumb whore! Why won’t you do it?!” They heard a man’s voice yell. “Because I have limits scum!” A woman yelled back as Basan knocked hard on the door.

“This is heroes! Open the door!” Basan called in to the room, Henshizo putting a hand on the door. The voices died down for a minute as the three waited for a response. “Get off!” The woman’s voice called out, Henshizo changing the door to a curtain in an instant, as Tokoyami sent dark shadow in to the room quickly, getting between the man and woman.

“What the?!” The man cried out in surprise as the woman stumbled back onto the bed, Basan, Henshizo, and Tokoyami calmly walking in. “Ok, let’s take a moment to calm ourselves.” Basan said, the man looking at the woman glaring as the woman adjusted her dress. “Apologies, we were having a disagreement.” The man muttered after a moment. “Ok, first let’s see some ID. Second, whose name is on the room?” Basan asked as the man turned to the table to grab his wallet, the woman reaching back towards the night stand for her purse. “I rented the room.” The man said as he handed his ID to Basan, the woman turned with her ID and Henshizo hid his shock when he recognized her, taking her ID to confirm.

“Monshi Mibo.” Henshizo said, Mibo looking up in shock at him. “I think our date has ended poorly.” Mibo said to the man, who clicked his tongue.

“Agreed.” He muttered, waving his hand. “Sorry for the disturbance.” He said quietly as Henshizo handed the ID back to Mibo who stood up. “Likewise.” She said, not looking at Henshizo now.

“Ok, since the room is in your name sir how about you stay here, enjoy the view of the window for the night, and you Ms. Mibo leave with us.” Basan said, the two nodding, knowing what would happen if they disagreed. Mibo walking past Henshizo, who followed behind her, Tokoyami and Basan in front of her, so Henshizo was the last to leave and changed the curtain back to the hotel door.

“Have to say, didn’t think my night would get weirder, but here you come along Sesshada.” Mibo said quietly, catching Tokoyami and Basan off guard. “It’s Sozo now.” Henshizo said curtly, Mibo raising an eyebrow. “That’s fair… you have a new start.” She said softly a heartbroken and little bitter smile crossing her face. “You had one too.” Henshizo said, Mibo gave a snort of laughter. “Still a kid… that’s good that you have some naivety.” She said looking up at him, Henshizo looking down at her, and then at the necklace around her neck, a golden black widow. “Optimistic… but not many get the chance they deserve.” Henshizo said quietly to her. She slowly nodded; a bit sad now. “Thanks for the trip down memory lane Sess-Sozo.” Mibo said and walked towards the exit. “Stay safe.” Henshizo said to her, she looked back and gave a tiny smile. “Ever the protector.” She said before continuing to the lobby to leave.

“I take it an old acquaintance.” Basan said to Henshizo, Henshizo nodding. “Yeah, she was one of the women who, shall I say, was paid for her time under Surōdesu. One of many in that department.” Henshizo said as they began walking out.

“It seemed more than that though.” Tokoyami said, looking at his classmate. “Yeah; when I actually had to be left with someone for a night or whatever, she was ordered to be my babysitter. Closest thing I had to a mother growing up, until the rescue. Even when I was twelve and whatnot, she was tasked with keeping an eye on me. In those moments she treated me like a kid instead of an heir, which I never really got. Sad to see she hasn’t escaped the darkness.” Henshizo said a bit sad.

“From that necklace I know what group she is with currently.” Basan said, Henshizo glancing over. “Kairaku no mi, or web of pleasure. The leading escort slash prostitution network in Fukuoka, they keep things fairly clean and don’t cause trouble for the most part. Plus, they don’t really leave evidence for us to build a case, the clients don’t say anything and the workers know how to play the system. But recently there’s been a rumor of the web getting a bit of a bite. A man went to the hospital with injuries to a part of his body no man wants to be injured. There’s also a decapitation linked to them, but nothing solid to take them down.” Basan said seriously. “Perhaps this can be something we do then. Take them down before things get out of hand.” Tokoyami said seriously, Basan nodded in response. “I think it’s a reasonably sized case for you guys, and not too overtly dangerous, the potential of seeing old faces won’t be a problem, right?” Basan said glancing at Henshizo.

“No sir, while I do have fond memories with her, I have no problem working to potentially arrest Mibo or anyone else I may already know.” Henshizo said firmly, Basan nodding and lightly smiled. “And why didn’t we arrest her tonight?” He asked the two students. “Because we can’t conclusively say what her and that man were going to be doing. Circumstantial evidence points to him hiring her, but short of seeing money exchanged or hearing more than we did there’s not enough.” Henshizo replied instantly. “Figured that’d be easy for you.” Basan said chuckling as they went back out to the street to resume patrol, but the cold kept people in for the most part, and no more calls came in before their time on patrol ended.

“I suppose cold is a deterrent for people.” Tokoyami said as they walked back in to the lobby. “Yeah. No one is going to like standing out in the cold for too long. Plus with it being the beginning of the year, people do try to better themselves at the beginning, so less drinking, trying to sober up, and stuff like that.” Basan said as he walked under a vent and let the heat warm him up. “You two rest up, we’re doing a late morning to dinner patrol.” He said, the two students nodding in response and going up to their respective rooms.

“If I can, I’ll save you Mibo.” Henshizo muttered as he made a tissue into a polaroid photo that showed a much younger Henshizo and younger Mibo smiling as Mibo held the camera up. Henshizo changed it back to a tissue and got in bed, thinking about why he had been lucky, but not everyone was.

Notes:

Thank you for reading and sorry for the almost two months between posts. My new job eats up a lot of time but happy to be back. Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 74: Cold Work

Summary:

Henshizo and Tokoyami begin their investigation into the web of pleasure and experiencing what it means to be a pro hero. While they try to avoid getting stuck in one web, another web in shadows is being spun around them.

Henshizo woke up and lay in bed, staring at the wall for a couple of moments before reaching out and checked his phone, skipping past the news blurbs he checked his messages, the one from Midoriya catching his barely open eye. ‘Sorry for not responding, Endeavor wears us out and keeps us busy. The book Hawks gave us is the meta liberation war, it’s an autobiography of the leader of an old terrorist group. I haven’t had time to read it yet.’ Midoriya had sent back to him, Henshizo reading with tiredness and confusion. “Why would Hawks be handing books out about a terrorist?” Henshizo mumbled and looked up the book, recognizing the red cover as the book that had been in Hawks’s desk so he made it and quickly thumbed through it seeing if there was something important. “Nothing, why is he handing this book out?” Henshizo mumbled and tossed it aside before getting out of bed and getting dressed. He walked down to the large kitchen the agency had and made himself breakfast, Tokoyami walking in as Henshizo sat down.

“Good morning Sesshada, did you sleep well?” Tokoyami asked, going to the fruit bowl and grabbing a couple of apples. “Well enough, and you?” Henshizo asked as he took a sip of his coffee. “My slumber was undisturbed.” Tokoyami said as dark shadow came out and took one of the apples and bit into it. “Good… and I would like to apologize for dragging you into my past.” Henshizo began, but Tokoyami raised a hand. “It’s not your past Sozo, it’s the present, we are going to be taking down a sex trafficking slash prostitution ring that is potentially beginning to spill blood. It has nothing to do with you.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo looked at him before giving a small smile and appreciative nod. “You’re right. It wouldn’t have mattered who was in that hotel room, only thing that matters is taking down the web of pleasure.” Henshizo said determined, Tokoyami giving a little nod while dark shadow gave Henshizo a big thumbs up with a goofy smile. The two ate their breakfasts and as they were cleaning up, Basan came walking in.

“Good morning you two, hope you two are ready to learn how to do a big investigation.” Basan said with a grin. “Yes, we are ready.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo nodding in agreement. “That’s what I like to hear, follow me.” Basan said, turning and walking out, the two teens following behind. Basan led them to the elevator and up to a floor. “Every agency, whether top ten or a solo triple digit hero, has a designated area for investigations, whether it’s a room, office, or like here, an entire floor.” Basan said gesturing around.

“I guess being number two has more benefits than one would think of.” Henshizo said as they looked side to side. “Yep; each room has a designated purpose. You got the money people, the weapons junkies, the motor heads, the druggies, not actual ones.” Basan laughed and gestured to each door before leading them to a door with a sign that said ‘sex rings’ on it. “And this is where you guys will be working.” Basan said opening the door.

“Dare I ask what the nickname is for those that work here?” Tokoyami asked as they walked in. “No nicknames here. There’s too much darkness to make light of.” Basan said quietly, Tokoyami nodding as Henshizo looked around. “That makes sense, I still vividly remember that human trafficking shipment we rescued, I can imagine similar circumstances happen.” Tokoyami said, Basan nodding in response as he walked up to a woman with metal hair. “This is Heasu, she’s our go to for street level rings.” Basan said as Heasu bowed to Tokoyami and Henshizo, the two bowing in response.

“I understand you two are interested in the web of pleasure, correct?” Heasu said showing she had metal teeth too. “Yes, we encountered one of the workers on patrol, and with what Basan said that the web is being suspected of, it seems like a good idea to dismantle them before they cause suffering.” Henshizo said seriously.

“Do you have information on them?” Tokoyami asked, Heasu nodding. “I do my best to keep tabs on all groups, who’s a worker just scraping by, who’s truly invested, the muscle, and the leaders. The web is fairly easy to find the workers involved. They all have a tattoo of a spider, typically a black widow, on their bodies somewhere. Doesn’t have to be big, but it’s on there.” Heasu said opening up a folder on a table beside her and showing photos of different women and even men having the tattoos while clearly working.

“A form of owning them, you see it often in the sex ring world. Sometimes it’s barcode tattoos and others actually use tracking chips and embed them into the workers.” Henshizo muttered, disgust in his voice. “How horrible, they treat the workers like animals.” Tokoyami said a mixture of anger and disgust in his voice.

“It’s common practice unfortunately, silver lining is that it does make it easier for us to know who is in what group, mount charges against them.” Heasu said solemnly, as she pushed photo forward of a bald man with a scar across his forehead. “Meet Nipon Denat, quirk; electric manipulation. Multiple prior arrests for assault, facilitation of prostitution, threatening, and other usual crimes.” Heasu said seriously. “When you say electrical manipulation, what do you mean?” Tokoyami asked as he and Henshizo stared at the web’s leader. “Denat able to produce electricity and also pull it from any electronic he’s touching. If he’s got enough voltage in him, he can also draw on the electric devices around him and syphon those devices too. With that electricity he’s able to make lightning bolt like objects that he can use like swords, shoot electricity, and touching him is like an electric fence.” Heasu said deathly serious.

“Kaminari on steroids by the sounds of it.” Henshizo muttered, Tokoyami nodding. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, we need to do some more direct investigating to build a case and take him and the rest of the web of pleasure down.” Basan said stepping forward, the two boys looking at him and nodding. “So, how would you two like to investigate?” Basan asked the two students.

“Mibo knows me, but I don’t want to use her for information. It puts her at risk, so we should observe some workers and gather information. They have to report to their bosses to give the money, so we follow the money, we find more information, and that’s how we build our case.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami nodding. “Agreed; it’s the, and I use this term loosely, managers that we need to target.” Tokoyami said as he looked at the chart on the managers in Kairaku. “Plus finding their black book can always lead to more beyond them.” Henshizo said, Basan chuckling.

“If you do find something like that or your investigation uncovers a… high profile individual just be aware that I will take lead on that, navigating politics and egos as heroes isn’t something you have learned yet, and I don’t want your careers to be affected before they even begin.” Basan said seriously. “Oh no, how could my hero career be challenged.” Henshizo said sarcastically, and Basan gave a light smile. “I know you’re facing unique challenges, but sometimes those with power and connections can be more dangerous, just don’t let some hurt ego cause your effort to be undone.” Basan said encouragingly. “Right, I understand.” Henshizo said, nodding.

“So how should we track the workers and money?” Tokoyami asked curiously. “Trackers hidden in money, but we need to make sure that they get to where we want them to go.” Basan said walking to a desk and opening a drawer, pulling a stack of yen out and showing the tracker in them.

“That’s too risky.” Henshizo said walking forward. “No matter the organization, it’s always the same. First the worker takes a cut, then the manager, and then finally it goes to the collective pot so to speak.” Henshizo says in a neutral tone. “So why is it risky?” Basan asked. “If they take from any of these stacks and expose the tracker it blows our operation. I think following to see the stashes and then doing a little surveillance will work better.” Henshizo said in a serious thinking tone.

“I trust your knowledge Sozo, it makes sense.” Tokoyami said nodding. “Very well, how do you want to do that?” Basan asked shrugging and grinning, wanting to see what Henshizo had in mind.

“First we find a worker and track them to where they drop off the earnings from a night. After that, when it’s easiest, we get eyes inside to see their movements and where they put the money. Lastly, we follow that money to their big pot.” Henshizo said in a confident thinking tone. “That sounds like a good plan to me. Heasu, are there any easy targets who aren’t observant?” Basan asked, turning to his colleague.

“Yes, there a couple that are easy to tail.” Heasu said, pointing to two photos, one a woman with dark red hair and the other wearing a bright pink jacket. “Akai and Eahed are usually too wrapped in their own worlds to pay attention, it’s honestly almost gotten them hurt a couple of times.” Heasu said a bit sad at the end. “You seem to care about them; do you know them?” Tokoyami asked curiously, Heasu shaking her head in response. “Not personally; but often times no one else will care for them, so we have to.” Heasu said, Tokoyami nodding.

“It’s why historically prostitutes have been the targets of killers and others. Society often views them as undesirable and dirt, so no one pays attention when they disappear or something bad happens to them.” Henshizo said quietly, Heasu nodding again. “And sadly, that mindset is still prevalent.” She said as Henshizo and Tokoyami picked up the photos of the two women.

“We should tail each of them, see if they go to the same place or separate locations.” Tokoyami said, pocketing the photo of Akai. Henshizo looked at Eahed before also pocketing the photo. “Ok, good solid plan. However; now you have to do something all pros have to do during an active investigation. Wait and do other work, crime doesn’t stop just because you’re trying to focus on a case.” Basan said to the boys, both seriously but also chuckling.

“Understood sir. I assume that means another patrol with you.” Henshizo said, Basan nodding and began walking to the door. “Thank you Heasu, I’ll gladly thank you more over dinner.” Basan said, and Heasu rolled her eyes.

“The only thing I want is Kairaku no mi to be shut down and everyone either locked up or saved.” Heasu said as Tokoyami and Henshizo politely bowed to give thanks to her before also turning to leave. “Heasu does great work.” Basan said to them as they got in an elevator and rode it down to the ground floor.

“It was very extensive indeed.” Tokoyami said as they walked out to the street. “Prostitution rings are tough to get a good picture of on purpose. It’s very profitable if run well and no one wants to lose that.” Henshizo said, Basan nodding. “I know the workers have an hourly rate, but how much is it?” Tokoyami asked curiously. “Oh, it can range from seven hundred yen or so an hour or be as high as one and half million yen. That was at least the highest that I heard of in Surōdesu.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami shocked at the amount.

“And when you get to the clients at that higher price range, that’s when it can get tricky. Also depending on the pimp, worker, or customer, they can pay to do things beyond the normal work.” Basan said and Tokoyami looked up. “Like what?” He asked, and Henshizo both snickered and sighed.

“Well; the, and I’m using this term loosely, lighter side is usually kink related specifics that clients pay a premium for. The more morbid side of that is the sadistic side of things.” Henshizo said as they looked around. “Why did you snicker if it’s so serious?” Tokoyami asked, and Henshizo looked at him. “Some of those fetishes and kinks are very interesting… there was this one client who had an apartment apparently completely dedicated to a kink of his being a giant man baby. Needless to say, to have someone change his diapers, he had to pay a higher rate.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami shuddering as Basan had to stifle a laugh. “Somehow the mental image is the most horrifying thing I’ve seen so far this year.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo chuckling.

“Don’t torment your friend Sozo.” Basan said, also grinning as they turned around the corner. “I am both intrigue and horrified by this discussion. So, it is ok.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo laughing a bit at what he said. Basan sighed and shook his head, still grinning. For the first two hours of their patrol, nothing occurred, but as they got close to lunchtime, the three of them heard shouting ahead of them, so they rushed up.

“Someone help! They robbed me!” A man called out and pointed at a pair of people on motorcycles speeding down the street, right towards the trio. “Tsukuyomi, Yahata, quickly.” Basan said, the two already dashing forward.

“Dark Shadow!” Tokoyami called out, his quirk coming out growing very big and got right in front of the motorcycles, swatting them and sending the thieves flying. Henshizo made a net gun that Hatsume had used during the sports festival in each hand and expertly shot the nets to catch the thieves in midair. The thieves struggled in the nets, one trying to pull a knife, but Dark Shadow grabbed the nets like grocery bags and let them fall to the ground a bit hard to get them to drop the knife before bringing them back to the boys and Basan. “Takeout?” Dark Shadow asked holding the thieves up as Henshizo made handcuffs, snickering as he did at the quip. “Do not encourage him.” Tokoyami said as Henshizo got the handcuffs on the thieves.

“Quips like that go a long way in ensuring people feel better. So, it’s perfectly fine for him to say.” Basan said as Dark Shadow went and dragged the motorcycles out of the middle of the road. “Plus, it’s rubs salt in the wound.” Henshizo said smirking, looking down at the thieves, who just gave light snarls and looked away. After a few more moments a pair of cop cars came pulling up with their lights on, so Henshizo dragged the bike thieves up before handing them to the cops. Basan took the report papers from one of the officers and put them in his pocket. “Quick and efficient. Good work representing Hawks.” Basan said smiling at the boys, who both sighed lightly. “I know, you’d rather he have seen it, but he’ll find out and I’m sure he’ll be proud… in his way.” Basan said reassuringly.

“Stopping villains and helping those in need is what’s most important. Improvement is also good, Hawks’s validation is not nearly as important.” Tokoyami said, Basan chuckling. “I’ll be sure to tell him that.” Basan said as the three finally began resuming their patrol. As they walked Henshizo gave a soft sneeze. “See, Hawks is talking about you.” Basan said jokingly, Henshizo rolling his eyes but chuckling lightly in response.

______________________________________

“You’re certain that Sesshada would be nearly impossible to recruit?” A man hidden in shadow asked Hawks who was under a spot light. “First off, if you call him that now, yeah. It’s Sozo, and he won’t tolerate being called his father’s name. Second, he takes family very seriously still and his cousin was injured in the summer camp raid, so any thought of working for or with some of you is a nonstarter at best and deadly at worst.” Hawks said with his arms out to his side.

“That’s a shame. Don’t want a loser like that here anyway.” Came the voice of Twice to Hawks’s side. “It doesn’t matter, from what we’ve seen of everyone they’re still weak.” Dabi said in front of Hawks.

“They’re all young still.” Hawks said grinning. “Young and moldable, you’ve been handing out Destro’s word, keep that up and make your pupil see the beauty of liberation.” The man said and Hawks gave a smile. “Thanks, will do.” The pro said before giving a showy bow and walking out of the meeting room. ‘Yahata would never play ball, but have to put on a show for them.’ Hawks thought as he looked out of the window. ‘Glad they’re underestimating you lot.’ He thought to himself with a smirk.

______________________________________

The trio continued to patrol but had no other incidents and it wasn’t long until the sky turned black. “Ok you two, go and get set up for your tailing missions. You have to follow them throughout the night because they won’t always stay on or come back to the same street.” Basan said to them, the two boys nodded and went off, Henshizo going to block forty-eight, changing his outfit to look like a disheveled beggar, made a worn blanket and sat in the opening of an alley; pulling a beanie down on his head, and then waited. After twenty minutes a car pulled up and Eahed stepped out. “Making me work in the cold, you’re lucky I’m so hot.” Eahed said to the driver of the car.

“Use it as inspiration to get picked up quickly and often then.” The driver said as Eahed closed the door and walked to the wall of the building opposite of Henshizo. Henshizo took a photo of the car as it drove away with his phone hidden in the palm of his hand and then waited like Eahed was. After over twenty minutes, a car pulled up, Henshizo taking another photo as Eahed pushed herself off the wall and walked to the car, talking quietly to the driver so Henshizo couldn’t hear. After a few moments of conversation, Eahed got into the car; causing Henshizo to stand up as the car began slowly driving off. Henshizo made a grapple gun and went up to the roof of the building before making the jetpack he used and followed the car from above, keeping out of the light. Henshizo tailed the car until it parked in the parking lot of a love hotel, Eahed getting out with the driver of the car, Henshizo taking photos before they went inside the hotel. Henshizo descended down and put his disguise back on and hid himself from view, this time making a blanket to help stay warm as he waited for the business to be conducted. After almost three hours the hotel doors opened and Eahed came walking out with the driver behind her; the pair got back in the car so Henshizo got up and tailed them until the car stopped and Eahed got back out of the car and onto the street. Henshizo settled back in to his disguise and spot to watch again for her next client. As Henshizo battled the cold, he stayed on top of her when she had four more customers, tracking them to the different hotels they went to, documented the cars and customers, and made sure to stay hidden. As it got close to five in the morning, as Eahed had gotten more disheveled through the night, the car that had dropped her off pulled up to her. “About time.” Eahed said walking forward, rubbing her arms to warm up before walking to the, opening the door and getting in. The car sat there for a couple moments, Henshizo guessing the two were talking; so, he made a thermal camera and looked into the car, just in time to see the distorted figure of Eahed do a hand off motion to the driver before the car began driving off. Henshizo stood up and flew up to follow the car, after twenty minutes it stopped outside a slightly rundown apartment complex before Eahed got out of the car.

“This is her place.” Henshizo muttered, thinking back to her folder as the car drove off. Henshizo followed the car until it stopped at what Henshizo guess was a closed-up bank, Henshizo saw similar cars parked behind the building and watched as the driver got out of the car, counting yen, and then went into the building. Henshizo grinned as he continued to take photos before landing on the roof of the building next to them and watched. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement above him and he glanced up, seeing Tokoyami following a car that was pulling in. Tokoyami landed beside him as Henshizo took more pictures of the latest arrival. “An abandoned bank. That’s somehow very logical.” Tokoyami muttered to Henshizo, who nodded. “Odds are the safe or safety deposit boxes are still in there.” Henshizo muttered back before he picked a nail from the roof and changed it into a camera. He made two more from marbles and set them up to watch the front, side, and back of the bank, hiding them so they couldn’t be seen. “We should get back to the agency.” Tokoyami said, walking away from the bank, Henshizo right behind him and the two flew off to get back to Hawks’s agency. “That was certainly a disguise you had on.” Tokoyami said, dark shadow chuckling softly. “It worked.” Henshizo said, almost sulking a bit as he changed back to his hero costume. They landed outside the agency as the sun was just beginning to rise and walked in, where Basan was waiting for them.

“Morning, successful tail missions?” Basan asked the tired boys. “We tracked where the drivers take the money, put cameras up there to monitor further. Also took photos of the clients.” Henshizo said enjoying the warmth of the building.

“I also took pictures of the clients, just in case something can come from that.” Tokoyami said as Dark Shadow yawned before going into Tokoyami. “Sounds like you guys did good work; head up to your rooms, but before you go to sleep, I want you two to write as much as you can down before you forget. Even the smallest details can make the difference in an investigation like this.” Basan said thumbing to the elevator. “Yes sir.” The two said, before making their way to the elevator and going up to their floor. “Good night… or morning, Sozo.” Tokoyami said, causing Henshizo to give a tired chuckle.

“Sleep well.” Henshizo said waving to Tokoyami before going into his room. Henshizo then suddenly made a sword from a pencil he had made from a marble, and swung it to his right at a figure on his bed. His sword clashed with something metallic before he saw it was Hawks sitting on his bed with a smile on his face. “Those were some good reflexes.” Hawks said continuing to smile as Henshizo gave a sigh and walked to his desk, changing the sword back to a pencil and then opened a journal that was on it and began writing down as many details he could remember from that night. “Basan said you boys were working on taking down a prostitution ring. That’s a good starting point for you two. So, what’d you do tonight besides freeze?” Hawks asked walking over and peering over Henshizo’s shoulder to read what Henshizo was writing. “You can read it in my report.” Henshizo said with a small sigh as he focused on trying to stay awake. “No spoilers, eh? That’s no fun.” Hawks said reading still. “What is it you want Hawks? You weren’t waiting in my room to hear about me being a beggar.” Henshizo said as he finished a sentence and glanced at his mentor. “And also, where have you been? You spent more time with Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki so far.” Henshizo said pointing his pencil at Hawks. “Been busy with work.” Hawks said shrugging, Henshizo sighing and going back to writing the report, knowing there was no point in pressing. “I came by to ask you guys some questions, just brief ones.” Hawks said, tapping Henshizo on the shoulder, Henshizo finishing the sentence he was on before turning to face Hawks, Henshizo surprised when he didn’t see a smile on his face. “What?” Henshizo asked tilting his head slightly, confused by the look on Hawks’s face. “What do you think of the restrictions on quirks?” Hawks asked him, still not smiling, his wings curled in a bit. “I uh… I think they could be a bit looser with how one can defend themselves or to help others. I think intent is more important, but I also realize the impact it can have and people shouldn’t have free use of their quirks. I experienced that growing up basically.” Henshizo said, confused by the question as he looked at Hawks’s face, trying to figure out why he was acting weird. “Your past would make one wary.” Hawks said nodding, putting his hand under his jaw. “And if you encountered the League of Villains, what would you do?” Hawks asked, Henshizo’s facing going stone cold in an instant. “I would beat them all until they’re begging for mercy. I’d make sure that for the rest of their lives they wouldn’t be able to move without pain or thinking of me. They nearly killed my cousin.” Henshizo said, glaring before looking to the side. “Sorry, I shouldn’t say those things as a hero.” He said, Hawks laughed at the second part. “It’s ok to feel that way, but you acknowledging that you shouldn’t do that is good. Although I don’t think anyone will blame you if you put a little extra power in a punch to them.” Hawks said, back to smiling. “Suppose not.” Henshizo said quietly, turning back to his report as Hawks stretched. “Finish that quickly and head to bed. I’m going to go annoy Tokoyami.” He said walking to the door. “Nice seeing ya.” Henshizo said to Hawks, Hawks waving as he opened the door and left. “Weird.” Henshizo muttered and began finishing up the report. Once he was done, Henshizo went to the bathroom, cleaned up, and then crawled into bed, falling asleep almost instantly when his head hit the pillow; his last conscious thought being that the first step in saving Mibo had been completed.

Notes:

Thanks for reading, going to try and not have two months between chapters. Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 75: No Rest for the Weary

Summary:

Henshizo and Tokoyami launch their first true investigation, but they learn the complications of hero work and how things can't be how they want.

Later in the morning Henshizo and Tokoyami were having a brunch in the cafeteria in Hawks’s agency. The two watching a live feed from the cameras Henshizo had set up. “They’re trying to keep the abandoned look, don’t want eyes on it.” Tokoyami said as they watched a woman walk down the alley and turn to go behind the bank. “Yeah, it’s supposed to be closed, no need for attention.” Henshizo muttered as he ate some rice. “Yes, speaking of attention did Hawks speak to you last night?” Tokoyami asked, Henshizo nodded a bit. “Speak isn’t the proper word, he asked a couple of questions and also didn’t answer mine. While both being his usual self, but also not at some points. Way too serious.” Henshizo said quietly. “He was similar to me as well. I hope everything is ok.” Tokoyami said quietly as they made notes from the video. “I’m sure he has it under control. Doesn’t mean it lets us not worry.” Henshizo muttered before drinking some coffee as Basan came walking over.

“Good morning you two, already working?” Basan asked, looking at the screen. “Yes, we’re studying to see when we can put tracking devices in.” Tokoyami said as he took a bite of the apple he had. “Forming a plan, ok. Any ideas?” Basan asked looking between them.

“Chizuban already tracked down the blueprints for us, it’s doubtful they changed anything from the bank too much. At least in terms of walls and entry points. Sure, maybe cleaned things up and cleared things, but some things would be hard to do without drawing attention.” Henshizo said as he changed a chopstick to a rolled-up blueprint and back. “Ok, smart and good logic.” Basan said nodding, also watching the feed. “Only problem is how to get in and find where they’re keeping the money and out undetected.” Henshizo said, mildly annoyed as Tokoyami tapped a finger to the table thinking. “If you need an idea you can come to me, but you’re the leads here.” Basan said to them, patting their shoulders before walking away to grab his own breakfast.

“They’ll likely always have at least one or two guards near the money. And the layout doesn’t give us any real options of doing it without leaving a trace.” Tokoyami said as he gave dark shadow the core of the apple to eat. “Yeah, we’ll need to get them to leave without tipping our hand.” Henshizo muttered, tapping his chopstick to the table. The two boys continued to mull the problem over as they sat and watched. “A distraction would be best, and then I think using dark shadow to set the tracker would be best since he can flatten himself.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami nodding in agreement as Dark Shadow excitedly smiled. “We would need a good distraction, to keep them occupied to let Dark Shadow get the job done.” Tokoyami said and Henshizo gave a sly smile and pointed to the cars parked in the alley. “One thing that they for sure will care about is their cars. If something were to happen to them, that would keep them occupied for a good bit.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami gave a small nod, but also had a slightly apprehensive look. “Please say you have an idea that wouldn’t be vandalism.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo responding with fake indignation, causing dark shadow to chuckle. “I wasn’t going to smash their windows or anything.” Henshizo said, changing a chop stick to a small capsule with a button on it. “I put this under one of the cars, press the button, and smoke comes out. Make it look like something caught fire or something, but nothing is really the issue.” Henshizo said with a small chuckle. “And what if they find it?” Tokoyami asked, Henshizo pulled out a couple of candy wrappers from his pocket. “Leave these nearby and they’ll assume some kids pulled a prank.” He said with a shrug. “I see, or at least they won’t think that the money is the target, which car should we target though?” Tokoyami asked, looking back at the screen. Henshizo poked the screen with his chopstick, to a SUV further down the alley. “That one has been parked the entire time we’ve been watching. Probably someone who has to be in there longer than a driver dropping off earnings.” Henshizo said, Tokoyami nodding. “Good bet. I like the plan.” He said to Henshizo as Basan came walking back with a glass of apple juice.

“You have a plan? That’s what I like to hear. Go and do it.” Basan said grinning, the two boys nodding at the encouragement from the pro. They finished their breakfast before making their way back to the abandoned bank. As they got closer, Henshizo made a hoodie for Tokoyami, he put it on as Henshizo changed his costume into a hoodie as well, and then after that Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to pull himself up tot eh roof of the bank as Henshizo snuck along the wall. Tokoyami watched from the roof as Henshizo slinked along, keeping below the windows as he approached the SUV. Tokoyami gave a thumbs up, indicating that the area was clear, before Henshizo went over to the SUV; reaching far under, Henshizo put the smoke making device on the engine underside and activated it, before quickly stepping back and letting dark shadow pick him up and put him on the ceiling. “Be quick.” Henshizo uttered to Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, as he made the tracker and handed it to Dark Shadow who nodded and went in position right over the door. It took a few moments before they heard some shouting from inside and the back door burst open and six guys came out, one with a fire extinguisher as Dark Shadow slipped in to do the mission. Tokoyami and Henshizo held their breath as the man with the fire extinguisher used it to try to stop the smoke.

“What the hell? Could it be the battery?” One of the other men said as the smoke continued to billow up. After a few more tense moments of waiting, Dark Shadow came back to Tokoyami and gave a thumbs up. The boys slinked away, hopping down to the sidewalk and walking away with hoods up. “Mission accomplished.” Tokoyami muttered, Henshizo nodded with a smirk, pulling a wrapper from his pocket and changed it to a device that looked like a cellphone. Tokoyami glanced at the screen in it and saw a map of the city, and in the building for the bank was a blue dot.

“And now the waiting game. It will send an alert when the tracker leaves the building.” Henshizo said as they walked along. “Just hope they take it.” Tokoyami muttered, just a hint of worry in his voice. “It’s a risk, but we also still have the camera, to watch and get information.” Henshizo said, pocketing the device as they made their way back to the agency.

“Yahata, Tsukuyomi, you done?” Came Basan’s voice into the earpieces the boys had. “Yes sir, we’re on our way back to base.” Henshizo replied, changing his and Tokoyami’s disguises back to their hero costumes. “Glad you’re done, but we got called to handle a silent alarm at the Sabu Gas regional headquarters. Could be nothing, but get there quick just in case; address has been sent to your phones.” Basan said seriously, the boys’ phones pinging with the address, as they wasted no time getting their flight methods ready and began making their ways to the office. They made their way and landed quietly towards the end of the street, Basan waiting for them.

“Any update?” Tokoyami asked quietly, Basan nodded. “We got in touch with Sabu Gas that confirmed that while there is a skeleton crew for observing and maintenance, it is unlikely the silent alarm goes off on accident. They also stated that here there are computers that have control over gas lines, as well as the company’s finances. So hopefully it’s only a heist, but it could also be something more nefarious” Basan said, looking at the building. “I’ll take the front door, you two take that side door.” Basan said, the two boys nodding before quickly and quietly going to the side door. Tokoyami tried to open it and found it unlocked, so the two went in looking around the darkened hallway.

“We need to find a map.” Henshizo muttered to Tokoyami, making two flashlights and handing one to Tokoyami. They turned the flashlights on and on the wall to their right was a map of the building that the two began examining. “We’re here. Looks like the doors above us are the employee, server, and control rooms.” Henshizo said quietly, Tokoyami nodding. “Where should we go first?” Henshizo asked. “Employee area first, someone tripped the silent alarm.” Tokoyami said, Henshizo nodding, touching the map before they made their way to the stairwell and walked up to the first floor for employees. They crept in, looked around, and saw nothing but desks and computers. “Doubt the skeleton crew mentioned would be here. Probably more in the maintenance and monitoring areas.” Henshizo muttered and they quickly went up to the next floor. As they cracked the door open, they saw a man walking around with a sub-machine gun.

“How much longer?” The man said, talking into a radio, however since he was wearing an ear piece, Henshizo and Tokoyami couldn’t hear the response. “Ok, all good here. Just try to get it to move faster.” The man said before turning his back to the door, letting Henshizo and Tokoyami sneak in and then hide against a cubicle’s wall. “Multiple offenders, armed.” Henshizo reported to Basan over the radio quietly.

“Copy. Quick and quiet.” Basan said back to them, the two boys nodded to each other before slinking forward along the cubical walls closer to the gunman. Henshizo got behind Tokoyami and placed a hand on his back as Tokoyami brought Dark Shadow out. The two of them heard quiet grunts, Tokoyami glanced back at Henshizo to make sure he had heard those sounds and Henshizo nodded; once the gunman was close but had his back turned Henshizo pat Tokoyami’s back and dashed around the corner as Dark Shadow went forward and with an enlarged hand wrapped it around the man’s head preventing him from calling out. The man quickly raised his gun to fire, but Henshizo touched it and quickly changed it to a toy gun so that when the man pulled the trigger nothing happened. Dark Shadow then drove his other hand into the man’s stomach for a powerful punch, Henshizo making his power glove as Dark Shadow brought the man down towards Henshizo, allowing Henshizo to hit a massive uppercut and knocked the gunman out cold while no sound escaped the room. Dark Shadow gently put the man on the ground, letting Henshizo bind tie him up and take the radio from him. He then turned around and saw four men tied with tape over their mouths. Henshizo held a finger to his lips for the men to stay quiet and they all nodded their heads; as Henshizo went over and took the tape off their mouths before making a knife and cutting the ropes.

“Thank you.” A man in a blue polo said quietly. “How many other villains are there?” Henshizo asked quietly. “Four of them came in here and tied us up. He was watching us.” The man said, pointing to the tied-up gunman. “Ok; stay here, stay out of sight, and stay quiet.” Henshizo said to the four who all nodded except one.

“Why can’t we go now?” One of the men asked quietly, Henshizo looked at him. “Right now, they think you’re tied up and not a threat, if they catch you trying to escape, they will hurt you to stop you, or worse.” Henshizo said quietly but deathly serious, the man gulping and nodding. “Do you know where the other three went to?” Henshizo asked the men as Tokoyami walked over.

“They’re going to the server room. You have to hurry; there they can reroute the gas to anywhere in the pipelines and also have access to corporate accounts. As well as our customer’s information.” One of the other men said, the two boys nodded. “Thank you.” Tokoyami said before the two boys quickly went towards the server room, following the map Henshizo had made from earlier. “The villains are going for the server room on the fifth floor.” Tokoyami reported to Basan over the communicator.

“Copy that, figures. I’ll meet you up there.” Basan said over the radio. Tokoyami and Henshizo got to the hall with the server room, stopping at the corner and peered around the corner. One man in a mask was standing guard outside the door glancing either way, so the boys hid back around the corner. Henshizo changed the map to a tranquilizer dart gun and held it up, pointing to it and then to Tokoyami who understood. Henshizo knelt down and got around the corner enough to be able to aim properly as Tokoyami got Dark Shadow ready. Henshizo pulled the trigger and Tokoyami sent Dark Shadow quickly at the man who got hit by the dart and then wrapped up by Dark Shadow so he would not be able to alert his companions. The man briefly struggled but quickly went limp, so Tokoyami had Dark Shadow bring him around the corner out of sight. Henshizo made restraints to keep the man there, before Henshizo and Tokoyami went around the corner and quietly made their way towards the server room. Basan came around the corner from the other end of the hall, sticking to the wall as the three got outside the server room. From inside they heard the sounds of someone typing and another person moving about. Basan gave a nod to the two students and went in first. “Freeze, heroes!” Basan called out the man who was holding some hard drives blew really hard sending the three flying towards the wall. Henshizo switched his suit to one made of pure gold, courtesy of Goji, and it let him land before hitting the wall like Basan did with Tokoyami smacking into Basan. Tokoyami sent Dark Shadow out but the other thief shot a beam out of his left eye, striking Dark Shadow and causing him to cry out and shrink. “Dark Shadow!” Tokoyami cried out in worry as his quirk was put in to a stalemate.

“Gotta go!” The wind breath thief called out and tried to run for the door, but Henshizo made the net gun Hatsume had used in the sports festival and shot it at the thief and it wrapped around him tightly. Without thinking about it; Henshizo changed the golf suit back to his normal costume while changing the net gun into a high lumens flashlight and aimed it at the laser eyed thief and turned it on; brightening the room like the sun. Causing the man to cry out and close his eyes in pain. “Thanks Yahata.” Tokoyami called out as Henshizo just as quickly turned it off; letting Dark Shadow back out. “Black ops arms!” Tokoyami called out; Dark Shadow enlarging his arms and delivered a double punch to the man as he rubbed his eyes, which caused him to skid into the wall. Henshizo quickly went forward and restrained him as Basan got to his feet, cracking his back.

“Good job not damaging anything of the company’s.” Basan said looking around as Dark Shadow picked up the hard drives that had been dropped by the one thief and set them on a desk in the room. “Could have caused more issues than what these fools did if we broke something. Plus, I doubt Hawks would be amused about that insurance claim.” Henshizo said as Dark Shadow then picked up the two thieves to escort them out.

“You blinded me.” The one thief mumbled from his restraints. “You’ll be fine; just keep your eyes closed for a bit.” Henshizo said just mildly annoyed as they got to the lookout, Henshizo picking him up from the ground and throwing him over his shoulders. Henshizo and Tokoyami lead Basan to the last thief and where the four workers were, the four sitting on the floor and all gave huge sighs and smiles of relief seeing the three walk in with the thieves, Basan collecting the last one.

“Go to the server room, take inventory, restore what you have to ensure nothing is disrupted. Please document everything, and once you’ve stopped anything malicious leave so it can be processed by investigators.” Basan said to the men, who nodded and got up. “Thank you. Of course.” The blue polo man said, the four heading to the server room.

“Wouldn’t we want to preserve the crime scene in general?” Tokoyami asked Basan curiously. “Normally yes; but in situations that can escalate and cause more damage, better to have the people who know what they’re doing handle it. I’m not bad with technology, but specific systems, don’t want to touch those.” Basan said as he picked the last thief up, the three carrying the thieves outside where cops were waiting.

“Good work Basan.” One of the officers said as the thieves were handed off to the police. “Don’t praise me, these guys did the work.” Basan said, putting his hands on Henshizo’s and Tokoyami’s shoulders. “Good work you two.” The cop said with a smile to the two of them, the boys bowing their heads in return. Once the cops drove away, Basan let out a slight sigh. “Let’s go back to the agency, fill the report out for this, and then you two can see if anything has happened in your investigation.” Basan said, the two boys nodding and they began walking back to Hawks’s agency.

“I see what you have said about no rest for heroes.” Tokoyami said as they turned a corner. “Yeah. Villains don’t care if you got a big case, it’s annoying and sometimes upsetting because it could be a time sensitive case and any time away from the case could mean the villains achieving their goal or someone getting hurt.” Basan said nodding grimly. “But you guys are doing pretty well at juggling the case and other hero duties so far.” He said in a brighter tone. The boys nodding at the acknowledgment, staying alert as even though they were intending to go back to the agency, they were on patrol still. Fortunately for them; the walk back was quiet, and they got back to the agency. “Ok, fill out your reports, bring them to me, and then you can get back to the case.” Basan said, the two boys nodding and went up to their respective rooms. Henshizo said down and pulled the papers for his report from a drawer in his desk and began writing.

“Thankfully Dark Shadow didn’t cause any damage.” Henshizo muttered to himself, continuing to write. As his pencil went across the paper; Henshizo’s mind wondered back to Mibo and the web of pleasure case. Henshizo closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was sitting at a desk with books in front of him. “How’s the studying going Sesshada?” Came Mibo’s voice from his right. Henshizo looking up at her seeing her hands behind her back. “It’s ok.” He said looking back at his book. “Why your father insists on a seven-year-old knowing this stuff.” Mibo muttered, Henshizo giving a tiny wince. “You know you shouldn’t talk mean about him.” He said quietly with some fear in his voice. “Don’t worry; he called a big meeting and everyone who thinks matters is there.” Mibo said gently, Henshizo glancing up at her. “Really?” He asked, just a bit hopeful. “Yeah, Goto said it was an emergency meeting due to some hot shot new hero named Best Jeanist taking down Ueda and his cooks.” Mibo said, Henshizo’s eyes lighting up a bit. “Goto was bad… his chemicals hurt.” Henshizo said and he rubbed his hand. “Oh, I know. But I have something for you, as treat. Just don’t tell anyone, what with your strict diet.” Mibo said, revealing a box with a big cookie in it. Henshizo gave a small gasp and took the box from her, putting it on his desk. “Thanks, Mibo!” He said excited before opening it and eating it. Mibo gave a sweet giggle. “Of course. They ask me to look after you.” She said and gave a small back rub as Henshizo ate the cookie, closing his eyes in happiness. His eyes opened back up and he was back in his room at Hawks’s agency with the report in front of him. Henshizo gave a sigh as he finished the last part of his report before standing up to take the report to Basan. Basan was in Hawks’s office at the desk, reading over Tokoyami’s report.

“I do hate when Hawks is away, increases my paperwork.” Basan said with a grin as Henshizo walked over and handed his report to Basan. “Because you have to be the one who signs off on our reports?” Henshizo asked, Basan nodding in response. “Normally Hawks has to sign off on our reports, and now I have to do it. Karma is funny sometimes, but other times not.” Basan said chuckling as he took a quill from Hawks’s desk and added his signature to Tokoyami’s form and then grabbed a stamp and put it on the signature. Henshizo gave a thankful nod before leaving the office and heading back to his room. He made copies of the different surveillance feeds he and Tokoyami had set up before watching, gathering information, and making plans to take down Kairaku no mi, and give Mibo a turning point. As Henshizo wrote down notes, he gently moved an empty cookie box away from the journal.

Notes:

I say this every time, but I do want to try to shrink the time between chapters. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 76: Untangling the Web

Summary:

Henshizo, Tokoyami, and Hawks's sidekicks aim to take down the escort ring, but the spider can welcome the fly to its web.

The next two days, when not patrolling, Henshizo and Tokoyami were busy with following up on the surveillance tapes and gps information to build their case against Kairaku no mi and its key figures. Heasu had also been providing them with information of the escorts’ workings and movements that the two couldn’t easily track. As frost clung to the window Henshizo and Tokoyami were sitting at the head of a table with Heasu, Basan, and the other sidekicks of Hawks sitting around the table. Henshizo and Tokoyami stood up, Tokoyami holding a clicker in his hand while Henshizo held a folder. “First, thank you all for the assistance in this case. It means a lot that you are willing to help us as work studies.” Henshizo said, he and Tokoyami both quickly bowed to show their thanks. “Don’t mention it, helping young heroes grow and taking down a prostitution ring is a win-win for us.” Basan said grinning, proud of the boys.

“We still cannot express our thanks enough for the help.” Tokoyami said, the sidekicks all smiling and chuckling a bit. “Hawks would be upset if we didn’t help you fledglings fly.” Nowa Kage said from under his beard on and black helmet.

‘Is it in their contract to make bird puns here?’ Henshizo thought, but nodded to him. “The investigation into kairaku no mi has been thorough and efficient, all high and mid-level players in the group have been revealed and they are listed in the folders, as well as their profiles and police reports.” Henshizo said in a very business tone, a couple of the sidekicks opening the folders and taking a look. “And you didn’t ask for help from another agency?” Basan asked smiling a bit, knowing the answer.

“We have asked four different police departments to assist in apprehending customers surveilled during our investigation and those low-level members who have it noted in their record that they don’t resist arrest. With those members accounted for; there’s only six members who will actively resist and pose a threat. We believe we are able to handle those six.” Tokoyami said to the room. “Glad you have faith in us.” Nowa said with a nod of his mask.

“Basan, Tsukuyomi, and I will focus on Denat and his right-hand man, Atsu Ash. Thanks to surveillance from last night, we know that the monthly meeting is taking place tomorrow at one of the bases of operation.” Henshizo said, holding a photo of the strip club up. “The website is saying that tomorrow the club is closed due to a deep cleaning. Thanks to Kage’s visit inside we know the layout, the entertainment floor, the side bar, the manager’s office, storage room, locker room, and the meeting room.” Henshizo continued, holding the surveillance photos up Kage had taken. “Thanks for letting me go undercover for that.” Kage said, his grin apparent with how he spoke.

“You only went because of that…” Basan began to speak, but trailed off seeing the looks from Heasu and Henshizo. “Got the glare down.” Basan said with a sheepish smile. “The club is located on the outskirts of Tachikawa, which will be a near certainty for civilians in the vicinity. If we can we will limit the fighting to the club. Unfortunately, due to the structuring of the buildings has can’t be used.” Henshizo said, one of the sidekicks having started to raise his hand but then lowered it.

“Any gas would get into adjacent buildings, so direct confrontation with the top members is the only option.” Tokoyami said seriously. “Everyone that matters will be there; a surprise attack will hopefully catch them flat footed and let us either take everyone quickly or at least neutralize a majority.” Henshizo said in a matter-of-fact tone with a confident smile.

“Hit them fast and win fast. One of Hawks’s mottos.” Kage said nodding. “Do your best everyone, I will be providing support and updates from here.” Heasu said raising her hand.

“Any more questions or further discussion?” Henshizo asked as he stacked the folders, none of the sidekicks saying anything. “Good. Let’s do our best.” Henshizo said firmly, the sidekicks nodding before getting up and walking out. Tokoyami turned to Henshizo. “Have you spoken to Mibo?” Tokoyami asked curiously, Henshizo shaking his head. “While I would love to tell her that she’s close to being saved, I can’t. There’s always the chance she would tip them off or they spy on her.” Henshizo said in a matter-of-fact tone, Tokoyami picking up the slight sadness to it. “Sozo.” Tokoyami said quietly, Henshizo shaking his head. “I’ll be fine. We have to be professional.” Henshizo said with determination. Tokoyami giving a nod and helped clear things up, with the rest of the day dedicated to preparation. Henshizo was in his room deciding on the best items to be used if it turned into a big fight, when his phone began ringing. He glanced at it and saw it was Sanae, so he happily answered it. “Hello Sanae, how are you?” Henshizo asked, smiling a bit.

“I’m doing fine, I hope I’m not disturbing you.” Sanae said softly. “No, I’m in some down time. How are the others?” Henshizo asked, Sanae giving a relieved sigh. “They’re all fine, Hinata is still raving about the ball.” She said with a soft chuckle. “I’m glad she enjoyed herself.” Henshizo said, recalling how Hinata had wowed the guests with her quirk. “Yeah, I just wanted to talk briefly. Miss having you around.” Sanae said sighing. “I miss you all too. I wish I could come by more often, but-” Henshizo began to say but Sanae cut him off. “You being safe is more important. So don’t waste breath or time apologizing.” Sanae said, both gently and firmly, Henshizo giving a light sigh. “You’re right, doesn’t mean I want it to be right.” He said. “I wish it was different too, but your letters always brighten the day around here. Even if you still insist on supporting us financially.” Sanae said, Henshizo smiling. “With Goji and Daiki’s appetites, I don’t want them eating into the budget too much.” He said, causing Sanae to laugh. “I do appreciate it, just don’t feel like you always have to.” Sanae said, Henshizo giving a light sigh. “If that’s what you want. But don’t be afraid to ask, I’ll be happy to.” He said softly. “I appreciate it and you. I will if I have to.” Sanae said clearly smiling. “Ok. Take care Sanae, give my best to the fearsome four.” Henshizo said, and Sanae giggled. “I will Henshizo and you stay safe.” Sanae said sweetly. “I will, talk to you later.” Henshizo said and they hung up, Henshizo resuming his preparation for the raid. After careful consideration and repeatedly checking over files, Henshizo was sure of his selections. Once he cleaned everything and himself up, Henshizo went to sleep, as they would be getting up early for the raid. As Henshizo slept, he dreamt of times as a child where Mibo tended to him, and he felt safe in her lap.

“Sozo, you awake?” Came the voice of Basan through the door as Henshizo was stretching. “Affirmative.” Henshizo called back, the morning sun peeking through the cracks in his curtains. Henshizo finished up, walked out with Basan, went down to have a quick breakfast with Tokoyami, both of them stone faced serious and Basan didn’t even try to lighten the mood. They and the rest of the sidekicks gathered in the lobby for one last briefing.

“Thank you all again for aiding us in this investigation. We all know the darkness that we may face with this, but we are prepared and ready.” Tokoyami said, looking at them all. “When we do what we planned, they won’t know what hit them and we’ll have taken down a dangerous gang.” Henshizo said firmly while giving a confident smile. The sidekicks all nodded, some smiling, all impressed at the students handling of themselves. All of them walked outside and some split off already as their objectives were elsewhere. Henshizo and Tokoyami were in the lead car to get to the strip club. After the drive; the heroes got out of the cars, Henshizo made a laser pointer and pointed the laser at the security camera as they all quickly went to the front door with a couple sidekicks going to the side and back doors to cover for escape attempts. Henshizo, Tokoyami, and Basan were at the front door, Basan gesturing to some people walking by to get away and they all quickly darted away from the club. Henshizo changed the door to a different one and opened it, the three quietly slipping inside but as they entered a guard was caught by surprise, Tokoyami sending Dark Shadow out quickly and before the guard could react, Dark Shadow was wrapped around him tightly and the man couldn’t make a sound and quietly struggled before going limp. Once released by Dark Shadow, Henshizo quietly bound the man by changing his outfit to a strait jacket and gagged him. The three then slipped through the curtain into the performance area of the club, a disco ball spinning above the dance platform. They quietly crept towards the back of the building, when they got to a corner where the meeting room would be at the end of the hall Henshizo peeked around the corner and saw a big guard standing outside the door. Henshizo pointed to Tokoyami and then up at the ceiling, Tokoyami nodding in response and slid Dark Shadow up along the wall and up to the ceiling. The dimply lit hallway let Dark Shadow slither along undetected behind the guard before cocooning the guard and lifting him off the ground, quickly bringing him back to the three of them, with Henshizo driving a knee into the man’s diaphragm to quicken the struggle. The man tried to bend over but couldn’t, and they watched as he went limp like the front door guard. Henshizo bound and gagged him again before the three went down the hall and to the meeting room door.

“Ready?” Basan asked them very quietly, both nodding in response. Henshizo touched the door and then very slightly cracked the door open before tossing a flash bang into the room. He quickly closed the door and after it went off the three darted inside, Dark Shadow shooting forward before grabbing the table and trapping half of the men in the room on the other side of it before crashing them and the table into the wall. Basan had his steel wings come out from his arms and he knocked two more to the side Henshizo made a baton stick and quickly knocked three out, with stiff shots to the side of their heads. “You’re under arrest!” Basan called out as Denat tore his jacket off. “What the hell is this?!” He roared before holding his arms out and the lights in the room flickered and they watched as electricity went towards him. Dark Shadow tried to attack him but was met with a kick from Ash whose feet were aflame.

“Don’t play with us kids.” Ash snarled as Dark Shadow pulled back but grabbed one of the chairs and used it to push Ash out of the way. “I’ll handle Ash, I must overcome the light.” Tokoyami said as Ash was knocked through a door to the changing room. Tokoyami went after them, Henshizo leaping forward and blocking Denat from grabbing Tokoyami. Henshizo grunted and let his muscles tense up at the electricity from Denat. “Careful brat.” Denat said mockingly before Henshizo did a hip toss to create separation. Denat got up and clapped his hands together sending electricity all around and hitting Henshizo, but thanks to his dielectric shoes he had on, the attack didn’t harm him. Henshizo touched another office chair and it changed into a lightning rod which sucked up the remainder of the attack. Denat quickly reached behind his waist, Henshizo making a wooden bat which he was able to swing and hit Denat in the hands as he tried to bring a gun out. The gun went off and the bullet went through the wall beside Henshizo as Denat cried out in pain, before quickly turning and running through the door. Henshizo gave chase after him, seeing Denat pull something out and jab it into his neck.

“Don’t tell me he just injected himself with trigger.” Henshizo muttered angrily as Denat got to the performance area before stopping and grinning wickedly at Henshizo before holding his hands out and Henshizo watched as electricity shot from several parts of the room all to Denat. “There’s nothing you can do now. Just run away.” Denat sneered at Henshizo. “Sorry, don’t know how to do that.” Henshizo said as he ran towards Denat who put his hands together and made a sword of electricity and slashed at Henshizo, who dodged and watched as it cut through a thick privacy curtain like paper and scorching it. “My classmate would love that technique.” Henshizo said as he made a pvc pipe and smacked Denat in the stomach and it staggered Denat back towards the rail seating the floor from the dance stage. Henshizo looked at the pipe and saw it was melted almost through and part of it fell off. Henshizo just made it again and charged at Denat and Denat pulled the electricity from the light strip above him and shot it at Henshizo, who had dodge to the side and the electricity hit a table which exploded due to the current that went through. Henshizo scrambled around the corner of the stage as Denat came around. “You think you can beat me with that flimsy pipe?” Denat asked smirking but as he rounded the corner Henshizo leapt up, having changed the dielectric boots to the spring boots he used and punched Denat under the jaw, Henshizo feeling his entire body tense up and then spasm as the electric current ran through him. This electric current amplified his attack, causing him to push Denat further up off his feet and flying up. Henshizo watched as he saw a tooth fall from Denat, before Denat’s head smashed through the disco ball. Denat’s body seized up causing it to shake for a bit before falling to the dance stage and lying there with the parts of the disco ball falling around him. Henshizo hopped the rail and put handcuffs on him. “You’re under arrest.” Henshizo said as he picked him up. Tokoyami coming out with Ash and the other men being dragged by Dark Shadow.

“Mind making some more handcuffs?” Tokoyami asked, Henshizo nodding before making enough for everyone. Basan dragging in his two. “Nicely done.” Basan said proudly as he put the handcuffs on his opponents.

“Denat was a tricky fighter. Having Kaminari give some advice on dealing with electric attacks helped a lot.” Henshizo said, his hair sticking up causing Basan to try not to laugh. “What?” Henshizo asked not aware of it. “Your hair.” Tokoyami said, as Dark Shadow was snickering. Henshizo shrugged before coughing and shaking himself out.

“Let the cops know they can come in.” Basan said into his communicator, and after a few moments twenty officers came in, walking the members of Kairaku no mi out of the club. “And let’s get you guys checked out.” Basan said to the boys, who both nodded before walking outside, blinking at the blinding sun, and walked to where an ambulance was. Tokoyami was unhurt before the paramedic began examining Henshizo. “Elevated heart rate and some mild burns.” The paramedic said, pointing out the burns on Henshizo’s hands. “Oh. But overall, I’m ok, right?” Henshizo asked and the paramedic sighed. “You don’t have to go to the hospital, but I would advise against any strenuous activity for the next twenty-four hours.” The paramedic said seriously, Henshizo giving a solemn sigh. “Ok, at least I’m better off than him.” Henshizo said as he watched Denat get put on a stretcher.

“He’ll be alright. They just want to check his head out.” Basan said walking over with one of his arms wrapped. Henshizo didn’t acknowledge him, as he felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. Henshizo didn’t see it during their fight because of the darkened interior, but in the sun Henshizo was able to see a spider tattooed behind Denat’s ear. Henshizo glanced down to the ground and began recalling everything that he had read and been told about Kairaku no mi. “No…” Henshizo muttered quietly, closing his eyes and trying to think back. “Huh? Are you ok? Something wrong?” Basan asked looking at him concerned. “Yeah, I’m alright.” Henshizo said getting up, putting a finger on the communicator he had. “Heasu, status update on those not at the strip club please.” He said, as he watched the ambulance doors close on Denat.

“All pimps are accounted for, twenty clients so far, and fifty-three workers.” Heasu said happily. “Of the workers is Mibo among them?” Henshizo asked seriously. “No. She wasn’t at her apartment or any of the other locations raided.” Mibo said after a moment. “Copy that.” Henshizo said before he began to walk off.

“Hey, Yahata; where are you going? We have to get started on the paperwork.” Basan said as one detective handed Basan a manilla envelope. “I’ll come back to the agency, just want to check something out.” Henshizo called back to him as he changed a newspaper into a bicycle and began pedaling away. “Yahata!” Basan called out, but Henshizo ignored him and turned around the corner. Henshizo took the communicator out of his ear before changing it to a marble which he pocketed. As he turned down an empty road, he changed the bicycle into a motorcycle and bike helmet into a motorcycle helmet that completely covered his head before speeding up and racing down the street as fast as he could. After almost an hour Henshizo stopped outside a long-term care facility, taking his helmet off, he looked around the parking lot and saw a car that matched the make and model of Mibo’s car. He walked over to it, looking inside, he saw the same type of cigarette’s Mibo had smoked in the past. Henshizo walked behind a car by Mibo’s car, so he could see anyone who got close to it but they would not be able to see him. Henshizo switched his costume to a thicker jacket and a scarf while he waited out in the cold. After almost two hours in the cold, the car beep as it was remotely unblocked and Henshizo heard footsteps get closer and then Mibo walked past him. He walked out from his hiding spot and she spun on her heel, panic on her face, mixed with anger while raising a hand, which softened seeing Henshizo.

“Henshizo.” She said softly, lowering her hand. “Don’t call me that.” Henshizo said looking at her with sadness on his face. “I heard you and Hawks’s agency did a raid. Congratulations I suppose.” Mibo said smiling, Henshizo’s face not changing. “How did you find me?” She asked gently taking a step forward. “One thing that’s both a curse and blessing is I have a pretty good memory.” Henshizo said taking the marble that had been his communicator out of the pocket and changed it to the empty cookie box, Mibo’s face having sadness flash across it seeing the box. “Most of the time I wish I could forget about the past, but I don’t; it’s too much to forget.” He said letting the box fall to the ground. “So, it’s easy to remember the nice parts of my life, as I don’t have many; being with you some of those memories.” He said with a hollow look in his eyes. “So, I remembered the one time you mentioned you were in a car accident as a girl with your family, and your brother was injured severely, and how your parents couldn’t take care of him so they put him in a facility, which you helped pay for once you started your work.” Henshizo said, Mibo looking at the facility, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Someone has to.” She said, her voice cracking. “It’s admirable to take care of him.” Henshizo said gently before sighing. “Which is why I waited out here for you, I didn’t want to cause a scene in there.” He said looking at her sadly. “One silly escort won’t make the difference in your takedown.” Mibo said trying to smile softly, and looking at him both sympathetically and hopeful. “I suppose one escort wouldn’t in the grand scheme of things.” Henshizo said, with a light shrug, Mibo smiling more and she clasped her hands together to thank him. “But a the murderous ring leader of Kairaku no mi, I can’t let them go.” Henshizo said going serious, and Mibo’s face faltered. “Wh-what? What are you talking about?” She asked in shock. “I’m not the leader, Denat is. He keeps us in line with beatings and torture.” Mibo said shocked and a bit angry at the accusation. “It was a very clever smokescreen, using Denat as cover, I’ll give you that. But it was always staring at me, and everyone else. Kairaku no mi, a web, a spider’s web. A web made of strings.” Henshizo said, ignoring her retorts. “Staring at you? I don’t have time for this.” Mibo said trying to turn to leave, but Henshizo touched her car, changing it to a different car, Mibo stopping in her tracks. “What the hell?!” She screamed at him, Henshizo ignoring it. “Every single worker of Kairaku no mi; has a black widow, or at the very least a spider, tattooed somewhere on their body so it can be seen by all. That’s what’s in the file, and you know what I noticed on Denat? A black widow.” Henshizo said tapping where Denat had the tattoo before slowly pointing at Mibo. “Everyone except you. You only have the necklace.” He said pointing at it, Mibo’s face getting angrier. “You loved to vent to me; since I would listen, but you knew I would never say anything since you helped me out, going against the wishes of the leader. You hated how the bosses would never get their hands dirty, and have the workers do things they wouldn’t.” Henshizo said firmly as Mibo’s nostrils flared. “Leading by example does help breed loyalty amongst the workers, so it’s a good strategy, but a missing tattoo isn’t enough to convict you of being the leader.” Henshizo said, Mibo having the tiniest of smiles flicker. “But then we come to the murder victim, perfectly decapitated with no markings. Denat can’t do that, and it’s almost like it was cut off with a fine thread.” Henshizo said looking at Mibo’s whose eyes flared with anger. “Your quirk was always something I found fascinating as a kid, not many would think of it as a strong quirk, but you loved to show me how amazing you made it.” Henshizo said, smiling softly as he thought back. “String. Letting you produce string as thin as a spider’s web but have control over it while also being strong enough to cut through some chicken… or someone’s head.” Henshizo said, the last part seriously. The two of them looked at each other for a few moments before Mibo gave a giggle. “You have such a creative imagination, but if you thought that, why would you come here alone?” She asked, her eyes going steel cold. “Because I have a job to do. Which is to put an end to all of this.” Henshizo said with a solemn expression. “And now it has.” Mibo said raising her hand up and then yanking on a string she had wrapped around Henshizo’s throat when he had first startled her. Her smile quickly fell as Henshizo didn’t react. “Just come with me quietly.” He said, making a knife and cut the thread from her. “How?” She asked taking a step back before turning to try and run, but Henshizo closed the gap in a flash, handcuffing one of her wrists. “A metal ring around my neck under my scarf, I figured you would try something in desperation.” He said quietly, grabbing her other arm, putting the handcuffs on her fully. He walked her to the curb and forced her to sit, making the communicator again. “This is Yahata. Monshi Mibo is in custody. Send officers to the parking lot of the Sai Care Facility.” Henshizo said into the communicator, trying to keep his voice calm.

“Yahata! You’re ok, never do that again you hear me?!” Basan said distressed. “Apologies. I’ll explain everything when I see you.” Henshizo said quietly, both he and Mibo having their heads down. “Ok… we’re on the way.” Basan said, able to tell something was up. After twenty minutes a cop car came into the parking lots Henshizo getting Mibo up from the ground.

“Can I ask a favor?” Mibo asked quietly, turning her head to look at Henshizo, who nodded. “Will you make sure my brother is taken care of?” She asked as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I will.” Henshizo said, a small smile on Mibo’s face as the cop took her from Henshizo, and then put her in the back of the squad car. He handed a form to Henshizo, who took the paper before walking over to the cookie box he had made and picked it up. Henshizo walked toward the faculty and waited by the entrance way for Basan. After ten more minutes in the cold, a car came pulling over to Henshizo with Basan and Tokoyami getting out.

“I’m sorry Sozo, that must have been difficult.” Tokoyami said as Basan looked at Henshizo seriously. “What were you thinking? Going to confront a killer.” He said, Henshizo looking at him a little surprised.

“How do you know that when I only figured it out after the raid?” Henshizo asked, Basan giving a light chuckle. “Turns out Ash doesn’t like the idea of spending time in prison. So, he quickly began trying to cut a deal, giving her up thanks a slip up Denat had one time. Seems only Denat knew the truth and was fine being the face of Kairaku no mi for Mibo. How’d you figure it out?” Basan asked curiously. “Denat had a tattoo, and I couldn’t recall seeing one on her. Plus, in our fight, he left marks, the one victim was killed cleanly. Plus, I remember some things she said in the past that made it click.” Henshizo said sighing softly, Basan nodding. “Makes sense, let’s head back to the agency. We have some amazing Kobe beef and some Kani tempura to celebrate. We can discuss more tomorrow, but for now let’s enjoy things.” Basan said clapping Henshizo on the back. Henshizo nodded; the three walking to the car, Henshizo stopping briefly to toss the cookie box into a garbage can outside the facility before getting into the car to head to the agency.

Notes:

Only appropriate I was able to upload a chapter on the day of the final episode of My Hero academia. Bittersweet to see it end, but let's appreciate the fun times MHA has given us. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed. Feedback is appreciated.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Young Head to Young Hero