Bab 47: Sir nighteye
The day had been full of hectic meetings and further introductions between Izuku, Mirio and his mentor and at the end of the bothersome day, with the journalist creating an article about them, Izuku retired to his room to sort out the paperwork he would need to take to Nighteyes agency.
Izuku's request for assistance in finding a Hero study and the extra aid from Mirio, a meeting with Sir Nighteye was finally offered and organised.
Thankfully, because of Mirio's last year of participation in his own work studies and Sir Nighteyes' agency track record, Izuku was given the approval he needed for the go-ahead from his school.
Of course, unfortunately, there were several more details involved and meetings required to discuss the circumstances Izuku was under; and the rules he was made to abide by. Midoriya had been certain that Sir Nighteye would be informed of his unusual situation the evening before their meeting, but surprisingly Izuku was yet to be informed of any last-minute cancellations.
In some ways, Izuku was more afraid of what Sir Nighteye would say about his predicament than ever, thinking back to the brief words of caution All Might had offered him before his trip to Nighteyes agency, which kept playing over and over in his mind.
When the morning of their formal introduction finally came around, tzuku was permitted to leave the premises of the UA grounds for the second time since he had returned from the police station, without the multiple additional watchful eyes of the heroes.
It was a sign of trust, a test, that Izuku was certain, and he had no intention of breaking it. All it took was an hour-long train ride, and soon both Izuku and Mirio were in the city Sir Nighteyes agency protected.
Once Izuku and Mirio were signed in at the front desk, the pair made their way up to Sir Nighteye's office where Izuku was faced with his first, ultimate challenge.
Unfortunately, it turned out it was far harder for Izuku to impress someone with his humour when it wasn't really his forte. He supposed it was difficult to try and create light-hearted jokes in the same place all of his dark memories were repressed.
"What on earth are you doing to your face? Do you think it's funny? Ridiculing All Might like that?"
Nighteyes' first words to him left absolutely no doubt in his mind that he had ultimately ruined his first impression, the hero walking up to him before grabbing his face causing Izuku to flinch back awkwardly.
"All these wrinkles and lines, all of them are in the wrong place. Even the off licenced merch can do a better job than this, a pitiful excuse of an impression."
Nighteye looked over his impression one last time before letting go of Izuku's face, Mirio standing just behind them with a wince on his face. Well, there was no coming back from that. Izuku rubbed his face in the spots where Night eye had grabbed him, he quickly noticed the mountains of All Might merchandise which covered the room, far more than what even he had managed to collect leaving his jaw hanging slightly open at the sight.
It was then that his eyes caught onto the crowning jewel in the room, the All Might 10th Anniversary poster that was never on sale! Holy cow, Izuku desperately wanted it!
Izuku managed to tear his eyes from the post as he looked back at Nighteye walking away from him, eyeing him up. This man was a mega fanboy.
The ultimate stan.
"I don't have time to deal with people who find the mockery of All Might funny, you can lead yourself back to the entrance."
Izuku felt his heart drop for a second before quickly standing his ground.
"The vinegar river incident, are you not aware of it,
Sir!?"
Sir Nighteye paused in his step, turning slowly back to face Izuku seemingly with a slight glare.
"The boy had a quirk which could turn water into vinegar and ended up almost drowning before All Might saved him. During the interviews, the boy had begun apologizing but All Might had said that-"
"His skin felt 10 years younger. It was before I worked with him but yes, I know the story."
Izuku let his face turn into a smiling beam as he fell into his fanboying phase.
"Yes! That was the face I chose to make an impression on!"
Nighteye silently turned fully back to face him, concentrating on Izuku.
"I see, so you were trying to test me then?"
Izuku jumped back slightly with surprise, quickly denying the allegation.
"Oh! No! With All Might working at UA, it's not very often that I get a chance to fanboy about him, that's all. A lot of people thought that interview was boring but I've always found it really interesting!" He said passionately, looking up to Nighteye just as Mirio walked back to talk to the sidekick trapped in the back of the room.
"Mhm, I see."
With that, Sir Nighteye walked over to his desk and sat down, luku standing on the other side as the hero set both his sidekick, Izuku learnt was named Bubblegirl and Mirio out of the room, leaving the pair alone in Nighteyes office.
Nighteye had remained quiet for the most part, only asking for the few documents Izuku was carrying in his bag before taking them and breaking the silence to talk.
"Once I stamp this piece of paper, you will be registered with my agency for your work studies for a minimum of four months. May I remind you that this will be nothing like the previous weeklong internship you had, but before I even consider allowing you to join, I need to make something very clear to you...
Nighteye pushed his glasses back up on his nose before folding his arms with a sense of distrust and doubt.
"I don't believe you should've ever accepted All Might's power with your previous... quirk. So tell me why l should let you do your work studies here."
Izuku felt a wave of hostility and intimidation come over him from the hero sitting before him, silently taking Sir Nighteyes words.
"When I received the call about you coming here to request your work studies, I was given some extra….. Details I was informed I needed to know. To say I was shocked would be an understatement, and I'm surprised UA is even permitting you to participate in these, let alone the number of other heroes and police officers I'm sure are aware of your situation."
In some ways, he was right. Izuku had known that for a very long time his choice of accepting One for All was done in a manner it never should have done, and he knew at the time he would one day have to deal with the consequences. Izuku just hadn't expected them to come in so many different forms.
"I think the actions you took that day were irresponsible, and so were All Mights to some extent as well."
Izuku gulped, frowning in disagreement against Nighteyes' disapproval of All Mights' choice, "I'm sorry sir, but-"
Nighteye was quick to interrupt him.
"Saying sorry doesn't take back from the amount of havoc you have caused, whether you are seemingly working with the heroes now or not. All Might gave hope to the public with his power and humour, he used his abilities to bring safety and security and used his name to bring peace. How can you do that with your quirks and the side effects they bring? So I'll ask you again, tell me why I should allow you to do your work studies here, what benefit will you bring me?"
A deafening silence rang throughout the room as the hero sharply finished, leaving Izuku in a frozen, speechless state. What could he bring? How could he bring peace to the world, let alone Japan?
Izuku knew if he started apologising now, it would only make the confrontation worse between himself and Sir Nighteye.
"I want to try. I want to become the number one hero! And even if I can't because of my quirk and the fear know it brings, will protect everyone from the background and pick up the slack that others trying to fill All Might's space will bring. I know the responsibilities and dangers my quirk brings but I will do anything to become the new symbol of peace, no matter what form it takes, I'm willing to shoulder that burden alone!"
The two watched each other silently as Izukus' words rang through the air, Sir Nighteye slowly mulling over his words before creating a response.
"The symbol All Might once was has already gone, villainous activities have reached an all-time high and the world is in desperate need of a new symbol of peace." Sir Nighteye began, "When I first heard of the villain name that had been branded upon your anonymous identity, the police had been calling in and giving details to as many heroes as they could for assistance, I did some of my own research in the aim of seeing if i could assist the case in any way."
Izuku shifted on his feet, stuck still in his place as he listened intently to the information given to him, and the details of his case which hadn't been made known to him.
"You did a disturbingly good job in avoiding the police for so long but in that time, In the area you once... Patrolled before you entered UA, I discovered you created fear amongst the villains that once lived in that area, and unknowingly placed yourself at the top of the villains' hierarchy in the area."
Izuku felt his eyes widen at the information, his jaw slowly slacking open in surprise as Nighteye continued talking. The hero spoke calmly, with far less hostility than before.
"The criminals lived in fear of you and the danger you posed to them, and when I got the phone call about you, I looked up the villain activity in the area again. Ever since the Hosu incidents, your presence has dwindled away and the villainous activity has returned, even doubled since All Might's retirement."
The pro hero shifted in his seat, folding his arms as he looked stoically towards Izuku.
"Your actions in the past have twistedly backed up your words, but I won't allow you to use that strategy again, and I'm sure if you have any common sense you won't either. Your crimes from the past are a mark on your record, a point of distrust that people will one day discover and use against you, creating another void in the power that plays an important role in the stability of our society between heroes and villains."
Izuku managed to gather the strength to speak.
"I know that, but I'm working hard to pay back the debts I owe the people who have saved me and put me back on the right track, and to earn the forgiveness I know I will never obtain just by trying to do what is right. I know without my friends and my teachers at UA that i would be in prison, and that is where i should rightfully be because-"
Izukus' rambling was cut short as Sir Nighteye hummed slowly in agreement, standing up from his chair as he held the stamp needed to get his work-study approved.
"Fine, I see where you are coming from, but there is no point getting worked up over the past now.
What happened has happened, you must learn to deal with the consequences and move on.
Redeeming yourself can't just be a ramble of words either. Both factors are as important as each other." Sir Nighteye began.
"All Might went to great lengths talking to me over the phone about your internal incessant need to prove yourself as worthy to others, or how he liked to put it 'your ambition to become the new symbol of peace. Even though you don't have a drop of humour in you, I can see it now for myself as well, but you are going to have to work to earn your place here in this agency. I won't be going easy on
you."
Izuku felt his expression soften in surprise at the hero's partial agreement to let him join his agency before furrowing his brows seriously in deep concentration as Nighteye finished talking, holding the stamp out in front of him for Izuku to grab.
"If you want to work here, you are going to have to stamp these papers yourself."
Izuku eyed the situation cautiously, sceptical of the simplicity of it all. He just had to grab it?
Slowly, Izuku reached out to grab the stamp in the hero's hand, only for Sir Nighteye to sharply pull his hand to the side just as Izuku was about to touch it.
"You're going to have to try far harder to grab this, Midoriya, I suggest you use your quirks."
Izuku felt his eyes widen in shock, quirks?
"But Sir, I didn't bring any extra food-"
Sir Nighteye narrowed his eyes.
"And am I meant to be concerned about that?
What happens in the real world when you are using your quirk and you risk your quirk getting the better of you? Are you just going to let the people who are hoping you save them perish into casualties?"
Izuku flinched back slightly at the hero's harsh words, flabbergasted.
"You have three minutes to try and take this from me, it's time to see those words put into action."
Izuku's expression slacked slightly before scrunching into something far more engaged with the task at hand, putting his bag onto the floor as he put space between himself and Sir Nighteye.
"Don't bother concerning yourself with what's in the room, just come and get it..!'
The pair jumped back and forth between attacks continuously, Sir Nighteye actively dodging Izuku's swinging arms at the stamp while Izuku flung himself against and around the room in rapid succession. Izuku flung himself against one wall, and shot himself back towards Sir Nighteye trying to outpace the reaction time the hero possessed, only for Nighteye to dodge at the last second catching Izuku before he had the chance.
Izuku was starting to feel the strain on his mind, as he forcefully held himself back to avoid the chance of his Ghoul quirk's stamina from affecting his use of One for All, causing his switches and turns to become strained and inefficient.
"Didn't I tell you to use your quirks, Midoriya? Stop holding yourself back, you only have around two minutes left to grab this stamp, and time is ticking."
Izuku narrowed his eyebrows angrily, jumping between another poster and a bookshelf like a ping-pong ball, as he growled out an agitated response.
"You knowl can't afford to risk that, this is my only chance to become a hero!"
Sir Nighteye sighed with annoyance.
"Your inability to look past your own concerns has left you forgetting the finer details of what my quirk is. If I knew something was going to happen to you I never would have continued this meeting past the first second."
Izuku jumped up and forced himself to sprint back to where Nighteye was standing only to see him already standing to the side.
"You're going to pause to think about what l've said before realising l've really seen what you are going to do after..
Izuku gritted his teeth, standing off from the hero as he debated his options, cursing himself for even thinking about possibly using his ghoul quirk against the hero.
".. Soon after that, you're going to look around the room...
There was no possible way for him to use his Kagune, there was no point, and the energy it would require for him to use was dangerous. He hadn't even thought he would have been using his quirk at all today, how could he have known to have eaten more food? Was he even allowed to currently use his quirk off school grounds?
"And then, you are going to give him..."
Sir Nighteye said, almost taunting him, as Izuku broke himself free from the restraints he had placed upon himself, flashing forward towards the hero, missing him by a hair.
"It's a pity, I thought you would have been able to get this stamp far quicker than this, even if you didn't have your Ghoul quirk, All Might choose wrong.
"What.?" Izuku called out cautiously.
Sir Nighteye watched Izuku closely, "There were other candidates before you, Mirio should have been the one to inherit One for All."
Izuku felt his gut drop in shock. Of course... All Might had chosen him almost on a whim after the sludge incident, a gamble he suddenly took with no secondary opinions, of course, there had to have been other candidates...
"Do you really have time to sit aimlessly at this moment in time? My expectations for you were low after the phone call I received, but this is just a waste of my time. Even if you didn't have your other quirk, I don't believe you should have gotten One for All. There is a candidate that is far worthier and I won't acknowledge it to you."
Izuku felt the hero's words circling him like a shark, waiting for his response as Izuku was left trapped in the middle. He knew he wasn't worthy of One for All, he had known that ever since he had selfishly taken it to hide his own villainous identity, but as much as Izuku hated and despised himself for his past actions; he had worked hard to get to the point where he was.
To fight not only his battles in real life but the ones which raged on in his own pitiful mind to get to the spot of safety he was in now and Izuku had never been able to do it alone. He had other people to work hard for, to impress and redeem himself to and Izuku was not about to let himself get this far only for All Might's former sidekick to drag him back through the mud he has so desperately called back out of.
He couldn't afford to let him reject him now, he would have to move faster than Sir Nighteye could react...
Izuku shot himself around his room fueled with determination, flying everywhere as he flung from wall to wall like a bullet, leaving footprints all across the room. Thinking of ways to avoid the hero's line of sight.
Nighteye spoke out in disapproval.
"Imitating Gran Torino, but nowhere near as fast as the original thing, you're going to have to try faster than that. You only have thirty seconds left."
Thirty seconds...
It was the result of Izuku's quick action to formulate and put his plan into use, springing around the edge of the room as he reached for the bookcase with his hand, flinging the whole lot into the air. Papers and notebooks scattered the room, blocking Izukus and simultaneously Sir Nighteyes' line of sight towards him, giving Izuku an opening.
With a bounce he turned around and shot at the hero from a different angle, desperately wanting to reach out for the stamp as he lined up his trajectory, only to notice the limited time poster in his way.
Oh, it was too rare, lzuku couldn't bring himself to damage it...
With no time to stop, Izuku went slap-bang into the wall, face first; leaving a trail of blood down the wall from his broken nose which quickly crunched itself back into shape. If only the poster wasn't there! Izuku was sure he would have been able to have grabbed the stamp!
The clock hit zero.
"Your time is up!"
Sir Nighteyes' intimidating words rang out around the silent office as Izuku turned from the place he was kneeling on the floor with a look of despair and desperation on his face.
"What- No..!" Izuku scampered back to try and convince the hero just as they continued talking.
"It's too late, you have lost your chance to stamp these papers yourself!"
Izuku gritted his teeth with anger, "I was about to go into the 10th Anniversary poster that wasn't for sale! I couldn't afford to damage it and there wasn't enough time to avoid it!"
Slowly Nighteye looked around the room to take in the damage at Izukus' words, subconsciously noticing the footprint around the room which carefully missed and dodged all of the All Might memorabilia. The hero turned back to Izuku who was looking desperately back at Nighteye for his final answer.
Izuku had kept his surroundings consolidated while managing to formulate and act upon his plan. Sir eyed Izuku thoughtfully, knowing he was clever from the length of time he had avoided the police, considering the amount of physical evidence found, but this small exercise had further proved his point.
"Fine, I'II take you."
Izuku left like he was getting severe whiplash.
" What..!'
"Hello! Sir! Have you finished with Midoriya now, that bang at the end sounded rather final!"
The green-haired student looked back between his senpai and the hero in shock, still trying to wrap his mind around Sir Nighteyes' words.
"Sir Nighteye stood up straight as he turned back to face his student, "Yes, and I've decided to take him on as well."
Izuku felt his jaw hit the floor as he managed to stutter out a confused response.
"W-what! B-but I didn't get the stamp!" He declared utterly confused, eyes wide.
Sir Nighteye turned to respond to him, his demeanour far calmer now than it was before.
"I never said i wouldn't stamp the paperwork myself if you did not stamp the paper, I wasn't sure about taking you on considering your circumstances, but All Might convinced me to give you a shot, as much as i disapprove of his lack of consideration."
Sir Night eye walked over to his desk, stamp in hand as he moved to mark the paperwork, Izuku scampering up off the floor to get close to the hero who had left his thought process in a stunning malfunction.
"T-thank you! Sir!" Izuku rapidly spoke out, brimming with excitement as his dread had all but vanished.
Sir Nighteye sat down before clasping his hands, redirecting his attention towards Izuku with the paperwork in front of him, a sense of seriousness lowering in his voice as he spoke.
"This world needs more heroes with the intellect and power to keep the world at peace, no matter which direction they decide to do it in." Nighteye began, Izuku straightening up in his spot as he nodded dramatically, taking in the hero's words as he overcame the anxiety and fear he once had; the hero's words like law as he engraved them into his mind.
Nighteyes hand came down onto the paper, stamping it directly into the signature square.
"Welcome to the Nighteye Agency, i hope you won't disappoint me."
Izuku beamed happily, nodding his head in excItement.
"I promise! I won't let you down!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone