"What do you have?" The man that's lived for a century asked him. You'd think that fixing a man with missing gray matter would have given you some respect. At most it just meant he could insult the man and not die within a ten second timer.
"Well, even before the boy received the quirk from All Might, he's had quite the reputation as a infamous doormat for one." Garaki went over quite a few papers. "He's done the most community service I've ever seen and teachers note he's always the one cleaning the classrooms or doing physical labor."
"Would explain why the muscle moron chose him, tough enough to withstand One For All's might."
"Oh, that's where we get to the interesting part." Garaki began to chuckle, knowing this would make the villain happy. "After extensive research and observation from all members of the Suzuki family, I've finally narrowed down the quirks of his parents."
"You do know how to catch my curiosity." The villain had one true weakness, his obsession with Quirks and understanding them.
"The father contains stingers similar to Parasitic Wasp, possibly related to one of Hachsukai's hosts. They create a pleasurable feeling association through physical contact with them." He could almost feel the man salivate from the possibilities this quirked offered. "The mother, ironically named Teian, manipulates neural energy, making whoever she chooses believe anything she says."
"Oh those are quite good. The mother especially. Sure it's limited by her frail body but amp it up with a few other quirks and a stronger brain chemistry, mix it in with the suggestibility of the father, creating a perfect backstory …" and now he rambled onto a muttering spree.
"I suppose then you'll love to know that the main target of quirk usage is their own son. They've exposed him to it from the moment he was born. One story I found was particularly amusing." He couldn't help but laugh. "When the kid was only six months, they tied him to the end of a fishing pole and used him as bait for seven hours. Kept the kid quiet by constantly exposing him to the father's quirk."
"And he hasn't run away?" All For One laughed. "Oh how incredible. You could raise the most loyal and deluded of followers …"
"And that's not all. The boy has three specific triggers for compliance. Saying Please, saying 'help', and begging."
"They implanted triggers?" The villain smirked. "I'll have to reward them for such a wonderful way to access my brother." Ah yes, his biggest goal, going on longer than the scientist even knew, and Garaki was even older than HIM! "Just imagine if I had them for Tomura …" He paused. "No, that level of brainwashing would have left a few side effects."
"Well … you're not wrong." The scientist turned to the next page of his clipboard. "You see his grades …"
==
"… How are you worse than ME!?" Denki shouted. Aizawa-sensei, at the beginning of class announced the coming of finals, and Iruma already didn't have high hopes about it. Then their teacher revealed the class grade rankings, and Iruma's name sat firmly at the very, very, VERY bottom of the class.
"Holy shit, I didn't think anyone could be worse than Jaming-" Jiro cut herself off, looking at the door as Kaminari flinched. They should really try to talk this out sometime.
"They can't be that bad." Mineta spoke up. "Like what, thirty, twenty?"
"Zero." Iruma tried to hide his head within his arms on his desk. "It's never been higher than ten on my best days."
"H-… How did you even get in? There's supposed to be a minimum requirement." Iida asked, mouth gaping.
"Bunny-sensei never said how I passed. Just that I got the lowest score in UA history, and that I broke the rescue record during the physical exam."
"So you literally put all your eggs in one basket." Bakugo deadpanned. "And now you're on the panicked side of the spectrum of extras."
"I'm glad I'm not dead last, believe me!" Mina shouted. "But I don't think I should celebrate anything. Bragging about this would be like kicking a starving puppy while it's asleep."
Ochako grabbed his paper and looked over the answers. "… Iruma, the answer you put to all the 'what should you do' is either run or punch. With no sentences."
"But that's how I survive everyday! I either avoid danger or clench my butt while yelling really loud just like Bunny-sensei told me to do." It's worked out for him so far.
"Clench your butt …" He heard Toru slap herself. "Not now, right now we need to get you super smart! Enough so you don't fail and we can enjoy summer together."
"Yes, we're not going to let you fail at any cost, Iruma." Shoto patted his back from behind.
"We could hold a study group!" Iida spoke out. "The smarter students will be teaching the uneducated and helping them improve. It's shown to be quite effective, I once did a paper on it in middle school."
"Oh really? So did I." Momo said. Oh right, he has a lot of smart friends now! "Oh, we can hold it at my place! I can get the third dining room cleared out for all of us to gather together."
"That's our class president for you, always there to help-did you say third dining room?" The class stared at the girl.
"Yes. It's not quite as decorative as the fifth one, but it is the biggest space I can provide for us on such a short notice."
"I didn't even know houses normally had five dining tables." Maybe his house was just small. His parents spent a lot of money after all.
"… This is going to be a work in progress." Shoto deadpanned. "We should get a list of who is and isn't going."
"I'm out. I can barely stand being around you extras during school. You couldn't pay me to spend time with you outside of that." Bakugo headed towards the door.
"I'm gonna get Bakubro to teach me. The dude is probably the best one to get it into my head." Kirishima followed him out.
"More like he's going to beat it into him until he memorizes what he needs to know." Shoji rolled his eyes.
"Hey, that's how Rabbit-sama taught me!" They really would've gotten along.
"...We worry about you so, so, SO much, Iruma-kun." Toru gave one of her great hugs. Such loving friends.
==
Miriko got back into her current apartment, cracking her knuckles as she made her way to the fridge. She pulled out a frozen carrot stew package and placed it into the microwave. "How the hell did they manage to run faster than the car they threw?" That quirk made no sense, especially with a dumbass name like 'teleport behind you'.
She turned on the TV, letting it play out as she went to the front door, tossing the pile of letters on her bed. Hearing a familiar ding, she grabs the meal and makes her way back to sit down, eating, watching, and reading. "Bills. Bills. Complaint. Fan mail. Pin up." Nothing too interesting as usual. "Jury Duty, death threat, death threat, death threat.." Those were occasionally funny for a laugh. "UA, fan mail, death…" She paused, going back two letters.
"Since when do they send me mail?" She asked, looking over the envelope. Shrugging, she ripped it open, expecting the projector as usual. Instead, a simple note fell into her lap. Picking it up, she unfolded the thing and read.
"To Rabbit-sama. Sorry I couldn't read this to you in person, but I made a letter for you for parents day."
"Parents day.." She had a weird warm feeling swelling up in her chest now, and she knew it wasn't from the crappy stew. She was certain that the kid hadn't pieced together where the 'kit' nickname came from. No offense, but he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
"We were told to write letters of appreciation, and I realized instead of writing something to my parents, I would write about the people I like." Aw, she never felt so much flattery and the urge to smash heads at the same time before. The kid was something else. "So I want to thank you for kicking me, and teaching me how to kick people in return. And for learning how to sit on trains while running fast. And how to think ahead while punching someone. I don't think I would've been able to fight the crazy stab man if you weren't my sensei."
The warmth from her chest started to build up in her face, and then her two eyes. "Wh…no…I can't…since when do I cry?" She slapped herself. This was just another fan letter…a letter from her Kit…
"Bunny-sensei is great and taught me how to have muscles and shout really loud, but you taught me how to use those muscles, and helped me control my bone breaking power. I promise to never fall behind in anything again and always reach for the top. I won't let anyone or anything get in my way. Thank you Rabbit-sama, you will always have my thanks and appreciation.
-Kettei, aka Kit."
She picked up the letter, placing the thing into her special bag. The one she brought to every city. This would be something very close to her … a thanks from her kit. Kettei.
==
"So forty seven times thirty six divided by eight is … ninety!" Kirishima smiled.
"Not even close, dumbass!" Bakugo screamed and beat his head with another book. "Are you even trying to pass at this point?"
"Yes I am, I won't let you down!" He shouted out. So far, despite this being a library, Bakugo screamed and hit him whenever he got an answer wrong. Apparently he was having sense beat into him. "So tell me about the civil war."
The blond began to sigh. "The civil war started when-"
"Bakugo?" The boy paused, turning to two boys who looked as surprised as him. "Wow, haven't seen you since graduation!"
"Do I know you extras?" Bakugo replied almost immediately, and he could tell by the look on his face he was being one hundred percent serious.
"… Somehow I really should have expected this." The first guy said. "We spent our lives together? Growing up?" No recognition. "I came to your cousin's wedding?" Still nothing. "We beat up Deku?"
"SHUT UP!" That immediately triggered the boy's usual outburst, but for some strange reason, he held himself back. Weird, it couldn't have been because they were in a library. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Dude, what the hell!? Even if you don't remember our names, our faces aren't that forgettable. For crying out loud I have stretchy fingers. Still nothing?"
"Right…shitty fingers…I vaguely recall you sitting next to me in class." Bakugo didn't even bother turning to them as he said that. "What the hell do you two want? In case you haven't noticed, I needed to beat half a year's worth of information into THIS shitty haired extra!"
"So he still doesn't commit names into memory?" The second guy asked, turning to Kirishima.
"Trust me, it's freakier if he actually says your real name." It still sounded unnatural for Bakugo to say anything else.
"I'll take your word for it." The second guy continued. "I was just wondering if you heard about what happened to Aldera. The entire place blew up. There's not even a brick left of it."
"Oh really?" Bakugo raised an eyebrow at that, before shrugging it off. "Eh, not like anything of worth would've come out of that shitty school after I left it."
"Come on dude, we had plenty of cool memories there." The first guy said. "At least in the beginning. Then you went into a 'mood' or something."
"Yeah, it was in our last year there I think." The second guy shrugged. "That's when Midoriya ran away…"
"Deku…didn't…run….away." Bakugo gritted his teeth.
"Wait, is that the mystery guy you keep mistaking Iruma for?" He asked. The blond glared harder at him for some reason.
"Oh, are you talking about that crazy Suzuki guy from the festival? Yeah, the kid's almost a dead ringer for Midoriya. Just replace the blue with green and add freckles." The first guy answered. "Almost thought he was Midoriya for a while, but that guy had such a cool quirk, so it couldn't have been him."
"Besides, it would have been impossible." The second guy spoke up. "He's in the hero course. You can't do jack shit without a quirk, much less be a hero like the nerd was." They chuckled in a way that didn't make him feel right.
"Shut…up…shut…UP!" Bakugo was biting his lips, and he could get on board with the guy. Bakugo was a jerk, but these guys felt like unmanly douchebags.
"Don't act like that now, Bakugo. What was it that you said to him before he disappeared?" The first guy rubbed his chin before snapping his fingers. "Right! 'If you want a quirk so badly, take a sw…'" The guy didn't get the chance to finish before Bakugo leapt out of his seat and began wailing on the first guy over and over in the face.
"BRO!" He grabbed Bakugo and began to pull him back, making sure there was ample distance. "Look, it's not worth it, they're not worth it."
"I…uh..I…didn't…" For the first time since he's known him, Bakugo stuttered, looking a mix of angry, confused, scared, and disgusted. "They never were. I..I don't know what I'm doing." He headed to the bathroom. "Give me a minute, Kirishima. I need to clear my head."
The worry suppressed the need to shiver at Bakugo use of his name. "Of course, Bakugo. Take all the time you need."
==
"Alakazam!" With a flash of smoke, the magician known as Compress made his lovely assistant disappear … in front of a crowd of three people. A stoner, a guy who came for the food, and a sleeping lady. Sadly an improvement from the two stoners and the rabid cat from last week's show. "I shall return shortly, my dear audience. That's where the real magic will begin."
He hopped backstage and groaned. "Look, Compress." His assistant spoke. "I can't keep doing this. I have a family and thirty yen a week doesn't work."
"I know, I know, show business often starts slow, but there's always plenty of opportunity when one knows how to look." He showed another magic trick, producing a solid forty thousand. "Don't let the druggie fool fool you, he's richer than he looks."
The lady sighed before taking her cut of it. "I get it, I'm not going to get on the moral high ground and say stop robbing the audience, but I need something stable." She gathered up her clothes. "I have a job interview coming up now, and I can't miss it. Good luck, hope the magic act works out for you."
He watched her walk out, dumping the frilly dress. He stared at the door, falling into his seat. "What's the point?" Making the world magical? He couldn't even keep it going for his own single employee. He wasn't improving lives by stealing from the rich … justice wasn't here.
"So unfair, isn't it? All that talent is going to waste, unnoticed and unappreciated. Such a shame for Oji Harima's grandson to end up in such a state." He turned and noticed a slightly older gentleman … he thought, walking into the room.
"A man of the arts I see." And possibly a stalker. "Such talent in knowing my ancestry, how DID you come about that?
"You have your tricks, I have mine. A magician never reveals his secrets after all."
"You claim to be a magician eh?" Compress got closer. "Then what's your act here?" He asked.
"An offer more so than an act. A bigger stage for you to perform, the world in awe. That is, if you're willing to share the stage." The gentleman began to walk away. "Think about it and give me a call when you accept."
Compress blinked, confusion visible even under the mask. "You haven't given me anything."
"Didn't need to, you stole my wallet right?" Wow, this man was good. Didn't even flinch as he said that. He didn't know whether to be more impressed or intimidated.
Pulling out the wallet, he took out the lone card inside of it, along with ten yen. Did the man expect to be robbed? The card read …. League of Villains … now here was something to ponder.