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Izuku Midoriya always dreamed about becoming the number one hero of Japan. Ever since he was a young child and watched his idol, All Might become a symbol for hope, love, and strength, his one and only goal in life was to reach All Might's level.
Izuku's dream never came true…because the Hero Rankings had been dismantled by the time he became a pro hero. Not only that but he himself was one of the biggest supporters for tearing down that archaic system.
The Hero Rankings made heroism into a commodity. So many heroes were desperate to become number one and it made them do terrible things. One of Midoriya's best friends was a victim of that sort of desperation.
In the end, it was his generation that dismantled the previous system to make way for a better world. A world where the League of Villains couldn't exist because at the end of the day, a majority of the League were victims themselves.
Midoriya looked up at the sky with a smile "Sorry I couldn't keep my promise of being the number one hero, All Might."
His thoughts were interrupted by a text message
All Might: Young Midoriya! Don't forget the toy commercial you're supposed to be filming in a few hours!"
Midoriya smiled sheepishly at the message. He actually did forget about that commercial. Despite being proud of getting rid of the hero rankings, Izuku often wondered if keeping merchandise deals went against what he and his friends worked hard for.
They all agreed to "pay it forward" in various ways. For Midoriya, it meant diverting from his idol's footsteps a bit. While he loved all the All Might merch he had, Midoriya had to admit that a lot of it was expensive. Even Bakugou's more affluent family raised their eyebrows at some of the All Might merchandise prices!
That's why Midoriya made sure to only works with manufacturers that weren't publicly owned. Once you have to appease shareholders, that means your profit must grow and that sort of mentality will destroy you in the end. For Midoriya, it was important for hero merchandise to maintain a level of affordability and quality.
He wasn't the only one. Tsuyu Asui AKA Froppy had similar ideas about merchandise and partnered with his agency to make sure the products carrying her name were of similar quality. Tsuyu had an additional hurdle of making sure most of her merchandise was durable enough for small children since she was overwhelmingly popular with kids.
Midoriya couldn't help but feel flustered when he thought about Tsuyu. Not only was she one of the first friends he had made back when he first went to high school, but she's also one of his first crushes he had.
Well, Midoriya had to admit that his high school class was full of beautiful women (and some handsome men!) that he developed a crush on most of them. It was funny looking back at how shy he was as a teenager
"Yo! Midoriya!" A voice shook his out of his stupor
Midoriya waved back "Red Riot! Good to see you!"
Kirishima chuckled "I know my hero name is pretty badass, but you don't have to call me that! Or do you just want me to call you Deku?"
Midoriya smiled back "Sorry Kirishima! It's just professionalism! You never know when the press is around."
"We changed so much stuff about hero work and what it entails that it sucks that the paparazzi are still around." Kirishima complained
"I don't think it's that bad. Most tabloid stories are just things people laugh about and forget about in one day. Besides, they're the ones that break the actual big news more often than not. The tabloids were the first one to run the story of that UK Hero who was embezzling funds." Midoriya explained
"Wasn't that guy skipping seeing sick kids in the hospitals while doing that? What a piece of trash!" Kirishima spat
Midoriya nodded "I can't imagine doing something like that. Like, I know how hard it is seeing a child fighting for their lives in the hospital. Hell, that's one of the reasons why All Might never had a kid…but giving those kids a chance to smile is worth it."
"Can't argue with you there. Maybe I should tell Bakugou that the paparazzi are needed." Kirishima quipped "Back when we roomed together, it was really funny watching him get pissed whenever they caught him acting crazy in 4K."
"I forgot you and Kacchan partnered up on patrols right out of high school." Midoriya chirped
"Partners and roommates! Even though he still Bakugou, it's crazy how much more chill he is!"
"Kind of has to be. I don' thinkt Uraraka would date first year of high school Kacchan." Midoriya giggled
"Oh man, I was really tugging the line when it came to being his friend back in our first few months of school." Kirishima said while rubbing the back of his head "Even Kaminari was getting good dunks on him!"
"It felt really weird being more popular than Kacchan."
"Eh, he redeemed himself. Halfway through the first year, he cooled off. We all grew pretty quick, don't you think?"
Midoriya scoffed "We pretty much had to considering what we dealt with."
Kirishima wrapped his arm around Midoriya's shoulders "Yeah, and you were hiding a big secret all along! Telling you this again- You and All Might should have been honest from the get go! We all would have understood what was going on!"
"You're saying that now but I was really scared!" Midoriya complained "I had no quirk and somehow managed to get into UA! Kacchan was already suspicious because he knew I never had a quirk and so were teachers like Mr. Aizawa because of how weird my quirk was!"
"Still, I bet that things would have gone smoothly with All Might vouching for you!" Kirishima argued "Plus, it's not the worst secret anyone in our class kept…"
"You mean Aoyama?"
Kirishima nodded "Uh huh…That shit was wild. You know what he's doing?"
"Last I heard he was in France. Iida keeps tabs on everyone from our old class."
"They're still cool?"
Midoriya shrugged "They were never really friends before we found out the truth about Aoyama."
"What about you?"
"I'm way too busy. I barely have time to hang out with Shouto and Iida." Midoriya admitted
"It's probably not a surprise that Bakugou doesn't fuck with him anymore." Kirishima mumbled
"After we finally beat All For One, I guess the adrenaline ran out and a lot of our friends broke contact with Aoyama. I know Tokoyami did."
"I mean, it makes sense. There's always one friend from high school that kind of drifts away. Besides, I feel like Aoyama thinks he needs a fresh start after all that happened."
Midoriya let out a sigh "Yeah, I guess you're right. Seeing what happened to him made me realize that I'm not the quirkless kid who had the worst time growing up."
"Aw, come on! You had to deal with more shit than any of us!" Kirishima said as he roughly smacked Midoriya's back "I'm pretty sure most pros would have a breakdown dealing with what you had to do when we were teens!"
"Kinda funny just how much easier the hero job is now that we're adults. Never thought we'd go through the toughest time in our lives before we became old enough to drink." Midoriya muttered
"I guess we can't complain. Villains are still around but it's nothing like the League of Villains."
"I don't think we're ever gonna see something like the League pop up ever again. Especially with the remaining members of the League still alive and doing relatively well." Kirishima noted "how's Shimura doing? You know….Shigaraki?"
"Can't believe I managed to save him after he got his body stolen by One For All but he's doing well. All Might's always visiting him…"
"Sounds like you're jealous." Kirishima teased
Midoriya couldn't help but giggle "Nah, I'm just happy that All Might got some closure with his mentor's death. Once he learned about how Tenko really was it really broke him. Both me and All Might were really worried about how people would treat Tenko after all he did."
"Eh, I'm not too surprised." Kirshima said matter-of-factly
"What do you mean?"
"All For One was the big bad guy who's been shitting up Japan for centuries. He's basically more of a shitty comic book villain than human and he took the spotlight during the biggest war for the future of Japan. Almost every hero helped beat the fuck out of him and when Bakugou killed him, he went out crying as an actual evil baby! You couldn't write a more cliché death!" Kirishima exclaimed "And now that All Might revealed that "Shigaraki" was the grandson of his mentor that the evil overlord groomed to be his successor before possessing the poor guy's body, public opinion on Shimura practically turned around overnight!"
"Well when you put it that way, it makes sense."
"People are fickle and can complain a lot but deep down, most people are good." Kirishima said wistfully "Sucks that the people in power could be shitheads but if we all work together, we can make sure that those shitheads get what's coming to them!"
"Toga's doing well too. With Uraraka's help, she practically became the face of a new and improved quirk support system. Guess the tragic backstory works with her too." Midoriya reasoned
"You wouldn't think Bakugou would be cool with Toga considering how she stabbed Uraraka but they're pretty tight." Kirishima said
"Well, Toga nearly died saving Uraraka's life so it evens out. Thank goodness the news helicopter was there to rush them for medical attention. They heard Uraraka's speech about how during the war, everyone could help out and it inspired them."
Kirishima pumped his fist in the air "See that? Shit like that is why our generation of heroes is changing the world. Even Crimson Riot didn't change things up like some of our class did, including you!"
Midoriya raised his hands in the air in defeat "Whoa! Are you really comparing us to your favorite hero?"
"Listen, I'm the biggest Crimson Riot fan ever, but I'm not delusional enough to compare him to guys like All Might. He was a manly hero, but he didn't change the world. You changed the world for the better and that's the manliest shit I can imagine. Hell, not to piss you off but I think you did more than All Might!"
"All Might basically admitted that he did change hero society in Japan…for the worse. Everyone wanted to be a hero to become Number One and not because being a hero was the right thing to do." Midoriya sighed "I have to admit that I was kinda like that for a while. I wanted to be Number One because All Might was."
"Yeah but you get a pass on that when you're a kid. You're the one who helped bring the change. No more Hero Rankings."
"Hey, don't act you didn't help too!" Midoriya joked while punching Kirishima's shoulder
"It's still so crazy seeing much changed in such a short amount of time." Kirishima beamed
"Makes you think of how things could have been like this for way longer." Midoriya mumbled "maybe we could have avoided all the terrible things we saw all those years ago."
"Sounds like you're blaming yourself, Midoriya. Remember, we were kids back then. It wasn't up to us to fix the world." Kirishima "It's our turn now since we're becoming geriatric"
Midoriya raised an eyebrow "Twenty-five is considered geriatric now?"
"Yeah, we're has beens Midoriya! We peaked in high school!"
"We beat the big bad guy when we were in high school, we still had to do the important stuff after we graduated. If we didn't, things wouldn't have changed and a new All For One would have popped up." Midoriya argued
"True." Kirishima conceded "The social change was the most important part."
"Alongside getting rid of Hero Rankings, we also had to fix how Japan treats mutants and people whose quirks cause mental health issues."
Kirishima nodded sagely "I'm sure you had a vested interest in the first since you know…Tsuyu."
"Of course! Even if we weren't dating, I would have helped for her sake. And all of our friends who have quirk mutations."
"You know it's funny how Mina didn't get a lot of anti-mutant hate, according to her. Something she never got because in her own words she "looks like a demon" I mean, the horns, the pink skin, the black eyes…even kids won't get scared of her."
"Wait, she's complaining about that?"
Kirishima shrugged "that's what I told her!"
"I guess it's her face." Midoriya hypothesized "Tons of non mutants have abnormal eye colors"
"Hell, look at Iida!" Kirishima quipped "his eyes can't decide what color they want to be!"
"Exactly! Same with Ashido's horns. A lot of people don't mind any extensions on the human body. I'll use Iida as an example again since his engines don't make him a heteromorph."
"I don't know man, we saw him rip those things out a couple of times and it's always really fucked up and gross." Kirishima shuddered as the memories flooded back to him "Like when the metal ended and the tendons began? Gross."
Okay, back to heteromorphs, from what I've seen, people are just creeped out by faces that don't look human. Shouji, Koda, and Tsuyu had it hard."
"Damn shame that Shouji hid his face for so long because of what he experienced when he was a kid. I just thought he liked wearing masks. I mean, Ectoplasm has the same face." Kirishima rubbed his chin "Then again, he was an adult when we were teens and he probably didn't deal with what Shouji did…"
"It's kind of awkward but Tsuyu did admit that puberty really helped her out when it came to her body image issues."
Kirishima scrunched his face in confusion "Huh? What do you mean?"
Midoriya was clearly flustered by the subject "C'mon Kirishima, you know what I'm talking about. What would get teenage boys to stop focusing on her frog traits."
A lightbulb seemed to go off in Kirishima's head "Oh yeah! I get what you mean! Yeah, that makes sense. Is that why you fell for her?" he teased
"Kirishima!"
"Relax, Midoriya! I know you like Tsuyu for more than her looks so you don't have to lie about thinking she's a smoke show! You think she'd be into you if you were a gross slob? You were a part of the same swimsuit calendar as I was, bro!"
"Okay, you do have a point." Midoriya conceded "I really do feel lucky dating Tsuyu…"
"That's called love, man. I feel the same way with Mina."
"No, I mean Tsuyu is really popular. She's one of the few heroes that could do sexy photoshoots and have her plush toys appeal to little kids without causing a stir. She has four quadrant appeal! Even I have trouble being seen as hot!" Midoriya groaned
Kirishima couldn't help but laugh "Didn't All Might have the same problem? He was universally popular but he didn't have a huge amount of fangirls who thought he was super handsome? Looks like you really are his protégé."
"Wow, that really helps with my self-esteem" Midoriya mumbled
"I don't mean it like that." Kirishima quickly amended "It's not that you're not handsome. I think you're a pretty good-looking guy. It's just that you're more handsome like The Prince from Cinderella. Or Eric from the Little Mermaid. Or The Beast from Beauty and the Beast after he became human again."
"Okay, why are all your examples from Disney movies?"
"It's just the first thing that came to mind."
"Well, at least I'm not being compared to the Beast." Midoriya said under his breath
"No, you want to be compared to the Beast and not his human form." Kirishima corrected
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, way more people think that the Prince in Beauty in the Beast is more attractive as the Beast. Or at least cooler. Why do you think people know him as the Beast. Did you know his name is actually Adam?"
"Uh…I didn't."
"Exactly!"
Their conversation was interrupted by a buzzing from Midoriya's phone. He slid his finger down the screen to see who it was "Huh, speaking of girlfriends, Tsu just messaged me"
"I guess that's the signal for me to leave."
"She's doing an interview for Century Magazine soon. Guess she wants me in on it too."
Kirishima quirked an eyebrow "Can you bring guests to an interview?"
"She asked them and they were probably jumped at the chance to interview two heroes."
Kirishima let out a snort "Well, better get moving then. Don't wanna make your girl wait!"
"Do people think we really color coordinate our outfits?" Midoriya asked his girlfriend as he opened the door to their apartment
"Well, we're both wearing green." Tsuyu answers casually
"Tons of heroes wear red! Are they color coordinating?"
"Are any of them publicly dating?"
"Okay, good point." Midoriya mumbled
"Since my quirk is all about being a frog, people think you're paying homage to me." Tsuyu cooed "And that it's really cute"
"Really? I've been wearing green since I got the costume my mom made me."
"Yeah but people don't know that. Plus you've made it clear that you're a big fan of All Might and he never wore a green outfit. People put two and two together and just assumed you're giving me a shout-out."
Deku stopped in his track "Okay, that makes a ton of sense. I guess I can't be too made since like you said, people think it's pretty cute."
"There's something alluring about Japan's big boy scout being in a relationship with a stealth ops hero who's frequently in swimsuit mags, don't you think?"
"Speaking of looks, am I…handsome?" Midoriya asked after much trepidation
"Uh, yeah? What kind of question is that?"
Midoriya flopped on the couch "Me and Kirishima were talking about that while I'm super popular with kids, I have some trouble with the more uh…grown up demographic compared to Shouto, Kacchan, and Iida. Something All Might had trouble with too."
"I've seen you naked so I'm gonna have to argue with that." Tsuyu said casually "You're way more muscular than Bakugou and Todoroki and better looking than any of our friends."
"Aww, thanks Tsu! That means a lot to me!" Midoriya cooed
"Izuku, I'm your girlfriend." Tsuyu deadpanned "You should know that by now." She brought a finger to her lips "Maybe I can help change up your public image as a sex symbol."
"Okay, this is starting to feel like a monkey's paw thing…"
Tsuyu jumped on the couch next to her boyfriend "Oh no, you're the one who opened Pandora's Box, I'm just making sure we get something out of it."
Midoriya gulped a wad of saliva "Uh huh…"
"I'm doing the swimsuit edition of Hero Health alongside Ochako and Utsushimi and Utsushimi being Utsushimi made a bet who could give the most "out of pocket" interview sound-byte to cause social media to go on a frenzy. Ochako thought it would be funny and to embarrass Bakugou and I guess that now I have an excuse to partake in that bet." Tsuyu leered
"I don't know where this is going."
Tsuyu trailed her long fingers down Midoriya's chest "What if I let it slip that even my tongue has trouble wrapping around you?"
At this point, Midoriya's face was red-hot enough to be classified as a hero with a fire manipulation quirk, and he could only squeak in response
Tsuyu shrugged "You wanted to break into new fandoms, right? This will have people thinking twice about you just being a chaste cutie."
"Well uh…If you can still sell cute plush toys to kids while taking photos like that then I guess I have to work hard to get my image up for that side of the hero fandom too!"
Tsuyu giggled "That's the Izuku I know! Always given everything a hundred percent!"
Midoriya grabbed her into a huge "It helps that I have the most supportive girlfriend in the world."
Tsuyu lightly pushed him away "I know but I gotta take a shower. Even when just sitting down for an interview, it's hard not to get sweaty wearing just a skin tight wetsuit. That's why I prefer to stay in the water."
"Mind if I join you?" Midoriya asked, trying to be a little more bold to build up his newfound confidence
"I'd be offended if you didn't."
"You know it's pretty irresponsible for people to take hour long showers." Tsuyu lightly scolded as they both stepped out of the bathroom "I'm blaming you for that."
Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck "Guilty as charged"
"We should all make efforts to conserve our water use. Otherwise the animals that need water will suffer. Plus my legs are pretty sore from all the standing we did."
"Oh, that's why your legs are sore?" Midoriya smirked
"Well…most of it."
"Then it's only fair that I carry you back to the bed." Midoriya confided before effortlessly picking up his girlfriend, ignoring her yelp of surprise.
Tsuyu thought about trying to wriggle out of his grasp for a second but decided against it "You know, I'm really glad I'm short since I'm really into size differences."
"Then I guess I'm glad that I hit a growth spurt at the end of high school. Only Iida, Sato, and Shouji are taller than me now!" Midoriya bragged
Tsuyu curled up against her boyfriend "You're big in all the way that counts."
It didn't take long for Midoriya to find his way to the bedroom, gently set Tsuyu down before flopping on the bed "Man, what a day!"
"I saw you and Kirishima take down that group of Trigger enhanced thugs right before my interview. I can understand if you want to just go to sleep right now…especially since we already had fun in the shower…"
Midoriya pulled his girlfriend on top of him "That would be smart thing to do but I kind of built a reputation for thinking with my heart instead of my head. Thinking with my second head is marginally better, right?"
Tsuyu smirked "Better for me…"