Chương 25: Chapter 25: Work Study!
A while back.
Tartarus.
"...What? Not gonna say anything? Not even a hello? How are you? Why did you visit me?" All-Might said to All for One, a man whose face is missing but would, without a doubt, maintain a poker face. All for one is the mastermind behind Shigaraki and the man who was defeated by Straw Hat, an unknown hero whose whereabouts are still discussed. All for One is currently spending his remaining days in Japan's impenetrable jail known as Tartarus.
"..." All for one said nothing.
"Let me start the conversation then. First, I'd like to know who Shigaraki is. I want to know the reason of his recruit and why did you make the League of Villains." All-Might said, in his deflated form, in his old hero outfit.
"..."
"...Say something."
"Sigh." If All for One could, he would recline in his chair, unfortunately, the straps, chains and turrets are preventing him from doing that. "...Don't you think it's bad manners?"
"Huh?" All-Might said, confused.
"To ask me all these questions? To not ask me what I want in return? To come here, In MY territory, in MY city, in MY Country and to just take it all away? To steal your rightful fame and honor of beating me?" All For One said, trying his best not to get too angry. Last time he got angry in this place, he got a not-so-pleasant shock to his brain.
"Oh, I get it now." All-Might said as a smirk appeared on his sunken face. "Look, it's okay. Sometimes my plans don't go the way I want. Of course, my plans haven't been to do villainy so it's not like I would know. Also, I didn't know I had such a huge fan, it really warms my heart."
"It was supposed to be your victory, not his. I didn't expect that, didn't expect him. How is Shigaraki supposed to face him?" All for One spit it out.
"I think that Straw Hat is the least of his worries." All-Might said, clearly enjoying his frustration.
"..."
"...By the way, have you seen this?" All-Might said as he pulled out his phone.
"All-Might, refrain from using electrical devices in the cell." A voice resounded over a speaker.
"It's alright, he's too broken to do anything anyways." All-Might said as he pulled a video of All for One and Straw Hat. "Look at this."
"Oh, by the way guys! Look who I got here! It's umm, umm, hey dude, what's your name?" Luffy asked a nearly unconscious All for One as Luffy levitated in front of a news helicopter. "Must be shy, well say hi!" Luffy took All for One's hand and waved it. "Watch this! I'm a big bad villain, I hate people and I wear this mask because it makes me look cool!" Luffy said, imitating All for One's voice and moving his mouth up and down while trying his best not to laugh.
"I'd say it's immature to laugh at this, but I think we're both past that." All-Might said through chuckles. All for One didn't react, probably because he didn't care.
"...He's going to have to hurry up." All for One said his last words of this meeting. All-Might wondered what he meant, of course he knew he was talking about Shigaraki, but not the extent. *Hurry up, Doctor.*
League Of Villains Hideout.
Night-time
"Well, now. You've brought us a pretty big catch, huh Twice." Shigaraki said as he examined the young master of the Yakuza.
"You think so? Strange coming from you. The League of Villains." Overhaul said with a hint of venom in his words.
"The young head of the Shie Hassaikai, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Shigaraki said, a voice so rough you can scratch an itch on it.
"He's the number two of the whole gang? Woo! I've never met anybody like him before, he looks so dangerous, so exciting!" Magne said, cheerful as ever.
"What's his deal?" Toga said shyly, like she's scared of saying a wrong word.
"Come on Toga! By the time I came back I thought you would've gotten all better! You should stay depressed!" Twice reprimanded/encouraged Toga, he hated seeing her like this, no matter what his other half would say.
"You know it's not so simple, ass-face!" Toga roared, a spark of her former self coming back to life. "I'm just being cautious, you would be too if you'd seen what I'd seen."
"What's her problem?" Overhaul asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Mission gone bad, nothing you have to worry about." Shigaraki answered, preserving what's left of Toga's pride.
"Well, if you're still wondering, allow me to tell you a story." Mr. Compress said, catching Toga by surprise, him appearing seemingly out of nowhere above her. "In the past, there were many different scary troupes that ran the underworld, after heroes started thriving though, they slowly, but surely, began to disband, when All-Might took the stage, their era was over. Those who weren't caught, began working as muscle-for-hire, in other words, the bottom of the barrel, barely scraping by. Frankly, they're obsolete and an endangered species."
"Endangered species, huh? I guess that's true." Overhaul said, not getting mad in the slightest.
"So, what's a Yakuza thug doing here? Let me guess, you're excited about All-Might's retirement too?" Magne asked.
"It's good that he's gone, sure, but I'm more interested in All for One's absence." Overhaul said as Shigaraki's eyebrow twitched. "The dark emperor who ruled over the shadows. The old timers feared him, even after the rumors of his death. Honestly though, most people my age thought he was an urban legend. You can imagine the shock when he showed up in the flesh. But in the end, the big bad was thrown into Tartarus by a new face, and the symbol of peace retired, which means those of us in the dark and those in the light are both leaderless, who will step up to fill the vacuum?"
"You know who my master is, yet you till ask that? Sounds like a challenge." Shigaraki said as he stepped forward, making his presence heavier in the room. "I'm the next leader, even now I'm gathering my troupes, our numbers continue to increase, with this power, we will turn the hero society into dust."
"You have an actual plan?" A very unimpressed Overhaul asked.
"Watch your tongue, and your tone. I thought you came here to join up with us." Shigaraki, insulted, said. Twice started lowkey freaking out, this was not how he expected things to turn out.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish, if that's what you're offering, why should I join you What happens after you increase your forces, do you have any idea how you'd even organize your league? You had the hero killer stain at your side, Muscular, Moonfish, all first-grade villains, and you lost them. Maybe you just didn't know how to play the game, you can't even manage a few crazy people, but you want to build an army? What happens when that power spirals out of control, you need direction to achieve your goal and I have a plan. I didn't come here today because I wanted to join you."
"You brought this idiot here without knowing his intentions Twice." Shigaraki said scornfully. Twice looked really panicked now.
"In order to execute my design, I need money, unfortunately there aren't people who would want to invest in an endangered species." Overhaul continued, seemingly unbothered by Shigaraki. "Your group, on the other hand, has widespread name recognition, put yourself under me, make me your new leader and I'll show you exactly how to use the right tools."
"Leave." Shigaraki simply said and everybody got ready for a fight.
"Sorry about this small fry, but we didn't band together to serve under somebody's boot." Magne said as she pulled Overhaul towards her. "I didn't join this group just to work under some dictator!"
Magne last sentence would be her last-last sentence. As Overhaul quickly approached her, he took off his glove and very gently touched her arm, making her upper body explode into countless pieces.
"No! Big sis Magne!" Toga yelled in disbelief.
"Just remember, you made the first move. Damn, I'm covered in blood now." As Overhaul was busy cleaning himself, Mr. Compress jumped into action.
"Compress! Wait!" Shigaraki ordered him to stop but it was too late.
"I can't! I have to seal him before he gets to anyone else!" Mr. Compress said as a small, red needle was shot in his arm.
He tried to use his quirk on Overhaul, but nothing would happen. "Why isn't my quirk working?!"
"Don't touch me!" Overhaul said as another quick touch obliterated Mr. Compress's arm.
"Aaaaahg!" Mr. Compress yelled in pain. Shigaraki was quick to action and rushed hands-first towards Overhaul. Another needle was shot towards Shigaraki but this one missed.
Overhaul, knowing he was in danger, quickly shielded himself. "Shield!" A huge, muscular guy dropped right in front of him, taking the blow from Shigaraki. The thug disintegrated.
Shigaraki moved back to make some distance, quickly understanding what had happened. "Now I get it. You should've just started with this, saved us all some time!"
A bunch of guys, wearing a mask similar to Overhaul's, broke through the wall to support their boss. "That was a close one Overhaul."
"You're late." Overhaul replied to one of his goons.
"And I missed a shot, though at least we know they work." The shooter replied.
"Where did they come from?! We weren't followed, I swear!" Twice said as he held a concussed Mr. Compress in his arms, feeling immense regret.
"One of them probably has a tracking card." Shigaraki said as he got close to his crew.
"Hard to be objective in this situation, besides, killing each other isn't productive." Overhaul said as he got a tissue and cleaned the last of the blood off him. "A death on both sides, let's take a breather, we'll cool our heads and try again later. I owe your side an arm."
"Bastard! I'll eviscerate you!" Twice yelled back at the leaving Yakuza.
"Let me cut him really quick." Toga seemed to forget her reality check when it came to her fellow colleagues.
"No." Shigaraki calmly said.
"He's my responsibility!" Twice angrily replied.
"I don't wanna rush you but the sooner we talk things over the better." Overhaul said as he threw his business card at the League of Villains. "Consider how your organization should be run, then, when you've calmed down, call me."
"They gotta pay! Why can't I go after them?!" Twice, still mad, said.
"Think Jin, we gotta take Compress to a doctor." Toga said, making Twice come back to reality and help Compress up.
"...I told you Tomura." Toga said, with anger in her voice.
"I don't wanna hear it." Shigaraki responded.
"I told you we need to keep lo-" Toga was suddenly interrupted by a familiar black goo which came out of her mouth.
"Wha-" Shigaraki, not even being able to finish, also felt an uncomfortable black goo come out of his mouth. Twice and Compress soon suffered the same fate and all of them disappeared, or a better term would be teleported.
Doctor's Lab.
The League of Villains found themselves in an unfamiliar place. A lab of some kind, lit up by purple lights, with a bunch of sophisticated looking Nomu's trapped in massive test Tubes, far ahead, they saw a bald man in a lab coat. He had a moustache, green glasses, and if you were to ask Izuku, he would say he definitely looked familiar.
"Well, well, look who's here early." The Doctor said as he spun around in his big, mettalic chair.
"What the?" Shigaraki said as he cleared his mouth of the black goo.
"Plans are changing, young protégé. Unknown players entered the game, and we have to act accordingly." The doctor said as he walked over to the League. "Are you ready?"
U.A. High.
Mirio.
"Third year student, Mirio Togata. All-Might would like to speak with you. Please enter the counseling office at once!" Mirio, Nejire and Tamaki heard a voice from the intercom.
"Huh, crazy, he wants to talk to me? I wonder what it's about." Mirio said with a grin from ear to ear.
"Hey, Togata, hey! What did you do? Are you in trouble or something?" Nejire asked, her lust for knowledge still yet to be fulfilled.
"What business could All-Might possible have with you?" Tamaki asked, nonchalantly.
"No clue, But I've got to-Gata go see!" The only way you could laugh at Mirio's joke would be if this was the first joke you ever heard. "Get it?"
An awkward couple of seconds later. "Man, that was supremely unfunny, wasn't it?" Mirio laughed at the awkwardness, which was the only thing he could do.
Counseling Office.
"Oh yeah, You are Here!" Mirio said, doing his best to imitate All-Might. He, Izuku and All-Might found themselves in the same room. "Sorry, I just couldn't help myself! I got super excited when I found out you wanted to talk to me."
"Um, I don't really understand what's going on." Izuku said nervously.
"Yeah, I'm completely in the dark!" Mirio said.
"You've met young Togata here, he's currently doing his work study at Night eye's agency." All-Might said and a proud smile appeared on Mirio's face.
"Hey! Isn't that the place Greenie wanted to do the thing at?" A mysterious voice echoed through the room but you could pinpoint the origin of that voice, and it seemed it came from a cupboard.
"Who said that?!" Izuku jumped in fear at the sound of the voice as they all looked at the cupboard.
"Oh man, it's stuck!" The voice said as he fiddled with the door, before punching it open, nearly taking All-Mights head with it. It appears that the voice belonged to the one and only.
"Luffy?!" Izuku and All-Might said, completely surprised while Mirio just laughed his ass off. Luffy came out of the cupboard with a bag of biscuits in hand.
"Man, the biscuits here sure are good!" Luffy said as he stretched his tongue to gather all the crumbs from his face.
"Young Luffy! You're not supposed to be here! This place is for staff only!" All-Might was quick to reprimand him.
"But those two aren't staff." Luffy said as he pointed at the two students.
"Well, they are just guests for now." All-Might said as he watched Luffy hop on an empty armchair, continuing to eat the biscuits. "I invited them here to have a talk."
"Woo! I wanna talk!" Luffy did not pick up on the fact that that was All-Might's way of saying 'get lost.'
"Actually, All-Might, Luffy did say that he wanted to go to Night eye's agency. I forgot to tell you earlier." Izuku said sheepishly. 'Forgot' wouldn't be the right way to put it, more like 'intentionally omit'. He really didn't want to deal with Luffy this work study. Mirio did say that experience is what makes you a hero, and Izuku feels like the only experience he will get is that of babysitting.
"Is that so young Luffy?" All-Might said with a curious expression. "Can I ask why?"
"I don't know, I'm bored." Was Luffy's simple answer. Well, it wasn't All-Might's place to judge if Luffy is worthy or not of interning at Nighteye's agency, that is something Nighteye will decide for himself.
"Wait, is this what this talk is about? You want me to introduce these two to Sir Nighteye?" Mirio said, quickly picking up on All-Might's intention.
"Well, I did want you to introduce Midoriya, young Luffy wasn't really on the plan, but, if you don't mind?" All-Might asked. Feeling a little ashamed at hacing to ask Mirio this.
"Of course not! I'd love to work with them!" Mirio said as he wrapped his arm around Izuku. "But wait a minute, why do you need to go through me? I always see him watching old clips of you two in his spare time, I'm sure he'd be really happy if you called him up yourself."
"I can't exactly face him right now, because he was dead right, I ended up precisely where he warned me I'd be." All-Might said, clearly uncomfortable about this topic. "So, do you think these two have what it takes?"
"Man, that's a toughie. Why don't you tell me what kind of hero you two want to be?" Mirio asked Izuku.
"I want to save people with a smile and-" Izuku's default answer seemed caught in his throat. "I want to be strong, so that I won't have to worry anybody. I want to always win. I want to be the greatest, got it?" *The more I experience this hero world, the more I realize that I have to be stronger, strong enough to save everyone.*
"Wow, that was a lot." Mirio said, before facing Luffy. "What about you Luffy? What kind of hero do you want to be?"
"Huh? Hero? I don't wanna be a hero." Luffy said with a face-splitting grin. "I just want to be the freest I can be. And If I happen to save some people along the way, then so be it."
"A very interesting response." Mirio said as he started pondering for a couple of seconds. "Sure then, I don't see why not!"
"Wow, thank you so, so much!" Izuku said, a few steps away from hugging Mirio.
"Thanks, cartoon eyes!" Luffy said as he high-fived Mirio, who didn't at all seem insulted.
"Now, don't get too excited, this doesn't mean Sir is gonna take you guys under his wing or anything."
"Of course not, but I'm still excited you know?" Izuku said as happiness overwhelmed him.
"Yeah, I guess I do know."
The weekend.
Nighteye's Agency.
"Well, this is it guys, Sir Nighteye's agency!" Mirio said as he pointed to what looked like an office building. Izuku seemed stressed out of his mind while Luffy looked on in wonder.
"Easy man, take a breath! Try to loosen up, but not too loose because Sir is a pretty strict guy." Mirio advised.
"Really?" Luffy asked.
"I'm fully aware. He's a hero famous for being demanding, on others as well as himself! His gaze is so severe it even makes me shiver every time I see it on TV." Izuku filled Luffy in.
"That's completely true, but there's another side of him that the press never gets to see." Mirio said seriously. "You need to make him laugh! Then you'll totally win him over!"
"Huh?!" Izuku looked on in disbelief.
"Shishi! This guy sounds alright!" Luffy laughed as he walked in on first through the door.
"Wait! What does that mean?" Izuku said as he followed Mirio. Mirio had to run in front of Luffy, to show Luffy where to actually go.
"Exactly what it sounds like. He really values humor for some reason. It's like irony I think." Mirio said they started walking up a flight of stairs. "The most I can do is introduce you guys to him, Sir will as approve of you or not. I wish I could do more to help but this is really all I can do."
"No problem, Thanks anyway."
After a few more minutes of walking and idle talk, they've arrived. The scene they opened the door was definitely... something.
"Hey dude! I'm here to do hero stuff-" Luffy, of course Luffy was the one who opened the door first, saw a blue-skinned heroine strapped some sort of torture device, laughing her ass off. A tickler.
"Huuuuh?!" Izuku pretty much yelled when he saw something that definitely would belong in an 18+ magazine. "Mirio, what's going?" He asked fearfully.
"Oh, that's Bubble girl, his sidekick. Guess she didn't make him laugh." Mirio didn't at all look surprised, so one can deduce that this must be a regular occurrence.
"Shishishishi! I wanna try next!" As Luffy laughed at the crazy scenario, Izuku steeled his resolve to get accepted and did this.
"I Am Here!" Izuku said, imitating his number one hero as much as he possibly could. The only person who found this funny was Luffy, but Luffy finds everything funny, so this isn't much of a feat. Mirio on the other hand looked terrified, Like Izuku had just made a big mistake.
"What is this, boy? Are you ridiculing All-Might?" Nighteye said with an unmatched glare and a voice full of disdain.
*Oh No! He's not funny!* Mirio thought as his nightmare came to pass.
"The nerve! What is wrong with your face? Is this a joke to you?" Nighteye exclaimed, stopping the torture device to scold Izuku.
"Uh N-No, of course not." Izuku said, trying his best to keep his composure, but quickly falling apart as Nighteye moved in closer.
"You attempted this blasphemous excuse of an impression on All-Might's former sidekick?" Nighteye said as he started to remodel Izuku's face shape. "All-Might's wrinkles aren't like this at all, you fool."
"I think it's pretty good!" Luffy said with a thumbs up and a smile.
"...I'll get to you later." Nighteye said in response to Luffy's comment, stopping his Sanji impression for a moment.
*What's happening?!* Izuku thought, powerless to stop Nighteye.
"In his early days, his crow's feet were .6 centimeters (about 0.24 in for my freedom lovers out there) long, from the silver age on, they were .8 (0.315). Even unlicensed merchandise manages to get the measurements right." Nighteye said it like it was common knowledge. "But you don't even know that much?!"
*Every corner of his office is filled with All-Might merch! I didn't know he was that big of a stan!* Izuku thought, happy to meet a fellow All-Might stan in public.
"I don't care for this one bit, you can see yourself out." Nighteye said as he got away from Izuku.
"The vinegar river incident, are you not aware of it ,sir?" Izuku said as he challanged the All-Might fanboy. "A middle schooler whose quirk allowed him to change the propriety of water to vinegar started to drown in a river. Fortunately, All-Might was there to save him. Naturally, some of the vinegar got into All-Might's eyes. His face looks slightly different from normal after. That's the look I choose to impersonate earlier!"
"I know this rescue, although it took place after I teamed up with him." Nighteye said, never one to back down from a challenge. "I believe they mentioned it on the widely run television special called 'A look back'."
"Yes, I love that show! I know that there aren't any villains involved so some fans never talk about it, but I really like it for some reason." Izuku said, completely forgetting that this is a job interview. "Honestly, my favorite part was the response he gave the kid."
"My skin feels ten years younger." Nighteye responded, this challenge seemed to come at a stalemate.
"Yes, that's it!" Izuku happily said. "It was the perfect one liner."
"I see, you were just testing me." Nighteye said as he approached Izuku once again.
"No, of course not! It's just, I don't really get to talk about him, even though he's a teacher at my school." Izuku franticly said, hoping he didn't just antagonize him.
"Wow, you guys are real nerds! shishishi!" Luffy laughed at their geeked out session, although, neither of them seemed to take any offense.
Mirio went to Bubble girl to free her from this obvious medieval torture device.
"Mirio, who's that? He's loud." Bubble girl said as she was still recovering.
"An underclassman at my school." Mirio said as he looked gleefully at Nighteye and Izuku. *I gotta say, he totally failed to make Sir laugh, like massively, but I still think he's making a good impression.*
As the geeking out finished, the bussines started. Nighteye, now seated at his deak, talked to Izuku and Luffy. A quick explanation later.
"I see, you want to work at my agency because you believe it will make you stronger?" Nighteye said to Izuku.
"Yes sir!" Izuku responded.
"And you're just... bored?" Nighteye said, a little disbelief in his voice, to Luffy.
"Yep!" Luffy responded. "Oh wait, I forgot! I need to make you laugh!" Luffy said as he turned around and stared fiddling with his face.
"That's not necessary." Nighteye said, which, honestly, really bummed Luffy.
"Oh man, are you sure?" Luffy said with a stuffed nose. Stuffed because his nose was tied, along with his ears which were encircling Luffy's face. To be honest, it was good that Nighteye stopped him, who knows what horrors Luffy would've pulled out. "Fine." Luffy said like a hurt puppy as he started to undo his face.
"First, I'll address him." Nighteye said as he pointed to Izuku. "We'd need a contract-"
"Of course, sir, I've got them!" Izuku said, overly enthusiastically. He also carried Luffy's document, what a good friend.
"You'll not interrupt me while I'm speaking to you." Nighteye said.
"Sorry sir!" Izuku said with a blush of embarrassment.
"Once I stamp this document, you'll officially be contracted with my agency for a work study. You have to understand that this is nothing like those week-long internships you students take on so casually," Nighteye said, trying to give the boys a reality check. "You must work here for a minimum of four months, and you will be paid wages. However, your academic responsibilities will likely suffer due to the absences you'll rack up, which means your classmates will pull ahead of you."
"I don't really care about all that academic stuff." Luffy said, which did come at a bit of a surprise to Nighteye, not that he showed it. He wondered how a student could not care about their academics in such a prestigious school.
"Well, I do care about that, but I can't become the number one hero if I worry about that." Izuku said with a face full of determination.
Very dramatically, Nighteye raised his stamp and smashed it down on the paper. Oh sorry, near the paper.
"Umm, I think you missed." Izuku said, hoping he was right.
"Because I am not approving this." Nighteye said as he repeatedly stamped the desk. A 'what?!' from Izuku could be heard. "I understand how working here would be beneficial to you, but what benefit would you bring to my agency? This office currently runs smoothly with two sidekicks and one work study student under my employ. So, why would I add you on? How can you contribute to society? How can you be useful to others? In order to be acknowledged, you must be able to answer those question unequivocally."
"The people acknowledge All-Might because he gave them hope and safety, that's what makes a great hero." Nighteye said as he got up from his seat.
"Y-You're right, I need to find out how I can help the world." Izuku said as the gravity of this situation set in.
"It's time to show me what you would bring to the table, using action, not words. Three minutes. You have three minutes to try and take this seal from me. If you want to work at my agency, you'll have to stamp it yourself." Nighteye said as he twirled the seal in his hand.
"Okay cool, that's lightwork, let's do-" Luffy said as he began preparing for this challenge.
"Not you." Nighteye said as he interrupted Luffy. Hypocrite. "The three of you will wait outside." Nighteye said to Luffy, Bubble girl and Mirio.
"Why?" Luffy said confused.
"Because I know you're special, but like I said earlier, I'll get to you later." Nighteye said as he pointed to the door. "Now get out."
"Yessir!" Bubble girl and Mirio said. "Come on, Luffy, I'm sure Sir will you give you a tough challenge later on." Mirio said as he tried to console Luffy.
Now outside, the trio went to a nearby rest area.
"Hmm, I wonder what Sir could've meant by that." Mirio said with a finger to his chin, appearing deep in thought.
"No idea, but now that I can take a closer look at you, you do seem kind of familiar." Bubble girl said as she took a closer look at Luffy's face.
"I've never seen you before though." Luffy said with his hands behind his back.
"Maybe you saw him at the sports festival. He did make quite a big impression there." Mirio said. He remembers watching the sports festival and being quite impressed by Luffy's prowess. "Having a rubber quirk. I can't imagine how that's like, but I know it couldn't have been easy to turn it into such a powerful quirk. I know how that's like."
"Nah, it's not that. I don't like that sports festival stuff. It just makes me regret my time there." Bubble Girl doesn't seem to have fond memories of her previous sports festival experience.
"Well, I don't know about all that." Luffy said, referring to the sports festival. "But you are right. When I first got this quirk, I couldn't even hit a bottle without getting stuck in some trees. You should've seen my grandpa's face! Shishishi! He hated it when I got it. But I showed it to him in the end, now my punches are as strong as pistols!"
"Haha! I know that feeling. When I was a little kid, a lot of people thought I should give up on being a hero, but look at me now! At the top of U.A!" Mirio said. The next three minutes were filled with Luffy and Mirio sharing stories of how they got stronger. Bubble girl was still trying to figure out where she knew Luffy from.
"Arh! I don't know. I give up." Bubble girl said, frustrated.
"Aren't the three minutes up? We should go check in on them." Mirio said and after a quick walk back to Nighteye's office, they saw a room filled with shoeprints and Izuku who just face planted against the wall. "Looks like things went well here. Did you decide sir?"
"I'll take the boy Mirio." Nighteye said to Izuku's surprise.
"What? But I don't understand, I didn't manage to get the seal!" Izuku exclaimed.
"I told you to get the seal from me and stamp the contract, but I didn't say you'd be rejected if you fail." Nighteye said, much to Izuku's surprise and relief.
"Yeah, but-" Izuku was at a loss for words.
"Congrats Midoriya, you pulled it off!" Mirio said as he helped Izuku off the floor.
"Nice one Greenie." Luffy patted Izuku on the back. "But wait, what about me?"
"My decision to have Midoriya join my agency was made before he showed up. As long as you're here, I will make you see that you are unworthy of All-Might power." Nighteye said before moving on to Luffy. "With you, I need to check something." Nighteye said as he got close Luffy. With one swift motion, he snatched Luffy's straw hat.
"Hey!" Luffy said as he quickly took back his hat. "Don't touch my hat!"
"May I please take a look at your hat?" Nighteye said, a little surprised at Luffy's possessiveness. "It will take only a moment."
"Hmm, sure." Luffy said as he reluctantly gave his hat to Nighteye. "But be careful, okay?"
"Of course." Nighteye said as he quickly inspected the hat. He went to his drawer and took a piece of paper from it. Then he looked at the piece of paper, then at the straw hat, then at Luffy. All the other people there looked at Nighteye in confusion. "Looks similar."
"Here, you can have it back." Nighteye said as he gave Luffy his hat back. After that he got close to Luffy. "Don't move. Put your hand here, you other hand here, the hat on your back, open your mouth and smile."
Now Nighteye took a couple steps back and looked at Luffy's awkward pose and at the piece of paper once more.
"Umm sir, what are you doing?" Mirio asked. He and everyone else was very confused.
"Now I remember!" Bubble girl said after looking at Luffy's ridiculous pose. "You look exactly like that one mysterious rookie who helped All-Might at Camino ward!"
Izuku's world shattered. "U-u-um, w-wait a s-second! That's t-totally not Luffy. Whaaat?! That's just, that's crazy talk!" Izuku didn't know if that was supposed to be a secret or not, he thought it was because if people find out that Luffy did hero activities without his hero license he would get in jail, so he tried to play it off, not very successfully though.
"So, you're trying to tell me that these two are two different people." Nighteye said as he showed the piece of paper to Izuku. The paper had a very zoomed in and low-quality image of Luffy doing his iconic Nika laugh, the one from his wanted poster, the same one that Luffy is doing right now. "Since the fight was so chaotic, I wasn't able to get a clearer image."
"That's right! I remember seeing Sir watching that footage multiple times." Bubble girl said, making Izuku's defense null and void.
"It does look like Luffy a little bit, but his hair is a different color." Mirio said as he also got a close look at it.
"Do you have any idea how many times I watched that fight?" Nighteye asked Izuku. Izuku, being too shellshocked to speak, didn't answer. "Countless. I couldn't stop crying the first few hundred times I watched it."
*No shame!* Izuku thought. Luffy, by this time, came over to see the picture himself. He couldn't understand what all the hype was about, it was just a picture of himself.
"But after that, I started to analyze it. I wanted to know who it was, who it was that took All-Might's spotlight and who it was that robbed him of the fame." Nighteye said as he fixed his glare on Luffy. "When I got the call from Mirio, saying that he would bring two students here, I did some research and found you. The mysterious rookie who took down All for One."
*Oh no! He definitely hates Luffy for stealing All-Might's fame!* Izuku thought as he prepared for Luffy to get yelled at then thrown out.
It was a surprise to Izuku when that did not happen, an even bigger surprise was that Nighteye was bowing his head.
"Thank you. On behalf of all hero society and All-Might supporters, I thank you for saving All-Might." Nighteye said as he did a full 90-degree bow for Luffy.
*Whaaaaaat?!* Izuku could feel his blood pressure rise or drop, he wasn't too sure. Even Mirio and Bubble girl were surprised.
"Wow, I've never seen Sir thank somebody like this before." Mirio said with a proud/surprised grin on his face.
"Truly a rare sight!" Bubble girl said, more surprised than Mirio was.
"Oh, come on, why do you have to embarrass me like that?" Luffy said, clearly happy with the praise he's getting. "He would've been just fine without me."
"Either way, you were there, smiling and giving everybody some much-needed hope, the kind of hope only someone like All-Might could give," Nighteye said as he straightened himself. "I know what kind of fool All-Might has become now, so I'm only thankful that he's not alone. Who knows if All-Might could have won, and even if he did, he might not have gotten out of it unscathed. Society's perception of All-Might surely would have changed. But with you there, you showed that All Might didn't make 99% of heroes. You showed that All-Might wasn't the only one and that civilians could still count on us. That is what I'm most grateful for."
"Thanks dude! I really appreciate it." Luffy said with a huge smile on his face. "Wow, is this what it's like to be a hero, maybe it's not so bad. Shishishishi!"
"...It's the least I could do." Nighteye couldn't lie, Luffy's smile reminded him of All-Might, maybe that's another reason for this. "Now, for your work study." Nighteye said as he stamped the contract himself. "Consider yourself an employee now, I couldn't possibly turn away the man who saved All-Might."
"Yaaay! Let's go Greenie! Now we're both heroes!" Luffy said as he high-fived Izuku, a little too hard for Izuku, but it's not like he can blame Luffy, he was also very happy.
"That's great guys!" Mirio said as he got both boys in a friendly headlock.
"That's great Luffy but," Izuku said as he turned to Nighteye. "Sir, I hope you'll keep Luffy's secret, that was before he got his hero license and all."
"Of course, I'm not an idiot." Nighteye said. "Now get out of here, there are a bunch more documents I need to fill out for this work study, and you being here is distracting me."
"We look forward to working with you." Izuku said as he finally stamped his contract and proceeded to leave the office.
U.A Dorms.
Sunset.
"You found the place to do your work study at. That's great!" Mina said to Izuku and Luffy. Currently, in the dorms were Mina, Izuku, Luffy, Uraraka, Iida, Asui, Mineta and Momo.
"Wow, Congrats Midoriya and Luffy." Iida said as he fixed his glasses.
"Nice job, Lu, I'm really proud," Momo said as she sat with perfect posture on the sofa. (Fix that posture! Do you want to walk like a question mark for the rest of your life? I didn't think so. Well, I also fixed my posture. I guess you're not the only one who needs to improve their posture.)
"Oh man, what's with all the compliments lately!" Luffy said with a giggle.
"Thanks guys." Izuku was also feeling embarrassed.
"I can't be idle, either." Iida said, a little ashamed that he didn't get into a work study.
"But man, you guys are really awesome." Sero said as he, Kirishima, Tokoyami and Kaminari also entered the living room.
"Yeah, man, you'll be at Sir Nighteye's agency!" Kaminari said as he pats Luffy on the back.
"You were recommended by Togata?" Kirishima asked.
*I can tell them that he just took me to make me give up one for all...* Izuku thought as he ignored Kirishima's question.
"The distance between us has widened again. we need to catch up as soon as possible." Todoroki said as he and Bakugo watched from a distance how the whole class congratulated Luffy and Izuku. Bakugo agreed with an animalistic sound.
"The school said Gunhead hasn't had enough interns so I can't go there." Uraraka said with her head in her hands, clearly annoyed that she didn't get a work study.
"Same here, I wanted to go to Selkie's but..." Asui said, clearly rejected.
"Fourth kind doesn't even take work studies." Kirishima said, also dejected. Most of the students were like this.
"By the way, Uraraka, did you get to talk to Nejire like you said?" Momo asked Uraraka, remembering her wanting to ask Nejire about her work studies.
"No. I just didn't get around to it. Sorry." Uraraka said, a little embarrassed at her own shyness of not being able to approach the third year student.
"That's alright, it seems like it's much harder to get a work study than to intern." Momo said, thinking that maybe she will go ask Nejire.
"I mean the threshold's been set pretty high." Sero said, thinking that maybe this is the reason.
"Yeah, we can only ask pros with good track records who'll take works to the students." Kaminari added
"It can't be helped. Unlike the internships, we'll be directly involved, so if anything happens-" Ojiro said before being interrupted by their homeroom teacher.
"It becomes a problem of who's responsible on the pro side." Aizawa said as he walked in on the class 1-A students.
"Mr. Aizawa!" The class said in unison.
"Pros who accepts students even after knowing the risks are the real thing." Aizawa said, giving a bit more insight. "Tokoyami, you've got an invitation for a work study from one of those real pros. It's from Hawks, who works in Kyushu."
"Hawks?!" Kaminari said in surprise.
"Ranked third in the hero ranking?!" Sero said, surprised that such a top tier hero would take on Tokoyami. "Wow, good job!"
"What will you do Tokoyami?" Aizawa asked.
"I respectfully accept." Tokoyami said.
"Very well. I'll give you the work study paperwork later." Aizawa said. Happy that one of his students got into a work study for the number 3 hero, not that he will ever admit this happiness. "Let me know when you figure out when you'll be going to Kyushu. I'll authorize your absence for those days."
"We need to catch up as soon as possible." Todoroki said, which angered Bakugo.
"Stop saying that!" Bakugo yelled.
"Also, Kirishima, Amakiji from the big three wants to see you." Aizawa said, now turning to his other students.
"He wants to see me?" Kirishima said, confused.
"And Hado wants to talk to Uraraka and Momo." Aizawa then turned to the two girls. "Go see them tomorrow or something and hear them out, that's all."
"Amajiki... I wonder what he wants." Kirishima said, he never really spent time with the anti-social third year.
"Maybe it's about the work studies?" Momo wondered out loud.
"No way. If so, I'm getting my hopes up." Uraraka said, now very curious about what Nejire wants to say.
"I can't wait until tomorrow. I'm going to the third years' dorm right now." Kirishima said as he bolted it out of the dorms.
"Yaomomo, let's go to!" Uraraka said as she already started leaving.
"Umm, wait! At this late hour? Are we even allowed?" Momo, always the worried one, asked.
"Let's find out, come on!" Uraraka said as she had already left.
"...Okay! Wait for me!" Momo said as she also started running. She couldn't lie that her curiosity was also eating her up.
"Bye guys!" Luffy said as he waved.
"We really need to catch up-" Todoroki started but couldn't even finish.
"Just shut up!" Bakugo was sick of Todoroki already.
"Who cares about work studies? Even if first years like us go, we'll just be made to run errands and stuff." Mineta said as he looked at Mina's body, trying his best to be creepy and eliminate any chance of him getting a fanbase.
"Oh, yeah! That was that what happened at your internship, right?" Kaminari said which hit a nerve with Mineta.
"Don't remind me of my dark past!" Mineta said he got PTSD.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!" Luffy said, clearly remembering the good times from his internships.
"I don't wanna hear it from you! Mr. I-got-to-flirt-with-the-super-hot-hero-all-day!" Mineta yelled back but Luffy just laughed it off, as did most of the students there.
Sir Nighteye's Agency
The Next Day.
"Today we will be doing patrols and surveillance." Nighteye said as he stood in his office faced with Bubble girl, Luffy, Izuku and Mirio. "We'll split off into 2 teams. I'll be with Bubble girl and Mirio will take Luffy and Midoryia."
"Cool!" Luffy said, ready to get out there.
"Surveillance?" Izuku asked while looking at a picture of Overhaul.
"The Nighteye agency is currently working on a secret investigation." Bubble girl revealed the not-so-secret investigation.
"Shie Haissaikai is a small, organized crime syndicate." Nighteye said as he showed the photo more clearly to the others. "That's Kai Chisaki, the young head of the ground and the second in command, and he's been behaving strangely lately. That Plague mask is his trademark."
"Sick!" "Creepy..." Izuku and Luffy had two very different reactions.
"Hmm, this guy looks familiar." Luffy said as he tried his best to remember where he might have met him before.
"I thought there wasn't much trouble with organized crime these days since the police know who they are and monitor their movements." Izuku said, not at all phased by Luffy's reaction.
"It's been that way since the big groups broke up, but this Chisaki guy has started to gather them again, though we don't know why." Bubble girl filled in Izuku and Luffy, not that Luffy really listened or cared. "Also, they recently had an encounter with the League of Villains."
That stirred some dark memories in Izuku's minds.
"We can't pin them down since we don't have any concrete evidence against them. Our objective is to find that evidence and tail them. Be careful not to arouse any suspicion."
"You got it!" Luffy said it as if he's not going to beat the crap out of the first criminal he sees.
*Oh boy, is this where the babysitting job starts?* Izuku thought with a tired expression, even though Luffy hasn't done anything yet. Yet.
The Patrol.
"And so I said-" The catgirl got interrupted by her friend as they were walking through the somewhat empty walkway.
"Hey look! Heroes!" The doggirl said as she pointed excitedly at the three boys walking in hero outfits. "Those two are from the sports festival!"
"This is a little nerve-wracking." Izuku said as he tried his best not to blush at the girls while Luffy absolutely relished the fame, smiling and waving to the girls, who in turn squealed in excitement. Also, Izuku didn't feel the best when he was the smallest of the group, looking like his older brothers were taking him to a dress-up party.
"What gives? You went out on patrols during your internship, didn't you?" Mirio said, trying to comfort the poor boy. "Though, I can't blame you after all that went down. I'm more surprised how Luffy is all fine and dandy."
"It's no big deal, I fought some tougher guys than that guy." Luffy said it nonchalantly.
"Tougher than All for One?." Izuku said, feeling a little down. "Though that's not why, I did miss out on some of the basics, so... you know..."
"Yeah? That must've been strange, but don't worry. Since Bubble Girl and Sir Nighteye are on surveillance duty, I can teach you all the basics." Mirio said, doing his best to hype up Izuku. He didn't realize that the real reason Izuku was so deep in thought was because he was wondering why All Might didn't want to talk to Nighteye.
"Hey, we forgot something, our hero names!" Mirio said, getting Izuku out of his own world.
"Oh yeah, I'm Deku!" Izuku said with a proud smile.
"Deku? Like Deck? That's weird. What about you Luffy?" Mirio said, turning to Luffy.
"Just call me Straw Hat." Luffy said, not too hyped up about his hero name.
"It's a placeholder for now." Izuku said, trying to help out Luffy.
"...You guys aren't too creative when it comes to hero names, are you?" Mirio said, unimpressed. "Well, I'm Lemillion! For the number of people, I'm going to save! You know, I can't save them all, but I can at least shoot for one million, so that's what I'm doing. When we put on the costume and start hitting the streets, that's when we become heroes. So, don't let your guard down, Deku and Straw Hat."
"Got it!" Izuku said and they all started going forwards, right in front of a small alleyway.
A little girl came running out of the alleyway, a girl in a white robe with white hair and a small horn on the side of her forehead. She came running out and crashed straight into Luffy.
"Ow!" The little girl yelped in pain.
"Oops, didn't see you there, are you okay?" Luffy said. Not having his observation haki turned on, he couldn't sense the girl in time. "Wait a second, you're that little girl from the ice-cream shop!"
"You know this little girl?" Izuku asked Luffy, worried about her. She had bandages on her arms and a terrified expression.
"Mister!" Eri said, happy and relieved to meet the first guy to ever stand up to him.
"That's me!" Luffy said with a wide smile. "Let's get you up." Luffy said as she helped the little girl up, noticing her shivering hands, but he decided that he will address it later. "There ya go. Hey, is that guy still with you?"
"You should be more careful, you don't wanna cause any trouble for the heroes, do you?" The man, the antagonist, the Yakuza, Overhaul showed himself, in front of Luffy. Luffy, of all people, it just had to be him. The second he locked eyes on Luffy, his gaze narrowed.
Eri, knowing Luffy from before, ran and hid right behind his coat. And she hoped with all her might that she wouldn't be taken away.
"Oh hey, it's you! Wait... that's the guy. That's the guy! That's the guy from-" Luffy almost said something he might regret, but fortunately, Mirio was there to stop Luffy from divulging any information.
"We really ought to get you a mask one of these days! You can't just have a hat for a mask." Mirio said as he shut Luffy up by forcefully placing the hat on his head. "Sorry about that sir, we're just students patrolling the area."
"You, I remember you, from the ice-cream stand." Overhaul said, immediately putting his guard up and preparing for something he definitely doesn't want to do.
"Yeah, I also remember you being a real piece of work back then." Luffy said with a poison that Izuku has rarely ever heard. Back then, it's not that Overhaul did something villainous per say, but his aura was something that would make even hardened veterans throw up. The kind of aura only a tar-colored soul would have. The kind of aura Doflamingo had, but not to that extent.
"Lu- I mean Straw Hat, you know this guy from before?" Izuku said, almost slipping up, not used to referring to Luffy as Straw Hat.
"Yeah, we met once before. The little girl is shaking and trembling, what did you do to her?!" Luffy said as he picked Eri up. The force that Eri held onto Luffy could only be rivaled by a hydraulic press.
"You should be careful of what you say, such accusation will lead people to think something false, and we don't want that happening." Overhaul said. He was confident in his abilities to defeat 3 students, but by doing that, he'll pretty much give the heroes the evidence they need to lock him up.
"He's right Straw Hat, let's give the girl back to the nice man and move on with our patrol." Mirio was freaking out internally, thankfully he was a good actor. A skirmish here would destroy their case towards the Shie Hassaikai. The absolute worst scenario was them fighting, and he had to avoid that at all costs. "Come on Straw Hat, don't be difficult."
"But..." Luffy said in protest.
*We can't let the Shie Hassaikai know what we're doing. I knew it! I knew I had to play the babysitter! For now, let's just help deescalate the situation. * Izuku thought before trying to pry away Eri from Luffy's arms, and failing to do so without hurting her. "Come on Straw Hat, you're going to get us in trouble with our hero."
"You too?" Luffy said as he backed away from the three men. Great, Luffy's second worst pet peeve was being pushed. Being told what to do. The first one would be hunger, any form of it.
"Let go of her Straw Hat." Mirio urged Luffy on.
"Please rep." Izuku was also telling him, making it hard for Luffy to think clearly.
"She's my daughter, I know what's best for her." Overhaul said as he got closer to Luffy. Getting close to invading Luffy's personal space.
"Straw Hat!" Mirio said it without the usual friendliness that comes with his words.
"Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be." Izuku, him most of all, knew what Luffy could do. But his efforts to pry Eri away were in vain.
"You're just a student, you should listen to your elders. Eri, come now. You know what will happen if you don't listen." Overhaul attacked Eri this time. She knows and fears most of all of what would happen. Her kind soul doesn't want to burden these heroes any longer, but her instinct to survive came out for one last time.
"Please don't let him take me." Eri whispered in Luffy's ear. Eri put the straw that broke the camel's back. Yep, this is it.
"Ha, you got it." Luffy said confidently, steeling his resolve before looking at all the three men with a glare in his eye. "You guys are annoying."
That was the last thing the three men heard because boom, Conqueror's haki blast. Eri couldn't turn back from fear but she felt something, not sure what but she heard three thuds. Turning around, she saw all three men knocked out on the ground. She looked at Luffy who only smiled back at her.
"Let's get you some place safe." Luffy said with a smile as he started walking back, leaving the two heroes and Overhaul knocked out on the ground.
Eri opened her eyes and looked at them, not knowing whether to be terrified or happy. "What happened to them?"
"Oh, they're just sleeping. Hey, are you hungry? I'm kinda hungry." Luffy asked, as if he didn't just free Eri from her shackles of torture and experimentation.
The word hunger must've reminded Eri that she was starving, not knowing when the last time was when she ate. A loud rumble from her stomach made her hide her face away in embarrassment. "A little."
"Shishishishi! Then let's go to the best cook I know!" Luffy said as he picked up some speed and started, using that momentum, to jump and swing from building to building, scaring the life out of Eri. "We're going to see my sister!"
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