Your Hero* Macadamia - A BNHA/MHA Quest

How Much Do You Learn, Int. DC: 2, 7, 12, 17 – NAT 20

What basic premise is modern society built upon?

Why was there strife and discontent after the first Pro Heroes were officially recognized by the US government?

How does the Japanese government monitor and police Pro Heroes?

These were the three questions you'd been given to answer.

Mr. Miyamoto raises his eyebrows as he looks over your essay. "Huh."

"Any problems?"

"Didn't expect you to use outside sources," he shakes his head, "but that's not a bad thing. And I expected a paragraph per question, not a fully fleshed-out essay with a rudimentary thesis statement."

After a few minutes, he gives you the verdict, "I think you understand the material, though we definitely need to work on your grammar and penmanship. I have to ask, how long did it take you to find the names of the first Pro Heroes?"

You shuffle your feet, "Six hours. Google failed me, none of the wikis had anything more than a general summary of the 'dawn of the age of Heroes', and a lot of webpages and forum posts seem to have been censored. I had to manually search through a forum from before the 'Age of Quirks' that's still consistently active."

Snipe nods, "Details about the 'dawn of the age of Heroes' are heavily censored. Do you know why?"

"Three of the seven 'original' Pro Heroes were revealed to have mafia ties, and one of the 'clean' ones ended up massacring a protest."

"Exactly; they only recognized a small fraction of the vigilante population as being 'worthy', and they chose poorly." He flicks through your essay again, "Your points about the Hero Public Safety commission are well-made, but next time don't use expletives. Also, you missed something in your research, but it's not your fault."

"Oh?" You lean forward.

"The Hero Public Safety Commission didn't always use Pro Heroes to police and inform on other Heroes, they used to deputize vigilantes and use them to tie up 'loose ends' and 'bad apples'." Snipe shakes his head, "You're absolutely right that they focus more on the perception of wrongdoing than actual wrongdoing, but you don't give any examples. I didn't expect any in this, given that it wasn't supposed to be a proper essay, but keep that in mind."

You nod, "Right."

He puts your essay down, "Honestly, I'm blown away. You've really thrown yourself into this, huh?" Mr. Miyamoto smiles wide, pulling on his scar. "Great. Keep it up and you'll be ahead of your peers, not behind."

CRIT REWARD – Internet Diver, +1 on all web-related research & investigations.

---

You curl your hand into a fist and throw a punch.

Snipe catches it and nods, "Yeah, that's an alright punch. Thumb's in the right position, nothing really wrong with your stance."

You narrow in on a spot just below his left shoulder and punch with your free hand, though you don't put much force into it; he sidesteps, twisting your arm and shakes his head, "I'm instructing you, not sparring with you." He pauses, "Though when you punch, don't just aim to hit. Imagine yourself punching through your target." He releases your arm.

"Right." You shake your hand, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. If you're not sure about something, ask." He leans back against the wall, thinking. "You're kind of scrawny; we'll fix that, but I think for now we'll focus on being evasive. Footwork and agility, getting out of holds, staying out of grappling range."

He suddenly pushes himself up and grins, "We'll start each morning with a jog, then when we get to UA we'll alternate between endurance running and endurance swimming. Do you know how to swim?"

You shake your head.

He shrugs, "You'll learn. We'll have to consult a doctor of course, but I think in a few months we can start you on weight training."

"What's the physical portion of the entrance exam like?"

Snipe shakes his head, "Can't tell you. Students aren't allowed to fight each-other, that's common knowledge, but nothing else." He pauses, "Well, actually – the details of the general-entry exam are kept from the students, but the recommendation exam is more-or-less common knowledge."

You tilt your head, "So can you tell me what the recommendation exam's like?"

"It's not really an exam, honestly. There are a few activities where kids who've been recommended can show off their Quirks and skills, then we review those and the letters of recommendation, and pick up to 6 students." Snipe shrugs, "Usually it's less than 6. We try to focus on kids with Quirks that are useful for Heroics but wouldn't get through the normal entrance exam." He smirks, "But if someone's got potential then they've got potential, no matter who their daddy is, so sometimes kids of powerful heroes will end up being accepted through recommendation anyway."

"Oh." You feel faintly shocked, "You'd prefer it if the children of powerful Pro Heroes went through the normal entrance exam?"

"Generally, yeah. Nepotism sucks." Snipe shakes his head, "Recommendations can come from parents and uncles that are 'in the business', but also from neighborhood Pro Heroes and their sidekicks, from teachers and the local school board, and there's even a few contests that Yuuei endorses."

You nod, "And which exam will I be taking?"

"We'll see for sure when it comes time to sign up, but I'll only recommend you if Nedzu thinks I should." He laughs, "And don't take this as an insult. The faculty is almost entirely responsible for judging the recommendation exam, and by the time exam season comes they'll all know you. Wouldn't be fair to the competition."

---

Yuuei highschool isn't exactly what you expected – there's a high wall and what you assume is a state-of-the-art security system, but the actual buildings are unremarkable. Well-built, well-maintained, and apparently designed to withstand both earthquakes and hurricanes, but other than that, an average-looking highschool. Well, an average looking highschool surrounded by empty 'cities' that are apparently training areas. You stop at the administration building briefly, just long enough for Snipe to get you an I.D. card.

Snipe's apartment is a few blocks from the school, and the primary difference from his other apartment is the presence of a spare room that's now yours and the 'Hero agency' below.

Unlike the apartment and the school, your new neighbors aren't average. There's an elderly lady with one eye in the center of her forehead who runs a flower shop, there's a convenience store whose clerk never sleeps and never seems to have an off-shift, and then across the street there's another Hero agency.

[] Loud Mouth Hero Agency (Present Mic)
[] Solid Foundations (Cementoss)
[] Ruff Crowd (Hound Dog)
[] Ectoplasm Hero Agency (Ectoplasm)

Oh, and there's the hobo who you find sleeping in Snipe's office.

"Snipe." The hobo flops, and you can't tell if they're in a sleeping bag or have the body of a caterpillar.

Snipe snorts, "Eraserhead. Couldn't find your way home?"

The caterpillar shakes, "Inefficient."

"Right." Snipe shakes his head, and surprisingly takes off his mask in front of the hobo. "Oroku, this is one of my colleagues. Aizawa, this is my charge, Oroku Saki."

The caterpillar, or perhaps gigantic yellow eraser, hums. "Heard about you."

You blink, "Alright. I haven't heard about you."

"You wouldn't have," the caterpillar sounds satisfied. "I tend to stay underground."

You nod slowly, "Better for your skin?"

A head emerges from the caterpillar and stares at you. "Yeah," he says eventually, "Absolutely." Then you hear a slurp, realize he's actually in a sleeping bag, and that he stores juiceboxes in it.

You look between him and Snipe, "He's a Pro Hero?"

Snipe snorts, "Technically. The way he acts, he's more like a vigilante that happens to have a license."

The hobo, who's apparently a Pro Hero, shakes his head. "Vigilantes are untrained, reckless, and legally criminals." His smile is mildly creepy, and you notice that his eyes are bloodshot. "I just like my privacy."

"You like your privacy, which is why you regularly sleep in other peoples' agencies. I bet you're just here to steal my pens," Snipe shakes his head, and you think he's joking around, "you're absolutely feral."

Aizawa laughs, "Why would I buy my own when this method is much more efficient?" And apparently he was actually here to steal pens, as his sleeping bag is so full that they're spilling out.

Ah, of course, how could you forget. The Pen-Stealing Hero: Caterpillar Juicebox, second only to All Might on the charts. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Aizawa nods lazily, "You might change your mind about that later." And with that, he shuffles off.

Snipe snorts, "Yeah, that's Aizawa. His way of saying 'hi'. School starts again tomorrow, I've got a few third years who could tutor you, and there's a second-year who won this year's Sports Festival and is moving to the Hero track that could help, too. They're all good kids, though," he pauses, "well, they've got character, that's for sure."

[] Takeyama Yu, a third year with a gigantic amount of potential
[] Kamiji Moe, a third year whose burning passion has led to her being scouted by a high-ranking Pro
[] Toogata Mirio, a second year who popped up out of nowhere and took the Second Year Sports Festival by storm

---

AN: Dat nat 20 -- didn't even need to add the int bonus, insane. I wasn't planning on giving a trait, honestly, but. Yeah. And yes, Saki sifted through almost 200 years worth of forum chatter to find what he was looking for.

The potential student tutors are all generally good people with great potential, and if you make a good impression? That's networking, baby. Just, uh, don't think of Mirio as an extension of Nighteye -- maybe he'll introduce you later, maybe he won't. I might have low-balled Yu and Moe's ages a bit, but their personalities would be fun to write. No matter what's chosen, Snipe will make sure Saki gets a decent education. The tutors are mainly so that Saki gets some much-needed socialization time with his peers.

The Pro-Hero system got its start in Rhode Island; out of around 180 vigilantes, just 7 were chosen to be Pro Heroes. That's from Vigilante, the mafia and massacring stuff I came up with on my own

"HELLO, LISTENERS!" Is what the madman screams when he kicks open the door of Snipe's apartment at 5 AM.

The site that greets you when you make it to the entrance hall is a man with the fashion sense of a cockatoo rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach and crushing a package of cookies.

"Dummy rounds," Snipe says, sounding unimpressed. "You should know better."

The fool on the floor moans, "No, it was totally worth it! I won the bet!"

Then you notice what your new guardian is wearing and hold back a snort. Little green space aliens and cowboys fight a glorious battle on Snipe's pyjamas.

"You could've just asked," Snipe shakes his head, holstering his gun. "You're lucky I wasn't using live rounds, I've got a kid in the house now. Use your brain, Mic."

"That's also why I'm here," Present Mic picks himself off the ground, still clutching his stomach. "Forget about the cookies, I've got more at my agency. And you'll have a chance to eat them because YOU" he dramatically points at you, "have OFFICIALLY BEEN INVITED to observe my interview tonight with the one and only DEATH ARMS!"

You narrow your eyes, "Why?"

"BECAUSE I WANT TO! CAN'T I BE CURIOUS ABOUT MY COLLEAGUE'S NEW KID?" Mic screams at you, and you wince.

"There are people sleeping, Mic. Or at least there were." Snipe sighs, "Well, I'll get started on breakfast. If you want to stay, you'd better sweep up your mess." He turns to you, "You can try to go back to sleep, or stay awake. I'll expect you up in an hour, anyway, but if you stay up you can keep an eye on this maniac."

You consider for a moment, and decide that information on your neighbor is more important than an extra hour's rest. "Do you make a habit of annoying your colleagues?"

Mic grins, shaking off a few cookie crumbs and heading for the broom closet. "I used to, but we reached an understanding. Now I have a weekly rotation of who gets to be woken up with a," he pauses and takes in a deep breath, and you cover your ears, "HEEEEY! Spreads the love around, keeps the hate at manageable levels!" He pauses, then continues, "Anyway, I'm here to apologize for my friend. Aizawa's a good hero, but he can be difficult. On purpose, most of the time."

You nod, "It must be hard, dealing with a caterpillar furry." You'd learned the word furry during your forum deep-dive. It makes Mic sputter and shudder, so you figure it was a good find.

"NO! I do not need that image in my MIND! NOSIREE!" Mic eventually gets a hold of himself and starts sweeping, "But really, consider coming to my agency, any time. Open invitation!" He pauses, "Though if you go more than once I'll expect you to fetch coffee, and some heroes have INSANE orders. When All Might came on a few weeks ago…" He pauses, then leans forward conspiratorially, "he wanted WATER!"

You flinch back, hard, and Mic laughs.

"Payback for the caterpillar furry comment. Don't worry, took me YEARS to learn, but I know how to MODULATE MY VOICE to keep the PERMANENT DAMAGE to a MINIMUM!"

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD LEARN TO MODULATE IT TO KEEP SLEEP DAMAGE TO A MINIMUM!" Comes a shout from outside.

Mic puts down the broom, goes to the window, opens it, and starts screaming.

You sit down on the ground and cover your ears. Why.

---

Snipe pats you on the back, "You can consider this your 'classroom' for now. I'll pop in when I don't have classes…" He trails off, "Toogata's playing catch-up too. He's actually ahead of the other Hero course students academically, but behind when it comes to Heroics training. I'll make sure he spends his study-time here. I've got a student who could use some extra credit, so she'll be popping in at some point." He points you to a desk, then places a stack of textbooks and workbooks on it.

"Which should I do first?"

Snipe shrugs, "For now? Up to you. If you have trouble setting your own pace, talk with me and we can work out a schedule. Toogata's got high scores in math and physics, if that helps any."

---

You get started on math – incredibly remedial math, as it turns out, and you (Int, DC: 7. Roll after modifiers: 18)

You breeze through it – almost literally, the speed of your hand as your work through the workbooks causes papers to flutter. By the time you're on to memorizing multiplication tables, you're absorbed. You're more than absorbed, you're… (Resist Obsession – Wis, DC: 5, 10 – roll: 12, success) intrigued. Addition and subtraction are laughably easy, and multiplication isn't that much harder. Division was a little trickier, until it wasn't. You know that a lot of people hate math – your villainous caretakers certainly complained about it enough – so you're wondering if they were just that stupid, or if the higher levels are significantly harder.

You're so absorbed in your studies that you don't notice him until he's popping out of the floor.

"GOOD MORNING, KOHAI!" He shouts, appearing right in your face.

You scream and throw your workbook at him, and he laughs and lets it pass through his stupid grinning face. That's not all that passes through his body, though.

He squeaks, and you close your eyes and turn your head as he sheepishly puts his clothes back on.

"Sorry about that!" He says, and you cautiously open your eyes again, "That's still a problem I'm working on! But I'll overcome it sooner or later. Gave everyone a shock when that happened at the sports festival."

"I think villains might try to sue you for harassment," you blurt out.

He laughs again, thankfully. "I'll have it figured out by then!" He pauses, "And if I don't, I'll just have to adapt. Lemillion, the Streak of Justice!"

You snort, and he continues.

"Their naked awe at my audacity will disable villains before I have a chance to!"

You try it out, "I guess your hero costume would contain just the bare essentials?"

He closes his eyes and gives you two thumbs up, "Absolutely! I'll face the world with nothing to hide!"

(Keep bantering without embarrassing yourself - Charisma DC: 10, 15 Roll - 6)

"I guess you'll be letting it all hang out-" you stop, and feel your cheeks redden. "Forget I said anything."

His face turns stern and he waggles a finger at you, "A reference to genitals? In a school full of teenagers? This is an unprecedented offense! I bet they'll flog you!" He shakes his head and laughs, then pulls up a chair and sits down. "Snipe gave me a summary of what's going on. So what are you working on right now?" He pulls up a workbook and leafs through it before you can answer. "Hm, you sure this is new material for you?"

You nod, "Yes."

He looks up and smiles, "Good! Math is important, more than people realize." He pauses, then hits himself on the head. "Oh, call me Mirio, by the way. Or Sempai!"

---

Mic's offer

[] Not now, your ears still hurt (will be available later)
[] Tonight, the interview with Death Arms
[] Tomorrow night, an interview with a recent UA graduate
[] Friday, where instead of an interview, students from Mic's English classes put on a radioplay

Most Impotant Vote Yet

[] Call Mirio by his given name
[] Call Mirio by his family name (Toogata)
[] Call Mirio 'Sempai'
[] Call Mirio an exhibitionist

---

AN: Burnin' will appear next update. Since there was a tie, they'll both be popping in, but neither is going to end up becoming Saki's 'mentor'. There's still a possibility for friendship, though, and that's important too! As for Mirio's Quirk, if you're not familiar with it, basically Shadowcat from the X-Men. And yeah, he does just... lose his clothing sometimes. I was thinking about having a vote on what to study, but like. He's going to cover all the material no matter what.

Speaking of which, after next update I'll put together a Dramatis Personae sheet. Also thinking about a minor timeskip soon-ish.

Edit: And just as I post this, labeled 'SURPRISE' and containing at least three surprises, one of my fave quests has a truly massive update. Talk about surprises lol.