Chapter Text
Nedzu was a reconnaissance hero.
As such, it was rare to find him involved in a villain attack – well, in person, that is.
Normally heroes like him spent their days behind a computer, or on the phone. The majority of his contributions to villain takedowns happened behind the scenes, creating strategies away from prying eyes. After being observed in a lab for so long it felt like the only way he could really help; the few media appearances he had were already enough to make him a nervous, anxious mess.
Not that he would ever allow anyone to notice, of course.
Unfortunately, that meant that when an attack happened in broad daylight, he was too out of practice to do much about it. Of course, even if he had been training it would have been difficult. Slime surrounded him on all sides, the viscous liquid forcing itself down his throat as his limbs thrashed around violently. Nearby he could spot no less than three pro heroes, yet all they did was stand there. A crowd had begun to form, if the noise was any indication, but still no help. He was running out of breath, he knew it, and his panicked eyes roved over the crowd. Sunken blue eyes stood out, regretful and morose, and suddenly eyes were all he could see. Dozens of people, all of them staring, just watching. More colors flashed by after the blue; hateful red, dull yellow, full white, landing on a vibrant green…
His eyes sunk closed, his brain desperately trying to regain control of his body. He tried to relax, to hold out just a little while longer, and his tail thrashed into the air to try and swat at the perpetrator, but he knew it was no use. At that point, with not a single competent hero willing to step in, he knew he was done for.
But then he felt something graze his face. On instinct he recoiled, remembering the injury that had resulted in his scar, but then his whiskers twitched and he felt fresh air. Surging forward with all his strength he gasped as the shock of the cool air met his fur, and he barely reacted when a hand closed around his arm to pull him out just a bit more. Before he’d even gotten a chance to recover he felt another, larger hand close over the hand that had grabbed him and a gust of wind stronger than any natural force tore through the street. He was left dangling from All Might’s grasp.
He was whisked away by the paramedics before he could get a word in, and as soon as he was cleared of the disgusting sludge he returned to the scene. All Might stood to one side, dealing with the press, so he quickly avoided the entire area. Looking around he finally spotted what – or rather, who – he’d been looking for, though it appeared there’d been some sort of misunderstanding. The three heroes that had neglected to do their jobs now seemed to be scolding his savior.
“Hello,” he started pleasantly. “What seems to be the problem here?” His presence seemed to startle everyone involved. A hero he recognized as Death Arms was the first to recover.
“A- Ah! Nedzu, sir! Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes, I’m feeling fine. And all thanks to this young man, it seems.” The ‘young man’ in question seemed more nervous now than he had when he was being scolded, which didn’t seem right. Worse was how he hunched into himself, becoming smaller and lowering his presence in seconds. It looked practiced.
Death Arms narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry to say it, sir, but you’re wrong. This delinquent-” Nedzu narrowed his own eyes at this word. “-ran in with no consideration for his own safety or the safety of others. Despite the presence of four pro heroes at the scene he thought his help was needed or even wanted. He rushed in carelessly, and only increased the number of people All Might had to rescue.”
“That’s not the way I see it,” he said simply. He watched the boy’s eyes widen in surprise. “You see, from where I was – which we can both agree gave a pretty central view of the whole event – it seemed like I was surrounded by supposed pro heroes who were so bad at their jobs they had to wait for a child to do it for them. Tell me, for what reason were none of you even attempting a rescue? Because had I been under the sludge for even ten seconds longer I am quite certain I would be dead.”
The boy gasped, but Nedzu’s attention was on the three heroes in front of him. Four, actually; now he noticed Mt. Lady a short ways away. He gave them all a withering glare, daring them to justify their actions. Unsurprisingly, Death Arms was first.
“W- well, I was doing crowd control! Everyone was acting crazy, and trying to get a better look, especially when word got out that it was you! I was protecting the civilians and stopping them from interfering!” Nedzu focused his glare on him.
“Well, you surely did a good job of that.” He winced internally when he saw the green-haired boy flinch at that, but he kept staring at the remaining heroes. If any of them had been his students he would have given them an even more intense verbal lashing, but he supposed he couldn’t expect so much from other hero schools.
Kamui Woods was next. “I was evacuating other civilians, sir, along with Backdraft. The sludge villain caused significant structural damage, and some civilians were in need of medical attention. I’m well suited for evacuation, so I focused on that. Backdraft gave emergency medical treatment. We expected Death Arms to handle the villain, but it seems his priorities shifted.”
Nedzu hid his amusement at how blatantly he’d thrown his fellow hero under the bus, but it was difficult not to crack a small smile at the affronted noises Death Arms was now making. “While it is commendable what you managed to do, you were also the best suited for fishing me out of there. Backdraft, you could have attempted to water down the villain.” He turned to the last of the four. “And what about you, young lady?”
The hero in question stiffened, shifting uncomfortably. “I uh, I couldn’t fit into the street.” It had started off at a normal volume, but quickly descended into little more than a mutter. Nedzu sighed. He’d expected more of the next generation of heroes.
“And what, pray tell, were you all waiting for? I almost died. Most civilians would not have lasted as long, and many would have caused more problems in their panic. Did you even try to strategize?”
“We were waiting for someone with a suitable quirk! None of us were really suited for the situation, and we especially didn’t have a way of apprehending the villain. So we stalled, and eventually All Might came so it worked out! We don’t deserve to get scolded for doing the right thing.” Nedzu’s eye twitched.
“Is that what you call almost allowing someone to die on your watch? Contrary to popular opinion, quirks aren’t everything. I’m disappointed that you of all people seem to not understand that.” He sighed, turning to the child. “Have you gone to the paramedics?”
He shifted under Nedzu’s gaze. “No, Nedzu, sir. B-but I’m fine! I coughed out all the sludge a while ago, and just now I didn’t even get hurt.”
“What do you mean you coughed out the sludge? Did the villain try to attack you when you jumped in to save me?” Nedzu was surprised, and even more horrified by the actions of these heroes. How could they neglect to make sure he was alright?
But looking closer, it seemed that they were as surprised by this as he was. Hopefully that meant it hadn’t been bad-
“The villain attacked me first, about a half hour ago. All Might rescued me, but then I did something stupid and freed him and caused all this trouble and it’s all my fault and-” The rest of what the boy said became nearly unintelligible mumbling, but Nedzu was too shocked to pay much attention. He interrupted his ramblings.
“Did All Might make sure you were okay? Call the paramedics? Anything?” Externally he appeared to be calm, but internally was anything but. Yagi had better hope that the answer given was the correct one.
“Well, no, but he didn’t really have the time. He did tell me how to get down, though, and my lungs feel fine now, and he even signed my notebook! So it’s alright, really.”
Wait. “Get down from where?”
“Well, we ended up on the rooftop of an office building. It was easy to get someone to come up and let me down.”
I am going to kill that blond buffoon. Just as he was about to insist that he go get checked by the paramedics he rushed away.
“Anyway, I have to get home or my mom’ll worry. It was nice to meet you, Nedzu sir!” In seconds he was gone, blended in with the crowd. Coincidentally, All Might had also disappeared. That luck won’t last you, Yagi. Your days are numbered. He turned back to the heroes. Yours as well. He enjoyed watching them shiver. Suddenly Mt. Lady let out a panicked shout.
“Wait! We let him get away! Wasn’t what he did technically vigilantism?” Before Nedzu could defend him, Death Arms decided to dig his grave a tad bit deeper.
“Didn’t you see his shoes? He’s quirkless.” He spit the word out like it was poison. “For vigilantism you need to use a quirk.” The disgust and contempt in his voice reminded Nedzu of the way people spoke of him, on occasion. He would not stand for it.
“Good to know that a middle schooler could do without a quirk what you could not do with one. Perhaps you do not deserve your license, if you’re less competent than someone you seem to have such hate for.” He sputtered out excuses, but Nedzu resolutely ignored them. Addressing all of them, he gave them a quick warning and the knowledge that they’d be placed on probation.
He began to walk away, content to let the day’s events slip from his mind until he felt prepared to fill out the paperwork and perhaps try to find the child who saved him, when he spotted a charred and soaked notebook on the floor. It looked like it had maybe been well-cared for at some point, but it was far from it now. Thankfully the pages had dried enough to look through it carefully, and he happened to open it onto a page covered in bold marker. All Might’s signature, to be exact. Curiously, it looked to have been written after the rest of the damage had been done.
Remembering how the boy had mentioned an All Might signature he held onto it, hoping to return it to him personally. It wasn’t until he read the title ‘Hero Analysis for the Future’ that he felt compelled to look into it further.
He was shocked to find page after page of in-depth analysis of many popular heroes. Some of the writing was too messy to understand, and a lot of the ink had begun to bleed because of water damage, but whatever was left would give most professionals a run for their money. There were even some applications for his staff’s quirks that he himself hadn’t thought of, though to be fair he wasn’t focused on that type of work. Nedzu could barely contain his excitement at the mere thought of molding such a brilliant young mind.
With that, he began to make his way through the crowd and towards the general direction he’d seen him go. It was child’s play to connect to a few public security cameras, and now with a location in mind he sped up. Finally reaching him, he hid behind a corner as a very loud blond teen stormed away. Emerging from his hiding place he made his presence known with a cough. The height he achieved with the shocked jump was truly impressive.
“Nedzu! I’m sorry; did you need something from me?” His eyes were blown wide, and it seemed he was nervous.
“Quite the opposite, actually. I have something of yours.” He held out the notebook for him to take, which he did quickly. He cradled it to his chest, and Nedzu spied some tears beading in the corners of his eyes.
“Thank you! I hadn’t even realized I’d lost it.” He bowed. “I’m honored you came to give it to me personally.” He turned to leave.
“I also wanted to thank you.” The child started. “It was very heroic to jump in there. Are you planning on being a hero?” He watched as the kid tensed.
“I-” His response was hesitant. “I was. I’m not anymore, I don’t think.” That was alarming.
“May I ask why?”
“I’m quirkless, sir!” He looked a little surprised at his own outburst. “Everyone says I can’t be a hero. Even All Might! I need to be realistic.” Nedzu mentally added another tally to the list of thing Yagi had to answer for. He watched as the kid locked his gaze downwards, as if expecting something negative.
“What’s your name?”
“Huh? Oh, Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku.”
“Well, Midoriya, I happened to have a little look in your notebook. What I found surprised me.” He ignored the sudden flurry of apologies for now. “The analysis in here is incredible. If it were refined, I’m sure many pros would be willing to pay quite high sums for it. Not to mention that they could all be used to take them down fairly easy. Your mind is quite the weapon.” At this point Midoriya was looking at him, transfixed. He had his attention. Good.
“Midoriya, my quirk only gives me enhanced mental capacities. Yet I’m still a hero, correct?” He nodded. “I can tell you with full confidence that if you work for it, this analysis could be used to further hero society immensely. Midoriya Izuku,” he said, “you can be a hero.”
He was not in any way prepared for the deluge of tears that followed.