7: On The Job Training

Izuku nervously gripped his knees as he sat next to his step-father. Two days after he was released from the hospital, his first assignment came up. He, Ochako, and...Bakugo...were to be placed under the care of David Shield, or as he went at work, Iron Man.

Toshinori chuckled, and elbowed him in the side, "Take it easy, kiddo, David's not bad to work with at all," he said, smiling, "Back when he was my sidekick, he never failed to get the job done, and that was before he even invented the Iron Man suit."

"I know, I know, it's just that...this feels weird," he said, looking down at his clenched hands, "I mean, I didn't even have a Quirk a year ago, and now I'm - "

"An on-the-job Hero in training." The man grinned, "I think I've got an idea about how you feel."

Izuku blinked, "Hey, that reminds me, what kind'a Quirk do you have?"

"Me?" The man grinned, "Honestly, I used to have a strength enhancing Quirk."

"Used to?"

"Yup, but thanks to a real bad injury, I lost the ability to use it effectively and it kind'a just petered out over time." He said, feeling bad about fudging up the truth, but he wasn't ready to let the young man in on his little secret. He had enough to deal with as it was without knowing that his newly minted step-father was his favorite Hero.

Izuku looked saddened, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that," he said, "Do you regret losing it?"

Toshinori chuckled, "Sometimes, yeah, I do, but now?" He placed his arm around the boy's shoulders and gave a small squeeze, "I couldn't be happier, really. I finally had time to settle down, and find a family willing to put up with my...well, Quirks I guess?"

"Izuku, hey!" The boy turned and saw Ochako jogging down the hall toward them...and turned about as red as Crimson Riot...for very good reasons. Ochako's choice in her costume design left very, very, very little to the imagination. It was cute, of course, he thought she looked cute in anything, but it was skin tight, and showed off her body farm more than even Mt. Lady's costume did for her!

"Oh, wow..." Izuku said in a very small voice that Toshinori just barely caught, and made him laugh.

Toshinori smiled at the girl as she bounced up to them, "Well, well, Miss Uraraka, don't you look smart!" The man chuckled as he nudged the boy next to him, "Right, Izuku?"

Izuku jolted, ramrodding his spine, "Er, yes, you look great, Ochako!"

Ochako giggled, blushing brighter than usual, "Yeah, thanks, but the agency kind'a got the specs on my costume wrong," she said, gesturing to her figure, "I didn't really want this suit to be so skin-tight."

[If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was trying to reel him in,] Toshinori chuckled internally as he watched the two chatting, [Good think she's got a good background, else I'd be worried.]

"How come you're not in costume, Izuku?" Ochako asked, tilting her head curiously noting the boy was dressed casually.

"Ah," the boy smiled, holding up his right hand which held his nano-mesh watch, "I was kind'a saving it for today. I haven't even seen it, yet."

Toshinori barked out a laugh, a small dribble of blood leaking from his lips, "Well, son, don't keep us waiting!"

"Yeah, I wanna see!" Ochako said in a bubbly tone.

Izuku nodded and pressed the switch on the side of the watch. The device beeped, and produced a small holographic image of the suit. {Suit Selection Option-1 Stealth Suit selected.} The image disappeared and a black substance began spreading over his skin, and clothes up his arm. Soon the suit was covering him completely forming something similar to the suit he wore during the entrance exams. The eyes and spider insignia gave off a slight green glow. Not only that, but the suit formed around him like a second skin, even around his clothes, giving the girl a very defined look at his body.

[Oh, my...]

"My goodness, look at you," Toshinori smiled as the boy looked himself over, "That's quite an intimidating look, Izuku."

"Is it?" Izuku asked, his voice sounding somewhat strange behind the mask. "I was hoping it looked a little friendlier."

"Well, I think it looks cool!" Ochako smiled, and reached out to touch his insignia, the material feeling soft, yet strong. "I don't think I'll have to pull anymore metal out of you."

Izuku chuckled at the small reminder, "Yeah, I hope not."

"What the hell'er you doin' here, Deku?!"

"Guh!"

"Oh, no."

"Here we go." Toshinori sighed as the third, and unwitting member of their little team arrived, dressed to blow something up. The boy looked like a rogue commando, complete with a grenade belt around his waist, and black combat boots. The gauntlets on his hands looked like over-sized explosives, as well. Something that worried the blond man. [What could he do with those things?]

Katsuki Bakugou had a rabid look on his face as he marched up the black and green clad Spider, "Why the hell are you even here?" He demanded, "Don't tell me you got one of those licenses, too?!"

Ochako put her hands on her hips, "You better believe he did, and so did I," she snapped angrily, "You got a problem with that, City Boy?"

"Y'er damned right I do!" He roared, little explosions already crackling in his palms. "You two scrubs better not get in my way, or I'll blow your asses to kingdom come!"

The door to David's office crashed open, startling Izuku and Ochako while Katsuki looked ready to blast whoever decided to interrupt. Of course, he wasn't expecting David Shield to appear at the door in full armor, helmet in hand, and looking angry. His eyes landed directly on the Explosion Quirk user, "Use that Quirk of yours on your teammates, and you can kiss any hopes of becoming a Hero, or even attending U.A. good-bye."

"Oh, man, that's the Silver Centurion Armor!" Izuku nearly lost his mind when that bit of famous armor came into view. "That's the one he used to take down -!"

"Shut it, Deku!"

David's brow rose at the boy's harsh treatment. "Katsuki Bakugou. Quirk; Explosion, a Quirk that allows you to make what you call Nitro-Sweat, a nitroglycerin-like substance which you then detonate. Your costume's design is made with that very concept in mind, and stores the sweat inside your wrist gauntlets, and the grenades around your waist." Katsuki gave the man a sneer. He knew who he was, but that didn't change his attitude. "You've been told throughout your life that you've got a very special Quirk, that it's one of the best."

"That's right." Now the blond's cockiness was beginning to show.

David stepped closer to the trio of young Heroes, "Well, while I'll admit that your Quirk is quite strong," he said, leveling a glare at the boy, "Your attitude is shit."

Cue Rabid Bakugou, "THE FUCK DID YOU SAY!?"

"Do not make me repeat myself!" David snapped right back just as loudly, forcing the boy to back down, "If it weren't for Nezu's decision, you wouldn't be here right now! Personally, I think you aren't suited to this kind of work. You're intelligent, but arrogant. You're strong, yet you view all others as weak, even some Pro Heroes. I've read in a few files that've said you've bullied others with that Quirk of yours, particularly those without Quirks." David strode right up to the boy and got right in his face, "I don't have a Quirk." He said, seeing the boy grind his teeth, "And I could put you down like a rabid cur."

Izuku was freaking out by this point. No one bullied Kacchan! It was usually the other way around! This didn't make any sense to the Spider.

David straightened back up, "If it were up to me, I'd just be taking these two under my care," he said, gesturing to Ochako and Izuku, "They have exactly what I look for in Heroes...you don't."

"But it's not up to you, David," Toshinori interjected, hoping to avoid a serious fight, "The boy's here because that's the way Nezu wants it, and that's final. I'm sure you can give him some pointers while you work with him."

"I intend to," David said, "the question is; will he listen?" He regard all three youngsters, "I've met two of you before outside my agency, but that was after hours. Concerning Hero Work, I learned to never mince words. If I see a problem, I address it." He turned to Izuku, who snapped to attention, "Izuku Midoriya, born Quirkless, like myself, but gained a mutation thanks to an incident involving a first generation arachnoid mutant. From your school's grading system you have a sharp mind, but lack a large amount of confidence which improves slightly as you don your mask."

Izuku blushed under his mask, "I'm really trying to work on that, Sir."

"Which is good, but due to that little fiasco earlier this week, you've most likely come to understand what you really need to improve on," he said, "Experience. While I can't fault you for trying to get away from Scorpion right away, he will most likely be back, and you won't be able to run forever." His remarks gained a look of angered confusion from Bakugou, "During the melee, you relied on your Quirk's danger sense far too much, and turned your back on the enemy. This in turn, gave him the opportunity to possibly kill you. Which he almost did. If not for that highly enhanced healing factor, the venom Scorpion possesses would have likely melted you from the inside out."

Izuku shivered, "Right, don't rely so much on my Quirk, and not to let my guard down."

"More like be aware of your surroundings." David said, "Scorpion's more than capable of climbing walls like you can with those claws of his. You also need to work on some close range combat skills. We'll get to that soon." He sighed, and looked at the young man's stepfather, "And while we're on the subject of possible villain attacks on you, Izuku, I'm going to say this here and now - "

"DAVID!" Toshinori yelled.

" - your father may decide to come after you." David finished.

Izuku stiffened. Underneath his mask, the boy had gone completely pale.

"What the hell're you talking about, old man?" Katsuki demanded rudely.

"I thought he was your dad?" Ochako asked, pointing to Toshinori.

"Stepdad," David corrected her, "the man I'm talking about is called Hiashi Higurashi, also known as the pyromaniac, Pyro. He's a villain that's made a big name for himself over in America, and he's downright ruthless when it comes to things he wants."

"He abandoned me, so why would he come back?" Izuku asked shakily.

"Because back then you didn't have a Quirk," the man said, sighing, "But now that you do, he might come to find you so he can mold you into someone like himself."

Ochako looked at the Spider, [Oh, man, I had no idea that his dad went bad.] She thought sympathetically. She looked down and saw his hands clenched so tightly that the material of his suit was groaning in protest. And she saw what looked to be bony spike peeking out from be back of his wrists. Slowly, she reached out and gently grasped his left hand. He looked at her, and the girl smiled.

"And now we come to our little enigma," David said, looking at the lone girl of the little group, "Ochako Uraraka, fair to moderate grades, spotless school record, and from a modest little family. Your Quirk recently mutated from Zero Gravity into a full-on Gravity Manipulation Quirk, which is rare, almost as rare as telepathic Quirks, or Warp Quirks. And highly dangerous."

"Ulp!"

"Gravity Manipulation, as you have displayed, can create a multitude of things, from stars to black holes." David went on, "You managed to increase the gravity around your purse, making it extremely heavy when you threw it in Izuku's defense, and you were able to create an increased field of gravity around Scorpion, and even reversed gravity for his acid, and managed to send it back at him." He gave a small smile, "Your Quirk is quite impressive, but what you did was an act of pure emotional unrest which, given the circumstances, I can understand completely. But increasing the gravity around someone can have a heavy toll, pardon the pun, on the person's body, particularly their hearts. It's pure luck that Scorpion wasn't effected too greatly by the field you put up."

"I've never used it before..." the girl said in dejection. Izuku gave her hand a return squeeze.

"Precisely!" David shouted, making all four of them jump. "Which is why, for this first week of your on-job-training we will be working on improving your Quirks all around, and your attitude, Bakugou."

Toshinori nearly chuckled as the boy in question looked ready to explode. "Now, don't be too rough with them, Dave." The man cautioned, "Izuku's just gotten out of the hospital, and Miss Uraraka doesn't know how to control her powers all that well."

Suddenly, the hard, outer shell that David was putting up cracked, and the smiling friendly David came back, "Ah, don't worry, Toshi, they'll be fine."

"Who cares!?" Bakugou finally exploded, "When do I get to blast some villains?!"

David's left eye began to twitch, "This is gonna be a long week.

{勇者}

The latest news around the bar was not helping Toumura's mood in the least. Izuku Midoriya had been accepted into a Hero Agency! Iron Man's Hero Agency! The media was all over the attack made on him by Scorpion, which meant they were all over the boy in general! Not only had the accidental Hero been taken further out of his reach, but two others had been taken in, both of which were powerful!

"How much will this set you back?" He asked Kraven the morning after the news broadcast showed the three young Heroes in question standing beside a stern looking Iron Man. "Will you have to pull back from your attacks, or will you be able to handle both the boy, and Iron Man?"

Kraven sipped his drink silently, contemplating his answer, "It is difficult to say, my young friend," he said truthfully, "Iron Man, or better, David Shield, is a long time friend of All Might, which means that he is also nearby, and watching over these little runts." He sat back, thinking, a smirk adorning his face, "But this will not dissuade us. It may even work in our favor."

"How so?" Kurogiri asked as he refilled the man's drink.

Kraven jerked his thumb over at Electro, who was dozing off at the end of the bar, "Max there has a grudge against our armored watchdog, so he will no doubt want in on the next bit of action. Scorpion can no doubt handle the boy your are after, and I suspect that Morbius will want a...taste of the girl."

"The young are always so delectable," the Vampire said for himself whilst licking his fangs.

"What about All Might?" Toumura asked.

The floor thumped as Rhino leaned over the bar, "How's about me and Vulture causing a scene? A robbery or something?"

"Sounds good, and we could always use the extra cash," Kraven smirked, turning to the armored member of their team, "What do you say, Vulture?"

The man grinned from beneath his orange visor, "I say that I'm bored out of my fucking skull, so lets do it." He said, rubbing his hands together, "When do we do it?"

Kraven chuckled, and turned to his employer, "Want to help?"

"Robberies aren't my thing," he said, "But Kurogiri's welcome to help if he wants."

"It would be a pleasure."

{勇者}

"David really talked about all of that?" Inko asked later that evening as she and Toshinori sat down to dinner, "I had no idea that he could be so harsh!"

Toshinori shrugged, "Neither did I, it was completely out of character for him," he admitted, shaking his head, "Honestly, though, I think it was more to put Bakugo on the spot than anything. That boy needed a few pegs taken out."

Inko nodded, sighing, "Yes, I know," she said, "Mistuki's done the best she can with him. It was pretty much all of his teachers' fault that he turned out the way he did."

"His mother didn't try to correct him?"

"No, they're far too much alike for that to happen," the woman sighed, thinking of her friend's explosive temper. "But to think he brought up Hiashi, of all things..."

"That's something I don't really want to think about, Dear," Toshinori said, "It's not that I'mm the jealous type, but it obviously upsets you, and Izuku far too much to even think about him."

Inko shrugged, "To be honest, I never expected him to turn into villain," she told her husband, "His Fire Breath Quirk wasn't all that strong, but to see him now makes me think he had an encounter with that man...you know whom I'm talking about, right?"

"I like talking about him even less," he said, but admitted that she had a point, "It's possible, however, but I wouldn't worry about him too much, either. We both did a solid number on the other."

"I know," she reached across the table, and squeezed his hand, "You still have nightmares about it."

"Sorry," he said, gripping her hand tightly, and smiled, "Not married a week, and we're already leaning on each other, aren't we?"

She giggled, "I can't say I mind it all that much, Toshi," she said, "Just promise me that when you find a successor, you'll retire completely, alright?"

"Anything to keep my wife happy." He grinned.

"Oh, you!"

"Speaking of happy, I noticed that Miss Uraraka's getting closer to...to our son..." he shook his head, chuckling, "I have a son, now. That's going to take some getting used to."

Giggling again, the woman leaned on her hands, "I'm certainly glad to hear that little bit of news," she admitted, "She seems to be such a sweet little thing. And he could use a few more friends other than Katsuki."

Toshinori laughed, "You wanna know what she suggested for Katuski's Hero name?"

"What?"

He leaned in close, "Exploud!"

She choked, "Isn't that the name of a Pokemon?!"

"Yup! Had Izuku rolling before the kid went ballistic!"

Inko tried to picture that for a moment.

Inko's Imagination

{"Go Exploud! Use Hyper Voice!" Izuku called out.

"DIIIEEE!"}

{勇者}

She snorted uncontrollably before she fell into a fit of laughter, "Oh, I wish Mistuki could've seen that!" She wiped a stray tear from her eye, "How did Katsuki take it?"

Toshinori chuckled, "I honestly thought he was gonna blow her to smithereens." He said, "If he wasn't so busy telling Izuku to shut up his laughing, I think he might have, but both he and David were laughing themselves sick over it. Ochako is one brave little lady."

"All the more reason to like her," Inko said, sighing, "It's a shame, though, that they didn't get to finish their date."

"These things happen," he sighed, "But at least they're both alright after that incident, and now they're being prepared for the worst."

{勇者}

Izuku fell into his bed at the Agency, thoroughly exhausted. The day's training had been absolute hell. Not only had David had him working on how much weight his strength allowed him to lift -he found that fifteen tons was his utter limit- but he had him doing endurance training. Izuku was surprised to learn that he could run at a full sprint at sixty miles an hour. Combat training had been the worst of it.

David Shield's armor was not limited to his own personal use. He had robots built to mirror his Armor, which is what he was forced to fight. And those things were not programmed to pull their punches...or their missiles...or their repulsors...or anything!

In the end, he had only managed to destroy a few of them.

Bakugou, however, had been even worse off in the end. He went up against Iron Man himself. It was a humbling experience in his own opinion. Bakugou's arrogance had gotten the better of him, and and that had led to him getting the living snot beaten out of him within minutes. Round two, Katsuki had gone with a more cautious approach, but it had still ended with the same results. A bruised and batter Bakugou, with a broken ego.

Ochako...he really didn't know what to think of her training.

David had told her to practice moving targets with her Quirk...without touching them. As per usual, the girl had pressed her fingers together to activate her Quirk, and held her hands out toward the ball targets...but nothing had happened.

It wasn't until Izuku, after getting pummeled by one of the robots, slid by and suggested that she keep her fingers together while trying to move the targets. It had worked to a slight degree. One of the balls had risen and slowly, shakily started to revolve around the girl. David relented that it was a start.

[And this is just the first day,] Izuku groaned as the boy laid his head down on his pillow. [But this is a step in the right direction.]

A knock came to his door, and Ochako peeked in, "Hey, Izuku...how're you feeling?"

Sitting up, the boy nodded, "Yeah, just a little sore from all that fighting I had to do." He sighed, smiling shakily, "How about you? How's your stomach?"

Ochako blushed, having gotten sick more than once while practicing with her Quirk. "Better...do you think I made any progress today?"

"I think so," he smiled, then jumped as the girl stumbled over to his bed and sat next to him. "Uh, O-Ochako?"

"Can I tell you something?" She asked, looking at him a little worried, "I mean, it's nothing bad or anything like that, I just...I don't wanna make you think badly of me or anything like that."

Izuku blinked, surprised. Ochako wasn't normally this nervous around him, "You can tell me anything you want, Ochako." He said, shaking his head, "I promise, whatever it is, I won't get mad."

"Well, before I do, can you tell me...why you wanna become a Hero?" She asked.

Izuku sat back for a moment, thinking. "That's kind'a loaded." He said, crossing his arms, "Back when I was little, heck, even now, I was an All Might fanboy, and I wanted to be just like him."

"Strong and popular?"

"A Hero that could save people with a smile on my face," he said, blushing, "But after I found out I was Quirkless, I just wanted to prove that someone like me could be a Hero, even without a Quirk. I mean Mister Shield's a Hero, and a good one. And America has had a lot of other Quirkless Heroes...Japan, not so much."

"And now you can show everyone what you've got." She smiled, and frowned at once. She then leaned her head against his shoulder, making him jolt, "I wish my reasons were as pure as that...truth be told, I'm...I'm in it for the money."

"Really?" Izuku asked, surprised, "You don't seem the type?"

"You mean snooty, and greedy?" She asked, giggling, "I'm not, really, because I don't want the money for myself. I want it for my parents." His brow rose, and she went on, "My parents run a construction company, but they don't get much work because we lived out in the countryside. Not a lot of demand for heavy building, or repairs since there were so few Hero Agencies, or villain attacks." She gave him a bit of a smile, "We're dirt pore, yet they spared no expense when it came to me. My clothes were brand new, and theirs were threadbare. I always got plenty of food. They made sure I had the best of things for a girl my age. I didn't even wanna go to high school so that I could stay and help them with the company." She frowned, and pressed against him more, "But they always just laugh it off, and tell me to make it big as a Hero and send them on a vacation..."

"They must love you a lot." He said, finally getting over how close they were.

"And I love them more than anything in the world," she said, "So that's why I wanna be a Hero, so I can make enough money to give them a better life. They deserve for taking such good care of me."

"And you think becoming a Hero for money like that is a bad thing," he sighed, then, slowly, he placed his arm around her shoulders. Ochako blushed at the contact, and looked up at him, seeing a brilliant blush across his own cheeks, "But I think it's pretty noble. You're not doing it for yourself, you're doing it for them." He said, smiling down at her, "Me? I'm the one that's selfish."

The girl smiled, and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't think so." She closed her eyes and snuggled up against him, her head against his chest. "Can I tell you something else?"

"S-sure," he yelped as she pressed against him.

"Something like this? You and me?" She said softly, "It was the furthest from my mind. All I wanted was to study, train, and become a Hero as fast as I could." She sighed, and looked up at him, "And yet here I am...and you're making me fall for you."

Izuku looked surprised, and blushed like a tomato, "I-I-I am?! B-b-b-b-but I-I-I'm not d-d-d-oing a-a-anyth-th-thing d-dif-fer-ferent!"

"Nope," the girl smiled, and leaned against his chest once more, "You were just being your normal, warm, welcoming self." She said, "You're so sweet to me, and fun to talk with. I have more fun with than what friends I had back home. And...you...," she pulled back slightly and looked up at him, "You're my Hero."

They were the words that had wanted to hear for so long. From the lips of someone important in his life.

He pulled her against him as one of her arms went around his neck to the back of his head. Kissing was something completely new to the pair, so it was far from perfect. Their teeth clicked together, and their noses were smooshed together, but, to them, it was perfect. If only for a moment.

{勇者}

AN: This is the last bit of fluff for a few chapters since a conflict against the Sinister Six is coming up, but for the fans of certain sweet little orphan, Eri will be coming up soon!