Author claims no rights to Hero Academia or any affiliated licenses.
Thank you all for your reviews! Much love XD
OoOoOo
Three days later, Izuku was staring at the most sinister pair of eyes she'd ever seen. That was not to say, that they were unknown, merely that each and every time that she saw them it was akin to the very first glimpse. Broken. Hateful. Glee-filled. Destructive.
In their own way, they were a captivating sight. Absolutely, enthralling as they were terrifying. The insane gaze never failed to fill her with a sense of morbid excitement. Izuku, also known as the Hero Deku, knew that those eyes belonged to someone far more terrible than their fidgeting demeanor would appear.
His name was 'Game Over'. A villain that, as his name implied, enjoyed ending things once and for all. His quirk was based upon neurological impulses. He could, and often did, control the people under his quirk, forcing them to act out scenes in true video game fashion.
Jumping, was by far, his favorite way of forcing people to kill themselves. Lately, he had become partial, to forcing them to fight others in the street. It resulted in one of two ways they died from sheer exhaustion, or were killed by someone else's quirk as one victim defended themselves from another. It was horrible and degrading. However, it had never stopped the villain before.
Well, before Deku, at any rate. Now it seemed that he mostly went on rampages when he grew bored and wanted to see her.
He licked his lips, crooked and chipped teeth gleamed under the mid-day sun.
"Cheat code," he purred out, which caused her skin to crawl in revulsion.
None of which showed on her face. With a bright and wide smile, she nodded toward the civilian on-lookers gracefully.
She had almost forgotten (well, not really but she had now discovered the benefit of Plans A-C for everyday things), that he had nick-named her 'Cheat Code'. Whether it was in homage or an insult, she did not know precisely. After all, she had never made a habit of chatting cozily with every Tom, Dick, and Harry of a Villain that passed by.
If Tomura knew, Izuku doubted he would approve of the pet name, as it was not his style. He was usually too busy fan-boying over Eraser Head as a hero, or slandering the rest of them, to settle on petty insults. Such things were far too basic for him. Which still did not make a great deal of sense to Deku.
It often made her think of All Might, and how he had called the new leader of the Villain syndicates down from his soap box.
"Surrender now," Deku stated calmly, "And I will not use brute force."
She grimaced when the Villain seemed to perk up at the mention of 'brute force'. Great. Another Masochist. It was surprisingly prolific in her line of work. Then again, a lot of pain usually was involved. Huh...
"Why would I ever do that?" He cackled a bit too cheerfully for Deku's taste. The half-formed notes that were obviously a bit fake, grated on her eardrums.
"Because if you do not," she replied truthfully, "I will put a stop to you. One way or another"
Those broken eyes, shimmered with a strange light, and she knew he was attempting his quirk upon her.
Again.
"How many times are we going to go through this?" The Hero asked, half-rhetorically.
Game Over chuckled briefly.
"As many times as it takes."
She narrowed her gaze, and wondered what his ominous statement pertained to. Her thoughts churned, and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, which some called intuition, twisted briefly. Whatever this was, it was certainly not going to be a good thing. However, she needed to keep him talking, and if he would divulge some of his schemes, she might be able to piece together a way to stop whatever it was that was in motion. Game Over, like many, adored hearing himself talk.
"Is that so?" She questioned lightly, her green gaze searched the surrounding area. She took into account the number of civilians frozen to the spot, the ones off behind the police lines, and the no-less than 8 escape routes Game Over had at his disposal.
Hm, this could be a tricky one today.
He took a deep breath and gave a mock-sigh.
"When will you bend to my will?" His tone was nearly tender, and she felt her eyes narrow as icy dread pooled in her limbs. Not out of fear of him, but where this conversation might be headed.
"I want you to bend to me," he muttered, his own insane orbs bore into her, and she was struck again by how broken of a man he was.
"And people in hell want ice-water," she retorted without a second thought.
Silence met her statement, then Game Over threw back his head and gave a loud guffaw.
"You are priceless, Cheat Code!"
"It's Deku," She reminded him grimly before allowing One-for-all to blanket her body. It surged forward, lending power, speed, and durability to her form. With a practiced grace, she launched at him, skillfully avoiding the wall of citizens he attempted to use to put distance between them.
OoOoOo
Somewhere along the way, Izuku had ended up needing to be caught as she plummeted from over 50 stories of a large corporate building. Game Over had managed to force her to have to fight off his hold much more so today, than other encounters.
He must have been practicing with his quirk again, or he had altered it in some way.
The other hero to save her body from some notable damage, was none other than Kamui Woods. She could still recall the time that seeing him had sent her mind into 'Hero Analysis' overdrive. She'd written about him in her notebook. One of many, and she was not ashamed to say that she still added to her notations from time to time help her stay on top of her game.
Mentally she grimaced over the word 'Game'. It was due to 'Game Over', the villain that had managed to hold her in his quirk long enough, to keep her from from trying to catch herself as she was falling.
Hence, the needed assistance of Kamui Woods.
She had been internally sweating over just how much it was going to hurt landing on the pavement (or, more than likely, make a hole in the pavement), when she'd felt the other hero entangle her in his roots. Her body bounced a bit as gravity was suddenly halted from plunging her further toward the ground.
"Oopfh!" Deku voiced the sound, her body looking almost like a doll's as it sagged in relief.
It was not a stretch of the imagination to say that she was happy to see the other Hero.
Her emerald gaze glanced to the branches, following them back to their source. She flashed Kamui a bright and thankful smile. Her lips parted, as she was just about to express her gratitude. That bright expression quickly turned to horror, as she caught the sight of 'Explosion King' rocketing from the left.
He couldn't be serious.
Kaa-chan would never-
The dull thud of flesh striking flesh however, told her that Katsuki Bakugou would. He absolutely would.
She could only blink as she was suddenly released, and the the tangle of roots which prevented her from falling further was suddenly gone.
Crap...
"Get your hands off of her!"
She distantly heard Bakugou demand roughly, as she twisted her body about in a vain attempt to land on her feet.
Damn cats. They made it look so easy.
Instead she dropped the remaining ten or so feet, onto her butt, as she missed sticking the landing.
Well, that was certainly going to bruise.
Deku narrowed her eyes, still in her hero persona, as she gingerly moved to stomp over to where Kamui Woods was holding his cheek and yelling back at the Blonde hero.
"I was saving her!"
"She doesn't need your damn help, you handsy fucking bastard!"
No, she had needed his help. Terminal velocity toward the pavement had not sounded like a fun idea. At least, not to her. For a moment, she contemplated grabbing his uniform and shaking him. however, her mind wondered if it was some fiendishly clever plot to get her to deviate from plan A.
Hmmm.
"Did you," she asked instead, peering up at Explosion King with a fierce expression, "Just punch the hero that kept me from falling?"
A deep crimson gaze suddenly filled her vision, as he stared right back at her. She could see that he was already fairly worked up. What was the matter with Kaa-han?
"He had his hands all over you!"
Deku's expression mirrored her bewilderment.
"Hands on me?" She parroted back. "His wood roots were keeping me from going freaking 'splat' on the ground!"
The explosive hero did not look convinced.
"You were fucking fine," Bakugou insisted. "This perverted shit-monger was trying to cop a feel."
He jerked his thumb toward Kasumi Woods, whose eyes widened and he took an involuntary step backward. His gaze swung from Explosion King, and then to Deku.
"Miss," he said respectfully, "I would never-"
"Cop a what?" Deku interrupted, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the older hero. "A feel? Are you serious right now? Was his freaking bark appendage going to grope me?"
Said wood hero looked vaguely insulted. He did have hands, they just turned into roots...when he wanted them too. it was very helpful.
Her hands fisted at her sides, as she and Bakugou were nearly forehead to forehead, glaring at each other.
"Damn fucking straight," The blonde hero snarled back, his red eyes were as furious as the rest of him.
"I can't believe," Deku snarled back, "that you just punched the guy that was saving me! Did you want me to hit the ground?"
"Of course not! You shit-for-brains." Bakugou said in his true fashion of not being able to admit anything without enough swear words to make a sailor blush.
She scoffed.
"Oh yeah. Nice, Kaa-chan, real nice."
He blinked.
"Fuck you,"
"With pleasure!"
Everyone froze.
... wait...wait.
Izuku blushed, as Katsuki stared at her. Kamui Woods shifted, as the holder of One-for-all put her hand over the bottom of her face, trying not to word-vomit a long explanation which would only make things infinitely worse.
"Are... are you two an item?" The wooden hero ask, trying to be helpful as his tone was exceedingly polite and light.
The cocky grin that spread over Bakugou's face, was one that Deku hadn't seen in such force since they were first entering into their teenage years. It usually spelled some form of doom, and her life seemed to flash before her eyes. They had both been doing great. Ignoring each other. Honestly, that was as close to Harmonious as Bakugou and Midoriya could ever seem to accomplish. Then she had to go and undo virtually all of plans A through C.
Fine.
Plan D it was.
Tactical retreat.
"Oh look," she said firmly pretending that she hadn't just committed social suicide, "Reporters."
Crimson eyes blinked as she turned abruptly and walked toward them.
"Oi! Deku!"
"Can't stop," she called back, not looking over her shoulder. "Interviews."
Bakugou waited until she was completely out of ear shot, before turning back toward Kamui Woods. His hands smoldered and the devilish look of glee that came over his features actually managed to make the pro-hero pause. Briefly, Kamui wondered if Explosion King would have made a better Villain than a hero.
"Keep your fucking hands to yourself, before something happens to them."
It was a vague and ominous threat, just like a Villain...
However, the other male only nodded mutely to signal that he had heard. And, the meaning was crystal clear.
OoOoOo
"It's not funny!" Izuku insisted, as Uraraka clutched at her sides, howling her mirth as she gasped for breath.
The antigravity quirk user was nearly literally rolling in the air. Tears were in her eyes as she started to speak.
"It is just too funny," Ochaco replied, dissolving into another round of laughter.
Emerald eyes stared at her balefully.
"Why are we friends?"
"Because you love me," the other woman replied breathlessly, "and you know it."
She had a point, but at the moment Midoryia was feeling more rage than love toward her. Seeing the nearly mutinous expression on Izuku's face, Ochaco calmed down. Slightly.
"Oh come on," Uraraka said teasingly, "it's not that bad."
"How?" Izuku questioned immediately. "How is this 'not that bad'? It was awful, and you weren't there. You have no idea how 'bad' this is. 'He' is going to murder me. I can see it all now."
Briefly her thoughts flashed back to the flowers and now she as contemplating writing out what music she wanted at her funeral. Something elegant and tasteful. Then maybe a happy song? She wasn't certain what she wanted, there were too many options...
A warm hand found its way to her forearm, as Ochaco tried to smile kindly at her. It turned out to be an expression more akin to holding back laugher. Izuku was not comforted in the least.
"He's not going to kill you Deku," she assured her. "Its Bakugou. The worst he's going to do is-"
"Beat me up?" Izuku questioned sarcastically, "Hospitalize me?"
The other woman snorted.
"If he ends up hospitalizing you, then I want to hear all the details, because it will be a saga for the ages."
The curly haired woman fell silent, pondering that.
"What do you mean?" She questioned, after a moment. Ochaco's face turned pensive, and then went right back to amusement.
"Just... just trust me," Uraraka said evenly, "you'll be fine. 'Explosion King' is not going to kill you."
She was glad someone thought that, because she'd ran the scenario in her head fifty-two times, and had come out seriously maimed or dead in 39 of them. And after their most recent verbal exchange, she was inclined think that being beaten to a pulp made up the other 13.
Something about Izuku's posture, made the Ochaco laugh again.
"It's not funny."
"It's really funny. I wish I had been there to see the expression on his face!"
"Murderous." Midoryia said after a moment. "it was Murderous."
"I doubt that."
OoOoOo
"I doubt that."
"You calling' me a fucking liar? You little shit!"
Romero Fujimi, known for his zombie virus quirk, looked about as convinced as someone being pissed on and then being told it was raining. Though most would have seen his quirk as a combative one, or at least a suppression of villains quirk; he had turned out to be amongst the greatest rescue hero of the business.
His quirk made people immune to damage, allowing him to save mass amounts of people during natural disasters. He was highly respected and had even received a few commendations for his service to the public.
What he was not, was stupid.
And the idea that Katsuki Bakugou was an item with Izuku Midoryia, was about as much bullshit as bullshit could come.
"Yeah, I'm calling you a liar. Fuck-face." He responded, unafraid of the wrath of the explosive hero Katsuki Bakugou. The two were like mad dogs, circling around one another, with teeth bared.
"I'll fucking show you, ass-wipe." Bakugou shouted, ready to charge at him.
"Knock it off!" Their boss roared, causing them both to flinch back. "No one gives a damn! This is a place of business, get back to work you slackers! If you have time to argue, you have time to be saving someone."
The pair blinked.
"But, no one has called for us," Romero pointed out logically.
Slate gray eyes glared at him harshly.
"Then get the hell out of my office and find some work."
Fujimi and Bakugou glanced at one another, saying nothing, but radiating their dislike of each other A red-headed hero watched them from the back of the room. Eijiro Kirishima, who was almost in the same boat as Romero, blinked. Some of his doubt was dispelled by the defensive way in which Katsuki had responded.
Maybe... just maybe... he and Izuku Midoryia really were together.
Huh, well, good for them.
OoOoOo
Miles away, a green-eyed woman sneezed.
"Oh, are you coming down with a cold?"
Izuku shook her head to the negative, and gave her Uraraka a small smile.
"No, I think something just tickled my nose briefly."