David sighed, looking at his age-old partner. "It's worse. I know it's been on the decline since the injury, but never a drastic drop like this."
"We-well, I've never claimed to be a young man, guess old age is finally catching up." Toshi, in his emaciated form, cracked a joke, despite looking like a skeleton.
"You should take this more seriously, your power has gradually declined immensely." He sighed. "It's almost as if you lost your quirk." He heard a cough as he crunched the numbers, probably more blood. "Toshi … you've got one month, two max if you don't push it."
He let the silence hang, letting his old friend process that. "It's fine, I was never planning on being the best forever." He clenched his hands.
"You won't be a hero ever!" He needed to get it through the man's thick skull. "Don't you get it! The world is literally better because you're still here!" He groaned. "Sometimes I wish you never went back to Japan. The crime rate in America has been steadily rising over the past few years."
"Come now, we both know that's bullshit." Oh was it now? "Cathy has been doing great, taking down villains like it's a piece of cake."
"Said hero isn't able to keep up with your stamina and speed. She hasn't been able to make the presence you've had." He didn't want to disregard the woman's efforts, but in the end, there could only ever be one All Might. "You're the reason why she and so many others are heroes to begin with. You've helped so many."
"I can do that even if my quirk goes away." Toshi slipped on his currently baggy hero costume, before 'inflating' himself buff. "A kind young man once told me that the main job of a hero is to help people, but you don't need a quirk to do that."
"Sounds like an optimist." He laughed. If only it was that simple. "Who told you that?" Almost on cue, a familiar voice came in.
"Papa!" He turned, seeing his daughter with a cowlick kid smiling at them. "I'm taking Iruma to the lab in case your lab sensors go off, i'm giving him the Full Gauntlets." He nodded, happy she made another friend. "See you." She then turned to Toshi, and gave him a smirk of deviousness he hadn't seen since she was in his life. "See ya, Bunny-sensei."
"Bunny-sensei?" As much respect he had for his long time friend, even he had to laugh. "When did that become a thing?"
"Around a year ago, when I met Suzuki Iruma." Oh, so the boy was one of Toshi's students? Apparently close enough to allow such a ridiculous nickname between them. "She reminds me a bit of her now, you know?"
"It depends, she's usually so sweet and cuddly, but the moments she wants to put on a biker helmet for the sheer thrill of it make me think about her again."
==
Tsuyu finished tying up her dress as Toru finally got tired of attempting to give Ochako a black eye. "You actually snuck aboard on a plane in the cargo hold?" Not the most legal thing anyone in their class has done, but it somehow paled compared to everything else that's happened this year.
"What did you expect me to do after only telling me two hours in advance!?" The girl shouted, placing on a dress while looking at a mirror. "Thanks for the dress Momo, I did NOT feel like robbing a store today."
"So are we paying for your trip back or …?" Jiro asked. "Cause I feel you didn't bring your wallet."
"I'm sure I could ask Iruma-kun if I could ride back with him. I think Bunny-sensei will agree easily enough." And she was already exploiting the perks of having a crush on All Might's 'secret love child'.
"Don't worry, I'll split the cost. It's what 'friends' do." Ochako was now openly sadistic. Great, just what they needed.
"Can we not be boy crazy for one night? That's all I ask." She pleaded.
"Tsu, we're going to an exhibit in dresses with boys in tuxes." Mina answered plainly. "Half the fun is going to be them trying to hide their reactions. Who knows, maybe one of us might make Todoroki blush."
"Momo, you think you could make a flash bang for Mineta? I don't want to risk nose blood getting all over me." Jiro asked a fairly reasonable request, though the girl in question seemed to be occupied with choosing her own wardrobe.
"Honestly I'm just giving Toru a knife and letting her use it. Ochako has the training to knock it out of her hands if it gets serious and it's nothing she wouldn't have access to there." Momo was also fairly reasonable. "Now I know Denki likes seeing me in red, but would he appreciate the light green? Should I risk mixing it up?"
"I'm sure the dunce will like anything you wear." Jiro rolled her eyes. "It'd be impressive if you manage to keep his attention the entire night."
"I plan on it." Aaaahhhh! For once, just one day! She just wanted some girl time.
"Please tell me you at least realize this class could do with less boy crazy?" She asked Mina.
"I live vicariously through all the shipping, so I half agree with you." So semi-reasonable? She could work with that. "I'm just wondering if Kirishima actually going to drag Bakugo to the party tonight."
"Bakugo in formal wear? That's a laugh." Some things were just too impossible to imagine.
==
"Come on bro." Kirishima pleaded. "It's one night."
"Fuck off Shitty Hair." That's been the least volatile answer so far. "I don't want to go to some dumbass expo, I'm fine as it is."
"But all our friends will be there."
"That's even less reason to go."
"Come one, don't be like that, you can't actually hate everybody that much." It was hard to gauge what the guy actually hated, because there was being annoyed, and there was the fiery fury of a thousand suns Bakugo unleashed for anyone he truly despised.
"There is a difference between hating people and interacting with them. And in an event that's going to give me shit for being 'unclassy' or 'violent' then you can count me out." Well he had a point there.
"But there's new support gear, heroes, cake!" So much cake!
"I don't need to look at useless gear I don't need, there's barely any notable heroes around here except for All Might, and I don't need the carbs." How was he so reasonable and unreasonable at the same time? "I'm not Deku, where I fanboy over every.." Bakugo cut himself off with a grunt.
"Okay, you've been mentioning that guy a lot more sense your old classmates came up to him. What's the deal there?"
Katsuki was silent for a while, looking at the turned off TV. "I used to be friends with him as toddlers … then I bullied him for being quirkless … my last words were to take a swan dive as he hopped for a new quirk in the next life … then he vanished with his family the next day."
"....." Kirishima didn't know how to take that.
"You got your fill? Good. Now fuck off and don't talk to me any more, alright?" The dude just laid in bed. "I'll probably spend the rest of the day working out or some shit."
Kirishima had two choices, either soak in that his buddy was a total asshole that he should stop hanging around, or do something to help the guy get over his funk. Well, in for a quarter, in for a pound. "Katsuki. I'm gonna tell you this here and now. What you did was fucked up, there is no questioning that. But I am going to be the better man, and assume that you learned something from it, right?" Tell him he was right.
"Don't hit weaklings, hit bad guys." That was horribly short. The last thing this guy needed was to be by himself for an entire night. Luckily, he hung around him long enough to know exactly what to get the ball rolling.
"Alright, I guess I'll get ready now. Guess I'll just tell everyone you couldn't make it, especially Todoroki and Iruma, you know, the two guys that are stronger than you and have beaten you in every way." He could see the smoke on the bed, perfect. "While they're hanging around and making connections to pros across the world, you'll just be here, feeling sorry for yourself. I'm sure they'll under-"
"FUCK YOU, GIVE ME THAT TUX!" Hah, and they said bringing bombs to important events never ended well.
==
Iruma walked into the lab. "Wow, so much white, so many gadgets." He looked at the coffee maker. "Why do you need it so advanced?"
"Trust me, it works wonders when you're an adult." Melissa walks into a room. "I'll be right back, feel free to look around!"
"Okay!" He did just that. So many bright and colorful buttons and gear. Mei would've loved being here, she'd probably be able to make babies that didn't blow up all the time with this stuff. "Are all these trophies yours?" He yelled to her from the other room. So many achievements. "You must be really determined!"
"Oh yeah, I had to be if I'm going to be a hero." She responded from her spot.
"Oh, do you have your own hero school here?"
"Nope, I mean a support hero. You know, someone who helps others with gear."
"Oh, so by making all these gadgets?"
"Of course, I wanted to be a pro once when I was young, but it wouldn't work out. I was quirkless." He … never met someone else like that.
"I got my quirk late, around fourteen. Was it the same for you?"
"A late bloomer, that's rare." She came back into the room with something in her hands. "But no, when I was five, my Papa took me to a specialist. Apparently I was born in the minority that'll never develop one." That..seemed a bit unfair.
Melissa wants to be a hero, and Bunny-sensei gave One For All to him, a kid who never thought about being a hero before. "You know you don't need a quirk to be a hero right?" He asked, hoping it would stick for something positive.
"Well I thought about it as a kid but life doesn't work out. I wouldn't be able to fight the hard battles. After seeing All Might capture the villains with a gauntlet made by Dad I got inspired. You don't need to help people by saving them and fighting villains, just supporting the pros is enough to help people you'll never even meet."
"Yeah, that's how I think too! You don't need to be a hero to help people. In fact, by helping heroes, you're sort of a hero for heroes, right?"
"Yep." She came back. "I was just lucky everyone was so supportive." They … were? "I've heard stories of quirkless people having bad lives. Was the same true for you?" She asked with … innocence.
"Ah…people...didn't really notice me, but it wasn't anything too bad." He shook his head. Best to spare her the cruel reality. "Really, people just sort of forgot I existed, that's all."
"That's a bit sad, good thing you've worked out, I can tell with the muscles." Well that much was true in a way. "Here, check this out." She put a bracelet on his wrist, pressing a button as it grew like a balloon, becoming a red gauntlet. "Full Gauntlet, this thing can withstand a few of Uncle Might's punches!"
"Really? But he can bring tornadoes into existence!" That made him so excited. "Wait, so If I wore this, I could punch at full power?"
"Exactly! You said your power breaks your bones when you use it, and at the villain course, I saw that you were intentionally holding yourself back."
"You're super smart! Yeah, I can really only use fifteen spoonfuls of power before my hands start getting sore."
"A bit of a silly name, but that's fine." She giggled. "Now let's have some fun, show those people how to get excited." He suddenly realized this was what it must be like for Tsu. He should get her something.
"Oh, one last thing. Where's the off button?"
She looked confused, before her eyes widened. "Ri~ght, I knew I was forgetting to install something." Wait, install? "Come on, let's get dressed." Oh yeah, there was a party he needed to get to, so much new food to eat!
==
All Might greeted another American hero. "Captain Celebrity, it's been a while since you came out in public."
"I've got a kid, can't afford to do this daily." Ah yeah, the man had a family now. Something he found quite admirable. "What about you, Mister number one? Ever thought about settling down?"
"Whataya mean? I'm married to my work!" He laughed jovially. "Though that hasn't stopped rumors from popping up here and there. The UA staff is insistent that one of the students is mine."
"Such a shame." Elecplant walked over. "And here I thought that my son was friends with yours." He gave a look of confusion. "Mrs Kaminari from Parent's day?" She was Elecplant? Small world.
"A pleasure to see you once more." He gave a light bow. "Young Kaminari has shown quite the improvement during his exams. Tased Aizawa unconscious." Was it wrong that he kept a recording of it on his phone?
"Oh did he now! I don't know whether to laugh, be proud, or scold him for going too hard."
"I wouldn't suggest the latter, the exam seems to have given him a bit of luck with a special lady."
"Finally!" The heroine shouted just a little too loud. "Sorry, I just didn't think I'd get the chance to embarrass him over this until his twenties. I have baby pictures just waiting to be used."
"Ah yes, Baby Pictures." Celebrity spoke up. "The best part of having a child … I can't wait until the special day I get to spring them out with the misses." Maybe it was just a parent thing?
"Ladies and Gentlemen." Looks like David was up. "Thank you for coming to this special event. We have a great show with plenty of inventions to show off. For the sake of our hero society!" The clapping came in galore. "Now, to get the night started, I'd like to hand the mic over to one of my oldest and closest friends, All Might."
Really, springing something like this on him without warning? Now he felt what it was like for Suzkuki to experience this during the sports festival. Oh well, he could at least give a few words of encouragement if nothing else. "Thanks for having me here, I'm honored to be around so many inspiring people tonight. I'd just like to say.." An alarm went off.
The robots turned red, security mode activated. "Please remain within your households or a safe distance." They spoke deadpan. He would have to add in.
"Everyone remain calm, stick to a hero and let us escort-" He was cut off as the robots began shooting high quality capture wire … at him. He was wrapped up before he could process, along with others.
"Everyone, don't move." Spoke a masked man, making his way in. "This is a robbery, so don't make me shoot you all before you break through a single bandage, kay?"
"Don't you dare-" Electplant shouted, before being knocked to the ground.
"Just know, we have the security drones under our control. Do anything to us, and you'll have dead civilians on your hands." Damn it! "Everyone on this island is my hostage."