"Alex." Momo looked at me. "Did you really think to yourself 'what would the perfect date look like' and decide that 'take her to the woods' was the correct answer?"
Her eyebrow wasn't up, so she was teasing. I went along with it. "Don't laugh. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a forest in Japan that isn't either a tourist trap, private property, or state property that civilians aren't allowed to be on?
"Took me four days, Momo." And even then, I'd given up, asked her parents, and turned out this was their private property. "And while I know we're months from blackberry season... in fact, I'm not sure Japan even has wild blackberries..."
"Shut up and kiss me."
I knew when to follow orders. So in the shade of the trees, I held her and we kissed until she decided she was satisfied. "This is much better than some silly restaurant."
"Oh, we've only just begun." I knelt down and turned. "C'mon, you know what to do."
"Alex!" She giggled. "You can't be serious! We were eight, I'm way to big for that, now."
"Last I checked, I'm bigger, too. Now come on, what's the point in all my training if I can't show off to my beautiful girlfriend?"
"Trust me, you show off more than enough." Protest as she might, she still climbed into position, and I took her legs and a few tentative steps. Which soon grew to a much bolder movement, as I found where my limits were with the extra weight.
Yeah, I can do this. "Hold on tight." I let go of her legs, but slow enough that she could latch on with her legs.
"Alex? What are you do-eeee!!!"
Her screaming in my ear, I jumped to a nearby tree branch, grabbed it, and rolled my way up in a single smooth motion. "Four foot standing vertical with a rider, not bad."
"Not bad!?" Poor Momo disagreed. "We're both lucky I didn't pee my pants!"
"Little bit of urine never hurt anyone." I looked around at the nearby trees. There was a candidate. "Wanna do it again?"
"What do you mean again, you c-aaaahhh!!!"
I lept this time, horizontal to another tree. We weren't so far off the ground; a fall at this height would only mean bruises for us.
"What is wrong with you!?" Momo yelled after we landed. "Are you insane?"
"Don't think so, but I could sing some Billy Joel if you like." I picked out the next hop, and this was going to be a doozy.
"I've heard your singing." Complaints aside, she was getting into it. "I think I'd rather you stick to acting like a chimp than sounding like one."
"Can do, but tighten your grip. This one's going to be tricky."
"Can't believe this." She tightened up around me, and I knelt down and focused. I picked up a little speed by taking a couple steps along the branch, then a jump to grab the higher branch, out into the open air, grip the next branch, roll under, momentum up, and up onto the branch.
Momo was panting harder than I was when we landed.
"Okay, we're done for now."
"D-did you finally get it out of your system, Tarzan?"
"No, but my refined primate senses tell me that if I jump to any higher branches carrying another person, they'll all snap. This is as far as we can go. So look."
We weren't high enough to get one of those prime panoramic views, but the view was something unique and special nonetheless.
Momo felt it, too, looking out into the leaves. "I always did love this realm between earth and sky, where all that surrounds us is the trees."
I sat against the trunk. "It's a nice view from here, too."
She turned to look at me. Then realized what I said. "Stop staring at my butt!" She might have covered her rear with her hands, but her smile more than made up for it.
"Then join me." I patted my lap.
"Okay, but you better take time to enjoy the actual scenery. You can look at me whenever you want."
"A privilege I intend to abuse as frequently as possible."
"Urgh." She sat back in my lap, and leaned against me. "But thank you... this date's barely begun and it's already perfect."
"Then shall we have our picnic before I find a chance to screw it up?" I reached into the little satchel I'd brought and pulled out the little box.
"Did you really try to cook a Japanese school lunch for me?" She grinned. "Or did you buy something premade? Because one of those is romantic, but also terrifying."
"Homemade, all I did was buy the ingredients." I popped the container open. "I think it came out rather well, all considered."
She looked, and laughed. "I should hope so. Even you couldn't ruin a fruit salad, you nut."
"I dunno, I was thinking about it for a while before I decided against the tomatoes."
"Why am I dating you again?"
"I assume some sort of masochism." But I popped a blueberry into her mouth, then gave her a quick kiss.
She returned to looking out at the trees, while we ate and chatted about the little nothings of life, and her worries about her performance in the upcoming tournament. While I'd made no secret of my preference to not be involved, I was as supportive of her desires.
"I know I won't be able to beat the likes of Todoroki or Midoriya, so I'll be knocked out sooner or later... but if I'm lucky with my opponents, I should at least make it to the semifinals, right?"
"You're probably right." I wasn't going to lie to her- not about this, anyway. "Their quirks are hard to overcome if you don't have a perfect counter or a lot of prepwork. Though Tokayami is, pardon the pun, a dark horse in the race.
"That said, Midoriya's still inexperienced with his quirk mutation, and Todoroki has an arrogant streak that might let you catch either of them off guard. Which, well, I've been trying to train out of them, so... sorry about hurting your odds?"
"Don't be. I'd rather lose to them at their best than beat them because they were cheated of their chance to be the best. It's only some stupid tournament in the end. And if I do end up going back to America with you, it won't make any difference, will it?"
"No, it wouldn't." There were several powers-focused sports in the USA, but few of our pro heroes participated. If anything, it was seen as kinda trashy. "And you'll be a big hit, I promise."
"Lemme guess, because of these." She grabbed her breasts and hefted them up.
"Those don't hurt your prospects, no. But 'beauty' alone won't get you far... in your case, it'll be more about the rich girl who's willing to get down in the mud to help the common person. Our wealthy are perceived as uncaring and out of touch. And unlike Japan, we love our weirdos and mold breakers."
"Weirdo, huh?"
"Well, you haven't pushed me out of this tree, yet." I hugged her, held her. "So you can't claim to be normal, can you?"
"I guess that's true." She chuckled, then pulled away. "I wonder what they'd say if they if they saw me do this."
She turned herself around on the tree, then pulled her shirt over her head. "And before you say anything about adrenaline or jealousy... I've known the whole week that I'd be doing this if the date went well."
Her bra went next, giving me a full view of her breasts. Not for the first time, but they were no less beautiful. Being surrounded by nature only added to the allure.
She smirked at me. "Well, now I know how to make you be quiet." Then she reached for my pants. "You're allowed to move, you know? I want you to touch me."
I leaned in, kissed her. Much as I wanted to go straight for the prize, this wasn't some one night stand. This was the star of every one of my dreams since I got to Japan.
As I moved my hands along her stomach, then back, she went straight for my pants, and fished my dick out in record time. "I love the effect I have on you."
That made two of us. My answer was to move up, cupping both her magnificent breasts as best I could. One hand each was not enough for these beauties. Well, unless you were Itsuka, but I'd save those fantasies for later.
I focused on a gentle, circular rub, almost a massage. Eliciting a cute little gasp from Momo that led her squeezing my shaft. She was stronger than she looked, and thankfully so was I, because she wasn't exactly versed in 'safe handling' practices.
But damn did it feel good, in spite of the bit of pain.
I squeezed her nipples, trying to find that fine edge of not pain myself. She moaned, and I took that as a good sign. "Oh... that's... I'm supposed to be making you feel good."
"Trust me, you are, and you know I can't sit back and spectate when I can participate."
"I know." She began stroking me. "Scoot forward a little, please?"
I followed instructions, and then she pushed me back against the trunk, giving her more room to work with.
"I'm not... practiced, using my mouth," Momo said like it was something to be ashamed of.
"Believe me, I prefer that to the alternative."
She laughed a little. "I'm sure. But, I just wanted to say that I'd like to get better, with your help, but... not right now. This time should be perfect."
"Momo, I don't want you to be perfect. I want you to be you."
"Then you're stuck with my perfectionist tendencies, aren't you?"
She had me there.
She dropped down, putting her head in my lap. And with a slow, loving motion she ran her tongue from base to tip of my cock, leaving me coated with more than just saliva.
I hadn't expected powers to be involved in this party, but the warm, tingling sensation was hard to complain about. "Wow... that is something."
"You should count yourself lucky, you and I are the only two to get to experience this... it's a popular massage oil, but I added carbonation."
"And it's amazing." Seemed like something someone should bottle and sell, if they weren't, already. Then, I didn't know if massage oil could even hold carbonation when you didn't have Momo's power to bypass physics.
"We're just getting started." She moved up, and pressed her breasts into my groin. "I may have looked at a few videos, and this looked like something men enjoyed that I can get right the first time."
"Have I mentioned today how brilliant you are? Because this seems like the time to do it."
"Twice, but it's always nice to hear." And then she slid up, slipping me right between her breasts.
I lost any ability to formulate words, luxuriating in the experience as she worked out a rhythm, and how to use her hands to press her tits together around me. I no longer cared if we never had sex proper, this was better.
"That's it... let it all out," she moaned the words. "No need to hold back, I want you to cum for me until you're all out."
I didn't know what porno she watched, but I needed to find out and send their studio some money in gratitude. Yeah, the lines were kinda cheesy, but they weren't distractingly bad like was so common with Japan's smut.
"Give me every last drop."
The beautiful woman jerking me with her tits, the last couple weeks of constant teasing by said beautiful woman, and the constant emotional highs and lows. Needless to say I didn't last long.
When I came down from my climax, I realized I'd broken the tree bark where I'd gripped it.
"That's so much. You must have really liked it, huh?" She began to rub my cum and the lubricant over her breasts, leaving them wet and shimmering. Then she slowed. "Uh... the video, she did that... and, umm... I'm sorry if it grossed you out..."
Shit, just like that she's back to being self conscious. "No!" I leaned forward, touched her face and tilted her chin with my thumb. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. You did better than I could begin to describe."
She smiled, blinking away tears that had begun to form. "You're not just saying that?"
"Give me a few minutes and I'll be back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths. And... I think you get the idea."
"Is the idea that you're as motivated by sex as all men?"
"Damn straight. Now... if you don't mind, I'd like to do something for you just as much as you wanted to do this for me."
"I..." A blush began to form, which given the circumstances. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for everything, but..."
"Don't worry." I kissed her. "We can stop whenever you like." I kissed down her neck, and didn't spent too much time on her breasts before going down to her stomach. She laid back on the branch, a brief shimmer of her power putting something there for her to be comfortable against.
It was something of a feat to get her legs up and pants off while on this tree branch, but it was worth it a thousand times over. "Wow."
"You're not going to stare at me, are you?"
"Every chance I get, but... you're right, now's the time to indulge in other senses." I kissed her leg, by her ankle, and worked my way down with little kisses and nibbles as I went.
She might have rushed me, but I wanted to draw this out. Every little whimper, every gasp and groan, was a symphony and the herald of my victory.
When I got to her inner though, she grabbed my hair in her fists, and for a moment I was worried, before she tried to push me to the goal.
I showed mercy, and kissed her little nub. She locked her legs around my neck.
With movement denied to me, I went to work, licking and sucking in equal measure to her increasingly vocal approval.
She must have used her power to alter her taste, because humans weren't typically strawberry flavored. I'd ask her to forgo that little trick in the future, but it was more weird than unpleasant, and not worth stopping the festivities for.
Her back arched, and she screamed out some unintelligible sound that I accepted as approval. Then she collapsed back down and released her grip on my head.
I looked up at her, wiped off my mouth, and then licked my hand. "Is it my turn to apologize for grossing you out?"
"N-no... now I get why you were so quiet." She covered her hands and laughed. "It's never been that good when I did it to myself."
"I'm pretty sure that's the same for everyone, not that I can prove it." Some weirdo probably did a study and wasted a few million in government grants to do it. "But there's at least one difference between us."
She looked at me. "What do you mean."
"Refractory period." And then I dropped back down, and shoved my tongue deep inside.
"Oh no! What are-"
I told her I'd be coming back for seconds.
=====
The contract lawyer opened with the exact words I'd expected. "This offer is suspiciously generous."
Yep. He wasn't a particularly old man, but he was old enough to suspect a trap. But, I'd been discussing legal bullshit with people Dad trusted this week. I was ready.
My lawyer was just here to have written things into proper Japanese legal jargon, and be ready for any requested changes to the contract. Otherwise I was flying solo... with a bit of help from Dad's power.
"I'm aware." I nodded to Ochako and her parents, going over their copy. "However, I think you're underestimating the value of Ochako's quirk. I've taken the liberty of estimating the potential revenue in America at current abilities, abilities at the start of her school year, and an estimated curve of what she should be capable of on graduation in three years."
I had copies for everyone on that side of the table.
Even the lawyer looked surprised when he read the numbers. Ochako and her parents were doing a great job of imitating fish.
"Th-that's a lot of zeroes..." her father muttered. "Are... are you sure this is in dollars and not yen?"
"Has to be, otherwise I'd risk breach of contract because some wobble in the market decided the dollar was half a yen more or less during this meeting."
There was a very clear statement of 'prices are subject to shifts in the market', but it didn't hurt to be extra cautious.
I let the contract lawyer consider the numbers. "Still, the way this is written... she could potentially buy out her contract within a week of it beginning. You're taking a pittance, as management contracts go."
I sighed and shrugged, to say there wasn't much to be done about it.
"As you know, these contracts are public information in America. Which means numerous competitors are going to crawl out of the woodwork, and some of them will offer better contracts. Because they can afford to. So I preemptively went as low as I can afford to. In effect, I'm relying on her good will to stick with the guy who believed in her when nobody else did, over Johnny-come-lately."
More accurately, as low as I could be seen doing without raising suspicions.
"I would, and effectively have, bet this whole contract that some of them will offer contracts that cost them money, so long as it comes with exclusivity and non-compete clauses."
"Non-compete?" Ochako asked.
"In effect, it means you would only be allowed to work with that company, unless said company permits it, and should you stop working for them you would not be allowed to move to a competitor," her lawyer said. "I believe Mister Howard is implying they would see the financial advantage of denying your services to their rivals as more valuable than your service in itself."
"More outright stating than implying, but that is the general idea. Am I wrong?" Say what you will about lawyers, it was great when they supported your argument to their client.
Ochako considered it for a moment. "Businesses really do that?"
Her mother put a hand on her shoulder. "All the time, honey."
"It harms small business, and those who lack connections," Her father added. "But there's nothing to be done about it."
Now I was seeing why Dad('s quirk) thought I should bring that up, specifically. I didn't know if this was a real problem the Urarakas faced, or they were willing to blame their lack of success on corruption and monopolies. The outcome remained the same.
The anger and hurt on Ochako's face was heartbreaking. "I swear here and now I'll never work for a company that does such a thing."
Hey, I'll take it. Pointing out the fact that there was no such thing as a 'small business' sending satellites into orbit wasn't productive. If anything, that meant more time for NASA projects.
Even if I felt more than a little dirty with the manipulation.
The parents had been whispering to each other, and the mother spoke up. "Before we continue, I have to know. You wouldn't happen to be the boy our little Ochako is sweet on, would you?"
"No, Mom! He's just a friend! And he has a girlfriend! That isn't me!"
Her parents didn't buy it, and kept looking at me.
"No, Ma'am, that would be one Izuku Midoriya, a classmate of ours. He's an unassuming, nerdy, idealistic kid who always seems to see the best in people even when they really don't deserve it. I'd trust him with my life. And while it's hardly my place to say, I think the two of them make an adorable couple."
"Oh, now I want details!"
"Later." Ochako's father put his hand on his wife's. "Business first, and we do have several questions. Such as the stipulations. The payments are in American dollars, and conversion the responsibility of the recipient?"
"Again, I'd rather not mess anything up in the exchange rates," I said. "And this is probably to your advantage at current market trend."
"He's not wrong," their lawyer agreed. "The gap in value between dollar and yen seems to be widening with time. But of course, anyone in our line of work will tell you that trends do not guarantee future results."
"And the 'continued education' clause?" Her mother asked. "U.A. or equivalency?"
"An investment," I said. "U.A.'s training is among the best, but not unique. I see no reason she can't pursue a different school if she wishes... but if she transfers to a program that doesn't focus on developing quirks, or an inferior institution... that would be a breach of contract."
In the unlikely, but far from impossible opportunity to move her (and her boy toy) to the states on a faster timetable. I wanted to be prepared.
"That's no problem, I will finish at U.A." Like every other look, 'determination' was adorable on Ochako.
"Let's see, payments of 70 thousand a month, the rest paid upon successful completion of each school year as a student in good standing..."
The parents read the contract line by fucking line, aloud. "An insurance policy against any event that may render her unable to perform her duties, including but not limited to debilitating injury to body or quirk, insanity, or death?" Her mother gasped at the end.
Another manipulation. If I had my way, she'd drop heroing entirely. This was to incentivize that way of thinking. "Heroes live dangerous lives, and you'll notice that although it's a big policy, I'm only entitled to recompense for money spent and nothing more. The rest, will be for her survivors."
"It's not an unusual stipulation," my lawyer stated. "Even commonplace, where unique or nearly unique services are concerned. Especially when investment is made ahead of service."
"I... suppose, but I don't like the idea of my little girl getting hurt." Ochako's mom assigned herself the role of helping me get what I wanted.
"And this... in the event of the agent's inability to perform, the responsibility will defer to his estate to assign a representative?"
"More or less the same thing, but on my end," I said. "Basically, it'll be my dad's job to find someone to manage the contract. Don't worry, whomever he picks will be well suited for the job."
And also fully informed of the real goal.
"What's this about open-bid and right of selection and consulting?" Her father asked.
I understood his uncertainty, it was a complicated section. "In effect, I'll be expecting clients to send offers to me, or whomever will handle that part of the contract. Ochako will be asked, encouraged even, to select which contracts she's most interested in. Or, the right to refuse any and all of them, if she likes.
"I'll offer my thoughts and opinions, but that's the extent of my involvement. She chooses which projects she wants, I make it happen... within reason and scheduling conflicts, of course." Also in the contract.
"Would there be many conflicts?" Her father asked.
"Could be. There are a finite number of locations where a successful space launch can be achieved, as well as weather conditions and a thousand other factors on the client's end that I cannot be held responsible for. I'm sure it comes as no surprise, but space launches are complicated."
"Ah, that would be this section here," he said.
"Exactly. So, there will likely be times when demand is higher than it would ever be feasible to supply. Ochako gets first choice in prioritizing both customers, and her free time."
And so we went, along the list of expectations and stipulations. Ochako could become a hero or choose not to. Ochako could have whatever other contracts she liked so long as they didn't conflict with mine. Ochako could at any time pay off the debt and interest to buy out her contract, without penalty.
All of these and more, a chain of very generous concessions, the likes of which were common for big name celebrity tours, not some girl from the poor side of Japan.
This was a sweetheart of a contract, and would be difficult even for the big companies to top. They could without a doubt outbid me on money, but not on the personal freedom I was affording her.
Then, it didn't truly matter if I was outbid. An American company was still in America, and even if she did take exclusive or non-compete contracts... NASA was effectively exempt by virtue of not being a competing business.
Besides, every part of this was a smokescreen, a roundabout method of drawing in the future All Might, and that incredible, transferable quirk of his. Ochako was a means, not an end, in this game.
As unclean as it made me feel.
"And the 'market failure' clause?" Her father reached that eventuality. "If I'm reading it right... if there are no bids for her assistance, you're responsible for all losses?"
"That is correct. I assure you that in any scenario less than the apocalyptic, that won't be the case. But on the off chance I'm wrong, it's my mistake and money, not Ochako's. But I think both our lawyers would agree that a complete collapse of the entire space industry means we have far more immediate concerns on our hands."
My lawyer laughed, hers smiled. "It would require, as he put it, an 'apocalyptic' event to shut down so many large corporations, to say nothing of NASA."
"It really does seem to be everything it's promised to be," her father said. "Of course, it's your decision, honey."
"It won't even conflict with your own dreams," her mother agreed. But I could see in her eyes that she'd prefer if it did conflict with those dreams. Ever since she read the part about the insurance policy, she'd been pensive.
"Well, then, yes!" Ochako beamed her best smile. "I can't imagine anything better! I think the first thing I'm gonna do is take my parents and go to the best, most expensive, restaurant in the city!"
She looked at me. "I mean, if you think that's okay. I don't want to insult you by spending your money frivolously."
"After you sign the contract, it's your money, not mine. But, a couple bits of advice... first, it's very easy to spend money. I remember my first big contract... I thought a hundred thousand would last forever. Took me two weeks to burn through it."
I could see Ochako converting that to yen in her head, then boggling at how that was even possible. "I... really?"
"Really. And it would have been worse if Dad hadn't threatened to beat me with a tire iron if I actually bought that Lambo." I could get away with it, now, but I also knew it wasn't worth it.
"Second warning... trust me when I say the food at your local mom and pop's is at least as good as the fancy restaurants. And don't let any elitist prick tell you otherwise.
"But, if you don't believe me, go ahead and give it a shot. Just as long as you remember not to go crazy with your money. I'd hate to feel I was responsible for you going the way of lottery winners and child stars."
I didn't think Ochako was that sort of person... but she was the sort who might end up with 'friends' begging her for cash. And in some ways, that was worse.
"And my last bit of advice, which I'm sure your lawyer will back me on, is to invest as much as you can and let nobody know you're anything but middle class. That's how my family raised me."
"Your father sounds like a smart man," Ochako's father agreed.
"Thank you, Sir." I was willing to accept the flattery. And, in truth, I kinda liked Ochako's parents. It was obvious they loved her dearly, and wanted the best for her. But were also willing to let her make her own decisions and not pressure her.
We signed, and then it was just the rote details of setting up Ochako's account to recieve payment, while I did much the same to finalize an automated transfer to said account.
After which, a crying Ochako hugged me. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I don't know how to thank you for what you've done for me."
I felt like an ass, not for what I did, but for the reasons I did it. Still, I put an arm around her and let her run through her emotions. "Hey, it's just an investment. I'm going to make my money back with considerable interest."
Her parents smiled, thinking they knew better with how little I'd be making compared to how much I'd invested.
Didn't make me feel any better.
"But you could have... I don't know, I wouldn't have known any better if you'd offered less, or waited until you knew if I'd get through U.A. or not..."
"Perhaps, but I like to take risks. And I didn't want this hanging over you during the sports festival. Now, you can compete without having to worry about the future."
"And I promise, I'll do my absolute best!" Ochako declared. "To prove to you and myself that your investment isn't wasted!"
There's a special place in hell for people who exploit someone as innocent and sweet as Ochako. Looking forward to my vacation there.
"Enough about all that," Ochako's mother said. "I wanna hear about this Midoriya."
And I wasn't done yet. "Well, I haven't known him long, but in that time he's already managed to save my life..."
=====
A/N- Alex is good at his job, but that doesn't mean he feels good about it.
Also: I am unreasonably proud of the layers of pun in the title.
At least the leadup to the sports festival didn't have anything ugly happen. A minor confrontation where some general-studies guy declared 'war'. I rolled my eyes at yet another jackoff who didn't know what that word meant.
He seemed to think that meant he'd kick ass in the competition and thus boot one of us in the hero course into general studies to take our place. To be fair, he had a strong, if finicky, mind control power. Might even pull it off.
I considered warning my class, but... not my monkeys, not my circus. Their training with Junko should be enough, and if it wasn't, the lesson in caution meant more than this competition.
The teachers seemed of the same opinion. They should change the motto of this school from 'plus ultra' to 'sink or swim'.
Lots and lots of fanfare, some purportedly American cheerleaders flown in, oh, and Mei bawling her eyes out because none of her babies would be seen by the big companies since the competition was to be had in the gym uniforms. Apparently the costumes would give an unfair advantage.
I thought she knew. It's not like she couldn't watch any of the prior years' recordings.
Midnight announced them, Bakugo started the shit-talk early by declaring the rest of the student body to be his 'stepping stones', and the students were sent off on an 'obstacle course' race.
Which had some stupid robots and pitfalls for fun. I'm sure all very ooh and ahh to the audience, but really? I'd be disappointed if any of my classmates were slowed down by toys like that.
Long story short, the match became effectively a three-way struggle for first between Monoma, Bakugo, and Shoto. Who would have had a commanding lead if they weren't as interested in pushing each other back as getting ahead.
Though Mei did make an excellent showing with being allowed to use her own support gear. And fuck was it some good gear. Launch and retract grapples to pull herself along, jet boots and stabilizers. The gymnastics training I'd given her paying dividends as well.
Momo wasn't far behind. All that time helping Mei with prototypes had given her what she needed to replicate Mei's equipment. She was slowed in the beginning, and slowed further by not having Mei's experience, but her superior athleticism was compensating well.
... I was going to have to invest in a full set, wasn't I? Two sets; one for me, one for Mom.
Midoriya made some last-minute gains at the end, when there was quite literally a minefield in the track which slowed most of the racers to a relative crawl.
Midoriya jumped on one, and used the resultant explosion to propel him forward. He hit the ground running, jumped on another mine, and soon took the lead.
Eijiro and Tetsu quickly copied his strategy, taking advantage of their bunny boot training, and the three-way rush for the lead became a six way.
In the end, however, Bakugo won. With... "And Setsuna Tokage in second place!"
Heh. And everyone was confused, except me.
"What a clever strategy, hiding a piece of herself on the leading racer!" Present Mic declared for the audience.
"The leading racer?" Aizawa asked. "Seems to me it was every racer."
With the game up, Setsuna's pieces started floating off the people who'd made it to the end, and piecing themselves back together. "No, I could hardly split myself that much, but I could spare enough for the entirety of the hero course. It was a safe gamble. Thanks, boys."
I was starting to see Momo's point that in some world without her, Setsuna and I could have worked out.
Next up was some 'cavalry battle' thing that, apparently Japan was into. Where Bakugo was target number one, since everyone else had points based on their order in the race, all in five increment scales. Save 'number one' who was a whopping one million points.
The rest of the game didn't even matter.
And so the pairings began, with Momo, Mei, Setsuna, and Pony forming my favorite team.
They dominated, too. With effectively a cloud of defenses and ranged options, anyone who got close was more likely to lose points than take any.
Bakugo's team on the other hand, wound up having its hands full with both Shoto and Izuku's teams gunning for him, and spared being steamrolled only because the two of them didn't want to share with each other.
Quite the party, all the way down.
In the end, Bakugo lost his million-pointer to Shoto, Shoto lost a couple smaller totals to Izuku (well, Tokoyami), and Momo's team held second place by virtue of not bothering with that three-way fustercluck and instead bullying everyone else.
And a surprise from-behind fourth place by the mind control guy. Neat. Though Monoma looked livid that he was robbed in the end. I could sympathize, but such was the nature of the game.
Still not a smart move on the mind controller's part. Doing so left a solid quarter of the hero class aware of his ability, and they were going to talk.
Then came the half time show. I stood for a walk, to go visit with my friends and congratulate or comfort as necessary. Monoma in particular was going to take this hard- dude had a real chip on his shoulder about Junko's relatively benign control. And most everything else, near as I could tell.
Only to find myself stopped near the entrance by a large man with flame for a beard and mustache. Holy shit that was a well-honed quirk. "I hear you're to thank for my son's performance out there."
"Ah, you must be Endeavor, then. Japan's number two." I smiled at the insult I slipped in there, because it was the only way I could smile in front of this so-called man. "Your son's mentioned you a few times. You've had quite the impact on him as well."
"Yes, well, I do try. Tell me, what did you say to him to convince him to use the fire side of his quirk? I've been telling him for years that his childishness was holding him back. You got through to him in a week."
Not gonna lie, I really wanted to punch him. Like so, so bad. But even backed up by what I'd collected from All Might's power... it wouldn't do shit. This guy was a lot like Bakugo... for all his character faults, one could cast no aspersions on his work ethic.
"I get little credit for that, I'm afraid." I managed a smile, because I was going to keep insulting him to his face with him being none the wiser.
"He was faced with a situation where he either used the full of his power, or people were going to die. He decided that his pride wasn't worth ruining innocent lives. Maturity of character, nothing less, drove his actions."
In other words: a better man than you'll ever be.
He remained silent at that for a moment, nodding with what I said. He didn't seem to get what I'd said, but he acknowledged it as one of those 'profound ideas' that everyone is supposed to act like they see the wisdom of regardless.
"I assume that is why you spent so much effort training your fellow students? I note you haven't participated in the festival, for whatever reason."
"Eh, I've never cared about being top dog," I said. "My quirk's good, I can identify other quirks and their relative strength and am immune to the effects of quirks. But, uh, no demonstrations... my immunity doesn't extend to my clothing."
If he wanted to test it, I'd be fucked. He was powerful enough that copying his quirk wouldn't be near enough for me.
His eyes narrowed. "Quirk identification, huh? Range? Limits?"
"A hundred or so meters, but I lose fidelity with distance, not unlike vision. And all I can tell is the strength of the quirk and its function. I can't even tell if the wielder is a man or woman."
"Interesting..." Endeavor hummed in thought. "So, if I were to ask, hypothetically... how I should stack up compared to All Might? Or where Shoto stands?"
There's the dick measuring that led him to enslave and rape a woman for years. "Shoto will likely surpass you in raw power within the year, he's already closing in fast. The control to use it with your fidelity a few years later, I think. But, my power's better at tracking power than skill."
He nodded, evidently satisfied. With himself and his fucked up schemes, not his son's hard work and accomplishments. "I assume your training will accelerate both? As it already has?"
"As much as I'd love to take all the credit, Shoto's been both a gifted and hard-working student. It would be easy for a person with power like his to simply say 'good enough' and coast on the genetic lottery, but no, he works as hard as anyone else, harder than many."
I gave this bastard one more chance to show pride in his son as a person.
"And, I believe I asked you one last question." Which he flubbed in its entirety. "How we compare against All Might."
Going to take great pleasure in this. "All Might is, as of right now, about twenty times stronger than you." That flinch, I was going to savor it.
"Shoto might, with time and hard work, reach ten times your current strength. Powerful, to be sure, but unlikely to make the top ten on the world stage."
Not that there was any objective measuring at that level. But Endeavor cared so much about leaderboards and I wanted to take him down a peg in a deniable manner.
Endeavor was... remarkably good at hiding his anger, the flaring of his beard was the main giveaway. "I see." He paused a moment, scheming a new scheme since his last scheme was doomed to failure. "I looked into your background, seems you were a quirk counselor and trainer in America?"
"I'm sure there are differences between your version of the job and ours, but my license isn't set to expire for another year, so I am still certified back home."
"Then I would like to pay you for your services to continue training my son."
And I would sooner cut off one of my own testicles than be on your payroll. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be professional. As a student, myself, and as Shoto's friend. Besides, I was among the lives he saved, so I'll keep training him as long as he keeps taking lessons."
He didn't seem to like my answer much, but there was a limit to how much pressure he could apply. "Very noble of you. Very well, but should you ever be in need of a favor, let me know and I'll help as best I can."
Once again, own testicle. "I'll certainly keep that in mind."
And then the announcers let us know about the lineup for tournament battle we'd be enjoying for the latter half of this festival.
It was as good an excuse as any to get the fuck out of this asshole's presence.
First match put Momo against Denki. This did not go Denki's way after Momo grew a latex body suit under her uniform, then scattered a bunch of copper rods across the arena.
Denki wasn't a bad hand to hand combatant, and his physical advantage as a man would have been enough to overcome Momo's superior training. If Momo didn't have a wooden pole with which to smack him repeatedly.
Bakugo got the poor luck to go up against the mind controller- Shinso, apparently. And, because he was Bakugo, he was goaded into speaking, which let Shinso use his quirk, and walk him right out of the arena.
At least Monoma wouldn't be alone in his rage. But... Shinso couldn't have picked two worse people to do that to. The rest of us would let it slide as part of the game. Those two held grudges.
Ochako got a victory against Eijiro by exploiting the guy's relaxed attitude and making contact, then sent him floating out of the arena. The crowd... was not enjoying these 'gimmick' victories, but they could eat all the dicks.
The first 'real fight' was Ida against Kendo. Both physical fighters, with her training for speed with a strength and reach quirk, and him a speed quirk while he trained in strength.
They were both well matched, and kept each other on their toes for long enough that there was talk of the clock running down. In the end, however, it was Kendo's victory. Ida's quirk had stamina requirements, and she wasn't giving him time to rest and recover.
In the end, both were drenched in sweat but uninjured when she picked him up and set him down outside the arena.
Izuku beat Shiozaki, the vine-haired girl by breaking one of his fingers to blast his quirk offensively. Much as he had on day one to launch the ball. Obliterated her wall of vines and much of the arena floor to knock her out.
After that was repaired, the matches kept going.
So on and so forth. Second round, first match, Shinso against Shoto. Shinso ran his mouth, though we in the stands weren't treated to the conversation.
Shoto lit up his powers, flame in one hand, ice in the other. Then with a gesture, he tossed both to the side, discarding them and taking up a kickboxing stance.
"It seems our contestants are going to demonstrate a quirkless match for us, folks! I'm sure this will be exciting for all those sports purists out there!!!"
It was not, in fact, exciting. It wasn't even mildly interesting. Shinso flailed like he'd never thrown a real punch in his life. No, to be fair, it was obvious he'd had a basic classes, I'd dare say among the best fighters in Gen-Ed.
In truth, it was more like watching a kid who just got his first degree black belt and thought he was big shit going up against an MMA champion.
Shoto could have ended it in two good hits, at most. Instead, he danced around Shinso, using quick jabs against the upper torso and arms exclusively. Stacking bruises until Shinso fled the ring rather than remain on the end of that beating.
After the match was over, Shoto took the time to say something to his battered opponent.
Shinso said something back, then left the arena. Though a lot of the Gen-Eds who'd washed out in the first two events seemed to have adopted him as their own personal hero, so that was good I guess.
Endeavor, however, looked well and truly pissed that not only did Shoto not use his fire, he didn't use his quirk at all.
And that was great.
"Next up, Midoriya versus Uraraka!"
This'll be fun.
=====
A/N- So, turns there's enough to make the tournament into two chapters. If only because it demonstrates a lot of their progress over the last couple weeks.
But, yeah, Alex meets Endeavor, and somehow manages to keep his cool.
Shinso gets his ass beat in an effectively no-powers match.
Next round, domestic violence!
Ochako and Izuku met in the arena while the Present Mic did his thing. At least he didn't mention they were dating, that would have been extra dumb.
The fight started well, with Ochako being aggressive, and forcing Izuku back. It was, in the end, both their best options for victory. Ochako could end this with the right contact, while Izuku used quick jabs to try to keep her back and punish her for any mistakes.
"Is Midoriya unwilling to unleash that incredible power on her? Is Uraraka taking advantage of that soft-heartedness?"
I didn't like Present Mic much.
"Don't insult either of them," Aizawa said. "Ochako is a warrior, fighting her best and expecting nothing be given to her."
He watched a moment, while Izuku did a fast kick that forced Ochako back, but was just fast enough to deny her a chance to grab.
"And you saw how Midoriya injured himself against Shiozaki. If he were to go all out now, he would have nothing left for future competitors. Which include the strongest remaining of the first year students."
"Still! If he does nothing but evade, sooner or later it will cost him the match!"
Dumbass.
"Don't count on it. Nobody can keep the pace Ochako has set for herself for long."
Aizawa might have been overplaying a little. Ochako was going at a full sprint, but the pros in the audience, Shoto, myself, could keep up with her for quite a while.
Still, she was fast and she was clever, and Midoriya's tendency to overanalyze every little thing was working against him in this brawl.
Then she slowed, backing off as she caught her breath. And Midoriya sensed the opportunity to strike.
Clever. Ochako twisted, accepting a glancing blow against the cheek to make the grab she needed. With a well-practiced throw, Izuku was now drifting through the air at a steady pace, with nothing to grab hold of.
Oh, he could use his power to blast himself into the ring, but his weightlessness made it more likely he'd over correct and land in the stands on the other side. Unless he angled almost straight up, which meant slamming himself into the ring with his full strength.
I wasn't sure he would survive if he pulled that stunt. And Izuku might have a weird masochistic streak, but even he wouldn't kill himself to win a stupid little tournament.
Right?
Fuck.
With all the care of handling a kitten, Ochako began lowering Izuku to the ground. Izuku, for his part, looked like a panicked animal, as he was about to face the same fate as Eijiro and be rung out. Though, with far more tactical byplay before the ring out.
And then... he stopped falling.
Ochako's eyes widened in surprised.
Izuku's eyes also widened in surprised.
"What is this!? Has our heartless heroine decided to show mercy after all?!"
Yup. Definitely my least favorite teacher.
"Don't be absurd," Aizawa said. "She's let go of her quirk. Midoriya's standing on air under what appears to be his own power. Which we will have to test to prove there isn't some outside interference, I'm sure you understand."
Izuku took his first, hesitant, steps through the air, and then tumbled into the arena panicked but otherwise well. Hoo boy, he and All Might were going to have to bullshit with the best of them to explain what that was.
... I was going to be dragged into this, wasn't I?
Ochako smiled and said something to Izuku, then turned to Midnight to say something else.
"Miss Uraraka acknowledges that there's little she can do against a flying opponent, and says she'd rather resign with grace. A fine showing from an elegant young lady!"
It really was about the only option she had. Sure, Izuku was shaky with his new ability, but other than hoping he fucked it up on the second go around, there wasn't much she could do.
"However, as Eraserhead rightfully pointed out, this merits further investigation. So we can't declare anything quite yet. Other than that no matter what, this match is clearly over, and we can move on in the meantime!"
That was fair.
A couple rounds later, it was Momo's turn to go up against Tokoyami. A fight that ran long into the match as Momo used flares and other bright lights to hold 'dark shadow' back
However, Tokoyami had picked up a few tricks in training. Like hiding the quirk within his cloak and even under his own skin. Which left Momo with no real way to get a capture that wasn't immediately broken by that stupid powerful ability.
Her CQC was better, so long as the shadow was at bay. And protective eyewear gave her carte blanch to keep bathing the battlefield in ever growing sources of light.
But, in the end, she lost to exhaustion as much as anything, having tapped out her reserves and leaving Tokoyami the victor. A victory that was short lived, because he was up against Shoto next. And guess whose power didn't have that limitation? At least, not to such an extent.
But I didn't stick around for the semi finals. Setsuna didn't have anything of value against Izuku unless weapons were involved. Even if she did somehow win, there wasn't the first flying fuck of a chance she'd ever beat Shoto. If anything, her power made her more vulnerable to his.
I went down to the competitors' area to find Momo leaning against the fridge, scarfing down a rotisserie chicken piece by piece.
Gotta tell you, it's a bit disturbing watching your girlfriend straight up swallow a chicken leg, bone and all. Also kinda hot. But disturbing.
Momo covered her mouth after she swallowed. "Oh, sorry Alex... I didn't want you to see that."
"I'm assuming we'll see worse from each other over the years," I said. "I, for example, don't have power related immunity to all things intestinal."
"Gross." The complaint didn't stop her from smiling, or continuing to eat.
"Everything to do with life is disgusting. Unless you're participating. And even then most of the time it's still pretty gross."
"Fine, whatever, just stop talking about it while I eat."
"Sure." I sat beside her, placed a hand on her leg and waited while she ate. The entire chicken. With exception to ribs and spine.
Yup... that was sure something. "Feeling better?"
"Still hungry, but I'm not starving. The protein drinks before you got here helped a lot."
Protein drinks? Plural? "I mean, about the match. But that's also good to know."
"Yeah, I'm..." she hesitated. "I'm not happy about the loss, but I can acknowledge that I was outmatched given the circumstances."
"You... probably could have still won, with those grenades I'd given you."
"And he could have won, if he went straight for gouging out my eyes or breaking my legs," she said. "After seeing them in action at USJ, I won't bring them out for anything less."
"I hadn't realized they were that bad. They're supposed to be nonlethal deterrents, crowd control, nothing more."
"They're nonlethal, sure, but I think half the people I used them on have permanent inner ear damage. I guess Recovery Girl's strong enough to fix it, but... she can fix broken legs, too, and Tokoyami didn't take that as permission."
Made sense, once I thought about it. Rubber bullets and even bean bags could do some serious damage, and tear gas ran the risk of causing asthma attacks. I shouldn't be at all surprised there was a bit of 'acceptable levels of risk' with these things.
"I'll see if I can't find something a little less dangerous."
"It's fine, I'm happy with how far I got, and... the pros are going to notice I gave one of the top three in the class a real fight, aren't they? Tokoyami made the semifinals, they'll see that."
I didn't understand why she was so worried, but I understood she needed held. So 'polite Japanese conventions' could eat a dick, I was going to give my girlfriend the necessary comfort no matter who bitched about it.
"I've been looking through the alumni lists, and even by U.A. standards, this year is absurd, which any competent hero will realize. And you wouldn't want an incompetent mentor, now would you?"
"You're right... no training is better than bad training... is our class really that special?"
"You have no idea. Tokoyami would have been first in the class for powers last year. Third years have a couple crazy ones, including a guy who can turn intangible and walk through most attacks and objects like they don't exist."
"That guy you fought was a second year, he seemed pretty strong."
"Oh, and he is, he definitely is... but he's not even close to what Tokoyami's going to be in a year at this rate. Ours is a gifted class, and I'd bet money that in ten years, half of them will be in Japan's Top 10. Izuku and Shoto certainly will."
She shifted against me. "Thanks, I needed to hear that."
Then the building shook. "Speaking of, sounds like our champions are going at it." I looked through the wall where. "Izuku and Shoto, called it."
"So he really did gain a whole new power, just like that?" She looked at me.
"I... shouldn't answer that question." I'd lied to her enough. "Sorry."
"I understand, it's not fair to expect you to tell me everyone else's secrets. Even if you've been pretty liberal with the practice to this point."
"General stuff, yeah, but this would give away vulnerabilities." Like it being a transferable monstrosity of a quirk carrying an entire legacy of past heroes. "Just like I'm not telling you the weaknesses of anyone else. Except the villains. They can have privacy rights back when they stop being terroristic asshats."
Another shudder stopped the conversation. "So... who's gonna win?"
"Shoto." Izuku tired himself out with accessing that extra quirk. Then was forced to prove it was his power which only made it worse. While Shoto's hardest fight was back during the cavalry battle.
"Thanks."
"But in my professional opinion? The real loser's the arena. That thing's gotta be more crater than floor by now. Oh, and Kendo's coming, so..."
Momo didn't move. "I'm comfortable here."
That was fine. Itsuka rounded the corner, tears in her eyes. I didn't think she took her loss that bad.
"Oh." Now Momo sat up. "Are you okay? You did well out there-"
"That's not it." She took a breath. "I was talking with Tenya, about our match, and he got a call from his mother. His brother's been attacked by a villain. They're not sure if he'll survive the surgery."
Oh.
Another rumble shook the arena. The last one, Midoriya had pushed his body past its limits, and while Shoto was far from his best condition, he was still standing.
But that no longer mattered, not to the three of us.
=====
A/N- Nothing Alex has done thus far should have any impact on the Stain-Ingenium encounter. I mean, maybe you could make some argument about butterflies and Ingenium not being where he was in canon to be targeted, but Stain's been doing this shit for a minute, he knows how to track and lure.
So Ida gets his development moment.
We three kept the secret of Ida's family crisis, while the ceremony went forward.
With Shoto and Izuku claiming first and second, respectively, and Tokoyami sharing third with Setsuna (though she was quick to acknowledge that if there was a competition for third, she'd lose it), All Might and others did their speeches.
While Bakugo sat on the sidelines looking about ready to murder everyone here. He felt cheated of his shot, and... to be fair, he pretty much was. But it was his own temper that got him- they had warning, Shoto listened to that warning. Bakugo did not.
And the post-contest gathering, where our teachers gave us a two day break and told us to be back when internship offers would be available.
While I played the role of Rude American and flipped through my phone. Tenya had been more than open about his relationship to Ingenium, which meant I knew where his agency was, I knew where he was attacked. I knew who was behind the attack.
Or, at least, the assumed attacker. A serial killer by the name of Stain, though I couldn't discern if that was what he called himself, or some moniker the media cooked up because vultures gonna vulch.
Quirk was unknown, and he moved around after three or four attacks, never staying in any given city for more than a few weeks.
"What are we going to do?" Itsuka asked the moment class was let out.
"We?" I looked at her, and then at Momo next to her. "You don't think there's anything we can really do in this situation, right? Run off on a cute little adventure, break I don't know how many laws, go up against a serial killer that's taken down multiple heroes with ten times our combined experience? Come back on Monday without consequence like some Saturday morning cartoon?"
They had little to say to my point. "We should leave that to the professionals... and offer Tenya what emotional support we can. I'm sure they'll call in a healer for his brother, too."
Though from what I'd read, Stain seemed to know that. Even when he left victims alive, he had a habit of inflicting specific injuries that healers struggled with. Leading some to speculate he had medical training.
Yeah, this guy was nothing like the idiots at the USJ attack. At this point, half our class could solo their entire non-Nomu army. "And you are going to worry about your internships. I... should probably do the same."
"I still say it's totally unfair that you got singled out like that," Itsuka said. "At least the rest of us could use our quirks to fight back. And then there's everything Junko did!"
"Don't blame her, either," I said. "She might have been safe, but without her we would have been overwhelmed by numbers."
"Fine, but you also helped Aizawa, you'd think he'd have been on your side."
"He was, but he's far from omnipotent." I gave a smile. "And I appreciate the concern on my behalf, but it doesn't much matter. A Japanese internship for a career I never intend to pursue in a country I'll only ever see on vacation? May as well have told me to drop and give them fifty."
"I could ask my parents," Momo offered. "I wouldn't do it for myself, but they can call in a favor or two."
"That's fine, but I'll pass. Aizawa handed out the list for open internships, and any of them would be as good as any other. I'm not worried about prestige, only practical experience."
Granted, the ones which offered the most prestige also had the most practical experience, but that was mostly irrelevant. "I should, however, hit the gym for a while. While you guys were getting practice, I was only watching."
Momo joined me, talking about whatever random stuff came up.
I started with a bit of showing off. Planting my hands near a wall and with a kick I was doing a handstand. Then I lowered myself down, and back up. Handstand pushups are no joke- before my boost I could do about fifty of the things at the extreme end.
Now? Well, I no longer bothered with normal pushups. A hundred of these was a fine warmup and cooldown. But I left the boots on, which made it the whole of today's routine.
The fact that Momo was looking at me like she had at that chicken was the hardest part of the whole routine.
These were boring days- most of the students took advantage of the time to go visit their families. Japan was a small, if dense, country. About the same surface area as Montana.
No week-long cross-country roadtrips here.
Which meant my trainees were the foreign students, and Mei, who I suspected would sooner part with her legs than her babies. Knowing her, she'd be up and running with cyborg legs in a week regardless.
Pony in particular had a fire lit for her training. "I need to get stronger. I didn't even get past the first round."
"Pony... I promise you, that was sheer dumb luck." Which was true. "You've got one of the better quirks, you just got stuck against Tokoyama in the first round, and there's a reason he made it into the semifinals. You were more than a match for most of the competitors."
"And Monoma could have made it all the way to the top, if not for that one mind control guy in the cavalry battle," she shot back. "I can't train luck, but I can train my quirk until luck no longer matters."
Luck always mattered, but that wasn't the message Pony needed right now. "Sure, since it's just the two of us right now..." She couldn't dull her horns, and I wasn't big on impalement, so... "Quirkless at first. Your heteromorph traits make you stronger than most women your size, let's make use of it."
Granted, 'for her size' was still shorter than a lot of twelve year olds. But it would make her terrifying if she could master it.
"Right." She nodded, her semi-equine face doing its best to make a look of determination that failed to elicit much more than a desire to give her a hug. "I saw how Tokoyami combined his body and his quirk in battle. I want that."
"It'll take some time, Toyoyami's uniquely gifted in that area." His quirk's autonomous nature made fighting him that way as good as fighting two people who had expertly trained to work as a duo.
It made for an excellent distraction, especially as she got more comfortable with close quarters and we began introducing her quirk. Using it not as the mobility device she'd been relying on it for, but a distraction tool to give her more opportunity to punch me in the face.
Which hurt like a bitch, by the way. She wasn't a match for her equine theme, but she hit like a professional boxer. With time to get good at it, she'd be a real nightmare.
In my down time, I did my research, both in terms of what hero agency I'd even sign up with, and what I'd do about it.
And then class returned, and we were given our lists of recruiters, with me getting a whole lotta nothing. Ochako was excited about working with some hero calling himself 'gunhead', who apparently was a brawler sort.
"I mean..." she looked at me. "If you don't think that's a bad idea. But just doing everything the same way is kind of limiting, or something?"
This is gonna be a 'thing' for a while. Midoriya looked a bit jealous, that his girlfriend was deferring to my opinion. "Don't look at me. The type of training you get here should have no real impact on your quirk, which is the only thing our contract cares about. You're an employee, not a slave."
Not that Japan understood the difference at times. That, perhaps, was the best lesson for my purposes that she could take. If anyone put too much undue pressure on her, she had a fallback better than they could ever match.
Izuku would, if anything, insist that she go where she was treated best. And follow along like a loyal puppy. As dirty as the manipulation made me feel, it was effective. But it also might not happen- for all I knew, 'Gunhead' was a fun and cheerful dude and all they'd do is gossip over tea.
Flip of a coin, where these Mad Max LARPer heroes were concerned.
Meanwhile, Izuku and Ochako moved on to chatting about his new exercise hobby- 'air chair', in class. Subtle, effective, and I was stealing it for myself. Coupled with the Denki-All Might quirk trick... I was going to need to start worrying about getting too distracted for my studies.
Speaking of, I should talk to Tenya. Itsuka had finally moved away from his desk. "Hey, man, I heard what happened. If you need to talk, I'm here."
He put on a fake smile. "It's fine. Tensei's going to be down for a while, but he'll survive."
Well, guess I'm doing this. I pulled a card out of my pocket. "This is an experimental medicine lab in the United States. They're looking for patients with nerve damage for regrowth procedures, cybernetics, and the like. It won't be until after his injuries have had time to heal, but... they should be able help."
His eyes narrowed. "How did you know all that?"
"Stain's been all over the news, everyone knows about the attack." That he could confirm on his own. "Stains M.O. takes a little digging, but... he seems to take a sick pleasure in going for connective tissues and nerve clusters. Almost all his surviving victims are forced to retire from permanent injury."
Ida's frown deepened, his eyes hardened in a way I recognized. He softened his features a moment later, too late to hide, as he took the card. "Thank you for not merely wishing me well. I'll make certain he sees this."
That might have been the fakest smile I'd seen in my life.
"If he's anything like you, I'm sure he'll be quick to reject charity," I added. "Let him know it's not. He's young, presumably healthy, the best sort of candidate for these sorts of procedures. They'll learn from helping him, and use that knowledge to help thousands of others, including people suffering from otherwise incurable degenerative diseases."
That part was also true. Abby's lab (as in, the place she worked, she didn't own it) was a cutting edge biotech research firm. No such experimental program currently existed, but when the guys who regulate experimental science come in and say you can cut a few corners, the only question that gets asked is 'which ones?'
Tenya opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "You're right, Tensei's exactly the sort who'd say that, and be swayed by your argument. Better than Mom scolding him until he gives in."
"Good." I walked away, but I wouldn't let that state of affairs go. I'd seen the look in his eye, the one he thought he hid. That was the look of a man who was ready to kill. And the paper where he'd written his selection for the 'Normal Hero Manual Agency', located in Hosu.
Confronting him would only piss him off, talking him down would require someone closer than we were. Telling someone closer, or otherwise circumventing him and taking it and my suspicions to the teachers would make me an enemy.
I'd like to think I'd do that, to help a friend even if it ruined the friendship. But I had another option. One which was perhaps more distasteful, but better for all involved.
I made the phone call I hoped I'd never have to make.
"Endeavor Hero Agency, this is Aloe, how may I direct your call?"
Aloe? Either that was a Japanese name I wasn't familiar with, or she was using an English codename and Endeavor had a hero working as a secretary. Well, whatever. "Yes, tell Endeavor this is Howard, and I'm ready to call in my favor. If it works out like I hope, he'll owe me two favors.
"I can help him hunt the hero killer."
=====
A/N- Pony's adorable. I wanted her to have more screen time.
I'd like Endeavor to have less screen time, but he is Alex's best bet for helping Tenya by taking Stain out first. And Endeavor strikes him as the kind of guy who'd go for the most high profile case he can find. Especially when promised assistance by a high tier tracker.
A/