Chapter 14
Idolize
Spider Journal Entry 80.)
It's been a week since Mysterio was arrested, or rather since Gen Kashi was arrested on multiple accounts of vigilantism, impersonating a pro hero, and not to mention the dozens of times he's endangered people's lives. And what's even better is that the police raided his place and took all the evidence, it made headlines at Soowasha and every other news outlet.
However things aren't magically all right for me again, I'm still wanted by the police. And I still need to be careful with pro heroes, but I think this might have given me a little breathing room. Not only did I manage to uncover mysterio's plots but I flat out beat him. I don't want heroes to think I'm dangerous but…..maybe them thinking twice about coming after me will help in the long run?
A man was sent back into a wall before being stuck to it by webbing, a few feet away the vigilante Spider-Man. The masked man sat perched atop a lamp post that was turned off this early in the day, the store entrance below it had its knob crushed. Which was more than likely due to the attempted robber's hands having the ability to flush anything in their surface area while pressing against each other. Sort of like those videos online of a fruit or something being crushed between two metal plates.
"Oh come on!" The thief shouted.
"Oh you come on, I was minding my own business, not even on patrol mind you, when I touched down to change and what do I see? You breaking into this…bakery?" He questioned upon seeing a number of cakes in the window, he turned back to the grid with one of his lenses quirking questionably, "Is…..is this like a popular store or something?"
"I was hungry." The thief replied.
"…..you were hungry."
"Yeah, big surprise."
"…..do you have any money on you?" Spider-Man asked, hoping to find that there was an actual reason for this crime.
The guy looked at him like he was an idiot, "Of course I got money! Who doesn't go out without it or a card nowadays?"
Izuku…..he didn't like to cast stones but the more this guy talked the more stupid he seemed to be. "I…..then….why didn't you just wait until it opened to buy one?"
The guy snorted, "Hey I'm hungry now. I'm not gonna wait for this place to open tomorrow so I can eat."
Spider-man could only stare at the man, his jaw dropping beneath the mask as he tried to follow the logic this man was going by. "…ok I think when the police get here, you should explain that to them. They might go easy on you." He said, hoping that if this guy actually believed such a thing that he would get the right help needed to understand why that was wrong.
Shooting out a web line he swung off around the building and flung himself a block away before landing on top of a water tower where he had left his bag containing his clothes. He had to admit the new 'web bag' idea he came up with was actually very handy. It wasn't identifiable like a backpack and he could make one whenever he needed to, in whatever size he needed to as well. The only issue was that he had to tear it open to get anything out of, but some more webbing could take care of that.
Changing out of his costume and into a pair of sweatpants and a pullover with a tee shirt beneath it to hide his costume, he rolled up the sleeves and stuffing his gloves into his pockets he slid off the water tower and dropped down into an inlet between buildings. Itsuka had invited him to participate in a training session that she and some of her friends were having at her family dojo.
And while it was geared more towards quirks she assured him that he was welcome and they would be able to pick up on some actual combat tips in case some asshole tried to mug him again.
Her words, not his.
And while their impromptu lesson had turned…..flustering for him. He couldn't say he didn't enjoy spending time with Itsuka…..it was nice having a friend after so long. Alright, it's gonna be fine, just gonna meet her friends for the first time. No big deal… he thought to himself despite the growing anxiousness he felt. He swallowed thickly, it had been years since he had been invited to hang out with people his own age and that put some extra pressure on his shoulders to make a good impression.
Not to mention he didn't want to make Itsuka look bad by association, so he just needed to make sure he didn't do anything weird that his classmates didn't like. Which meant no geeking out on quirks, no talking mentioning that he was quirkless, and absolutely no-
"Midoriya! Hey!" The greenette jumped at Itsuka's voice, standing in front of her family home and dojo. She wore her regular workout wear with a hoodie to cover herself outside in the fall air. She raised a hand to greet him, "Glad you could make it, um, what were you muttering about just now?"
Izuku winced. Muttering, that was the other thing he needed to make sure he didn't do. "N-Nothing important." He replied with a somewhat forced smile. "N-Nice to see you again Kendo."
She smiled back at him welcomingly, and was happy to see that the wounds he had the last time she saw him had all healed. "You look much better than last time I saw you." She teased, Izuku's face reddened slightly as he nodded. Her smile lessened a little but was still there, but more gentle, "But are you ok? I'm serious, you looked really banged up last time we talked."
He blinked in surprise at the genuine concern in her voice, "O-Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't as bad as it looked." He dismissed with a wave of his hand. Itsuka stared at him, her eyes leveling at him with light causation, "It uuuh…..it just healed in a few days." He quietly added.
Itsuka snorted at the reply but decided to let it go. She was glad that he seemed to be all healed up, it was a little surprising though, the injuries he had from his mugging looked pretty deep when she saw them. Normally those would take a while to heal, but then again she hadn't gotten a good look at them, plus with all that they talked about afterwards she didn't have a ton of time to inspect them.
"Um, so why are you out here?" Izuku tilted his head.
The martial artist gave him a knowing smile, "No offense Midoriya, but you kind of seem like the guy who would be pretty nervous about meeting new people." She observed. He flinched, "So I thought you'd be more comfortable going in with me than by yourself."
Izuku slouched forward, "It's that obvious?" He asked.
She waved her hands dismissively, "Hey it's fine, but you have nothing to worry about." She assured him, "Besides I still owe you an actual training session." she added.
Izuku swallowed thickly, remembering how their last training session went. He shook his head, and stuffed his hormones down into a pit, this wasn't just a chance to hang out with his friend he could actually learn some good tactics. Including how to deal with someone the Kingpin's size.
Itsuka looked over her shoulder at the door to the dojo and then back to Izuku, "So….before we go in there's actually something I wanted to say." She began, his attention was squarely on her, "I know that it's a sensitive subject, so I haven't mentioned to any of my friends that you're quirkless." before he could open his mouth and express his relief however she raised a hand, "And it's not because of anything those dickbag classmates of yours say." She quickly added.
Izuku stiffened up at the look she was giving him, as though she was challenging her to defend them…..which he honestly couldn't. "R…..right." He agreed, not because of her aggravated expression directed at his school, but because he himself also believed that.
Her eyes softened, "I didn't mention it because it's your choice to tell them if and or when you feel comfortable enough to." She explained, he smiled at the consideration she showed for him.
"I…..thank you Kendo." He replied, rubbing his arm with his opposing hand. "I'm sure your friends are nice, it's just….." he trailed off before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, it's dumb."
"No, it's not." She said before quickly correcting herself, "Well ok the fact that it happened to you is stupid but I'm not gonna blame you for not opening up to people you just met about it." she assured him, turning on her heel and leading to the entrance to the dojo.
Izuku followed her inside and was immediately greeted by a…..head…..floating there.
"Hey man wanna see a dead body?!" the green haired head excitedly asked him.
The freckled teen fell backwards in shock as Setsuna cackled at the success of her prank. But while Midoriya tried to pull his soul back into his body, Kendo responded instinctually by enlarging her hand to a decent size before using it to smack her friend's head across the room like a ping pong ball against a paddle.
Itsuka winced as she shrunk her hand down to its regular size, "Whoops…..sorry Set but you kinda asked for that one." She apologized half-heartedly. That was one of Setsuna's favorite pranks to pull on someone, and had been warned by multiple people that she'd get popped one day.
"Ouch. Yeah. I did, but it was worth it." Set replied defiantly as her head floated back over to her body that was wobbling slightly from the head being hit.
While Sero helped steady his friend, Yui, who had been standing by the door and watching the whole scene unfold, looked down at Izuku who was leaning against the door on the ground trying to laugh off his nervousness, "That….that was a head." he lamely said. Kendo rolled her eyes as she offered him a hand, he took it and she helped him to his feet as he silently wondered how fighting a giant lizard man didn't scare him but a floating head somehow did.
Itsuka gestured to Yui, "Well Midoriya, you just met my dumb friend Setsuna Tokage-"
"Bite me Ken it was funny and you know it." She cheekily responded.
"-and this here is Yui Kodai." she introduced, gesturing to her black haired friend. Izuku turned to her and gave her a shaky smile. The usually stoic girl noticed the nervousness radiating off him, and offered him a subtle and rare smile and a nod, Kendo gave her a subtle smile in appreciation before gesturing to Sero, "And this is Sero, he goes to our school and is training to get into U.A. too."
The young man raised a hand in greeting with a large welcoming smile, "Heya man. Nice to meet ya." he greeted.
Izuku responded with a wave of his own, "H-H-Hi! I'm Izuku M-Midoriya, it's nice to meet you all." he said with a short bow as Setsuna walked over, rubbing the spot on her head that Itsuka had smacked. The initial nervousness of meeting them had washed away with their welcoming attitude, however when he saw the pointed grin of Setsuna he did have a slight bit of nervousness run though him.
"Nice to finally meet ya Midroiya." she greeted kindly before shrugging, "Sorry about the scare, thought it might break the tension."
He shook his head and smiled, "Oh no it's fine! I wasn't expecting it, but…..um…..if you don't mind me asking, was that your quirk?" he asked timidly, not wanting to jump right into a discussion about quirks if she didn't want to.
His fears were put to rest by her excited nod, "Yup, my quirk allows me to detach any part of my body." she said, raising her arms out and detaching them, her shoulders slipping out of the tee shirt she was wearing and out around the room. Izuku's eyes widened as he watched them fly effortlessly around the room before flying back and reconnecting with Setsuna's shoulders, "It's not super flashy but can come in really handy." she boasted.
"Yeah it is!" he said excitedly as they moved towards the center of the dojo, resisting the urge to pull out his notebook and start another entry.
There'd be time for that later.
Sero stretched his own arms out upon seeing Setsuna's display, "So now that we're all here, what's the game plan?" he asked Kendo who reached down to the hem of her pullover and lifted it up over her head to show the sleeveless shirt she wore underneath, Izuku's eyes lingered on her revealed arms for a second and couldn't help but notice how defined they were becoming. It was almost like the halfway point between what his own arms used to look like and how they were now, however he suddenly realized he was staring and turned away with a hint of red on his cheeks, thankful that Kendo didn't notice, but not aware that Yui had noticed him.
"Well I figure that we should try and set goals for ourselves and try and help each other out when we can." she said, placing her hands on her hips. Having taught a few of the intermediate classes at the dojo, she knew that while people might be at a similar level of skill, there were different areas that they could improve on. "For example, I'm going to try and work on my fighting style that uses both my martial arts and my quirk in tandem."
Yui hummed, "I need to work on my accuracy with my quirk." she muttered to herself.
Setsuna raised her hands in front of her, "I've been trying to see if I can get my speed up. Flying around is fun and all but if I'm just as fast as I am running then there's less reason for me to use it." she reasoned.
Sero looked down at his elbows that were cylinder shaped, "And…I'm trying to figure some stuff out." he said sheepishly.
When they all turned to Izuku, the teen froze up a little, "Um…I don't want to get beat up?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...honestly that's something I think we could all benefit from." Sero shrugged, the others nodding along in approval and recognition of how much sense that made in general. Itsuka gave him a subtle smile but nodded to everyone.
Kendo clapped her hands together, "Alright then, Midoriya how about you and I partner up?" she suggested, "We can work on your defense while I experiment with my big fist."
Yui and Setsuna shared a slightly concerned look while Izuku beamed and nodded excitedly, following her to the far side of the dojo. "...that poor guy. Has no idea what he signed up for." Setuna shook her head.
"Poor boy." Yui lamented.
Sero looked confused by the two girl's reaction to Itsuka's offer but shrugged and simply went on to practice his own quirk by shooting strands of tape to the ceiling from his elbows and using them to pull up on. Setsuna meanwhile began to split herself apart by her limbs and shoot across the room as fast as she could before going back to her original spot like a flip turn exercise one would perform at the pool.
And while Yui shrunk down medicine balls to practice with, kendo and Izuku faced one another on one of the mats. The martial artist stretched her arms across her chest as she spoke, "Alright Midroiya, I know that you're not an expert at combat but that really works for me here." she explained before raising a hand growing it to demonstrate, "See, my training has been honing my body but it hasn't really given me time to work on my quirk." she lamented as she looked at her hand, "It's been a while but I need to brush up on incorporating my quirk into a fighting style."
Izuku stared at her in awe, "You already figured out how to do that?" he asked.
Before he had gotten his powers, Izuku had…..somewhat embarrassingly enough, thought that he would be just like All Might when fighting someone. That however proved to be completely untrue when he fought Shocker the first time and didn't have as much control with his strength and ended up being much more acrobatic than the symbol of peace. Which also meant that he was, for the most part, basing what he was doing off videos he saw on the internet of heroes who were similar.
Kendo was confused until it struck her, of course someone who didn't have a quirk would think that she only recently developed this. "Uh, no I've actually put years into this." she corrected with a gentle smile. "But honestly, experience is the best teacher, so training with it against someone instead of a dummy is for the best."
"Oh…right. Yeah that makes sense." he blushed embarrassingly. Izuku shook his head, "Alright, so what do you want me to do?"
She shot him a smirk, "Well that depends, what exactly do YOU want to improve?" she asked him. He blinked before sheepishly rubbing his shoulder, "Midroiya, partners help each other improve. It's not all about me, this is about you too." she told him, poking him in the chest with her normal sized hand. "So then, what do you want to do?" she asked again.
He was quiet for a moment, "...The guy who….beat me up? He was really big." he told her, Kendo's arms crossed over her chest as her eyes looked into his mention of his assault. "And…..I didn't know what to do, he was bigger than me, really strong, and….actually really fast too." he recalled, thinking back to his fight with the Kingpin. "And I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even tell what his quirk was." he lamented.
She frowned at the frustration in his voice, "And you don't want to get caught off guard again." she guessed. Izuku nodded solemnly, his usual timidness replaced by a determination that she wasn't used to seeing…..but looked good on him. "Well you're in luck then." she added with a smile before growing her hands out. "I can simulate how this guy was moving, and once we get you used to it I'll teach you some techniques that people use against larger opponents."
Izuku gave a nod, that was exactly what he needed to learn, "Ok then, before we start Midoriya, first rule is if one of us says 'stop' we stop. No questions, no judgement. Got it?" she asked him firmly.
"R-Right! Of course." he agreed. She smiled in response and shifted into a fighting stance while Izuku did as well, similar to the one he showed her from before.
"...you might want to lose the pullover." she said with a smirk, pointing at the overshirt he was wearing. Izuku smacked his forehead and pulled it off and-
Kendo blinked. And then blinked again.
Izuku Midroiya was…kinda jacked?
Yui, who had been tossing the medicine ball up, expanding it, and then shrinking it down upon catching it, paused when she saw the young stranger out the corner of her eye discard the article of clothing, and was now…..appreciating….very intensely…..
Setsuna meanwhile looked over, saw Izuku, and then saw Kendo's expression, and grew the biggest shit eating grin she could ever have. "Oh….this is great."
With his overshirt gone, his t-shirt showed off the results of his new powers and the physical growth he had undergone in the past six months of being Spider-Man had left him not resembling his old physique at all. And when Itsuka had met him he had worn somewhat obscured his physique but now he was wearing a t- shirt…..a pretty tight tee shirt….and with arms that she was…..
Wait…does his shirt…..
"...Midoriya…does your shirt say 'Boxers' on them?" she asked with a dead voice.
"Oh!" Izuku smiled as he looked down at himself, "Right, yeah I saw this and it made me laugh. I have a couple shirts like this at home." he said unashamedly.
The three girls had a collective thought, That's adorably cringe!
Sero meanwhile cackled, "HA! That's hilarious Midroiya!"
Izuku jumped a little at the praise but smiled regardless, "T-Thanks Sero!" he said before turning his attention back to Kendo and getting back into a fighting stance. With her small oolging session interrupted by the dorky pun, Itsuka refocused as well. Alright, I don't want Itsuka to suspect anything so I'm going to need to take a few dives. So I need to ignore my Spider Sense and- As though his sixth sense was listening to his thoughts, and decided, 'Alright then.' there was just the start of a buzz in his head before Itsuka closed the distance between them with her fist coiled back. What gave him pause was the fact that she was just outside of arms' reach when she threw her fist. And just as it reached him, it grew into a large palm that smacked him right in the chest hard enough to knock him off his feet.
Off to the side, Setsuna and Yui both hissed sympathetically.
"Wh….what just happened?" Izuku asked as he sat up, Kendo flashed him an apologetic look.
"Sorry! I thought you were ready, you looked ready. Shit!' she cursed.
He quickly shook his head, "No I-I was….at least I thought I was." he admitted, Itsuka reached a hand out to him and he took it. Standing up again, Izuku quickly got back into his ready position while Kendo did the same. "Alright, I'm ready," he confirmed.
She moved forward again, the same move but this time Izuku stepped to the side to doge, Kendo pivoted on her heel and spun around with her other arm swinging into Izuku's side. He was once again knocked over but this time rolled with it across the mat to stop on his hands and feet. Kendo blinked, "That was really good!" she praised enthusiastically before charging after him.
Sero, who had paused his exercise mid pull up, was beginning to understand why Yui and Setsuna sent the green haired teen their condolences.
Izuku meanwhile managed to raise his arms up to block a soft punch that Kendo pulled back that was aimed at his head, he ducked underneath and side stepped as she moved in, getting some breathing room between them. Itsuka watched him closely, she saw him watching her, his eyes darting across her at every chance they could to watch what she was doing. She decided to switch it up, her next windup with her enlarged hand she shrunk it down halfway through and managed to land a blow to Izuku's side.
He winced slightly at the damage but managed to raise his hand to bat away her other hand that she followed up with.
"Stop."
Izuku blinked, not expecting Kendo to pause the spar. The ponytail headed girl waved her hands in front of her as she looked at him, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head, "No you didn't, but…well I just noticed you're not really attacking me." she replied. The boy blinked and felt his face warm up a little, and that's how Kendo knew why. "...you don't want to hit a girl do you?" she guessed.
"Erk!"
She laughed at the outburst, "It's cool, I get it a lot. But Midoriya, you realize you got to go on the offensive right?" she asked him.
He felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment, "I-I know i just…I don't want to accidentally hurt you." he admitted in a small voice.
The knowing smirk that Itsuka had vanished at the concern and care his voice had, feeling her own face warm at his earnestness she cleared her throat, "Erm-well it's fine. I've been practicing martial arts since I was a kid, it's fine Midoriya. I promise." she assured him, trying to keep her blush under control.
Izuku was still unsure, but looking at her and seeing the reassurance in her eyes made him take a deep breath and blow it out through his nose. Getting back into his fighting pose, Kendo did the same once more. "Alright. Ready." Kendo nodded, she was about to step in but was taken off guard when Izuku went on the offensive right away.
She didn't know why she wasn't expecting a kick but when she saw the foot swing towards her side she raised her own to block it. With it knocked away she countered, planting her foot against his chest, only to be surprised as he grabbed it!
Izuku planned to use the change to throw her a distance away….but then again that might be too conspicuous. Instead, she took advantage of his hesitation and dropped back, coiled her foot in and slammed it into his chest to knock him back.
The fist he threw wasn't packing his full strength behind it obviously but it still made Itsuka double take when she blocked it. Then again can I really be surprised when Izuku has arms like that? She thought, still kind of reeling from the facts that one, Izuku was apparently way more fit then he let on, or two that someone had managed to rough him up when he was already this strong.
…..wait did she just refer to him by his first-
WHAM!
Her head rocked back as his fist collided with her face, and as she stumbled back Izuku let out a squawk of absolute horror. He just punched a girl in the face…HE JUST PUNCHED KENDO IN THE FACE!
"Mother-Shit!" Kendo cursed as she held her nose. Lowering her hand, blood seeped out of her nostril and down over her lip to her chin. She looked at Izuku, the flash of anger that was natural to being hurt evaporated when she saw that he had turned stark white as a sheet and was looking down at his hand as though it was just used to commit murder.
She paused for a second before deciding.
Her big fist expanded slightly and slugged him. Not hard as she could but enough to knock the wind out of his sails as a little form of payback. Looking back at her, he saw Itsuka, despite the thin trail of blood streaking down her face, smirking at him. "I didn't say stop." she told him confidently.
…Izuku knew it wasn't exactly appropriate, but Itsuka looked really attractive right now.
While he was momentarily lost in awe of Itsuka Kendo's unwavering determination, he quickly threw his hands up. "B-but you're bleeding!" he exclaimed. She gave him a blank look, tilting her head to him she raised an eye as to say, 'Really? This coming from you?' And he suddenly remembered what he looked like last time he saw her. "I….er….Stop?" Kendo rolled her eyes but relaxed, wiping the blood off her chin before reaching up to her nose and touching it with a wince. Izuku's guilt swelled, "Oh god I'm so, so sorry."
Retracting her hand she shook her head, "Midoriya it's fine, it's an accident. It happens." she said before smiling at him, "I'm more surprised by the fact that you've been holding out on me." she jested. Midoriya swallowed a bit at being noticed like that. "Your defense is good but man your offense isn't anything to sneeze at. Literally." she joked, making him crack a good natured smile. "You seem to have picked up on the lesson pretty quickly too." she supplied.
Izuku felt his cheeks flush from the praise, "You think so?" he asked unsurely. She tilted her head quizzically, "It's just….well your hands were the right size. But the guy was…..well, he was surprisingly fast." he admitted.
Kendo hummed before cupping her chin, "Makes sense, I have to compensate for the mass my hands gain when I grow them out so I'm slower then when I have normal sized hands. Part of this training is getting myself used to how big they can get and attack quicker, but if the guy who wailed on you is just big, he doesn't have the problem." she informed helpfully. She clapped her hands together, "Alright then, let's go again."
He gaped at her, "Wh-But your nose!" he pointed out, literally with his finger at her face.
Itsuka gave him a smirk, "Well if you're so upset about it, I could return the favor." she confidently replied.
"Alright then." was his immediate answer.
"...boy you really need more self worth." Kendo sighed before they went at it again.
"This cannot stand." Kingpin spoke as the tablet he had been holding slammed down onto his desk with a headline about Mysterio's arrest. His lieutenants had gathered before him in front of the desk. The Fixer flinched from the impact, "Not only has the Spider continued his efforts against us, but he has made a move against one of our most valuable resources!" he growled out before turning to the Rose. "What is being done to ensure Mysterio's silence?" he asked.
"He's pledged to not say anything, but I gently reminded him that we have some people in prison who don't care if they ever leave. And another count of murder won't phase them." the masked man explained. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his white jacket. "To be honest sir he seems content, this scandal is publicity that he's feeding off of." he turned to the fixer before adding, "If we could get him out he might still be useful."
"Forget it." Fixer frowned, "The moron had all the evidence the HPSC needed to convict him, my own people aren't even allowed to investigate since this is an internal affairs matter." he explained, his hand reaching up and rubbing his throat from when Kingpin had his boot on his neck not too long ago. The way his boss was glaring at him made that memory bubble to the surface, as well as the cold look his eyes held back then. "B-But I'm stalling the trial, try and wait out interest until something else comes along."
The man in the chair let out a gruff sound of annoyance, "Very well." he pointed at Fixer as he sagged in relief, "Do not be mistaken." Kingpin growled, making the man stiffen once more, "I haven't forgotten that it was your idea for me to confront the Spider so I may lay down the law of my kingdom upon him."
The fixer paled but remained quiet, the deadly reminder hung in the air before Kingpin turned to The Tinkerer. "Now then. Is our test operation set up?" he asked.
The older man nodded, "Yes, the accelerator's emitter has been concealed, Richard's shouldn't be able to locate it once we use it. And once I have data from the test, I can begin working on mass production." he said with more confidence than the Fixer.
Kingpin sighed tiredly, "At least that's still on track. Is the plan in place?"
The rose nodded, "If all goes as planned, the Humarise movement will have what they want."
Sero had accepted the invitation from Setsuna to train at the Kendo Dojo for a couple reasons. First and foremost was the fact he'd get to see Setsuna in workout clothes which turned out to be a pair of shorts and a tee shirt which showed off her flattering figure she was proud of which automatically made this a win.
Then there was the fact he actually needed to get some training for UA's entrance exam done.
What he didn't account for was the fact he'd be treated with the show of Itsuka Kendo and some dude smacking the tar out of each other in training. Which would be entertaining…..if he wasn't horrified by what they were doing to each other.
Kendo was on top of him. Pinning him down to the mat and breathing heavily with sweat glistening her skin, she looked down at Midoriya as he looked up at her with a spark of defiance in his green eyes that stared back into her pools of blue. Her heartbeat was so loud she could hear it in her ears, her hands were free and despite her experience, didn't really know what to do with them since…..well, she had him.
She had managed to get Izuku down to the ground with a leg swipe, after which she all ut threw herself onto him, pinning his one hand down with her foot while her other took a knee, making it so that she was couched over him, His other hand gripped her ankle but she leaned onto her popped up knee to press more weight down onto him.
Truth be told, Izuku was strong enough to lift her leg, and probably the rest of her, off him with ease. But outside of it being incredibly suspicious that someone who didn't have a quirk would be that strong…he also needed a second to catch his breath.
Meanwhile, Yui, Setsuna, and Sero were watching the two…..parteners….fighting. However the pair hadn't seemed to notice they were the only ones still training….after three hours. "Is….is this normal for Kendo?" Sero asked unsurely.
"The intense training? Yes." Set answered quietly.
"The sexual tension? No." Yui added bluntly. Causing Sero to blush.
"I was more talking about them beating the crap out of each other." he clarified.
Set and Yui looked at one another, "...ehhhhhh?" they both said, raising their hands and tilting them from side to side in sync.
Suddenly, Izuku's feet swung up and, not too gracefully, kicked her in the rear and caused her to stumble over on top of him. Her stomach landed on his face briefly but she rolled off him as he recovered as well. Her leg sweeping out for his feet, as though he knew it was coming he hopped over the attack, but as he landed she followed up with an upwards kick to the chest. Standing to her feet, Kendo panted as she tried to catch her breath while Izuku wobbled in place.
The two sparring partners were…..were really stress testing what was considered a 'friendly spar' with a grudge match. Itsuka was getting the experience she needed with her quirk she had set out for but Izuku was making her work for it. While he didn't have nearly as much experience as she did, Kendo found out a hard truth about her friend. Midoriya was a fast learner, once he had enough time to observe her he would get a good enough read on her moves that he could read them.
Which was both frustrating and enlightening, as it forced her to change up her fighting style as well. And while she was getting to experiment and grow, she was also tutoring Izuku with some more advanced techniques. And unlike last time they didn't turn into a pair of blushing dorks when she put her hands on him, or he put his hands on her.
In fact….she kind of liked it.
Man, when was the last time I got a good spar like this? She wondered, ignoring that last thought and chalking it up to the rush of battle.
"Hey guys?" They both turned to Yui. And then blinked when they realized they were both the only ones still training while the others had taken a break. "You wanna take five like the rest of us or do you want to keep wailing on each other?" She asked bluntly.
The pair both flushed in embarrassment at getting carried away and decided to join the others and sit down. Setsuna had taken the liberty of going upstairs to the kendo household to grab some water for everyone. "Th-Thank you." Izuku quietly said as Yui handed him a water bottle, he couldn't believe what he had been doing, getting into a slugfest with Itsuka in front of the others like that! What was wrong with him? He had been so focused on Kendo that everything else faded away, thankfully that also made him acutely aware not to do anything to…..spidery.
Sitting down in a circle, the five took the opportunity to relax from their session, while they weren't as visibly tired as Itsuka and Izuku, the others were still worn out from their training. Taking one of the water bottles, Izuku gulped it down greedily while Kendo did the same sitting down next to him.
Setsuna plopped down on his other side with a grin, making him jump, "Congrats on surviving a sparring session with Kendo Midoriya." she praised as she leaned close to him.
He shakily nodded, 'Th-Thanks Tokage."
She smirked before bumping his shoulder, "Call me Set, everyone does." she implored him.
He gave her a small smile and nodded, "A-Anyway, how's your training going To-er, Set?"
The green haired girl blew out a raspberry, "It's fine I guess, I'm getting faster with flying short distances but I'm hoping I could be faster." she explained. Izuku hummed thoughtfully, he had seen her using her quirk in the background while he and Kendo were sparring. It was really unique, being able to detach body parts may not have seemed like much but the fact that she could make them fly meant that she had amazing mobility potential!
Itsuka looked over as she took a swig of water, and saw Izuku's mouth open and close, stopping himself from muttering. She smiled a little, "You know Set, Midroiya here is actually really good with giving advice for quirks." she said, both greenettes turning to her, one with curiosity and the other with shock at being described that way.
"For real?" she asked, Kendo nodded, and she set her sights on Midroiya who swallowed, "Alright Parsley, what do ya got?" she asked as she leaned in, making the boy blush at how close her head was to his, her shark-like teeth grinning. Beside him, Kendo felt herself pause as a feeling turned in her gut at the sight.
"W-Well….um…..how exactly does your quirk work?" he asked nervously, "I mean I can see you can detach parts of yourself but is there any limit to it?" he asked curiously. "For example, how big or small does something need to be for you to fly it around?"
Setsuna cupped her chin, "Well it can be as much as I want it to be. Anything from an entire limb to just my pinky." she said, showing by holding up a finger which split up into multiple parts before assembling. "But I can send out as many as fifty parts at a time. But if the parts are away for too long then they'll stop moving." she explained. "Worse case I lose something but I can grow it back, it'll take a while though so it's better to avoid that entirely."
Izuku cupped his chin, "So you're splitting them up into small pieces and then flying with them because you're lighter, right?" he guessed.
Set nodded, "Yup, the more large the part the slower it is. If I divide my toro apart from my arms and legs, and then split those apart? They'll move faster than my torso." That made Izuku think, but Setsuna sighed, "It's not exactly the most flashy quirk, but I think it's got potential."
Midoriya looked at her with surprise at the negative tone she had, "What? No, your quirk is amazing To-er-Set!" he praised, making the lizard girl blink at the earnestness in his voice as he smiled. "With your quirk you could be great for infiltrating and scouting! Not to mention when you get faster your response time will be really good too!" he said encouragingly. He paused as he thought for a moment, "Have you thought of trying to split yourself into even more pieces?" he asked her.
Setsuna blinked as she got over the genuine praise and excitement for her quirk and thought about what he said, "Well, yeah I have but I thought fifty pieces would be enough." she shrugged.
Izuku nodded, "Well maybe instead of having them small you could keep them big for….um…" he paused before turning to Kendo, "What's that thing you do when you run with something dragging behind you?" he asked.
Kendo snapped her fingers, "Resistance training."
"Right! That." he turned back to Setsuna, "Maybe you could do something like that?"
Setsuna pursed her lips in thought, her goal had been getting herself faster while split into smaller pieces, and keeping herself into something larger wouldn't only make her faster when she's divided up more, but would also allow her to go at a more reasonable speed while more together. "That….might be worth trying actually." she agreed before turning to Izuku and grinning, "Well look at you smarty pants!" she praised before slugging him in the shoulder.
Izuku blushed and looked away while Kendo smiled, happy that her friend was given a chance to shine. Glancing over at Sero, she saw him open his mouth but closed shyly. Peeking over to Izuku, she nudged his side gently to get his attention, when he looked to her she tilted her head towards Sero. "Um…..I'm more than welcome to talk about quirks more…if you guys want." he quickly added.
Sero looked up before rubbing the back of his head, "Er…..well I kind of have something but…." he looked away, "It's kind of dumb."
Setsuna stretched her foot out and tapped her toe to his, "Dude it's fine, we're in the training circle. What happens in the training circle, stays in the training circle."
Kendo made a face, "...what about whatever's SAID in the training circle stays in the training circle instead."
"Booo." Yui jeered.
"Hush you." Kendo pointed at her.
Sero sighed, "Well…with how my tape works, I think I can use it in a bunch of ways but…..most of what I want to do involves taking inspiration from someone else." he explained with a modicum of embarrassment.
Kendo gave him a curious look, "Ok? I mean I get why you might feel weird about that. But there's nothing wrong with it." she assured him with a smile.
Yui nodded, "She's right. I take a lot of inspiration from Ultra Man." she admitted unabashedly.
Itsuka snorted, "Girl you based your hero costume off him. It's more than a little."
Sero shook his head, "No, I know but well…..it's more like….the guy I take inspiration from is….well, Spider-Man."
Izuku nearly choked on his water. But thankfully the others were seemingly surprised by the fact as well so it wasn't as though he stood out, "I mean…I know that he's kinda shady, and the police want him for what happened to that store, and what happened with mysterio but…." he trailed off before taking a breath. "I didn't mention this to anyone, but, a couple weeks ago? My mom was attacked."
Setsuna gasped along with the others, "What!? Is she ok?"
Sero nodded with a relieved smile, "Yeah, and…..I have Spider-Man to thank for that." he said with a hint of admiration. "The way my mom tells it? She was on her way to work when some guy used his quirk to stop her car, he pulled her out by the hair and pointed a gun at her face." he recalled. "But then this web came down, caught the gun and pulled it up as Spider-Man came in and kicked the guy in the head." he retoled. "And afterwards he made sure my mom was ok, he helped her up, and stayed with her until the cops showed up before taking off."
The others in the circle were silent, Izuku especially out of fear of what he might let slip, he remembered that. Sero's mom was so frightened after that the idea of leaving before someone else could see her sounded just…mean. "I mean I thought he was interesting before, but after that…I can't help but compare myself to him." Sero admitted embarrassingly.
He was afraid to talk about this out of judgement, not only because it seemed dumb but because he was a wanted vigilante. Not exactly a role model.
So Sero was really surprised when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder, looking over he saw that Set had detached her arm to comfort him, "Dude I get it. Spidey saved me and my sister from a giant Lizard guy attacking someone." she told him with a shrug, "I don't care what the news says about him, guy is alright in my book." she said earnestly, giving Sero a pat on the shoulder for reassurance. Looking around the dojo, he saw no one judging him for his choice, and gave a genuine smile before leaning back in his spot. "Besides he's my sister's favorite superhero now I can't hate the guy."
Izuku felt his heart clench at that information but managed to keep it together.
Considering his words for a moment, Izuku spoke up, "Well….I don't know much about Spider-Man as I do actual pro heroes." he fibbed, "But I'm assuming that you want to be able to swing around like he does?" he guessed.
Sero nodded, "Yeah! I've wanted to do it for years now but there's not a ton of pros who can move like that. And whenever I see videos of him online he's too fast to really see." he explained.
Izuku hummed, web swinging was definitely the hardest thing to learn when he got his powers, but since he was the one who had done it he knew what the shortcomings were. "Well, I've taken pictures of Spider-Man for my job, and from what I see? I think it's like being a pendulum." he explained. Sero tilted his head to the side in confusion so Izuku went on top explain, "If you have a ball attached to a string, and then you pull it back, it's going to swing at an angle that determines where the arc starts." he said, using his hands to draw an imaginingary diagram in the air.
Sero nodded, "Yeah, and Spidey's the pendulum. I get that, I just don't know how to emulate that." he sighed, leaning back on his hands. "I mean he can jump what, thirty feet or something? That's how he gets his momentum, but I can just hop like a person."
Kendo frowned, "Yeah, I guess that would be difficult. Unless you want to spend time climbing to the roof of a building."
"Well why not?" Midroiya asked, making the others look at him nonsensically. "Well you can reel in your tape right? Can't you shoot some tape up, reel yourself up there and then start swinging?" he asked.
Sero blinked…and then the others turned to him.
"You…..you didn't think to move yourself with your tape. Did you?" Yui asked.
"...no." the tape user answered quietly before dipping his head forward in disappointment while Setsuna used her hand to pat his head.
Giving Sero a good amount of time to reconcile his oversight, the group saw Emi arrive in the family car with groceries in the back. Itsuka was quick to go help her mother with Izuku right behind her and the others in quick tow. "Man I should get the kids to help me with groceries as part of training with how quick this is." Emi joked as she set a paper bag down on the kitchen table while the others worked to help put the food away at Itsuka's direction.
The Kendo matriarch turned to Izuku and smiled, "Midroya, how's Inko doing?" she asked politely.
"Oh, she's fine. She actually told me that if you guys want to come over for dinner at our place anytime then you're more than welcome to." he informed her, putting the cereal away in the proper cupboard.
Itsuka smiled, her short visit to the Midroiyas was a while ago now but it was still a pleasant time. "Ok, I'm going to go grab the last bags, We'll be right back. Midoriya, can you keep putting stuff away?" she asked. He gave her a nod before she turned away from the table and led the others to the exit. As soon as the door closed however, Emi whirled around to face Midroiya.
"Midroiya, do you have any plans this Friday?" she asked quickly, the young man was taken aback by the cunning look in the older woman's eye.
"I-er-no?" he answered.
"Perfect!" Emi cheered to herself, she glanced towards the door before stepping closer to him and whispered, "This friday is Itsuka's birthday, we're planning a little surprise party and I'm hoping you could show up." she asked him. Izuku's eyes widened at a few things, firstly that Itsuka's birthday was so soon, secondly that she didn't mention it, and third was that he was being invited to a party!
He hadn't been invited to….well, much of anything since he and Bakugo stopped being friends.
"I-Yes! Sure!" he replied with a nervous smile. Yet he paused as something came to mind, he hadn't been to a birthday party in so long, and even then he'd never given a gift to a girl before….what the heck was he going to get her?! "Um…what should I get her?" he asked.
Emi pursed her lips together, "Well, me and Ryuji are getting her the parts she needs to finish her bike, we thought that since she's taking her training so seriously that she deserves it. Coach Yagi is getting her a pair of combat gloves that she'll be able to use her quirk with." she listened, the second gift making Izuku's eyes widen, that was an awesome idea! "As for Set and Yui? They got her tickets to a martial arts exposition in a few months."
Izuku cupped his chin as he thought, What do I get her then? She's my first real friend in so long that I want to give her something special. But how do I find out? I can't just ask her, it's too obvious. Maybe I could ask Setsuna and Yui?
"Or you could ask her mother who is standing right here?" Emi suggested, making the young man equal, not realizing he had been muttering his thoughts out loud. Emo folded her arms over her chest and smiled at him, from what Inko had told her and Ryuji, Izuku had loved a lonely life outside of his mother. And Kendo's presence clearly helped bring him out of his shell more socially.
Plus…the last boy her daughter brought home didn't turn out so great. But she could tell that Izuku would never consider doing what he had done. "Well, and you didn't hear this from me, but my daughter is a big fan of this anime."
Izuku's eyes widened and nodded alternatively, that was perfect! There had to be some merchandise he could get for her! "What's it called?"
Emi pursed her lips in thought, "um…..personal….no, wait. Probable si-no. Shit…..Persona! Yeah, that's it."
"Ok then that should be-"
"Part 5." Emi added.
"…um….of how many?" He asked.
"Look Midoriya I don't know, I just know she likes the girl with the motorcycle who punches people." Emi shrugged.
That made more sense than it should have.
After they had finished getting rocked inside, Emi had treated her guy's to a nice dinner to top off their training day. And while both Itsuka and Izuku were somewhat sore the next day, the others left with new goals to reach for the entrance exam to U.A. And with Kendo's encroaching birthday, Izuku now had a goal to get her a gift that showed how much he appreciated her.
Unfortunately he didn't know a thing about this persona stuff, and when he tried searching it he just had the dictionary defection pop up. But a quick message to Setsuna set him on the right path with Yui filling him in on the relevant information.
In short, the biker girl in leather with a metal mask was Kendo's favorite character.
And typing that into the internet gave him a figure that downtown and still in stock….which he couldn't afford.
Now Izuku Midoriya was, in fact, he was a A.M.C. (All Might Collector) and was smart enough with the money that he earned to get a responsible amount of merch without blowing his budget. And the Makoto Nijima 1/8th scale Figure was a tad out of his budget.
So he did the one thing he knew would work, he got busy.
Every day after school Izuku went out as Spider-Man, set up his camera, and got some shots of himself. Monday was him stopping a bank robbery, Tuesday was a man whose quirk made him expel sticky stuff from his hands like glue, Wednesday was the usual street crime he normally handled, And today was….well….
"It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you mister mittens." He cooed as he crawled along the wall to the cat who was lazily sitting on the ledge on the tenth floor while the parents and child whom the feline was a family member of watched in trepidation. The cat let out a low growl as the gloved hands reached for him and Spider-Man retracted them. "Ok then how about this?" He asked before gently pressing his fingers to his palm and creating a small ball of webbing held by a strand.
The cat's demeanor instantly changed and tried to paw at the makeshift toy, giving him back down the ledge, the father ushered the mother and child inside as Spider-Man passed in front of the open window. When Mr Mittens walked past, he quickly reached forward and plucked the cat off the ledge. "Mr Mittens! Yay your back!" Izuku heard the child say happily.
As he was about to peer in to make sure they were fine, the window slammed shut and the blinds dropped. It hurt to see people afraid of him, but izuku shook that aside and spun a web to the corner of the wall he had planted his camera at. "Spider-Man, Hero, Menace, cat rescuer? Who knows?" He joked to himself before leaping from the building and swinging away towards the news station.
Given How often he came to work, he had searched around the building after hours to see if there was some way inside as Spider-Man. Thankfully he managed to find it on the roof; there was no security camera on the stairwell that led to the rooftop entrance where the helipad was located. In fact some of the reports would come up here for a smoke break, if they were up here then Izuku would simply go through the front like normal.
Thankfully today wasn't one of those days, and he slipped into the news station as he had grown used to.
By now he had a pretty good idea of the building's layout, he didn't need to ask for the locations of some places like he had at first. Plus with Hodo mainly sticking to the near top floor he would usually find her at her desk. However upon entering the bullpen era he found her seat empty.
Shoot. I guess I'll wait for her here. he thought as leaned against the desk, looking around he saw everyone busy at work working on a new story that would either be featured online, on the news, or in a podcast. With his eyes drifting around, he spotted a familiar face in particular by the water cooler, and he saw him as well.
"Hey Midoriya. Looking for Hodo?" Taneo Tokuda asked, the freelance journalist greeted.
"Hi Mr Tokuda, and yes I am. Is she in?" He greeted and asked politely. He had only met Taneo a few times since their initial encounter, being a freelancer meant he bounced around different News outlets doing stories for them.
The reporter snorted, "She's in something alright." He tilted his head, "Follow me." Izuku did as he asked and followed the older reporter through the offices of the news station. Taking a few turns, they stopped at an office door, "She's in here."
Izuku hummed curiously, he didn't know that Hodo had gotten her own office. Opening the door, he peeked his head inside, "Hodo? Hey, it's me-"
He stopped when he saw the cork boards….and the news articles littering them with red string attaching one to the other. In front of all of them, Hodo stood with her hands on her hips, her hair disheveled, and a cup of cold coffee in her hand. She turned around to Izuku and saw a fierce look in her eyes.
"I-I'll just come back later!" He said, backing away from the door, Hodo's hand shot out and grabbed him by his shirt.
Izuku turned to Taneo, only to see him backing away with a wave of his hand, a sad but resolute expression on his face at his betrayal of the young man. "Why?" he asked before Hodo yanked him in the room.
"Midoriya! Kid, you are a sight for sore eyes!" The older woman said, while she might have looked happy the deranged tone of voice scared him. "Alright, so remember how a while back you asked me about Mysterio's involvement with those fires a few years ago?" she asked, izuku felt his throat tighten.
Of course Hodo would make that connection! "I, um. Yes?"
"Right, so after he got arrested, it got me thinking back to that." She said, turning around and missing the large sigh of relief Izuku took. She pointed to the leftmost board in the corner which had the article printed and cut out, it also seemed to be where all the string originated from. "I looked back at the people I interviewed and who were involved. The fire marshal, the owners of the buildings, and I noticed something."
She traced one of the strings from the fire to another article, "The lead investigator at the time told me that the buildings that burned down were all done the same way. Faulty wiring. So I checked the service records and found out the same electrician services these buildings." She then pointed to another strand, "I also found out the Fire Marshall would later be indicted on the charge of misallocation of funds from the government. Which was from much earlier in his career." she explained.
"This leads me to believe that someone was behind the fires, Mysterio was brought in to 'investigate' and collaborate the false testimony of the Fire Marshall. Now here's where things get interesting." She pointed back to the electrician. "I looked into the company that serviced the buildings, and on paper it's run out of a place on Jango street. But I checked the address there? It's an empty lot."
Izuku blinked, "Wait, what?"
"Tango Power, the company name, only exists on paper. It's a shell company. " she explained. "I tried getting more information on the owner but I hit a dead end, the only thing I could trace it back to is a shipping company, Lotus Exotics." she then went back to Mysterio, "So I decided to go back to fishbowl head. If he was involved with this, he must have been with others."
For the next fifteen minutes, Hodo filled him in on everything she could dig up. How mysterio's activities linked to known criminals, who in turn reported to others like the Enforcers, and from there how other crimes were committed with just as much ambiguity to the connections.