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Sasaki Yuri was not a woman easily shaken. Which, considering the situation and her job, was kind of necessary. She was a war correspondent—a journalist that went specifically into war zones and hero battles. It was a thankless job, and many people—usually heroes—told her to stop. It was understandable—a hero’s duty was to protect civilians. But she wasn’t some stupid kid who jumped too close to a fight so they could get a bad recording on their phone to claim they were there. She was always prepared and her chameleon quirk was perfect for observation and quick-getaways.
She’d been to a lot of places. France during a particularly nasty borderline-revolution for mutant quirk rights, South Africa to investigate a quirk supremacy group, intense hero fights in China. She’d never in a million years thought she’d be making her way through a nearly deserted city in Japan that resembled those pictures of bombed cities in the Middle East from the early 21st century.
Plenty of people had advised her to go to the nearest hero school. “You shouldn’t be walking around here, much less alone,” someone told her. “A friend of mine got attacked recently. She has a mutant quirk too; really tall and has kind of a fox-like face.”
Yuri’s quirk did affect her body, though it was subtler than many. Her eyes were wider and piercing than a ‘regular’ human’s. Her fingertips were more like claws and joints were a little odd if you looked at them twice. Tiny scales that looked just skin covered her whole body that changed color when she faded into the background or if her emotions became too strong.
She waved her hand, squashing her irritation. “I’ll be fine. It’s part of my job.”
The woman side-eyed her. “Are you a hero?” Her voice was somewhat suspicious. It was strange how fast the word hero went from revered to something almost disgusting.
“Nah, just want to keep everyone informed.”
“You know no one wants to read that kind of thing, right? Especially not now.” Yuri twitched. She was well aware that most people didn’t want to read about depressing stories from a distant country. They wanted to read about the cool hero a city away or ignore the news and look at memes. But right, that information might even save lives.
“That’s not going to stop me.”
That was about a week ago. Now she was weaving through broken buildings, dodging gang members, questioning her past—sleep-deprived—self why she thought it was a good idea to follow a D-tier villain group.
She gasped, some of the wind knocked out of her as a bullet hit her. Thank god for bulletproof vests, never leave home without one. She grabbed her gun from her bag, flicking off the safety. She turned sharply into a crumbling building. Ducking behind a chunk of cement, she aimed at the nearest one and shot him in the leg. He cursed and fell to the ground.
Pushing away her slight guilt, she aimed at another. It missed by a few inches. The woman she tried to shoot snapped her gaze to her. “There she is!”
Yuri cursed as the four surrounded her. There was no way she could fend them all off by herself. She couldn’t get away with her quirk, people had to be not paying attention to her so she could slip past them.
She gritted her teeth. Well, this was not the way she wanted to die.
Suddenly a flash of green dashed into the building. Yuri blinked and all the villains were on the ground, just as shocked as her. “Why are you attacking this woman?” A new voice spoke. A masked man in a tattered and stained green jumpsuit stood in front of her. He wasn’t there a second ago. A hero?
The woman growled. “She went into our territory! She should’a known better than to mess with the Blackmark Gang!” She grabbed her gun and set her sights on the man.
A crackle of green lightning and all four were knocked out, with their weapons confiscated. The man turned to her, not even out of breath. His mask covered his face, even shadowing his eyes. A metal respirator protected his mouth. A short yellow cape was draped around his neck. Bunny-ear-like tufts stuck up from his head. Overall, it should have looked relatively cheerful and inviting look (especially the ears, kids would love those). But with the material all ripped up and stained with what was likely dried blood, it gave more of a menacing feeling. “Are you alright?” he asked.
Yuri nodded. “Thanks. I can usually handle myself, but I thought I was a goner this time.”
“Mhmm,” he glanced at the villains. “I should get these guys to the nearest police station. Remember to stay safe.”
“Hey, wait! You’re a hero, right?” The man weighed her words. His mask hid all of his emotions. “I suppose.”
That set off alarms in Yuri’s head. Maybe he was a vigilante? She didn’t know of any Japanese heroes that wore green and had some sort of speed quirk. Does it matter? She asked herself as she pulled out her notebook and phone. He saved me and he’s planning to take these guys to the police.
“I know this might sound ridiculous, but could I interview you real quick?”
“Huh?” The man’s (was he an adult? He sounded a little young) voice went from neutral/dead-tired to surprised.
“See, I’m a war correspondent—a type of journalist. I’ve been visiting this city to find out any news that could help people. Safe houses, villain hideouts, which heroes are still in the line of duty, and just informing people what’s going on here. I haven’t been able to find any heroes, much less interview them. I interviewed a few civilians who’ve made their own territory, but . . .” Those recording consisted of quite a few of fuck heroes! We’re fine without ‘em . “It’ll take only five minutes, I’ll even set a timer!”
He chewed on the idea. Yuri tried not to look too desperate. “You’re very brave,” he said finally. That took her aback. No one had told her that in a very long time. “O-oh, thank you.”
He slung off his yellow backpack, leaned it against the hunk of rock and sat down heavily. “If it can help people, I’ll do it. Don’t worry about the villains, they’ll be out for a while.”
“Right, right,” Yuri suppressed the excitement in her voice as she opened her phone and set a timer. “Is it alright if I record this? Just a voice recording.” He nodded hesitantly. “Great.”
She went to the app, pushed the button, and got herself into ‘journalist mode’. “This is Sasaki Yuri interviewing. . . um, I don’t actually know your name.”
“Is it okay if I don’t say my real one? Or my hero moniker?” He tugged at the cape around his neck. “I don’t want to put any of my friends or family in danger. Or you for that matter.”
“Eh,” alarms blared in her head. “Sure, can I call you. . . Green Hero? For writing this later.” He nodded.
“Okay, is this the only area you patrol?”
“No. I stay in the Tokyo metropolis, but I go around a bunch of the wards, particularly the highly populated ones. That’s where many of the villains are. I make a full round within about two or so days.” Holy shit.
“Do you have some sort of speed quirk? That’s the only way I can imagine that’s possible to do—you must visit at least a dozen wards.” He shifted uncomfortably, making his metal soles clink. “It’s an enhancer, among other things.”
Yuri scribbled down a few things. “Anything to note about Exogol?”
“I’ve noticed two, maybe three, gangs here. One is sticking to the industrial area in the east, another is hiding out by some of the richer stores downtown. The hospitals have been open to people without charge for now and many are letting them camp out in their parking lots. I think there’s a college that’s letting students and their family stay. Could be another city, though.” He sighed, deep and bone-weary. “Exogol was hit really hard. Gigantomachia plowed right through the center of it.”
“Do you plan on confronting the gangs? You seem to be going solo.”
“I’ve been more focused on Tartarus escapees. I’m in contact with other Pro Heroes, they’ll be more suited to it.”
Yuri perked up. “I don’t suppose you could tell me which heroes?”
“Not without their consent.”
“Fair enough,” she gave him a weak smile. “It was worth a try at least. If you don’t mind me asking, which convicts are you captured?”
“Muscular, Lady Nagant. . .” He listed off a few other names.
“That’s quite impressive. I don’t know most of them, but Muscular was the one that killed the Water Hose Duo and an A-rank villain, correct?” The hero nodded. She tapped her notebook, unsure of how to approach her next question.
“Have you had trouble with civilians listening to you? There’s been a huge increase of distrust towards heroes with the reveal of Endeavor’s past actions and heroes retiring early.”
He considered the question. “Not exactly. I haven’t interacted much with civilians since this started. Only when they’re in immediate danger or when I’m drawing a fight away from them. I’ve heard plenty of stories from other heroes.” A thought seemed to occur to him. “I haven’t been able to look at the news much. Have any more heroes retired?”
Yuri bit her lip, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “I contacted a colleague a couple days ago who’s at our headquarters. Apparently, Death Arms turned in his license the day before.”
The hero slumped against his backpack. “Damn,” he hissed under his breath. “He was a tough guy.” She gave him a few seconds, before continuing.
“Have you received criticism from people off duty? A lot of heroes who’ve taken the day off or even just going home for the night have been harassed.”
He stared at her for a moment. “I. . . haven’t been off duty.”
“At—at all?”
“Not since I got out of the hospital in March after the Paranormal Liberation War.” That’s not off duty, that’s frickin’ bedrest. “I’ve been working since then.” A little sadness crept into his voice. “I haven’t seen or contacted my friends or family since.”
Yuri felt mildly alarmed. Where was this man’s self preservation? Or mental health? “You know you stop for at least a day, right? It’s not so desperate that heroes can’t go home for a night. Especially someone who's been on duty the whole time.”
“It’s. . . more complicated than that. I’ve been specifically targeted by All for One.” He tensed. “Could, could you leave that out? I don’t want. . .” He trailed off.
Yuri blinked away her shock and nodded. “Y-yeah, the recording is just so I don’t forget anything and can quote things accurately. I don’t share them with others without explicit permission. I can delete it after I write my report.”
“I would appreciate that. I have to move around so he doesn’t get a better idea of what I’m doing.” She nodded, still a bit stuck on the All for One is interested in this random hero she happened to meet bit.
“Compared to your regular patrol—even considering your. . . unique situation—how much has crime changed? As in, types and severity.”
He made a sound that was probably meant to be a dry chuckle. “Would you believe this is more or less my debut? I’m only a provisional license holder; technically not a hero.” Her jaw dropped.
“Jesus Christ, how old are you?” She clapped a hand to her mouth at the unprofessional slip and rather rude question. Good thing she was deleting this later. “I’ll be seventeen in a few months.”
What the fuck. This was a kid . Even if he was a hero student, he shouldn’t be running around the whole freaking Tokyo area, alone with only distant heroes as backup. He looked like he hadn’t had a bath in weeks, and sounded dead tired. Hero work was hard on the body and mind, even in more peaceful times. Not to mention that All for One was targeting him. She suddenly had the strong urge to find whatever heroes found this okay and smack some sense into them.
“Um, okay, uh,” Yuri tried getting her thoughts back on track. “What is a normal”—(haha, yes very normal, this is fine. Shuddup brain.)—“day look like for you?”
“Wake up. Eat some food. Patrol and capture any villains that I find. Work until I can’t see straight.” The casualness (or maybe it was just deadness) in his voice was extremely concerning. Yuri buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Ma’am? Sasaki-san? Are you alright?”
This kid.
“I’m not the one you should be asking that.” She unburied her face. “Have you been doing that for the past two months?” It wasn’t a question for her report.
He shifted uncomfortably again. “Well, there was a recent event, where. . . Anyway, I’ve distanced myself from my colleagues and I’m pushing myself more. But, more or less.”
Kid, you’re killing me here.
Her timer went off, causing her to jump. “That’s a wrap for this interview,” she said before ending the recording. “Thank you so much for participating.”
He nodded and stood up. “It was a pleasure talking to you. This is the first break I’ve taken in a while.” This was literally a five minute interview in an abandoned building with four unconscious villains nearby, kid are you okay? Well, definitely not, but will you please let yourself rest?!
“That’s nice,” Yuri said a little faintly instead. She grabbed something in her bag and tossed it to him. He caught on reflex. “Here. Your payment for taking your time and saving my butt.”
“I couldn’t—”
“It’s literally a protein bar. I have a billion.” He relented and pocketed it. Then he thrust out his arm and tendrils of black burst from it. They rounded up the unconscious gang members and bound them tight. He lifted them all up like they weighed nothing and ran outside. He leapt into the air and shouted back at her, “stay safe!”
Then he was a speck in the distance. “You too,” she said to the empty street.
It’s an enhancer, among other things.
“Just who are you?”
`~`
“Hey, Sasaki. How are you doing?”
Yuri moved her phone from one ear to the other. “Pretty good, Eto. I’m heading back to headquarters to write up my article. Should be there by tomorrow.”
“Anything good?”
“Mhmm. Reports on gangs, some civilian interviews, and one from a hero.”
“A hero? You’re not pulling my leg here, are you?”
“Well, it’s pretty short—didn’t want to keep him too long. And some of it has to be redacted by his request. And I, em, don’t actually know his identity.”
“Sooo, it’s going to be about two paragraphs long?”
“Well—yeah, probably.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.”
“Any news?” Yuri arrived at the train station, one of the few still working in Exogol. It didn’t run nearly as much and was limited to where it could go due to destroyed tracks, but it could get her closer to her journalist agency, Kashyyyk Post. She’d still have to walk a lot though. A few people waited for the train as well; a mother with two small children, a small knot of middle-school aged kids, a sort of shifty looking character.
“Almost everyone is still out. Takahashi called in yesterday.” Eto snorted. “Some urban legend is starting to circulate. About a hero with a bunch of quirks and covered with blood.”
Yuri stopped in her tracks. “What?”
“Yeah. Hold on, lemme. . .” Eto sifted through some papers. “Ah, here it is. ‘They say he comes without a sound. That he has a whole bunch of quirks, almost like All for One or a noumu. But he helps people. Even though you’d never think he’s a hero looking at him because he’s covered in blood and mud.’ Oh, yeah and something about the filth covering up scars.”
Yuri wasn’t a conspiracy theorist, not by a long shot. She liked real, solid stories with evidence. It’s why she became a journalist instead of taking a job as a TV reporter. Too much gossip and fanfare. But there were too many dots that connected.
“Sounds like someone I met.”
`~`
“Okay,” Yuri muttered to herself, while typing on her computer. “‘Green hero student’.” Moogle pulled up a bunch of useless information about a green skinned hero.
“‘Male hero student with green hero suit and yellow cape’.” Several highschoolers showed up, none of them matching.
“Uhhh, ‘green bunny ear hero student’?” Pictures of Mirko popped up. She should have known the internet wouldn’t be much use without enough information. Back at her agency, she was trying to find out more about the hero she met. Not for her article—she wouldn’t go back on her word on keeping his identity a secret—
but because she was curious and wanted to know more about the kid.
He’s sixteen, so this should be his second year. And he already has a provisional license, did he get it in his first year? Most hero schools wait until the second or even third year. She typed in “Hero schools that give first years the provisional license exam”. After a lot of searching, she finally found a post on social media from a UA student.
[Image description: an I.D. card labeled Provisional Hero License with information about the student and a picture of floating clothes]
Invisiblegirl1: I got my license!!! Even though we’re 1st years, my whole class passed the test!!! I’m so excited for our future hero work!! PLUS ULTRA!!!!
(I wonder how class 1-B did 🧐)
That aged awfully. At least she was closer to figuring out who the mystery hero was. Feeling a little bit like a stalker, she looked up the infamous Class 1-A of UA (she found nothing about the other class. Figures). There was plenty about Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, and even some about the kids that did work studies—Uraraka Ochako, Asui Tsuyu, and Kirishima Eijiro. None matched the kid.
Starting to get a little frustrated, Yuri looked at Sports Festival clips, hoping to see him in the background or something. Somehow unsurprisingly, she found him in this video:
ENDEAVOR’S SON VS FINGER BREAKING KID — THEY ABSOLUTELY DESTROY THE ARENA 😱🔥
Imasimpformountlady • 3.4M views • 11 months ago
After watching for about forty seconds, she was certain it was him. Then it was pretty simple to find out who he was.
Midoriya Izuku. Hero name, Deku. She dug a little deeper.
Most of what she found was from the Sports Festival, though for some reason it brought her to a video, one that looked like it was a version of the clip of Stain. Annnnnnnd there he was, laying on the ground while Stain monologued. His outfit was slightly different—his mask wasn’t up and he didn’t have his yellow cape—and the quality of the video wasn’t great, but it was definitely (98% chance) the same person. What the hell was he doing there anyway?
It was a little odd there wasn’t more about the kid—Midoriya. He’d obviously come a long way from his finger-breaking days and seemed to have gained at least two other quirks. But what exactly made him special enough to garner the attention of All for One and cause Pro Heroes to recruit him?
Yuri sighed, and closed all the tabs she opened. There wasn’t anything she could really do except give silent support and hope that he could handle it. I’ll be looking forward to hearing about Deku in the future.
`~`
Ochako scrolled through the Kashyyyk Post, laying on one of the couches in the common room. She was exhausted from a long day. A few times a week, students from the hero course were sent out to help out with the sudden increase of hero work. She’d taken a shift today that made her miss half of class. Though her teachers had cut class work and homework to almost nothing, it was still a pain to drag herself through and at nine, she’d finally finished.
Now she was looking at the news. She felt that she couldn’t call herself a hero without being educated and informed about what was happening. Kashyyyk was one of the few sources that didn’t completely shit on heroes right now, so she checked it a lot.
Most of the article Ochako was currently reading was about the status of the city Exogol (awful), as well as gang sightings, and safe places that weren’t hero schools there.
… A hero aided me when I was in a tight situation with a gang and was willing to let me give him a quick interview. He elected to keep his identity a secret and agreed to be referred to as Green Hero, due to his green suit and mask.
Ochako sat up, interest and hope sparking. That sounded a lot like Deku. She continued with a lot more vigor.
Green Hero is going solo, but he assured me that he would inform heroes that he’s in contact with, who would be more suited to apprehending the nearby gangs.
He himself is focused on capturing Tartarus escapees and has already caught several, including Muscular—an A-rank villain.
He patrols several wards in the Tokyo metropolis within a couple days. That means he covers dozens of miles everyday.
Green Hero stays out of the public eye as much as possible, a necessity for tracking down dangerous convicts. When I asked about harassment from people off duty, he said, “I haven’t been off duty […] not since I got out of the hospital in March after the Paranormal Liberation War.” Part of it is for reasons he asked me not to disclose, but it is a personal choice.
He told me that this was “more or less” his debut and younger than most heroes when they begin.
When I asked what a normal day looked like for him, he said, “Wake up. Eat some food. Patrol and capture any villains that I find. Work until I can’t see straight.” He had to leave then to deliver villains to the police.
In the past several weeks, we all have lost some degree of faith in heroes—some more than others. Someone who’s so young and determined to help fix the world, even at the expense of his own wellbeing, is quite a welcome shock.
That being said, heroes are human too and cannot push through everything without some sort of rest. Harassing and assaulting them when they are attempting to help you is only going to cause more to retire early.
At this point, Ochako couldn’t see the screen from the tears blurring her vision. Not just from the confirmation that her best friend was alive, but from the kind words of a stranger that wasn’t even aiming their article at her.
“Uraraka? Are you alright?” Iida came up to her, a concerned expression on his face.
“Y-yeah, I—you-you,” she shoved her phone under his nose. “Read this!” He took it, eyes flicking across the screen and widened. At one point, he covered his face in an exasperated way (she assumed he reached the ‘normal day’ part; she’d had the same reaction). He looked back up at her, a smile making its way on his face. “He’s alive.”
Ochako leaped up. “Deku’s not dead!”
“Wait, what?” Todoroki got up from his seat along with the rest of their class.
“What about Midoriya?” Mina asked, crowding closer. Ochako passed her phone around until Bakugou yelled, “one of you dumbasses read the damn thing out loud so we all know what’s going on!”
Aizawa found his class five minutes later jumping up and down, Ochako in the middle of the throng, holding her phone above her head like a holy object, everyone chanting, “DEKU’S NOT DEAD! DEKU’S NOT DEAD!”
Kaminari’s distinct voice screamed, “hE LiVeS!”
It’s finally happened, Aizawa thought. They all collectively snapped.