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Chapter Text

<3rd Person's POV>

A Hero is someone who stands on top, a protector, a savior. A Villain is someone who hurts people and breaks the law. 

This was what Yaoyorozu Yuriko first understood about the world, but as she grew older, she grew wiser.

What makes a Hero? In this world, a Hero was someone who went to a school for Heroes and earned a license, basically, an occupation.

What makes a Villain? In this world, a criminal with superpowers, and one who doesn't conform with society's ideals. 

What are Quirks? A genetic evolution that gives someone a superpower, and to most, it that determines whether you become a Hero, or a Villain, it determined who they were. 

Yaoyorozu Yuriko was a cynical child, that's for sure. When children idolized the heroes on the news, Yuriko noted how most minor heroes posed more for the camera rather than help out more in the aftermath of their fight against a villain.

When the children, the masses, all booed at the villains who were defeated at the hands of heroes, Yuriko noted how many of the villains cried, noted how pained their way of speaking, how desperate they acted, how they blamed everyone around them. In the rare occasions the news talked about the villain's history, Yuriko looked deeper into the words they used to show just how heinous they were supposed to be.

When everyone praised someone for having a flashy quirk and ignored those who had mundane ones, Yuriko was always interested just how those said mundane quirks can overpower the flashy quirks. 

Yuriko was 7 when she got a taste of the real world. Being the child of a multi-million Support Tech Company, one now growing to be a mulit-billion one, Yuriko would surely be a target of criminals and rivals of the Yaoyorozu Tech Company, and it was at this time that some brave souls had kidnapped the child. Of course, kidnapping attempts had been attempted when she was younger, but all of them had been foiled by her bodyguards in the past. 

Unfortunately, due to circumstances where most of her more powerful bodyguards had left for one important reason or another, and luck being on these criminals side, Yuriko, after 36 attempted kidnappings, had been kidnapped by a band of lucky criminals. 

"Shishishishi! Once we complete this job, peeps will be lining up to hire us!" One of Yuriko's captor's, a man with spikes for hair laughed. 

"They said it was impossible, but look at us! New to the scene, but we're already gonna make it big! Worthless chumps, I tell you! They were probably trying to steal this job from us!" Another one of Yuriko's captor, a woman with slime for a body, grinned cruelly at the girl they had tied up in the corner of the abandoned warehouse.

"Grrr." And Yuriko's last captor, a man who had a head of a dog, simply growled.

While the three kidnappers were having an early celebration, clearly somewhat drunk due to the alcohol they were consuming, Yuriko was simply waiting. Although this was the first time she had been kidnapped, she was unsure wether this will be the last time or will be one of many, her parents had told her what to do when it did happen. 

"Be calm, don't talk back, look weak, and make sure they do not find out about your tracker. If....if things get dangerous...use your quirk." The tracker in question was something Yuriko's mother and father created in a form of a hair tie, one far advanced from anything that existed, capable of ignoring jamming devices and quirks that could possibly interfere with it. 

However, despite growing up to be the cynical, smart girl that she was now, this was the first time Yuriko had experienced fear. She had been afraid of things, afraid of the dark when she was younger, even, but this was a more primal kind of fear, one filled unknowns. For the first time in a long time, Yuriko cried, fear filling her entire being as her captors laughed and laughed, talking about what could possibly be done to her. They talked about how the people who hired them would experiment on her, how they would work her to death, how they would turn her into a puppet, how they would use her in the future.

The words were beginning to become too much, her heart was beating too fast, and her more mature mind was unfortunately able to understand, to imagine, the possibilities her captors list. Everything was beginning to become too much for the young child.

Until, 

"Is it just me, or is that rat wearing clothes?" 

"Rat? RAT!!? There's a rat? Kill it, kill it, kill it!!!"

Yuriko raised her head, 'Stay calm.', lungs hurting, heart beating too fast,

"Normally, I would be offended, but I am far too mad to care." The "rat" spoke, confusing the kidnappers. Yuriko just watched, hands clenched so hard her nails dug into her skin, but instead of blood dripping, a small amount of blood wriggled around her fingertips. 

"The rat just talked, right?" The spike-haired criminal asked while hitting his own head with his palm. 

"JUST KILL IT!!!" The dog-man barked, crawling away from said "rat". Rolling her eyea at the unbecoming display of her partner in crime, the goo-woman stood up, her gelatinous hand turning into a more solid looking blade.

"I don't know where you came from, but you better scram!" The woman threatened, but the threat was slightly diminished due to the fact that the woman was having a hard time keeping the blade in its current state.

The "rat" in question just stared, beady eyes watching the display happen in front of him. Rubbing his head, the "rat" huffed in disappointment. "Whoever hired you should have looked for someone more competent. Who, in their right mind, would drink in the middle of all this? You three are very lucky that you were supplied with items that allowed you neutralize the Yaoyorozu's bodyguards, but if it weren't for that, you would have surely failed."

Irritated with the "rat's" remarks, the woman stepped forward, her blade-hand now looking more unstable than it was. "Why I oughta-" However, before she could do more, many things happened at once. From the windows high up came people armed to the teeth, descending from ropes, the warehouse's large door was torn down as more people with guns and armor entered, and lastly, the "rat" smiled as he pulled out a tablet from his back.

"I must say, this is quite exhilarating." The "rat" calmly commented. As people surrounded the shell-shocked kidnappers, the "rat" turned to face the bound girl in the corner, eyes red from tears, but shining with something the "rat" had started to grow familiar with.

Yuriko was 8 when her outlook on life got a little bit brighter. Yaoyorozu Momo, that was her sister's name. The now eldest Yaoyorozu's first impression of the babe was that she looked like shit, all wrinkly and different of how people described babies to be, but in her heart, as she looked at her younger sibling, separated only by a glass pane, Yuriko swore that she'll protect her sister.

"That's right! A freak should hide their ugly mug!" A child, eyes glowing, grinned viciously at another child, this one cowering in the ground as they tried their best to hide their third eye. 

Surrounding them were three other children, snickering and taunting the poor child on the ground. And as all this occurred, Yuriko observed, the heavy feeling of discomfort boiling deep inside her stomach keeping her from simply ignoring the child in distress. If the situation wasn't so serious, Yuriko would have laughed at it all, laughed at how distorted society's views on quirks were. If one had a flashy quirk, like one where it allows them to produce electricity, they would praise them, telling them they had potential to be a hero, uncaring of their potential to harm, ignoring the possibilities of them using it for nefarious reasons. If one had a quirk that seemed "villainous", it was confusing just how people categorized quirks as such, they would only focus on how they can use it for evil, not even believing that their quirks, that the person themselves, would not follow such belief. And if one had a mutation quirk, it didn't matter what kind, if it doesn't look "attractive", and even when it does in some cases, you were classified as a freak!

Yuriko was 10 years old, but she was long disillusioned with the world's promises of Heroes and Glory, always doubting, mind always open of possibilities. She was just 10 years old, but she already knew what she wanted to do. And so, with a step forward, Yuriko was prepared to face the consequences society will throw at her, for she had resolved herself to not become a hero, but someone better. 

"Darling...are you sure about this? We're delighted that you have found what you want to be, whatever it may be, but are you sure that you have to do all...this?" Yaoyorozu Shin asked his eldest daughter, staring at the list his daughter had given him with discomfort. Shin knew his daughter was smart, more mature than her peers, a side-effect of her quirk that helped her use said quirk more efficiently, but the items his daughter listed for them to invent to aid her growth was, in one word, disquieting.

"Yes. To achieve my goals, I believe that all these are required, and to not waste your time, I made sure all of them were projects you and mother have already endeavored to invent." What his daughter had said was correct. All of the things listed were items Shin and his wife, Yumi, had planned on creating. However, the concerning thing about it was that they were, in theory, if used altogether, enhance someone further from the current human standards!

Scratching the back of his head, Shin left the list on his desk as he reclined against his chair. "And what exactly is your goals? You have expressed your distaste for heroes more than once, for whatever reason, so you're definitely not aiming to become one." This was another confusing fact about their daughter. Despite being a Support Tech company for Heroes, their daughter herself didn't really have much thoughts on heroes, even expressing her disapproval on some.

Her answer, however, was a curious one. "I want to make a better place for Momo to live in."

Yuriko was 11 when visions of the future became more vivid. 

Chapter Text

(Everything was on fire, burning, destroyed, rubble, blood, fire, screams, limbsdetached, deathheroesfalleNVILLAINSWINNING-)

Yuriko woke up, heart beating hard, sweat dripping, blood dripping from her nose. The girl took deep breaths, hand clenched against her chest. 'Breath in, breath out.' She tells herself, heart slowly calming, mind clearing.

"What...was that...?" It wasn't a dream, nor was it a simple nightmare. It felt far too real (painful) to just be either of those. She, then, noticed the blood, now wriggling in place instead of dripping. With a thought the blood vanished, and with a shaky hand, she willed herself to get out of her bed, hoping to forget the horrible experience that just occurred in favor of taking care of herself for the time being.

"Yaoyorozu-sama!", "Kya~! It's Yaoyorozu-sama!", and "Princess Yuriko!", this was a normal occurrence for one Yaoyorozu Yuriko every morning at her school. With exceptional beauty, a budding, fit physique, kind, compassionate, talented, grades always on the top, and a magnificent quirk, Yuriko had become the idol of Shirone Middle School, earning her the title of "Princess Perfect".

In the eyes of the school populace, and society as a whole, "Princess Perfect" was a girl who could do no wrong, always so kind, a protector of the weak (kids with mutant-quirks, "villainous" quirks, and the quirkless), and a shoe in to being a great hero due to her magnificent quirk. The being that was "Princess Perfect" was an ideal of the public, those who knew of her sung her praises, those who heard of her had expectations, and those in power were ready to mold her. However, it was all a lie.

Yuriko was 16 when she did the unexpected. She had killed someone. And it didn't stop at just one.

It was just supposed to be another normal day. Wake up, follow her morning routine of exercise then preparing for school, don a good girl persona, and go back home to train. However, during her drive home, a car had collided with her's. Initially, Yuriko believed it was an accident, and as she tried to make sure everyone was safe, from her unconscious driver and injured bodyguards, to the ones who hit them, she suddenly felt drowsy and fell unconscious. 

[-]

When she came too, groggy and in pain, Yuriko quickly noted her situation. She was bound to a chair, cuffed with something she believed to be quirk-suppressing cuffs (a clear indicator that her assailants were serious if they had something so hard to get.), she smelled the sea, and it was dark inside wherever they were. 

"Are you sure she'll remain unconscious? Last time you used your quirk on someone they woke up earlier than expected." One voice, a woman, young and annoyed, asked.

"Ugh. That was because they had a quirk that countered mine, dumbass!" A person barked back, agitated, female as well, but older. 

"Oh would you two stop yapping! The boys and I can hear your whining from outside! Do you want us to get caught?!" A male interjected, entering from a door, young like his accomplice.

Craning her neck, Yuriko tried her best to seem unconscious still and using her hair to cover her eyes. There were three people in the warehouse(?), the ones she heard talking, but there were more outside, if what the man had said was anything to go by. The older woman had no defining features, nothing that could allude to her quirk, however, from their conversation earlier, it had to do with something with making someone fall unconscious, and the other two did. Both male and the younger female had mutant-quirks, the former having a second pair of arms, while the latter had claw-like hands.

Observing her surroundings, Yuriko couldn't find anything useful, not a place to hide, nor anything that she can use a distraction. 

"Gotta say though, the girl's fine as hell, hehehe." As the man cackled, the two women sneered in disgust, understanding his words. Yuriko, for her part, felt rage overcome her entire being, memories of her first kidnapping resurfaced (weak, fear, and threats of rape), but she calmed herself. 'Never lose your calm.' The words of her mentor resurfaced, she clenched her fists, nails digging, blood dripping.

"Her face is annoying. It's too bad I can't cut it up because she has to stay unharmed."

'I'm safe, for now.' Yuriko thought to herself, relieved that she can remain untouched and she might be able to use this to her advantage.

"Hah! Jealous much!? Maybe if you claw your own face, there'd be an improvement!" 

"The fuck you say!" 

The man and woman began to argue, shouts reverberating around the warehouse. 'A chance?' Yuriko thinks to herself. Without much choice, the ravenette silently moved her fingers around the cuff, searching, then she grinned.

A finger pressed hard against an indent on the cuff, one that vaguely formed the symbol of "Shiki Company", a support tech company that recently popped up. It was unknown whether they had anything to do with her kidnapping, or if the cuffs were completely unrelated to the person who had her kidnapped, but it didn't matter. What mattered, however, was that due to being a new Support Tech company, her parents had bought everything they had to offer for them to observe and test. Among those tests were the flaws of Shiki Company's quirk-suppressant cuffs. Due to the company cutting corners, the materials of their quirk-suppressant cuffs were somewhat low, but not bad enough that it was unusable by your average policeman. However, for Yuriko, whose body was enhanced with a healthier and safer version of steroids, it was just enough for her to break with some effort.

Thankfully, the argument still continued to echo through the warehouse, causing the snap of chains to go unheard and the following sounds of metal creaking and breaking. Now free and able to use her quirk, Yuriko remained "unconscious". She had three available options, to wait for help, to escape, or to save herself.

The first option didn't sit well for her, the thought of having to act weak making her feel uncomfortable and the environment causing memories of her nightmares to resurface (blood, pain, cuts, fear). The second option was very possible. From what she can hear, the wall behind her was facing the sea, waves crashing, an escape route. She can blow up the wall and make a boat, quick and easy.

However, the third option had a...tantalizing appeal to it. She didn't know why, but the ravenette felt excitement at the prospect of a fight, to punish (avenge her friends). Then, as the argument started to weaken, Yuriko grinned, and from her cut blood oozed out and it turned into an eerie-crimson orb.

Grin still plastered on her face, Yuriko discreetly rolled the orb towards the trio, the man sporting an annoying smirk and a cut to the cheek, the younger woman looking absolutely feral, and the older woman displaying a look of disgust. As the orb stopped a meter away from the trio, hidden in the darkness of the warehouse, Yuriko bit her lip hard enough to form a cut, and from the cut blood then began to ooze and turn into a gas-mask just as the orb evaporated, ignoring the laws of physics as it produced more gas than it's mass suggested.

"Oy! What's the big idea, Sandwoman! Stop yer goddamn quirk!" The younger woman accused the older one, earning a raised eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" The olderwoman, Sandwoman ('Like Sandman? Sleep and dreams?), snapped back, raring to argue once more. Unexpectedly, however, the only male of the group suddenly fell unconscious, surprising the two women.

"See...sto-stop your goddamned....quir-" And like their partner, the younger women fell unconscious as well. 

"Wha-" Before the only remaining conscious woman can do anything else, a sizeable ball knocked her out. 

In the now silent warehouse, the sound of footsteps were the only thing that could be heard. From the darkness appeared Yuriko, clothes disheveled, but otherwise unharmed and still wearing her gas mask. "Well, that was anti-climactic." Was the only thing she could comment at her situation, but seeing the three unconscious kidnappers in front of her, Yuriko can't help but feel proud of herself. 

Still, not wanting to remain in the warehouse and wait for trouble, the ravenette went to search if her captors had phones on them while also laughing at the sudden, momentarily dizziness she experienced.

"Creation of Life" is what her quirk was. But, contrary to it's name, her quirk definitely didn't create a living being, but rather, it used a living organism, or rather, her blood, as a base material that can turn into a different kind of material that she wanted. If she were to have shown some kind of "imperfection", people would have surely called her quirk "villainous" for the simple reason of blood being involved, but due to her image, the delusional people simply attributed it to her being an "Angel of Sacrifice". Oh, the stupidity of humanity never ceases to amaze Yuriko.

During her search, she caught a glimpse of her bag at a corner, which she hadn't seen earlier due to the darkness. With quick steps, she went towards her bag, hoping that her phone was intact and she srill had her snacks to replenish some of her blood. Although drenched and missing some expensive items, Yuriko was glad that there was some snacks left in her bag and was fortunate that her captors cleary tried to destroy her phone by short-circuiting it rather than breaking it entirely as her phone was completely water-proof.

As she went and tried to call her parents while also forming her own quirk-suppressing cuffs, Yuriko saw a notification that made her eyes see red.

She had curiously checked her location using the tracking app connected to her own tracker, however, much to horror, next to her dot was a similar one, meaning Momo waS INDANGER!!! 

Momo was scared. She remembered being picked up by her butler after school, and everything was just okay, until everything suddenly hurt and everything became black. Then, she woke up somewhere dark, and everything still hurt, especially her left arm and people were screaming.

"We've already gone over this earlier!! It's your fault that brat got hit! If you followed my plan, then the bosses wouldn't chew us out when they find out we hurt the bitch!" A man angrily shouted, making Momo flinch.

"The hell!? It's because of you I was late in stepping on the gas! If it wasn't for your bullshit plan I would have finished the dambed job earlier!" Another man shouted, and if he were any louder, Momo would have surely cried harder.

Then, a hand touched her shoulder, and she would have screeched if it weren't for a different hand clamping gently over her mouth and her sister's voice coming afterwards.

"Shh~. "Be calm, don't talk back, and look weak.", remember that?" Her sister whispered to her ear, and despite her breath being shaky, her heart hurting, and tears still falling, she tried her best to stay calm. Her sister's habd touched her back, it hurt, but it was also comforting at the same time.

"That's good, that's good. Now-" Yuriko froze when her sister flinched when her hand brushed against her left arm. Rage began to continously build within her, but for her sister's sake, Yuriko focused on Momo. "now, I'll make you fall asleep, all right? And when you wake up, everything will be okay now. You know why?"

Momo, in truth, didn't know why. But she was starting to feel sleepy, and everything was starting to get muddy. Before darkness claimed her once more, she heard her sister say, "Because I am here."

With her sister asleep, Yuriko's demeanor changed. Gone was the gentle older sister that was reassuring her little sister was going to be all right, now replaced with a cold-hearted woman, determined to save (kill for) her sister.

"Oy! Who are you- wait!? Aren't you that brat's sister? The fuck are you doing here?!" One of the men asked, arms turning into whips that were about two meters long.

"Uh... If she's here...then did something happen on the other side?" The question went unanswered, as beside him, his partner was now sporting a hole above his left eye, shocking the man. 

"Tch. I need more training with live targets, it seems. Oh, please don't scream, my sister's sleeping, and I don't want her to wake up without getting healed first." The chilling voice of the teenager froze the man in place, but the sight of the barrel of the silenced gun being aimed at him promoted him to take action and activate his quirk, which seemed to be a telekinesis-type as a sheet of metal was brought in front of him.

"Fuck! Oy-" His cry for help was cut off as blood red claws pierced through the metal, which was ripped apart right away. And before he could even blink, claws pierced his head.

Yuriko, eyes dead and heart cold, simply observed how the dead man slowly slid off her claws, falling onto the ground unceremoniously. It should have disturbed her, the sight of four holes the size of her fingers smack dab in the middle of a man's face, oozing blood and some brain matter, but she just stared. 

Clenching and unclenching her hands, she was curious as to why she had instinctual formed claws around her fingers instead of just shooting the exposed parts of the man, the olaces where the sheet of metal failed to orotect, when she never even had training with gauntlets, or boxing for that matter.

"Urk." (A green haired corpse, cat paws, fire, death, waR, DDEATHWARWARWARWAR) Yuriko's head ached, but it was bearable. The ravenette shook off the pain, there were more important matters to deal with.

A good chunk of the police force of Musutafu Police Department and some heroes had been mobilized to save the Yaoyorozu children. The police, although some were disturbed with the amount of their workforce being roped in to save a pair of kidnapped children, were more than prepared with the task at hand, while some of the Heroes, mostly the minor ones, were following along, content with others doing the work and getting some fame out of this. However, what they arrived to was something they never would have expected. There, in the abandoned Musutafu pier, corpses lay motionless, some missing limbs, some sporting deep, claw-like gashes and some puncture marks, while there would be some who curiously had bullet holes. It wouldn't be known then, but there were a total of 34 corpses, however, the more experienced heroes and cops set their men straight as they focused on their objective, which they soon found in one of the abandoned warehouses, unconscious and hidden behind a tower of wooden crates.

This incident would be known as the "Seaside Massacre", which would also be connected to the "Yaoyorozu Kidnapping". To the public, the former was the result of a gang war stemming from the latter incident, but the government and those who were there believed that all of these were done by a vigilante, but such suspicion was kept a secret from the public to avoid problems. However, the truth will never known, as the root of massacre was content to blame her actions to a non-existent variable.

Chapter Text

They do everything they can. Shin and Yumi brought Yuriko to therapists when her nightmares began affecting her sleep (Yuriko says that it was always about blood, death, and war.), but they find nothing wrong, mentally, with Yumiko, other than some trauma from her first experience of kidnapping. They received consent from Yumiko to have professionals with mind-related quirks to delve into her head, but they all came up with nothing as well. Their own research regarding this matter showed no result. But their love for their daughter didn't lessen.

Like how it didn't lessen when their 16 year old admitted to murdering 34 adults, so driven by her rage and an unknown force that took control of her. It was frightening, knowing their daughter had killed in cold blood, and as much as they knew how wrong it was, deep in their hearts a tiny part of them was glad that those who dared to harm, and have harmed their daughters, had gotten what they deserved, as wrong as it was.

Their daughter was a cynic, prepared to do everything for her family, with darker, unknown part of her even capable as going as far as killing, and they accept that. Instead of considering whether to turn her in and questioning their own morality, they used this incident to fuel their determination, their drive, to find out why their daughter had such nightmares, if the one who killed all those people were their daughter, or something else.

Momo loved her older sister. She strives to be just like her, smart, compassionate, and strong. It confused her, however, as to why her sister acted so different when they were home. Outside, she always had a genial smile, always looking so approachable and demeanor so kind. But inside their house, her sister did smile at her and everyone else, but she was...standoff-ish, the news, the shows, the talks about heroes irritated her, which was curious, except for some, and she focused so much in her training.

"Do I have to act weird at home to be strong like you, onee-chan?" She asked her sister that once, when she was younger, but Yumiko just smiled, wide and amused, and said, "You don't, Momo. You can just be you, silly~."

You could say that Yumiko was Momo's Hero, and such belief strengthened when was kidnapped, where her sister came and made the pain go away, made the villains go away (not knowing the lengths her sister did to do so, nor did she even know the fates of her kidnappers and all those related, her sister and parents doing their best to shield this reality from her.). She may not ever remember it, but it was then that the dreams of being a Hero was planted in her mind, a Hero like how she envisioned her sister to be.

At 17 years old, Yaoyorozu Yumiko was growing up into a fine woman. With her parents being two successful inventors, nearly on par to I-Island scientists, they had supplied her with everything she needed to grow strong, from the safer, healthier version of steriods, to items supposedly for Hero-use to help them achieve a more compact physique. All in all, years of training and constant use of equipment meant for heroes had made the tall, attractive, fit woman be on par with a body-builder with a strength-enhancement quirk. However, now that she was 17 years old, an important decision must be made.

"U.A. is closest to home, and I'll go for the Support Course." Well, it would be an important decision to most, but for Yuriko, U.A. was simply a means to an end.

"Support Course? Why not the Hero Course, Yuri-onee-san?" The youngest Yaoyorozu asked, not understanding why her older sister, the one who trained so hard to be as strong as she is now, not enter the Hero Course of the most prestigious Hero University.

"It's because I'm not aiming to be a Hero, Momo. Plus, someone has to inherit mom and dad's company in the future." It was a flimsy excuse, really. The Yaoyorozu couple were still in their late 30s, still going strong, and if their fire for inventing doesn't die down even in their elder years, then they could make a contraption that could help with their health in the future. The truth was, Yuriko was just not that keen on the whole process of being a hero and society's view of it. She would, however, not dissuade her sister's own dreams, because Yuriko knew, despite her distaste of society's belief of Heroes, that Momo had the potential to become a true Hero, to be part of that 1% of Heroes that embodied what heroes were meant to be.

And if Momo ever strayed from her path, her older sister will always be there for her. 

"Tell you what, Momo. Why don't you be a Hero, the best Hero you can be, for the both of us, okay?" Because Yuriko can never be a Hero, not when they needed something else.

"A hero...for both of us?" Momo, eyes large and gleaming with so much innocence that Yuriko wanted nothing more than to protect her sister from the cruelties of the real world, but Yuriko couldn't protect her forever (a head, detached from it's body), and all she could hope that she had prepared her sister enough for what's to come.

"Yes. A Hero, for both of us. Stronger than me, stronger than anyone else, a Symbol of Truth and a New Age." For she will be the Symbol of Fear and the Destruction of the Old Age. 

"I am Hayashi Ren, also known as Bulldozer, and I will be your proctor for the practical exams." A man, or rather, a minotaur-like man covered in armor, introduced himself to the 241 applicants.

"As you all know, the Support Course Entrance Exams are held a week earlier than every other courses of U.A., but can anyone tell me why?" The bull-headed man questioned, eyes raking over the multitude of applicants, emotion hard to read with his unique features.

"Applicant 110? Your suggestion." The bull called out a number, which was surprisingly one of the applicants who had raised their hands. It was unknown whether it was by luck, or the minotaur memorized the applicant's numbers, which was amazing in itself, but that was not important. 

"I believe that it's because us from the Support Course will have a hand in the Hero Course's practicals?" The man ended his answer as a question, slowly getting unnerved with their proctor's stare, and now he was standing there, awkwardly waiting for a response. 

Huffing, the minotaur shrugged as he nodded for the man to sit down. "Close, but not enough. Anyone else?"

"Number 81?" The minotaur called, and said applicant enthusiastically stood up. 

"We're going to make robots!" The applicant excitedly answered, pointing at a blueprint not-so-hidden behind the minotaur and practically bouncing at her heels. 

And, much to their surprise, the minotaur was able to smile, which, no offense to the man, was somewhat disconcerting for a first-timer to see.

The minotaur walked away from the board, and with his broad frame now not covering the whole of the board, showed multiple blueprints of different kinds of robots!

"Recently, due to the HPSC's intervention, U.A.'s Hero Course practical exam now involves robots! For the Support Course's practical exams, you will be given five days to complete a robot, following the blueprints down to a T, as the blueprints of the robots were approved by the HPSC, so you can not deviate from the blueprint! If you add anything that is not part of the blueprint, you will automatically fail the exam! We will grade you by the robot's quality of movement, command execution, and it's emergency brakes. Also, as you can see, the robots are separated into four categories, One Pointer, Two Pointer, Three Pointer, and Zero Pointer. The One pointer robots is the weakest of the bunch, and the easiest to make as well. The Two pointer, however, is quite a bit more challenging, but not by much, and will give you additional points. The Three Pointer, obviously, is harder and would garner more extra points. The Zero Pointer, however, although part of the exam, we discourage you from making it not because it is the hardest to create, but U.A. only really needs four Zero Pointers." With the end of his explanation, the applicants began to murmur among themselves, with the ones closest to the board expressing how overwhelming the Zero Pointer looked.

Yuriko, however, simply didn't care about it all. With her enhanced eyesight, despite being 8 rows away from the board, she could see the blueprint in clear detail, and she was not impressed in the least, especially when she saw the "Off" Button made specifically for applicants with quirks not suitable against giant robots. It was far too well hidden for it to be of use, a clear indicator of the HPSC's intentions, and Yuriko was questioning just how Nezu, U.A. University's newest Principal allowed such blatant Quirk Discrimination to exist in his school.

"Now, get ready everyone, because U.A.'s going to be your home for five days!"

Yuriko passed with flying colors. In a sudden burst of anger, Yuriko chose a Zero Pointer (The proctor tried to dissuade her from it, but she ignored him.), in some form of spite, as out of all the robots, the Zero Pointers' Off button was the least hidden one, right underneath their chin. Although the chances of her Zero Pointer being defeated by a person with a non-combat oriented quirk being at the lowest possibilities, she still did hope that such a scenario would happen.

Despite being the hardest robot to make due to it's ginormous size and components, having strength comparable to a person with a strength-enhancement quirk and inventors for parents made the whole process a lot easier that it was supposed to be, and she didn't even use her quirk.

"Congratulations on being the first Yuriko-chan!" Yumi, eyes teary and filled with pride.

"Ah! You're father remembers when he went to U.A.'s Support Course. Hah, those were good times." The only male Yaoyorozu reminisced, days of his youth long gone.

"Ooh! Your father and I actually met in U.A.! Maybe you'll get to meet someone there, too!" The mother squealed, half happy and half hoping that there would actually be someone that would bring a smile to their daughter's face.

"Mmm." Said daughter just rolled eyes, not all that interested in romance, her priorities not allowing her to.

"No! Yuri-onee-chan is mine and no one else's!" Momo, who was happily eating from her older sister's plate, suddenly interjected, something which she quickly regreted as she stuttered and hid her face, earning a chuckle from Yuriko. 

"Of course, of course, I'm yours, my dear imouto." The older sibling teased, earning an embarrassed squeal from the younger sibling.

This was what Yuriko wanted, to live a life of no worries...but such a life would be impossible with the current stereotypes and ideals branding, forcing, changing, endagering, everything. There was too much prejudice, too much belief in the corrupted system, too many people so easily swayed by words, too much disregard to true heroism, and the lack thereof of Heroes, selfless and strong.

The most worrying thing, though, was Japan's hair-tearing belief on the Symbol of Peace, All Might. He has been a hero for 25 years now, with 5 of those years earning and remaining as Japan's Number 1 Hero, America's Number 6, and the World's as Number 3, and because of this, everyone believed in All Might, everyone had All Might as their Idol...and this led to less Heroes with non-flashy quirks to be ignored, less attention given to others, and some Heroes themselves were discouraged with the wall that was All Might, one they can never even dream of climbing over.

This was something that must be remedied, the negative effect of being Number 1. But that would be in the future.

Chapter Text

"You think any of our bots were used?"

"Didn't Bulldozer-sensei say that they'd definitely use it?"

"Yeah. I remember Bulldozer mumbling about it saving them a bit of money."

"Hey. Isn't that her?" 

"Who?" 

"Her! The one who made the Zero Pointer?" 

"Oh! The princess? Yeah! I think that's her."

"Dude, I'm like, dead turned on."

"The fuck dude!?" 

"Sorry, but hot, smart and MILF is my type."

"You didn't have to say you were popping a stiffy! God! Ever heard of TMI!?" 

As students conversed around her, a total of 39 students, Yuriko simply observed the many screens that showed the ongoing practical entrance exams of the Hero Course. All in all, it was disappointing. She lost count of how many "hero"-wannabes ignored a cry of help, selfishly earning points of their own, lost count of how many times dreams were crushed in front of the highly disadvantaged applicants (those who were called useless, psyche demoralized, mind niggling of their bullies' words, all hurt, hopes and dreams repeatedly being stepped and spat on.), lost count of how many times people grew desperate, lashing out at the unfairness of the world (buildings burning, faces unknown, bodies lying dead, world burning).

An uneasy feeling made itself known in her chest, and that feeling grew into irritation when the Zero Pointers were let out, causing applicants to flee, most once again ignoring the cries of help. In one of the monitors, a Zero Pointer was a second away from squishing an applicant, but stopped near instantly just before doing so, and not long after, from the top of the stadium, a hole opened right above the robot and the applicant and there came a U.A. staff, Yuriko guesses, who promptly helped to applicant who was frozen in hear underneath the Zero Pointer's foot, giving the cowering students nearby a disappointed, yet also slightly sympathetic, look.

As I unknowingly let go of the tension that held my body, I relaxed on my seat, seeing that I could trust U.A. to have the ability to protect the applicants. And with that, the end of the Practical Entrance Exams was announced, and without anything important to do in U.A., I promptly left. 

<Yuriko's POV>

"Welcome, students, to U.A. University! I applaud you all!" The hybrid principal, Nezu, greeted merrily. Many students eyed him in curiosity, excitement, and prejudice. I, however, can only stare at him in apprehension.

This was not the first, nor has it been the second time I had met the hybrid. Due to his involvement with my kidnapping case, it had been a grest boon to his rise in society. From being looked down on with distrust, simply classified as an "Expirement", he now has one of, possibly, the strongest position in Japan. It wasn't that his leading and subsequently resolving my kidnapping had garnered him attention, because everyone with two braincells can tell that, although dangerous, the assailants had been absolutely lucky and any average hero could have dealt with them. No, the reason why Nezu had his big break as an officer was due to the Yaoyorozu name.

After saving me from my kidnappers, Nezu had occasionally met with my parents, who were both curious, but mostly thankfully, of the hybrid's help. With a bit of help from my parents, Nezu grew in power to where he was now. In truth, if I had gone for the Hero Course, Nezu would have probably given me a Recommendation Letter.

"Let me start with this. I know many of you are bitter, especially those who have been delegated into the General Education course. Due to our student quota, we can only really have 20 students per class, and due to heavy restrictions placed onto our school by the HPSC, we can not even hope to hire more staff and increase our classes. However, fret not, my students, since U.A. is nothing but a school of opportunities! During the Sports Festival, students from the Gen Ed course who excel in it can replace a student from the Hero Course!" This, promptly, caused chatter to erupt with some cheering mixed in.

"And they don't need to particularly get first place, only show more potential, more moxie, more determination, than a Hero course student. It doesn't matter if they are stronger than you, or if they are more gifted. If they lack any sort of determination to become better than they already are, then we won't waste our time and resources on such a person." At this point, the students didn't even try to hide their excitement, but in some of the Hero course students' case, discomfort.

"We wouldn't be the top Hero school without a little competitive spirit, now would we?" His smile was feral, eyes sadistic, and all the students were expecting an eventful year to come. 

"What is our purpose here!?" The minotaur-man asked, voice booming and reverberating around the room, like a drill-sergeant. 

One student raised their hand in fear, which even surprised the student in question. Before he could put his hand down, our teacher already trained his eyes on him. "What's your answer?"

Nervous with suddenly being called and being the center of attention, the boy gulped and proceeded to stutter out his answer. "It's to-to, uh, support(?), the, u-uh, the heroes?"

At his answer, some snickered and our teacher raised a brow, obviously unamused with how he was unsure of his own answer. "Anyone else?" The kid sat down, embarrassed and left fussing in his seat.

Scouring the classroom-slash-workshop and finding no one confident enough to answer, Hayashi-sensei huffed. Then, his eyes landed on me. "Yaoyorozu Yuriko, daughter of two well-accomplished Supoort Tech engineers and the First of the Supoort course, can you tell us our purpose?" At his words, my classmates now out their attention on me, muttering and murmuring here and there, eyes shining in recognition, jealousy, lust and curiosity.

Plastering on a genial smile so practiced that I could even make it look natural while being furious, I answered, "It is true that we engineer items and gadgets for heroes, but it is deeper than that. We create these items and gadgets as a way for those heroes to help control their quirk, if needed, but most importantly, we help them reach their maximum potential. And not only them, but for ourselves as well. Just because we're studying in the Support course doesn't mean that that will be all what we're doing! We're also here in the Support course not only to support the heroes, but to learn more about ourselves and be better so that we can support heroes in the field ourselves, because at the end of the day, we are here in U.A., the best University for Heroes. And that doesn't apply only to us, but for the General Education and Business courses as well." After I had finished my answer, face gentle, demeanor angelic, I surveyed my class, observing, learning how I had affected them, affected their own ideals.

To learn who can be of use.

"That...that wasn't the answer I was expecting, but that's the best one I've ever heard." With our teacher's own admittance, a few of my classmates' muttering increased in fervor.

"Anyway, setting aside Miss Yaoyorozu's compelling answer, we will now begin our first activity." Attention now pulled away from me, I now had some time to take note of my observations. All in all, this class was not worth cultivating into people who I could trust. Many show potential to be good, but by the glint of their eyes, they entered this course for one reason, to engineer support items, always staying behind, not confident in themselves and far too trapped in their own desire. I can't fault them, though, because in the end, this is their way of being a hero, and not everyone can show the guts to face danger head on. Best to have someone that could give you support from afar rather than another blight to society ("Heroes" attacking other heroes. Blood in the back. Ambush.).

"Although the Entrance Exam had helped us assess your skill, it doesn't truly match up to creating your own invention from scratch! So, to asses your skills further, for the whole duration of the class and tomorrow's class, create something out of that scrap pile. It doesn't matter what it is, may it be a modified toaster or a damned lightsaber, just create something out of all this junk!" With renewed vigor, the whole of Class 1-F cheered, excited and expecting for a chance to showcase their skill. 

It was an uneventful month, I must say. Although U.A. did uphold it's title as the Top Hero School in Japan, it was no different from a normal university in essence. We still learn mundane lessons, but half the day consists of lessons in our respective courses. The Hero course has Heroics Study, the Business had Business and Politics, we had "free-time", which was to build whatever we wabt and improve from there under our teacher's guidance, and the General Education Course had...General Education...

Still, it wasn't a waste. I had found many students with potential to share my ideals with, which were, surprisingly, mostly in the Business course. Though, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. In all the courses of U.A., they should be the most aware of the status quo and societies current standing to gain a leg up and adapt with the world. They're all first years, however, as I have yet to check the higher years.

I had also cemented my facade of being the "Perfect Angel" once again. A gentle smile here, a compassionate demeanor, and showing an aura of a "I'll always be there for you."-type of girl, and I eventually gained the standing of the U.A.'s most popular first year. But, most importantly, I have formed an image for Yaoyorozu Yuriko, a goody-goody, a girl that will never do anything wrong, incaple of hurting people. In truth, I had not meant to shape such an image when I was young, intending to only seem so kind to reduce suspicion on me and to follow my parent's words. To think it would be a helpful cover-up for me, what luck.

U.A. University's Sports Festival, a highly anticipated event worldwide. Who doesn't like to see teenagers with superpowers duke it out on live TV? Although I understood it's marketing and strategic advantages, raising U.A.'s reputation and the like, I still believe it's still highly disadvantageous for the participants involved, especially those who reach the last event. With the whole world watching, how can villains not do the same?

Ironically, crime is practically non-existent when the event happens, so that's a plus as well?

Anyway, not wanting to expose anything that can be used against me, I had declined from participating, using a flimsy excuse like "Cheering my classmates from the sidelines.", which they had, unsurprisingly, accepted. You truly do get away with a lot of things by seeming so meek and soft. 

A miracle occurred. Unexpectedly, a good chunk of Class 1-F had made their way to the Finals! Some of my classmates who were disqualified on the First and Second round had said it was due to my support, but I would rather believe that luck and their own determination all had a hand in it. 

However, as the one-on-one tournament had gotten closer to its end, the remaining student of Class 1-F, a girl with a quirk that let's her eyes act like headlights and a support gear that intensified quirk, was knocked out in the semi-finals after being matched up with someone from Class 1-B who countered her quirk. It was disappointing, in truth. If it weren't for the Support Gear restrictions, the girl could have taken something she could use when her quirk was rendered ineffective.

Still, it was a valiant effort that was received quite well by the whole Support course, and I as well was amazed by my classmates efforts. 

<Third Person's POV>

"Quite an amazing performance!" A rat-like person/a person-like rat, applauded, amazed and intrigued.

"Actually, I can't help but notice how your class was more invested in winning, rather than showcasing their Support Gear like most of our Support Course students do." Nezu had not only been U.A.'s Principal, but also a Mathematics teacher before he reached his position, so he had been to observe the ideals and stereotypes of the U.A. students for a good amount of time and come into a consensus of what to expect, which made exceptions all the more intriguing. 

Hiyashi Rei, Class 1-F's homeroom teacher, huffed in pride. "Ha! That's cauze of Yaoyorozu. The girl had a really amazing view of the Support course that got her classmates' blood pumping!" 

It was an amusing interaction to watch, a mouse-like hybrid and a minotaur. 

At the mention of a familiar name, Nezu's interest was piqued. "By Yaoyorozu, you mean "U.A.'s Beloved Angel"?"

"Yep. Can't blame the kids though. Give her some wings and BAM!, we have an Angel walking on earth!" The minotaur answer like a proud father, somewhat gloating towards his fellow teachers. 

In Nezu's head, however, he was smirking, remembering the cold, calculating look he sparsely sees in his rare visits at the Yaoyorozu's, far too cold, far too mature, to be compared with how Yaoyorozu Yuriko was acting amongst her peers, or rather, outside, in the eyes of everyone. 

Chapter Text

Parkour was Yuriko's second favorite hobby, the first being drawing. She loved the rush, the speed, the danger. It helped elevate her concerns, her stress, her fears and worry of her ever increasing nightmares.

For hours she had been jumping from rooftop to rooftop, only relying on her skills and enhanced physique, so much so that she had reached the neighboring city, Tokyo. She had started her "journey" right after school had been let out, and now, deep in the night, Yuriko can't help but marvel at how active it was in Tokyo despite the time. It was...peaceful. And that's what Yuriko loved. Peace. And it was what she was fighting for. A peace where people can roam free, not bothered and worried by villains all the time.

"GAH! Fucking bitch!" 

And when someone tries to tear down such peace she was striving for, then she was prepared to do everything in her power to destroy them. 

<Yuriko's POV>

Silent like a mouse, I gracefully dropped down into an alley where I heard the sounds of fighting.

"Fuck off, ya damned skank!" A male voice shouted, sending the people passing by to scamper. 

"Hah! In your dreams, dumbass!" This one, a young, female voice, replied, sounding more carefree and confident. 

"Just stay still and repent for your sins, criminal scum!" At the woman's exclamation, I arrived just in time to witness a large man, bulging muscles and all, get flung towards a dumpster, with said dumpster crumpling at the weight and impact of the man.

"Stay down, bastard! Ya don't have to make this harder on yourself!" Contradicting her order, however, the man grunted as he tried to dislodge himself from his metal bed.

"Ugh. Criminals. Always the same." The woman commented, this time in annoyance, before promptly kicking the man straight in the noggin, rendering him unconscious.

From my position, I was able to see all this action happen while I remained hidden from the two, or rather, three, people, as one woman was actually hiding behind a trashcan. The woman, the one that fought the man, was seemingly older than me, but not by much, with light-chocolate skin tone, defined muscles, and a mutation quirk, as evidenced by the rabbit ears and tail (A missing arm, a missing leg, it didn't stop her. Through grit and determination, she pushed through, but not even prosthetics can keep a bisected body together).

"You all right there?" The rabbit woman asked the shivering woman who now stood behind her. 

"Y-yeah! Tha-thanks for helping me out... I-I already called the cops!" The meek, shaken-up woman supplied, causing the rabbit woman to perk up.

"That's good. Most of the peeps I help out are usually too scared to ask for help. Anyway, I'mma bounce!" At the rabbit woman's cheery farewell, the meek woman shouted out a "Wa-wait!", but the other woman had already made her way up the building, using her muscular legs to bounce from wall to wall.

I, of course, did not stay idle. From the looks of it, the man was harassing the woman, maybe even attempting to rob her, when the rabbit girl came in to save her. Not many people would risk their lives, or rather, stand up for others, but from what the rabbit woman had said, she had been doing this for some time now. Vigilantism. Or rather, it can't be considered as such, since the law states that a quirk must be used for it to be considered Vigilantism, and a mutation quirk was an exception to to that.

Melding into the shadows, as my teacher had taught me, I followed the rabbit girl silently. It was not much of a struggle, despite her rabbit-like quirks and physique, I had enhanced my body as much as I can. Then, after minutes of chasing her, the woman stopped. At first, I thought she had caught on to me, but when the woman showed no reaction but to relax on the edge of the roof, I remained hidden. 

"Hah. Nothing beats curb stomping some criminals and saving people. Just a few more months, Rumi, and you don't have to keep on doing this like some vigilante. A few more months, and I can finally go legit." The woman spoke to herself, giving me enough context clues to know more about her. Aggressive, adrenaline-junkie, confident, not afraid to break the rules to save people and...showing potential.

"Where would I station at, haha. Tokyo's good, but All Might's been showing up here a lot of times, and the cops are still a bit butthurt they can't jail me for beating up some criminals." As the woman continued to rant, I began to think about my plan of action. U.A. was surprisingly disappointing, the student's were childish, naïve, and not that open to new ideas. My original plan to gain some allies in the University had been a bust, and looking for allies outside of U.A. would take some time, at least, during my stay, anyway. But I don't have much time. I have more plans to focus on.

Resolving myself, I bit my lip hard enough to create a small cut, allowing me to create a blood-red mask that hid me face. I, however, didn't stop there and formed a voice modulator as well.

Not wanting to come off as dangerous, I made sure to make my presence known as gently as I could. As I took a step, the bunny girl's ears twitched and she immediately faced me, hands prepared to throw a fist. Keeping my arms up non-threateningly, I started, "I come with no intentions to harm you, Miss." My voice came out somewhat robotic, causing the woman in front of me to cringe slightly.

"Yeah? Well, I have intentions to harm ya if you don't start talking!" The shorter woman replied aggressively, making me quirk an eyebrow. 'More aggressive than anticipated, but nothing to be worried about.' Lowering my arms, I proceeded to lean against the wall beside me, showing no intentions to do anything rash.

"I happened to see what you did to that thug earlier, and let us say that I was simply impressed." As she took in my response, the bunny girl looked at me weirdly. 

Guard still up and not faltering, she replied, "You...followed me around for, like, 15 minutes after I beat up some dude trying to rob a girl?" With this confirmation, I simply nodded.

"You're weird." The white-haired woman stated, but I shrugged it off, unbothered.

"I'm impressed, because not only have you defeated a man possibly on steroids twice your size with, what I believe, to be your own strength and not your quirk's, but you also made a comment stating that you had done this multiple times before." Faintly, I noticed that she was seemingly glad about the complement.

"Well, someone's gonna do it. There's too many weak sissies walking around and too many god damned retards doing whatever shit they want, so someone's gonna have ta pick up the slack!" A fire burned behind her eyes, and her words were sincere, a sense of pride and duty placed upon this mission of hers she had placed upon herself.

"Wait. Are you a vigilante? Cuz let me tell you this, tons of vigilantes told me to fuck off and be a good little girl already, but I didn't give them jack shit! So don't try to talk me out of this, it'd be a waste of both our time." It was an unexpected admission, but helpful nonetheless. If vigilantes and the police had failed to dissuade the woman from doing all this, then she definitely has what it takes.

Shaking my head, I smiled behind my mask and said, "No, no. That is not why I was following you. In fact, my motives for doing so is quite the opposite of what you are thinking off!" The woman was surprised at this, but she remained guarded all the same, which was admirable.

"Wat'cha mean?" I smirked, glad she asked the question.

"You see, I have been looking for people, people with potential to be Heroes. And not just any hero, but a True Hero." To here, the woman grew confused, before scoffing and crossing her arms, finally deeming that I was not a threat.

"Don't tell me you're some fucked up revolutionist wanting to fight against the system and yada yada?" Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh. Yes, one could see it that way. In fact, that is what I am!

Pushing myself off the wall, I began to walk towards her. "I am, but also add, rich, powerful, and confident in my plans in that." 

With a glare, the white-haired woman replied, "Nah, doesn't matter. Best I don't get involved with the likes of you." She was prepared to leave, and I was prepared to do more drastic measures to recruit her, but in the middle of it all, the digital billboard just so happened to show one of All Might's most recent actions.

The headline read, [All Might saves 29 people from a landslide as nearby heroes were unable to help due to their quirks not fitting the situation.], and a short video showed how All Might jumped over a trio of "heroes" idling by doing nothing.

"Tch. Fucking bastards." Turning to face the shorter woman, her face was all it took for me know that she would be a good ally to have, and it told me what I just needed to say.

""Quirks not fitting the situation", they say. They just don't want say that they didn't care about the people. You see this, Rumi-san? It's disgusting. Even without a use of any kind of quirk I could think up to five different ways to save people trapped in that landslide." Now standing beside her, I continued. "If All Might wasn't there, what could have happened to all those people. What could happen to all those people around the world if people like All Might, Heroes, weren't there, while those wastes of space do nothing."

Taking a breath, I glanced at the woman beside me who has yet to run. "The System is flawed, Rumi-san. The concept of Heroes this day and age is flawed. What separates All Might and many others from the rest? It's not because of overwhelming power, it's not because All Might's charismatic, and it's not because of All Might is a good person. It is because he is a True Hero. Righteous, brave, determined and courageous. But most of all, he chose to become a Hero not for the fame, the money, or the social standing, but because he wanted to save people." 

Sitting down and letting my feet sway off the rooftop's edge, I stared at the bright, starry night. "Anyone can throw a punch, but that does not mean they can be a fighter. Anyone can become a Professional Hero, but not everyone can be a Hero. Let me ask you this, are you going to be a Pro, or are you going to become a Hero?" 

"What are we doing here, Yuri-onee-sama?" Momo, my sweet younger sister, asked as she took sight of the dump that was supposed to be a beach.

"This is Dagobah Beach, or rather, was. Now, this is Momori Beach since mother changed it's name when she bought it. Anyway, we are here now to help you train." At my answer, my little sister grew shocked, before grinning widely and jumping on her spot multiple times.

"Are you going to finally train me, onee-sama!?!" Smiling softly, I stopped Momo from practically vibrating on the spot by placing my hand on her head.

"Although I'm flattered you think so highly of me, I have told you time and time again that our teachers are still far better than I am. But, we are going off topic now. In truth, although I brought you here to train, that was not the only reason." Just as I said that, one of the mountain of a trash pile suddenly swayed before falling with someone roaring in victory afterwards.

"This had been a training ground of a friend of mine for years, and she's here to help us out in our training."

Chapter Text

<Rumi's POV>

It was a Platinum Card. A god-damned PLATINUM CARD! And that damned mad revolutionist just gave it to me like it was a fucking piece of candy! "Use it however you want.", the bitch said, and I sure damn will!

"Still...what did I get myself into?" I asked myself this, clearly remembering how I got sucked into this convoluted plot. "Let me ask you this, are you going to be a Pro, or are you going to become a Hero?" It wasn't a question, but a challenge. And I was nothing but a competitive gal always ready to prove herself. Honestly, her little speech was...moving, to say the least. Anyone smart enough and ready enough to see the world as it is can tell that the world was fucked up. 

There were a lot of shit-stains going around, flashing their god-damned Pro status with no bite to show for, I knew that. There were a lot of bastards who would rather let others do their job instead of doing what they can, no matter how little it can do. But that girl, Yaoyorozu Yuriko, made me see more. "Society relies far too much on All Might. But, a time will come when he's not there anymore, and that will be the time society crumbles." Was her parting words to me, and it chilled me to the bone.

All Might, the ever dependable, the Hero among Heroes, was someone every children looked up to, what every Hero revered, and what every Villain feared. But he'll disappear one day, either by retirement or something else, and what would happen to society then? "Villains will rise, and Heroes will fall." It was a statement some average smuck would laugh at, but it was the clear truth. With no All Might, society will fall. But...

"I need people, Rumi-san. I need allies, to prevent such a future. I have money, I have power, but there is not much one person can do. Tell me, Rumi-san, will you aid me in this mission of mine? Will you aid me in bringing about a better future? A future where no one has to worry about Villains roaming around the streets, a future where children can smile and dream? A future, where we get to watch in contentment?"

Clutching the card in my hand, I stared at the hustling and bustling mall in front of me. If I wanted to follow through my end of the deal, then I shouldn't hold back and push myself to the max. Because, in the end of it all, how is this any different from what I wanted to do in the first place?

<Momo's POV>

Training with Yuri-onee-sama was the best! Although she herself had admitted to be no master, I always did learn better from her rather than from our teachers. It was not that Yuri-onee-sama was a great teacher herself, but her attitude, combined with her personal experience and knowledge, motivated me to learn more. 

Though, it could have been better if Rumi-san was uninvolved in all our training time. I hold no resentment for my onee-sama's friend, but I would have highly preferred if it was Yuri-onee-sama and I training together. Still, all was not bad. Despite Rumi-san's brash and aggressive attitude, and also her constant swearing, she, admittedly, was also helpful in our training. Both Yuri-onee-sama and I's fighting discipline was focused more on strength and defense, while Rumi-san had a more wild kind of fighting style, attributed by her admittedly illegal fights in fighting rings and street smarts and no proper training (or rather, her lack of discipline in learning one.). 

"I legit still can't understand how you pack so much oomph behind those arms of yours. Hell! I don't understand how their both soft and hard at the same time! Like, what the fuck!?!" It was times like these where I wished to inflict bodily harm outside of sparring. There she was, the rabbit woman molesting my Yuri-onee-sama, poking, prodding, and squeezing her wonderful biceps. "But I sure as hell ain't trading them for these bad girls!" 

'Onee-sama! I implore you to not look at that woman's legs!' If only I was older so that I could finally gain more muscles and use Yuri-onee-sama's secret juice. It was something Yuri-onee-sama promised me in the past, to help me become stronger, but I was unfortunately still not of age for them!

"Come, Momo, we have reached the end of our break." Pulling me away from my thoughts, Yuri-onee-sama set down her towel, body already in position for another spar. 

"Hah. The brat definitely got some fire in her!" At the rabbit woman's words, despite it being a compliment, I felt that she was looking down on me. Not liking the feeling, I stared deep into my older sister's eyes and resolved myself to one day be able to stand by her side.

<Yuriko's POV|Massive Timeskip>

"Oy, Yuri! Don't you think this looks a lot like you!?!" Rumi laughed as she showed me a meme from the Pre-Quirk era, but I simply graced her with a tame, "Hmm.." as a response.

Seeing that I didn't even give her a chuckle, Rumi put on a worried look. "Hey, what's with you? This kind of shit would usually at least get me a grunt." As we had formed a friendship this past two years, Rumi had been able to take note of my tells and put a mark on my personality, much to my dissatisfaction. I did not intend for Rumi to know more about me than I allowed her to know, but the aggressive rabbit woman was far more perceptive than her temperament let her seem to be.

And although this friendship of ours was an unexpected outcome, it was something that I did not end, and had even been active in as well, as evidenced by how effective Rumi's worried look was with making me spill the beans. "The HPSC had...contacted me yesterday."

At my admission, Rumi's fur bristled and she let out a growl. Over the course of the years as I expanded on my mission, i.e. made my own "Bat Cave", I was able to hack into the HPSC's network and had found many things about the governmental organization, from their initiatives and plans, to their dirtiest of secrets that were disgusting to the core. I had shared some of my findings to Rumi, as more incentive to fight against the system, so she was in the know of what we were facing against.

"Are you finally going to start with the plan?" My friend asked, her previously angry disposition morphing into a look of savagery.

I, in turn, did the same. "It'll take a few months, but by the end of it all, the HPSC would be as good as mine." Heroes, they did what they had to do in the name of Justice and for the safety of the people, but I am no Hero, for what I need to do far exceeds the duties and moralities of Heroes.

"Just keep on doing what I entrusted you with, Rumi. Let your agency grow, inspire true Heroism, and by the end of it all, we shall begin our revolution."

The Hero Public Safety Commission was not as great as the common people believed it to be. Like any kind of governmental body, or any organization with power, corrupt people will no doubt pop up inside of them. In the start, the HPSC really did strive for the safety of the people, but as century passed, people with crueler intentions had wormed themselves inside its ranks and had now unfortunately turned the once proud and wonderful organization into something devious. The current President of the HPSC, Iwamoto Juro, was corrupt as one can be. He had kidnapped children with powerful quirks and had trained them to be his dogs, and not only that, he had turned one aspiring Heroine, Lady Nagant, Tsutsumi Kaina, into a machine he uses to kill off Heroes and other politicians he felt was a threat to his reign. It was truly a disgusting thing, and one I was prepared to remedy once I sink my clutches into the HPSC. 

Chapter Text

<Nezu's POV>

It has been an interesting past three years, and it all stemmed from one person. Yaoyorozu Yuriko. She was an enigma. For some reason, she showed herself to be akin to an Angel when she was out in public, always so genial, so compassionate, so inspirational, but at those rare time I had caught a glimpse of her at their abode she had been so cold, so mature in a sense that shouldn't be possible for a teenager to be. I also remember that time when I had saved her from her kidnappers. When I had first seen her, tied up shoddily on a chair, I pitied her, but that changed when, among the fear and distress in her eyes, she was furious and had a glint of something a child should not have. 

This past years, the only reason why I was even able to get a glimpse of what the girl was, was when she had stopped a rather disturbing case of discrimination on her second year here. A student with a non-flashy quirk, Grasshopper, in which allowed them to jump better and farther than normal humans, was being bullied by someone with a flashy quirk. It was at times like these where I wished I could do more to society's current standing in Quirks, but I'm getting off topic. It turns out that the student with the flashy quirk had been bullying the other child since middle school, and they didn't quite like how someone with a "shit" quirk got into a prestigious university and had, at the peak pf their bullying, suicide baited them. It was during this time that Miss Yaoyorozu appeared and had detained the student and had reassured the student with the Grasshopper quirk with a rather inspirational speech, like she did with many others. To everyone else, it just seemed that Miss Yaoyorozu was doing her part as a Hero student, but as I had access to the cameras, I was able to see more.

Miss Yaoyorozu, whose perfect demeanor at school, had broke at that moment. She had watched the interaction between the bully and the bullied, like many others as it was done in a not-so-private location, and during that time, despite the calm exterior, her eyes were positively burning with righteous fury. The teen had already shown signs of intervening, but it was at that time where the bully had publicly told someone to off themselves, and Miss Yaoyorozu's expression broke, showing her true emotions, and I felt that she took all ounce of her self-control to not do anything more to the younger teen than simply detain him.

The bully was, of course, expelled and would definitely be having a hard time finding a Hero university that would accept them.

As for Miss Yaoyorozu, despite the mystery and secrets shrouding her, I felt that she had what it took to be a Hero. Now, however, was her curious choice of joining the HPSC as their Hero Gadget engineer.

<Yuriko's POV>

"Welcome, Miss Yaoyorozu! We are honored you have chosen to work with us! It truly is wonderful to have a Yaoyorozu as our Support Gear engineer!" Iwamoto Juro, the HPSC's President, greeted me personally. A large smile, a well-mannered greeting, and a cheery disposition, one wouldn't think that this man was responsible for the kidnapping of 50 kids around 2 decades ago.

"I am also glad to receive your invitation, Iwamoto-shachou. This will be a good experience before I inherit my family's company." At the mention of working for them temporarily, a glint passed by the man's eyes. I already knew what he wanted of me, a poster girl for propaganda and to personally create and arm his dogs, so the promise of one day leaving his grasp surely jostled him a bit.

"True, true. As the heir to the Yaoyorozu company, you would require to prove yourself, yes? Either way, I welcome you to the Hero Public Safety Committee's HQ! I do expect many things from you, Miss Yaoyorozu!" Waving his hand, a woman stood beside him, a secretary from the looks of her attire and what she was carrying. "This is my Secretary, Arai Maiko, and she will be giving you a tour of our building before eventually leading you to your work space! Well then, goodbye for now, Miss Yaoyorozu." And after that, he left, his expression falling a second before he was fully facing away from me.

"Shall we begin your tour, Yaoyorozu-san?" The secretary asked, and with a genial smile, I complied.

<Massive Timeskip>

Working "for" the HPSC was an...experience, to say the least. There had been no blatant showing of corruption, but it still existed. "Heroes" would discreetly take confiscated items and ignore orders and some of the higher-ups would use their position for nefarious reasons. The worst of all, however, was the President. Among his previous atrocities I have mentioned, he was making deals with the big names in the underworld and was funding some not so heroic projects.

I have, of course, searched for the naïve and unaware people among the HPSC as well. Among the 50 kidnapped children, a total of 43 remained, and 21 of those now teens were not completely under the President's influence, a good sign for reformation and potential. Most of the new heroes who signed a contract to work under the HPSC were also unaware of the corruption, simply joining under the belief that the organization would help them with their career. Saving them from the clutches of the President, and the other corrupt officials, was something I must do, naturally. As for the staff members, the ones with lesser jobs and standing were not part of the corruption.

The most surprising thing, however, was the HPSC's Vice-President, Machi Mari. She was very aware of the HPSC's corruption, but she was clearly against it and was even fighting it! I only found this out when I had hacked into her contacts and had seen her conversation with her own people, of which detailed plans and actions that would oppose the President's and the other corrupt officials' actions. As someone who preferred directly dealing with my problems and personally leading my projects, turning Machi Mari into my ally and appointing her as HPSC's president would be ideal.

Though, the most pressing matter I have to deal with was one Lady Nagant, the President's personal assassin. A young heroine fresh out of University turned into a cold, heartless, machine. The woman was always tasked to get rid of people who threatened the President's position and plans, and I, after a year of working as the HPSC's Support engineer, was now considered a threat to the President. Multiple times have I refused to create "Support Gear" that seemed to be harmless, but had dangerous components hidden in their blueprints, which I had all told the President as my reason for refusal. Not only that, I have refused multiple times to act as their poster girl and a lead in their propaganda. These, of course, were all reasons they can spin and use to fire me, but I personally consulted my family lawyer to create our contract with the HPSC, which they were originally fine with.

And now, a year of refusing to fall under the President's thumb, has led me to here, "Move, and I'll inject this experimental drug I have been working on."

<Kaina's POV>

Yaoyorozu Yuriko. The Angel of U.A. University, the Perfect Child, heir to the Yaoyorozu Support Engineering Company, and my newest target. If you ever asked me what I would be doing at this moment five years ago, I would have confidently answered that I would be saving people. Somehow, however, I now find myself hunting down and assassinating heroes and villains left and right. It started small at first, my superiors simply teaching me to be fiercer, to show less mercy against Villains, but then the training turned into something far crueler and my objectives became far darker. Then, it happened. I was given a mission to kill a corrupt hero, one who was selling reselling drugs he had taken from villains he had defeated. It was a mission that changed my life forever. 

At that time, I still held hope, hope that all of these torture, all these cruelty, was for a reason. In the end, however, I only found out that the HPSC was maintaining a fragile and hollow peace. My missions were to assassinate Heroes, Villains and regular people who threatened the order of society. And I, complete them with no fail. If it were the younger me, I would have questioned, "Why?". Why do I continue to follow such orders? You could say that I was threatened, but the truth is, after years of these killings, I had become disillusioned with the world. Killing all these people repulsed me, but if these kind of people ran around freely, how would society continue to live in its fragile peace?

In the end, as much as I hate all these, it was a necessary evil that I take upon myself to do. Such evils must not be freed and left alone, and no one should feel the need to do what I must. 

However, it was times like these where I wish I had not taken such a responsibility, to not rely so much on the HPSC's resources to keep the peace as it is. It was clear that Yaoyorozu had done nothing wrong, under than not folding under the President's will and commands. She was clearly innocent, but it was a mission I had to fulfill unless I myself want to be offed.

"Forgive me." I prayed, like I always did. I never believed in God, especially when life was this cruel, this unfair, but if He did exist, may he let my punishments not be light and may those who I have punished unjustly be given peace.

My objective was to make Yaoyorozu's death to be caused by a Support Gadget gone wrong. People will question just how a prodigy would make a mistake, but it would be a "reasonable" death.

Entering the laboratory had been easy, a Master Keycard was temporarily given to me to complete my mission. And with how spacious the laboratory was, I was able to quickly find my target, and I was fortunate enough that the woman was far too engrossed with her current creation. Gripping onto the glass vial in my hand, I took a shuddering breath. No matter how many times I have killed, I never truly did get used to it, much less grow to be accustomed to it, and killing innocent people was much worse. 

Quietly, I made sure my gas mask was strapped against my face properly. In my hand was a vial of modified sleeping "gas" (it was liquid, but contact with air molecules quickly turned it into a gaseous state.) meant for animals with powerful quirks meant for detainment and sedation, but is life-threatening for humans due to the differences in the quirk factor of the animals. It was perfect, as it was both painless and lines up with Yaoyorozu's earlier statements this month regarding researching more on the rare quirked animals.

Making this look like an accident would be easy. Once I uncorked the vial to look like it was accidentally not secured properly, I quickly left it on the floor, planning to plant it somewhere else more believable, and closed the door. Yaoyorozu won't notice it, and the only mercy she'll receive is dying painlessly and unknowingly. 

For 10 minutes I had waited for the chemical to settle, enough time to have surely...killed Yaoyorozu. Clutching my heart, I did my best to not tear up, but my emotions refused to calm themselves, and not wanting to catch anyone's attention, I resorted to punching the wall in front of me, to the point where blood began to pour from my fist. Seeing the droplets of blood was enough to snap me back to a more..."proper" headspace. Not wanting to leave any evidence, I wiped the blood off the wall and the floor with my shirt, before promptly tearing off the part I had used and used it as a bandage.

Taking some time to calm myself, I finally resolved myself to finish my task. Sighing in regret, I opened the door, and there, where the prodigious woman was tinkering with her creation, was now a corpse. Taking the now empty vial, I immediately placed it among a rack of unknown chemicals in a similar vial, which would push the evidence for this being an accident to be more prevalent.

Now, however, was the target. Staring at the lifeless figure below me, many emotions bubbled up inside my chest. So innocent, so righteous, the woman believed to be one of the greatest Support Gear engineers, the Perfect Angel, was now dead, by my hands no less. Oh how low I have fallen, to following the orders of a narcissistic monster, only so that I could keep such fragile peace and let no one else the same fate I was suffering now. If only villains didn't lurk the streets, if only there were more heroes like All Might, if only I hadn't been so-

"Move, and I'll inject this experimental drug I have been working on."

Chapter Text

<Yuriko's POV>

The needle was lodged right into a vein, and the smallest amount of push will send the experimental liquid coursing through her veins. "Do not resist. I'm not too fond with killing unnecessarily." At the mention of killing, the woman shuddered. And speaking of the woman, looking at her pink and purple hair, I immediately recognized who she was. Tsutsumi Kaina, the President's unwilling dog. Upon inserting myself into the HPSC, I immediately hacked into their servers. It wasn't an easy feat as hacking was not my strongest front, but I eventually had chipped my through their defenses and entered the darker webs of HPSC, had to even make a robot of my own to infect their electronics. It was through this that I was able to find out about Tsutsumi Kaina, about how they first set their sights on her, to what she had become now. However, the most pressing thing about this all was the use of mind-altering quirk to keep her chained to her "duty". Any normal person would have reported the cruel methods being instilled in their training routine, and a Hero-to-be would especially not kill anyone simply because they were told to with no further details. 

It was a sad thing, Tsutsumi Kaina's situation was, and here she was, seemingly ready to die by my hands. Seeing such a depressing display (a hero, dead with no one's notice, a hole through the head.), I pulled the syringe off from her neck, surprising her. However, as she turned around with a confused, "Huh?", I blew a breath mixed with narcotic properties towards her. "Wh-....huh?" Like a drunkard, she swayed in place, but soon enough, she fell unconscious. I looked at the sleeping woman below me, peaceful and untroubled (From miles away, a bullet came, piercing through the head of many heroes.), before huffing and pressing on a hidden panel on the wall beside me. Then, the wall in front of me shifted, soon turning into a reinforced door which opened. Scooping up the woman into a Princess Carry, I went towards an empty capsule.

"It's earlier than expected, but I have no choice but to take over now." I muttered to myself as I opened a capsule and began to undress the woman. It was...discomforting, taking off the clothes of an unconscious woman, but I cut off the feeling and proceeded to do my task. If I wanted to hopefully erase the effects of the mind-altering quirk, it was necessary for nothing to obstruct the process. Once finished, I closed the capsule and soon enough, a viscous liquid filled the capsule. When I had found out about Tsutsumi-san's situation, I had created this capsule specifically for her. I am no neurosurgeon, but I always was best when it comes to Quirks. If I was successful in what I am about to do, I may be able to gain a strong ally, if not, at least create something that can help victims of mind-altering quirks, and possibly help those whose own quirks affect their own brains negatively.

Then, while the process of reverse mind-alteration was in affect, I took out my phone and sent a text to my most trusted ally and friend. [Please watch over my family for a few days.]

Iwamoto has made his move. As such, I must retaliate with my own.

<Rumi's POV>

"Hey there squirt! Wanna spar with your big sis!?" I've already been to the Yaoyorozu's a million times already, and I still can't help but be in awe of their wealth. Yuri's folks already considered me as part of the family after the 20th visit, and despite the youngest Yaoyorozu's complaints, so they let me come in whenever I wanted, even gave me a key and all that. 

"Hmph! Like anyone would like to spar with a rabbit!" Despite being considered by the older Yaoyorozus' as family and being Yuri's best(only)friend for over a year, Momo still didn't like me, probably jealous and all that. It was amusing, really, but I could see why. Not only was Yuri her idol, she was also an absolute siscon! Honestly, if I was Yuri's younger sister, I'd be like, the same. Yuri's the coolest woman. She kind, compassionate, generous, talented and great! But she's far from being a wallflower! She's fearless, powerful, and not afraid of consequences as long as she completes the mission, not so different from my own ideology! And she's super hot when she goes furious. It's not a plus, but a multiply!

'God. Simp me is cringe.' I shake away this thought, now focusing on a more important one.

[Please watch over my family for a few days.] Yeah, not ominous at all. The moment I received the text, I immediately dropped whatever plans I had for the day and came here. If she asked me specifically, then it had something to do with her personal work. Having accepted to work under Yuriko, to gain her sponsorship and receive advantages, also meant that I was aware of her mission. I had, at first, thought of her as simply someone who was a lunatic, going with the flow to check wether Yuriko was a danger to society and to bring her in when I deem it so. But a year with her, with being her friend, had shown me what she was capable of, of what she wouldn't do to achieve her goals. It had alarmed me at first, the lengths of what she would stoop to, to achieve everything, but Yuriko was nothing but charismatic and convincing. It didn't help that her fears were far too real and far too possible.

Honestly, it was quite exhilarating being part of all this. Like some bad-ass action movie, but it was in real life and the risks were far too close for comfort, for a normal person, that is. You wouldn't accept working in an organization set on revolutionizing the whole Hero and Villain world, with the leader of said organization being a possible psychopath, without having a few loose screws in your head.

"Aww~. Is the wittle rabbit scared~? I get it, I get it. Not everyone has the guts to be the greatest, like me." A challenge, something that Momo wouldn't usually rise to. Usually, being the operative word here. Momo wasn't a competitive person, following her sister's outward persona og being genial and all, but in truth, she wasn't so different from her sister after all. A normal challenge won't get the rise out of her, but anything involving her goals will. Just like her sister.

"Are you questioning my Will to become the Number 1 Hero?" It was calm, but there was an undertone of rage, so much like her sister. Yaoyorozus' were quite good in keeping their emotions in check. Honestly, a furious, but expresionless, Yuriko was downright frightening, so much different from being furious and showing it. I rarely saw it, but I saw it enough times to know that it was reserved for the most disgusting kind of Villains, namely pedophiles and rapists.

"Well, I never backed down from any challenge. Just saying." A comparison, of her and I, a Hero rising through the ranks through skill, determination, and ferocity. Momo had always been jealous of me, always taking away her sister's attention, always a figure, a wall, to conquer. 

"No stopping until one's unconscious, good?" Calm, but fuming. Hungry, a predator, but calculating.

"I'm gonna make you regret that." So much like her sister, but still so different. This babysitting job won't be so bad after all.

<Third Person's POV>

One message was sent, for all of the important members of the HPSC, an emergency from the President. In the wide meeting room, muttering and complaints were being passed around. Many were annoyed with being pulled away from what they were doing, especially when no further details were given save for the message saying [EMERGENCY] and a time, and some were genuinely concerned about said emergency, and such thoughts were amplified with the President, the sender, being late to his own emergency.

However, at the ten minute mark, the doors were suddenly kicked open, and then came in a peeved Iwamoto, looking downright apoplectic. "Who was it?!" An angry question, one that sent everyone into confusion. If they had been annoyed earlier, then now they were completely afraid. It was normal for Iwamoto to show aggression, but outright rage? Now they knew something was wrong.

Here, a brave soul asked, "Who is it, really, that you are looking for?" And that brave soul earned a damning glare for their efforts.

"Which of you bastards had the audacity to perform a meeting without my say so?!" A wave of confusion came over the group, and seeing their sudden expression, the raging man now gained a sudden look of realization.

Then, out of nowhere, before anyone can react, the doors to the meeting room slammed shut, and what followed afterwards were multiple, red "things" suddenly appeared from underneath the table, all of which had detained the seated people, coiling and wrapping around them like a mummy's wrappings, only leaving their eyes for them to see. Iwamoto, however, was stuck in a rather awkward position, having slammed his hands on the table in anger and now stuck in place.

"I am glad you have finally come, Iwamoto." Then, a voice, one most were familiar with, coming from the President's seat. When they had entered, the large, imposing seat was empty and facing them, but now, it was turned around, facing away from the people who had been detained.

"MMPPHHH! PPPPHHH!!" The man tried ti demand to be freed, but like everyone else, his words were muffled with the hard, ribbon-like material that had covered their mouths. 

Without much theatrics, the person on the seat swerved and showed themselves, giving everyone present quite the shock. Yaoyorozu Yuriko, no one in the HPSC didn't know who the woman was. She was known for her kindness, her beauty, and innovation. Under the HPSC, she had engineered numerous support gears for various Heroes. However, the executives of the HPSC knew her more for something else, the woman who failed to fall under their thumb. And now, she looked quite different from how they remember her. Gone was the genial disposition, now replaced with a silent, observant predator. Instead of the fashionable, but soft casual wear she was usually seen with, she now wore a purple high-end suit so dark it would easily blend in with the night. The most surprising of all, though, were her eyes that stared at them like they were worth nothing like the dirt she stepped on.

They tried to struggle, find a way out, to retaliate, but it was futile, and dread filled many as they came to find that they were unable to activate their quirks. Yuriko watched with seeming disinterest, before her gaze then landed on the one who kept struggling the most. Thrashing and shouting, Iwamoto tried to escape, unable to accept the futility of it.

"Disappointing." One word. It only took one word for Iwamoto to stop in his attempts, rage filling his head, promises of torture and death swirling in his thoughts.

Pulling out an empty vial from one of the pockets of her suit, Yuriko began. "The Hero Public Safety Commission. I had high hopes for it, truly, despite knowing it had corrupted people leading it. But, in the end, it disappointed me." Cold and insensible, Yuriko gave the executives a glance. "You all did." Voice chilling, promising of death, it sent a chill down their spine.

"Well, except for Machi-san over there. Oh! Let me make it more comfortable for you, Machi-san." A surprise, rattling some, but the blonde woman beside Yuriko was even more so startled, especially when the ribbon-like wrappings had receded and completely freed her from her bindings. Much to Yuriko's delight, save for a wary, curious look, the vice-president didn't utter a word, nor did she make any actions that would have surely forced her to be detained. A smart woman, truly. She understood very well what situation she was in and the privilege she was given.

"I had hoped that despite your greed, you would have still sought for, nay, even simply thought of the safety of the people. But during my stay here, I saw no qualities that would have made you redeemable. Honestly, I intended to take over the HPSC in one more year," At this, many were once more shocked, finding it hard, despite in their current circumstance, that the sweet woman they believed Yuriko to be had such a dastardly plan in the beginning. "But Iwamoto's attempt on my life had forwarded such plans." This, however, most were aware of, and by the damning look from Machi, she was unaware of such a fact, and Yuriko believed if the woman knew, she would have tried to save her, like the many times she had tried to do in an effort to do what's right.

"Iwamoto would surely know something was wrong if Tsutsumi-san failed to report my death, so, you could say that Iwamoto's to blame for your upcoming demise. In the least, if it wasn't for him, you would still have had a year to enjoy your cruelty." The woman mocked, her bark being as true as her bite when the trapped executives felt multiple sharp things poking at random parts of their body, eliciting a round of pleas and tears.

Crossing her arms, Yuriko allowed a smirk to show, eyes mocking and teeth bared. "Of course, to avoid suspicion, I will have to resort to some rather underhanded means. There is no need for you to worry, I will make your death painless, for I am a merciful woman." And as syringes appeared from the ribbons and proceeded to inject an unknown liquid into the executives, Yuriko huffed at the unconscious form of about a dozen people.

"Now, you." Save for Machi, who was stewing in her seat at the sight of what she believed was the death of her rotten colleagues, Iwamoto was the only one conscious. "Honestly, I am grateful for your naivety. It gladdens me how my facade had been so effective. Not once had you believed I would be capable of doing cruel things, much less anything that was amoral. And due to that, I was able to get my hands on some rather hard to get items. Like this Trigger drug." Yuriko pointed out, now allowing the two conscious people to know of what the vial once held.

"A drug that boosts a quirk's strength for two hours. A marvelous feat of chemical engineering! Though, the Trigger here in Japan is quite disappointing with its side-effect of addiction and the damage it causes to ones body. Oh, if only I was a prodigious chemical engineer..." The woman trailed off, causing Machi's eyes to widen in anticipation. "Unfortunately, I am not." This, undoubtedly, put Machi's mind at ease, but she also gained slight disappointment at the fact.

Yuriko, meanwhile, just smirked as she continued. "But my parents owned a company filled with such brilliant and loyal people!" The surprising reveal caused Machi to suck in breath, dread and curiosity filling her being. She was still unsure of what Yuriko's true aim was, but unable to do anything else, Machi waz only able to listen.

"I have supplemented my growth with all sorts of drugs, they were all safe, mind you, and it allowed me to have the strength of an average quirk-strength-enhanced person despite my frame! Then, having found out about Trigger, I grew curious. I already had a powerful quirk, allowing me to create any material with the use of my blood, so what would a safe, stronger, version of Trigger would do to me? Well, as you can see, it gave me an interesting ability to control the materials I have produced." The ravenette made a show of forming a large blade from the ribbon (metal) that confined Iwamoto, aiming said creation to his neck.

"This, truly, can be called as one of the good things you have contributed to society. And for that, I thank you." Without another word, a syringe formed from the ribbon and injected itself to Iwamoto's neck. Moments later, he fell unconscious. 

Silence, then, permeated the meeting room. Machi was nervous, afraid, but she hadn't made it to her position in the HPSC by being afraid, not when everyone around her had been the lowest of the low. The scum of the Earth. She turned and glared at Yuriko, who then surprised her with a comforting smile.

"There is no need for that now, Machi-san. Unlike everyone here, you were the only one I had approved of to be in a position of power. I had given you a show of trust by letting you remain unrestrained, so trust me when I say that all I did today, was for the good of the people. And what I will do from here on out, will remain the same. However, here I ask you, are you satisfied with our society today? Or are you willing to do everything in your power to achieve a better future?"

Chapter Text

<Third Person's POV>

The Hero Public Safety Commission was a governmental organization that possibly had more power than Japan's actual Government. Everything Hero related, they had a hand in it. From mobilizing Heroes for emergencies, to Hero Schools, and to even managing Hero-related merchandises.

Now, basically having heroes at your beck-and-call, they had power that all the villains feared. So, it was expected that the HPSC would receive massive criticism and distrust when nearly 30% of the organization were killed during a villain attack, with the death of the executives being the greatest blow of all. The death of so many people truly was a tragic event, but the media could not help but latch onto the juicer and more drama-inducing fact they had.

"How can such a powerful organization fall so easily!?" This question was asked during a press conference headed by Machi Mari, the newly appointed President of the HPSC.

Truly, how can such a powerful entity have most of its personnel die? Especially when nearly half of said personnel were experienced heroes. This not only damages the image of the HPSC, but it also damages Japan as a whole. With the death of a multitude of heroes in one day, foreign countries can take this chance for nefarious purposes and villains, especially so, now have more opportunities to commit their evil deeds.

Shockingly, however, instead of a rise in crime rates and pressure from foreign powers, the HPSC had doubled down on their control over Heroes. With heavy backing from the Yaoyorozus, "Heroes" that weren't under the HPSC's payroll were enticed and motivated to work more, a new HQ was created in Musutafu in mere days with better security, and the political side was dealt with perfectly by the new HPSC President, Machi Mari, the former Vice President.

What the public didn't know, obviously, was that the attack on the HPSC wasn't caused by a Villain Organization, but was something orchestrated by Yuriko to kill off a good chunk of the corrupted portion of the HPSC. Was it overkill? It sure was. Was it necessary? Not really. Did Yuriko care? Somewhat, but it was something that was truly a miscalculation on Yuriko's part. The ravenette had intended to kill off the people who were the most corrupt and posed the most danger to her plans, which consisted of about 20% of the HPSC, but she had underestimated the tenacity of the bugs she had meant to kill.

As for the cash incentive, it was simply a temporary fix to keep the villains and criminals in check. The woman detested the fact that she had to interact with Pro Heroes, but despite her main belief on the after mentioned occupation, it was still a needed action to take, and it was not like there weren't any Heroes among them. And on the more political side of the HPSC, Yuriko helped her newly gained ally by giving her what the woman needed, from blackmail materials to money for projects.

By the end of the year, the Hero Public Safety Commission had surpassed their previous strength and public image. The governmental organization had created a fair share of scandals after the "Incident", like firing a multitude of Pros and abolishing the current Hero Ranking system. Firing a multitude of Pros was one thing, but abolishing a System that the whole of society practically relied on? Now that had surely sent a lot of people off kilter.

Even before the public and the Pros can begin with a riot, Machi Mari had already contacted a press conference. In an auditorium made for conferences and large meetings, it was filled to the brim with people ranging from news stations to even even some minor media outlets, and among them were Pro Heroes. Some sported a heated scowl, some had contemplative gazes, and a small amount were silently stewing in curiosity. The auditorium was filled with murmurs as they waited, and eventually, their patience were rewarded by the presence of an Angel.

Save for the sound of camera flashes, there were no other sounds. To everyone, Yuriko's presence demanded attention and silence, an effect which the woman had intended. However, although Yuriko usually had such an effect on people, even her demeanor and aura wouldn't silence a mob of furious Pros and the media. For the ravenette to achieve her current achievement, the woman had set out a scentless and harmless chemical gas out through the vents, one that she had made one of her parents' employees create to help calm the raging mob.

Mic in hand, Yuriko began, "Good evening. I am Yaoyorozu Yuriko, and I thank you all for arriving on such short notice. As you all must know, the Hero Public Safety Commission had just fired many Pro Heroes from our organization, and more conversely, abolished the Hero Ranking system. We are aware you all have your questions, but this is why we have conducted this press conference, to answer such questions. However, to make the proceedings to go smoothly, we implore you to please refrain from being rude and being aggressive, for if you do, we will simply kick you out of the building, regardless of who you are and who you work for." A simple, gentle smile, soft and serene, but a promise was laced with it, a threat. "Now, I will leave the floor to the Hero Public Safety Commission's President, Miss Machi Mari."

As Yuriko left the podium for Mari, took her place and then came an onslaught of flashing lights once more. A wave of questions were about to erupt, but a lool from the angelic person behind tge President had rendered the whole auditorium silent, reminding of what was said only seconds earlier.

"I greet you all to today's press conference. As you all know, I am Machi Mari, the Hero Public Safety Commission's newly appointed President. Now, to address the actions we have done, let me first start with this. After the incident that had led to the deaths of many of the HPSC's higher-ups and some Pre Heroes, we had performed an investigation, not only on the villain organization who instigated this, but on ourself as well." At this confession, murmurs filled the auditorium, and seeing Mari's encouraging gesture, hands were then raised.

Choosing at random, Mari pointed at a reporter that had a small bush for hair. "Miss Mari, to this day, we are still unsure of the unknown villain organization's true motives, much less even their names and names of their leader! Has your investigation found anything?"

Nodding her head, the blonde, middle-aged woman answered. "The villain organization itself had no name, believing that their "Justice" need not to be named, and as for their leader, we have been able find out that he was a man named Fuji Rae, 51 years old, and had a quirk called <Nightmare of the Dead>, a quirk that caused him to have nightmares of memories of people before they were killed. According to him, due to his quirk, he was able to find out a lot of the...darker side of the HPSC." The reporters and Pros looked on, knowing something far more serious appeared. "With his apparent confession, we had also begun to investigate the HPSC, more specifically, those who were killed... And I am deeply appalled and apologetic to reveal that most, if not all, of the people killed....akin to villains."

Reporters, then, began to shout out questions, trying to find out more about what the woman had revealed. The auditorium had become noisy to the point that it was deafening. People were trying to shout over each other, to be louder, to try to be heard, but it was all futile as all their cries were mixed into an incoherent mess.

*HHHHHHOOOOOOOOONNNNNKKKKK!!!*

Then, as if to contest the roaring mob of Pros and reporters, a horn then filped the auditorium, effectively shutting up the people present. Eyes now focused on the small item on Mari's hand, the woman began. "That is your first, and only, warning. Act like elementary students once again and we will kick you out as promised." Fortunately, many had the audacity to look embarrassed, while some simply looked peeved, but did not try to contest the woman in front of them.

"To answer your...questions, unknown to the public and most of the HPSC, many of the administration and some of the Pro Heroes were...corrupt, and not just corrupt, but downright villainous. Just to name some horrendous acts done by them, these..."people" have resold confiscated drugs, dealt in human trafficking, kidnapping, rape and illegal quirkless fighting rings." Another round of roaring questions would have surely erupted, had it not been the sight of Yuriko stepping forward, a gun-like item loaded with a net, keeping them from doing so.

"The worst case was with the HPSC's former President. Iwamoto's tenure as the President had garned many suspicions, but his seemingly righteous personality had kept such suspicious at bay. In truth, however, the man had practically groomed a Pro Hero under us using cruel means, such as mind-alteration with the use of quirks, and turned them into his personal assassin. An assassin, which, he had set onto his rivals and people who threatened his position. Trust me, he had done far crueler acts, but this is one of the things I am comfortable to reveal about him out in public." The auditorium was quiet, trying to make heads and tails about what they had just found out. It was a hard pill to swallow, finding out that the people who were supposed to protect you turned out to be someone they needed protection from.

Taking this chance, Mari continued. "With our continued investigation on our own organization, we have, unfortunately, found Pros and more of our people being corrupt, which had led us to firing, and currently, arrest these people." With the woman's announcement, many proceeded to check their phones and search for anything relating what had been said. There, in multiple media platforms, the trending, highest, topic was about the subsequent arrest of multiple Pro Heroes.

"We will now take this time to answer some of your questions." Pulled out of their stupor, with Mari's encouragement, many reporters raised their hands in hopes of getting answers. Sweeping her gaze, Mari, once again, chose a random reporter.

"Miss President, you must already know that revealing that those who were killed during the incident, and all these Pros- now former Pro Heroes, I believe, were all corrupted, with some being downright villainous in nature, will reflect on badly not only on the HPSC's reliability and image, but the whole of the Hero society as well! How are you going to solve the oncoming onslaught of problems this will bring us?" The question was given bluntly, the reporter not trting to sugarcoat their words for the public that was surely watching all of the proceedings live.

Nodding simply, Mari answered with perfected professionalism. "Between a short term problem and a long term one, the choice was obvious. If we were to have prolonged doing what we had done, then the situation may have spiraled out of our control. True, we have weakened Japan's Hero force somewhat and caused public unrest, but such scenarios were taken into account and we believed that it was better to have it, rather than have a far bigger problem in the future. Could we have done a better, less damaging, course of action? Yes. But we had enough time to do so? No. After the incident, we have encountered many corrupted Heroes trying to fill in the space with their people and their allies, which was something we can not allow. Of course, we taken the problems that will occur after this into account, and that is why, despite the lack of manpower in certain areas, villainous activity remained the same. Actually, it lessened somewhat." This had come as a shock to everyone, especially when they realized that, if there truly was a lack of man power and the subsequent arrest of so many Pro Heroes was aired to the public, how come there had been no emergencies and emergence of villains left and right?

As the peoope had this realization, Mari allowed herself to smirk. "For the past years, we have been far too reliant on Pro Heroes to save the day, and despite their abundance, there were also an abundance of criminals and villains. Due to the normalcy of Pros saving the day, it seems that people had forgotten that Pros are not the only ones who can protect us." From behind Mari, the large screen came to life and began to play a video. They watched as Pros and side-kicks (they assumed due to the uniform.) took down a group of villains with ease, and they were confused by the meaning of it all.

Seeing their confusion, the smirk on Mari's face remained as she explained. "This, is a video taken earlier in the day. As you can see, the villains had been robbing a store, but they were quickly apprehended. Do you see the strange thing here?" At the woman's question, murmurs filled the auditorium as they tried to see what was different in it all.

From the front, a woman tried her luck. "Ugh, I believe that the side-kicks were given more trust and authority to fight against villains?" The answer came out as a question, but no one found it amusing since the rest were as confused as she was, save for Mari, who replied with a chuckle. 

"That's the thing. These people aren't side-kicks, but are a new police unit that were given authorization to directly deal with villains." Hands were raised once more, hoping to be picked for an answer, because to the whole of society, they didn't believe that the police can handle villains because they had delegated the police to doing more mundane tasks in comparison to heroes.

"Miss President! What made you think of creating a new police unit to combat villains? And wouldn't this cause a new type of problem, since the police are a separate breed of public defenders meant for less dangerous threats?" This time, Mari chose a Pro, one who had given an acceptable question despite Mari's expectation of an inane one that comes from jealousy and rivalry.

Clearing her throat, Mari proceeded to give her answer. "In the past, at the rise of Heroes, the Police were the ones society looked up to. They were the ones who protected us, the ones who defeated the villains. But when Pro Heroes have gained more popularity, the police force had slowly been forgotten and then regarded to be a lesser version of Pro Heroes, when in truth, they were anything but that. In all honesty, the Police officers have more heroic qualities than many of the Pro Heroes now, but such qualities and potential had all but been ignored in favor of the flashier kind of Heroes! That is we, the Hero Public Safety Commission, with the support of the Yaoyorozu Corporation, had given them the needed equipment and attention to reach their potential! Not only had we given them better facilities, the Yaoyorozu Corporations had provided around 2,000 newly created Quirk-Suppressing Nets, or Anti-Quirk Nets for short, which, you have all been shown, have effectively allowed the officers to seamlessly bring down a group of villains!" With Mari's long-winded explanation, the focus was now then relegated to Japan's Police Forces' seeming newly gained strength.

However, as everything had been going smoothly, a problem was bound to make itself known. And that problem came in the form of a jealous Pro Hero. With his voice raised by means of his support gear, he easily deafened those close to him as he shouted, "And what about the Hero Ranking System!? We worked so hard to achieve our rankings, and to have it all stripped away from us with not even a warning is far too much."

At the unnecessary use of his quirk, endangering civilians, and ruining the flow of the proceedings, one of the many guards stationed close by were prepared to throw the Pro out, but a raise of Mari's hand stopped them. The woman stared at the man, eyes shining in disappointment and annoyance. "But that's just it.", the blonde began, earning a confused, "Huh?" from the man. 

"You said " We worked so hard to achieve our rankings."" Mari clarified, hands holding onto the side of the podium. 

"And? I fail to see your point." The Pro rudely replied, not fearing the woman in the slightest. If it was due to stupidity or some form of feeling of superiority, no one knew. 

Despite the man's discourteousness, Mari remained calm, with the only thing betraying her current countenance was a twitch in her eyes. "Tell me, why did you become a Pro? Be honest with me."

Surprised by the sudden question and the eoman's apparent calm, the man stuttered as he answered, "I-...I became a Pro Hero so that I could do what's right!" A feeble lie, one that was easily seen through due to his nervousness of suddenly becoming the center of attention. 

As if to mock him, Mari let out a, "Hmmm...." that was supposed to be quiet, but was picked up by the microphone, eliciting an embarrassed, "Wh-what!?"

"Mr. Kurimo.... It would have been better for you if you had been honest." The blonde supplied, voice still and composed, but with eyes promising pain and regret. 

Being put on the spot, the man rubbed his neck and tried to brush away the accusation. "Uh- *Kuhum* -I- I do-"

He, however, was cut off by Mari, who then proceeded to say, "You should know, Mr. Kurimo, under the previous President's orders, we were to closely observe Heroes in the top 100, and you, Kurimo, happened to be 95th before we abolished the system. You could have just told us the truth that you're reason for becoming a Pro Hero was for money, and we would not have minded it as much."

Having his rank and motives exposed, the Pro tried to get himself out of the hole he dug himself into, "Bu-bu-bu-"

But, he was, once again, cut off by Mari. "Because, at the end of the day, even Heroes need money to live. We all need food to live, and being a Pro surely is not just sunshine and rainbows were you can get out of each fight without a scratch."

Despite the seeming justification, Kurimo was able to handle having been publicly humiliated on Live TV. With his neck suddenly puffing out like a frog's, the man was about to use his quirk to attack Mari, blinded by rage, but before things can escalate, he was suddenly trapped in a net, one that quickly suppressed his quirk and detained him. Looking to the front, one can clearly see Yuriko had had her gun out, but this time missing the net, making it clear that she was the one who detained the Pro(?). It was a surprise, truly, not because someone who was well known to be gentle and a pacifist having done such thing, but because Yuriko shot from around a hundred meters away and accurately hit the man, with a net that should have caught the nearby people as well! 

"Thank you for cooperating in the live demonstration of the Yaoyorozus' Anti-Quirk Net, Mr. Yuriko, and may your stay in jail be a peaceful one." The woman calmly said, leaving the reporters to gape at the surprising turn of events. 

"However, we are getting off topic. "We worked so hard to achieve our rankings." Do you see the problem here?" The people once again faced a whiplash as Mari continued, as if they hadn't just arrested a Pro Hero on live tv. 

When no one answered, due to their surprise and finding no proper answer, Mari sighed and explained, "No one? Well, let me enlighten you. In the past, Heroes rose to fight against Villains, rose and took the responsibility to hold up Justice, to protect the people. Years later, being a Hero became a profession, which in itself wasn't a problem. The problem came once the Hero Ranking System became normalized. What was once a System to inspire a bit of competition between Pro Heroes has now become a System that encourages Pro Heroes to focus on besting whoever was in front of them in their rankings. "We worked so hard to achieve our rankings." Do you see it now? The Hero Ranking System was not intended to be something that should be the sole focus of Pros, in the first place, that's not what Pros are supposed to do. Heroism had become a profession because of the amount of people wanting to become Heroes, but simply because being a Hero had become a normal occurrence in our everyday lives should have blinded us to the original purpose of becoming a Pro! Yes, you can become a Pro for the money, for the fame, but in the end of the day, the main reason you became a Pro Hero isn't supposed to be for these, it is not supposed to be for the rankings, but to simply be Hero that would protect their people! That, is why we believe that the Hero Ranking System was unneeded."

It was on this day that the Hero Public Safety Commission made a new creed. A creed that will forever affect the future of Japan. 

Chapter Text

<Third Person's POV>

With the change brought by the HPSC, things both improved and remained the same, with some worsening a bit. The Police Force's new equipment have been a major game changer on the outlook of Police Officers, a change in the crime rate, and some rivalry with the Pro Heroes. In the past, the Police Officers and other kind of public defenders were relegated to doing more mundane tasks, in comparison to Pro Heroes, because society saw that large, forest fires, falling buildings, and large villains were something only Pro Heroes can handle, but they forgot that these two professions were not that different from each other. The only difference among them are that Pro Heroes were glorified, put up on a pedestal, allowed to be put on shows and grow in popularity and sell merchandise. If you think about it, Pro Heroes are just police officers with a higher paying job with an added bonus of gaining popularity! 

And now, with the attention and funding that they previously lacked now being given to them, police officers to firefighters now gained the recognition, authority and traction they needed to once again be a more important figure in society, to the point that multiple Pros now had a sense of rivalry with them! Now, moving onto the other major change that the HPSC had brought, the abolishment of the Hero Ranking System. Although the HPSC's President had given a compelling reason to abolish the system, it still received multiple criticism to this day. Now, they understand how the Ranking System affected the Pro's goals and reasons, but was it so bad? The Hero Ranking System was a system that encouraged good-hearted competition, something that motivated Pros, and a way for the citizens to feel safer, many had said. But such voices slowly died down when it was revealed that the former number 2 Hero, Endeavor, Todoroki Enji, had undergone a Quirk Marriage with one Todoroki Rei for the express reason of producing an offspring that, in the future, would replace All Might as the number 1 in the Hero Rankings. Although the quirk marriage was seen as unethical, the more horrifying aspect of all this was that it was also revealed that due to Endeavor's obsession, he had out his children under cruel training, and tossing those who showed no potential. Not only that, due to his obsession, from years of watching her children be borderline tortured and suffering without being able to do anything, his wife, Todoroki Rei, had become mentally unstable. And, not only that, it was later revealed that there was one other Todoroki child, one who had supposedly died after their own quirk went berserk and killed themselves.

Currently, Todoroki Enji's Hero license was terminated and the former Pro himself was locked in a new prison complex that the HPSC had created that they named as Aceso, named after the Greek Goddess of Recovery. Fitting, really, because the prison was not just a prison, but it also had another purpose of hopefully rehabilitating the prisoners. In truth, the new prison complex was created to house former pros, feeling that imprisoning them with villains and criminals that they have locked up was a sure way of creating a prison riot and sentencing them to death, but with the rise of other professions following the Police Force, therapists had also gained some support, which then led the collaboration between said therapists and the prison complex. Of course, when any of the prisoners show no signs of rehabilitation, they are deemed a lost cause.

Moving onto the other changes made by the HPSC, a new law was proposed, one that had, once again, received both criticism and praise. The "Quirk Normalcy" law. It was a law that now allowed civilians to use their quirks in public. Critics proclaimed that such a law would simply cause society to spiral out into chaos. With multiple people using their quirks whenever, problems would surely prop up. However, such fears were addressed when, once the law was revised, stating that public quirk use was allowed when receives a license to do so. This license can only be given when they perform various tests under the HPSC's eyes. The HPSC would not only observe whether the quirk itself was fit for public use, but they also take into account the person's mental health, reason to use their quirk, and their records. If the quirk proves to be harmless and didn't pose any inconvenience to others and the person themselves pose no problems in using them sparingly, then they can receive a license with no problem. However, if the quirk was too strong for public use or would bring inconveniences, such as manipulating ice, where it would leave chunks of ice on the street, then some compromises must be made if the person was adamant in gaining their license. However, if the quirk poses no threat or nuisance to others, but the person was mentally unstable or would not fully disclose there reasons for using it, or rather, using it for unethical means, then they would not receive a license.

Another thing that the HPSC planned on doing was revising some laws, creating more facilities for Quirk Therapy, Hero Programs and the like. All in all, as the year passed, Japan's society had grown better, but as the light shined brighter, the darkness followed to do the same.

<Kaina's POV>

[Do you see the target?] The soft, velvety voice I have come to be familiar with over the months asked softly, aiming to not break my focus. Eyes looking through my "scope", I followed a masked man and a child in his grasp being roughly pulled along. I was getting twitchy, finding the child's treatment to be absolutely abhorrent. "Yes. Male, 5'10", dark brown hair and a crow-like mask and a female child, 3'7", white hair and a singular horn on her right forehead."

The voice on the other end of the line hummed, a calming sound that kept me from getting even more agitated than I already am. [Any other variables?] At the question, I hummed in agreement before answering. "A bald man is closely following them, presumably as a bodyguard and is one of the Eight Bullets of the Shie Hassaikai."

[Anyone else?] The voice asked, calm and unbothered. "None." At my confirmation, the woman on the other end of the line hummed once again, satisfied. [Good. Continue as planned. Leave the man to Rumi. If anything goes wrong with the grab, prioritize the child's safety, understood?] Cold and focused, her voice left no room for failure. Angling my gun, I answered, "Yes, ma'am."

It's still hard to believe, really, how I found myself in this situation. Nearly a year and a half ago, I was a bastard's dog, somehow still finding myself within his grasp despite the pain he inflicts on me. Then, for a year I was under rehabilitation. The reason why I kept following that madman's orders, why I never even tried to fight against him, it was all due to someone's quirk altering my mind. It was a horrifying revelation, one that nearly broke me mentally. But she was there. Yaoyorozu Yuriko, my savior and friend. She was the one who I tried to kill, but she was the one who picked up the broken pieces and built me back up, better and stronger than before. I owe my life to her, and anything she would order, I would do. Truly, that thought was something that should have made me blanch. To follow someone's order once more should have been a more frightening thing to follow through, but not with Yuriko. Not when she fought for Justice and True Heroism. Not when she fought for what was right, even if she had to do things she would rather not. 

Now, a few months after my full recovery, I was back in action, now with a better goal, but a far more deadlier gun. If it ever got out that the Yaoyorozu's created a safer, stronger version of Trigger, not only would Pros mob and demand for it, but so would foreign countries. They might even go to war for it! That's why I believe I'm quite lucky to gain an upgrade. Now with a scope and a longer barrel, I am now able to shoot a target 4 miles away with a stronger fire power! And for some reason, my hair would always remain the way I want them to, in length and volume that is. Basically, an infinite source of bullets!

However, back to the matter at hand. "Mirko-san, get ready." I say as I press on my coms, alerting the Pros on the scene.

[Fuck, yeah! I've been itching to beat those bastard's up since the beginning of all this! Just shoot and we'll take the kid!] An enthusiastic reply came, and although I knew she couldn't see me, I nodded. The Rabbit Hero: Mirko, she and I weren't close, not for the lack of trying, but due to our busy schedules. I knew what the public knew about her. Strong, headfast, dedicated and a powerhouse, always pushing her belief that the strong did not need to form teams, and an idol to all aspiring female heroes. However, I also knew a different side of her. A side that the public didn't know. A side of being a ruthless enforcer of Yuriko's, and a close friend of hers as well, if the way they called each other was anything to go by. 

Then, as the man, Chisaki Kai, passed a certain point, I readied my rifle. 'Breath in.... breath out....' "Hah..." This wasn't my first mission, and collaboration with Pros, under Yuriko, but having a child involved just made this nerve-wracking. Still, for the girl's sake, I must remain calm and....

*Bang!*

....pull the trigger.

<Rumi's POV>

"GAAHHH!!" It was quick and silent. From about a mile away, that Lady Nagant woman hit the target dead on. I'm impressed, really, with her accuracy, especially when she hit the man's hands as told, effectively cancelling his quirk. And, in the instant all these happened, the moment the pained shriek came out the bastard's mouth, I immediately went into action, jumping towards the unsuspecting girl to hopefully save her from the trauma of seeing a man's hands get effectively cut off. Eyes covering the girl's eyes and a good 10 meters away from the man and his bodyguard I ordered. "Get them!"

Following my order, multiple Pros and officers came out from different hiding places. The officers quickly went to surround the area, warning away the civies and essentially locking down the place, while two Pros and some officers went to confront the bodyguard, who now surrounded himself with crystals, if I remember the briefing clearly. As for the Overhaul bastard, an officer and her partner quickly detained him with quirk suppressing cuffs. Of course, as to not kill him due to blood loss, the officer's partner used his quirk to stop the bleeding by causing the wound to forcefully scab over. And, if the plan goes as...well, planned, then the bastard would get his hands reattached, lucky him.

"Wha-what's going o-on!?" I, of course, didn't forget about the kid and her quirk. The moment I grabbed the kid I also put on a quirk-suppressing bracelet on her arm, a nifty little thing the Yaoyorozus created for kids with hard to control quirks, a precaution, really. Turning her around and taking my hands off her, I smiled as wide as I can, hoping to not stress the girl even more than she already is.

"Sorry about the surprise, kid. The name's Mir- Rumi, a Pro Hero, and I'm with some friends to save you from that evil man!" I wasn't the greatest with kids, but there aren't really that much Pros that could be trusted to handle this mission with me, not when we had to use far crueler means to incapacitate the villains. The Shie Hassaikai were a tricky bunch, and a simple Anti-Quirk net wouldn't hold them down. We also had to wrap up this plan as quickly as possible, because this was an opportunity that unexpectedly came up.

The kid, eyes wide and teary, proceeded to freak out. "No-no! My cu-curse! Don-don't touch me!!" As she began to thrash and wriggle in my grasp, I tried to gently shake her, but it only seemed to make her struggle even more. There wasn't much known about the kid, from her name to her quirk, only that she was important to the Shie Hassaikai's plan, so her reaction was unexpected, especially her mention of this "curse", but I just had to keep the kid from hurting herself.

Placing a hand on her cheek, she continued to struggle, but with a gentle voice, I said, "Hey, hey. Kid, kid, it's okay. See? I'm holding you, but I'm fine. You're fine." Slowly, the girl stopped struggling, eyes still wide and teary, but now holding a look of unbelieving surprise.

Raising her hands, she shakily said, "You-...you're not disappearing..." The way she said it, so full of fear and hope, it somehow made my heart drop. I knew nothing about the kid and why exactly she was acting like this, but I knew enough of body language and expressions to know that something traumatic happened and it all stemmed from physical contact. 

"I... My curse... it's not wo-working on you..." With shaky hands, she touched my cheek, and it was like she was expecting something scary to happen, for me to "disappear". Still unsure of what to do, I just tried to wing it. 

"Yep! I'm not disappearing, see? I'm staying, and I'm gonna keep you safe!" As soon as those words left my mouth, I pulled the girl into a tight embrace...and hopped to the side and missing crystalized daggers aimed at the kid. Covering the kid's ears, I shouted, "Oy! The fuck're you doing!?" At my anger, a Pro, Kamui Woods, hurriedly replied, "Sorry! He had Trigger hidden inside his mouth as expected of one of the Eight Bullets, but we didn't think it would make him this strong!"

Hearing this, and seeing the man practically become a turtle with a spiked crystal shell, I could cut them some slack. Looking down, I gave the kid a reassuring smile. "Ya okay down there?" 

The girl looked up, eyes watery, but she nodded nonetheless as she buried her face back into my arms, a far cry from how she tried to break away from me earlier. I was about to comfort her once more, until Lady Nagant's voice suddenly popped up through the coms. [There are villains coming your way. I had already informed the officers on standby to intercept at them and keep the civilians away, but they failed to apprehend three villains.] Another shot of crystalline daggers were thrown at me, but I easily dodged it.

Keeping the girl tucked in my arms, I shouted, "Oy! We've got three bozos incoming! Stop playing and get ready!" Hearing my warning, one police officer, who somehow found himself on a window on the third floor, aimed his anti-quirk net gun and shot without hesitation. Unlike the multiple anti-quirk nets that clipped the villain, this one covered him completely. However, as expected, the Trigger drug somehow gives resistance against quirk-suppressing materials, but not completely. The reason why we hadn't originally started out with the anti-quirk guns against the two was because we had found out that Trigger, somehow, weakened the effects of the quirk-suppressors, and it was too much of a risk to the child if that Chisaki bastard had Trigger on him like we believed and used it.

And speaking of the crystal fuck-up, the weakening of his quirk was enough for Kamui Woods to completely trap him with his quirk, effectively incapacitating him. However, another problem popped up after another.

"Fuck! We've got a live pair incoming!" Burnin, a Pro that used to be Endeavor's side-kick, exclaimed as two men came and destroyed the defensive line of police officers.

Then, they stopped, regarding the situation. One man was in a fucking yukata, fucking impractical, if you ask me, a complete contrast to the wild-looking villain beside him. "Tell me where he is or I- Shit! What the fuck did you do with Overjerk! Dude definitely doesn't look too good!" The larger of the two asked, showing a curious lack of anger towards his boss's(?) lack of hands.

"Rappa! I told you time and time again to call him "Master Overhau-", MASTER OVERHAUL!!!" Suddenly, a yellow barrier(?) appeared, separating Chisaki from the officers.

"What have you done!!!?" The blonde yelled, eyes wide and furious. If I were a chivalrous Hero like All Might, I might have apologized for the injury, but I wasn't. And because of that, I just smirked as a gaggle of officers proceeded to attack the pair from behind.

Sadly, as fireballs and bullets were shot, it hit a barrier instead of its target. 'Guess the dumbass still got his head up on his shoulder.' Cursing at the unsuccessful ambush, I nodded at the two Pros, asking for time. With years of experience, the two caught on and went to buy me some time. 

Looking down, I cringed at the fearful sight the girl showed when looking at the two villains. Pulling her attention away by softly moving her head towards me, I then proceeded to say, "Hey, look at me. I promised to keep you safe, and that hasn't changed. I'll keep you away from the bad, but to do that, I have to take care of them myself, okay?" Seeing that I'll be leaving her, the girl clung to me with every strength her little arms had.

"N-no! Ple-please! Do-don't leave me! They- they'll hurt you! Then they- they'll hurt me, too!" It was like a switch was flipped. In my short years as a Hero, I never, not once, dealt with child abuse. I had heard horror stories from fellow Pros, at their most furious and most volatile state, how they felt dealing with children of abuse, it was a thing I could only sympathize with. Now? Now I understand how they felt. 

Mustering as much Yuriko as I can in me, I calmly pushed her off me, just enough so that I could stare at her eyes. "Kid. I promise you that I'll come back, okay? I won't disappear, and I won't get hurt. I promise, so please, don't cry. I'll deal with them in just a few, and I'll be right back to you, okay?" I caressed her hair, stared into her eyes and smiled.

Sniffling, she asked, "Pro- *sniff* Promise?" Never, in my life, did think much about children. Not really straying from the belief that they were meant to be protected and taught to be a good person. But this, this kid, she made unfamiliar feelings squirm in my stomach and make my heart ache. 

Snaking my pinky around hers, I replied with utmost sincerity, "Promise." 

Gently, now free of her vice-like grip, I nodded to the white-haired child as I left her in the care of a nearby officer. "I'll come back for you, okay?" The girl nodded, and as I turned around, I began to growl as my previous feelings of righteous fury resurfaced. Tapping on my coms, I spoke to Lady Nagant. "Stop shooting at the villains, I'll take care of them. Focus on the kid instead and make sure nothing bad happens to her." Before the woman could reply, I already leapt into action.

Earlier, the blond man's quirk was a yellow barrier, but now, after taking some Trigger, it was now a garish color of orange. It, however, didn't intimidate me. Fueled by fury and bloodlust, I aimed my foot up high, and without a moment's hesitation, I yelled, "Luna! FALL!"

It broke, the barrier that is. It felt as hard as titanium, but like the dummies I practiced with, it broke. Not waiting to give him a chance, I sprung right towards the blonde the moment I touched the ground. 

"Like I'd let yo-" The muscular man tried to intercept me, but he, instead, was the one who was interrupted in his attack. "Hah! Don't forget about us!" Kamui shouted with a smug undertone, but I ignored it as I remained focused on my target.

"I shall bring divine retribution on the ones who have hurt our Master!" Multiple barriers appeared between him and I, but I didn't care about that. The only thing I cared about was kicking the ever living daylights out of this fucking asshole! The girl was afraid of him. She was more afraid of a cock-sucking, twatwaffle, than a literal hulking bastard! He must've done something to her, something that he should pay for.

"Luna! FUCKING! DIE!!!" With one singular swing of my leg, the barriers broke, surprising the blonde shithead. But I didn't give a damn, and once my leg made a full circular arc, I twirled and used the momentum to send the shit-stain flying high up in the air. I didn't end it there, however, as when the motherfucker reached the apex of his flight, I was right on top of him as I delivered divine retribution on his sorry ass!

*BOOM!*

A cloud of dust and a crater, the bastard was lucky to still be alive with without being crippled by me. Oh how I fucking wish I could cripple the bastard, but the kid was looking at me with stars in her eyes, and that's the only thing keeping me from breaking this bastard's spine.

"Hah! Take, that! Fucking great job everybody!" To my left, Burnin let out a victorious roar on top of the net covered, villain, looking positively smug. Despite still feeling like I haven't enough, I let it go as the kid broke free from the officer's grasp. I would have berated him for having a child escape him, but I couldn't do so as I met the kid halfway.

Holding her up, I said, "Told ya I'd be back!" And like the blinding sun, the kid's smile was absolutely brilliant.

Chapter Text

<Yuriko's POV>

As I stared at the smiling face of Rumi, I can't help but raise a brow, especially to her earlier request. "You want to...adopt...her?" I asked, eyeing the young child behind her, hiding like a small animal.

Like a proud mother she wanted herself to be, she pushed the girl forward, as if to showcase her, and, knowing how she knew me, weaponize her cuteness. Rumi's known me for years, known my likes and dislikes, my strength and weaknesses. She was one of the few people I allowed myself to be vulnerable to, to trust. My trust, however, seems to be repaid by betrayal in the form of a singular child with red eyes, white hair, a cute face, and a heart-breaking past.

"Say "Hi" to auntie Yuriko, Eri-chan." The bunny-woman started, earning a glare for me, but it softened once the girl, Eri, stared at me with fearful eyes. Not wanting to scare the child, I gently raised my hand to wave. "Hello, Eri-chan. I'm Yuriko, but you can call me Yuri, and I am Rumi's boss." Emphasizing this, I gave Rumi a glance, but the dark-skinned beauty just smirked in response.

"And she'll be the bestest boss if she helps me with adopting you." Rumi crouched down to Eri's height, gently pushing her cheeks against hers, eyes widening into a kitten(the term for young rabbits.)-eyes. In all honesty, if Rumi wanted to adopt the girl, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Once we have destroyed the Shie Hassaikai, a Yakuza Organization that Iwamoto had secretly been funding in the past (it's due to this that we were even able to learn about the organization.), we had properly checked Eri's health and records. Her parents had unfortunately died because of Eri's rather dangerous quirk, and because she was related to Chisaki and he was the only living guardian left with a "clean" record, he was given full custody of Eri. It was then that Chisaki had found out about Eri's quirk, Rewind, which reverses a living being's body back to a previous state, may it be before a critical injury...or to before it was created. Chisaki, somehow, found a different use of it, created a theoretical chemical engineering to turn her cells into something that can destroy a person's quirk-factor. It seemed to be an impossible task, but after an analysis, the theory was a possible one! If I left the Shie Hassaikai to grow in power, to actually actualize their theory, not only would they have subjected Eri to far more torturous experiments, but they could have actually created a quirk-destroying drug. The concept existed before, but no one, had truly gotten anywhere near it, with the closest thing to the concept being quirk-suppressing materials.

Back on the topic at hand, however, the reason why I was dragging this through was because, as much as I trusted Rumi, should she adopt Eri. Adopting the child was her decision and hers alone, but since she's asking me to help her jump through legal loopholes to make it official faster, I can be concerned for both her and Eri. Yes, Rumi's a marvelous Hero and as a person, but can she handle being a mother, to be Eri's mother, to be more specific. The child will have to go through therapy, will have to be treated gently, and will have needs that Rumi must provide...but looking at the child's hopeful eyes and the underlying fire in Rumi's eyes, I can't help but sigh as I turned to face my computer. "She'll be officially yours in a day." I promised, eliciting an enthusiastic yelp from my friend.

"You here that, Eri? I'm gonna be your mom! And I promise you, I'll be the best mom and take care of you, ya got that?" From my peripheral, I could see Rumi twirl the small girl in the air, followed by said girl's giggles. It was a heartening moment, and I was happy that my friend a different source of happiness.

"Thank you so much, auntie Yuri." And maybe, having a niece wouldn't be so bad.

<Momo's POV|Massive Timeskip>

"Oy, squirt! If yer not in the top 5, I'll promise a thorough ass-whoopin'! I didn't train weak ass, bitch!" The ever-annoying rabbit shouted, grabbing a multitude of people's attention. Other than her crass language, people were now eyeing Rumi and I, trying to figure out our relationship.

"Usagiyama! Language!" I replied with an annoyed huff, hating how I have, at some point in time, actually considered the woman to be a decent teacher.

"Good luck, Momo-onee-san!" And I truly can't believe how such a foul-mouthed individual can actually raise a child as innocent as Eri. Smiling softly, I gave the girl who I have now considered as my younger sister a pat on the head. "Thank you for wishing me luck, Eri." The short girl smiled, and it was enough to shake away the nerves.

"I would say that you don't need luck, but Eri's just a special girl." Tsutsumi Kaina, one day she just showed up, following my sister like Rumi did, something that initially ticked me off since another person came to take away my sister's attention from me, but like with Rumi, I have grown to accept her and have even formed a friendship with my sniping sensei. At least she was more bearable than Rumi with her friendlier and calmer personality.

Accepting their encouragement, I then turned to face the large gate. This was it. Today was the day I prove my worth, to take my first step into being the best Hero, to be number 1. Although the Hero Ranking System was abolished years ago, the Number 1 spot still existed in the hearts of many, the spot still belonged to All Might. And no offense to him, but when the time comes, I will be taking that spot, to become the Pillar of the New Generation.

<Yuriko's POV>

I watched as the Practical Test began. In different blocks, multiple cameras were set up, both to watch and keep the participants safe. Two years after we cleansed the HPSC of its filth, we had replaced the previous law of using just robots in high-ranking Hero Universities' Entrance Exams because it was impractical. There were people who simply had no chance against robots, or simply hadn't had the time for them to receive the training they need to, to do so, so to give these people a chance, "villains" were also added in the Practical Test. These "villains" are Pro Heroes who had their strengths handicapped and were ordered to avoid rather than fight back. Catching a "villain" earned them 10 Villain Points. The first year it was implemented, it showed a rise of less flashy, but useful quirks entering Hero courses. With this success, as years passed, people, especially those who couldn't shine because of their "plain" quirks, were rather happy with this.

"Hoh. That's interesting." A voice pulled me out of my reverie. It was Nezu, the President of this University. It's still a surprise, really, how the rodent still kept his position, but admirable at the end.

Eyeing the monitor he was observing, I was able to see a girl(the feminine curves gave it away.) who was seemingly invisible pit two one pointers against each other. Checking the records of the applicants, I searched for those who had anything relating to invisibility. In just a few seconds, I was able to get 3 confirmations, with two of the matches being immediately ignored since they were both male.

Hagakure Toru, Quirk: Invisibility. The girl's quirk was a definite opposite of flashy, one that society would surely ignore despite its utility. Watching the kid for a bit, I was able to come to a conclusion that, in the past, the girl would only have about a 55% chance of entering the 35th to 40th spot. Although the girl was making a marvelous use of her invisibility to get the one pointers to fight each other, it was horribly inefficient. The applicants only had 10 minutes to prove their worth, and achieving around 2-3 points every minute just wouldn't cut it. If she was lucky, she could rope in a two pointer here and there or be naturally helpful and rack up rescue points. However, now, with the implementation of Villain Points, the girl now had a better chance, especially when she had a decent 29 points in under 5 minutes. Earlier, taken by her personal camera to capture highlights of their practicals, she had ambushed a "villain", earning her 10 points. And, along with her 9 Hero points, she racked up 10 Rescue points.

And speaking of non-flashy quirks, I caught a glimpse of a purplette rattle a one pointer's joint so much it loosened and destroyed some of its bolts, causing it to fall over and allowing her to deal a fatal blow. 

Jiro Kyoka, Quirk: Earphone Jacks. A curious mutation, one that won't garner much attention, but the girl was making good use of the vibration her jacks were able to produce to ruin the one pointer's joints. It is really disappointing how such wonderful and determined people can be overlooked simply because their quirks didn't spark that "Wow" factor in people. Still, looking at her 34 points, the girl was doing well to prove herself. 

"Is she allowed to have that!?" Someone exclaimed, catching my attention.

"Ugh...I think so...?" Another gave an unsure answer.

"Well, I allow it." A heavily-accented voice approved, and finally, I took the chance to properly observe them. 

There were a trio of Pros grouped together in front of one monitor, and I was able to easily know who they were. I cared deeply for my younger sister, and at the expense of being labeled as an overprotective sister, I had done a thorough investigation of U.A. University. As much as I trust Nezu and some of his staff that still remained from my college days, the new teachers were people that I had to make sure wasn't a risk to Momo herself and her education. So far, they proved themselves to be decent educators.

Midnight, Kayama Nemuri, Quirk: Somnambulist. The R-rated Heroine had a strong dominatrix-persona, both displayed by her outfit and her personality, but as a person, she was intelligent, perceptive and compassionate. As a teacher, she was distracting, since she openly uses her flirtatious persona while teaching, but oddly enough, she was still able to produce exemplary results.

Ectoplasm, Miura Hiroshi, Quirk: Clones. The cloaked pro was a steadfast man, and took his teaching profession seriously, the same way he did with heroism. Out of everyone in the teaching staff, he was the one I was most confident leaving Momo's education to.

And lastly, Snipe, Tanaka Nori, Quirk: Homing. The cowboy was a rational man, and a decent enough teacher. He was not the greatest educator, but was still good enough to keep his position.

Looking at the monitor they were watching, I caught the moment Momo accurately shot the three pointer's eye from 2 kilometers away. Of course, as to not accidentally hurt others, he did not use live bullets, and instead used a special kind that did not harm human flesh, but had similarities to an EMP, which required her to hit the center of the robot's core. I was quite sure Kaina was proud of her marksmanship from the VIP stands. It was another addition to the Hero Universities, allowing close family and mentors to watch the applicants' performance. This was also a form of motivation for the applicants themselves, an encouragement to do better.  

"Dang! 71 points in 6 minutes! That girl's going places!" At the mention of Momo's points, I couldn't help but let out a small smile in pride. 

"Wait! All Might's record was 68 in 6 minutes! She might just reach All Might's record of 101 by the end of the test!" A different person mentioned, and I immediately calculated the possibility. Then, in just a few seconds, I was able to conclude that, yes, Momo would most assuredly break All Might's record. Not only that, but if Momo were to take this onto the next level, she would beat All Might's record by a mile. And at the possibility of someone reaching All Might's record, the people in the monitoring room had their interest raised. It honestly made me feel smug, seeing all these teachers have their attention from my sister. This, of course, brings about certain expectations placed on my sister's shoulders. And speaking about the teachers, it made me feel somewhat gratified. The Villain Points and the open showcase wasn't the only thing we added and changed. 

We also increased the Hero Universities' student quota. From a total of 220 students per year, the standard student quota now was ranging from 300-320, depending on the Hero University. In U.A.'s case, it now has two additional Hero blocks, with one addition to the each of the other courses, reaching the maximum amount of student quota. In the past, such amount of students wasn't simply feasible for the simple reason of the lack of teachers. If it were in the General Education course, there was an abundant amount of teachers, but on the more heroic side, especially the Hero Course, the teachers were required to be Pro Heroes. The problem there is that there weren't much Pro Heroes were willing to have teaching as their secondary profession, and half of the Pros even had secondary professions because juggling Heroics and their second job was just too much of a hassle on both the Pro and their jobs. Now, however, with the strengthened force of other public defenders, the Pros now had more opportunities to deal with other matters, like a secondary profession.

Of course, not much Pros were willing to take on teaching students as their second job when they can use their free time to rest and recuperate from their battles, so we had to give them a reason to. The HPSC had given benefits to being a Hero University teacher, and also made a compelling speech that rattled the hearts of the more heroic bunch of the Pros. Because of our initial investigation on the HPSC's corrupted Pros, we had eventually moved on to those who were not under the HPSC's roster, and we had, unfortunately, brought in a disappointingly numerous amount of Pros into prison, which was a blow to our man power. The temporary solution was to fill in the gap by allowing the military to be deployed, but such a measure wasn't that well received. That is why we had spoken to the hearts of the Heroes, to convince them to be a more hands-on guiding light for the future Heroes.

"It is quite intriguing, is it not?" Then, a voice to my left brought me out of my musing. Turning to face the speaker, I was met with the familiar, yet unfamiliar visage of my former Principal. 

Smiling kindly, I greeted the rodent. "It is wonderful seeing you again, Nezu-san." 

Forming a smile of his own, the rodent waved his hand as he replied. "Oh, please. No need for formalities, Yuriko! We are friends, are we not?"

Nodding amicably, I agreed easily. "That is true...Nezu."

With a smile still present on his face, he turned his attention onto the monitor that caught everyone's attention. "If you were less paranoid of the world, would you have been like your younger sister during your time in my university? It intrigues me to this day, how someone like you, so kind and compassionate, can be so dark and cruel. It truly surprised me when you joined the HPSC, you know? Although I was not privy with the inner workings of the group, I still felt that you knew enough of the place's true nature to steer clear of it. It was horrifying to find out that the HPSC housed so many evil individuals, and I was worried about your and my alumni's wellbeing. It was rather fortunate that none of my students have been killed, and I am glad you all turned out safe!" The concern was genuine, a not so surprising fact from the rodent. Although experimented on by humans and lacking a proper understanding of some social norms, I have found out that the rodent had genuine care placed upon his students, as evidenced by his constant proposals of bettering their education and anything that had to do with their wellbeing. 

"Still, I have no care for the likes of Iwamoto, and I am glad you fought through the criticism and scorn of the public you surely received by remaining in the HPSC. And look at you now! Although it hasn't been expressed publicly, but I am certain that you had a hand in all of the improvements brought into society, yes?" The rodent questioned, beady eyes shining in pride.

Deciding to humor him and feeling somewhat appreciative of his efforts in my time as a student of his University, I answered. "Yes, but mind you, the goal of it all was to give my family a better and happier future."

Chuckling, Nezu then brought out a large, red, button from his sleeve, one which I can't believe had not been pressed despite being in a tight squeeze. "Which, in turn, made everyone else's family have a chance at a better and happier future as well. But I digress. The reason I spoke to you, was because of this." Nudging the button towards me, I curiously took it from his grasp, eyeing it curiously.

Before I could ask what the purpose of the button was, Nezu proceeded to explain. "Did you know, every practical test conducted by us, at the 8 minute and 40 second mark, we would announce and then bring out the zero pointers. It was a necessity, really, to see just how the applicants would act under fear and an overwhelming sense of defeat. Many applicants would immediately run from the zero pointer, something we will not fault them for, but it as at that time that the rest will truly shine. It is always heartening to see applicants willing to sacrifice their time, their points, and themselves in favor of saving others, a true sense of heroism. But do you know what rarely happens during that time?" The rodent trailed off, leaving me with a questioning look.

Smirking, the rodent stepped forward, eyeing the monitors. "Rarely have the applicants actually destroyed the zero pointers. Not even All Might himself had done that, I believe. And I would like to see, just how children of this rising new age, would act. Also, I made a special arrangement for your sister." Turning his head, Nezu showed me a feral grin, eyes glinting with excitement. "I would like to see how your sister would deal with the robot that had earned you your number spot in the Support Course."

Seeing his intent, I was reminded once again of a different side of Nezu. He was kind and fierce to his students, but I still remember it, the day he saved me, the sadistic glee he had as he interrogated my kidnappers before giving them to the care someone else. The side where he would intentionally put his students in duress under simulated dangers. This reminder, however, did not raise my protective tendencies. Rather, it felt like a motivation, a challenge. Of sister versus sister.

An idea, which, I can get behind on. As if reading my thoughts, Nezu proceeded to grab a nearby mic and say, "Cementos, Thirteen, Power Loader, and villains, please get ready to intervene when necessary, we are now about to release the Zero Pointers."

Hearing the announcement, the teachers in the monitoring room suddenly grew more serious and broke off into groups. It was interesting seeing the interaction, how they took the safety the applicants seriously. 

Pulling me out my thoughts, Nezu began. "Now then, the honor is yours, Yuriko." Checking the timer on the top indicating that 8 minutes and 30 seconds have passed, I could not help but gain a feeling of excitement.

<Momo's POV>

It was all planned. Once the test began, I would go to the highest building I could plan. To do that, I had to create a jetpack to not waste time. Once on top, I would remain there and snipe any robots I can. I was sure that such a plan would piss off Rumi, but I really did not care about her feelings on the matter. What was important was I preserve my energy in case something happens, plus, unlike with Rumi, I have not mastered what Kaina-sensei had taught me yet. The woman had been teaching me marksmanship for a few months now, and I was able to accurately hit my target a kilometer away 70% of the time! Anything farther, however, needed a more specialized customization. Currently, to make it easier on me, I was using a 20x scope that I created using specialized glass and a sniper rifle that has the firepower to reach that 2 kilometers easily.

It was going well, really. Currently, I had earned a total of 72 points just by defeating the robots. I would have surely earned more if I endeavored to earn some Villain Points, but I left them for my fellow applicants to earn. But, suddenly, onee-sama's voice suddenly came through the PA system.

"Everyone, we will now be releasing the Zero Pointers for each block. Once the Zero Pointer is released, you have one minute remaining to earn more points, but if you do not want to risk it, the exit is now open." I never expected onee-sama to be involved with today's test, but I really should have expected that she was up to something when she refused to greet me luck face-to-face. 

*BBBUUUURRRR*

A curious sound reverberated around the fake city, and it put me on edge how I was not able to find the source of the worrying sound despite being so high up. Then, the unexpected happened. From the sky dropped down a massive robot, nearly as tall as the building I was on, most likely roughly around a hundred meters tall! The absolute size of the thing was more than enough to strike fear in the hearts of many, as evidenced by my peers scrambling to get away. In all honesty, I can't believe that U.A. had let such a monstrosity be part of a test!

'What would happen if someone got into an accident with that thing!?' This was a question that came to mind, but coincidentally, it was answered when one applicant who tripped and was in the way of the Zero Pointer, was thankfully saved by a "villain". Letting out a relieved breath, at least I now knew that U.A. had thought this through.

However, my focus went back to the zero pointer. Now knowing that my fellow applicants were safe from harm, this begs the question, 'What should I do now?' I was quite sure that my points were more than enough to net me the first place among my peers, so I could just leave. But that thing, it evoked a certain feeling in me. One that was unfortunately ingrained into me by her. The feeling of rising up to the challenge.

"Damn, you, Rumi." I silently cursed, irritated that somehow, the rabbit woman rubbed off on me.

'Think, Momo. Anything that would cause the robot to fall would simply endanger others, so no explosives and an EMP might be a risk... I can't tie it down because I'm far too high and don't have enough time to reach the ground before the time ends, and anything big enough to hold it simply isn't feasible... Think Momo, think!' I tried to wrack my brains for an answer. Despite not being a requirement, I just felt like I simply had to defeat the zero pointer, especially when I think about onee-sama watching me.

As I felt the time slowly creep to the end, I gained an idea. When you have parents that own a multi-billion company set on creating support gears, you get to see some rather unique and odd things. One of those things was a gelatinous compound that would expand upon impact and harden to the point of being as hard as titanium and has a naturally sticky property that could hold up to a hundred tons! Thankfully, it was a compound I memorized for the sake of pranking Rumi (which failed horribly and earned me a scolding from not only my parents, but from onee-sama as well.), so I can create it! Overcome with manic-like glee, I created a ball blaster that was capable of shooting its ammo for about a kilometer away! Honestly, Kaina-sensei should hold up classes about guns with the way she was able to teach me about different kinds of guns and theoretical customizations I can do with them!

Then, from my left leg, I began producing as much gel-ammo I can make. Picking one up, putting it inside the gun, and aiming, I let out a fierce roar as I began blasting the zero pointer with a grin that could match Rumi's when she was fighting onee-sama!