Chapter 7: Cats
As soon as the door shut behind them, Shota Aizawa was shoved forcibly from the side, sending him stumbling. He quickly regained balance before snapping his neck to his compatriot, "Mic! What the hell?"
The blonde hero let out an exaggerated exhalation, "You can be a real ass sometimes, you know that? That was a kid who literally just lost his hand. Can you imagine what that must have been like? He's what? 13 or 14? And you came in a day later and acted like the world will fall apart because of him. Not cool man."
Shota brushed his hair backward with a huff as they carried on down the hospital hallway, "Don't be ridiculous. I had to show him that his actions have consequences, and that just because he acted like a hero doesn't mean he is one. It's better for him to engrave that into his psyche now than for another residential shopping center to get blown up."
"Still, there were better ways of going about it. So much for 'not throwing everything at him at once'. You laid it on plenty thick there. I'm honestly impressed the kid didn't start bawling his eyes out with the glares you were throwing his way. Vigilante or not, he did save that kid's life and from that story of his, he seems plenty capable of becoming a hero to me."
Instead of responding, Shota fixed his focus on the concierge desk he and Mic visited in the distance. The woman from earlier was still fixed to her computer, and a couple of nurses were bunched together discussing something. A new stretcher had appeared in the hallway alongside a doorway into a patient's room. Shota looked away and towards the ground in front of him. He hated hospitals. The constant glare of the fluorescent lights reflecting off of the buffed hospital flooring and white walls was giving him a headache. Not to mention how the scent of chemicals and lemons irritated him to no end. The two walked in silence through another corridor before a sly, mischievous smirk grew on Present Mic's lips, "So? What did you think?"
Shota rolled his eyes. He knew this was coming. "I think he's just as I said he was. Impulsive and a liability. He let himself get caught in the moment and didn't even think before rushing in to save a kid he doesn't even like."
Present Mic brushed off his leather jacket with a swipe before turning to Shota, "What do you mean for a kid he doesn't like? That blonde kid is his friend, isn't he?"
Shota shook his head, "No. From what I could tell from his retelling and the way he talked about the blonde boy, I wouldn't be surprised if they hate each other. He stumbled over his words several times while trying to tell us what happened after he freed the other boy. Throughout every other part of his story, he was highly descriptive and articulate. Midoriya wasn't telling us the whole truth about that part of the fight, and when I asked him who Katsuki Bakugo was, he froze. The two have a history and something happened between them during that fight."
Mic let out a quiet whistle, "Sheesh, didn't know you were a mind reader, Aizawa. So he saved someone he didn't like, isn't that even more heroic? To do what is right, even against personal feelings? Hats off to the kid. His heart is definitely in the right place. Say, what do you think Nezu is even thinking, bailing the kid out like this?"
Shota didn't answer as the two traversed their way backward through the maze of bland walls and miscellaneous beeping sounds. Only when they entered the final hallway leading to the hospital lobby did Shota have a response, "In an ideal world, it's probably just as I told Inko Midoriya. That Nezu thinks Izuku's quirk is too powerful to be left untrained, regardless of academic or criminal status." Shota glanced at his friend, "But you and I both know nothing Nezu does is that simple. When Shiretoko of the Wild Wild Pussy Cats interrupted my meeting with Nezu, she kept claiming that her quirk, Search, had a difficult time identifying Izuku's quirk and couldn't pinpoint his weaknesses. Since those are her main quirk abilities, she was clearly in distress. She kept claiming the only other person that her quirk had difficulty with was All Might."
Shota stopped walking and looked down each end of the hallway to make sure it was empty. Down the hallway were the large entry doors to the expansive lobby. So much light shown in from the door windows that it made the rest of the dreary hallway feel like it was subdued in shadows. He didn't want any prying ears to hear what he was saying. Beside him, Present Mic had also made an abrupt stop and stared at the door with a furrowed brow. Contrary to public belief, Present Mic was no idiot. Shota knew that his words were making his friend's brain kick into overdrive.
Mic slowly started putting pieces of Shota's hunch together, "And All Might is becoming a teacher at UA. So you think the-"
"I think it's too strange of a coincidence to not be connected. Nezu knows something we don't. Something to do with All Might, and whatever it is, he has plans for Izuku Midoriya."
There was a brief silence between them before Present Mic whistled, "Damn. What a conspiracy. There are a lot of assumptions being made here, but if you're right, or even if you're onto a piece of something here, it could cause a lot of trouble. But if Nezu has his eye set on Izuku for whatever reason, why did you tell the kid he'd be receiving no special treatment at the entrance exams? Clearly, if Nezu has some sort of scheme for the boy, he's getting into UA no problem."
Shota crossed his arms and leaned his back against one of the walls, "The less that kid knows, the better. From just that brief conversation, I can tell that he's smart enough to sniff out that this whole thing is fishy. He just never opposed it because he knew how good of a deal Nezu was making it for him. This entire situation doesn't sit right with me. And Nezu would never tell us anything if we tried confronting him about it. My intuition is telling me that Izuku's development of his quirk at such a late age is also a factor here."
Present Mic rubbed the hairs of his mustache as he contemplated the situation, "That's possible. Developing a quirk at the age of twelve is unheard of. I wouldn't be surprised if Nezu would be interested in that alone. But that fails to explain the correlation Shiretoko made between Izuku and All Might. There are too many strings here to tell which ones are important."
Shota nodded, "My thoughts exactly. I doubt what Nezu has planned is sinister, but manipulating a kid's future like this is still highly suspicious. It's unsettling."
"At least Izuku will be coming to you fully trained. And if you become his homeroom teacher, you can control a bit of Nezu's oversight on the kid."
Shota stood back up from the wall, signaling it was time to return to UA. "Coming to me fully trained is also going to raise some problems. Even though he manifested his quirk nearly a decade late and without an arm, he'll still be a league above the rest. And I have full intention of being Izuku's teacher. Regardless of intent, I don't like what Nezu is doing here and I intend to limit it as best as I can."
Present Mic began walking towards the doors to the lobby, "Good, good…". A small smile slowly expanded across the sound hero's face, "You like the kid, don't you, Aizawa?"
"Shut up."
Laying on the carpeted floor of his bedroom, Izuku had never felt more devoid of emotions. Or perhaps he was feeling too many emotions all at once and was failing to register any of them. It had been three days since he had finally escaped the hospital. While it hadn't bothered him at first, the cold monotony of his hospital room had given him a severe case of claustrophobia. He had been itching to get moving again — anything to get away from his own swirling thoughts.
Not that finally being home allowed him to escape himself. For the past few hours, and much to his chagrin, his thoughts had been frantically jumping from one topic to another, with no end in sight.
He reached up towards the gleaming overhead light with his left hand. Staring directly into the light, he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist. Since he had been home, the reality of just how difficult things were going to be for him had finally settled in. Every task he did, no matter how menial, was now painstakingly difficult. Want to open that door? Gotta use your left hand. Want to open up a pack of crackers? Gotta use your teeth. Want to write in your notebook about the traumatizing week you've just had? You can't because your writing is now unintelligible.
The one positive note on his mind was that he'd soon finally be able to take off the bandage that had been covering his nub. He hadn't had the chance to see the full extent of the damage, but from what the doctor had told him, it was lucky he got injured in a place so close to medical aid. While the arm had been detached cleanly by his quirk, the subsequent explosion had torn the wound open. With all the smoke and garbage in the air, apparently, there was a high risk of infection. However, due to the nature of his quirk, all contaminants were burned upon contact with his blood. How lucky was he?
The real problem had been blood loss, which justified the killer headaches he'd been experiencing since the incident. As he thought about the damage to his arm, the more it began to itch. The pro hero Recovery Girl had supposedly made several appearances to aid in the medical process, but Izuku was never fortunate enough to be awake during them. Over the past five days, he had slept a total of 64 hours, so it made sense, but it still would've been nice to get her autograph.
Izuku let his arm fall back down to the ground with a soft thud. He let out a heavy sigh. ' Man, why did it have to be Katsuki in that fight? Why did I have to be there to see it happening? Why did I run in? '
He really had no business getting involved in that sludge villain attack. There were at least a dozen heroes on the scene by the time he had jumped in. And All Might had been on the way too, so he really did all of it for nothing. Izuku had done some pretty stupid things in his life, but this one had to take the cake. A split-second impulse resulting in a life-altering event.
He got the attention of UA High School and the opportunity to spend almost a year with a pro hero organization. Great. That still didn't make up for missing an arm. No matter what angle he tried to look at his situation from, there was always a bitter taste left in his mouth. He had been so caught up in the excitement of meeting pro heroes and being a "hero" himself, that he had momentarily been able to ignore the depth of his injury. Now, lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, he wanted nothing more than a latent time-traveling quirk.
The current thought running through Izuku's mind was how in the hell he was supposed to learn to fight as a hero with only one hand. When Doctor Ito visited him at the hospital, he displayed some enthusiasm for prosthetic arms, but none of them were built with hero work in mind, much less able to withstand the intense heat Izuku's body could radiate. In order to get his hands on a prosthetic specifically designed for him and his goals, he'd have to go through a support item manufacturer and pay an arm and a leg. And he was down to his last arm, so that wasn't a viable option.
He figured that it was something he'd have to explore during his stay with the Wild Wild Pussy Cats. The only members on the team that specialized in hand-to-hand combat were Mandalay and Tiger. Pixie Bob was more of a quirk specialist, while Ragdoll was the definite scout for the group. Izuku grimaced as he reminded himself of how he burned Tiger. Hopefully, he doesn't hold grudges. If there's anyone who'd be able to teach him one-hand combat, it'd be him, considering his quirk of Pliabody.
After several long blinks, Izuku sat up and stared at the base of his bed, where a suitcase and a duffel bag lay. Izuku had never been away from home for more than a day or two. When he was younger, the Bakugos would allow him to sleep over at their house after a day of playing with Katsuki, but even then it was only down the street from his house. This time he was going hours away to an undefined location for almost a year. Izuku felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the thought. He was excited, but he wasn't confident that his excitement would outlast the nerves of being away from his mom for very long.
A problem he hadn't anticipated was the limited amount of luggage he could bring with him. Since he wouldn't be coming back for almost a year, he wanted to bring enough materials to keep him occupied. He had packed several of his hero notebooks, including the one of himself. While he still couldn't write very well, Izuku had faith he'd pick it up quick enough to make including them worthwhile. He also included his father's research on "meta" quirks. Admittedly, Izuku had initially dismissed the information as impractical, since quirks that affect or manipulate the quirks of others were incredibly rare. However, upon meeting Eraser Head, he figured it was worth another read.
Eraser Head was a curious case. From what he mentioned, he is one of the first-year teachers at UA. So if he gets in, then there's a chance that he'll be his teacher. And considering how suspicious this whole arrangement with UA, the Wild Wild Pussy Cats, and the Musutafu Police Department had been, however, he figured that there'd be little chance of getting anyone else. That thought was both calming and anxiety-inducing. He's a familiar face, but he was nothing if not serious. On online forums about the underground hero, there are reports of him expelling entire classes on a whim, which is a ridiculous precedent to set for the country's most prestigious school.
' Well, no use in worrying about that now. Can't get expelled if you don't even get in. '
Izuku sighed for the thousandth time that day and began the tedious task of standing up. His missing forearm severely affected his sense of balance, which made body movement even more of a challenge. He couldn't imagine how people who lose their arm from their shoulder must feel. The dull itch that came from underneath his bandages was reaching unbearable levels of annoyance, and Izuku decided he'd had enough.
Walking past the heaps of dirty clothing on the floor next to his door, he quietly made his way to the bathroom. The bathroom looked nearly identical to how it did before he had accidentally blown it to hell. The only major difference was that the sink was now an ugly tile. Too shiny and too white in his opinion. Izuku stared at himself in the mirror. He'd definitely seen better days.
Perhaps the second-biggest tragedy coming out of the fight with the sludge villain was that at some point he received a gash to his head. During surgery, they had decided to shave his entire head of hair. Now all that was left were short green spikes. For a moment, Izuku imagined he was an American soldier in one of those old-school war movies. He posed in the mirror, looking down the barrel of an invisible gun. He released a manic laugh at how ridiculous he looked with half of the imaginary gun floating above his nub. ' That's it. I'm losing my mind. '
Once he had finally gotten enough pent-up energy out, he carefully raised his nub to the mirror and examined the bandages. They seemed normal enough. The adhesive was going to hurt like hell, though. Izuku winced as he carefully began peeling the dressing off of his arm. Methodically, he slowly unwrapped it, checking every half second for any sign that something had gone horribly wrong.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally shed the last bit of bandages and got to see the end of his arm for the first time. Besides the irritated red skin, what stood out the most was the gaping hole in the middle of the nub. He hadn't thought about it before, but it would obviously make sense for his arm to still have the tube for his flames to flow out through. He examined the tube gingerly. It was now much wider than it had been on his palm. It was also much more fleshy than he anticipated it to be. When it was still in his hand, it was hard to tell what the tube was made of, but he now had his disgusting answer. It wasn't quite skin and it wasn't quite bone. It almost appeared to be an unholy mix between the two. Izuku gagged and quickly averted his gaze.
Curiosity still got the better of him as he then began examining the skin around the hole. What he saw made him question his eyesight. The surrounding skin of his forearm was no longer normal. If he squinted his eyes enough, he could notice that the new skin was porous, like his fingertips.
Izuku's eyes widened in surprise as he realized what this meant. The applications for his weird substance had now been exponentially widened. More porous skin meant more volume he'd be able to exert. He was almost tempted to test it right then and there, but a quick glance down at the replacement toilet quickly quelled that idea.
He stared at his arm for several minutes while torrents of ideas came and went in his head. Groaning in frustration, Izuku realized that there was no way for him to record any of this in his notebook. He'd have to arduously type it up on his laptop and then copy it once he could actually write again.
' That's a problem for another day, though . ' Izuku thought as he tapped his phone. It was nearly midnight. Officer Tamagawa would be picking him up in less than eight hours.
Looking in the mirror one last time with a shadow of a grin on his face, he scoffed, "Guess there's a silver lining after all."
Nerves were beginning to get the best of him. Izuku was sitting in the living room next to his luggage, while his mom was pacing the length of the kitchen. "Mom, I'm going to be alright. We've talked about this."
Inko momentarily stopped her loop around the kitchen and looked at her son from across the room, "Izu, I know you'll be fine. You're going to be with a bunch of pro heroes, but that doesn't mean I can't worry about you. My little boy is growing up and moving out. It's too much too soon."
Izuku's hand had adorned a slight shake as nervous jitters fluttered up and down his spine, "I'm not moving out, Mom. I'm technically serving out a prison sentence. So if your son growing up too fast is the issue, then you should be fine with him nearly being a felon, right?"
That got Inko to finally abandon her anxiety walk. "Izuku Midoriya. Don't make such jokes. You got lucky, don't tempt fate like that." She continued walking over to Izuku before holding out her arms expectantly.
Izuku laughed and rolled his eyes, but still stood up and met his Mom's embrace. Inko sighed into his shoulder, "I'm gonna miss you, baby." She pulled back and held onto her son's upper arms, "Make sure you call me every chance you get. I'm gonna get lonely here all by myself."
Grumbling, Izuku conceded, "I'm going to miss you too. I'll call you at least every other day, I swear."
Just when Inko was about to make a retort about call frequency, the doorbell rang. Izuku released himself from the hug, "Well, looks like my ride is here."
Inko nodded and swiftly shuffled towards the door, quickly adjusting her appearance in the entryway mirror before answering it. Inko smiled, "Hello, Officer Tamagawa, please come in."
Tamagawa took a glance around the apartment, "Thank you, Mrs. Midoriya. I assume Izuku has everything packed and ready to go?"
Izuku jested, "Yeah, but I'll need some help carrying the bags. I'd do it myself, but I'm a little short-handed at the moment."
He had first met the officer a few days ago when he was discharged from the hospital. The moment he saw Tamagawa's face — that of a ginger tabby cat, complete with a golden bell around his neck — he was momentarily overtaken by surprise, which quickly erupted into an entirely inappropriate burst of laughter. For which he had profusely apologized, but the officer had been unexpectedly witty and even made a couple of jibes of his own. Immediately, Izuku knew that they were gonna get along well. Or, at least, he hoped so. Otherwise, this was going to be one long car trip.
Tamagawa smiled, "Cracking jokes already, huh, kid? Glad to see you're seeing the world with a glass-half-full mindset. Well, I guess that's the only way you can see it."
Izuku struggled to stifle a laugh. He didn't want to give the officer the satisfaction, but admittedly, that was clever. His mother, on the other hand, had burst out laughing uncontrollably. Officer Tamagawa let out a Cheshire grin before walking over to Izuku and grabbing the suitcase by its handle, "See? At least someone thinks I'm funny. Now give me that bag, we got a schedule to keep."
Rolling his eyes, Izuku handed the man-cat the duffel bag. Tamagawa struggled to lift the bag at first, not expecting its hefty weight. "What do you have in here, a couple of bricks?"
Izuku made his way over to where his mom was standing, slowly recovering from the joke, "Nah.
A couple of textbooks, though."
Tamagawa gave a quick "humph" before taking the bags outside, leaving the Midoriyas to say their goodbyes. Inko had begun to shed tears, which consequently made her son just as emotional. "You be good for the heroes, alright? And the next time I see you, you better have two legs and one arm, you got me?"
Izuku squeezed his mom in a bear hug, "I'll be good, don't worry. And I'm not dumb enough to make the same mistake twice."
His mom just gave him a skeptical look as Tamagawa came back through the doorway. "I'll miss you, honey. I love you."
They released the embrace as Izuku reassured her, "I love you too. I'll call you later today when I get settled in."
She smiled through her tears, "You better. I hope the car ride isn't too bad," She looked at Tamagawa, who was waiting at the doorway, "For either of you."
And with that, Izuku made his way down the apartment steps with the officer. His mother watched him leave from the open doorway. The police cruiser that had been parked in front of the complex was a typical half-black, half-white sedan that he had seen around several of the crime scenes in the city. Atop its roof was a red siren light. The sight had immediately made Izuku's mind churn.
As Officer Tamagawa opened up the backseat for Izuku, Izuku took the chance to ask, "Will we get to use the siren?"
The man-cat looked at him incredulously before replying flatly, "Absolutely not."
"Oh, c'mon. Don't be like that. It'd be a fun way to pass the time. And it'd save us time in traffic."
Tamagawa stole a glance at the siren before adamantly reaffirming his previous answer, "Not a chance."
Izuku rolled his eyes before turning back in the direction of his mom and wildly flailing his arms in wide arcs — waving one last time to his mom, before ushering himself into the car. Through the tinted glass windows, he could tell that his mom was wiping her eyes profusely. ' She always has been a crier . '
The car shook as Tamagawa closed the driver's side door and started up the car. The aroma of igniting gasoline filled the car, making Izuku scrunch his nose in distaste; which was ironic given his quirk. He'd have to investigate his tolerance to smoke later. Izuku watched curiously as the officer reached into the glove box and pulled out what appeared to be a black sleeping mask, "Put this on."
Izuku gingerly grabbed it. Inspecting it, it really was just a cheap sleeping mask. Not even a professional eye covering. Budget cuts must be tough these days. Izuku held out the eye coverings by one of the elastic bands, "Why, exactly, do I need this?"
Tamagawa twisted around in the front seat to face him, "The place I'm taking you to is the Wild Wild Pussy Cat's private residence. I can't allow you to see where we are going."
Izuku understood the logic there but still wasn't happy about it. "I'm sure everything about the Wild Wild Pussy Cats can be found somewhere online anyways. And I'm going to be living there for the next ten months anyways, is all this secrecy really necessary?"
"Firstly, yes, it is necessary. And two, if you don't put that thing on and buckle up, I will use this sleeping agent from Ms. Midnight on you and say you resisted. Don't tempt me."
Izuku laughed, but still obediently fashioned it over his eyes and buckled his seatbelt. Leaning back into the uncomfortable leather seat, he could feel the car begin to move. As they departed the apartment building, Izuku had an amusing thought.
"Don't you find it ironic how you, a cat, were chosen to escort me to a group of humans pretending to be cats?"
Tamagawa sighed vehemently, "This is going to be a long car ride."
"Hey kid," Tamagawa rustled Izuku's left arm gently. "Kid, wake up. We're here."
Tamagawa shook his arm again but got nothing but snores in return. He sighed. It had really come to this. Looping around the side of the car, he made his way to the driver's seat panel. Making sure everything was in place, he positioned himself so that he had a direct line of sight on the sleeping boy before flipping the switch to the siren.
At the first screech, Izuku jolted awake into a shocked state of daze. He lurched forward from his resting position and smacked the bridge of his nose directly into the head of the seat in front of him. A resounding "Ow, what the fuck?" erupted from Izuku's mouth, while Officer Tamagawa innocently smiled at the startled boy.
"Welcome back to the world of the living. We're here."
That quickly changed Izuku's mood, "Really?"
Izuku quickly opened the door and stepped outside. Right away, the crisp air of the wilderness filled his nostrils. Making a full 360-degree turn, Izuku took in the surrounding site. Deep foliage of trees expanded in all directions, while a cascading mountain range jutted up into the noon sky. In the distance, a flock of birds flew overhead, creating a surreal, picturesque environment. Izuku had not been outside the city of Musutafu since his dad passed, and this first interaction was not disappointing.
Izuku waved his arm, wildly gesturing to the scenery. "Look at this place! This is incredible."
Officer Tamagawa couldn't help but smile at the sight, "Yeah, it is pretty cool out here. But in case you haven't noticed, there's not exactly any housing around here. We've got a short walk to their headquarters."
Izuku took a look at his more immediate surroundings. The police car had now fashioned a fresh coating of mud on its wheels and shallower parts of the body. They had parked in a circular dirt patch that overlooked the valley, and there was a single trail that led directly into the thick treeline. "Well, at least it's a good view before we go into the ominous woods. You know, if this was a horror movie, I'd just turn around and get right back into the car."
"Good instincts. I've been a part of too many cases where people don't share such fortunate judgment." Tamagawa said as he hurled the duffel bag onto his shoulder. Closing the trunk, Tamagawa walked over to where Izuku was standing. "It's not as far of a walk as you might think. The treeline is illusionary. Really, it's like five rows of trees before it opens up to their complex."
Izuku deadpans, "Well now you spoiled it for me."
Tamagawa started walking briskly down the dirt path, "You're welcome."
After a few minutes of walking, Izuku got to experience what Officer Tamagawa had described. Stepping out from under the tree-made archway, they entered a wide clearing that shed the greenery of the surrounding forest in favor of a rocky, mountainous terrain. On the far end of the mesa was an adjoined mountain with winding walkways leading to the flat summit. In the center of the expansive field was the most out-of-place looking thing there, a modern mansion. Well, maybe a mansion wasn't the right word for it, but it was definitely a sizeable complex.
' Huh, I was expecting a wooden cabin or something given the location. I guess that bodes a little better for me, then. '
At the entrance to the building stood the four familiar figures he had briefly seen during the slime attack. There was also what looked like a kid hiding behind Mandalay's leg. Izuku turned to Tamagawa, "I didn't know one of the Pussy Cats had a kid."
All he got in response was a quick shrug, "Heroes still live their own private lives, Izuku. Remember that. They aren't heroes one hundred percent of the time and they don't owe the public any sensitive information like that. Now get on your best behavior; you don't want to mess up your second impression."
The nerves from earlier that morning returned in full force as they closed the gap between the two groups. Tiger was much more bulky than he remembered, and with his arms crossed like they were, Izuku doubted he was on his good side. Mandalay seemed distracted ushering the child that was prancing around her back inside, while Pixie Bob was jumping up and down and waving her fake paws in greeting. Ragdoll was just staring at him.
' I can't imagine how this could go badly. '
Before they got into earshot, he let out one last quip at his officer friend's expense, "You sure this isn't insulting to you? Pretty sure this is appropriation."
Tamagawa just gave him a quick side eye and responded, "You better watch yourself. Keep talking like that and I'm gonna make you carry your luggage the rest of the way."
"Touché."
As the pair approached the group, Izuku began stressing about this meeting. It took every bit of willpower to hold back his nervous reflex of dispensing his substance out of his fingertips. Showing up with dotted fingertips would be a bold move that he wasn't willing to try out.
Mandalay stepped forward and greeted them cheerfully, "Officer Tamagawa and Izuku Midoriya, welcome to our headquarters. I hope that you guys found your way here alright. There was a storm that passed through here not too long ago and we were worried the main road leading here would be out, but it looks like you guys arrived all right."
Next to him, Tamagawa adjusted the duffel bag's strap, "It was alright. Midoriya was masked as requested. Had to take a detour at one point, but it was smooth sailing besides that. I trust you have all the arrangements you need for his stay?"
Pixie Bob excitedly bounced into the conversation, "We sure do! Ever since we saw him take out that slime villain, we've been preparing to make sure he'd feel right at home here!"
Mandalay gave a small smile, "Yes, as Pixie Bob has said, all the arrangements for Midoriya are set up, and we'll get him back into shape in no time."
The rest of the Wild Wild Pussy Cats had joined the group, and Izuku figured it was now or never. He bowed and began introducing himself, "Hello everyone. It is a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Izuku Midoriya."
Tamagawa eyed him curiously, but the introduction seemed to have satisfied everyone else. Tiger replied gruffly, "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I wish it was under better circumstances, but after that stunt you pulled, I suppose it is as best as it could be."
Izuku felt his face turn red as he bowed his head again in shame, "Yes, I am sorry for my actions last week. I was rash and irresponsible. I am here to learn how to improve, so an event like that doesn't happen again."
When he straightened back up, he was met with amused faces. ' If the embarrassment of this situation is all I have to pay for last week, so be it. '
Pixie Bob just waived her comically large paw, "Don't worry about it, we've all been healed up and have recovered. We are glad to hear that you're looking to improve, though. That's exactly what I want to hear."
Mandalay added to that sentiment, "Midoriya, while what you did was… unfortunate, you ultimately did end up saving the day — albeit in a destructive manner. If we didn't see the potential for growth in you, then we wouldn't have volunteered to take you in for the year. Right, Ragdoll?"
Izuku looked toward the green-haired member of the group and found her just staring at him with a confused look on her face. She was clearly not paying attention to the conversation at all. Her gaze caused a shiver to run down his back. It felt like he was under a microscope.
Mandalay nudged Ragdoll, snapping her out of whatever trance she had been in. Ragdoll snapped her head to her teammate before looking back at Izuku, this time without the creepy stare. "Oh. Yes. While your actions were quite dangerous, we were surprised by the strength of your quirk and your bravery for entering the battle after noticing that plenty of pro heroes were already on the scene and struggling."
He wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation, so Izuku settled on a nervous laugh and stayed quiet. Although they were saying some pretty nice things, he doubted that was the entire story here. Why else would Ragdoll be acting so weird?
After an agonizingly long moment of silence between the group, Tiger took the lead, "Officer Tamagawa, allow me to take Midoriya's luggage. We don't want you to have to spend more time here than you need to. We are sure you have many other cases to attend to."
Tamagawa nodded, "Of course. With All Might in Musutafu, things have been pretty quiet, but that usually just means that there's crime happening elsewhere." Once the luggage was handed off, Tamagawa regarded the rest of the heroes, "I will be making my leave now. The police department will be making frequent check-ins to evaluate Midoriya's progress."
He paused for a moment before looking at Izuku, "Don't let him fool you with his current shyness. Once you get him to start talking, you'll never get him to stop."
Izuku pouted mockingly but, nonetheless, bowed to the man and thanked him, "Thank you Officer Tamagawa for making me feel comfortable during such a turbulent time and for transporting me these past few days. I hope your ride home goes smoothly and that we can meet again soon."
Tamagawa smiled before returning a bow, "No problem, kid. Good luck. You're gonna need it."
With that, the man-cat made his way back the way the two of them had come. After a few moments of awkwardly watching his receding figure, Mandalay instructed Izuku and the others to follow her. "Now Izuku, our responsibility these next ten months is to ensure that you recover both physically and mentally from the recent tragedy while also instructing you on quirk control. That is our goal first and foremost. If you show us that you're capable of more, then, and only then, would we consider furthering your abilities as a hero student. Sound good?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now, this is our main office and living space. Since we specialize in mountain rescue operations, we don't require a headquarters in a highly populated area. We usually travel across Japan responding to reports of mountain slides, earthquakes, and missing person cases, so having a centralized headquarters didn't make much sense. I apologize for the secrecy surrounding your transport, but since this is also our home, we'd rather not take any chances."
Izuku nodded. Pixie Bob chimed in as they entered the large front doors, "This place is really nice, though, so don't worry about getting bored around here. We have all the facilities of a normal hero headquarters, but we also have some added features like the hot springs and the mountain range for training. You can really let loose around here without worrying about damaging a whole lot. Perfect for your quirk!"
Izuku cringed at that last comment, but made his way inside, evaluating his new home. The foyer was wide and open. It was sparsely decorated, save for potted plants and paintings of geographic landscapes on the walls. On the far end of the room was a small concierge desk, but it looked a bit abandoned. Tiger gestured to the room, "We don't have visitors very often, but this is our lobby. When we host, it's typically large groups of heroes. In that case, we have a couple of tables we set up in here as a makeshift cafeteria."
Tiger had been quiet for the majority of the meeting, so his explanation took Izuku by surprise. Turning to look at Tiger, his gaze lingered on Ragdoll, who was still uncomfortably staring at him. He was sure he saw her blinking erratically too. If he wasn't so nervous, he'd try asking her about it. Maybe she's shy and doesn't know how to interact with kids?
Tiger, in his admittedly ill-fitting outfit, gestured to the hallways that occupied the ends of the room. "Left is our offices. Right is our living area, gym, and tech lab. Also leads to the bathhouse"
Izuku froze, "Lab? You guys have a lab here?"
A rush of ideas began running rampant in his mind. He'd never had access to a real lab before. The ones at Aldera were clearly designed for controlled, teacher-guided experiments and not much else. The bare bones of those lab rooms agitated him to no end, but hopefully, this one would live up to his imagination.
Mandalay interjected his thoughts, "Don't get any funny ideas. That's where our costumes are designed and repaired. You're not allowed in there until you've proven we can trust you. Got it?"
He sighed, "Yeah, I got it." A small pause followed, "But theoretically if I were to gain your trust, what kind of equipment do you have in there?"
Pixie Bob laughed, "Nice try. If everything goes to plan, you'll find out soon enough. But as Mandalay said, developing your skills as a baby hero is last on our priority list. First, we got to get you and your body up to snuff."
Izuku groaned inwardly. At least he tried. As they entered the right hallway in silence, the sudden voice of Ragdoll made him jump, "Midoriya, what is your quirk?"
' What a weird thing to ask. They should already have my file. '
He scratched his head. Maybe this was one of those psychological tricks to make him think about his quirk differently. "Um. I'm sure you guys already have me on file, but I have a mutation quirk. My physiology is altered so that I can produce highly reactive and high-temperature flames from within myself. I can then dispel the flames on command through the palms of my hands and from my mouth. Well, that was before I lost my hand. Now, I'm not so sure. I assume I can still shoot flames out of the tube in my right arm, but I haven't wanted to try anything yet. I can also secrete some sort of barium-based substance from my fingertips, which I can control weakly. That substance kind of landed me here in the first place. Why do you ask? Can't you see my quirk anyway with Search?"
Ragdoll shrugged, but still looked at him curiously, "Just wanted to make sure the information we received is accurate. Also wanted to get a baseline of your knowledge."
Izuku was getting really weirded out by Ragdoll. Something didn't feel right about her. He nervously clenched his fist, "Ah. Yeah. Eraser Head mentioned I'm pretty adept at understanding my quirk."
Sensing the tension, Mandalay cut into the conversation and grabbed Izuku's luggage from Tiger. "Alright, I'm sure Midoriya wants to unpack and get settled. I'll show him to his room. How about you guys go back to finalizing the arrangements in the gym? Ragdoll, can you check on Kota?"
The other heroes agreed in murmurs and nods before backtracking to the lobby area. Midoriya looked to Mandalay as they began walking, "Did I… Do something to Ragdoll? In the fight, I mean. She's been staring at me, so I'm wondering if she got hurt because of me."
Mandalay's face turned solemn, "It's complicated. Ragdoll was the one who ordered the evacuation of the area before you set it ablaze. She feels responsible for the damage done to the storefronts and to you. She hasn't said anything concrete, but I can tell it's eating at her. Ragdoll was also the first one to find your unconscious body. It was a pretty gruesome scene, so I can't fault her for feeling a bit jumpy around you."
Mandalay purposefully left out the more pressing reason for her concern. That Ragdoll's quirk didn't work on him. In the file that the police department sent over, they had described him as possessing an above average intelligence, which would be able to infer any information not kept under lock and key. Since Ragdoll's quirk issues weren't something they, as a team, felt comfortable sharing, they believed it was best to avoid mentioning it. Ragdoll had pushed it, though, with all of her staring. Mandalay understood she was just trying to figure out what was happening to her quirk, but it was understandably creepy.
Izuku stared at the ground in front of him as he walked, counting the wooden panels. All he could reply was a soft, "Oh."
Eventually, they arrived at a door at the end of a bisecting hallway, "Well, Midoriya. Here is your room."
Mandalay gently pushed open the door to reveal a small bedroom outfitted with not much more than a twin-sized bed with gray sheets and a wooden desk adjacent to it. In the far corner was a standing lamp that had to be at least thirty years old.
Mandalay walked inside and gently placed the suitcase and duffel bag at the foot of the bed. "This is one of our guestrooms in the facility. It's pretty bare bones, but hopefully, with the schedule we have you on, that won't be an issue. You'll be doing your schoolwork here, but don't hesitate to find one of us if you need help with anything. There's a bathroom connected to the bedroom through that door on the left."
Izuku followed suit and surveyed his new living quarters. It could be a lot worse, he supposed. Mandalay made her way back to the door, "I'll let you get settled in. Come find one of us if you need more blankets or towels." She continued watching as Izuku sat down on the bed, "Before I go, I want to inform you of the schedule we'll have you on. You will be waking up at 7 am sharp every day. We will have breakfast prepared most days, but otherwise, you will have to get acquainted with the kitchen. We'll be focussing on your mental stability, strength recovery, and flexibility before anything else."
"Your training will be divided between all four of us, with each of us teaching you about our own respective specialties. I'll teach you general hero knowledge and strategy, Tiger will aid in your strength training and flexibility, Ragdoll will oversee hero law and quirk theory, and Pixie Bob will work with you on controlling your quirk. You'll typically have your day split into five chunks so that you can spend a couple of hours with each of us, as well as have some time to complete your online schooling requirements. Sound good?"
Izuku just nodded. That all sounded reasonable, but the way she phrased it didn't make him feel any less uneasy. He didn't expect this to be a cakewalk, but he also wasn't anticipating a brutal gauntlet of training every day for the next ten months. Anything to have him ready to crush UA's entrance exam, he supposed.
With that, Mandalay gave him a warm smile, "Welcome to the team, Midoriya. Hopefully, this won't be too painful for you." With that, she softly shut the door behind her. Izuku stayed sitting motionless on the bed until the pitter-patter of her footsteps was inaudible.
Laying down on the bed, Izuku once again found himself staring at a ceiling light. "Oh, brother, Izuku. What in the fuck did you sign up for?"