Yui bit back a yawn as Izuku bounced next to her, she really didn’t get how he always had so much energy at ungodly hours of the morning. Even she didn’t get bouncy until her fifth cup of coffee. Izuku had three notebooks neatly arranged in front of him at the lunch table they were at as they waited for the trio to join them. The green bean had finally finished composing the analysis on them and couldn’t wait to talk with them about it.
“Good morning!” Togata’s cheery voice rang out in the otherwise empty room, the siblings looking up to see the three walking toward them. Amajiki looked a little disheveled as he yawned loudly, hair sticking up a bit. Hado and Togata were both bright eyed and bushy tailed and smiling, the periwinkle-haired teen was practically skipping.
“Mornin’.” Yui mumbled before she took a long sip from her thermos. She was still waiting for the caffeine to hit her.
“Don’t mind Yui-nee, she’s always like this in the early morning. If she would go to sleep at a normal time-“ Izuku let out a yip at the jab to his ribs, rubbing the spot as he turned to his sister, “You know I’m right, don’t be a grump.”
“Why sleep when I can work on stuff? We’re not here to talk about me anyway.” She waved a dismissive hand and put it on top of her thermos when Hado tried to nab it, the other girl giving her a pout, “You. Definitely don’t need the level of caffeine that’s in this. Maybe Amajiki.”
Hado huffed out a breath before the three sat down, “Are these the notebooks, Izu-chan? I’m so excited, I woke up too early to get ready!” She giggled as she drummed her fingers on the table.
“Me too, I can’t wait to see what you’ve thought out for us. Especially after all the weeks we’ve trained with you.” Togata grinned.
Izuku chuckled, a little self-conscious noise as he scratched the back of his head. “Oh, I’m sure it’s not that revolutionary. I’m not an expert or anything. It’s just a hobby I indulge in… A-Anyway, we should get started. Um…Togata-senpai, did you want to take a look at yours first?” He slid the sunshine-yellow notebook closer to the blonde.
“Of course!” He flipped it open, Hado and Amajiki looking over his shoulders.
“So, um, I know we know the basics of Permeation. Your Quirk is really tricky and you’re still working to master it. But! We learned something new a few weeks ago. When you activate your Quirk all over your body you phase into the ground, and deactivating it makes you shoot out of the ground like a bullet! You could really trick people into thinking you have a teleportation Quirk or something. You could really play that angle to confuse your opponents.” Izuku rambled, his hands moving as he talked, “You just have to get really good at remembering where your opponent or opponents are since you can’t see or hear when you have your Quirk active all over. It’ll take a lot of practice to get it right, so you don’t launch yourself far away.”
“I don’t really have any gear recommendations since unless it has your dna, the objects would just fall off you. Though, I wonder if we could get your helmet a comm system and a lens upgrade like how Yui-nee’s works? The comm system is really useful when you’re on a team, and night vision and infrared are helpful for night missions. And I know you’re pretty good at reading your opponents movements, but I think you’d get even better with the right training. I have a list of heroes I recommend you try to study under.”
Togata let out a laugh, “You have so much in here! I like this section on fake-out moves to freak out people so I can confuse them to get a better hit on them. Breathing techniques so I can hold Permeation longer… I like the name you gave the ground spitting me out move: propulsion!” He boomed out the name, the word echoing in the room.
“Just be careful with using that in spars…” Izuku chuckled softly, glancing at Yui as she crinkled her nose.
“Yeah, I want to avoid you breaking my ribs. I had to go see Recovery Girl again.” She sighed as the blonde let out an awkward chuckle.
“I apologized, and I got you mint chip ice cream! I really didn’t mean for that to happen, I shot out so fast I couldn’t activate my Quirk before I slammed into you! I can’t exactly kiss it better like Recovery Girl…I mean, I could try.” He pushed his lips together in a ridiculous fish imitation. Yui looked away as heat crawled up her neck as she tried to hide her face behind her thermos.
Hado covered his mouth with a hand, her other hand lifting to shake a reprimanding finger at him, “Hey! No stealing Yui, we agreed to share, remember? You pinkie promised.”
“What?” The teal eyed teen almost choked on her coffee as she looked at the trio with wide eyes.
Amajiki hid his face in his hands as Togata dissolved into laughter, “It’s Nejire… don’t worry about it. She’s probably a little sleep-deprived manic right now anyway.”
“Oh right! I think one of the things we should work on next in training sessions is improving your time so you can steadily use Permeation without it backfiring and you hitting into things. I think a sparring with Yui or me will help you with reading moves and switching off and on since we’re pretty fast with jabs and such. And it’d be a good workout for us too.” Izuku smiled brightly, seeing that familiar competitive light spark in those bright blue eyes.
“Aw yeah! I want you both to come at me!”
“Mirio…you’re way too competitive.” Amajiki sighed softly as he shook his head.
“Hey, competition is healthy! I just want to be the best I can be.” The blonde grinned as he closed the notebook, “And I’ll use this to help me, thank, green bean! You put in a lot of thought to these, didn’t you?”
“Ah, um, yeah…I’m still working on your other classmates, but I’m getting close to done with them. I just know more about your guys since I get to see you more. Nejire-senpai, this one’s yours.” He pushed the glittery periwinkle notebook to her, giving a hesitant smile as she let out a soft squeal and quickly opened it.
“Your Quirk is really powerful so I don’t think you’ll need any additional gear. It’s super flashy and the energy waves pack a huge punch when they hit. And the size of the waves has been growing since you’ve been doing endurance training, so I think your stamina is definitely improving. I added some more exercises to increase stamina and such after a lot of research. Oh, and some materials you can ask for your suit so it’s a bit more sturdy that should fit into your suit budget in case someone gets too close. A lot of you guys just have this spandex material…it’s really not practical.”
“I thought a lot of heroes’ suits were spandex? Midnight’s is, Aizawa’s is just like…a jumpsuit.” She scanned the pages, blinking up at them as she tilted her head, “Right?”
“Yeah, good luck getting a hit on that man. And Midnight’s has to be thinner because of her Quirk. But she does have reinforcements for her vital organ areas.” Yui pointed out.
“It’s just a suggestion, senpai. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Izuku smiled softly before he cleared his throat, “It’s just something to think about. Anyway, I wanted to talk about the new use of your Quirk! I know it’s really new and you don’t have great control of being able to use your waves from your feet yet, but it’ll really help you with the whole speed issue you were facing before. If you ever heard of Gran Torino, he’s an older hero and not really known, but he uses bursts of air from his feet to bounce around to disorientate and strike villains down quickly. I don’t think you’d be able to imitate the speed, but seeing footage might help give you ideas.”
Hado giggled softly as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, “I’m still getting used to being in the air. But it’s really fun as long as I be careful of the ceiling!”
“At least we’ll be around to catch you. Just make sure you only practice when you have us or a teacher around.” Yui smiled softly.
“Yeah, I have a whole arsenal of jokes for those occasions you know, you gotta let me have a chance to use them.” Togata grinned.
“I’d never pass on hearing your jokes, Miri.” Hado giggled before she lifted the notebook and pointed out a list of foods. “What’s this, Izu-chan?”
“Oh! I didn’t know if certain foods affected your Quirk, so those are some recommendations on energy-rich foods and snacks. If you can replenish your energy during a fight, it’d be pretty helpful. It’s just a hopeful guess. Though since we’re on the talk of food…” Izuku pushed the navy notebook to Amajiki. “I added meal plans that feature helpful manifestation options. You already have food pouches but I listed off snacks that can be carried easily in them too. Your Quirk is so versatile, senpai! It’s really impressive how quickly you react to different situations.”
Amajiki ducked his head as he averted his eyes like he was looking at something too bright as the tips of his ears tinted pink at the praise. “It’s really not…”
“Come on, Tama! We talked about this, you gotta admit when your hard work pays off!” Hado smiled as she shook his shoulder gently, making his head bob a bit.
“Yeah…you can even say you’re rocking it.” Togata grinned as he waited for them to realize what he said. Yui rolled her eyes as Izuku let out a snort.
“Senpai…that was terrible. But an excellent lead in to my next point. Since we’ve discovered that you can actually manifest non-organic materials, I’ve been keeping records of how long you can keep the manifestations up.” Izuku leaned forward to flip to the right pages in the notebook, pointing out the graphs. “As you can see, the times you’ve used rock or metal manifestations are drastically shorter than when you use organic. And you always look like you’re going to drop after you use non-organic.”
Amajiki blinked as he looked at the graph, “I um, I never noticed. I’m always tired after using my Quirk as much as I do for training…”
“I can only guess how much energy it takes to manifest all the stuff you do. And it’s all stronger than what it normally is. The crab shells and tentacles you create, if they were like the normal ones, wouldn’t be able to withstand the punches from Togata-senpai or Yui-nee’s kicks. If you can, I’d go see Recovery Girl so she can get a reading on your bloodwork. Just to make sure you don’t get nutrient deficient or something as a side effect. As for using non-organics, it’d make a great trump card. Metal plating or making a stone gauntlet would be a nasty surprise. But since it drains you, it’s kinda like a last measure right now. So, I’d focus more on using two manifestations at the same time right now. Hopefully, as you work on your Quirk, it’ll improve your energy levels so you can use it longer.” Izuku cleared his throat, sitting back down as he fiddled with his fingers as he looked away. “I um, sorry I rambled on a long time there. I know it’s all in the notebooks anyway but I was just so excited to talk about your Quirks-“
“Hey, hey! No need to apologize green bean!” Hado leaned forward to take a gentle grip on his face and lift his gaze up as she beamed at him. “We love hanging out with you and you’re so cute when you ramble! So no apologizing for it.”
“Yeah! We love hearing your ideas. And you didn’t have to do this. You put so much effort into these, it’s seriously amazing, Izuku. We’re gonna improve so much thanks to you!” Togata grinned as he reached over to ruffle a hand through green curls.
“Th-thank you for doing this, Izuku. We really do appreciate it.” Amajiki even gave a nervous yet sincere smile. Izuku couldn’t stop his face tinting pink as he let out a chuckle at the attention. Yui didn’t realize that her lips had curled into a soft smile as she watched the four of them, she felt so warm in her chest.
They welcomed her brother in with open arms, indulging his questions and theories in stride and with enthusiasm. Even when they were told about his Quirklessness, it didn’t change anything. If anything, it just made Hado and Togata more vocal, if that was possible, in encouraging him in pursuit of his dream. Amajiki was slowly losing his stutter around him and was even making occasional eye contact. Yui really couldn’t have asked for better friends. She jolted her musings when Hado spoke up.
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“Oh right! So, what do you think Tomono’s Quirk is?! He won’t tell us, all he says it’s a secret and to guess.”
Yui fought the urge to roll her eyes, the name left a bitter taste on her tongue. She still couldn’t quite get a good grasp at the teen. Izuku perked up at the question, “Oh! He’s an interesting case. I was surprised when Yui-nee told me he didn’t say what his Quirk was. Since most others did. I think that’s part of the mystery though. Some Quirks lose effectiveness when people know about them. So, I bet his Quirk isn’t as strong when people know about it.”
“Personally? I think it’s some sort of emotional manipulation that make people like him or be persuaded by him. Maybe it was something his voice did like my friend Hitoshi’s or maybe just being in his presence gives him enough control? It didn’t seem to affect everyone the same though. Yui-nee can resist the effects but she’d watched Naganuma hesitate and take a well-placed jab to the throat. Maybe it has to do with mental awareness? I wish I could just ask him, but I doubt he’d tell me anything.” He bounced his leg up and down as he rambled, fingers tapping out a rhythm on the table. An alarm on his phone rang out, making him jump and fumble until he could turn it off. “Oh sh-shoot. It’s getting close to class time for you guys, I should go. I’ll see you guys tomorrow though!” He grabbed his backpack and stood, Yui following his lead.
“I’ll walk you to the gate. I need a little time to myself to get ready for Nedzu’s class anyway.” Just the thought of sifting through more Endeavor shit made her want to down a fresh cup of coffee.
"Oh yeah you guys have these big 'project' days every week. What's that all about Yui? It’s been so secretive!" Nejire pouted, moving as if to tickle it out of her.
Yui pushed Izuku forward, dodging the grabby digits, “Can’t say. Big hush hush. See ya at lunch!” She called out before she bolted, Izuku’s gremlin giggle at her back as he followed.
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Yui sat on one of the outcroppings of the school, enjoying the rippling wind ruffling against her uniform. Sometimes it was nice to just get away from it all and think about her life...it was a meditative practice Yamada had been pushing her towards noticing how stressed she was getting sometimes. Though with her new friends....Kami, it was so weird to think that she had friends, she felt better equip to deal with the stress she'd been feeling. Like pressure being bled off.
Time had slipped away the past weeks. The days passing like the pages of a book caught in the wind. No new surprises, the occasional assistance with Nedzu on some particularly hard hacking in regards to Endeavor, her control was improving and Hado, Togata and Amajiki always showed up right at the end of her classes. First time in a while I felt hunted.....first time being hunted felt....nice
Yui chuckled as she kicked her feet against the open air. "They're a lot of fun though" Musing, her thoughts roamed.
Togata told dad jokes, she even caught sight of a book of them in his backpack. Hado, while having no concept of personal space and no filter, took the training seriously, it was like the girl was another person when she focused. Amajiki was skittish at first, and well, still was, but when he fought it was like he got into a different headspace and he was a tough opponent. Now just to work on his confidence outside of battle. It wasn’t until the warning bell rang out that she jolted out of her musings, jumping down to rush to meet Nedzu.
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“Yui-san? Are you alright?” the teen jumped a bit at the question, turning to look at the principal.
“Yes, I’m sorry, sensei. My mind started to drift a bit while I was typing. Recording a log of all the property damage Endeavor has done is…depressing. I can’t believe the Commission covers up so much.” She groaned as she rubbed her eyes, “Most families don’t even get reimbursed if they’re from a poor area…”
“That’s the unfortunate truth, most families in those areas can’t afford the insurance that covers villain attacks. News coverage is spotty at best, and because most villains come from the slums, the Commission doesn’t see the point of trying to make the area what it was again. This isn’t brought up until the last semester of third year. But you’ve seen this personally haven’t you?” the rat sipped his tea, those black eyes latching onto her every move, just like they always did.
Yui knew she was under scrutiny, she knew the principal considered her a puzzle and wanted to know how she ticked. Nedzu was curious by nature, and after being experimented on by humans in labs for his intelligence, that curiosity had only gotten worse. If he could watch a person’s movements, he might be able to tell when someone was dangerous, when they were going to try and hurt him. In all honesty, she was surprised he didn’t turn to villainy, humans had gone down that path for less after all.
But it was almost a game, he was teaching her how to conceal her emotions, to become manipulative without people realizing what she was doing. And while one part of her shrunk away from the thought of doing that, there was the other part that wanted to pass this challenge. She wouldn’t use it against her friends or family or even random people in the streets, this skill was going to be for villains and the crooks. And if she was going to learn how to be more intimidating, who better to learn from than the creature that made Aizawa break out in a cold sweat?
So Yui kept her body relaxed, the question was probably meant to make her squirm, make her admit that she had a past in villainy and vigilantism. Even though she knew he knew the truth she scrunched up her brow and tilted her head toward him. “Because I grew up around the poor area of the city?” It wasn’t technically a lie, since her vigilante career had her in those areas.
Nedzu chuckled softly, “You’re getting better at misdirection. You’re usually so blunt.”
Yui raised a shoulder in a shrug, “I…I didn’t use to care what others thought, sensei. When I told Aizawa the truth of my past I trusted him, but I didn’t really care what he thought or who he told. ControlFreak being the A-ranked villain Hijack didn’t change anything when Hijack was barely more than someone who worked behind the screen. And Yui Midoriya had black curls and red eyes to the public.”
“But you care now?”
Yui sighed softly, “I have…attachments now that don’t know. Human emotions are so strange, I don’t know if they’ll care about what I did…I think most people would. If I can, I’d rather keep my past where it is. Plus, the public might not look too kindly on an ex-villain becoming a hero.” She rubbed her thumb along the edge of the tea cup.
“I can relate to that, Yui-san. I too have a past I’d rather the public not be privy too. How are the teachers with you? They aren’t giving you issues are they?”
“No, they’ve all been really supportive. Well, except for Vlad King, but I don’t have class with him.” She sipped at her tea, “I’d be suspicious too. I’m not upset with him or anything. And Aizawa is quick to shoot him down when he gets too…inquisitive.”
“You’ll tell me if you want me to interfere? I know you prefer to deal with your own problems, but you aren’t alone anymore. You can rely on us to help you.” The rat lowered his cup and gave her a small smile, keeping his sharpened teeth hidden away.
Yui nodded, “I can handle it, sensei, it’s nothing you have to trouble yourself over. But thank you, I will reach out if his attitude becomes too much.” She smiled as the bell rang, gathering her supplies and putting them in her bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Of course! Tomorrow is our chess day! Maybe you’ll finally beat me,” he exclaimed happily.
“We're sitting at 12-0 sensei. If I manage to win one game by the end of my time here, I’ll be ecstatic.” She stood up, “I’ll bring shortbread cookies?” Saturday might be a school day, but they usually spent the time playing chess and chatting. It was a nice break from digging into Endeavor’s past.
“I’ll have Lunch Rush make some cucumber sandwiches. I have a new jasmine tea I would like to try.” He clapped his paws together, “It's been an absolute delight to teach you the art of brewing different teas,”
“Thank you again for teaching me, it’s actually helped…. curb my coffee dependence. Pops really appreciates that.” Yui chuckled softly before she waved, “See you tomorrow, sensei!”
She made her way to the lunchroom, weaving through other students to take a seat at the table she ate at. It was near the back of the cafeteria and by the window, looking out on the gate at the front of the school.
“Yui!” She grunted a bit as a body landed against her back, the scent of vanilla and lilies surrounding her as Hado wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I missed you!”
Yui smiled softly as she pulled her bento out of her bag, “We just saw each other yesterday, and texted this morning too, you know.”
“It's not the same! I wish you were in classes with us in the morning!” the other girl pouted, resting her chin on top of her head.
“I see you’re hogging Yui on us again, Nejire.” Togata teased as he sat down across from Yui, setting down two trays. The golden boy no longer had a ponytail, it was cut close in the back with a little longer in front that was styled up in a cowlick. She did get the picture of him with hair down to his feet, which earned him a nickname from her that he was stuck with.
“Hey Rapunzel. Escaped from your tower again?” she grinned at his playful groan, sliding the second tray to Hado.
“I’m never going to live that down, huh?” he pulled his chopsticks apart to start eating his ramen.
“Not until I think of another one. Or I get tired of calling you a Disney princess. Hey Amajiki.” She smiled at the small wave the shy bean sent her way as he sat down next to Togata.
“At least Rapunzel is strong and kicks butt.” Haya grinned as she sat next to Hado, the girl finally letting her go to sit down and eat her lunch.
“Yeah, you should add a frying pan to your hero costume.” Yui teased before Hado gasped.
“Yui, it’s so cute! Did you do that?” the bubbly girl tugged on her sleeve as she pointed to the bento. Her onigiri were shaped like bunnies, the carrots like flowers and she had octopus shaped sausages.
“Yeah…I made this for Izu, but I ended up mixing up our bentos…I make his and he makes mine. We started doing that since I started school.” She sighed softly, “It’s a good thing we aren’t really picky.”
“Awww! You’re so cute when it comes to your brother!” She squealed a bit when Yui offered her one of the onigiri “Really? It’s almost too cute to eat. Right, Yuyu?”
The other girl smiled, “You have a soft side, don’t you, Yamazawa? At least for your brother.” Haya pouted a bit, “I can barely make them in triangle shapes, let alone cute ones…”
“Oh! Oh! I got an idea! We should meet up and make food together!” Hado suggested as she took a bite.
“L-like a cooking class?” Amajiki stuttered, fiddling with his chopsticks. Todani slid into his seat, nodding at them before he ate.
“Everything okay, Todani?” Yui asked softly as Hado gushed on with Haya and Amajiki about learning how to cook better.
The feathered teen nodded, “Yes, I just had some questions for Yamada-sensei on the English homework.” He flashed her a miniscule smile, which Yui returned. Todani usually kept his face blank, and didn’t talk much, but he’d join them on the study sessions they'd started Wednesdays after school. The group all had some difficulty with English in one way or the other, and since Yui was fluent, she offered to help them, and then it became a weekly thing that included any subject they needed help with. They had even started to learn sign language, after Amajiki had noticed the hearing aid she wore, she couldn’t believe how kind they were.
“How would we set it up? Would we go to someone’s house?” Haya asked, the question pulling Yui back to the present.
“Oh, we can do it at my place!” Hado smiled as she bounced in her seat.
“Or mine, my parents would love to meet you guys,” Togata offered, “We’ll just need to buy our own ingredients,”
“That’s fair. When would you guys want to do this? I have support class after school Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays. Mondays and Fridays we train after school and Wednesdays we study.” Yui hummed softly, checking her schedule on her phone.
“We could do it once a month on Wednesday? That way we can still study if we need to.” Haya suggested, flipping her chopsticks around on her fingers.
“That could work, then we’d have food for lunch on Thursday too.” The golden boy smiled wide, looking over at Amajiki.
The anxious bean looked down at his empty plate, toying with his chopsticks, “It…could be fun…” he mumbled.
“And if we try new foods, you can try different things for your Quirk!” Hado smiled wide before the bell rang out, causing a pout to appear “Awww lunch goes by so fast.”
Yui chuckled softly as she packed up the bento, putting it in her bag. “But now we have hero class together…and it’ll be one on one battles in Ground Beta.”
“But we have an odd number of people.” Haya said, “Will someone sit out or will they have someone fight two…”
“Aizawa will probably have two go after one or fight someone himself.” Yui grinned, “Whatever he chooses, it’ll be fun. I hope I get to fight him.”
Togata laughed as they put their trays away, the group walking to class. “You’re the only one in class that would be excited to go against Aizawa-sensei!”
The teen kept her grin, the class still had no idea that she was Aizawa’s and Yamada’s adopted daughter. “Well, I don’t rely on my Quirk, so it’s really a battle of skill and brute force. Who’s faster, stronger, the one who can get the drop on the other…I like the rush.”
They sat down at their desks as the bell rang again. Midnight smiled at them as she stood at the podium, “Okay kiddos! Grab your costumes and let’s head to Ground Beta! It’s time for some urban battles!”
It didn’t take long for the class to gather in the mock cityscape, they’d really cut the time down for costume changes, especially when they knew Aizawa would be making an appearance. The insomniac grunted softly when the eleven students stood ready in front of him.
“Today, as you already know, will be one on one battles. One of you will be the villain trying to avoid capture, the other the hero trying to capture them. The villains will be given a ten minute head start before the heroes are let lose to find them. The heroes will then have thirty minutes to locate and capture their assigned villains. If you come across a different villain, you can try to capture them but it won’t give you any extra points if your own villain escapes. But you’re free to communicate to other heroes about their location.” He watched the group to make sure they were following along.
“What about the student left out because of the odd number, sensei?” Hado waved her hand, though she didn’t wait to get called on before blurting out the question.
“That student will be a villain trying to avoid capture from Midnight. She’s not going to be using her Quirk so it’d be a more ‘fair’ fight.” He droned out, “And as for the match ups, I’ve already picked opponents. Shimizu-villain, against Midnight.”
The pink haired girl gulped, her eyes wide as she gave a timid nod, “I-I’ll try my best.”
“Yamazawa, villain…. Your opponent is Tomono.” Aizawa listed off, watching as the two teens both stiffened and turned to each other. “Use this exercise to learn more about each other.”
Oh, goodie…