Hey everyone! This one here is basically my intended spiritual successor to Emerald Phoenix. As you can see, I took out a lot of the more problematic aspects (specifically the fact that Izuku's powerset could be described as "yes.") and just kinda refined it.

Also, read a story that had WAY too much Mt. Lady libel for my tastes and this is kind of what came out.

Now, most of these pilots HAVE admittedly been pretty short... but that's mostly because I'm trudging familiar ground in them by necessity and don't want to keep writing the same shit over and over.

When I decide WHICH bunny will be THE bunny moving forward, that'll change.

-]|[-

“Deku, when the hell are you going to get your Quirk?” Bakugō Katsuki, a rather precocious four-year-old, nudged his friend. “It’s boring waiting!”

Midoriya Izuku, his much more innocent and soft-spoken friend, grumbled. “Stop calling me that, Kacchan. It’s mean.” He looked down, “It’s not like I want to wait either!”

“Yeah, well, then stop being late!” Flawless logic from the ash-blonde. “Come on, you’re four already!” He whined, “How are you going to be my sidekick without a Quirk?”

Izuku’s face fell, as it always did when he said things like that. He reached into his bag to grab his notebook. He wanted to read his notes before class. “Oops!” He said as he accidentally flung his pencil away. He reached out a hand to try to catch it, but it was already too far away. “Not my Mighty Pencil!” He yelped… and then his hand glowed green. Everything in the room shut up as an ethereal hand about the same size as Izuku’s tiny mitts shot out and snagged the pencil out of the air before it could hit the ground. It shook like his real hand as he brought it back and plopped it on his flesh hand. He teared up. “MY QUIRK!”

“YOUR QUIRK!” The rest of the classroom cheered as everyone surrounded him.

“ABOUT TIME!” Katsuki had an excited grin on his face as he punched the air, letting off a tiny firecracker of a blast.

“Oh, that’s wonderful, Izuku-chan.” A matronly woman came up and leaned over, putting her hands on her knees and smiling at him. “Can I see?”

Izuku nodded, flinging happy tears away. “Yes, Miss Hitomi!” Now that he knew what that surge inside felt like, he could definitely copy it. He lifted his hand and the ghostly one appeared above. “Woah…”

“Cool!” One of the boys said. “What can it do?”

Miss Hitomi chuckled and stood up straight. “Remember, you’re not supposed to use Quirks in class.” She wagged her finger. She then gave Izuku a wink, “But just this once, I think is okay! Would you like to try some things out, Izuku-chan?”

“YES!” Izuku nodded rapidly, a happy grin on his face. “Maybe it’s like mommy’s? She can pull small stuff to her.”

“Hmm.” She hummed to herself, “Well, you certainly did that. How about we try something bigger?” She patted his desk, “What do you think?”

“Sure!” Izuku said, before stepping away from his desk and reaching out. The green hand snagged the desk leg and he pulled. It screeched a little as it moved, but Izuku didn’t have any difficulty pulling it.

“Wonderful job, Izuku-chan!” Hitomi and the class clapped. “Did that feel heavy?”

“Mhm-mhm.” He shook his head rapidly.

“Then try my desk next.” Unlike his, it was much bigger and bulkier. She thought it would be a good test.

“Okay!” Izuku reached out and pulled… “WOAH!” He started to pitch forward and almost fall.

“Izuku!” Hitomi quickly got in the way and caught him before he could fall on his face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah!” Izuku nodded. He hadn’t felt any strain or pain. “Thanks, Miss Hitomi!”

“What happened?!” Katsuki looked confused.

“I think it was too heavy, so it pulled me instead.” Izuku muttered as he got to his feet. He rubbed his chin. “I have an idea!” He held his hands to his sides and called his Quirk out again. “WEEE!” He screamed gleefully as two ghostly hands touched the ground and pushed. He most certainly could not move the earth, and so the earth moved him instead. He lifted off the ground and easily held himself aloft.

“COOOOOL!” The rest of the children screamed in joy for the green-haired boy.

Izuku landed and wobbled slightly. “Hell yeah!” Katsuki came and hugged him. “That’s awesome, Zuku!”

“Language, Katsuki-chan.” Hitomi almost let out a sigh. What was she going to do about that mouth of his? “The others are right, Izuku-chan! That’s a wonderful Quirk you have!”

Izuku teared up just as much from that as from his best friend’s hug. “We’re going to be Heroes!” He cheered excitedly.

“HELL YEAH!” Katsuki roared beside him.

“Katsuki-chan… language.” Hitomi let out a long-suffering sigh.

-]|[-

Izuku let out a sigh as he stretched his arms over his head. “One more year.” He muttered, thinking of the form inside his backpack.

“Fucking finally.” Katsuki cracked his neck beside him. “The rest of these extras are getting on my nerves.”

Izuku rolled his eyes at the familiar words. The Aldera School District had done their level best to fill his and Katsuki’s heads with hot air. It had worked on Katsuki. Izuku, not so much. “What doesn’t get on your nerves, Kacchan.” He sighed. He and the boy next to him had come to blows various times when things took a turn from ‘playing rough’ to ‘actual bullying.’ Izuku was… tolerant of the former. The latter, on the other hand, had nearly ended their friendship. “Just because their Quirks aren’t as strong as ours doesn’t mean you have to call them extras.”

“I’m not calling them extras because of their Quirks, dumbass.” Katsuki rolled his own eyes this time. “I’m calling them extras because they don’t study, barely train, and still think their crappy Quirks are going to get them anywhere. They’re fucking delusional.” Izuku blinked, “Didn’t you see their faces when Teach blew his wad-” Izuku’s nose wrinkled, “and revealed we were both going to try for U.A.? They were scared shitless. That’s why they’re fucking extras.”

“Right,” Izuku said dryly, “He does know we could get him fired for that if we wanted, right? Revealing private information like that…”

“Bah, those morons aren’t worth the effort.” Katsuki scoffed, “Want to hit up the town?”

“Nah, not today.” Izuku said. “Had some notes I want to get in order and mom said she needed my help with something.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Well, what auntie wants, auntie gets.” He chuckled to show he was just messing around. “See you tomorrow at the dump?” He held out a hand.

“You know it!” The two dapped up before turning in opposite directions. Izuku continued walking home, his nose in his notebook as he wrote. He had excellent spatial awareness and didn’t even have to look up to cross the street, knowing instinctively if anything was about to pass by. He then went under an underpass near the home stretch and flinched as he heard a weird burbling and a very nasty smell invaded his nose. He turned as what looked like living sludge was rising out through a manhole cover behind him.

“A medium sized skinsuit.” The villain’s teeth showed off an awful smile. “Perfect.” It surged forward.

“Nope.” Izuku threw a hand out and grabbed the pavement with his Quirk, yanking himself away from the disgusting filth.

“What?! GET BACK HERE!” The sludge villain roared as he slithered after Izuku.

“No way! I’ve seen enough hentai to know what you want, asshole!” Izuku yelled, raising his hand which was glowing emerald. A much bigger ethereal hand appeared behind him as he performed a palm strike. The giant hand surged forward at a bug-eyed mass of anthropomorphic sludge, who let out a yell as he was splattered back into the underpass.

“Shit!” The sludge cursed. That hadn’t hurt him but if he didn’t find a body to hide in soon, that guy was going to catch up to him. “GET OVER HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!” He surged forward as fast as he could.

Izuku reached up and grabbed onto a tree, ‘Damn it, I know this is self-defense, but if I actually go all out there will be too much collateral damage! I’ll probably get in trouble since I don’t really feel like I’m in danger!’ He thought to himself as he soared into the branches.

“AHAHAHAHA!” A voice caught both of their attention as the manhole cover was punched up, and a massive man erupted from it.

“ALL MIGHT!” Izuku and the sludge villain yelled in very different tones.

“SHIT!” The sludge yelled and booked it.

“Nope.” Izuku said again, grinning this time. A giant, green hand slammed in front of the villain.

“NO!” The sludge panicked and tried to go up instead of… you know… around.

“THANKS FOR THE ASSIST, CITIZEN! SMAAAAASH!” All Might roared out, causing a gigantic windstorm that almost blew Izuku out of his tree. His facial skin was trying to fly off his bones! The sludge was splattered everywhere.

When it was over, Izuku whooped in glee, “THAT WAS AWESOME!” He leapt from the tree. “All Might! Autograph?! SIGN?!” He was almost incoherent as All Might laughed.

“You got it, young man!” The massive blonde grinned at him, “But first!” He rapidly pulled out a soda bottle from his grocery bag. With a small, barely noticeable grimace of regret, he poured out the entire two liters of pop. And then he zipped around, scooping up parts of the sludge.

Izuku goggled, ‘What the hell?! He can’t fit him into a two-liter!’ But the big man was only going for the important bits: the eyes and mouth. ‘Maybe Quirks like that operate on zombie apocalypse rules? Go for the head?’

“That should do it!” All Might declared as he capped the bottle, “I’d prefer to get all of him, but I’ll have to get the police here instead. Without his head, the rest of the body won’t be going anywhere.” He grinned at Izuku, “I apologize for getting you caught up in my villain hunt, young man! Mistakes like that aren’t my style, but I’m not familiar with this part of Japan.” He grinned at Izuku as he slipped the bottle into his large pocket so as to not get it confused with the actual bottle of cola he had remaining.

“It’s fine.” Izuku had gotten himself under a semblance of control. “Honestly, I could have splattered him too but figured I’d get in trouble if it went past self-defense.”

All Might shook his head, “For the future, don’t worry about something like that. While he may have been no danger to you, if he gave up and went after someone he could endanger, then you would feel the guilt if they got hurt and you could have stopped it. Plus, such a thing would be covered under self-defense clauses anyway.” He wagged a finger at Izuku’s disbelieving gaze, “Now, I’m not telling you to go be a vigilante here, young man! There’s a difference between getting caught up in a bad situation and going out to look for trouble.”

“Okay!” Izuku took All Might’s words as gospel.

“Now!” All Might grinned, “About that autograph!” He laughed as he accepted Izuku’s notebook and put down his John Hancock. “My, my, quite good analysis you have here!” He beamed at Izuku, “You’ll need some help to take it up to a professional standard, of course, but this is quite good, nonetheless. You have talent that usually needs to be trained, young man!”

‘Ooooh!’ Izuku swayed, ‘All Might just praised my notes!’

“I take it you want to be a Hero as well?” All Might grinned down at him.

Izuku grinned back, “Hell yeah!”

“Ahahaha! That’s the spirit!” All Might declared. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay and chat. I doubt these bottles will hold this guy forever!” He patted his pocket, jostling the bottle. “But worry not! With good notes like those and that strong Quirk of yours, you’ll be a Hero in no time!” He bent his knees and prepared to jump.

“Thanks for the help!” Izuku said, his eyes sharp and unblinking.

“You’re welcome!” All Might roared as he jumped, “ALL MIGHT! AWAY!”

Izuku’s jaw dropped as he waved goodbye to his Hero. ‘H-Holy cow! Even if I max out my Quirk, I don’t think I could get even close!’ He continued to watch as All Might shrank into the distance. He kept watching, wanting to savor this moment as much as possible. And it was because of that focus that Izuku saw something troubling. All Might landed on a building and then jumped again. Izuku’s waving arm froze, “SHIT!” He yelled as the bottle the man had in his pocket dropped out, with All Might apparently none the wiser.

Izuku should have been getting home, but he didn’t so much as think a single thought before he ran in that direction, All Might’s words ringing in his ear. This was the same incident, wasn’t it?

-]|[-

By the time he hit the town, he started hearing explosions. Izuku dashed in that direction, panic on his face. He recognized those blasts. ‘Kacchan, what’s going on?! Don’t tell me…’

Up ahead, several Heroes were in trouble. Kamui Woods sent his branches forward at lightning speed, wrapping them around Katsuki’s torso and preparing to yank him. But the sludge villain laughed, tightening his grip on Katsuki and forcing out another explosion. The branches immediately disintegrated, with the tips smoldering and burning. The wood wrapped around him slumped, lifeless. “Shoot! I can’t get him free!” The Hero yelled, grabbing other civilians and getting them to safety.

Far behind him, the firefighting Hero Backdraft was desperately spraying water into a blazing fire. “I’ve got my hands full over here! Someone else has to take this one!”

Death Arms grunted as he leapt forward and punched into the sludge. “Gotcha!” He yelled, only for his fists to sink into the sludge uselessly. “What?!” The villain laughed as he forced Katsuki’s body to do what he wanted, smashing an explosive backhand into the Hero’s thick jaw and flinging him away. He rubbed his jaw in pain, “It’s no good! He’s too slippery to get a hold of!”

“I’ve got it!” Mt. Lady yelled as she thudded into the narrow corridor, grimacing as her costume started catching. She hoped nothing tore as she forced her way into a space that really was too small for her giant body. If she could just get a hand in, maybe she’d take a few burns, but she might be able to just yank the hostage out. “!” The building to her right was one of the burning ones Backdraft had been desperate to save. But he wasn’t enough on his own. Now, buildings in the age of Quirks were very sturdy. They had to be with all the collateral damage that hit them. Daily, in truly awful cases. But they couldn’t stand up to prolonged burning like this. “SHIT!” Mt. Lady screamed as the frontmost support pillars started to melt and the building pitched forward. The entire weight fell on her back as she turned and braced, desperately digging her heels and trying to hold the weight from falling onto the civilians below. Massive furrows in the pavement were dug as she grunted, unable to even speak as she ground her teeth to hold it back.

“It’s no good! None of our Quirks can help here! That kid just needs to hold out a bit longer!”

That was the scene Izuku shouldered his way into. “Kacchan!” He yelled in panic as he saw the blonde engulfed by the same bastard he had dodged. He ducked under the police holding everyone back.

“NO KID! ARE YOU INSANE?!” Death Arms yelled.

Izuku reached out and a massive ethereal hand popped out, racing forward. “NOT YOU AGAIN!” The sludge villain roared in fury. Izuku’s control was fine enough that he was easily able to grab Katsuki gently, while also squeezing the sludge away.

“Give him BACK!” Izuku yelled as he pulled his arm back.

“SHIIIIIT!” The sludge roared as Katsuki flew right out of his body.

Katsuki hit the ground and retched as he cleared his airways.

“Shit, he’s running!” One of the Heroes yelled as he raced forward to secure Izuku and Katsuki.

Izuku looked up and saw the sludge making a break for it. “Not this time.” He growled out and raised his hand. A hand big enough that it could have facepalmed Mt. Lady appeared above him and he slapped down.

“DAMN YOU BRAAAAAAAAT!” The sludge roared as the hand clapped down on him, throwing up a plume of dust and a windstorm that made everyone brace themselves. The sludge splattered everywhere, completely out cold.

When it cleared, it was plain to see that the villain was unconscious and in multiple puddles. “YEAH!” Everyone watching cheered, “THAT KID DID IT!”

Aaaand then several people’s blood turned to ice. “H-HELP!” Mt. Lady wheezed, blood starting to stream down her nose from the strain. Izuku didn’t care how much trouble he was in. He threw his hands forward. Massive hands appeared and slammed underneath Mt. Lady’s armpits, bracing the building with her. She let out a sharp gasp as the strain at least halved and she sank, held up only by Izuku’s Quirk. She took a moment to gather herself and then turned around, bracing properly this time. “IS ANYONE INSIDE?!” She screamed.

“I have no idea!” Backdraft yelled, “The fire brigade isn’t here yet!”

“WE CAN’T HOLD THIS FOREVER!” Mt. Lady screamed, “WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT IT ON THE GROUND! YOU NEED TO GET EVERYONE AWAY!”

Izuku was in agreement, his face red and his breaths coming in sharp gasps. The police started ushering everyone back and away from the disaster site.

Katsuki finally had some air in his lungs, but his voice was hoarse as he yelled. “M-Mt. Lady! R-Rip open the façade! That building is toast anyway!” He got to his feet as Mt. Lady realized it was a good idea and did her best to start ripping the building open.

“N-No one on the top floor!” She yelled as she moved down.

“Woah kid!” Death arms grabbed Katsuki, “Don’t move!”

“This is my Quirk’s fault!” Katsuki yelled, “I can help! I can take fire pretty well!” He let out a truly wretched cough, “But Backdraft needs to stop wasting time on the fire and wet Kamui instead! The wood won’t burn as easily, and he can search the middle floors!”

Backdraft grimaced as he looked at Kamui Woods. The two had twin ‘Why didn’t we think of that?!’ expressions on their faces. Backdraft immediately turned and started spraying Kamui who leapt up to the middle floors with his branches and started to search. “Found one!” He yelped as he grabbed the unconscious woman and got her out of the burning building. “Smoke inhalation!”

Katsuki shrugged off Death Arms, “I can help search! Just give me permission!”

Death Arms ground his teeth. “Fine! I grant you permission to use your Quirk!”

Katsuki immediately burns forward, small but powerful explosions propelling him. He raced into the lower floors of the building, his head on a swivel. He blasted down doors as he went, searching for anyone who might have been unconscious. ‘This is MY fault!’ he recriminated himself as flames licked at him. He hissed. He hadn’t been lying but this wasn’t exactly pleasant. And he wouldn’t be able to take the smoke for too long either. He could blast it away but that didn’t exactly fill the room with air.

He finally found a single person in a bathroom, the door of which was already partially gone. He had to rip it away and use some blasts to look inside. A woman had tried to get away from the flames, but had run out of oxygen inside the bathroom, and the fire had reached her anyway. She was unconscious and her body was covered in burns. He retched at the smell and crashed to his knees next to her, feeling for a pulse. Somehow, she was still alive. He gathered her up and immediately raced outside. “MEDIC!” He roared, bringing her over to the ambulance. “First-” and worst by far, “Floor is clear!” He yelled at Izuku and Mt. Lady.

“The others are good too!” Kamui had found five more unconscious people in the middle floors. The building was clear.

“EVERYONE GET CLEAR!” Izuku, looking haggard, cried out. “WE-WE CAN’T!”

“WHAT HE SAID!” Mt. Lady cried out. “GOGOGO!” The rest of the Heroes cleared out as fast as possible. “Go kid!” She yelled at her helper.

“You first!” Izuku ground out. “Y-You were barely able-!” Blood spurted from his nose. “Guh!”

“Shit!” Mt. Lady grunted as she knew they didn’t have time to argue. She shoved the building back slightly and staggered away, hating the sound of pain that erupted from Izuku as he took the full load again. She turned as soon as she got out of the danger zone, “Take my hand!” She yelled, holding it out.

Izuku took a deep breath and canceled his Quirk on the building. It immediately pitched forward. He threw a hand towards Mt. Lady, gripping her purple glove with his green, ghostly appendage. He put barely any power into it and yanked, the rebound effect pulling him towards her instead.

The building crashed into the ground with a cacophonous roar at the same time as Izuku crashed into marshmallow heaven. “Oof…” Mt. Lady grunted out as that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She crashed down and started to shrink, utterly exhausted. And that left Izuku sprawled out on top of her in a very compromising position.

The two lay there, shielding their faces as rubble and dust clattered around them. When it finally stopped, there was an eerie silence. The two started to cough, unable to move with how tired they were. Izuku managed a weak grin. “C-Come here often?”

Despite herself, Mt. Lady let out a weak laugh that turned into more coughs. He ripped his sleeves, pressing one to her face and one to his. It was all he had the strength for. More explosions from Katsuki blasted the clouds away so they could be found. “Oh, thank fuck! THEY’RE HERE!” He slumped as paramedics came with stretchers and got them out of the danger zone.

What a fucking disaster of a day.

-]|[-

Yagi Toshinori sat shakily in his chair the moment he got home. He didn’t look at his torn pants, the bottle full of fluid having turned into what was essentially a water hammer when he had leapt, tearing the weak fabric easily. He had quickly tried to make up for his mistake, but his time had been up for the day.

Seeing those two boys rise to the occasion when he had been capable of nothing more than standing there uselessly had hurt more than All For One’s blow to his side. He felt pathetic. PATHETIC.

Everything came all at once as he felt his spirit crack. Toshinori did something he hadn’t done in decades. He began to weep.

-]|[-

Izuku let out a groan as he woke up. “…Anyone get the plate off the semi that ran me over?”

“IZUKU!” His mom yelled shrilly as she stormed up. “Are you okay, honey?!”

Izuku blinked rapidly, “Whuh?” He slurred, “Wh-what happened?” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He shook his head as his vision cleared and focused on his worried mother. “Mom? Wha-” His pupils dilated as he lurched up. “Is Kacchan okay!? What about everyone else?! Did we capture the villain?! Was anyone hurt?!”

Inko almost got whiplash from all the questions. “Izuku…” She sighed. Of course he was thinking of others and not himself. Why had she expected any different? “Everyone is fine.” She said softly, “Katsuki had some damage to his throat and some light burns, but those were easy enough to heal. You and Mt. Lady were the worst off because of that building.” She brushed his hair idly, “And even that was mostly just exhaustion. Some strained muscles and, well, you might be snorting up some nasty stuff because of the bleeding…”

“But otherwise, everything is fine.” The doctor came in, “How are you feeling, Midoriya-san?” She smiled at him.

“Tired… sore.” Izuku chuckled, “But as long as everyone is okay, it was worth it.”

Inko pinched the bridge of her nose. Why oh why did her son have to take after All Might THAT much?

“I can imagine. I personally haven’t seen a worst case of Quirk Exhaustion, even if I have colleagues who have.” The doctor giggled, “Well, come on then, Mr. Hero.” She teased, “Let’s just make sure you’re alright.” She started checking on him. A few minutes passed and Izuku was able to get up and stretch, “Well, looks like you’re good to go. No lasting damage.” She smiled at him. “So you can leave whenever you wish.”

“Awesome.” Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t big on having to lay around.

“Before that, you have some visitors.” She said, “If you’re up to receiving them.”

“Sure, just give me a minute to get changed.” Izuku said.

“I’ll be right outside, sweetie.” Inko said as she left with the doctor.

Izuku got a new set of clothes on quickly and was just slipping his sneakers on when someone knocked on the door. “Come in!” He called out as he straightened up. His eyes widened when he took her in. “Mt. Lady?”

The blonde froze for half a step, her eyes wide. “You recognized me out of uniform?” She blurted in shock. She hadn’t even been a Pro Hero for a full day yet! Well, technically, anyway. She and Izuku had been unconscious for several hours due to the exhaustion.

Izuku blushed, “Good memory.” He said sheepishly. “Your hair was the exact same shade.”

“I’ll say!” She laughed as she got over it and closed the door behind her, “But I’m Yū to you, mister.” Yū said playfully, “Takeyama Yū.” She walked closer and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close. “You saved my life.” She said softly. “That building… the way I was forced to hold it back at first… probably would have folded me in half and crushed me before too long if you hadn’t helped.”

Izuku was stiff for a few moments before hesitantly wrapping his arms around her. “I-I’m glad I was there to help.” He managed to get out. “And I’m Izuku. Midoriya Izuku.”

She smiled and pecked him on the cheek. His face flamed red and her grin widened, “You looking to go pro, Izu?” They let go and separated.

“Mhm.” Izuku nodded. “It’s my dream! Kacchan – that is, Bakugō Katsuki, the one with the explosive Quirk – and I train almost every day in preparation for the entrance exam at U.A. University.” He gave her a small smile. “We’ve been cleaning up Dagobah Beach for the past few months.”

“Dagobah?!” Yū’s eyes widened, “That dump?!”

“Mhm.” He nodded again, “We found out it was supposed to be a beautiful beach, long ago. We decided it would be great strength training and would give back to the community… So Kacchan’s dad made a deal with Musutafu to help us out. They provide dump trucks free of charge. Kacchan and I provide the labor.”

“Really now.” Another grin rose on Yū’s face, before she raised an arm and flexed. Izuku blushed slightly. She wasn’t Miruko by any means, but Mt. Lady had some nice muscle. “Let’s see those guns then.” Izuku let out a startled laugh before flexing back at her. ‘Oooh yes, those are nice.’ She couldn’t help but lick her lips slightly. Izuku’s blush darkened a little. “When do you think you’ll be done?”

“We’ve still got quite a bit to go, but July at the latest, I think.” Izuku forced himself not to stammer. “Maybe by my birthday?”

“Perfect time then.” She said. “We don’t have any good beaches around here, so it’s something to look forward to.” She winked at him. “I think I’d quite like to see all your hard work once you’re done.”

“S-Sure!” Izuku managed to get out while mentally screaming. ‘I’m not going crazy, am I? Is she asking me out? She’s totally asking me out. Ohmygod.’

As if she were reading his mind, Yū’s grin widened. She leaned forward and planted a quick peck on his lips. “It’s a date then.” She said, holding back a laugh as she noticed his discombobulated expression. “But July’s a bit long to wait, soooo-” She pulled out her phone. “How about those digits?”

Izuku couldn’t keep the heat off his face as he dialed in his number for her. She smiled and put his name in as ‘Izuku <3.’ So she was smitten. Sue her! She’d be dead if not for him, he was cute, AND he was hot! She quickly shot off a text at him so that he’d have her number as well.

“Perfect.” She grinned…

“Izuku!” Inko called out as she knocked on the door.

“Oh right…” Yū grimaced, “…You ready to face the music?”

“Music?” He asked, blinking at the non sequitur, “…Oh crap! I used my Quirk!” He grabbed his head in a panic.

“Ayep.” Yū winced, “I’m in your corner, Izu. I’ll get myself in trouble if I need to.” She mumbled as she stepped a few feet away.

“C-Come in!” Izuku called out.

Inko was worming her fingers together. “Izuku, this is Police Chief Shimomura Hideaki.”

“Sir.” Izuku bowed his head to the older gentleman.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-kun.” Hideaki bowed back. “First, I’m sure it would please you to know that there were no fatalities due to the incident, though at least one person is in critical condition. We were also able to capture the villain responsible.”

“Thank goodness.” Izuku sighed. “…But I suppose I’m still in trouble…”

The chief chuckled. “While I certainly would like to sweep this under the rug, it was a very public event. Please, sit.” He said as he took a chair and sat himself. He then blinked, “…Mt. Lady? Why are you here?”

“To offer support, if needed.” Yū replied evenly, her usual smile nowhere to be seen. Inko blinked in surprise.

Hideaki bit back a snort as he saw Izuku blush slightly. “Very well then, if Midoriya-kun has no objections, then I suppose I’ll allow it.” He looked at Izuku, “You, of course, used your Quirk without getting prior permission from the authorities. Please tell me what you were thinking, son.”

Izuku smiled sheepishly, “I… wasn’t exactly thinking.” Yū and Inko both snorted, “Well, not until after I had already pulled Bakugō Katsuki out.” The police chief opened his mouth, but Izuku continued, “However, that wasn’t actually the first time I had run into that guy.”

“What?!” All three of the others in the room blurted, Inko’s face whitening.

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, “Yeah, uh, he tried to do the same thing that he was doing to Katsuki to me. And he explicitly said he wanted to… ahem… wear me like a skinsuit.”

His mother looked like she was close to passing out, Yū looked like she was close to retching, and the police chief’s expression was hard. “Describe the incident.”

“Well, I was walking home from school.” Izuku said, “I went under the Nabū underpass and as I was exiting, he came out of a manhole cover behind me. I used my Quirk then to escape while he chased me. I could have taken care of him myself… as demonstrated…” He blushed a little, “But did not feel I was in danger and was worried about getting into trouble, so I just tried to keep him distracted until a Hero showed up.”

“Excellent work.” Hideaki gave him a small golf clap.

“And, well, All Might showed up.” Three pairs of eyes widened.

“All Might?” Yū blurted, “How the heck did that guy get away from All Might?”

“Well, All Might smashed him good and scooped up the brains into a two-liter soda bottle.” Izuku replied, “And he chatted with me for a few minutes.” Izuku winced, hoping this wouldn’t get his favorite Hero into trouble, “And, well, he explicitly told me that in a situation like that, it was completely possible that the villain would have left me alone and gone after someone else who he could kill. He advised me to take care of the situation as it would normally be covered under self-defense clauses in the law.” At the look of disbelief on their faces, he waved his hands with a bit of sweat dripping down his neck. “H-He wasn’t telling me to go vigilante or anything! He said there was a difference between getting caught up in a bad situation and going out to look for trouble!”

“While true, it is a slippery slope.” The chief grumbled under his breath. “Okay, so what happened next? How did the villain go from captured by All Might to almost extinguishing a couple young stars in the making?”

“W-Well, after we finished talking, All Might leapt away to take him to the precinct.” Izuku replied, “And he’s my favorite Hero so I watched him go while I was waving. He- on his second jump, the bottle got loose! I think it might have even ripped right out of his pants. I don’t think he noticed before he was too far away for me to even see him.”

“Of all the stupid-” Yū let out a groan, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“And having just gotten that bit of advice from your idol and knowing the guy was explicitly out to murder someone to hide inside them, you ran right after them to make sure he couldn’t pull it off.” Inko wanted to cry. “Oh Izuku, you’re going to make me go gray!” She whined.

“Well, I can see where your head was at.” Hideaki sighed, “And once you saw it was a personal friend in danger, you moved before you could think about it. And then once you had already used your Quirk, you figured ‘Well, one more won’t hurt any worse.’ That about sum it up?” Izuku looked sheepish as he nodded. “Alright. That’s the details taken care of.” He sighed, “Understand son, the police cannot be seen condoning this. Luckily, there are some details here which make this much easier to deal with than it being a straight, out and out charge of vigilantism. While the villain was captured due to you splattering him, he did not take any actual injury. Further, your actions saved a life, many in point of fact. So while this will have to go on your record, you’ll only have to do community service, and it should not affect your chances at a Hero University.”

“Uhh…” Izuku raised his hand, “Katsuki and I have been clearing out the junk at Dagobah Beach for the past several months. Does that count?”

Hideaki blinked slowly. “Wait, that’s you two?!” He asked incredulously.

Izuku shrugged, “Good training and community service all in one?”

Hideaki stared at him before beginning to laugh loudly. “Oh, that’s rich! If the laws weren’t what they were I’d be writing a commendation instead of a citation! How frustrating.” He smirked over at Izuku, “Well son, I think we’re done here. You just keep up the good work, and I look forward to your career.”

“T-Thank you, sir!” Izuku bowed to the chief.

“That went WAY better than I hoped!” Yū exhaled as Hideaki left. She smiled over at him, “I’ll see you around, yeah?” She winked at him and blew him a kiss before leaving as well.

Inko blinked as she looked between her red-faced son and the door. She hadn’t imagined Mt. Lady rolling her hips on the way out, had she? A smile rose on her face. “Izuku? Anything you want to tell me?” She shot him a teasing grin.

Izuku clapped his hands to his face in embarrassment.

-]|[-

 “Woah…” Yū let out a noise of appreciation as she saw just how much of Dagobah beach had already been cleared. She had passed by various times while she had been scouting the area in anticipation of her debut. The last time she had seen it, the entire coastline had been covered top to bottom in junk. All twenty kilometers of it.

Now she could see actual, legitimate sand near the outskirts. Several kilometers were completely junk-free! She grinned as she made her way to the stairs nearest to her. She could hear music – classical, if her ears were serving her well. ‘Hmm, Linkin Park. Not a bad choice.’ Of course, the sounds of explosions was concerning, so she sped up and got into the heaps and mountains of trash. Her eyes widened when she saw Izuku and Katsuki in the center of an ‘arena.’

The two were going ham on one another to the tune of Figure.09. Izuku was surrounded by an emerald glow while Katsuki let out continuous explosions from his arms and legs. ‘H-Holy shit! I think they both could beat my ass!’ The emerald glow around her future boyfriend was clearly some sort of shield, protecting him from his friend’s blasts. He took an explosion that made Yū cringe without even flinching, before kicking Katsuki in the side. Katsuki dodged in that direction with a quick, explosive redirect, catching Izuku’s leg with his left arm. He surged forward, explosions rippling out of his elbow, landing a crushing punch right into Izuku’s jaw.

Izuku’s head snapped back from the hit and Katsuki tripped him, mounting him to begin a ground-and-pound. Izuku used his Quirk to literally slide himself out from under the blonde, before rolling back and kicking up to his feet. As soon as he was set, he surged forward faster than Katsuki was expecting. He dropkicked his friend in the chest, knocking him back and into the sand.

The song ended and a loud airhorn rang out. The second that happened, the spar was over. They both rushed out and started picking up junk as calmer music started playing. This one she didn’t recognize, but she found the boombox that was playing the music and walked over. ‘Lace by Christopher Larkin? Never heard of it.’ It was catchy as fuck though. Not clubbing music by any means, but she could jam to it any day.

She heard the sound of running and grinned when Izuku clearly saw her and missed a step. “Yū?”

“Hey handsome.” She winked as she began jogging next to him. “How heavy is that?”

“Like, two-hundred kilos or so?” he replied, causing her eyes to go wide. “What are you doing here?”

“Couldn’t resist checking the place out once you told me you two were cleaning it.” Yū told him, still feeling incredulous. “Are you doing this Quirkless?”

“Yup.” She jumped as Katsuki ran by with a stove over his head. “Sup, Mt. Lady?”

“Sup. Also, why?” She replied.

“Sure, we could use our Quirks.” Izuku replied as he climbed the stairs. “But we do that enough during sparring. And his wouldn’t help all that much unless he tried flying with just his feet.”

“Doable, zero control.” Katsuki grumbled, “Need hands to stabilize.” The two tossed the heavy appliances over six meters into the beds of the dump trucks. “Plus, as powerful as my Quirk is, if all you have is a hammer everything starts looking like a nail.”

“And as we saw last week…” Izuku trailed off as Katsuki scowled. “Can’t be a one-trick pony.”

Yū sighed, “Damn, you guys are way too hardcore. I feel like a total slacker. I didn’t do anything like this for training.”

“Never too late to start.” Izuku smiled at her as they jogged back down. “Feel free to join us. We don’t have a monopoly on the beach, you know.”

Her eyes went wide, “I’m already a Pro! You guys need this training more than I do!”

“Eh, this fuckin place won’t last us more than a few months anyway.” Katsuki grabbed a water bottle and tossed another to Izuku. “We’re going to have to find some new place to train come mid-summer at the latest anyway.”

Yū looked out at the trash. She had thought being a Hero was so glamorous. She knew you had to work hard to make it big but had thought it was just about taking out villains and looking good for the cameras. She had even knowingly stolen credit for a ‘kill’ during her debut… Well, she sure as shit had that notion rudely shocked out of her. She had almost died on her first day. And she had been saved by a young man who had knowingly potentially thrown out his future to help her. She knew now just what heroism was truly about… and it wasn’t for the moments where the cameras were rolling.

She shrugged off her parka; glad she was already in some cute jogging pants. “Fuck it.” She threw her parka over to where their clothes were as well. “If I can’t do this much, I’ll feel like a loser.” She grinned at them as they started to stretch. Izuku blushed as he ate the eye candy for a moment, before stepping forward.

“Start small.” Izuku clapped her on the shoulder, “We’ve been doing this for months.”

“And don’t touch the fuckin truck.” Katsuki said, pointing. Yū looked over and her jaw dropped as she saw the eighteen-wheeler cab stuck in a pile. “That’s fuckin ours.”

She laughed, “You two are crazy! Fine! I’ll let you have your truck!” She started to jog and grabbed a steel drum, hefting it over her shoulder and running up to the stairs, jamming to the music. She needed to grab this playlist from Izuku.

About half an hour passed as she got into the rhythm, feeling the burn. And then she jerked on her way down the stairs as that loud airhorn rang out again. The second that happened, Izuku and Katsuki, hauling yet more heavy appliances, turned with their Quirks blazing. A much more energetic and hardcore song started playing as they chucked the appliances at one another. They met in screeches of metal before falling with dull thumps as Izuku and Katsuki started going to town on one another.

She felt completely out of place as she watched, not wanting to go by and interrupt them. Once the song – Duality by Slipknot – was over, Izuku looked over at her. “Didn’t want to join in?”

“…My Quirk’s not exactly the greatest for sparring.” Yū replied dryly. She looked around, “Don’t think I’d fit either.”

“I can hold up buildings, same as you, you know.” Izuku looked amused. “Just don’t go full size?”

“I can’t.” Yū grumbled, “All or nothing.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Fuck’s sake, you’re right, Zuku. These fucking Quirk councilors are all fucking retards.” Yū looked affronted, “You visibly and noticeably grow from your regular size to your maximum size. Quickly, sure, but it’s still a process. Just fucking stop yourself short.”

Yū stared at him, “…No, it can’t be that simple.” She knew her Hero university was no U.A. or Shiketsu, but it couldn’t have been that bad, could it? She closed her eyes and triggered her Quirk. She started to grow and then mentally slammed on the breaks. She grunted, feeling pain, but when she opened her eyes, she was only twice as tall as usual. “…I don’t think my Quirk likes this.” She grunted, clenching her fists and starting to feel almost lightheaded.

“Course it doesn’t.” Izuku said, “You’re basically using a muscle that’s never been touched.”

“If it never gets any better, then yeah, stop doing it.” Katsuki said, “But right now, it’s like you’ve been in a wheelchair your whole life and suddenly gained the ability to walk. Of course it’d fuckin hurt.”

Yu opened her hands and squeezed them into fists again, breathing deep and in an almost meditative cadence. Slowly, the ache went away.

Something must have shown on her face. “Think you can move like that?” Izuku asked with a grin.

Yū slowly grinned back, “Let’s find out.” She leapt at him, trying to drop her heel right on his head. He grinned and backflipped away.

“Guess we can take a double-length sparring session.” Izuku grinned, “Kacchan, go easy on the explosions. We don’t know how durable she is like this.”

“I’m not a fuckin baby.” Katsuki snarked as he grabbed his phone and picked another song for them to fight to. “Luckily, neither is she.” He had an evil grin on his face as he launched himself in their direction.

And as they sparred, Yū couldn’t help but muse that Devil Trigger was entirely too good of a theme song for these hellions. That was fine.

She was a bad bitch too.

-]|[-

“Congratulations!” Yū grinned as the three of them took in their hard work of the past few months. The beach looked utterly pristine. The sands had even been ‘recycled’ to check for loose bits of buried metal and looked nice and white. Frankly, it looked more like a Mediterranean beach than a Japanese one, and she was all for it.

“You helped too.” Izuku hugged her. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Will feel better after this.” She grinned evilly. He was eighteen now, his birthday having passed just a week ago. She felt good about what she had accomplished, and better about how much progress she had made as a Hero. And while glory no longer held the same shine it once had, she wasn’t against taking her reward.

She locked lips with him, making his eyes bulge out for a moment, before the two started making out.

“Get a fuckin room.” Katsuki growled.

She flipped him off, her other hand occupied with her boyfriend’s fluffy hair.

-]|[-