Chapter Text
It had been a half an hour since Izuku had left for his first day at his new prison, with Inko heading out to do her own job shortly after. Ryoko let out a slight sigh as she laid there on the couch. With an arm outstretched toward the television, the alien woman flipped through the channels absentmindedly without even bothering to look at the screen. Instead, she just stared upwards at the ceiling while processing her new reality.
Things were going to change now. This was something she knew would happen. Now that Izuku was in a better prison, the one he always wanted to be hauled into, a lot more was going to be dropped into his lap. His homework would no doubt increase as would the need for increased studying. She also had a feeling that the school would do some more crazy things to help train him. After all, they had thrown those kids into a city full of robots and were told ‘hit them till they die’. At the very least, he would have some fun with that.
And with a new prison came new cellmates. Thinking about that brought a slight smile to Ryoko’s lips. Even more so when she thought about the one he had already met. It was beyond obvious that he was crushing on her real hard. So much so that she had discovered a little secret he had been working on! Izuku Midoriya was learning how to make a plushie! She had discovered all the materials hidden under his bed with a few ‘how to’ videos saved on his browser. Considering when he had started making it, which was right after Uraraka had moved in, it was painfully obvious he was making it for her.
Seeing her honorary little brother acting like this made her want to tease him all the more. Like suggest that he phase through the floor to watch her just so that she could see his face turn bright red!
Other than Uraraka, Ryoko was sure that Izuku would make more friends who might one day become his crew. Unlike his last prison, he had been stuck with the same people since he had been a teeny, tiny boy. People who he already had a bad rep with due to them all believing he was quirkless. But now, he was going to be surrounded by new people whose skills had been worthy enough to land them in the top prison. So, all Izuku needed to do was just follow her instructions on what to do, showing everyone who's top dog, and he should be leading the pack. Then, when they finally busted out of that place for good, he could lead them into space!
Oh right, they all wanted to do that hero thing. Well, maybe once the wonder of the new job died down he could take them. After all, it’s space! Who doesn’t want to go into space!
With all that said, Ryoko knew that her time with Izuku wouldn’t be the same as it had been since she had moved in. Sure, he was serious about this hero business and would train with her whenever they had the time. However, she had instilled into him the need to take personal time to relax the body. Something that, for a while now, had been just the two of them. Pretty soon he would have more options. It was a fact that made her both sad and happy at the same time.
So with Izuku’s increased prison time and new friends, where did that leave her? That was something that had been on Ryoko’s mind. Again, she knew he still needed her to continue training and improving his skills with his newfound powers. That was something only she could offer. But would the reduced amount of training be worth her staying here rent-free?
Thinking like that caused Ryoko to grunt in frustration, suddenly realizing just how much she had changed. In the past, whenever she needed to crash someplace when her own hideouts weren’t available, she never really cared all that much about the other person. She just stayed out of their way, eating and drinking as she pleased until the heat died down on her. Then she would just leave without a word. However, doing that to Mama Midoriya was just…wrong. It made her feel guilty to take advantage of the woman after everything she had done for her. So the last thing she wanted was to become a burden that would only build up resentment as time passed by.
“Maybe I could get them something,” mused Ryoko aloud. “Like one of those NB units?” A hum escaped Ryoko as she thought of the helper robots that were becoming more common throughout the galaxy. As the name suggested, they were robots with simple AI’s for helping around the office and house. Unlike the ones they had here on earth, which were glorified vacuum cleaners, these things fixed up the entire house as well as doing whatever other task you wanted it to do.
Then again, if she did that, would that just make her more useless around the house? Or would it just highlight how lazy she was? Also, Mama Midoriya seemed to find some sort of joy when doing stuff like cooking and cleaning. It was weird.
With that plan moved into the ‘ideas for later’ section of her brain, Ryoko continued to ponder how she could be helpful around the house. Well, she knew helping with the finances was always appreciated. After all, Mama Midoriya was feeding and housing five people (well, three people and two cabbits, but they were still family) and offering to cook for Uraraka. So maybe if she had a little more wiggle room in the bank? Yeah, that would work!
Only, how was she going to do that? Robbing a bank was out. She was sure that, if she took this more seriously than that one time she robbed that guy of all his clothing, that no one on this planet would be able to figure out who did it. Well, except for Izuku and Mama Midoriya. She knew that the moment she began waving around all that money they would get suspicious. Add that along with the news and they would figure it out. She could say that she won at a casino or the lottery, but how long could that lie hold up?
Damn it. Why did thinking about other people’s feelings have to drain all the fun out of life?
Oh well. Until Izuku was tired of his dream of being a hero who saved people with a smile (that had to get old quick) she needed to get a job. Ryoko shuttered at the thought, but she had done it before. Like at the one resort planet where she had gotten a job as part of the cleaning staff. Sure, she had quit after a certain princess had knocked her little fishing boat over with her luxury yacht and then robbed the place blind, but she had a job! She could do this again! Plus it was on a backwards planet in the middle of nowhere so how hard could it be?
Still, if the job sucked, that would put a dent in her street credit. Heck, it might change the way both Izuku and Mama Midoriya look at her. So maybe she could try getting a job out of town? Heck, she could lie about that and if they ever did find out what she really did she could honestly say she was embarrassed by it. And if the job was good she could just tell them proudly.
Now the only question was: where to go? Honestly, it would be better if she stayed in Japan. So that narrowed it down. But, it should be far enough away from here. Like maybe…
“Where did Uraraka say she was from? The Mie Prefecture I believe,” wondered Ryoko aloud as an idea popped into her head. The girl had to get an apartment as her hometown was pretty far away, making travel to and from U.A. near impossible.
Figuring that was as good an idea as any she would have for right now, Ryoko decided to go for it. Quickly pulling out her phone, she looked up the area before narrowing her search by looking up Rozaryu Middle School which was the prison Uraraka went to before U.A. With a firm plan, Ryo-Ohki leapt onto Ryoko’s head as the pair departed with confidence. After all, how hard could it be to get a job on this planet in the middle of nowhere?
-x-
“Newbie! Hurry up! How long does it take you to sort through a few files?!”
“A few files my ass,” muttered Ryoko under her breath as she continued to work. No longer dressed in her normal blue dress, the space pirate had gone with a saying she had heard plenty of times before: dress for the job you want, not the one you deserve. Or something to that effect. Dressed in a business suit and skirt she had ‘borrowed’ from a nearby shop upon arriving, along with some fake glasses to help sell the look she was going for, she had been pleased to find a place willing to hire people on the spot for what she believed was a decent pay rate. All for doing simple office work.
Now she understood exactly where she was, one of those ‘black companies’ that exploited their employees. She easily had one of the freshest-looking faces around as everyone else looked like they hadn’t gone home or showered in weeks. Nearly everyone else had heavy bags under their eyes, hair messy and oily, and their clothing stained with sweat. Many of them even had sleeping bags tucked under their desks to take naps. The trash cans were packed with empty cans of energy drinks and quickly digestible foods that they could eat while they worked. All of them looked like they had lost their souls. Honestly, even Ryoko would feel guilty if she stole from them.
“Pick up the pace newbie!” shouted the same voice again, causing several hairs on Ryoko’s head to stick up in irritation. “We didn’t hire you to stand there and look pretty! Everyone here is working their asses off and yet you seem to think it’s ok to slack off! What? Do you think you’re special or something?” Ryoko shot a glance over at the man who had been yelling at her since she got here, her eyes narrowing dangerously while she continued to file these documents. This was the office manager whose name she quickly forgot, instantly replacing it with ‘That Loudmouth Slob’. The fat man sat at the front of the office, looking fresh as a daisy with a manga in hand. Since she had started, all he did was bark orders at her and the other employees with impossible demands only to then berate them endlessly when they didn’t meet his expectations. For example, five minutes ago Ryoko had been told to file away ten cardboard boxes of documents and none of them were in folders. Just tossed in there haphazardly. So she had to look at each document, find the right cabinet, and find the right area it went in for each paper!
Apparently Slob saw this, picking his nose as he sneered at her from his seat. “Don’t you dare give me that look,” he said, grinning with a face that looked like it belonged on a bulldog. Only he didn’t have a bulldog quirk. Instead, it just allowed him to extend his jaw all the way down to his waist. “You’re lucky to have this job you know. Especially in this economy.”
Fighting back a growl, Ryoko went back to work. As she did, her eyes shifted towards the rest of the employees hunched over their desks. Most of them kept their heads down, no doubt doing their best to avoid becoming the target of this man’s ire. But a few of them did seem to have a flicker of life left in their eyes as they shot her sympathetic looks.
“Now, now. That’s enough yelling,” came a new voice right behind her right before a hand landed on her ass. The second it did, Ryoko’s body tensed before stiffly looking over at the offender. It was her boss. Some old, bald-headed man with a fat nose and a gut larger than Slob’s. Due to him being shorter than Ryoko, he looked up with a look in his eyes that didn’t sit right with her.
“I’m sure you’re working to the best of your abilities,” continued her boss, hand still on her ass while the other hand went into the pocket of his purple suit. Either he didn’t notice the red crackling sparks dancing around her body or just didn’t care. “But maybe we can find something more…agreeable for you. I’m sure there’s a spot on my desk that needs your immediate attention.” The man then grinned, letting the intention of his words become crystal clear.
A moment later she gave her answer as the entire office exploded in a flash of red light.
-x-
“Welcome to Hero Burger. Would you like a Fat Gum Meal?” asked Ryoko, beaming her brightest smile as the next person in line stood before her cash register. Though, inwardly, she felt like dying a little as her lips hurt from all this fake smiling. That and having to repeat that stupid phrase. Seriously? Hero Burger? Just how generic of a chain was this?
It was now close to noon, and a few hours had passed since her little…outburst at that ‘black company’. Naturally, she assumed she had been fired from that place, slipping out through the wall as the fire burnt everything. Well, almost everything. After unleashing an explosion so powerful it sent her former boss through a wall among other things, Ryoko had taken a moment to check the man’s office real quick to see if he had anything worth taking. She had, after all, done some work and in her opinion should have been paid for all the crap she had to deal with. After tossing aside a picture on a wall, showing her former boss along with a tiny, grape-haired kid who might be his nephew or grandson, Ryoko had stumbled upon a safe.
Using her sword, Ryoko easily opened it to discover a lot of money. Well, not just money. There were also some passports along with a collection of women’s bras and underwear. Honestly, she should have seen this coming. The man was clearly hiding all this so, if any of the things she found criminal, ever came to light then he could flee the country. That or he was avoiding taxes, hiding his true wealth from the government and planned to flee when the time came. Either way, it was getaway money! As for the underwear, well, she was sure she wasn’t the first person he had tried this with.
After taking all the money, she had considered just taking the money and running only to stop when she noticed all of her former co-workers. They just stared at the destruction of the place that had been their own personal hell. And seeing all these disheveled people standing there looking ready to cry tugged at Ryoko’s heart. So, after hesitating for a moment, she floated down to everyone and began handing out stacks of bills. Two stacks for each person. She was the person who had destroyed their job, even if it was a living nightmare, so the least she could do was help them out a little. And, when you think about it, they had been something like crewmates so it was only natural to share the loot!
It felt weirdly good to see their eyes light up again, as though the fires of their souls had been reignited as they accepted the cash. There was also this warmth in her heart when they began to thank her, something that normally happened when Izuku or Mama Inko praised her. She was beginning to understand the appeal of being a hero.
With a few stacks of cash left over, Ryoko decided that she should try again. This time at something less corporate and enslaving. Thus she had gone to Hero Burger which, while not offering the best pay. did include free meals. Now she was dressed in a blue short-sleeved shirt with a white star on her chest, a matching blue baseball cap, and black pants.
After the middle-aged couple she had been serving took their meal and left to find a seat the next person in line stepped forward. “Welcome to Hero Burger. Would you like a Fat Gum Meal?” repeated Ryoko.
“No, but I would like to order your number because you’re on my menu,” said her customer, his cringe words causing tick marks to appear on the side of her head. This guy just had this whole ‘player’ vibe to him. He had long brown hair that almost went down to his shoulder as well as a slightly longer nose where sunglasses rested. Ryoko also noticed the several studs in his ears. As for his clothing, he wore what she believed was a high-end black button-up shirt with a white tweed vest with its buttons undone.
‘What is with this town and sexual harassment?’, thought Ryoko as she stared at the guy before her. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention as most of the staff there were shooting him disgusted looks. Her male coworkers looked like they wanted nothing more than to shove his head into the deep fryer. As for the girls, nearly all of them began looking away in shame while hugging their bodies. One girl even looked like she was about to break down into tears before speed-walking into the back.
“Let’s try this again,” replied Ryoko, forcing herself to stay friendly and upbeat while hiding her irritation. “Can I please take your order?”
“Sure thing babe,” said the guy as he reached over the counter to take hold of her wrist, giving it a squeeze. “You can ‘take my order’ tonight at my place.”
Ryoko didn’t know if it was because she still had pent-up frustration from her last job or the fact that this was happening again. All she knew was that, in that moment, she was seeing a lot of red as red lightning danced around her body.
Followed by another explosion.
-x-
Ryoko let out a sigh as she moved across the gas station, dragging the trash can behind her as she moved between the pumps to empty the stationary trash containers. The sound of sirens bled through the commercials playing at every pump as several police cars raced down the road with several heroes dashing down the street. Ryoko just gave them an exasperated look as she watched them pass her by before going back to her work.
Once more she had assumed she had been fired from her last job. After blowing up most of the building, the jerk who had made those comments and grabbed her made a run for it. Not that she would let him get far! With a wide, demonic smile Ryoko had teleported outside, seeing the jerk running toward a fancy red sports car that was parked in such a way that it blocked the only two handicap spaces! Seeing that just added to the levels of anger that Ryoko felt for him. So much so that she pried one of the burning letters off the side of the Hero Burger before chucking it right into the car with enough force that it exploded right in front of his dumb face!
Then she calmed down and realized the mess she had made.
Thankfully, most of the staff were ok except for the manager who looked completely charred. To say she was sorry for costing them their low-paying job, Ryoko pulled out the remaining wads of cash before passing them around to the servers and cooks.
Needless to say, they were all grateful in more ways than one. Apparently, that jerk had a history around these parts. He would come in, hit on the girls who worked there and even stalked more than a few of them. As for the guys, he would make rude comments before looking for their girlfriends to either seduce them or just keep harassing them until they dumped their boyfriends. At one point or another they had all gone to the police and heroes, but no matter what happened the case would get dropped. Like he was connected to someone really powerful or something. In any case, the store’s manager didn’t care what that guy did as long as he paid before he left and didn’t bother the other customers. Hearing this made Ryoko feel less guilty about his injuries.
Also, she didn’t give the manager any money.
That was a little over half an hour ago. Now, Ryoko had managed to snag another walk-in position as a gas station attendant. Dressed in a full-body blue suit that smelled like the last person who wore it threw up in it, her job was basically to make sure the place was clean while her boss managed the cash register and played on his phone. Meaning she had to clean the bathrooms, empty the trash, fill up the hot food section, stock the shelves, sweep the floors, mop them, and any other grunt work. Honestly, there was something wrong with any planet that made you do this much work for minimum wage!
But, she had to do what she had to do.
It was at that moment that a car pulled into the station. Ryoko gave the man a tired look as he stepped out of his car, which looked really fancy. Not sports car fancy or anything like that, but it was the type to have all the latest bells and whistles. And despite the man dressing so casually, she could tell that he was loaded as well. Judging people’s wealth based on clothing alone was something that an amateur space pirate did. There were far too many people in the galaxy that liked to pretend they were big shots when all they were doing was feeding their poor, pitiful egos with stuff meant to look like the best stuff. But this guy, what gave him away was how he wore his clothing. He seemed very relaxed, as though he was used to something more uptight and constraining. The same way a person who wears a suit all day relaxes when slipping into a robe when they get home.
Oh, and the actual expensive watch on his wrist also helped.
As Ryoko got closer to him, she noticed something else. His nose looked a little runny. Also, judging by the eyes, he had suffered from a lack of sleep. Taking all this in, the man was taking a sick day or something.
Then, it happened. The man sneezed just before he could swipe his card into the gas pump. When he did there was an explosion of flames that erupted from his nose! Tension built up within Ryoko as she watched the man pull out a handkerchief to clean up some soot. There…there was no way anyone could be that rich and dumb to come to a gas station with a cold while having a quirk that made you sneeze flames! And, even if there was someone who would do that, he would have to be an absolute moron to continue getting gas after sneezing like that right at the pumps!
But, there it was happening right before her. After the man prepaid, he pulled the nozzle out from its spot on the pump. She then watched in horror as the man, before putting the pump into the gas tank, began to inhale sharply. For several moments, he looked like he was trying everything in his power not to sneeze. Then, he stopped allowing Ryoko to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, he sneezed. He sneezed so hard that his hand, for some idiotic reason, pulled on the lever of the pump causing gas to spray on his car. Time seemed to slow down for Ryoko as she watched the flames move towards the explosive liquid. Then she acted. As the entire gas station exploded, creating a massive pillar of smoke that could probably be seen for miles, Ryoko appeared across the street carrying the sneezing man in her arms.
“Well,” said Ryoko as she turned to look at the former gas station with a deadpan expression while the man gazed up at her with admiration. “At least this time it wasn’t my fault. But I still think I’m getting fired.” As if to answer her, there was another explosion.
-x-
“Whoever thought getting a job would be this hard,” moaned Ryoko. The space pirate was sitting in a nearby park, once more dressed in her usual blue dress with a yellow stripe running through it. Before her was a playground where a few younger kids were playing, happily ignoring the several plums of black smoke that were still rising into the air. As for the parents and grandparents who were there watching their young charges, well, they weren’t ignoring the chaos as they took pictures of the mess on their phones. Heck, there was even one guy standing off to the side screaming how it was the end of the world and how the aliens were coming for them. However, all she could do was slouch there with her arms splayed out while Ryo-Ohki just patted her head as if to say ‘there, there’.
“Hello,” came a polite, yet elderly voice off to the side. “Mind if I sit on this bench?”
Ryoko turned her head to glance at the man. The man was, indeed, elderly with slicked-back gray hair and a matching mustache. But despite the number of wrinkles on his brow, his eyes had a piercing sharpness to them that told Ryoko that he had seen plenty of action. In fact, she could even see a few faint scars on his chin and he had a crooked nose. As for his attire, the man liked to dress in white. A pure white suit with matching gloves, like he had planned to go to a fancy ball or something only for it to be canceled at the last minute.
“Go ahead,” she said with a shrug, feeling his eyes observing her just like how she had done for him. Not that she cared if he was or wasn’t. “It isn’t mine.” For a moment, the man just stood there as he continued to examine her. Then, he smiled before sitting down.
“You have my gratitude,” he said before waving at one of the kids in the playground. Said kid, a little boy, waved back with enthusiasm before calling him grandpa. Once the man stopped waving and began to pull out his phone, Ryoko began to notice a shift in the people around her. Most of the parents were looking at him before visibly relaxing. Even the crazy person began to calm down.
“Guess you’re a hero around here,” said Ryoko after a moment in a casual tone, having put all the pieces together.
“One of them,” the man replied as he gave Ryoko a sideways look. “Been doing this job for a long, long time. Back when I started, there were only three other heroes in the district. Now they come crawling out of the woodwork. With so many of them and not enough crime, most barely last a couple of years. Not that I blame them.”
Ryoko let out a whistle at that. “Wow,” she said. “Sounds like you have it pretty rough then. Can’t be easy keeping up with all those younger heroes.”
“It’s…a challenge,” replied the man hesitantly, his expression becoming somber. But only for a moment as his polite features returned. “But don’t count me out just because of these old bones. I still have plenty of tricks and fight in me.”
“I don’t know,” said Ryoko, her tone playful. “Wouldn’t it be better just to finally retire? Just relax with what time you have left?”
“You sound like my children,” laughed the old hero. He then paused before gesturing to the child he had been waving at. “That kid, my grandson, he’s the reason I keep going. I’m his favorite hero. He loves hearing about all my old stories, back before the day’s when All Might brought down the crime rate and heroics was a more adventurous time. He even calls all of his friends so they can all listen when something new happens around here. The last thing I want is to let him down. I’d do anything to keep being his hero for as long as I can.”
For a moment, there was silence as Ryoko took the words of the old hero to heart. Honestly, she never had anyone like that in her life growing up. There was never any father figure for her to tell them stories or have pride in. As for her mother, well, the less said about that woman the better. The only member of her biological family she remotely got along with was her half-sister who became enthralled with stories of criminals who stole from the rich and gave to those who suffered. However, when she thought about Izuku and Inko…
“Yeah, I get what you’re saying,” said Ryoko, smiling at the thought of her new family. “I’ve got a younger brother back home and sort of a new mom back home. I know I probably get on their nerves from time to time, but the last thing I’d ever want is to let them down when it matters. For them, I’d single-handedly take on the Empire.”
The old hero let out a laugh at that. “Well, I can certainly understand your spirit,” he exclaimed. “So, are they the reason you’re in town right now?”
“More or less,” sighed Ryoko.
“Well, you have poor luck. That’s for sure,” commented the elder hero as he looked down at his phone. “Today has been nothing short of the biggest outbreak in crime this fair town has seen in years. First, some crazy woman blows up Mineta Advertising while assaulting the founder. I’d feel worse for him if during the clean up evidence of blackmail, extortion, bribery, and a slew of other such crimes weren’t uncovered during the clean up. Then, that same woman appeared at Hero Burger and blew that place up as well before destroying the car of a man I would never want near any of my daughters! Now I’m getting reports that she was spotted at a gas station that exploded. A gas station that was trying to sell expired products. Oh, she also saved a man.”
Ryoko sweatdropped at this. “Wow, that’s something,” said Ryoko with a forced laugh while another explosion occurred in the distance.
“Honestly, if it wasn’t my job to enforce the law I’d be throwing her a parade,” continued the hero. Then he turned to look at Ryoko with a smile, a warm one at that. “I don’t know what brought you to our little town, but don’t let the world blowing up around you detour you from doing your best for those you love. Trust me, it’ll all be worth it in the end.”
Ryoko thought about it for a moment before standing, a confident grin on her face. “Yeah, you got a point,” she said. “Can’t let a few raindrops keep this girl down. Thanks for the talk, old man!”
Said old man let out a laugh. “All in a hero’s duty,” he said. “Though, for the record, my name is Ren Kurose. Or, if you prefer, the Pro Hero: Collapse.”
“I’ll keep that in mind…old man,” said Ryoko with a smirk as she walked away, waving to the old hero without turning back.
-x-
Ren Kurose felt a bit more relaxed as he watched the young woman leave, turning his head to watch his grandson playing.
When he had first laid eyes on the young woman at the park, he honestly had no idea what to make of her. At first glance, she seemed to exude this aura of depression as she wallowed in despair. It had been seeing her in that state that had made him move to sit next to her out of fear that she might harm either herself or others if left alone. However, when their eyes met, he could tell that this young woman was not some average civilian. Thanks to his years of experience as a hero, he could tell that she was stronger than she let on while the small scars and callused hands showed that she had been through plenty of fights. Then there were her eyes. They were the type that belonged to a person who had seen things that no normal person should ever see.
It was then that he knew he had to stay with her. To better gauge her.
Though his opinion of her softened quickly when she asked if he was a hero. He had noticed the way she looked around, no doubt gathering this idea based on the way people were reacting to him. But what stood out was the way she said it. Most villains or criminals freak out knowing that there is a pro hero right before them, even an elderly one. The smarter ones try to hide it, but the way they tense up as well as showing dozens of micro-expressions always gave them away. But that young woman, she had made her statement so casually. Like him being a hero was just an interesting little fact about him.
After chatting with her, the idea he had was that she was a woman with a troubled past who was just having a bad day. Hopefully, when she returned home, the people who she cared about would be able to give her the comfort she needed.
“Ha, she never even told me her name,” chuckled Kurose to himself as he wondered why she was in town.
But, before he could entertain some romanticized idea of her working to support her sick mother and little brother, the man’s phone rang. Looking down at it, all joy left his body as a more stony expression appeared.
“It’s me,” he said, bracing himself the best he could.
“You might be needed this afternoon,” said the voice on the other line, gruff and harsh. “So, cancel whatever plans you have of saving kittens stuck in trees or helping little old ladies who have fallen and can’t get up. If you want the goods, be here and be in costume.” With that, the man hung up.
For a moment, Kurose grit his teeth in frustration. He had put off helping the other heroes with this current string of attacks as he had promised to look after his grandson today, something they had both been looking forward to for a week. He had even sent an email to all the other agencies, telling them he was taking the afternoon off as there were plenty of them. Of course, they had his number so if his help was needed they could contact him. And, if the threat wasn’t taken care of, he would be assisting them. Now, however, he would have to push that back to do some rather unpleasant work.
Hopefully, after this, he could find the person who has been blowing everything up. Finding that woman and bringing her to justice would help wash out the taste of his unheroic behavior.
-x-
“Let’s see,” said Ryoko as she walked down the streets with her hands behind her head. “I’ve tried working in an office, fast food, and even a gas station. Is there any other place where a girl like me can get a job? Something that requires little to no experience?”
As she walked, Ryo-Ohki poked her head out of Ryoko’s hair. At first she said nothing, just sniffing the air with her eyes closed. When they opened, there was a gleam in them that sparkled with happiness. Quickly the cabbit began to poke at Ryoko’s forehead rapidly while letting out several long meows.
“Fishing?” echoed Ryoko as she translated what her spaceship was saying. She let out a hum as she thought about it, realizing that the ocean was nearby. “I guess I could do that. Though the idea of not being the captain and being surrounded by a bunch of sweaty men is not all that appealing. But maybe there’s something else I could do in the ocean. Like work on an oil platform?”
At that, Ryoko stopped dead in her tracks as both she and Ryo-Ohki began to imagine what it would be like. She could see herself helping with the drilling, maybe even helping to wield the pipes leading to the surface or something to that effect. But, if her luck continued like this, there would be those people who would get on her nerves. Then, a minor explosion later and…
“No!” said Ryoko quickly as both she and Ryo-Ohki shuttered at the idea of causing a bigger disaster than what she had already caused.
Quickly, Ryo-Ohki offered up another idea: carrot farmer! Ryoko could practically see the grin on the cabbit’s face as she meowed out the suggestion. That as well as the drool coming from her lips.
“Yeah, like I would ever be able to make a profit feeding that bottomless pit of a stomach you have,” commented Ryoko with a huff. Upon hearing that, Ryo-Ohki began to run circles on her owner's head, crying up a storm about how this was the perfect idea. She just needed to get a massive piece of farmland, set aside half of it for herself and Kyo, and then sell the rest. Plus, she would be saving the rest of the world’s carrot population! However, when the cabbit claimed that Ryoko was just being lazy, the space pirate had had enough. Reaching up, she grabbed Ryo-Ohki by the scruff of her neck before bringing the smaller creature face level to stare each other in the eyes.
“Then tell me: where am I going to find the money to rent that land?” she demanded firmly. When Ryo-Ohki didn’t have a reply to that, Ryoko continued. “Also, I somehow doubt that you’ll be able to stick to your side of the farm. And if anything happens to my side, we will be screwed! Even if it did work out, do you know how much we’ll have to charge per carrot? With the rest of the world’s carrots going down in price?” To that, Ryo-Ohki let out a few meows. “Let you feast on the rest of the world’s carrots and leave mine alone? That…might work. But then again, you have impulse control issues.”
At that, Ryo-Ohki gave Ryoko a look that said ‘Really? Pot, I’d like you to meet Kettle. You two will get along great.’
Sighing, Ryoko was about to continue her walk of despair when the sounds of shouting could be heard.
“Take it easy Tendo,” came a gruff voice. Finally taking in her surroundings, Ryoko realized that she was in a part of the city that was undergoing some major redevelopments. Very few buildings could be seen, save a lone dinner about a block away. Though that was more due to the neon signs that flickered even during the day. Everywhere else was boarded off with wooden fences, and several buildings looking half-finished or just started.
Turning her head to where the sound came from, Ryoko saw that she was standing directly in front of a large opening in the fence. There, in the middle of the lot, was a nearly completed four-story office building that looked like it would be done any time now. Half of the black tinted windows had been installed and there could be a few more issues inside that needed to be completed. But, what really caught her attention was the crowd in front of the building. From what Ryoko could see they were all the people on this planet that had what was known as mutation quirks. All of their heads turned up to look at-
Ryoko’s eyes widened when she followed their gazes. On the top floor, she could see a thin man with long flowing black hair along with a semi-transparent fin sticking out of the back of his head. Coming out of the man’s back were longer, similarly transparent appendages that reminded Ryoko of those belonging to flying fish. The only reason she even noticed them was of the rainbow colors that sparkled when the sun hit them in just the right way. However, what really caught her attention was what the man was doing: dragging a window panel towards the opening all by himself.
“Come on Tendo!” shouted another guy in the crowd. “The bonus isn’t worth it! Let's just take a break and-”
“No! I refuse!” yelled Tendo as he looked down. Ryoko was then the first to notice the man stagger as he did this, instantly recognizing it wasn’t due to a fear of heights or vertigo.
Then it happened. Tendo seemed to lose his balance before tumbling head-first for the ground below. He would have hit the ground had Ryoko not teleported, catching the man and carrying him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. As the people below gasped and let out a sigh of relief, Ryoko could hear the man breathing against her back. It was a heavy, labored breathing.
Slowly she lowered herself to the ground before dropping the man ‘gently’ before her feet. Now that she was closer, she could see hints of light blue along the man’s sides along with what might be gills close to his neckline. However, what really caught the woman’s attention were the heavy bags under his eyes along with the red tinting his cheeks and forehead. It was clear to even someone like her that this man had been overworked. She was about to chastise the people here, demanding to know why they let this man do this to himself only to pause when she looked at the mass. All of them, without exception, were in similar states as this man. Some even looked worse.
That wasn’t the only thing that Ryoko noticed as the space pirate took in more of the construction workers. All of them wore what you would expect to see people working in construction to wear. Hard hats, eye protection, reflector vests, tool belts, thick gloves, and so on. However, the state their equipment was in would, charitably, be considered to be on their last leg. The reflector vests had holes in them that the people here had repaired with tape while the gloves they were wearing looked like they would fall apart at any moment. Glue held together many of their hard hats while cracks were visible in their eye protectors. Honestly, she doubted they even had the proper footwear!
“Thank you for saving Tendo,” said one with jagged teeth and gray skin that looked like it was made from cement. “Are you a hero by chance?”
“Nah, just a normal gal walking by and didn’t want to see someone go splat,” replied Ryoko. “You going to turn me in for using my quirk?”
“No,” said the jagged-toothed man as he looked down at Tendo. “The last thing we want is for you to get into trouble after sticking your neck out for us.”
“Now leave us alone,” gasped Tendo, shocking everyone as he tried to get up. “We have too much work to do to be chit-chatting. Time’s almost up. Our bonus is on the line.” Tendo looked like he was ready to say more, but was silenced as Ryoko appeared in front of him before not so gently placing a foot on his chest. Adding a little pressure, she forced the man’s back against the ground.
“Tendo, please calm down,” said the jagged-toothed man gently. Tendo, however, didn’t do this as his struggles intensified. “We all know how you feel. We’re so close to meeting the deadline, but we’re just too worn out from the last several days without sleep or rest! We can finish it tomorrow. We know we’ll get significantly less than what was promised, but at least we’ll still get something.”
“Hmm? What’s that about?” asked Ryoko as she turned to the construction works. When she did, she noticed something in their tired eyes that she hadn’t before. It was defeat, people waving the white flag of surrender.
Tendo, meanwhile, had grabbed Ryoko’s ankle with both hands and was trying to force her foot off of him.
“Must be a city girl,” said the jagged-toothed man with a sigh. “Around these parts, people with mutant-type quirks are said to have ‘dirty blood’. Folks take one look at us and say ‘something ain’t right with them’. Makes earning a living difficult as most places don’t want to hire folks like us. Honestly, it’s so bad that there are days that most of us wish we were quirkless. At least then, we could pretend we had a minor quirk or were just embarrassed by them.”
Hearing that made Ryoko scowl as she thought about what Izuku had been through. How he had been bullied and lost all his friends due to his lack of a quirk. How that princess had given her little brother the nickname Deku, calling him useless to his face. How Mama Inko had stressed over him, worrying about his future. Then again, the grass always looks greener on the other side.
“So,” continued the jagged-toothed man, Tendo flailing his legs about as he tried to free himself while Ryoko stood there calmly. “We have to take whatever job we can get. Even if the treatment is bad, the pay is tiny, or the working conditions are unsafe. The reason we all signed onto this job was because we were promised a huge bonus if we managed to complete it on time. However, several shipments ran late and there were some issues on site that forced us not to work. We tried explaining all this to our boss, begging him to move the date but he refused. He then pointed to a part in the contract where it said that every day that we went over the deadline our pay would be cut in half for this job. And none of us will get paid until the job is done.”
“And you agreed to that?!?” yelled Ryoko so loudly that it blew away several of their hard hats.
“To be fair, that part was written in teeny, tiny font,” said someone in the back. “You need a magnifying glass to read it.”
“How is that legal?” demanded Ryoko. She may be a space pirate, but even she paid those who helped her the agreed-upon amount if they got the payday.
“It doesn’t matter, I’m getting that bonus!” shouted Tendo, gaining Ryoko’s attention back. Their eyes locked and, despite how tired he was there was still that fire in them that Ryoko had seen plenty of times. Pirates who knew the Galaxy Police were at their doors, yet refused to go down with a whimper. Those who fought till the very end with everything they had. Some lived on to become legends while others went out in a blaze of glory.
“Why’s that?” demanded Ryoko, though she didn’t remove her foot from his chest. “What’s so important that you need this money for?”
“My daughter was accepted into a damned good school,” said Tendo, his tired yet burning gaze never leaving Ryoko’s as he spoke. “May not be U.A. level, but it’s close and they gave me the time I needed to gather the rest of the money for her tuition. With this, not only will she be set for the rest of the year but she’ll have a little extra to spend time with her friends. I have spent weeks sleeping in ditches and in this lot, barely eating, and working myself to the bone and I REFUSE to leave without that money!”
Ryoko let out a hum as she continued to look at him. “Well, good enough for me,” she said in a sing-song tone. Quickly her foot lifted off Tendo before moving under the small of his back. It then appeared as if she kicked him into the air and then caught the man on her shoulder. “I’ll lend you a hand.”
“What?” demanded Tendo as Ryoko carried him inside, still struggling. “Are you insane? Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Nope! That’s why I’m taking your cranky ass with me,” commented Ryoko, her words calming the man down. “Just tell me what to do and I’ll handle the rest. Don’t worry, I’m pretty strong and good with heights.”
For a moment there was silence as they walked into the empty building. “You’re pretty weird, you know that right?” said Tendo. “There’s nothing in it for you. So why help us out like this?”
“Hmm, good question,” said Ryoko, bringing a finger to her chin as she looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because a certain someone’s heroic attitude is really rubbing off on me.”
From there, the pair worked like crazy. Ryoko would pick up the glass frames with her bare hands, lifting them over her head before flying over to the spot where they would fit. Using her ability to phase through objects she then positioned them in just the right spot. Once she finished, Tendo checked her work. And after two hours of rapid speed work, the building was finished.
-x-
“You’re all fired,” said the boss, earning a gasp from all the employees. The man was a slightly overweight gentleman with shiny black hair that was parted in the middle wearing a gray pinstripe suit. He stood there at the entrance of the lot, barely even looking at any of the workers as he continued to shine the golf club he held in his hands.
“What?” demanded Tendo as he stumbled forward, not even this gaining the boss’s attention. “But why? We finished the job on time!”
“Yeah, well,” began the boss lazily, his tone sending alarm bells ringing through Ryoko’s head. “I heard that you all brought in an unlicensed and uninsured worker onto the site to do it. Can’t let you people do something like that and get away with it. Could affect my bottom line! So, you’re all fired and due to the contract you all signed none of you are getting anything! Haha!”
As this boss turned his head to give them the briefest of looks, the space pirate felt her hands clenching into fists as lightning danced around them begging to be used. As for Ryo-Ohki, she had poked her head out of Ryoko’s hair to begin letting out small hisses.
“You can’t do this,” growled Tendo as he stepped forward. “We worked ourselves to the bone in order to earn that money. And I’m not leaving empty-handed!” With that, Tendo charged at his former boss with his arm outstretched and ready to grab the pudgy man by the neck of his suit. Even tired as he was from overwork and malnutrition, it was easy to see that Tendo was physically stronger.
However, before Tendo could touch his former boss, a new person leapt down from somewhere nearby to grab the mutant by the wrist. Not just anyone, but a hero. The man wore a white helmet with a rounded black visor that covered his face above his mouth. Below that, his suit was almost pure white with a large black spot on the center of the chest. On both hands were gloves that held silver rings in the center of his palm. Finally, on the man’s waist was a utility belt.
“As you can see, I have the law on my side,” said the boss, his attention returning to his golf club. “But, if you dirty-blooded freaks have a problem with any of this, I’ll see you in court. Though, I highly doubt that will happen. I know every lawyer in town and none of them would even think to go against my army of attorneys. Not for the pitiful sum you lot could offer. Now, either leave quietly or risk having the last of your savings being drained for your medical bills. Haha!”
“You won’t get away with this!” yelled Tendo. The boss said nothing, just turning around to walk away.
“Get them off my property,” the pudgy man said to the hero. At once, the grip on Tendo’s arm tightened as the ‘hero’ pulled back his fist ready to punch the construction worker right in the face. However, before the punch could be thrown, a new hand grabbed the hero’s wrist. Turning his head to look at who had done this only to find the furious gaze of Ryoko looking back at him.
“You disappoint me, old man,” said Ryoko before her fist collided with Kurose’s face. A blow so powerful that it sent the man flying into the air towards the building. Ryoko watched, expecting the old man to go crashing through the glass panel only to see him extend an open-palmed hand. Then, a small black orb shot out of the silver ring. It traveled through the air for a bit before vanishing and, as it did, Ryoko felt the air slightly being pulled in that direction. Her eyes then narrowed as the pro scumbag suddenly changed his trajectory moments before his back would have collided with the building’s windows. Soon he fell down, landing on the ground while taking a knee.
“Collapse, what the hell are you doing?” yelled the boss as the workers moved out of the way to let her pass. Soon enough, she stood with the construction workers several yards behind her. “Take care of this broad or so help me I’ll-”
“I’ll take care of you once I’m finished,” responded Ryoko, raising her hands up to her chest before loudly cracking her knuckles. While the pudgy man began to splutter, not used to other people talking to him like that, the space pirate kept her gaze on the false hero. “So, got anything to say for yourself old man? Because pretty soon you’ll find talking very difficult.”
“I’m sorry young lady,” replied Kurose as he got into a charging stance. “However, you walked into a very dangerous situation.” With that, he shot forward at an impressive speed for someone of his age. Ryoko mirrored his actions and charged towards the old pro hero. Almost at the same time they swung their arms at the other, their forearms connecting with the other. When it happened, Ryoko’s expression remained stony. Kurose looked like he might have slightly fractured a bone. Still the man held his ground, gritting his teeth.
“Tell me something,” said Ryoko as energy began gathering in her hand. “How were you able to spew all the sentimental bull with a straight face?”
“I can assure you, every word I said at the park was the truth,” grunted Kurose. “Everything I am doing now is so that I can still be that little boy’s hero!” With that, Collapse launched an open-palm strike that just barely missed Ryoko’s side. The space pirate was about to make a comment, asking if he forgot to put on his glasses, when she felt a sudden pull from behind. With a quick glance, she spotted the construction workers being pulled forward towards a certain point. And it didn’t take her long to figure out what the cause was. That palm strike! He had launched one of the black sphere’s directly behind her. Only this one was far more powerful than the last one!
However, that wasn’t the only thing that caught her attention. The pudgy boss had pulled out his phone, animatedly talking with someone while his other hand still held onto the golf club.
Kurose seized on this momentary distraction, punching Ryoko in the gut. The alien woman let out a grunt and a wince while the force from behind began to drag her back some more. Soon, all of the tired workers were piled up on the floor with Ryoko being the only one left standing.
“Young lady,” began Kurose as he held up an open palm, looking ready to fire another black orb at her. “Please, for your sake and those behind you, please leave. I promise that if you do no further harm will come to any of you. The last thing I want to do is hurt anyone beyond what I have to.”
Ryoko opened her mouth, but someone else spoke first. “It’s too late for that!” snapped the pudgy boss as he pocketed his phone. “And before you say anything; yes, we will get away with this! All Collapse has to do is submit some bogus report to the police stating that he found trespassers on my property and the police won’t question it! It’s not the first time we’ve done something like that to filthy freaks like them! And we’ll be sure to add in a few extra things just for you! There’s no way you can win! Haha!”
“I can think of a few ways,” said Ryoko without even bothering to look at the pathetic man. Due to the tone she used, the boss froze for a moment before beginning a series of mutters and splutters.
With that, she began to move toward Kurose. However, the moment she took her first step, the fallen hero fired another black orb right at her. A larger one than any of the others she had seen before equaling the size of a beach ball. The space pirate began to dodge only for it to vanish right as it was halfway to its target. As soon as it was gone, a massive force began to drag Ryoko to the center where everything, including the air, was being dragged to. This also included Kurose who jumped forward into the suction, letting it carry him forward with a fist pulled back. Ryoko saw this and, using her flight, managed to dodge it. Yet, as soon as she did two things happened. The first was that the force that was pulling everything towards the center suddenly vanished. The other was that Kurose used that moment to twist his body around to land a kick right into Ryoko’s side.
Everyone there watched as the force of the kick sent Ryoko flying across the lot towards a large stack of thick, metal pipes. Several wanted to cry out but their voices were silenced when they saw her head collide with the pipes. From there, the deafening sound as the pile seemed to collapse on top of her, creating a dust cloud! When the dust settled, nothing of Ryoko could be seen.
By this point, many of the construction workers had managed to pull themselves out of the human pile and somehow found the strength to stand back up. Many of them held bruised and battered body parts as they did. But, the moment they saw Ryoko become buried in the pile, their wounds no longer mattered. Almost as one, they held their breaths while tears began to fall from their eyes. Tendo, for his part, let out a wail as he fell to his knees as he was unable to bare the pain that someone had died trying to protect them. Trying to save them!
As for Kurose, the man felt like his legs would give out at any moment. He had not meant for the blow to do all that, just knocking her out! But now?
Then he felt something grabbing his ankles. Looking at the ground behind him, Kurose would have jumped at what he saw. It was Ryoko, her head from the rose up sticking out of the ground along with her hands which now had a firm hold on him. Just as he noted the twinkle in her eye the woman shot out of the ground and into the air taking the pro-hero with her. Once she was high enough into the air, Ryoko began to rapidly spin around until their bodies were nothing but blurs! And then, after a moment, she released him.
Now it was Kurose’s turn to be flung across the lot. Thankfully for him, he had years of experience with similar situations. Quickly he shot out a small black orb from his palm, vanishing quickly before his body got too far away and altering his path. The man was about to do so again, only to find Ryoko had closed the distance in an instant as she hovered directly above him. Eyes widening behind his helmet, Collapse watched as Ryoko pulled her fist back to deliver a power blow right into his gut! With the air now fully knocked out of him, Kurose could do nothing as he was sent downward and collided with the ground.
But this didn’t keep the old hero down for long. With a grunt he managed to roll to the side before quickly getting up, despite the protests of his body. Now standing, the man kept on his guard as he looked up at the woman who seemed to be standing there in the air looking down at him.
“Your little tricks were entertaining for a bit,” said Ryoko, as she looked down at him with unamused eyes. “However, the novelty of them has worn off.” As she spoke this part, she slowly lowered herself to the ground. She had to give him credit that his abilities were unique. Rather than creating an energy blast or something similar, those orbs were more like a highly compacted vacuum with the part she could see being like a shell. Once the shell vanished, the air began rushing in to fill the void while drawing everything else to that point. The larger the sphere the greater the pull.
Cracking her knuckles and neck, Ryoko began to slowly walk over to him without concern. Now that she understood what he could do, she now knew how to deal with him.
Kurose, on the other hand, was not as patient. Once more he extended a hand, sending a black orb at Ryoko. However, his mouth hung open as this one was the smallest yet. Maybe around the size of an American dime. As Ryoko took note of his expression, she fired a single finger beam at the orb causing it to vanish. Unlike before when it looked like people were dragged to the center of the force, Kurose seemed more like he was stumbling for a moment before righting himself.
Sweating, Collapse held out both hands as he began to fire several of the small black spheres. Rather than using her finger beam this time, Ryoko created her sword. Holding it in one hand, she sliced at each of the objects that the hero had created while continuing her stride forward. Each time one of them vanished, she felt a light pull that moved her forward just a little instead of the impressive force that they had once been.
After a while, Collapse could no longer hide his own frustration as he charged at full speed towards Ryoko. The space pirate read the attack as if it were coming from Izuku, raising her free hand to catch the punch. But, rather than deflecting the attack, her fingers wrapped around his knuckles to take a firm grip on the elder’s hand. Kurose struggled to free himself only to find his efforts futile as Ryoko was simply that much stronger than he was. Then she pulled him forward so that their faces were inches apart from the other.
“So tell me,” growled the space pirate as she gazed into the black visor. “Is this how an old-time hero acts? Is this the sort of story that you want to tell your grandkid?”
“I…I’m too old for this job,” said Kurose, his tone dripping with sadness. “I spent my entire life helping people, serving the community along with others. But, as the years went by, my body became more frail. Newer, younger heroes with flashier quirks began to make the scene. I then watched as people I called my colleagues were pushed to the side, forced to close shop, and were forgotten about. In order to avoid that, I had to do something that would give me an edge. That…vile man that I work for, he has been providing me with what I need. A drug similar to Trigger, but not as easily detectable. Makes my quirk stronger. Makes my body tougher. For a short amount of time. As long as I do a few jobs for him, he provides me with what I need to save more people. So that my grandson can still see me as a hero! I’m doing this for him!”
“You fool!” yelled Ryoko as she clenched her teeth, her eyes glowing red as she pulled back her head. The next moment she swung her head forward, colliding with Collapse’s helmet with so much force that the visor shattered revealing the shocked expression of the old man behind it. But Ryoko wasn’t done as her free hand clenched back into a fist, delivering a powerful gut punch that caused him to crash right into the ground.
There, the pro hero laid staring up at the sky as he struggled to find his breath while blood trickled from the numerous cuts on his face. His view of the sky was soon broken as Ryoko stood over him with her energy blade in hand. Without a word, she twisted the blade around before making a downward thrust aimed at his neck while at the same time taking a knee.
For a long moment, everyone there remained silent. Even the pudgy boss found himself at a loss for words as the golf club he had been holding fell to the ground. No one could take their eyes off the woman who continued to hold her sword down with a mournful expression on her face.
“Congratulations, you’re dead,” she said before standing up, the blade vanishing from her grasp. The woman then turned her back to the now-dead hero, hands behind her head as she closed her eyes. “This will be what the people will find soon, a shell of a hero hooked on drugs and his former glory. His last words claiming he did it all for his grandson. Hmm, I wonder how he’ll feel when he hears that. Perhaps, at first, he’ll blame himself for your death. Then later he’ll become angry at you, shifting the blame for all of his horrible actions onto him after they come to light. Who can say? But in the end, he’ll still be a sad little boy who lost the person who used to take him to the park. And he’ll never get those moments again. Such a shame. So, tell me, was it worth it?”
“That’s,” came the voice of Kurose, shocking everyone. Well, everyone but Ryoko who smirked as she opened an eye. Turning slightly, she looked down to see the man still laying there with his eyes full of tears and a hole next to his neck where the blade had stabbed not moments before. “That’s enough. I never wanted that. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to be someone’s hero for just a little while longer.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” replied Ryoko, turning around. By the way she was acting, it was as if she hadn’t just finished a fight. And when she looked at him, her eyes were much softer. “But you know, kicking ass isn’t the only way to be someone’s hero. Be the person who takes the kid to the park, buys him ice cream, tells him stories and listens to his problems when he can’t go to his parents. Maybe even-” There Ryoko paused, looking like she tasted something very vile while shuddering. Before she spoke again, the alien placed a hand over her mouth like she was about to vomit. “Teach him to be…responsible.”
At that, Ryo-Ohki popped out of her hair to let out several meows that meant: That’s rich coming from you.
“Hey Dad, we’re here,” came a new, yet annoyingly familiar voice that caused Ryoko’s eyes to widen. Both she and Kurose looked to the entrance of the lot to find at least two dozen thugs ranging from their mid-teens to mid-twenties standing there. And at the lead was that jerk from Hero Burger. Said jerk was looking over at the pudgy boss.
“Oh great, they’re related,” sighed Ryoko as she helped Kurose stand. “No wonder he got away with so much bullsh*t.”
“What? You’re here?!” screamed the creep as he pointed at Ryoko. “What gives Dad? You told us there might be an issue with the fossil and needed help cleaning up the mess. Not dealing with a freakin’ monster!”
“What are you talking about?” demanded pudgy. “Don’t tell me you’ve dealt with that crazy bitch before?”
“Dealt with?” repeated the creep, still pointing at Ryoko. “Oh, I got a score to settle with her. And this time ain’t going to be like last time. I got my whole crew with me.” On cue, the entire gang rushed into the lot, surrounding not just the hero and space pirate but also all of the construction workers. Many of them began pulling out makeshift weapons like chains, small steel pipes, and even a bat with nails sticking out of the end. All the while Ryoko stood there, an annoyed look on her face as she brought her hands behind her head.
“Ok, not how I saw this whole thing going down, but I can make it work,” said pudgy as he began walking into the lot. As he did, Ryoko’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before taking on a smirk like that cat who finally got the canary. “Ok, we’ll just say that Collapse overheard a commotion as a villain attacked the lot. He fought hard to the end, taking the villain who had killed all the workers with him.”
“Oh my god, is he actually doing a villain monologue,” came a voice behind the pudgy boss. Ryoko’s smirk grew ten sizes in that moment as she watched the man turn around to see the crowd that was still gathering at the lot’s entrance. Whether they had been drawn by the noise she and the pro hero had been making or by the gang that had shown up, who could say. What mattered was that they were here, phones out and recording everything!
“Look, it’s Collapse!” shouted another person in the crowd. “And he doesn’t look good. Don’t tell me they all ganged up on him.”
“How horrible,” said another. “After everything he’s done for the community.”
“Where are the other heroes?” demanded someone else. “Don’t tell me they’re still looking for the crazy lady who’s been blowing everything up!” Hearing this caused Ryoko to sweatdrop while looking away.
“Young lady,” said Collapse, loud enough for everyone to hear. Ryoko, meanwhile, just gave him a sideways look. “I am sorry to drag you into this mess, but could you perchance help an old hero? I will give you emergency permission to use your quirk to save all these fine people.”
For a moment Ryoko stood there, her expression making it look like she was unsure about this. Then, an evil smirk crossed her lips. “Sure,” said Ryoko, a hand moving to her hip while the other was held up as it formed an energy sphere. “By the way, the name’s Ryoko. Ryoko Midoriya”
Soon after that, the screams of all the thugs filled the air.
-x-
Later, Ryoko found herself walking back to the apartment with her head down as today had been a total bust.
After the thugs had been defeated, Kurose seemed to have taken Ryoko’s words to heart. With one last actual heroic fight under his belt, he bowed while apologizing to all the workers at the site for his behavior. Well, not like simple words were going to work on them. Especially Tendo who was ticked that their employer was being dragged away in handcuffs and they still hadn’t been paid. For his part, Kurose promised that he would see to it that they would all still get the pay they were promised by the man’s company as soon as possible while also making a full public confession. His way of atoning for what he had done for so long: taking full responsibility.
Hearing this helped calm everyone down. Though what also helped was Ryoko going through the crowd of construction workers, handing out stacks of cash she still had from Mineta. However, even after she had given them all the money she had, it wasn’t enough. By no means had it been unappreciated and would help them out, however it didn’t solve the problem that they were all unemployed.
This was one thing that Ryoko couldn’t really help them with. All she could do was make a suggestion, pointing out the company run by the Uraraka family as a good place to start. Though she admitted that the company was small and struggling according to her source so they might not be able to hire all of them. But hey, something was better than nothing, right?
“Well, at the very least, I won’t have to worry about anyone looking for me,” muttered Ryoko, pausing at the door to her home as she glanced up at Ryo-Ohki. “You did alter the footage of all the security cameras, right?” At that, Ryo-Ohki held her head up with pride before letting out several meows to confirm that she had. Then the cabbit looked down at her owner with a frown, poking her head with a paw along with a long, drawn-out meow. Hearing that, Ryoko scoffed. “Of course, I used an alias for all those jobs.”
As Ryoko phased through the door, elsewhere, many officers and heroes within the Mei Prefecture were hard at work going over all the evidence of the crazy villain responsible for blowing up several buildings. Thankfully, the security footage in each establishment had been preserved showing the exact moment she went off the handle. Now they knew they were looking for a woman with long purple hair that was tied in two long strands that almost went down to her feet. According to the documents they had managed to retrieve, her name was Ayeka Jurai. On the hook for roughly 223591497 yen.
“I’m home,” said Ryoko once she was on the other side, floating at least a foot off the ground. Yet she did not get anything that sounded like ‘welcome back’. Instead…
“Uraraka, please say something!” said Izuku from inside the living room. Peeking inside, Ryoko saw that he was standing in front of the couch with his hands waving all around in front of the brunette. Alongside him was that Ida boy she had heard about who appeared equally panicked.
“Uraraka, please. If something is troubling you then please allow us to assist,” said the bespectacled teen as he chopped the air before him. Sweat was running down his face, like he was losing his nerves about something.
With her curiosity now peaked, Ryoko teleported behind the boys to see what was going on. What she found was strange, even for her. Uraraka was just sitting there looking like she was frozen in place. In one of her hands was her phone, positioned right next to her ear. Yet the device was clearly off, either entering a sleep mode or just running out of juice. As for the girl’s expression, her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open with shock.
“What happened here?” asked Ryoko as she brought a hand to her chin. As soon as she spoke, both boys jumped in the air clearly startled due to not noticing her entering the apartment.
“Ryoko!” cried Izuku as his gaze kept shifting between the space pirate and his lone female friend. “It’s Uraraka. She’s been like this ever since she got a call from her parents! I think something bad must have happened back home!” Upon hearing this, Ryoko felt thousands of tiny beads of sweat beginning to run down her face. Oh God, did she accidentally get Uraraka’s family caught up in her warpath? Did they have an office close to Mineta’s? Were they in the parking lot of Hero Burger and lost their car? Was their house close to that gas station that blew up and the fire spread over to it? Or was it something else that she forgot about?
“Oh, you must be Midoriya’s sister. Forgive me for not noticing you sooner or approaching you to introduce myself. My name is Tenya Ida, a classmate of both Midoriya and Urarka at the most prestigious school of U.A.,” said Ida in a very formal tone that would have made Ryoko groan in annoyance had she not been in the middle of a freakout. Thankfully, Ida didn’t seem to notice her distress as he continued, gesturing to Uraraka. “Once she stopped responding, we were at a loss as to what to do. I contacted my brother, asking him for advice. He suggested bringing her to a friend’s house and allowing her time to recover on her own. Then he told us to wait and that should nothing change by the time he arrived then he would bring her to a hospital. Personally, I believe that taking her to Recovery Girl would have been more appropriate. However, after reading the school rules, it clearly states that the nurse’s services are restricted to school hours and school-related matters only. So-”
“But we still should have checked with her,” interrupted a panicked Izuku. “She might have said yes! Oh man, what if her insurance isn’t accepted by the doctor. Wait, do we even know where her insurance card is? What if-”
“Hold on, let me try something,” said Ryoko who was just as worried as Izuku for Uraraka’s financial well-being. Doctors on this planet were sticklers about that sort of stuff and the last thing her family needed was to have a bill sent to their hopefully still intact home. And she didn’t have any more stacks of cash to hand out!
So, with a deep breath, Ryoko held up a single finger that sparked with tiny bolts of red lightning. Izuku looked ready to cry out, but he was too late as Ryoko just leaned forward and flicked the girl’s forehead. The small jolt caused the girl to wince, dropping her phone as she began to rub the spot where she had been struck.
“Owe, owe, owe,” she said quickly. “What’s the big-”
“Uraraka, you’re ok!” cried Izuku who looked like he wanted to wrap her up in a hug but stopped himself.
“We were very concerned about your well-being,” added Ida as he adjusted his glasses with a slight smile on his face. “Truly, you had us worried.”
“What happened?” asked Izuku, who looked relieved yet was still worried. “You were frozen for over an hour!”
“What happened?” echoed Uraraka, tilting her head in confusion. For several moments there was silence as it looked like the girl was deep in thought. That was, however, until she noticed her phone lying next to her. She stared at it for a moment before her eyes grew wide. Quickly she snatched it up before hitting the power button. Thankfully for her, the battery was not completely dead as there was just enough power to check her contacts to see who had last called her. There was another long pause as she just stared at it.
“It’s my parents’ business,” she whispered, tears running down her face as she said this. Then she looked up and, much to Ryoko’s shock, she began to smile brightly. “Business just started to boom! The biggest construction company in the area is under investigation! According to the police and the local heroes, the owner was involved in a lot of shady practices including trying to withhold payment to his employees. And that’s not all.” Uraraka then went on to explain how several buildings in the area suddenly blew up. Most of the buildings were completely destroyed, like a Hero Burger and a gas station. As for the one that hadn’t been destroyed, well, while they were investigating they noticed several glaring flaws in its construction. Apparently the person who built it, the person who was the Uraraka’s main competitor, had cut a lot of corners so the building was not up to code. So while only one floor was severely damaged, the entire building would have to be reexamined. While nothing was set in stone just yet, it was looking like the place would have to be torn down and replaced! And the people who would be doing all this work would be the Uraraka Construction Company!
Just as Uraraka was beginning to tell her friends that her parents’ company also just got a bunch of new hires to help with all the extra work, a knock came at the door. Seeing how happy Uraraka was to share the news with her friends, Ryoko silently excused herself to answer it.
“Midoriya residence,” she said as she opened the door, finding someone who could only be Ida’s brother. The man looked to be several years older than she was, with similar hair to his young brother but the style was completely different. It had a ‘windswept’ look to it, making it feel more free. He didn’t wear any glasses and his attire was very casual. Just an un-tucked blue t-shirt and shorts.
“Hey,” he said with a smile. “My name is Tensei Ida. Heard my little bro was here with a friend who had a bit of a shock.” He then paused, listening to the laughter inside. “But judging by the sounds of things, everything seems fine.”
“More like you were a little late to the party,” commented Ryoko as she stepped outside, giving them privacy without disturbing the others. Now outside, Ryoko leaned against the door with a grin on her face. “The name’s Ryoko. My little bro is friends with your bro. Though I seem to recall hearing from him that you’re supposed to be one of those speedy heroes. You’re lucky nothing was seriously wrong with her. How would you feel if something bad happened to that poor girl if you were too slow?” As she said all this, Ryoko kept her tone playful to show she wasn’t seriously accusing him of anything. Just friendly ribbing. And much to her delight, he just laughed it off.
“Hey no worries, no worries,” he said with a smile. “I’m just glad it was a false alarm and Tenya was worried over nothing. Besides, according to my little bro, his pal Midoriya has a very capable sister. At least, that’s the impression he got from the way he talks about you.”
At that, Ryoko grinned a bit wider. “So, may I ask why you couldn’t head over to U.A. first?” she asked.
“You may,” chuckled Tensei. “I was kind of in a meeting at a gym I’m starting up and, from what Tenya described, it seemed like the girl was just in a state of shock. Honestly, I’m glad that he has friends who live in this area, otherwise it would have taken me longer to get here.”
“You’re starting a gym?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes ma’am,” replied Tensei with a nod of his head before turning to look at the cityscape. “It’s been a personal ambition of mine for a while now. In fact, I’ve had it ever since I took the U.A. entrance exam. People like me who come from Hero families have a real leg up over other people. We have private facilities that we can use to train our quirks. Other people? Well, they have to pay an arm and a leg to be able to get anything close to what we have.”
“Yeah, Izuku told me about that,” commented Ryoko, frowning at the memory of when she asked why Izuku was in such poor shape. “They don’t even allow the quirkless in.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Wish I could haul them in for discrimination,” said Tensei with a slight edge in his voice that Ryoko approved of. “But, sitting on my ass and just complaining about the problem won’t solve anything. That’s why I want to start a program aimed at helping kids train their quirks. Something affordable for everyone so that hero schools like U.A. don’t let good people fall through the cracks.”
“Really?” said Ryoko with a twinkle in her eyes. So far, she liked the older Ida brother. He was laid back almost as much as she was. He could take her playful insults and was the kind of person she wouldn’t mind working for. “You know, I trained Izuku myself and am currently looking for a job.”
After that, the two began what could best be described as a mini-interview. Most of it consisting of having Ryoko describe how she trained Izuku. She spared no detail, making sure that his body was fit, had a good idea on how to use his abilities, as well as making sure he could fight. All while making sure he was tough as all hell. Though, she did omit that she slammed the kid into the sides of rock walls. Better to keep a few things secret.
And by the time Inko returned home and Tenya was ready to leave, Ryoko had scored herself a job!
-x-
Meanwhile…
“What do you mean you’re in jail grandpa?” asked Mineta from his room.
