Bit Of A Stretch, But Doable (BNHA SI As Gentle Criminal, Set Before Canon)

[Philosophysics]

Fate and destiny are dead. They are very, very fucking dead. And I killed them. By accident. I was going to do it, but only when it was convenient to me. It was going to be cold, calculated murder, not some stupid fuckup of an accident!

I wanted to enjoy it! Instead, fate and destiny is dead and my bullshit isekai cheat of having read the manga has been negated. Not completely, but enough for me to have a panic attack about it. You know what? Let's slap on an existential crisis too on it. And let's give myself a minute or two to enjoy this anxiety. Start.

The future is unknowable, demand refunds on any and all prophecies, punch gypsies and seers, and get piss ass drunk because I have fucked up canon before canon even properly started, fuck me in the ass with a fucking dildo! A cat one. With spikes. For that extra bit of pain.

"Uh, Mr. Danjuro?" the plump, motherly lady asked meekly, hand tightening on her son's shoulder, "Is it okay if Izuku tries this class?"

She had a nice body, a classic BBW MILF if there ever was one. Pardon my lewdity, but I'd tap that THICCness. Except I won't. Because her hair is green and so is her son's hair. And since I'm in the world of fucking My Hero Academia, this meant that these were the Midoriyas. I wish this was a logical ruse because I'm going to fuck up canon so bad otherwise.

Shit. Shit. Aaaaaand Shit.

Today was a quiet day. It was Wednesday. Nobody really came to Knucklebuster's Gym on weekdays for classes. At least nobody who wanted independent one on one stuff. Trust the one pair to do so to be the one pair that fate and destiny seemed determined to wrap themselves around. Damn Pillar of Peace nonsense. And damn the old man for calling in favors. Fucking hell.

...I'm overreacting. Nothing has changed yet. You know, besides me interacting with the main character before canon is sure to be a problem. However, I didn't do that much yet! I can still escape by saying no. I should say no. In fact, I am going to say no.

Opening my mouth, I made the mistake of glancing down at the mini-greenhead. Fucking hell, Deku from before UA was a fucking Woobie if there ever was one. Stop looking at the ground as if you wished for it to swallow you up. You're too sad! You're making me sad! ...I almost wanted to--

No! I had to steel myself! Opening my mouth, I bowed my head in apology, saying, "Of course, it's fine."

...Wait. Wrong words.

"Oh thank you!" Ms. Midoriya gasped, making a move for a hug before aborting it with an awkward giggle. Tapping her son's shoulder, she leant down and whispered, "Say hi, Izuku."

Milling about for a bit, he muttered, "Hi."

Defeated, I decided to just fall back into my old routine when dealing with shy and anxious kids. By being the loudest thing in the room.

"Hi, I'm Danjuro Tobita!" I shouted, I have three years of experience teaching parkour!"

Stepping back, I jumped backwards and did a series of backwards flips on the mats. Reaching the edge, I used the recoil from the last one to bounce up an onto a balance beam and began running across it, shouting, "Parkour is the ancient art of traveling from one point to another in the shortest route possible, using the environment to your advantage! Think obstacle courses made up by the world!"

Reaching the edge of the beam, I leapt across and up to grab the rope and began pulling myself up as I did so, "It's an essential skill to become a hero these days! Or so I'm told." Reaching the top, I grabbed the steel beam the rope was attached to and began pulling myself across the edge, grunting, " Even if you don't plan on becoming one, it's a great way to keep fit and traverse the world. Don't be scared off by the fancy tricks such as flips or the height!"

Looking down, I judged that I was right above the stunned faces of the Midoriyas. Swinging my legs a bit, I threw myself back as I let go, falling into a drop. Hitting the ground feet first, I rolled backwards, across the shoulder blades, making sure to tuck my chin, and popped back up into a T-Pose for balance and bombasticity. Smiling, I bowed, "We start small and build our way up! It's the only way to do things here! We go at your pace, so don't be scared!"

A bit of a long winded speech and needlessly flashy performance, I was proud of it. It had served me well these past three years working at the gym. While showing off my personality, it introduced my certification to the parents, proved it to the kids with the stunts I performed, and introduced the subject I would teach. It was so good that my boss used it as a basis for the Herotube Ad. We have… an embarrassingly large number of views. It never failed to work on getting kids pumped for my class.

See? Green Bean was grinning! Though, when he saw me looking at him, Izuku immediately returned to staring at the ground. Ugh, your defenses were stupid high.

Still, I had another trick. Winding my arm, I punched towards the lockers, stretching my arm forward to grab my Hydroflask. Catching the returning hand with my other, I unscrewed it and took a sip before grinning, "My Quirk is Rubberman. I can stretch like a rubberband! Wha-- Whoa!"

My plan was to show off my quirk, then get him to show off his. It never failed to work. Kids loved talking about themselves and Quirks was something intrinsic to each kids personality. While I think it was an unhealthy extent, it was a great way to get kids talking. It never failed to act as an icebreaker.

My tactic did its job in getting Izuku talking, but… well, he was mostly talking to himself.

"A stretchy arm? Does it refer to all of his body? Or is it merely his limbs? Is his whole body elastic? Is it truly rubber or an approximation of it? Is he immune to electrical attacks? If so to what voltage? Truly, an elastic body would be heavily suited to the rigorous stresses that parkour would induce on the body. Would that make him better or worse at teaching? Many of the difficulties that one would encounter would be rendered moot by his bodily composition. However, looking at it another way, he could be perfect as he would have the capability of practicing higher level techniques at an earlier stage," was the only bit I caught before his mouth sped up too fast and too low for me to understand. HIs hands fidgeted as if he was writing.

That was some detailed analysis.HIs muttering was kind of terrifying, if cute. Kowai Kawaii? Laughing, I waved at him, "Whoa. Whoa. Slow down."

Closing his mouth with a clack, Izuku immediately started bowing, chanting, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine! It's fine. You're a smart kid. That was some snappy analysis. How about you tell me your name and Quirk first though.?"

"Izuku…" he answered before mumbling something inaudible.

Turning my head, I cupped my ear as I joked, "Didn't quite catch that last part."

"Quirkless."

I froze. Wait. That's not right, he had One For All, right? ...Ahaha, fuck me with that cat dildo, now I remember! All Might gave him a quirk because he was Quirkless. Or maybe it was that he was a good hero? Either of those or it was a mixture of both. Maybe I shouldn't freak out about derailing canon, seeing as I don't remember something as important as that. In my defense, it's been six years since I woke up in this body and actually read the thing. My memory of it is fuzzy at best.

Wait! Forget Canon! I just made a huge faux pas. I feel bad now. I really hope I didn't hurt him too badly.

"Mr. Danjuro?" Izuku looked up at me with fragile hope in his eyes.

...Fucking Deku. You are far too sad like this. ...I'm sure it's fine if I just gave you a bit of a… push? Right? Yeah, should be fine. Everybody needs a push from time to time. I'm just… going to give a small one. TIny one that won't even affect canon that much.

Shaking my head to clear it of any lingering worries, I squatted down to his level and placed two hands on his shoulders. Looking him straight in the eye, I asked softly, "Hey. Izuku?"

"Yeah?" he said, fidgeting a bit, but ultimately looking me in the eye.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself as I… nudged canon a bit and gave him a push, "I know you just met me, but I'm going to say something important. Even if this is the first and last time we meet, I want you to remember this."

"Um," he looked at his mother for assurance. I didn't look, just stared at Izuku as he returned his gaze to me and shrugged, "Okay?"

"It doesn't matter that you're Quirkless," I stated. Taking a hand, I poked him in the chest, continuing, "You're alive. And that's what matters. What you do with your life is what matters. This class will be hard for you. I'll try my best to make it easier on you, but you're going to have to work ten times harder to earn the respect of your peers. Me? I'll see you for what you do and I'll teach, correct, and praise accordingly. But I'm not always going to be there. So I'm going to ask you to be strong. Come to me for help if the other kids are pricks. I'll do what I can. If you come to my class, all I ask is that you try your best. Your own best. Don't look at the others just yet. Not until you look at yourself with pride. It doesn't matter if you're Quirkless. You'll find a way so long as you keep at it, Izuku. Life is going to be hard, but you've made it this far. And you've done great. Keep it up."

I was gasping a bit at the end, having just word vomited the rest of my speech after the 'you're alive' bit. Keeping a steady pace and forcing my anxiety down, I waited for him to say something, anything. He just stared at me with some indescribable emotion.

Finally, I looked down and sighed, "Sorry, if that's wei---"

My shirt was wet. And I'm being constrained. Wait. nope. Just a hug. Just a really wet, snotty hug by Deku. Looking up to the ceiling of the warehouse, I awkwardly patted his back.

It only made him sob harder. Yay. And his mother is sniffling. I forgot how weepy the Midoriyas were in canon. Whelp, only way things can get worse was--

"WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DO, TOBITA!?"

And there's my boss. Whelp, shit.

 

[Philosophysics]

"And he just starts sobbing onto you!?"

Nodding energetically, I parroted, "So the kid just starts sobbing onto me, Aiba! Super awkward."

Lowering the bar onto her chest once more, she heaved and lifted the 45 kg barbell straight up, dropping it into the rests with a clank. Sitting up, she coughed in exhaustion for a bit before staring at me, stating, "What the fuck, Tobita."

Jotting down her reps onto the progress tracker, I shrugged defensively, "Hey, not my fault. Kid's a crier."

Grabbing a towel to wipe off, the pig-tailed woman leaned back, pink sports bra heaving as she caught her breath. Recovering, she stood up to go to the next machine and asked, "So what happened after?"

Following along with her, I flipped pages and did the calculations for the calories burned and what we should focus on next, answering, "Well, I apologized to the mom. Funny thing was that she apologized to me at the same time. We ended up laughing it off." Looking up, I saw that Aiba was running on the treadmill, "You sure you want to do the treadmill again?"

"I promised Fuyumi that I'd go out drinking later," Aiba shrugged, feet beating a steady clip on the treadmill, "Figured this would be as good a warmdown as any. Also I want to know more about this new kid."

Tilting my head, I nodded as I processed that logic. I could see that. Peeking over, I copied down the numbers on the treadmill. "Anyways, I had the kid do a few exercises to figure out what level he was at."

"How'd he do?"

"Abysmal. And also fucking terrifying," I shivered as I remembered how angry Knucks got at me after that incident. With my luck, that incident was going to be a tiny sample of what it'd be like coaching Deku in parkour.

"What do you mean?"

I grimaced as I recalled how shitty his physical prowess was. "Well, his strength sucks. He could only do five pushups before collapsing. Couldn't even do a pullup. And he's stiffer than fucking steel when we stretched."

Aiba winced sympathetically, remembering her start at the gym. Putting on an awkward smile, she offered, "Well, uh… That doesn't sound so bad?"

"Well, yeah," I nodded in agreement, "I've taught seniors how to do parkour.. With time, effort, and the right method, anybody can get in shape and do parkour. But it's terrifying because the kid has no self preservation."-Tapping the treadmill, Aiba was on, I grinned-"I put him on a treadmill, put it at the speed for kids and told him to jog. Guess how long he ran for?"

Rolling her eyes at my dramatics, Aiba nevertheless asked the question, "How long?"

"Half an hour. Kid ran three miles on his first try on the treadmill with no prior training. And he did it at a constant speed."

"Bullshit! Didn't you just say he could barely do five pushups?"

"Yeah. He started wheezing after three minutes, but when I moved to stop it, he glared at me not to. I waited for him to stop on his own. Big fucking surprise when he didn't. Well, he did, but he had to knock himself first." And wasn't that just a surprise. He somehow cut himself on childproofed plastic too so that was fun. Gods above, I really, really hope I can wean him off of that… What was that meme about Deku? The one with broken bones? Leg day? Oh right! Bone hurting Juice. Going to have to wean him off that bone hurting juice.

I feel old not remembering that. It's hard to believe I've lived in the world of MHA for almost a decade now.

"I'm guessing his mother wasn't happy about that," Aiba commented dryly, pushing a few buttons to slow down her speed.

Blinking, I quickly reinserted myself back into reality and out of my thoughts with a chuckle, "Conking his head hard enough to get a concussion? No, she was not. Surprisingly, she still signed him up for my classes. Beginner's course of course, but I have a feeling that kid's going to run himself into intermediate level in a month. That's if he doesn't injure himself first."

"Well, good luck to you," Aiba sighed, patting my hip in consolation as she hopped off the treadmill, grabbing the towel as she went to the bench.

Turning off the treadmill for her, I followed and sat down next to her on the bench. It always lowkey cracked me up how much taller I was than her. If there ever was a shortstack, Aiba Manami would clock in with her record height of a meter high. Shaking my head to clear away such thoughts, I asked, "How's college by the way?"

Sipping from her water bottle, Aiba slammed it down viciously before throwing her head back to begin ranting. "A fucking bitch and a half. Classes are easy. I'm done with all my programming projects. So now I have a class where I can just nap in all day long. The real bitch is my classmates. My gal pals are fine. Fuyumi's great! But the guys are stupid. Fucking bunch of grown ass men look at me like I'm a fucking sex doll. Just because I'm short and have fucking tits and I'm in the Comsci program, all the guys think I'm down to kneel anytime."

Even though she was complaining, this Aiba sounded much happier than the one who stalked me all those years ago, near suicidal. Nudging her side with my elbow, I grinned, "Sure is a change from high school, eh?"

Staring at me blankly, iba shook her head and sighed in defeat, "Yeah, yeah, you were right about how life can get better if you work for it."

"The flames of YOUTH shall never quell so long as you believe!" I paraphrased from the Green Beast of Konoha.

"Is that a quote from some old ass anime?" Aiba grinned, judging me.

I judged right back and pointed a finger, shouting, "That's from Naruto! Well, a butchered quote, but it's from Naruto! How do you not know this!?"

"Maybe because it was from..." Aiba drew her smartphone from her cleavage to search, forcing me to look away in embarrassment. Unfortunately, that gave her an opening to tear into me, punching my side lightly as she cackle, "Fucking 1998? Just how OLD is your sense of taste?"

"It's just mature, I'll have you know," I sulked, crossing my arms in a huff, "Young people like you wouldn't know good shit if it fucking drowned you."

...Did I just pull a 'back in my day' in the 23rd century? Judging by Aiba's raucous laughter, yes. Yes, I did.

Eventually, her laughter died down and she whispered, "Thanks," leaning her head into my side as I did so.

Freezing as I sensed an awkward discussion, I answered, "You're welcome."

A small, poignant silence fell down. I wish it ended, but at the same time I dreaded what the ending would entail. My… Not quite a sin, but not quite a deed was about to catch up to me.

"Did you think about it? Your answer?" Aiba whispered softly into my side.

Looking around, I sighed as I found that the gym was empty. You'd think Thursday evenings would be full, but nope, pretty empty without any classes. Drooping my head in defeat, I answered softly, "Yes."

"I did what you asked," Aiba sighed, rubbing her head into my side, her sweat dampening my T-Shirt. "I made friends. I have my own interests and hobbies. I even have a dream for the future. I want to get good enough to get to I-Island."

Placing a hand on her head, I began stroking her hair comfortingly as I sighed, "Yeah. And I'm proud of you."

The dampness on my T-Shirt grew. I carefully didn't say anything. I had a feeling that it wasn't just sweat anymore as Aiba sniffled, "You won't say yes though."

"I'm sorry," I said, hurting her and me. It was for the best. Even as I tried to be strong and cut this twisted love, I tried to soften it. "There's nothing wrong with you though! I really enjoy talking with you. And I love helping you in training and talking, but I'm a decade older than you and--"

Two arms crossed around my waist and squeezed as Aiba cried into my shirt. Hugging her head in one hand, I let her cry. We stayed like that for a bit. Eventually though, a small push signalled for me to loosen the hug and let Aiba escape. Carefully not looking at her, I waited for Aiba to pull herself together.

After a few sobs and choked starts, Aiba declared, "It's fine. Looking back now, it was kind of an unhealthy crush. Like you said, age difference and all." Laughing wetly, I heard the scratchy sound of wiping tears as she joked, "You'd probably get arrested for pedophilia with how young I look. And it was really stalker-y what I did to find you."

"It's fine." Sure, it was kind of creepy to have you break into my apartment, but I consider you a friend now.

"It really wasn't, Tobita," Aiba disagreed, "I invaded your privacy and followed you and..."

When I heard sniffling, I gave up on not looking and turned around. Aiba was a mess. Her red hair was dishevelled, her mascara was running, and a bit of snot was dripping down her nose. I made to comfort her, but a single hand raised stopped me. Wiping at her face with her forearm, Aiba looked at me and I saw her visibly steel herself for her next words.

Hand still held up to stop me, Aiba smiled once more, a fragile thing that seemed close to shattering, yet it hid strength. Strength that would shine after the shell broke. Looking at me, Aiba bowed her head in thanks, saying, "You did a lot for me, Tobita. I'm in a better place. I have friends, I'm going out more. I have a better relationship with my family. They're supporting me, you know?"-Aiba spoke faster and faster, swaying on the balls of her feet as she spoke-"Helping pay for college. I'd say it's because of you, but well…" She sighed, "You've taught me how to be strong by myself. I couldn't build myself around you, so I built myself around myself. Or something like that. This is hard. Point is, I'm a strong, independent woman now! You know, like that one shitty meme you keep on sending me. So thanks, Tobita. Thanks for being the hero that was honest enough to hurt me."

That last part stung. Perhaps she meant it to do so, but even as tears leaked from her eyes, she kept that shell of a smile up. Or perhaps it wasn't a shell. Just a bittersweet smile.

Not knowing what to say, I opened my mouth anyways to say something, anything. Only to have it closed by a kiss. A chaste one. Aiba Manami was kissing me. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to close my eyes? Do I give tongue? Wait, this isn't right. I just rejected her. Am I taking advantage of her? Is she of me? Why is she kissing me?

Before I could act on any of my thoughts, the kiss ended as soon as it began. Tears streaming down her face, snot still dribbling a bit, Aiba smiled weakly, "You're a nice guy, Tobita. I wish you weren't. I… I really wish you weren't. It'd make it so much easier to… let go. Thanks for everything. I'm going to take a break from the gym for a while."

Then, grabbing her towel and water bottle, Manami left, walking a quick and hurried pace to the showers.

Looking at her back, I felt restless. I wanted to say something, anything to keep her from hurting. But the one thing I could say wasn't something that would be true. Perhaps in another world, another me, another version of the true Danjuro Tobita, we could've been together. But this world just had me. And I couldn't take advantage of a broken girl like Aiba Manami. Would not and could not love somebody so broken. I wasn't strong enough to fix everything about her. Maybe it was a bit of the age difference. I became Danjuro Tobita when I died at 22 in an accident and the original killed himself in that dark apartment space at 22. I was physically and mentally thirty even in this life Perhaps it was because I knew the story, as misty and dusty the memories are now and I knew the love that could've been. I didn't want to manipulate her. It could have been any of those things, but the truth was that I just didn't love Aiba Manami. Not in the way that she would've wanted.

But I still trusted her. I wanted to stay in touch. I considered her a sister and I was scared that if she left now, she would never come by again, we would never chat and joke and tease one another, we would never exercise and better ourselves together, we would never be friends ever again.

So I called out, "Hey Aiba!"

She froze.

I didn't have a plan. Did I even have the right to ask her to be my friend after I hurt her so much? Or… No. I didn't have a right. But I'm selfish. Gritting my teeth, I pushed past the lump in my throat and walked up to her, putting a hand on her back. Looking up and away, I said, "Stay safe. I'll always be your friend if you need one. I… I hope you'll be mine."

Standing still for a bit, Aiba didn't turn around for the longest time. Right as I was about to give up, she punched my hip softly and whispered, "Yeah. We'll always be friends." Then she ran into the showers.

Grinning sadly, I bundled up the progress trackers, wiping down the machines we had used in todays' session, the last for the foreseeable future. Ah well, at least I won't have to deal with the awkward bon---

Loud sobs filled the warehouse from the direction of the shower-room. Ah, this was… awkward to say the least.

"What'd you do, Dandan?" a voice called out from the office on the second floor.

Looking up at the red-haired girl wearing an eyepatch, I winced at her unamused stare. Shrugging in defeat, I sighed, "I think I fucked up, Tamao.",

"Ain't no thinks about it. You did fucked up," Tamao groaned, getting up from leaning on the railing and walking down the stairs. As she passed me, she clapped me on the shoulder, acting annoyingly mature for someone barely out of high school, "Go talk to dad. Tell him I'm taking a smoke break. A long one."

Wriggling my shoulder free of her grip, I scowled, "You know how he gets about you smoking."

Smirking at me, she blew a kiss at me as she walked in to comfort my friend, "I'll stop when he does, Dandan!"

"Hahaha. Yeah. Yeah, it's your lungs you're frying with tar," I sighed.

"Says the guy who has a black tongue from overdosing on Trigger," she shot back easily, "How's it feel being the pot?"

"Lovely! I'm as high as ever!" I shot back heatedly.

All I got was laughs in response. Replaying what I just said, I facepalmed. I can never win in a word-fight with Tamao. ...Argh! Why was she so good at this!? Still, she was going to help Aiba in a way I never could. I'd have to buy her that new set of speakers from her Wishlist.

Refocusing, I stretched my arms to the second floor railing, grabbing it to grapple my body up. My… Tobita's body hadn't always been able to stretch and bend like it does now. My quirk Elasticity used to only be capable of being applied to inorganic materials. Something something Manton effect. Fortunately, I upgraded it with some Trigger from Naruhata. Now my body is stretchy all the time. I mean Tobita's body. Fucking nine years and I still have fucking body dysphoria.

Pity about the black tongue though. It was hard to find a non-shadey job with it, Bonus points was that I can make it stretch super long like a giraffe's tongue. Women find that sexy right? Long tongues?

...I'm distracting myself. Steeling myself for a scolding, I knocked on the door to grab the boss's attention.

The buff man, so out of place sitting at the computer and doing paperwork, lifted his head to face me. Leaning back on his chair, he folded his arms and stared at me evenly. I fidgeted under his gaze. You'd think that training under him for two years and working for him for another four would make me get used to his stare, but nope.

Letting me stew under his gaze, the buffman stroked his grizzled chin and grinned, "Sup kid."

"Hey Knucks," I sighed, relaxing as he returned his attention to paperwork. "So Tamao told me to tell you that she's taking a smoke break."

Flipping through a few notebooks, Oguro Iwao, father of Oguro Tamao, AKA Knuckleduster grinned nastily at me, "I heard the caterwauling from here, kid. Let's stop with the pretense."

Collapsing into a chair, I let my face plant into his desk. It was a nice, rich mahogany and solid enough for a good faceplant. Rolling my head onto a cheek, I glared at him, commenting dryly, "For an old fuck, you're annoyingly perceptive."

"And for a young fuck," he scoweld, flicking the top of my foreheadhead as he leant down to pull a drawer open, tucking a stack of folders in, "You're a bigger dumbass than usual. Stop trying to shoulder everything."

Rubbing my forehead, I looked up at the ceiling fan slowly spinning and sighed, "Did I do anything wrong?"

"From what I saw these years? You've been playing it straight," Knuckleduster sighed, "Maybe straighter than you should've but ain't no guide for this stupid shit. Most guys would be horny fucks who twist that love into something jagged and dangerous. You?" he grinned, the kind of grin he got only when he fought against monsters that he absolutely should NOT have been fighting alone, "You played it straight and tried to fix shit that's beyond fixing. And that's better than most."

Leaning away from his madcap grin, I grimaced, "You seem entirely too happy about this."

Leaning back, he chortled, "It's a tragedy only for you and that girl," then he tapped his chin before snapping his fingers with a sigh, "And Tamao. She's yet to learn the wisdom of leaving stupid shit alone."

Glaring at him, I growled, "Her feelings aren't stupid."

"Love is stupid," Knuckleduster shot back near instantly, "I got married, kid. I know what it's like. It's stupid and it hurts, but it's something we have to get used to if we want to find the real shit." Standing up, he walked around the desk with a bunch of folders tucked under his armpit to pat me on the head, ruffling my hair, "Good on you, kid. You didn't stick your dick in crazy. But you somehow found something stupider to do and that was to try and fix it."

Twisting my waist to watch him place the folders in the corner cabinet, I slumped over the headrest and whispered, "...Did I fix it?"

"We're all broken in the head, kid," Knuckleduster grimaced above the rustling of papers, "That girl was pretty damn broken when she first came, but she's less cracked now. Still broken as shit, but that's life. We're all a bit cracked."

Rolling my eyes, I ignored him as he sat back down behind his desk and sulked for a bit. I could kind of see where he was coming from. Didn't mean I had to like it though. Setting my chin on the table, I drawled, "Thank you for that overwhelming endorsement of sanity. Got any other Yoda-esque bits of not-so-helpful advice? Maybe something like, 'when there's no cops around, anything's legal' Or maybe, 'If you lost while gambling, you bet wrong?'"

"Hah. Sarcasm always did suit you better than this edgy shit of melancholy," Knucks chuckled before dumping a pile of unsorted paperwork on top of my head in a white avalanche of papercuts, "Anyways, help me file some papers, then we're going drinking, kid."

"Fun kind or business kind?" I said, shifting my head out from the pile. I had long given up on curtailing his brusque ways and just resigned myself to going with the flow. If I'm honest with myself, I enjoyed his blunt honesty. It was kind of like having a grizzled old gramps watching out for you. Rough around the edges, but still trying to be helpful.

"Night market shit."

"Ah. So Giran's then. Looking forward to it."

 

[Philosophysics]

BIg thanks to @Sydonai for helping edit and beta this chapter!

---

Giran's bar. I call it that, but it's not actually owned by Giran. It's just that this is one of the info broker's favored spots, so it kind of just became known as that. A nice, shady place for vigilantes and villains alike, it had surprisingly good service and a wide range of drinks for being a nerve center of the underworld.

No idea why, but everytime I come here, I get the nagging feeling that there's something important that I'm forgetting here. Something that could affect canon heavily. I had long given up on figuring it out though. Was this mysterious deja vu going to bite me in the ass and make me want to punch myself? Almost certainly. Unfortunately, it's been near a decade since I last read the material and all the concussions I've accumulated since then probably haven't done any favors for my memory.

Ah well, Boss-man be treating me to drinks! Let's just worry about what I can affect right now and enjoy life. We were in our usual private booth, being regulars to the establishment ever since we started up the Gym, coming at least once a month.

Let me tell you, if you've never been a regular somewhere, you're missing out. There's nothing like walking in, being directed to 'your booth', and just saying, "Bring me the regular. They'll know what that means." It feels homey.

...As homely as a shady underground can be. Sipping on my fluorescent Red Lady, I enjoyed the sweet strawberry flavor. Cocktails were tiny things, barely able to get you drunk. That is unless you were smart like me and ordered the Rainbow Cocktail Party Platter! Seven differently colored and flavored cocktails! Paired with a seafood platter! Normally reserved for parties of seven, I always got it when it was Knucks treating me.

Sipping on his whiskey on the rocks, Knuckleduster scratched as his mask, shaking his head, "I can never understand how you can order such… bright drinks."

Finishing off the red cocktail, I belched as I used the little umbrella as a skewer for the shrimp, "I just like playing with umbrellas." Popping the umbrella open and close in demonstration, I grinned, "And I like fruity stuff."

"A real man should drink the hard stuff," Knuckleduster said, slugging the entirety of his drink in one go with a slam on the table, "Put some hair on the chest."

Starting on the orange cocktail, I began sipping it, "I hate waxing the chest, so no thanks."

Snacking on the seafood, I looked around and took stock of my surroundings. Dark, dimly lit, the bar was filled with a wide variety of seedy looking people milling about .On one wall was a stack of flyers and papers that advertised items, requests, and jobs. Everybody here wore a mask to hide their identity, even the waiters and bartender. Keeping their voices and conversations low, Knucks and I had the advantageous honor of being regulars and thus had dibs on a soundproof booth for our discussions. Low, dark, and gritty, the neon lights and the smooth jazz in the background did nothing to dispel the rough and tumble feel. While it was neutral ground, nobody came in here for a good time.

A pattern was knocked softly on the sliding door, before it slid open to admit a masked waiter in. "Here's your onion rings, Sire," he said, bowing forward to slide a tray of unhealthily fried onions onto the table, "Would you like anything else?"

Holding up three fingers, Knuckleduster ordered,"Three more shots of the hard stuff. This whiskey ain't doing shit."

Nobody came here for a good time… Except for me and Knucks. Tapping the table, I grinned excitedly, "Oh! And get me a Bloody Mary please! I want something savory and Spicy! And alcohol-y"

Writing it down on a pen and paper, the waiter quickly left for the kitchen, giving a few incredulous glances over his shoulder at me. Probably a new guy if he wasn't used to my antics, Making sure that he was gone, I quickly faced Knuckleduster and pointed at his plate and begged, "Can I have some of your onion rings?"

Dipping an onion ring into the ranch sauce, he chewed for a bit before reaching over to grab some sashimi, saying, "Give me some sashimi first, kid."

"You already took it!" I rolled my eyes, returning the favor. Eating it, I quickly sipped my orange cocktail and shivered in delight. Salty seafood, greasy onion rings, fruity alcohol. Damn, life was tasty at times. Swallowing the food, I finished off the Orange Lady before lightly placing the empty martini glass, "So what's tonight's stuff about? Is it about the gym's finances? Do we need to mug some small fry to implement it?"

"We're good on that," Knucks chuckled as he ate. "Nah, we're not going on a night raid. What I need is for you to start patrolling Musutafu."

"Musutafu's pretty safe," I commented, confused. Slurping three pieces of fatty tuna without chewing, I cocked my head and asked, "I mean aren't we home to UA High?"

"There's this new gang a friend asked me to keep an eye on," Knuckleduster grunted, sounding annoyed, "Normally, I'd say no, but I owe him a favor. And it's something we have experience in."

Taking a long sip of an Indigo lady, I swished it around my mouth to savor the raspberry liquor before sighing, "Trigger?"

"Trigger," Knuckleduster nodded, stealing another piece of sashimi from my platter. Tossing his head back, he slurped it down. "But a different form of it. They're calling it Wild Side."

Even a decade later, that jazzy theme rocked in the back of my mind. Humming the tune for a bit, I pointed at him"Let me guess, it's a drug tailored specifically for people who have animalian traits?"

"Got it in one," Knuckleduster snapped his fingers, "Effects are pretty similar to Trigger. Powers ups quirks, weakens the higher functions. Standard shit. Except that overdosage turns them into animals."

I chose a poor time to sip and choked on my drink. Coughing a bit, I looked at him, confused, "...What?"

"Remember our good friend, Teruo?"

Chugging the rest of the Indigo lady, I began moving on to the Violet Lady, a grape focused drink. Between sips, I answered, "Eel guy? Was a Nextgen back in Naruhata? Cleaned up his act and works as a cop now?"

Nodding, Knucks reached into the man-purse, cough, bag next to him and pulled out a series of folders, commenting, "He was working undercover for this case, but he got caught."

"That ain't good," I winced, bracing myself for the worst, "Is he okay?"

"He's alive," Knuckleduster replied, alleviating my worries, "The police found him in time and got him to the emergency room in time. Contacts that I've got inside the PD sent some info on him."

Catching the blue folder he slid it to me, I opened it up and froze as I looked at the photo of Teruo. He used to be a normal if short kid, but after being experimented on and turned into a NextGen, he turned into a hulking mass of an eel-man similar to those old monster films. He was a good guy though and big as he was, he always had a dopey but kind smile on his face. This version of him had cold eyes, a mouth opened in hunger, and an aura of animalistic menace. And his body… Looking at Knucks, I asked hollowly, "Where are his arms and legs?"

"Gone," Knucks answered in a clipped tone, "Far as they can tell, it's from an overdose of Wild Side on him. Running theory is that he got caught, so to silence him the Beastars gave him enough Wildside for this. He's gone from eelboy to full-on eel. Pretty big too, three meters long and he's got an even worse shock now."

Closing the folder, I leaned onto the table with my elbows, hands interlocked to support my chin. Breathing in and out, I calmed myself before asking, "...Is he sane?"

He sighed and shook his head, "Unfortunately, he's feral right now and he's been transferred out of police custody and under command of the Oki Mariner. So no clues from there."

Teruo had a shit deal dealt to him. He got bullied a lot as a kid, so he went to Trigger. Got arrested. Then the Villain Factory kidnapped him and completely changed his body. His life was completely upended. Nobody wants ex-cons working next to them, not even if they were brainwashed into one. He could've easily gotten caught up in the villain life. But Teruo worked hard and he got into a police academy against all odds. He wasn't a close friend of mine. Barely an acquaintance really.

But he was a good guy that didn't deserve this shit. Not again. Pushing the seafood platter away, I muttered, "I don't feel like eating sashimi now."

"More for me then," Knuckleduster shrugged, sliding the platter over to himself.

Trust Knucks to ruin the mood. I glared at him and groaned, "At least give me the onion rings then!"

Rolling his eyes, Knucks slid the onion rings over. Grabbing one, I chewed at the ring listlessly as I opened the folder again and paged through the reports. Teruo, codename Unagi, had been infiltrating Beastars, blah blah blah, we just went over this. Okay, now here's the part about Trigger Furry Edition.

Wild Side is a drug similar to Trigger. It's base form is that of a black powder that can be inhaled via 'snorting', baked into food, or mixed into drinks. Similar to Trigger, it acts as a steroid with a focus on animalian quirks. The side effects accumulate at a much slower speed which has led too many believing it is a safe drug on the streets. Side effects include but are not limited to: loss of reasoning, enhanced senses, slurred and broken speech, increase of aggression, etc. etc. (*Look to the attached Pamphlets About Trigger for full list*) Unique to Wild Side is the transformation aspect. As doses accumulate, the user will gradually grow into a more bestial form of their quirk. There are five stages to this transformation (See accompanying Images) and…

Putting down the report, I grimaced in disgust unable to bring myself to read more. Body horror for days, it was like that little dog girl from FMA all over again. "This is a nasty drug. It's like a frog in a boiling pot. People take this drug, slowly lose their minds, but they'll take it over and over because they think they're just fine."

"Eeyup," Knuckleduster drawled sipping at a pungent glass of… Vodka. Though, it smelled more like cleaning supplies with how concentrated the alcohol was, "Here's your Bloody Mary by the way. It got dropped off while you were reading."

Finishing off the rest of the current Lady, I licked the salt off the rim as I chugged the spicy alcohol of the tomato-based drink to wake myself up. Hissing around the glorious pain of the drink, I tapped the folder and ordered, "Tell me more about the Beastars."

Taking out another folder, Knuckleduster opened it and began talking, " They were a small group but they're growing fast. They have the usual mooks and goons, but the interesting part is the core. Originally, only had two in command, they've recently expanded to have four. As in one day, they had two, the next they had four. It's been that way for a month now."

"...That's not good." It might seem like a small increase, but unexplained increases always implied that it could happen again. And with today's shitty odds, that probable 'could' became a definite 'would'

"No, it's not," Knuckleduster agreed, pulling out a photo of a black haired man wearing half a gray diving helmet. Dressed in a black suit and a white labcoat, he gave off the aura of a cool, collected asshole that you wanted to punch, "First off is Curator. Monocle wearing fuck, not much is known about him. Rumors say that he has a sound based quirk though. People describe hearing a click sound and then being unable to move."

Stroking my chin, I nodded, "Cool. Gotta wear earmuffs then."

"...Sure," Knucks stared at me before continuing on, "Next is Bearhead. He's a bear."

Looking at the picture, it was as if somebody decided to draw a brown bear as a man. Short, to the point, it was obvious and I was… a bit underwhelmed, "That's it?"

"What?" Knuckleduster growled, tapping the picture twice, "You want explosions with that shit?"

Remembering all the times Murphy fucked me over, I raised my hands in surrender and stammered rapidly, "Nononononono! Nope! Eeenope!. I'm good. Bears are good! They're great! No need for any fancy extras."

Eating a bunch of onion rings, I coughed as a piece went into the wrong pipe Knuckleduster, being the ass he was, ignored my death throes as he continued on, "Next is Shiina. Giant furry rabbit."

Pounding my chest, I washed away the onion ring by chugging the bloody Mary in one go. It was not a wise move as it burned all the way down. Taking the Yellow Lady, I quickly swallowed all of it. Another mistake as the citrus only aggravated the capascin. In a panic, I grabbed the Blue Lady and immediately regretted it as the minty blueberry gave the sensation of freezing along with the burning of spice and the stinging of lemon. It took me a while to recover, but eventually, I managed to wheeze, "Anything else?"

"Giant furry rabbit," Knuckleduster sighed, gazing at me with a heavy look of disappointment. Tapping the picture of a giant furry bunnyman, he shrugged, "That's all this says." his finger slid the photo over by accident and revealed an additional post-it note underneath it. "Oh wait, there's more." Lowering his head down, he squinted and said, "Furry fucker? Hot bun with a tight bun."

I chose the wrong time to take a sip of water, Coughing, I managed to choke out, "What?"

Grabbing the stack of papers, Knuckleduster paged through them quickly with a look of growing disgust and said, "There's a lot more, but it's mostly about how much they want to fuck him. ...Ahah! Found it. Quirk is Animal Gas."

I waited patiently for the explanation.

Slumping forward, Knucks downed a shot and sighed wearily, "That's it. ...I miss the days when police were semi-competent. They're a rare breed now."

"...I'm just going to assume that he exudes a gas that turns people into animals."

"Probably for the best," Knuckleduster nodded, tossing the stack of papers back into his bag. Taking out two photos, he showed me two identical-looking girls, one with short black hair and one with short white hair. " And last, but not least is Zookeeper. Real name: Hana Aoi, she used to work in Ueno Zoo and was actually an up and coming zoologist who specialized in studying animals with Quirks. Previously having black hair, the white hair version is the most recent photo of her. Her Quirk is Cleaning."

"Why is she the only one with a real name?"

"That's what the police want to know too. She was a well known and beloved zooworker who suddenly joined a criminal gang. There's no known motive for her sudden switch to the point even the police agree something's fishy about this."

Scratching my chin, I grinned, "Bet you a wishlist item that it's brainwashing."

"Blackmail. Most brainwashing quirks are short term little things. I want titanium knuckles when I win," Knuckleduster agreed to the bet while also raising the stake.Gathering all the papers, he passed them over to me to read, saying, "That's your target. Most recent reports tend to be focused around the Docks, so start from there. I want you to hunt around, follow the trail, standard operating procedure from the Trigger days."

Taking the last onion ring, I dipped it in the sauce as I paged through it for myself, idly asking, "Should I call Koichi? For backup?"

"I'm going to be your backup."

"Yeah, no," I slapped the folder closed and placed it down to stare Knucks down. "Your daughter would actually kill me if I let you go out on a mission like this."

"Are you disrespecting me, kid?" Knucks leant forward, a shrimp tail dangling between his teeth, slowly disappearing into his mouth menacingly.

Leaning back, I put my hands around my head, eating the onion ring in the exact same way to show him how stupid he looked. As I finished it off with a meaty smack of the lips, I casually replied, "No, but you'll feel like it when I explain why. That and you'll be confused because I can argue literal circles around you. Like for days kind. I'll use every fallacy, every logic loop, i'll use every dirty tactic to argue you down. To the point where we sit here for hours."

To every outsider, it would look like Knuckleduster wasn't backing down. Unfortunately for him, I worked with him for years now and I could see the little slump of the shoulders, the small tuck of the chin, the little signals that showed his uncertainty. Leaning forward, I bowed my head and apologized, "Don't make me do that, please. Just be safe. For Tamao at least. You can still be strong, but Naruhata did a number on you. You almost died last time."

"...I'm not going to argue with you, kid," he grunted, sitting back onto his chair, "I'd be better off talking to a wall. At least the wall would have the courtesy of staying still."

Holy shit, that actually fucking worked. "Sorry Knucks."

"I'm doing this because I'm lazy," Knucks scowled, "Not because you have a point."

I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything stupid. Last time I got him to take a break, I immediately screwed it up with a joke and made him go out by himself to beat up the Volcano Thieves to 'have a nice walk.' It was amazing and badass and it made Tamao lock away my One Piece collection in a vault as punishment.

Glaring up and down at me, he nodded to himself in satisfaction, "Good. Anyways, this is actually a favor being done for this rat bastard I know. He's given us some tech." Reaching into his duster, he pulled out three items.

"Ooh," I clapped my hands in delight, "Spy gadgets!"

Rolling his eyes, Knucks handed me an earpiece. Grinning like a child, I put it around my ear and tapped it on, "Top of the line earpiece that works via bone-conduction, it's military grade, so you can drop it in the ocean, run it over with a truck, and it'll still work. Keep it on you at all times."

"I can sync it to my phone!" I cackled, listening to the peppy beats of Eurobeat. "Yeah, this way I can keep an eye on you with comms. Pumping my head along to the beat, I began singing, "Discord! I'm howling at the moon! Sleeping in the middle of a summer afternoon! Discord! Whatever did we do to make you take our world AWAY!"

"Of course, you did," Knuckleduster sighed, "We'll also have a program that lets us tap into police and hero networks, so you won't be flying totally blind. We can also tap into the cam feeds to keep an eye on you."

"Nice," I grinned, bopping along to the song. Living Tombstone! It may have been two centuries, but for me, it's only been a decade. And the nostalgia still hits hard. "This is already so much better than Naruhata! How likely is it that your guy is going to backstab us?"

"We can trust this rat," Knuckleduster groaned, massaging his temples, "It's not going to be like the l-"

"That's what you said last time."

"Fine, you big baby," Knucks grunted, tossing something to me, "Here's a panic button. Your little girlfriend made it on a whim and I brought it off her."

Examining it, I saw that it was… shaped remarkably like a gray life-alert button, "I think you're trying to give me something meant for you, old man."

"Very funny, asshole. This is for when you're in a tight spot. It sends out a signal that blasts over every comm. It acts like a sort of EMP. Heros and police will be on you in seconds with this signal."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Slightly."

"Wonderful," I sighed and then shrugged. Par for the course for my hail mary to also be a deal with the devil, "So this is my backup?"

"Well, I could always-"

Eyes widening, I remembered Tamao's last threat and shook my head frantically, "Nononono! I like having two balls, thank you very much. I ain't explaining shit to your daughter if you get hurt."

"Fine. Fine," Knuckleduster growled, chewing his food moodily, "FInish up your drink. You start tonight. Do it every three days, we've still got to run the Gym."

"I thought this was important!"

Knucks shook his head, "The rat bastard only wants information and leads on Wild Side, so that they can feed it to the police and Pros. Since it's going to be yourself, we're playing it safe and doing recon only."

Against all my better wisdom, I grinned and teased, "Is this about you not--"

Pointing at the wide and expensive spread of food, Knucks delivered an ultimatum, "You finish that question and I'm making you pay for all of this."

Drinking the Green Lady, I relished the mojito flavoring before darting out of the room, shouting, "And I'm off to go work! See ya in the morn, boss-man!"

As soon as I reached outside, I jumped up and slapped the wall of the alley, kicking off of it to turn around to the other side. Using the true form of Elasticity, I made the walls bouncy enough to wall-jump up. Free Running along the rooftops was exhilarating, but something about night and the city lights made it feel like a stage of which I was director, writer, and producer of my destiny alone.

It's been such a long time since I've had a proper case like Naruhata! We go on little night raids every so often to supplement the gym, but this! This was a proper vigilante! There was going to be danger, there was going to be intrigue, there was going to be epic chase scenes where I was hunting the perp and being hunted by heros! And this is going to be my first time flying solo! I am absolutely terrified yet exhilarated for this!

Watch out! Gentle's back on the streets!

...Going to work on my catchphrase. That sounds like I'm from the hood back in 1990. And considering that this is the 22nd century, I'd be more retro than 8 bit graphics.

Gentle's bouncing into the scene! Nope, Nintendo would sue my ass.

No need to fear! Gentle is here! Wow, I am just ripping off Underdog. Who's a parody of superman. I just completed a rip-off trifecta.

Fuck, this is hard. Par for the course really.

---

AN: Please comment! I thrive on discussion and asking.

There's going to be an incoming timeskip for the next chapter! SMall kind really, just skipping all the grunt work of vigilantism and a small bit of Izuku's training.

If there's interest, I'll write sidestories of interesting events in the class!

THank you! And PLEASE!

Comment. It's like adrenaline for me.

 

[Philosophysics]

Running along the top of the containers, I kept my stance lowered as I chased after my target with a growl of frustration. I had already caught three of them and those had been glorious capers of grand proportions. We had bounced from beam to beam, tumbled in the air, and made a performance of it.

This one seemed determined to keep it low to the ground, using only the basic vaults and slides to get through the maze, ducking and weaving underneath the crates and beams that filled the area with small makeshift tunnels and hidey holes. While it showed off that he had honed and trained the fundamentals of parkour, it was boring and repetitive and the most irritating part was that it was working in keeping me from catching him.

Hopping off the container to land on the ground, I began running with quiet steps. He still heard me and sprinted, vaulting over a container to grab the netting that tied down a canvas, climbing up.

Finally! He was taking it higher. Running towards a wall, I kept my course parallel to it so when I hopped towards it, I had the perfect angle to wall-run up it. Grabbing the edge, I swung myself up and around in a spinning vault to land into a runner's crouch. Then I sprinted forward to the canvas block just in time to see the green hair disappear as the target slid back down to floor level, returning to the maze of slides and crawls.

It was an odd experience of having my own run and hide tactic used against me. I now completely understand why so many people wished to brutally harm me.

I had the high ground as an advantage though, so I could easily keep an eye on him and take shortcuts. Though, even that was negated by the number of small purple blobs littering the area, leftovers from the last target's turn. If I touched even one of them, I'd be trapped in place. I could get out, but that took time and a small bit of stripping and every second counted.

"Five minutes! Midoriya, you have fifteen seconds to hide!" Tamao shouted over the intercom, causing me to squat and sigh in defeat. Case in point proven. I feel old letting this whippersnapper get the better of me.

Still, it was nice to see Izuku grinning like an idiot as he scurried onto the top of the containers and hopped over them on his way to his hiding spot. Sticking my hand out, Izuku slapped it as he began running to his next spot. Good for him. The old him would've apologized for ten minutes for winning. His confidence was growing.

Stretching for a bit, I cracked my neck before giving a thumbs up to Tamao signalling my readiness. She cackled evilly as she shouted, "Mineta! You're next! Dandan, he's hiding up on the ceiling upside down."

"Please don't tell him that!" the grape boy shrieked, inadvertently revealing his exact position in the far corner of the warehouse almost directly opposite of where I was.

"Them's the rules, kid!"

It really was. Everytime I switched to the next target, the Watchtower announced their hiding spot. Still, Mineta had chosen a good spot. I could cover the distance easily, but it'd be annoying to close in on him without him forcing me to make a course correction.

You know how in tag, there's that corner situation? Where you're it, and you have them trapped in a corner, but they can go left or right? And it's just feints for days as they try to juke you and you outjuke them? That's what I was dreading. I'd catch Mineta, but it'd be a hassle.

"Oh! It's the third round by the way!" Tamao said off-handedly.

...Never mind, I was being a whiny bitch for no reason. Third round meant I could finally use Rubberman again.

"Ready or not," I shouted, stretching my arms to the steel beams and grabbing on to slingshot myself forward, "HERE I COME!"

"Not ready! NOT READY!" Mineta panicked, frantically using his purple sticky-balls to monkey his way back down the wall. Unfortunately, he was far too slow and I was already on him with that one bound.

Grabbing onto one of the sticky-balls, using my jacket sleeve as a makeshift glove, I tapped his cheek with the marker and smirked, "Got you."

Slumping his chin against the wall, grape-boy murmured despondently, "And I was so close too."

Patting him on the back, I chortled, "Ah well, you'll get the prize next time."

As he climbed down in defeat, he muttered, "And I really wanted that doujin too."

Still perverted as ever. At least he's better now and less… grope-y than he was at the beginning of the class. Who knows, maybe he won't be completely reprehensible by the start of UA if I train him well enough.

As Mineta hopped over the containers to return to the Watchtower, Tamao announced, "Mineta has been caught! Sudden Death is now in action!"

Sudden Death. Now this was where the fun really got started. Unlike the other switches, this one meant that the target, in this case, Izuku, could run out the timer by simply hiding as Tamao wouldn't announce the hiding spot. It also meant that he could try and tag me, winning a prize if he did so. A bit of incentive to not be a filthy camper, so to speak. Tagging me in this case meant tagging my back, a bit of a change from how I had to use a marker on them. It was a tad bit unfair for them with my skills, but the prize was a pricey 10,000 yen straight out of my own pocket. I'd totally play lame and win games.

"Green bean, green bean," I sang softly as I loped from rafter to rafter, getting a bird's eye view of the terrain. Not there. Not there. "Where do you sprout? Why won't you come out when I SHOUT!?"

Hollering that last word, I leapt down from above, having spotted Izuku hiding in a mess of floating crates that had Uraraka's handi-Quirk written all over. Clever of him to try and use them as cover from aerial attack, but I thrived on using obstacles for parkour.

Grinning, I relished the look of… satisfaction? Why did Izuku's face look satisfied? Wait, was that… Shit, that's Sero's tape in his hand and didn't I chase Mineta through this field during the second round!? I did! There's sticky-balls all over these crates and all of them have tape attached! Fuck! It's a trap!

"Sorry, Mr. Tobita!" Izu-- no, the glimmers of the future hero, Deku shouted, hauling ass as he hauled the tape over his shoulder, "But this is our win!"

Bringing my arms up and legs in, I tucked my chin and curled up into a ball to protect myself as the crates smashed into me. I wasn't hurt too badly, the sticky-balls acting as cushions, but I also couldn't move. I floated like that for a moment, a man covered in crates and boxes before dropping like a stone with a mighty crash, grunting upon impact. Uraraka must have disabled her Quirk then.

"Are you okay, Mr. Tobita!?" Izuku shouted, coughing a bit from the dust that had been kicked up from my drop.

I struggled and wriggled before giving up. I could break the wooden crates to get free, but Knucks would yell at me for breaking gym property before taking it out of my paycheck. Sighing in defeat, I groaned, "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Okay! I'm going to tag you now!" Izuku laughed in that adorably embarrassed manner of his.

As I felt him touch my back, I despaired over my wallet. Ah well, it's not like I haven't been mugging criminals on the sidelines these past six months. I had plenty of cash to spare right now.








Digging myself free of the crates was easy. I still sent Izuku ahead and took longer than necessary to rejoin the class at the Watchtower. I needed a bit of time to collect myself. Now that the adrenaline was fading, anxiety was making a comeback and filling everything up. I hate when this happens.

Six months. Had it really been six months since Izuku started coming to my classes?

Actually forget Izuku! I was also teaching Uraraka, Sero, Mineta, Tsuyu, I was teaching a full quarter of class 1A. I shudder at all the butterflies I'm creating You'd think I'd be used to it now, but no. My anxiety just ebbed and flowed these past couple months. I'm glad that Izuku has friends now. It had been a rocky start when after the first class with Izuku, parents withdrew their kids from Knuckledown by the dozens, leaving much of my previously full classes empty. While it was great for my night job, Knuckledown still lost a lot of profit.

Thankfully, class 1A kids were just as nice as they were in canon barring explosive trash. Izuku actually has a decent, if not great, support group.

But all I could think of was the changes. If I remember correctly, and I very well may not be, Izuku was friendless right before UA. I'm glad that he's more confident now, but he might become… too confident. I hated that I was thinking of things like that. Izuku was Izuku. He wasn't some fictional character that deserved to be railroaded on some horrific fate.

But his low self confidence made him ask All Might that question, led to a sequence of events that would accumulate in him achieving One For All. And… And...

I don't know what comes after and. That terrifies me. I mean I know what comes after he gets One For All. If I take fanfiction to be true, I even know some timelines where he doesn't. It's just- I don't- I don't know what I would do if the future didn't play out as it seemed.

Leaning my head down, I took a breath. In and out. Four seconds each. Four times in and four times out. Haaaa... Uuuun..... Maybe I'm overthinking it. If Izuku gets One For All, he gets it. If he doesn't, he doesn't. If he gets into UA, he gets in. If he doesn't, he doesn't.

What matters is that I'm here. I'm an adult and an experienced warrior. I'll take up the slack that he can't carry. In fact, I should take the weight. He's a child. A child raised from youth on the propaganda of heroism and… Gritting my teeth, I reminded myself of what was at stake.

I'll take what they can't carry. I always forgot, but becoming a hero meant becoming a soldier in this world. I fought in Naruhata. Why am I depending on a child to save the day? No. Adults should be the ones to fix it.

...Whelp, that's my weekly existential crisis quota covered. It's always the same pattern, but it always happens. In the quiet lull after excitement, it sometimes all came crashing down on me about the enormity of living in a story. No wonder so many seers and prophets go insane. Knowing the future was heavy even if it was a dead version of it. You'd think living in MHA for ten years, I'd have come to terms with the idea that I had already changed events. Look at the case right now! There was never any drug like Wild Side on the streets and I broke up the Gentle/Brava ship before it became canon.

But nope. I still can't get used to it. Ah well, I've got shit to do. Can't have a breakdown just yet, still got to give the kiddos their grades.

Stretching my limbs to the railing, I pulled myself onto the catwalk that wrapped around the watchtower. Opening the door, I froze when I saw Tamao standing in front of me, waiting in the small hallway that turned into the main room. Scratching my head, I grinned, "Yo! I'm back!"

"Took you long enough," Tamao said before launching into a hug.

I froze. This was a bit out of character for her. We were close. Kind of hard not to be when her father was my mentor and being co-workers. Also the whole Naruhata thing. But this was rare and also awkward. Why was she--

"You okay? I saw you hunched on the container," Tamao whispered into my shirt.

...Aw. She was worried about me. Patting her head, I chuckled, "Yeah. Just had an episode. I'm better now."

Letting go, Tamao punched my shoulder and grinned, "Glad you're doing fine. Kids are inside waiting. The feeds have been compiled and sent to Manami already, so you just got to do the wrap up. Also remember, your train leaves at 7:15. Now move. I've got a Zumba class to teach."

Shaking my head at her antics, I obligingly stepped to the side to let her past and said, "Thanks for helping! Tell the guests to start coming in please." Quietly

She gave me a thumbs up and didn't look back, too cool to do so. Ah, Tamao. Never change. Turning around, I jumped when Izuku suddenly appeared before me.

"You okay? You were out there for a while," he asked, appearing, wringing his hands.

"I'm fine. Just had to take a breather," I comforted him, patting his fluffy green head, Walking around him, I entered the room quietly. Uraraka was sitting next to Tsuyu who clung to the wall upside down. Sero and Mineta were playing a card game that Sero was blatantly cheating at. In his defense, Mineta kept on looking away to peek on the girls. Ah well, at least he's learning to keep it contained.

Grabbing the remote hanging on the wall, I pressed a few buttons to dim the lights and start the cameras. As the rest of my class started in surprise, I clapped my hands to draw their attention and shouted, "All right, kiddos. We're going to start filming in a couple minutes. So best behavior and best faces!"

"Do we get time to prepare at least?" Sero groaned, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand as he set his hand down, "I'm kind of--"

"Nope! Won't be as genuine! So start now!" I clapped my hands as I turned to face the main camera, putting on a hammier persona as I did so, "Aftergame analysis! Normally, this would be the part of the video where I'd give a critique and let you guys know if the new kids passed or not. But for the first time ever, somebody has won Sudden Death! So I have to know, Izuku!"-I pulled him out of the hallway where he had been hiding into the view of the camera's-"Hell's bells, how did you do it!? On your first time playing this game nonetheless!"

"I didn't do it by myself," Izuku admitted, head bowed. Then lifting his head up, he flashed a too pure grin, and began rambling, a long, rapid machine gun rate of fire. I could only stand there, stunned.

When he finally stopped, he was huffing as if he had just ran a mile. It kind of annoyed me that he was breathing harder explaining what he did to catch me than he had after actually catching me.

Holding my hand up, I used the other to massage my temple as I closed my eyes in concentration and began regurgitating the explanation so I could check my understanding, "Izuku, you really need to practice talking slower. I think I got the gist though. You guys planned this and worked together. Kind of figured that with the setup of the trap, but it's nice to have confirmation. I think I even understand how."

Pointing at the main one, I addressed the imaginary audience, declaring, "This explanation is for the viewers though, so let's start! Far as I can understand, the first round, Asui led me away from the trap, so I wouldn't notice the setup."

Mentally, I began editing the video. Now would be a swap to...

Tsuyu, sticking her tongue out with a froggy grin, ribbited smugly, ""Hai, sensei. I let myself get caught at the end, so that Uraraka wouldn't have to keep her Quirk activated as long in the end."-Letting go of the ceiling, she twisted in midair to land into a crouch on the table-"By that point, Sero had gotten most of the trap ready."

Pointing at Sero, I snapped my fingers as I finally understood why I had caught him so early, "That's why you didn't have that much tape left in your elbows! You already used it to set up the trap!"

"Eeyup!" Sero smirked, putting a finger under his chin in an attempt to pose for the camera. I really wish the cameras weren't rolling so I could tell him how stupid the pose was. Trust me, I have experience with how stupid that pose looks. I did it myself, "Sorry about tricking you, but it worked. Getting caught early also cut the wait time down to the third round. We wanted to get you overconfident."

"Mmhmm," Uraraka chimed in, giving a cutesie peace sign and smile with a stuck out tongue that only worked for cute anime girls. "My job was to play the game the right way in the second round! Get you to think that it was a standard game so you wouldn't notice the setup. I started lifting all the boxes in the second round and let myself get caught early, so that the third round would start faster."

Flipping into view to stand on the desk, Mineta posed like a sentai hero, arm raised into the sky. Tracing an invisible arc in the air, he boasted, "And I threw my balls everywhere so you would get used to them. The trap was already set up in the first round, but the second round was to get you used to them! Pavlov baby!," Mineta snapped his arms to his chest and twirled into a dabbing bow, "I also hid myself WAY in the corner in the last round, so that Izuku could get to the trap in time!"

Cringey as fuck. But… strangely adorable. Note to self, make sure to remind Mineta not to act like a perv. He had been surprisingly restrained after the talk I had with him, but once this video gets out and he acts like his canon self… That'd reflect badly on Knuckledown Gym. Ugh, whoever said all publicity is good publicity can go fuck off.

"And why specifically the third round?" I asked, pointing at Izuku, giving him another go at explaining himself.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku tucked his head in, stroking his chin before launching into an intense monologue. "Watching your previous videos where you had your other students run this test, I noticed that you have a tendency to keep yourself airborne as often as you can, staying high off the ground. This was especially noticeable during the third round when your handicap came off and you began to use your quirk Rubberman. With your rubber body, you could conceivably stretch your arms to find any holding and grip anywhere, so it would seem as if you're flying. However, your torso would stay stationary in the air for that small moment of time, unable to change direction. All I needed was to bait you into dropping straight down into a trap and pull it all together in one go."

Okay. That was a bit fast, but… Wow, that was something straight out of anime, with the hero/villain explaining their logic and mindreading. I am so glad that Izuku's a white-hat.

Still, it was finally my turn. Time to be a ham.

"You guys broke the game. A game that I've worked hard to be the champ for. In three years, nobody has tagged me in Sudden Death. And you guys did it. First time playing the game too," I said softly. Lowering my head, I kept my face shadowed and began humming menacingly. Just long enough for each of my students to grow antsy and shrink in themselves. Keeping my eyes shadowed, I growled, "Well. Well. Well. Nobody else has ever really thought to work together. It was all independent before this. I'm half tempted to give all of you a prize! But, you guys forgot that this was an exam. And… My verdict is..."

"You all pass!" I snapped my head up in a grin, relishing in the sudden gasps of relief, "Good vaults, good falls, you all got the basics down quite well. And for your first time using quirks with your parkour?" I shook my head in joy, arms outstretched, "You did amazing! As for the prize? Looks like… All y'alls get the prize! Not the full 10,000 yen because I'm not that rich, but you each get 5000 yen! A group prize of 25,000 yen! My wallet's going to be a bit light, but well done!"

Silence. Then the students leapt up in celebration and high fived one another. Uraraka twirled in the air, lightly abusing her quirk. The boys did a triangular high five while Tsuyu croaked a song of joy. It was a jubilant celebration on their part.

"Don't scare us like that, you shitty coach!" Mineta roared, slapping the table and sending the cards up into the air. Ah, how quickly the tables turn from joy to anger.

I cocked my head and tapped a finger on my chin, innocently asking, "Ah, so you don't want the prize money then?"

Immediately, Mineta snapped into the crispest, most business-like bow I had ever seen. "You're the best coach ever!"

"That's what I thought. Now, I pronounce all of you Advanced Level!" I clapped my hands before gesturing to the camera, "To make it official, pose for the camera and shout the motto of Knuckledown Gym."

"Aw, really?" Sero groaned.

"It's tradition," I shrugged. I wasn't even lying. Well, mostly. They were only the fifth group to graduate to the Advanced level at Knuckledown Gym, but since we've only been operating for three years, four if you stretched it, it could still become a tradition.

I had them gather in front of the whiteboard, bringing out an old and slightly battered DSLR camera on a tripod. FIddling with the settings, I set the timer for fifteen seconds. Mineta squatted on the conference table laying in a classic sexy-man pose. Tsuyu hung upside down from the ceiling while Uraraka floated on the opposite side. Izuku and Sero had stood normally, but then taken poses upon seeing the other three, Sero taking on a spiderman pose with his elbows pointed out instead of his wrists while Izuku took on a strongman pose. Or it might have been an All Might one.

Giving them a thumbs up, I clicked the button and dashed into position behind them, banging my shin in my rush. Grinning through the pain, I started, "When life gets rough."

"You Knuckle DOWN!" my cute little students chorused as one as the camera flashed.

Blinking a bit, I stepped away from them and took apart the DSLR camera. Tossing it to Sero who fumbled a bit before catching it, I began digging underneath the control console and searched for the paperwork. As I did so, I said, "So before I give out your certificates, I have a few questions and announcements. First off, does anybody have any second thoughts about this? Last chance to nix the video going out."

"The Knuckledown Channel routinely averages 500,000 views per video! With their highest grossing video having over 7 million hits!" Izuku's voice shook before shrilling, " I WILL NOT LET THIS CHANCE GO!"

*BANG* OW!

"You okay teach!?" Sero shouted even as I heard him fiddling with the camera.

Rubbing the back of my head, I crawled out backwards, dragging a plastic bin out with me and waved off his concerns, saying, "It's fine. It's fine. Izuku just surprised me."

Letting Izuku tire himself out apologizing, I clicked the lid off and began pulling out the certificates and coughed from the rising dust. Ugh, we have to clean underneath there more often. "Anyways, what does everybody else think?"

Showing the picture off to Tsuyu and Uraraka, Sero shrugged, "What Midoriya said, but calmer."

"I'm going to be so cool!" Mineta huffed, punching the air in excitement.

Tsuyu's voice answered from above, saying, "I'd like to see the video first."

"What Tsuyu said," Uraraka parroted the desire.

"I'm going to be so cool!" Mineta cackled, still punching.

"That's fair," I nodded and began signing the certificates. They didn't really do much. No sudden license, but it was a nice trophy of accomplishment for them to have, "I was actually going to ask you guys to come over whenever you're free to do a short little intro segment. Introduce yourselves and all that jazz. Forgot to ask you guys to do that a couple days ago, but it's not too late now. It'll just be your name, why you came, what the gym has done for you. It's a shameless marketing plug for us, but that's fine right?"

"I never thought I'd be one of the stars in a Knuckledown video." Izuku sobbed.

"There, there," Uraraka sighed, patting him on the back and handing him a box of tissues.

"I'm going to be so cool!" Mineta shouted again, this time kicking the air.

"I'll take that as a yes," I nodded, handing them out to each of them, "Next question! How was your first time using quirks with your parkour skills?"


"It was strange," Uraraka admitted, "But fun!"

"Could've gone better," Sero nodded in agreement, "Wish I didn't run out so soon, but it was fun!"

"We only really won because of Midoriya and his plan," Tsuyu stated blandly.

"Yeah," Mineta nodded before grinning, "But I was cool right?"

Izuku protested, "That's not true! All of you did wonderful!"

Shaking her head, Tsuyu disagreed, "But you were the one who came up with the plan."

"Hey, I was cool right?"

"Tone down on the desperation, Mineta. You're negating the coolness by thirsting for acknowledgement," I sighed. Then stretching my arms above my head, I declared, "Anyways! You all did great. Izuku's plan was great, yes. But it's also because he trusted each and every one of you to do your part. So team effort." Yawning a bit in exhaustion, I stifled it and continued, "And this acts as a segway to my announcement. You'll be having new coaches that are specialized for this sort of thing in the next couple months."

"What!?" all five of them shouted at once.

"Loud," I complained as I dug a finger in my ear to stop the ringing. "Long story short? I have taught you all you needed to know to go to the next level"-I looked at each one of them and smiled proudly-"You know the basics. You honed them further in the intermediate classes. This game was merely a formality. I had already planned to move you up to the advanced level when I announced today's game a week ago. This was a test, but it was a pre-test. The advanced level is where we truly begin to focus on Quirks. At the end of the training, we're going to be doing this game again as your true final. See how you compare."

"But…" Izuku mumbled, looking dejected. Like an adorable green puppy.

"I'm touched that you guys like my teaching so much, but the fact of the matter is that none of yours even remotely match mine. Maybe Tsuyu, but her quadrupedal motion isn't something I'm used to. So the people that are going to be coaching you will have experience working with Quirks similar to yours. In fact, some of them have been substitutes for you already."

They milled about uncertainly before Sero sighed, "I guess that makes sense."

Nodding my head as I listened to the sounds of concurrence from the graduating class, I announced, "Also I'm going on break soon. So there's that."

"What!?" they chorused again.Why so loud!? It's not like I'm dropping something world changing, like, IDK I'm a vigilante?

Patting my chest, I protested, "I have a life too, you know! I'm just going to Naruhata for a month to hang out with some old friends. It's been a while since I've seen them."

This time there was an embarrassed silence.

Rolling my eyes, I grunted, "Any more questions?"

Seeing the nods, I stood up and turned my back to them. Ignoring the confused sounds, I shouted, "Now final question! Parents! Are you PROUD!?"

"Wha--"

Then the families who had been sneaking up the Watchtower dropped all pretense and rushed in, hugging and congratulating the students. The Asui's were all there, crowding Tsuyu in a group hug. Izuku and Inko were hugging each other and predictably crying. Uraraka's mother was hugging her and swinging her around. Mineta was also being hugged by his mother. Huh, the shortness really was genetic. Sero's father was simply putting a hand on his son's shoulder. It was all wonderfully sappy and endearing.

Leaving quietly, I let the families celebrate this achievement. There was a lot I had to do to set up for the viewing party.

I had to go pick up the compilation from Manami for the viewing party later at the main office which shouldn't take too long. But then there was the pizza I had to order. Hopefully, the pupus I had asked the parents to bring would be enough until then. And then I had to run to the ATM to withdraw the prize money. I only brought 10,000 yen and now i had to get five batches of 5000 yen. Also envelopes for them. Fuck, I also had to start packing for my trip. Train leaves tonight and I only have my equipment packed and no clothes.

Why am I such a mess!?

-------

AN: And that's a quick six month timeskip! Don't worry, this won't have ANY butterflies for sure. I'm sure that Izuku having a friendgroup that meets up at least twice a week for parkour practice, possibly more, won't lead him to growing a backbone against Bakugou sooner.

Nosiree.

 

[Philosophysics]

I am never procrastinating again. Never. I am doing things early, on time, and everything is going to be punctual.

I had gotten everybody free at the gym to help move boxes and crates in the Warehouse, just enough to set up an area for the families to sit down. I may or may not have broken a few public quirk use laws trying to get to an ATM to make the withdrawals. The pizzas arrived while I was gone, but thankfully, Tamao was there to receive them and keep the vultures that were my other coworkers from stealing all the pizza.

I even got the flashdrive with the recordings from Manami. I had five copies, one with the video that was going to be uploaded with an additional bonus reel tailored to each student, to give out to the families to keep. It was supposed to be simple! Just get the video playing in the background while the families ate and had fun but my dumbass couldn't figure out how the projector connected to the holodisk. Centuries in the future and dongles will still be the bane of fucking presentations.

Never going to procrastinate. Never again. I don't want to deal with this bullshit.

"Male into female. Female on male," I muttered into the phone, plugging and unplugging things in frustration, "I did all the connections like you told me to, what the hell am I doing wrong!?"

"I don't know!" Manami growled, sounds of things being tossed about in a hurry muffling her voice, "You're doing everything right! You texted me that video."

Growling, I tried turning the projector on and off again. Then bit my cheek to keep myself from screaming when I realized that the light wasn't even turning on. It couldn't be that simple. I refuse to believe it was…

"You went silent," Manami noted.

Not answering, I followed the cord of the projector. Yup. It was my worst fear. Fixing the problem, I tapped my head against the wall as I heard the familiar opening jingle of our video and the excited shouts of the family. Slumping against the wall, I sighed, "The cord got unplugged."

"...I am so fucking pissed at you right now."

"I deserve it."

"You're going to make me late for my date!" she yelled, causing my phone's speaker to whine.

"Sorry for bothering you," I whispered, bowing apologetically. I looked around, panicked that they had noticed. Luckily, they all seemed engrossed in watching the highlights reel.

"You're lucky this is part of my job or I'd choke you," Manami sighed before growling, "Do NOT call me unless you are about to die, the gym's database is being hacked, or something is going to explode."

"...I don't think anything will explode," I hesitantly offered.

"It better not," she muttered.

Sighing in relief that I had somewhat defused the situation, "Tell Fuyumi I said hi!"

"I will!" Manami chirped happily before threatening in the same tone, "But seriously, do not go out tonight. I'm going on a date and I'm not going to be able to go on comms."

"That's fine," I shrugged, "I'm going to have to catch a train to Naruhata. So you won't have to be on comms for a month."

"What do you mean you're goi--" she said before I hung up on her.

Whew. Manami was a lifesaver. Who would've thought that she'd fit in so well with the gym as our IT guy? Or IT gal in this case. I still wish Knucks had discussed her employment with the rest of us before hiring her, but she was honestly a godsend. It was hard enough finding new employees. It was awkward to have opening orientation talk about our night job, so the fact that Manami's old stalker habits already revealed that was now a blessing in disguise. And it was a blessing to have her working at the gym. Editing videos, organizing files, running comms, Manami Aiba was the nerve center of Knuckledown that none of us knew we needed. Except for Knucks, but I will never admit that. He'd be smug for days.

Only bad part was her girlfriend. While her getting a girlfriend four months ago was great and all, it was still awkward at times to talk to her. She was a great person to have behind your back, or comms, in the night job, but she had a tendency to gush about her loved ones during the slow nights. Sometimes it felt as if I had already met Fuyumi with how open Manami was about her relationship.

Bah! Why was I still thinking about Manami!? She had moved on! She had her own life! I had a party to get back to and food to eat! Also prize money to hand out, still had to pack my bags, had to make sure that Koichi's penthouse could still be used, there were a lot of things I had to do. Fuck, I had to talk to the kids one on one, find out what they actually felt and tell them about each of their new teachers. Wait, fuck. I haven't even told the teachers that they were going to be teachers. Damn it, I'm also going to have to talk to their families too, answer any questions they have. Going to have to remember to not swear and be professional about it. Aw fuck, I can't remember if I swore earlier during the game or the aftergame analysis! ...Problem for future me. Fucking hell, why am I so stupid!?

Let's just get some food and relax a bit before I work myself into yet another anxiety attack.





By the time I noticed, I was trapped. I had snuck back in and shoveled food onto a plate to eat. Sitting on the side, I absentmindedly watched the families watch the video, enjoying the food and stupidly letting my guard down.

Now there was a steady chanting from the accompanying families, calling me to give a speech after the video ended. I just know that my students started it. I see your shit-eating grins, don't think I'm stupid.

Why did I always choose the worst times to eat? I was a mess, I had sauce on my chin, my stomach felt bloated from all the pizza I ate, and now I had to give an impromptu speech under peer pressure.

Ignoring the chanting, I grabbed a napkin and wiped my face as best as I could before standing up and grinning at my audience. Fine. If you wanted a speech, I'll give you all a speech.Just a performance, Gentle. Just put on a performance.

"So I've been called forth to give a small speech," I began. "It's a bit sudden, but I'll do my best."

Let's start off with a bit of a walk down memory lane. Parents like that right? Remembering how their kids started out?

"Six months ago," I started softly, hands clasped behind my back as I paced in front of the families, "Your children signed up in a class. A small one. It was your standard class, a moderate sized class with about thirty students, all starting at the beginner level. It was an everyday start. I ran them through some basic exercises and stretches, with a small demonstration at the end of what would be the end goal."

Let's toss in a bit of history of the gym. That seems professional and the sort of thing teachers talk about. The parents look interested at least. Hellfire, even Tsuyu's younger siblings couldn't seem to stop watching me. I am good at this shit.

"As you well know, Knuckledown gym is one of the few privately owned Category 2 areas! For the younger ones, a Category 2 area means that Quirk Use is allowed within that area with a certified Quirk Specialist. We have five trained and licensed Quirk Specialists who are ready, willing, and experienced to help train Quirks!"-This was fun. I was getting into this. Let's remind the parents WHY Knuckledown gym is the best even compared to our competitors- "Unique to us is that we have a staggered system of development. Most other places, such as Quirk Quark Gyms, immediately focus on Quirks first. We, however, believe in a different philosophy! We focus on the fundamentals first! Training and honing these skills, only when we are satisfied with the level that they have achieved will we begin incorporating Quirks."

Lowering my voice, I sighed dramatically."Some families disagreed with our methods, complaining that it would take too long and that we had falsely advertised. Others disagreed with… certain qualities that some of our coaches and students had."-I kept my wince hidden as I saw Izuku and Tsuyu flinch slightly. While Quirk discrimination was known in manga, in the past six months of hunting down Wild Side, I had discovered that there was a stigma against mutation Quirks too. It's a real shitty thing to know that even in the centuries following the 21st, discrimination is alive and well and still has as many varieties as there are ice cream flavors-"In the coming months, they would withdraw until only a few were left."

And now to start praising the kids. They were honestly real good kids and I'd find it easy to praise them, but a performer caters to the audience and I'm a fucking cheap shill who wants them coming back for more. So prepare for cringe.

"I will admit," I turned my back to them dramatically, "I almost cancelled the class. It had become a tad bit smaller than what I was used to. But they convinced me to not give up on them. How could I when they didn't give up on the class? And so we embarked on a journey with our small crew! And what companions they were! Brave! Prompt! Eager to learn and steadfast in their belief, they came, they saw, and they conquered!"

I have no idea why the parents began laughing, but I must be doing something right.

Whirling around, I clapped my hands and sweeped my arm out to point at all of my students in one motion, "And they thrived with this small class setting! In six months, your children have gone through what would usually be a two year course to become Knuckledown's third batch of Advanced level Traceurs!"

Time to begin summing up everything right before the wrap up. Just like a conclusion on an english paper. BOwing slightly, I gave the appearance of thanking the families as I said, "We may be a small and upcoming gym, but our courses are difficult and challenging. We train the basics until it becomes second nature and then we train it to the point where it becomes as natural as breathing. Then we begin tossing in the difficulty of Quirks."

Straightening myself, I pointed at each of my students, an unspoken signal for them to stand up and begin lining up in front of me. I waited until they lined up before continuing, "Today was their first time using their quirks in conjunction with their training and while they may have… flubbed the rules a bit, their skills are top-notch!"

Also their mindreading skills. I was thinking about how cool it'd be for them to just start lining up and then they did that. I take full credit for my accidental win.

Walking in front of them, I addressed them directly, "Individually, all of you did well, " I raised a finger to point straight up into the air, "However, it was with your teamwork that you became the first to win the Game of Tag!"-I then deadpanned-" Trademarked by Knuckledown Gyms, accept no substitutes"-before resuming my speechifying-" So I am proud to give you all the group prize as mentioned earlier," I reached into my back pocket to pull out five envelopes, "While I have no medals nor trophies, I hope you will find these envelopes of money as a consolation prize.Now will--"

*When you've bungled all your bangles and your loved ones have been mangled, listen to the jingle jangle of my gypsy tambourine.*

Snaking my hang to fish out my phone, I winced when I saw that the caller ID was Twangy Bitch. Bowing to the family, I hurried to hide behind a container as I shouted, "Sorry, I have to take this."

Accepting the call, I snarled, "I'm at the gra--

"Where the hell are you!?" Tamao cut me off with a shout, "Your train leaves in fifteen minutes!"

"What!?" I asked, confused. I kept track of time! I still had time to spare, "It leaves at 7:15! I have time!"

She shot back, "It's 7:00 right now!"

"No, it's not!" I snapped, checking the time on my phone, "It's… 7:00 right now."

"Why are you repeating what I said!?" Tamao shrieked, uncharacteristically in a panic, "Have you lost track of time!? You did, didn't you!I've been reminding you for days now about this trip and you forgot! I spent so much time and effort planning this shit and you just fucking FORGOT!"

Ah shit, I am such a mess, fuck shit okay. Walking back to the gathering, I rambled, "Okay, fuck, shit. I'm sorry! I have to pack my--"

"Soga's already raided your apartment and packed your bags with you! We have them and we're waiting at the station for you! I'm going to try and stall! Get your ass down here ASAP!" Then there was a long beep as she hung up on me.

Bowing to the families and my students, I apologized in a rambling mess, "Sorry! So sorry! I'm late for my train," shoving the envelopes into Izuku's hands, I rushed out of there, shouting over my shoulder,"There's the prizes! Each one has a name with a personalized letter written on it! Take your time and enjoy the food, somebody will come by to close down! Sayonara!"

"Have a nice trip, Mr. Tobita!" somebody called out after me. I didn't bother turning around to see who. I was fucking late. The thought was appreciated though.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! Ran through my mind as I stretched my arms to grapple myself onto the roof of the Gym and began running towards Tatooin station. Why am I such a mess of a human being!? Everything's a chaotic mess, I have no control, and it's all my fault for not following the plan. I hope this isn't going to set the tone for how Naruhata's going to go down!





It was always a rush to freerun. Even in my old life, when I didn't have the hacks power of Elasticity, I loved doing it. Sure, it may have inadvertently led to my death at the tender age of 22, but as my generation would say, YOLO. But it was even more of a rush now.

While I couldn't bound over an entire building, I could still jump pretty high with my elastic body. And let's just say that fall damage is a moot point also. Was I completely abusing my Quirk? Yes. Was it illegal?

...Only slightly, surprisingly.

Technically, public quirk use was still illegal for me. I may have been a certified Quirk specialist, but it only meant that I could use my Quirk in the areas that I was licensed in or if I was training somebody in a public space such as a park. And if it was the second one, there was a ton of paperwork involved. There was a loophole though. Mutation Quirks. And who remembers what my 'official Quirk' was? That's right. Rubberman. ...I really have to stop talking to myself. It's a bad habit from making videos.

What the fuck do I care!? I'm free!

Letting out a loud whoop, I ran, hopping from building to building. When they got too tall,I slid down street level and weaved through the crowds until I found an alleyway between two buildings of similar height. Then I bounded up, wall jumping like I was Mario. Reaching the top, I ran forward and hip, hop, and hoorayed into a twisting somersault onto the next building, landing into a roll and began building hopping once more. Hell yeah! I love this so much! I wish I could use Elasticity for the cooler tricks, but Rubberman was still fun!

"Halt, citizen! Public Quirk use is for--" a familiar voice shouted before cutting itself off with a groan, "Is that you again Tobita!?"

Getting up from a roll, I did a small hop to run backward slightly and waved, "Sup Kamui!"

"You know that you aren't supposed to use your Quirk," the Wood Hero, Kamui Wood sighed, covering his sentai-like mask with a hand even as he ran alongside next to me, hopping in tandem with me

"Technically, I have a mutation Quirk," I grinned, stretching my cheeks out to prove a point. "So I have special permission. Unless you want to pull me over again? Oh no! Should I file a Quirk discrimination complaint? I can't imagine your firm would be happy about that."

Kamui Woods. He's a nice hero who specializes in capture and containment. We weren't friends by any means, but we did have a sort of… rapport going on. One where he'd try and tell me not to use my Quirk in freerunning and one where I'd toe the line in using my Quirk.

"You and I both know that you're stretching that part of the law!" Kamui groaned. Then his voice took a malicious lilt as he said, "Also wall."

"Wal-" I asked before tripping over one. Tumbling through the air, I quickly oriented myself and shot a hand up to grab a ledge, grappling my way back up. Resuming my run, I glared, "That was a dick move."

"And that's a misdemeanor. While mutation Quirks are allowed within reason, that was a clear case of active use," Kamui grinned, passing me a ticket as we jumped in tandem to the next building.

"That's not fair!" I whined, grabbing the ticket and shoving it into my pocket. It was a paltry fine of 2000 yen anyways. It was part of the little game we played, "You're not supposed to be clever. And what about civilian endangerment!? That was clearly civilian endangerment"

"That argument would work if one of your videos wasn't of you jumping down a seven story building," Kamui smirked as he ran away, the fucking coward. Granted, I was already at the intersection before Musutafu, so I wouldn't run with him any longer, but he's still a coward.

Wait. Seven story building video! Hah! Kamui Woods watches my videos! I am so going to bring that up next time I meet him. Speaking of which. I hopped off the building I was on, doing a backflip for the heck of it to land onto the horizontal beam of a traffic light in a three point landing.

*Brrr* Always a weird sensation to have your entire body shiver like jello or a cartoon character to disperse the shock of landing. Standing up, I spread my arms as I balance-beam walked to slide down a pole to be immediately swarmed by three teenagers in school uniforms.

"Yo! It's the Rubberman!" the lion-maned one shouted in excitement.

"Smile!" his friend shouted, making a rectangle with his hands. Must be a recording Quirk, "I'm getting this on film!"

Ah, the price of being the star of a Youtube channel with 1.2 million subscribers. You become a D-List celebrity. With fans! Did I say price? I meant perk.

"Who's the Rubberman?" the third person shouted, looking distinctly uncomfortable at his friends turning into insane weirdos. Don't worry. It's just my animal magnetism. Unavoidable really, with my amazingness.

"Dude! He's the freerunner guy! You know, the one from Knuckle Down Studios!?" the lion-headed one shouted as he posed next to me as his friend took a picture with his Quirk. Not noticing that I gave him bunny ears as he did so. After the picture was taken, he twirled around and gushed, "Hey, when's your next video coming out! Your last video said that the Fourth Tag Games was going to happen soon!"

"Soon!" I laughed, fluffing his amazingly fluffy mane, "In fact, we just finished filming. Want to hear a spoiler?"

"What?" the lion kid and his fellow fan shouted.

Leaning in close, I whispered, "I lose."

The looks on their faces. It was beautiful. At first, it was disappointment, then it became confusion, then it became awe as their little minds went wild with the possibilities of what happened in the video, "...Dude."

"Indeed," I grinned before crossing the street, "Anyways, I got to go. Ciao for now!"

There. That should get the social media ablazing with rampant fan theory. Advertising your videos is an important part of being a Youtuber. Controlled leaks are an important part of that process.

Wait, why am I patting myself on the back!? I'm a dumbass who's late!

Running through the checkpoint, I showed my ID and ticket and quickly made it to the train station, sliding in and posing victoriously, "Made it! And I have..." I shouted as I checked my phone, "And I have… seven minutes to spare."

"Good," a voice teeming with rage growled out from behind me, "Then you can give me six minutes so I can YELL at you!"

"Aw fuck," I sighed as I turned around to face Tamao. Oh shit, she was walking menacingly towards me. Walking backwards, I scratched the back of my head as I said, "Hi. You're looking great! Your eyepatch looks spiffy."

I immediately wanted to kill myself. Who the hell compliments an injury!?

"Thank you," she gritted out, "I chose a pink one today. I think it could do with some red highlights though!"

Most days I wonder how such a chill girl could be the daughter of a 100% no chill guy like Knucks. It's moments like these that remind me of their relationship.

"What were you fucking thinking!?" she shouted, You had weeks to prepare for this! You told us you wanted this trip to finish up the job, but do you plan anything!?"

"Uh…" I struggled to answer. The real answer was no. I mean I did all the hard work of finding clues and tracking them down. Me and Knucks had always depended on others to make the logistics work. In retrospect, a bad habit. Maybe I should've pitched in more. "Sorry?"

"No! You didn't!" Tamao stomped, throwing her hands up in the air, "You put it all on me! Dad's not going to do it! The trio are fucking idiots! Manami's fucking off in the Isle of Lesbos! I have to be the responsible one! I'm supposed to be the fun one! The irresponsible one! I go off and fucking play guitar! But I have to be the one who keeps everything off while you guys go gallivanting at night!"

"This is a bit public," I tried to toss out desperately before realizing that she didn't really care about it. As it was, the station was empty save for two train attendants who were wisely looking away.

"Now you're going off to Naruhata!" Tamao growled softly, lowering her voice so that only I could her. Poking my chest with each word, she continued, "Chasing down these people! No backup! Just fucking you and Koichi! Koichi hasn't done this shit in years! What the fuck are you going to do!?"

"I'll call? I'm still going to be in touch? Comms will still be a thing, so there's no need to worry, Tamao! It's not that far, I'm just going to Naruhata! You know, in Tokyo! It's just a two hour train ride from here," I tried to offer logic. Futile logic and probably shitty too, but I had no idea what to say. I just really wanted her to stop yelling and making me feel guilty about my ADHD planning.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better!?" Tamao growled, pinching and stretching my cheeks like a stress ball, "Two hours is a long ass time for us to send help or reinforcements or anything! Shit could happen in two hours!"

Twisting my face out of her grip, I rubbed my puffy cheeks. While they could stretch pretty far, it still hurt. I tried to placate her, "I'll be fine. I'm experienced."

That only made it worse. Scrunching up her fists, Tamao stomped around in a tight little circle, muttering to herself, "Just like dad! You don't think! You just see shit and then you run off and do something about it! Come back home with injuries and shit! Who's going to pull your ass out of the fire!?"

Looking around, I wondered why nobody was stopping us. Or how to tell Tamao to keep it private, "...Sorry? Also we're-"

"Damn right, you better be!" Tamao fumed, stomping away and screaming before whirling around, And! AND! Just fucking! Just.. FUCK! I'm going to go get some Calpico! Give me money!" She stuck her hand out.

I tossed my whole wallet at her. I'm a pansy ass bitch who doesn't want to get yelled at anymore."Here!"

"When I come back, you better have a concrete fucking plan on how you're doing this thing," Tamao poked me in the chest repeatedly as she scowled, "Give me protocol. Show me that you have a better plan than just depending on us to save your ass. And don't give me any bullshit about winging it. I want a fucking plan. If not, we're canceling this shit."

Then she left. Looking around, I found Knucks, hiding in the shadows and sitting on top of a suitcase. Walking quickly to him, I almost got down to my knees as I beseeched him, "Help me."

"Don't look at me," Knucks shrugged, "I said recon only. Every time you went out, I told you, kid."

I despaired for a bit before I realized something important. The asshole! Pointing at him accusingly, I shouted, "That's why you kept on saying it! You were covering your ass!"

His eyes crinkled a bit as he smiled smugly, "A bit," Then in a sudden move that caught me by surprise, he placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing softly, "And also a bit because I was worried about you."

"...Wait really?" I froze a bit, kind of shocked at this admission. I mean I cared about the old fuck. I just didn't know he cared about me. It was nice though. He was… Somebody I could chat… with and… talk to and he taught me shit.. Okay, he's something to me. I don't want to put it into words even in my own head. It's weird.

""Yeah. I worry about you kid," he said, ruffling my head. ...It felt weirdly good, almost as if he was proud of me. I pulled it away before I could say anything weird, "This is going to be your first time by yourself. Really. Just by yourself without us to pull your ass out of the fire. Tamao's right about it being two hours away."

"...Yeah."

"I wish I could send the others with you, but they never trained for these kinds of ops. Not like you have," Knucks sighed, one hand rubbing at his eyepatch, "And as you two like to remind me, I'm an old fuck who can't do shit anymore."

"It's not that bad," I protested, "And uh... Sorry for causing your midlife crisis,"

He looked at me strangely before chuckling, "Don't be. Sure, I can't go out there and beat up assholes, but it's nice teaching kids to beat them up for me. Make my own little army of kiddos to beat up the assholes."

I rolled my eyes even as I grinned, "I'm glad you're happy, but for chrissake, don't say that in front of panels. Call it self defense at least."

"Ha. Whatever you say, kid," Knucks chuckled as he stood up to slide the suitcase over to me, "You got a plan on finding the Beastars? She's not wrong, you know. It was sheer luck that you even found that lead to Naruhata."

"Izuku has one," I replied as I caught it,"In fact, he emailed me one. I haven't looked at it yet. Don't worry. I framed it as a hypothetical. Asked him what would be the best way to track someone who can erase their tracks perfectly."

"Heh. Smart kid," he agreed.

We stood in companionable silence, watching Tamao argue with the kiosk owner. Eventually, Knucks said softly, "You don't have to do this, kid."

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to relax.I tried to smile and keep an upbeat persona. But sometimes the sad things, the heavy things just built up and when I remembered them… I felt heavy.

I sighed, "Teruo's still an eel kaiju out with the Oki Mariners. He's gettin better, but it's been half a year and he still can't talk. Rapt ended up in the hospital, pulling my ass out of a firefight with them. And Mongoose Habuko is still in rehab because of Wild Side."

"The first two I can handle. I don't like it, but I can handle it. They're adults. They knew the risks and what they were signing up for. But Mongoose. Mongoose was just a kid. She was just some dumb kid who wanted to get a video of Gentle and got hurt," looking up, I spoke my resolve, "They not only hurt our people, they hurt a kid. A kid I knew and taught. Maybe it's selfish of me to only get angry after someone I personally knew got hurt. I mean kids are always getting hurt by gangs and drugs. Age isn't a barrier and all that stupid jazz. But I'm fucking pissed at them, so I'm hunting the Beastars and I'm putting them down. Hard."

"...Nothing wrong about being selfish. So long as you do what's right," Knucks agreed before patting my back heavily, "Stay safe out there. Don't do anything I would."

Sensing the conversation ending, I gave him a one armed hug, "Thanks, Knucks. I'll try my best."

Then I let go immediately. That's enough awkwardness. Besides, Tamao would probably give me shit for treating her dad like a… weird mentor thing. Speaking of the devil, she's drinking Strawberry Calpico. And she didn't even buy me one.

Tossing me my wallet, she wiped her mouth as she asked, much more calmly now, "So what's the fucking plan?"

Opening my wallet, I scowled as I realized she took twice as much as she needed for the Calpico out of it. Pouting as I closed it, I gave a petty answer,"I go in and punch shit."

Tamao turned on her heel, whipping out her phone and dialing into it, "...Hello? Ah yes! I'd like to cancel a trip. My friend has come down with a sudden case of--"

"Okay, okay!" I rolled my eyes as I stretched my arm to steal the phone, "Fine! I'm going to go in and find problem spots. Warehouses, gatherings, that kind of thing. It'll be nightly patrols that I'll stay on comms for," Looking down at the phone to hang up the call, I sighed as I saw that she hadn't actually called anyone, but instead pulled up a meme, "Really? A fucking minions meme? In the 23rd century?"

"You introduced me to them," Tamao smirked unapologetically.

Tossing her phone to her, I scowled when she caught it one handed without even fumbling it, looking like a cool bitch. I continued my explanation, "When I find a place packing heat, I'll call in the cops, soften up the mooks before they come, and then I'm out as soon as I hear sirens. Hellfire, I'll even wear the stupid GPS tracker."

"Promise not to fight any boss-tiers?" Tamao asked, sticking out her pinkie finger.

Twirling mine with her, I raised my other hand in a scout sign and vowed, "I won't throw the first punch at them."

"...I see your wordy bullshit." Tamao said after a calculating stare.

Smiling angelically, I grinned, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Just stay safe, asshole," Tamao sighed, hugging me softly.

Patting her on the back, I nodded, "I will."

Ain't that kind of fucked up? My-- Danjuro's family disowned him and so my. His. Our closest thing to family was our coworkers. This on top of my decade long identity crisis. One of these days I will--

"The train will now be leaving," the intercom announced.

Fucking have a functioning sense of time. Twisting out of Tamao's embrace, I dragged my suitcase wildly as I shouted, "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! STOP THE TRAIN! STOP THE TRAIN!"







AN:

So that's chapter 4

All the preliminary chapters DONE! Now for more timeskips. Sorry, I write what interests me and while I could force myself to write in all the investigation bits, I'm more interested in character interactions and fight scenes and chase scenes. I am SO looking forward to it. Also I have calculus and exams and papers so fuck me running. Anyways, please comment! I THRIVE on comments for inspiration!

Goals for this chapter was to establish how and why Knuckledown Gyms is still popular despite being small, show off that Gentle is STILL a Youtuber, albeit a much more successful one. I know that Heros are a thing, but you have to admit that parkour videos would be cool to watch! And with a better support group in the form of the Naruhata Vigilante Gang and a certification to do it, the quality of videos would be much better. This Gentle wouldn't even have to deal with Youtube striking his channel since all of his videos are legal and just parkour videos along with some instructions and weird Let's Plays of old ass 21st century games.

Maybe in the future, I'll go back and write some omakes that better establish the class and maybe even talk about the crack pairing I made for Manami. Or talk about making the Youtube Channel and elaborate on some Slice of Life stuffWho knows! Maybe if you guys show enough interest I'll write these sidestories. Or you could write them and I'll add them to the apocrypha. IDK, it feels fun. I'm writing this for fun and I hope you guys have fun with it too.

As before, BIG thanks to @Sydonai for helping edit!