Chapter Text
Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, walk along the sidewalk on their way to the closest news stand along their route. Although it’s a Sunday, both just got done training for their upcoming high school entrance exams. The extra training is extremely necessary though since they both are planning on entering Yuuei High School’s Hero Program.
While they both could probably get in through recommendations due to their family, both of them and their other best friend, Eri, want to get in on their own merits. Not to mention, that opens up the other recommendation spots to other promising students that might not get in otherwise.
Still, today’s training was particularly brutal. Since they had no school today, their friend Katsuma, who is currently a first year Hero Course student at Yuuei, pushed them beyond their limits in their training today. “Plus ultra!” style, he had said.
For being such a soft spoken and gentle boy most of the time, Katsuma is a brutal personal trainer. But maybe that’s because his Quirk, Cell Activation, allows him to speed up their healing process, kind of like Recovery Girl. There’s no way that he would have the heart to be the slave driver that he is if he didn’t have the ability to help them recover.
Still doesn’t make them any less exhausted though.
Finally, the two friends spot a stand just across the street from where they’re at. Both make their way over to the stand and pick up the exact magazine they were looking for.
HEROES! Magazine: Japan’s most trusted source for everything Heroes!
NEW HERO RANKINGS!: Controversy Amongst Mortal Heroes As Uravity and Froppy Crack Top 10 While Gale Force is Out for First Time in Years!
“Awesome!” They both cheer at once. At that, they both look at each other before they burst out laughing at their identical reactions. Hanging out with each other for extended period of time will do that though. Once they calm down, both go back to reading the summary of the article.
Despite having identical overall composite rankings, Froppy edges out Gale Force to claim #10 spot in the latest Official JP Hero Billboard Ranking. Critics are calling this a snub for Gale Force, as he beats Froppy in overall Hero Work by a composite of 3 whole rankings, and by 4 rankings overall. Others defend Froppy’s placement, stating that her #4 ranking in rescue efforts by itself earns her the #10 spot as it is higher than even The Symbol of Victory: Ground Zero. Froppy also has a significant edge over Gale Force in both popularity and professional opinion polls.
“You know, I really do like Gale Force,” the boy states, looking towards his companion. “He really is a great Hero, and his rivalry with Shouto is legendary, but your sister definitely deserves the spot no contest, Satsuki-chan. I don’t care what those critics say.”
“Thanks, ribbit,” the girl responds. She smiles at him as they look at the article a little more.
Regardless, with Froppy and Uravity making the Top 10, that adds two more Heroes from Dekusquad Hero Agency to make the Top 10 this semester, including Shouto, Ingenium, and of course, The Symbol of Hope himself. This makes five out of the Top 10 Heroes coming from the same agency, an agency that has already had tons of success over the years. The only other Hero Agency that has multiple Heroes in the Top 10 is Nighteye Agency with two: Suneater and The Symbol of Courage: Lemillion. This only adds clout to the Dekusquad, as they continue their unprecedented success in—
“Hello you two!” A voice jolts them out of their reading. The boy scowls, annoyed at the interruption as he looks up to the saleswoman at the stand they stopped at. “I see you are looking at the latest Hero Rankings! Anything catch your eye?”
“I think they are definitely blowing up the controversy for the #10 spot out of proportion,” Satsuki responds immediately. He nods in agreement with his friend. The media wants to make it a bigger deal to sell more magazines.
The saleswoman nods. “You’re probably right,” she replies. “I know that overall, Gale Force has a higher composite ranking in Hero Work, but not only is Froppy more popular, she has that amazing Rescue Efforts statistic!”
They both share words of agreement with the saleswoman. Her eyes brighten as she continues, and the boy can tell that she is passionate about this topic. “To be honest, I think that both her and Uravity deserve higher rankings just because both of them were able to beat out the Symbol of Victory in Rescue Efforts! It’s the first time one of the Immortal Heroes have had a lower ranking in any of the subcomponents to a Mortal Hero since they were established as the Pillars of Society! I honestly believe that is the main reason that Froppy beat out Gale Force in the end, and why both her and Uravity moved up so many rankings this semester.”
The boy looks towards his companion, and they share a smile. “I think you’re right,” he replies to the saleswoman. “I was really surprised to see them both make the Top 10 this semester, only because they must have leapfrogged quite a few quality Heroes, like Gale Force, in order to make it. Since we haven’t delved into the specifics of the rankings yet though, I wasn’t aware of the fact that they both beat out Ka- Ground Zero in Rescue Efforts.”
He coughs to cover up his slip of the name ‘Kacchan’ since he doesn’t want to give away the fact that he knows the Hero on a personal level. He levels a look at Satsuki, as he can see that she’s trying to stifle a giggle at his slip up. Thankfully though, the saleswoman must be too into the topic to notice since she just nods enthusiastically to his answer, looking akin to an excited puppy.
“Exactly!” she shouts. “I can’t emphasize enough how impressive that is! But either way, I will defend Froppy over Gale Force every day of the week regardless. Nothing against Gale Force, he really is a fantastic Hero, but I’m glad he got booted out since I take Shouto over him without question.”
She sighs wistfully, and both teenagers exchange smirks at the hearts they see in her eyes. Ah, the real reason she’s glad Froppy overtook Gale Force: she’s a Shouto fangirl. “He’s just so dreamy,” she continues, oblivious to her audience's shared amusement. “The way that he uses his fire and ice is absolutely stunning, not to mention his aloof and cool attitude. And above all else, he’s a total hottie! A 10/10 on the attractiveness scale just on looks alone. And when he does Hero work, MMMMMMM!!!”
The boy can’t help but raise his eyebrow and shake his head at her obvious adoration for the dual-Quirk user while his friend tries her best to stifle her giggles. The saleswoman seems to be laying it on a bit thick, and he finds it all quite amusing. That’s mainly because he knows Shouto personally, and is aware that he is pretty shy and indifferent towards most people. It's almost as funny as when he finds people who gush over Deku-nii!
Almost. Nothing will ever beat people gushing over Deku-nii. Mainly because the teen usually joins in with them and makes his brother extremely embarrassed. But then again, those people are a dime a dozen, so this is an interesting change.
Speaking of which…
“Oh! I see you are also wearing a Deku hat! Did you see the new article that they had on him?! Man I tell you, I seriously can’t believe how much he’s already done in ten years!”
The kid outright grins now, not aware of this pleasantly surprising new fact. But now he finds himself in a conundrum. He only has enough money for two copies of the magazine. He was originally going to get two copies for the Hero Rankings; one for himself, and one for Eri. Then, learning about the fact that both Uravity and Froppy made the Top 10 this Semester, he changed his mind and decided to get one for Deku-nii and one for Ochako-nee. Both would want a reminder of this historic success for the two Mortal Heroes, and he can just borrow one of the copies to look at the Hero Rankings.
But now learning about this new article about Deku-nii himself, the boy absolutely needs to get one for himself. He figures that Deku-nii and Ochako-nee can share a copy since they’re married, and he can share his copy with Eri until she can get her own.
He can’t wait to see how his big brother will react to that article.
He stifles a giggle at that thought. Despite being the #1 Hero for the past 6 years running now—and with absolutely no sign of being dethroned anytime soon—he still is the same anxious, nerdy, shy boy that gets embarrassed at the tiniest compliment. There have been hundreds of articles on Deku at this point, but his reaction to all of them is still hilarious every singe time.
“Yeah, Deku is my favorite hero,” the teen replies to her. He blatantly ignores his friend’s snort at that comment, knowing that it’s an understatement of his admiration. Deku his big brother sure, but he also saved his life various times. Not to mention that he is far and away the most popular hero in Japan, arguably even more popular than All Might in his prime.
The Saleswoman replies with a giggle. ”For some reason that doesn’t surprise me…” Satsuki laughs as the saleswoman gives his outfit a once over and he can’t help the small blush that comes to his face. He decked out in a Deku hat, and he’s also showing off his one a one of a kind Deku shirt that has the hero giving his signature grin with the words ‘Have no fear! Because I’m here!’ Not only that, but this particular shirt has Deku wearing a replica of All Might’s Golden Age costume while he says his idol’s catchphrase. There were only 1,000 shirts of this kind made! He even got it signed, although that was more to see Deku-nii’s reaction and to make his classmates extremely jealous. Because there’s no way he’s ever selling this shirt.
Ever.
“By the way,” she continues. “Did you read the part where he saved the life of a little boy while he was still a first year, BY HIMSELF?! I remember the event since it was all over the news and Yuuei got a bad rep for letting Villains attack their students during a summer training camp.”
His eyes widen at the girl’s words. He has a feeling he knows where this is going…
“Apparently Deku went against one of the most powerful Villains of that time: some brute named ‘Muscular.’ If I recall, he was still a criminal that was on the loose from his murder of the Water Hose Duo—” The boy winces at that information. Satsuki sends him a concerned glance. “—and this guy was a part of this attack. But not only did Deku fight him, he managed to win and capture him, all while protecting the child! He didn’t even have his Provisional Hero license at the time and he still went out of his way to save that boy!” She then sighs dramatically and gives him a dreamy grin. “Man, if that isn’t a true hero I don’t know what is.”
The teenager looks down at that information, a sad smile on his face as his friend puts a comforting arm around his shoulder. Oh he knows that story intimately.
After all, he is the little boy that was saved that day.
Kouta quickly steels his expression and looks back up at the saleswoman with a grin, hiding his mixed feelings behind a smile like his idol. He gets some money out and gives it to her, grabbing another magazine off of the rack and buying two copies. “Yeah, he certainly is an awesome Hero isn’t he?” He pauses at her enthusiastic nod, taking his change. “Thanks Miss!” Satsuki quickly follows his lead and pays for her magazines, buying three copies. The two teens give the woman a wave before heading off towards their destination.
“Are you okay Kouta-chan?”
He blinks, turning towards his friend. “Yeah, I’m okay,” He replies. “I just wasn’t expecting that story to be a part of this issue of the magazine. It brings back some horrible memories, but also some amazing ones as well.”
He sees Satsuki study him for a bit before shrugging herself. “If you say so, ribbit.” She looks down at her phone, smiling at one of the messages, before turning back to him. “I’m sorry Kouta-chan. I know I said I’d come over to your place to read the rankings with you and Eri-chan, but Sami-chan just texted me. I told him Tsu-nee just made the Top 10, ribbit, and he wants to do a celebratory dinner for her.”
Kouta nods in understanding. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m sure Eri-chan will understand. Heck, knowing Deku-nii and Mirio-nii, we’ll probably be having our own celebratory dinner for Ochako-nee!”
Satsuki laughs at the thought. “Yeah, and knowing those three, it will be an experience, ribbit, that’s for sure!” He joins her for a laugh at that, before she starts heading the opposite direction. While her sister lives in the same general neighborhood as the Midoriyas, the rest of her family lives a bit further away. She’ll most likely get a ride from a driving service and pick up her brother, Samidare, leaving Kouta to walk home alone.
Which is fine, he concludes. It gives him some time to think about the implications of the article the saleswoman was talking about. He waves her off once he sees her get in a car marked with the ‘Oomur’ logo, texting Eri that Satsuki won’t be able to join them for their biannual ritual. Once that’s taken care of, he starts walking towards his own home, deep in thought. He thinks about what he told the lady.
Heh, Deku is an awesome Hero huh? Awesome doesn’t even begin to describe how amazing his big brother is. Not only did Deku save him from his parents’ murderer that day, but he also saved him from himself. At that point, he was so bitter towards what happened to his parents he hated Heroes and quirks in general. After learning what happens to those who repress their quirks, he knows how dangerous it can be, not only physically, but mentally. His big brother’s actions opened his eyes and gave him the epiphany he needed in order to heal from the death of his parents.
But that’s not even the half of it. The most incredible part of the story to him wasn’t that Deku-nii tore himself up to defeat Muscular against all odds. Although that is impressive, that’s not what made Deku-nii his hero. No, what made him his hero was the fact that Deku-nii tore himself up and risked his life fighting Muscular in order to save him! Kouta hadn’t given his big brother any reason to risk his life for him, and in fact made his stay at that summer camp that much more stressful.
He punched the guy in the freakin’ nuts the first time he met him for god’s sake!
Yet Deku-nii still went out of his way and saved him regardless. That’s what makes him a hero—Kouta’s hero.
So with the knowledge that someone actually wrote an article revealing those events, he had to buy a copy of the magazine. With everything that has been revealed about Deku’s incredibly heroic career up to this point, this is the first article that details those specific events. Shino-obasan probably was interviewed for it. That’s the only way he can think of that they would have gotten that story. He knows for sure Deku didn’t say anything.
He snorts at that thought. Deku-nii would never try to boast about doing something that he just thought was the right thing to do. It’s one of the many traits that makes him the most popular hero in Japan by a landsli—
“Haha! Gotcha now kiddie!”
He drops the magazines he was carrying as he feels some guy’s arm around his neck pulling him backwards towards his body. Kouta internally sighs, mentally berating himself for not paying more attention. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he was walking home on autopilot and unintentionally walked right into one of the back alleys in the shader part of the neighborhood. Luckily though, Kouta had one hand in his pocket where his phone is, and he is able to send off a quick text to the group chat with at least 10 Pro Heroes with his location before the Villain adjusts his grip and slams him forward against a brick building.
He winces, trying to struggle out of the guy’s hold, but the man just laughs and pushes him harder against the wall. He can tell from the Villain’s grip that he has some sort of strength enhancement quirk since the teen can’t even budge him at all.
What is with my luck with Villains with strength enhancement quirks? he mentally laments.
“Yes! You will be the perfect little hostage,” the Villain whispers to him. “The police are always more willing to give me what I want when a child is involved.”
Kouta gulps. Normally he might have been able to a least stall for time for the Heroes to arrive, but he was caught off guard by this man. Still, while he is starting to get nervous internally, he can’t let this loser know that. “I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” Kouta retorts. “You have no idea who you’re messing with. Do you even know who my big brother is? When he finds you he—”
“SHUT UP!!” the Villain cuts him off. He slams him against the wall once, and then another time for emphasis, making his face hit the wall with concussive force. “I don’t care who you brother is! You better cooperate with me or else you will be seeing a lot more stars than you are right now! I’m not above hurting a child to get my way!”
Okay… Kouta thinks, coughing up blood dripping down his throat from his shattered nose. That was probably not the smartest thing to say when he’s in the position of power. He continues coughing, wincing from the pain of that last slam. He really hopes that someone will come and help him soon, before this gets any worse. How did it get to this point already?
Eventually the Villain slams him against the wall one more time before letting go. Kouta immediately slumps against the wall. He doesn’t stay there for long though as the Villain roughly grabs him by his favorite Deku shirt and pulls him up. Kouta tries to get a good look at his ugly face, but it’s covered by a black ski mask. How cliche. “Yes! This is perfect!” the man exclaims. “With you looking like this, they will see how serious I am about my demands!”
The teen tries once more to struggle, but with his head aching the way it is as well as the strength enhancement quirk the Villain has, it only leads the Villain to roughly turn him around and shove him forward. He pins one of the teens arms behind his back to prevent Kouta from stumbling as he is shoved forward. “Move forward before I have to do something even more dra—”
“Excuse me sir,” a voice interrupts the criminal. A very familiar voice that makes Kouta relax instantly. He didn’t even realize how scared he was until he heard that voice.
The Villain roughly turns to face the new voice, turning Kouta with him since he’s still in tight in his grip. “Yeah, what do you want punk?”
Kouta can vaguely make out the Hero’s figure at the end of the alleyway, although his presence is extremely comforting. The figure moves closer, blocking the exit to the alley. “I would appreciate it if you would unhand my brother and come with me.”
Yes, he knows everything will be fine now.
Because he is here.
Deku.
His big brother.
The Villain stupidly laughs his head off at that declaration. “What are you going to do about it? Your brother is a valuable hostage, and I need him to fulfill my goals.” The Villain then shoves Kouta hard against the wall once again. “So you get out of here before I harm your ‘brother’ even more!”
There isn’t even an ounce of fear in Kouta’s body as the Villain makes his intentions known. He knows without a doubt that Deku will save him as much as he knows without a doubt that humans need oxygen to live. Instead of whimpering or shaking in fear, Kouta merely smirks as he feels the air charge with hostile intent. And not from the Villain. This guy definitely made a mistake by doing that. Deku-nii already hates it when Villains take hostages, but not only is this guy using a kid as a hostage, but it’s his own younger brother to boot.
Apparently the idiot that took him hostage doesn’t recognize the man standing in his way. Not that it’s that much of a surprise since the alleyway is dark and all he can see is the outline of a short looking man blocking his way. It was Deku-nii’s day off too, so he’s not even in his Hero costume right now, making him look even more unimpressive. That will just make this that much more hilarious.
If Kouta wasn’t in the position he’s in, he would get out some popcorn while he watches this Villain get his ass handed to him.
He can see the green lightning start to surround Deku as he activated his Full Cowl. The Villain must realize who he’s up against now as Kouta can feel him stiffen behind him. “Alright then,” he can hear Deku reply. “I guess I have no choice but to take you by force!”
Kouta doesn’t even bother holding back his grin as he suddenly feels the Villain release him and start running away. The teen immediately slumps against the wall and tries to catch the action as his big brother instantly catches up to the guy and slams the Villain against the wall himself.
Ha! Take that! A piece of your own medicine!
“I may not be as fast as Ingenium or as strong as Tentacole or Sugar Rush—” Kouta can’t help the snort that escapes from hearing that, wincing afterwards because of the condition of his nose. Please. As much as Kouta respects those three Heroes, Deku’s definitely better than all of them. “—but I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty quick and strong in my own right. You should just give up and come with me.”
To the Villain’s credit, he is able to get out of Deku’s grip and leap backwards. “So you’re Deku eh? The great ‘Symbol of Hope!’” the Villain responds sarcastically. Kouta sees him visibly bulk up, confirming his suspicions that he has a strength enhancement quirk. “I don’t see what’s so special about you! If that’s all you got, then this should be a walk in the park!”
Deku looks over towards Kouta briefly, eyes darkening at seeing his injuries. The hero then turns his face back towards the Villain and give him a full fledged Deku grin. The difference from his normal grin is palpable though. This one holds no warmth or kindness—just a promise of pain. “Oh don’t worry,” the hero states. Kouta winces at the falsely sweet voice of his big brother. “That was only 5% of my power. I was toning it down to prevent any collateral damage, but with your quirk, it looks like I might need 15% to actually subdue you.”
And then he charges up Full Cowl.
The fight ends before it even began. While the Villain was indeed pretty strong, Kouta could tell that he relied heavily on catching his targets off guard. Once in an actual one-on-one situation, he doesn’t really have many fighting skills, especially against someone like Deku. It takes less than half a minute for Deku to take care of the Villain and knock him out. It wouldn’t have taken even that long if he could have used his smashes, but the fact that they were fighting in a side alleyway limited his options in order to keep the damage to a minimum.
Once he makes sure the Villain is tied, he rushes over to Kouta. While the teen grins up at his hero, said Hero frowns upon seeing the younger’s injuries. The man looks towards the Villain again as if contemplating giving him more punishment before sighing and picking up Kouta as if he were a small child. This brings a blush to the teen’s face, but he doesn’t fight to get out of his grip. He knows a lost battle when he sees one.
“I’m so sorry I took so long to get to you Kouta-kun,” Deku starts. He walks out of the alleyway seeing a police car pull up and take the criminal in. The officer takes one look at the Hero before nodding his head and driving off. They know that Deku will file the correct paperwork and statement tomorrow. One of the advantages of being the #1 Hero. “I tried getting there as soon as I got your signal, but I was still too late to save you from getting hurt.”
Kouta merely snuggles a bit against his hero to let him know it’s alright. “Relax Deku-nii,” he retorts. They both wince at how nasally his voice sounds with the broken nose. “I know you had the day off and were probably in the middle of something when I texted my location, so I knew it would be a bit until you got there. I was just too stupid, not cooperating or buying more time. I think I was mostly pissed that this guy took me off guard and made me drop the magazines I’d just bought, so I had to be snarky back, you know?”
Deku snorts. Clearly he does know. “Kouta, you’ve gotta stop doing that! You’re going to get seriously hurt one of these days! I mean look at you!”
“Please! This is nothing Eri-chan or Recovery Girl can’t fix.” The teen looks away at the stern look he gets from his big brother.
“That’s not the point! You shouldn’t go around and mouth off to Villains when they have you in a compromised position.” He then turns the teen’s head to meet his gaze. “I really hate seeing you get hurt, even if we have the means to heal it. It makes me feel like a failure as a big brother…”
Okay, ouch. That statement right there hurt ten times more than his multiple trips against that wall. “I’m sorry Deku-nii…” He glumly replies. “I never think you’re a failure as a big brother. The reason I feel like I can do that stuff in the first place is because I know that you will be there to save me if anything goes wrong. If anything, I’ve failed you as a little brother—”
“NO!” Deku replies vehemently. “You could never fail me as a little brother! I just don’t like that you sometimes get yourself into sticky situations like this. It’s not like you can help it… just promise me you’ll be more careful in the future.”
The teen nods before wincing at the pain that brought. He definitely has a mild concussion, but again, nothing that Eri or Recovery Girl can’t take care of. “I promise I’ll be more careful.” Deku just gives him a small grin at that, the gesture making Kouta relax into his brother’s comforting embrace. While normally he would probably protest getting carried home like a baby by his big brother—he is 15 years old after all—he admits that this is nice. Deku-nii is the only one that he would allow to carry him like this.
“So, why were you out this way anyways?” Deku-nii asks. “You mentioned buying magazines…”
“That’s right!” he shouts, wincing at the noise. Stupid concussion. He definitely needs to think before he speaks. “I bought the latest HEROES! Magazine on my way back from training with Satsuki and Katsuma since it had the newly published results of the latest Hero Rankings!” Not to mention the article on how you saved me the very first time.
“That’s right!” his brother replies. “You guys always wait until the results are published in the magazine before reading them. But wait, wasn’t Satsuki with you? She usually comes over to read with you guys doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, but she decided to head home and make a celebratory dinner for her sister with her brother after we found out that Uravity and Froppy made the Top 10.”
He sees Deku-nii nod at that. “Makes sense. It definitely was quite a hop for her, and Ochako definitely launched herself up through the rankings as well!”
Kouta punches his brother while trying to stifle a giggle at the horrible puns. The teen then frowns at remembering the ruined magazines at the scene of his attempted kidnapping site. “It was indeed, but now I can’t read about it since the copies I bought were ruined during that whole Villain fiasco.” He sighs, “I even bought you a copy because it had a whole article on Uravity, Froppy, and all of their rescue efforts last semester!”
He can see his big brother’s face light up at that. “Lets get you home first and fix those injuries, but then I’ll buy some more of those magazines for you okay?”
Kouta smiles and nods gently as to not rouse his headache before snuggling into his brother’s arms some more. He closes his eyes and lets himself relax as they make their way back to his big brother’s house. It’s so nice that Mirio-nii and Eri live next door from Deku-nii and Ochako-nee because that just makes it that much more convenient for him to heal up. Eri truly is a miracle worker with her quirk.
He tries hard not to fall asleep the rest of the way back. He knows it’s not good to fall asleep with a concussion, but Deku’s embrace feels like laying on a cloud. He feels so safe and protected, not that he would admit it out loud in a normal situation. However, this is not a normal situation.
As he sees the house up in the distance, Kouta suddenly grins thinking of one thing:
His big brother’s reaction once he sees that article about him.
He’ll make sure he makes plenty of popcorn for that show.