All Might raised a hand, sighing. "Alright, Ryuu. How about this, rather than fighting everyone at once, you take them two at a time. Keep it fair."
Izuku shot forward like he had just seen someone kick a puppy. "How is that fair? At least make it five against him. No, ten against him!"
I cracked my neck, grinning as I turned to All Might. "You hear that? Even Deku is begging for backup. Time to reestablish the pecking order. Let me fight them all."
Sero whistled low. "Bro got a death wish. Or a god complex."
Mina nudged Kaminari. "More like both."
"I will take that as a compliment," I said.
Bakugo's palms popped like firecrackers. "Tch. Quit talking big, you pint-sized shitstain. I will wipe the floor with you first."
"Say that louder, Boom Boom Boy. Your ego's hard of hearing."
Mina held her hands up. "Wait, wait, let's not ignore the fact that Ryuu wants to go against all of us. This is some final boss energy."
All Might raised his hand. "Young Midoriya does have a point. One against all is unfair."
"No, it isn't," I said immediately. "It is charity work. They will learn faster if I beat the stupid out of them as a group."
"Cheeky bastard," Jiro muttered.
"Confident bastard," Sero added.
Nejire's voice rang out from behind All Might. "Cute bastard, too."
"Shut your mouth, Nejire," I shot back. "Why are you even here? Go braid someone's hair."
"I woul braid yours if it weren't for the noodle strands," she said.
All Might sighed. "Fine. But five at a time. No more."
"Coward's rules," I said. "But I will take it."
---
Twenty minutes later, I was perched on top of a wall like a smug gargoyle, juice box in hand, slurping like I just conquered a kingdom made of dumbasses. Nejire sat cross-legged beside me, humming as she scrolled through her phone like this was a picnic.
Below us, the battlefield looked like a yard sale after a hurricane. Nineteen of my classmates were scattered across the ground, sprawled out like they had been hit by a freight train. Sweat clung to their faces, some of them still trying to catch their breath, others just staring up at the sky in silence.
Sato's voice broke the quiet. "H-how... is this possible?"
Izuku was slumped against Bakugo, clutching his ribs. "I... told you..."
Bakugo shoved him off with a growl. "Shut up, nerd. He is not even full size and he still wrecked us."
"Maybe being small made him harder to hit," Kaminari muttered, wiping his sleeve across his face. "Like... physics. Smaller area, same force, bigger effect."
Everyone froze.
Mina turned to him so fast her hair almost smacked Toru in the face. "Wait. Did… did you just say something smart?"
Sero's mouth fell open. "Holy shit, he did."
"Bro." Kirishima pointed at Kaminari like he just spotted a unicorn. "Did Ryuu beat sense into you?"
Kaminari blinked, then sat back on the grass. "I… think so?"
"Oh my god." Mina slapped her forehead. "He beat the dumb out of Pikachu."
"Impossible," Bakugo growled, pushing himself up on his elbows. "There is no fixing that idiot."
"Shut up," Kaminari shot back. "You guys saw what happened. He is like a gremlin in a boss fight."
Mineta was curled up like a ball. "I saw my life flash before my eyes."
I jumped down from the wall. I straightened and cracked my neck. "Alright," I said, clapping my hands together like a teacher about to announce detention, "who is the top dog here?"
A collective groan rippled across the field.
"You are," most of them muttered. A few said it louder, like maybe shouting it would hurt less.
I grinned, leaning forward slightly. "Damn right I am. Woof woof, bitches."
Jiro threw a chunk of grass at me. "You suck."
Bakugo muttered something about revenge. Mina swore vengeance in sparkly eyeliner. Izuku was probably drafting a training plan out of spite. Me? I strutted off like I just cleared a dungeon solo. Let them plot. I earned my juice box.
When I got home, Mom smiled at me like I had just walked in dragging a teddy bear and wearing oversized pajamas. Since yesterday, she had been extra cheerful, probably not because I was almost hospitalized by my own dumbassery, but because I looked like I had de-aged into the gremlin version of myself from middle school. Nostalgia hit her like a drug. And yeah, maybe I used to be cute. Emphasis on used to. Now I am badassly handsome.
"Welcome home, little Ryuu," she said, patting my head like I was eight and about to ask for apple slices.
I pushed her hand off. "Mom!"
"I am just saying, you were always adorable when you were this size. Less mouthy, too."
"That is a lie and you know it."
She laughed, moving toward the kitchen. "You want lunch? Or formula?"
"Keep going, I swear I will put myself up for adoption."
"You would have to reach the doorknob first."
I chucked my shoes off and dropped onto the couch. Nekoryuu was curled up on the armrest, one eye cracked open like he was deciding if I was worth the effort. He blinked, sneezed, then went back to sleep.
Eri rushed down the stairs, "Hey, lil bro!"
My eyebrow twitched. "I am still twice your height."
She giggled like that was the funniest thing she had heard all day. "You are so cute though."
I sighed. This is my life now.
She skipped over and latched onto my arm, like a damn barnacle. "Wanna play?"
"No."
"Wanna help me feed Nekoryuu?"
"Already fed him."
"Wanna braid my hair?"
"No."
She leaned in. "Wanna watch the princess show with me?"
"I would rather get hit by Bakugo."
"Okay, we can watch Bakugo videos instead!"
I stared at her. "What does that even mean?"
"Zuzu recorded him yelling at his alarm clock. He lost to it three times."
"…Show me."
She pulled out the tablet like it was a holy relic. I watched as Bakugo fought a snooze button with all the rage of a war crime. The alarm beeped again. He flinched like it called his mother weak.
She rolled over the couch, laughing, "Sis Yaoyao created this indestructible clock to annoy him."
I nearly choked on my own spit. "She weaponized his trauma? And what is with the color?"
Eri nodded like it was the most normal thing ever. "She made it pink."
"No. No way."
"She did! It has sparkles. And it says good morning in his princess voice."
I reached over and snatched the tablet. Sure enough, there it was. Glittery, and absolutely evil. A tiny Princess Bakugo voice chimed, 'Good morning, Kacchan! Time to smile and rise!'
I blinked. I blinked again. My soul left my body and returned just to whisper, leverage.
Bakugo screamed like someone just fed him nails.
I sat back. "I am keeping this."
Eri hugged her knees. "You can't. Zuzu said if it gets out, Bakugo might explode their whole dorm."
"Worth it."
She held out her pinky. "Swear you won't show it?"
I stared.
She kept it up, staring harder.
"Fine," I hooked my pinky with hers. "But I reserve the right to use it for blackmail."
"You said swear!"
"And I swore creatively."
She squinted like she was trying to decide if that counted.
Next few days went by without anyone bleeding or screaming, which was suspicious as hell. The class mostly gave up on calling me Baby Ryuu, except for Mina, who kept whispering it under her breath like it was a spell that kept her entertained.
The quiet was the worst part. It wasn't peace, it was setup. Everyone acted normal, but it felt like someone somewhere was pulling a slingshot back, and the second we blinked, it would snap.
Toga said something was coming. Nothing good ever came after that kind of promise.
I kept my head down. Trained more. Izuku kept checking on Eri like she was a bomb. She was fine. Her horn hadn't flared since that day. But every time I caught her looking at it, she looked like she was expecting it to grow legs and eat someone.
"Want me to stab myself a little so it activates again?" I offered.
She blinked. "No."
"Okay. Just checking."
Meanwhile, the rest of 1-A went back to pretending the school schedule wasn't designed by sadists. Aizawa dropped a pop quiz. Kaminari's brain exploded halfway through. Sero jabbed his ribs with a pencil to restart him.
Then came the day…
The hidden room was packed. It was the first time the full force of the Shadow Contingency Initiative stood together in one place, and that alone made the air feel heavier. Until now, they had only communicated through me, never knowing who else was involved, never seeing the full scale of what they were a part of. Tonight, the secrecy was lifted.
Mirko leaned against the table, arms crossed, scanning the room like she was sizing everyone up. Ryukyu stood beside her, calm but watchful. Aizawa had his usual deadpan, though I caught him flicking a glance toward Nezu, who sat on a chair way too big for his tiny frame. Best Jeanist adjusted his gloves, unreadable as always. Kamui Woods, Fatgum, and Edgeshot were quiet, observing. Tsukauchi was rubbing his temple, probably already thinking about the legal nightmares this would bring.
And then there was Gran Torino, sitting off to the side with a look that said he hadn't decided whether this was genius or complete insanity. He was old, cranky, and probably hated this already, but if anyone could sniff out bullshit through three layers of hero PR, it was him.
He wasn't part of SCI, but All Might trusted him enough to bring him in. That was enough.
Nezu was the first to speak. "I assume you all understand the stakes."
Nobody needed that spelled out. The Commission was moving in ways that didn't sit right, and the League was stronger than ever. The upcoming battle wasn't just a villain takedown, it was a shift in power.
Ryukyu sighed. "So, how bad is it?"
I tapped the table. "The Commission was prepping for this fight for months. Every hero's been called in, and they are treating this as the final push to wipe out the League. But they don't know half of what's coming."
Kamui Woods frowned. "You have new intel?"
"I know for a fact that the Dr. Kyudai Garaki the Commission is about to raid is a clone," I said, looking at the group. "Twice made copies of him. The real one is already gone."
Every pair of eyes turned to me like I just dropped a nuke on the strategy table.
Gran Torino's eyes narrowed. Tsukauchi stiffened. "How do you know that?"
I turned to them, let them sit with the bombshell I just dropped. "The League knows more than you think."
Gran Torino looked at Tsukauchi, who shook his head, then back at me. "You are saying the Commission's entire plan is compromised before they even move?"
"Yes." I rested my hands on the table. "That is why the Shadow Contingency Initiative exists, to clean up the Commission's messes before innocent people die because of their fuckups. The League has been two steps ahead since the beginning. If we don't act, the casualties will be worse than anything we've seen before."
I did not come here to be subtle. If they were scared now, good. Fear meant they were listening.
(Check Here)
--
You finished the arc.
You didn't finish your duty.
-----
To Read up to 90 advance Chapters (30 for each novel) and support me...
patreon.com/thefanficgod1
discord.gg/q5KWmtQARF
Please drop a comment and like the chapter!