Chapter Text
[Principal Office - U.A. High School]
Midoriya Izuku sat comfortably before Nedzu's desk, one leg crossed over the other, wearing mid-thigh high black socks with her enhanced red sneakers, rigged with all the supports that allowed her to survive her ordeal. She wore a pair of black-and-purple ivy-motif fingerless gloves that hid the scars on the back of her hand. Her arms were wrapped up to her biceps in bandages, while the rest were hidden underneath her uniform.
Her curly green hair was pulled into a loose braid that fell to the middle of her back, and her emerald-green eyes showed a maturity that shouldn't be in the gaze of a young woman. He couldn't have found a better protege than her if he tried; instead, she fell directly into his very paws, and she found things that he would have never imagined.
A sigh left her lips, "Sir, what is it this time?"
Nedzu stared back at her, "Simple, I'm rather sick of both hero classes' attitude towards you."
"I'm grateful you feel slighted on my behalf, sir, but it's not that big of a deal."
"It is, because they are bringing unwanted attention. I swear, Aizawa is so disgustingly petty. I gave him his personal choice, yet he feels the need to drive you out. I bet he didn't even read the damn file I gave him."
"That's par for the course for him, sir. He makes his own judgments."
"What's upsetting to me is that a significant portion of my staff are influenced by his attitude, who think you do not deserve to be here. Especially those who were supposed to be your peers. Even with multiple warnings, they refuse to stop their mistreatment of you, despite everything you have done."
"I've dealt with worse, and I have those who care for me."
Nedzu smiled, "Ah, that's right, your dear...mate. No, as you humans term, boyfriend."
She recalled his comforting presence, like a warm, heavy blanket on a cold day, that made her smile.
"Considering his bloodline and quirk, I may as well be; I do adore him."
"And he adores you as well; his hormones make it obvious. After all, you did save him and granted him the choice to remain by your side after you finished that...dreadful situation."
"I wanted to give him the choice; I didn't want him to be resentful of me, and following me should be a choice. Especially with...What I found across the waters. It will be messier than what people have seen in a long time."
"And that's why you have the makings of a good leader and why you survived what most couldn't. I'm practically maliciously giddy when they find out what they tossed away because of that brat who wanted to be the only one from Aldera."
"Which you tore and burned down by the way."
Nedzu shrugged, "They deserved it."
"That they did. So, what do you have in mind?"
"Heroes vs. Villains, 40 vs 1. I want you to show them that their arrogance has costs when they can't back it up."
"So a violent mauling, then. Am I allowed free rein to make use of everything at my disposal, including everything I obtained due to my status as a conqueror?"
"Yes."
"Very well, where?"
"Training ground Beta."
"Can I make use of the dark scales?"
Nedzu gave a grin that was all teeth, "You wish to make an old horror legend come to life? And you say you aren't angry at your mistreatment?"
"I wasn't at first, but since you allowed me the opportunity, I may as well make sure the lesson sticks on what happens when you cross me."
"Wonderful, and yes. When I say you can use everything, I mean it. But I have to warn you, it will be broadcast across the country."
"So, no more hiding?"
"Considering what you discovered, you had to miss both the USJ and the Sports Festival to deal with them. It would be best for you to show the world what you can do. Lady War, an upcoming member of the international Titans League."
"But showcase myself by crushing minnows?"
He gave a harsh snort, "Minnows, how fitting. But yes, we can't have them being too scared of you yet."
"Spoon-feed the public, got you. May as well get started. Oh, when do you want my essay?"
"Put a pause on it for now. Focus on making a grand showing."
"Yes, dear teacher."
She pulled out her headphones and made her leave, putting on music and leaving for her private classroom on the third floor, along with the Big 3, as people stopped and stared or, more pointedly, glared at her for having something that should have been theirs. But Izuku knew better than to think about naysayers because of what she had to go through to get this coveted position. They wouldn't last a week in her two years of preparation, constant beatings, brainstorming, and analyzing to the point of nosebleeds, for an entire evening siege across the country, and a month-long worth of guerrilla attacks on miniature pockets of that bastard's forces hidden within each district, some multiple ones at the same night or day. It was sheer madness and pure luck that she survived, as she expected that at least she would die and made contingencies for that, so the rest would survive and expose them to the rest of the world to bring down the hammer on them, so they would never crawl out of their pit.
Then she bumped into Mirio, who steadied her, "Hey, Izuku."
"Mirio. Good morning." She smiled
He looked at her and shook his head, "They are still giving you trouble."
She shrugged, "Nothing I can't handle."
"No kidding, come on. Nejire and Tamaki are waiting for you in class."
She joined them and caught up with them before it was time for separate classes, and she would enjoy lunch outside.
Nejire sighed, "I wish they didn't treat her so badly."
Tamaki sighed as well, "All because of her status as Nedzu's student and being quirkless. It's not fair that they give her so much grief; she doesn't deserve it. Especially considering what she had to go through."
Mirio didn't have his signature smile, "Let them think what they want. It's their loss. We can only support her for now; if they overstep, we remind them of where the line is."
Nejire tutted, "Fine. I still hate it that they came up with that disgusting rumor of calling her a murderer. Like any of them would do any better when confronted with something so malicious."
Tamaki felt sick when he recalled the entire situation she shared with them, what happened to her neighbors, the countless ignored phone calls to the police, being picked off one by one, and the only reason why she's alive was playing on a villain's sheer amusement of her attempts to fight back that gave her the amount of time to gather enough strength and resources to kill him.
Then Snipe-sensei began today's lesson as Izuku made her way to her homeroom teacher, Kenzo Takagure, who smiled at her.
He was a larger man with salt-and-pepper hair. He had a deep tan, the tops of his slightly pointed ears were pierced, and a golden wedding band with the name "Ophelia" engraved on it was around his neck. He wore business casual with a button-up shirt, black slacks, and loafers. He had blue-teal eyes, a sharp nose, and full lips.
"Good morning, Wolf-sensei."
"Good morning, Izuku."
She took a seat before his desk, as he wrote down what would be for today's lesson: "We are going to take a stroll through history and study the various villains through the past century, their methods, their backgrounds, their intended targets and goals, and whether they escaped from justice or were caught. Then you will be training with gravity against enhanced combat drones once again."
"Understood." She pulled out her notebook and began jotting down everything from his lecture.
Meanwhile, as they continued their in-depth discussion, Nedzu's voice rang out through the intercom as he said, "Good morning, students and faculty! Can all of Class 1-A and Class 1-B, with their teachers, come to the auditorium for a special announcement? And yes, Eraserhead, this is non-negotiable, so you need to come as well; you are on thin ice as it is. Thank you, have a good day."
Eraserhead grimaced as he told his class to follow him and met up with Class 1-B and Vlad as they took their seats.
[Auditorium]
Once everyone arrived, Nedzu was carried by All Might before he placed him on a chair as he cleared his throat.
"Welcome, everyone, now you are probably wondering why I called you here from your regularly scheduled or, for some, sportatically planned timetables? Well, it's because I decided to give you all a proper physical exam, if anything, you think of it as practice before your final exams for the semester. Considering all the madness that has been happening, and I wanted to give Class 1-B some experience, something I feel that they have been lacking as of late."
Vlad nodded while Eraserhead rolled his eyes, "So what is it that you called us down here for?"
"Ah, I called everyone down here because I want both classes to participate in a Heroes vs. Villains exercise."
"What?!"
"Aren't those usually for second years?"
"What are the rules and conditions-"
Nedzu had All Might silence everyone before he continued, "Now, I know all of you are concerned, but let me explain. This exam is designed to utilize teamwork, strategy, and quick thinking under the pressure of a formidable enemy. But for this semester, instead of both hero classes against each other, I felt it would be fun if I made it excruciatingly uneven."
Midnight asked, "Nedzu?"
He grinned, "It will be a 40 vs. 1 scenario."
"What?!" Multiple students roared
Some looked faint while others looked excited, some from the easy grade, others for the challenge.
"Settle down, settle down, everyone, let me finish. Now, this training exercise will be in Training Ground Beta for as long as you last."
Uraraka asked, "What do you mean by how long we will last?"
Nedzu continued, "Despite training to be heroes, it seems a fair number of you have forgotten the dangers we are in. Despite heroes being revered, there used to be a time when they weren't, and we will be reliving that section of history during this exercise."
Momo raised her hand, "Which part of history, sir?"
Nedzu looked at her, "When Villains once ruled over the populace, you will find the appropriate books in the library. It would be beneficial for you to study them and learn how they achieved this. You will be given a hero headquarters, but it is significantly different from a usual hero headquarters. You will have to take back sectors of the area the villain took over, and who you all will be up against is Izuku Midoriya."
There was a moment of silence before it sank in, and there was a clusterfuck of noise. Nedzu allowed them all to discuss until he heard Monoma, who said, "Putting that murderer in her place will be a-"
He trailed off and paled at the feeling of impending doom, and it wasn't just him; it was everyone in the crowd. Their voices trailed off into silence until the feeling was gone, and Nedzu let out a disgusted scoff.
"I swear, children, one disgusting, unverified rumor sends all of you off in a fury to ostracize your peer. Some things never change, even with all of those years of history." His voice was cold, before he coughed in a measure to restrain his temper.
"Don't think too highly of yourselves; you are in the midst of training to be heroes, and Izuku Midoriya has more than earned her place in these hallways, no matter what any naysayer spits about her."
His gaze landed on Katsuki, who kept his gaze away from his as he continued, "All of you will have an entire week to prepare. You are not to agitate her, nor is she allowed to agitate you, but considering how I see everything. You have been warned, some of you multiple times, for your disgusting behavior, and it's about time it stops."
"And if we win," Shino asked, "Will you remove her from being your personal student?"
Nedzu's lips curled into a demented smile, "Why? So someone like you can take her place? Do I...really need to go over your horrendous performance during the entrance exam in excruciating detail before your peers? Because I can. In fact, I'll compare yours and hers in front of a panel of U.A. School Board members and 10 heroes of my personal choosing, and let them decide who is worthy to be a student of this school."
He sat down, his head down, fuming as he bit down on his lip so hard it drew blood, 'Damn rat, how dare you!'
Aizawa spoke up, "Nedzu-"
Nedzu waved him off, "Oh, hush, you make threats constantly, yet the moment someone dares poke at your chosen student, now you're proactive. Stop with the hypocritical stance, Aizawa. It's disgusting. I've already given you your choice of student, since you can't even do what I pay you for, you even have the gall to attempt to get rid of her behind my back. And yet you wonder why I stripped you of your ability to expel anyone."
He could only scowl as he took his seat, then Shouto stood up and asked, "What about a wager then?"
Nedzu stared at him, "A wager?"
"Yes. If we win, you will have to train us as you do with her, and she will be downgraded to a regular general education student. After we finish, you'll have to pick one of us as your personal student."
Nedzu let out a sharp laugh, "Do you think my training is that easy that anyone could do it? You'll come to violently regret those words, Todoroki. Her training is significantly different because it includes not just hero training but also analysis, war tactics, invention, and combat medical training. Despite what many may think, I didn't pick her out of this recent humanistic need to be inclusive. I picked her because she did something that puts her on All Might's level of fame, and this country owes her a massive favor. She could have gone anywhere in the world, and they would have accepted her, full ride, all expenses paid, quirkless status be damned. However, because of those who chose to believe and spread a rumor, and those who attempted to run her out of the school for their own reasons, and refuse to be held accountable, it has come to this. Even if you did succeed in running her out, I would have damn made sure you all suffered for it."
His words chilled them to the bone before he continued, "But since Mr. Todoroki decided on this wadger, I'm altering it and making the consequences of failure far more daunting. When she wins, you will experience firsthand what you have missed. To be perfectly honest, when she wins, you will be cursing Bakugo and Monoma until the day they die for the sheer amount of opportunity that you missed."
That phrase made Bakugo sneer, and Monoma look nervous as some of his classmates glared at him.
All Might knew full well what he was talking about; he had been there when Izuku first introduced herself. He nearly fainted at the sight of what she had inherited through conquest. It was a complete shock to witness a piece of history many thought was too outlandish to believe, even in the era of heroes and villains.
Midnight asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Nedzu smiled, "Wouldn't you like to know. But that's only for Ms. Midoriya and her dear friends. Plus, when you fail, you will have to go through her training regime for an entire month; no amount of crying, begging, or pleading will stop it."
All Might winced at that, something Aizawa noted.
'Oh, they are going to curse the day they were born.'
"Not to mention the following stipulations, Aizawa will be fired, Katsuki Bakugo and Hitoshi Shinso will be expelled, and you, Shouto Todoroki and Neito Monoma will be downgraded to a general education student and forbidden from any return to the hero course for the next two years. You'll have a lot of time to work on what it means to be a proper hero."
"WHAT?!!"
"You can't do this!"
"I worked hard to be here!"
"It's not fair!"
"Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry villains, hm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No. The world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness."
His speech made all of Class 1-A wince at once as Nedzu quipped, "Life's never fair. You thought you could have an easy mark with a clean sweep of a 40 vs. 1, but life doesn't work that way. That girl worked her ass off to be here, only to have her name dragged through the mud, to be called a cheater, a murderer, someone who didn't belong. You treated her like a leper for only wanting to befriend you, and you took the word of a jilted boy who refused to grow up because he wanted to be the only one from his junior high to be admitted here."
Kirishima stood up, "But Katsuki was her best friend."
Nedzu snorted, "Do best friends tell someone to take a flying leap off a rooftop and hope for a quirk in the next life? No, they don't, and if they do for you, Mr. Kirishima, you need to rethink your group of friends."
That made him sit and look at the floor.
"Aizawa, you have been warned countless times, but you ignored them just as many in your attempt to run my student out of U.A. So now, it's time to put your training, or rather their lack of it, to the test. If they win, they'll get to through my gauntlet just as she did to pass."
"But they-"
"If she can survive it without a quirk and win, so can they. Now, Vlad, I'm aware of you attempting to rein in your students and you punishing multiple of them for going too far, so you won't be punished, but Monoma is."
Monoma reacted, "But she-"
Nedzu glared at him, "Are you really that hellbent on getting expelled? Because I can and I will expel you."
He kept his head down as Nedzu continued, "Now, it's time to put your money where your mouth is and see if you can prove that you belong here. You have an entire week to prepare; do not waste it, or you will regret it. Dismissed."
He had All Might take him to his office, leaving them to be rounded up and returned to their classes.
Nedzu sighed as he rested in All Might's grip, "I swear, some humans get worse every year."
"But there are some bright gems, aren't they?"
He smiled, "Yes."
"But this is a long time coming, and besides, she needs to show the country a sliver of what she can do so they won't feel the need to stab her in the back while she fights on the front lines for them. Especially against the threat she uncovered, but I'm sure you can handle that front?"
"Oh, I will. The kid has enough on her plate; it's the adults' failure and corruption that forced her into this to survive and protect her loved ones. I will stand by her, and not to mention her subordinates, she won't fall so easily."
He recalled the young man who adored her beyond anything, how she cherished her subordinates, who returned that same devotion with steadfast loyalty, her countless failsafes and methods to keep them alive that night and in subsequent situations.
"I'm proud to be able to know her, but you know her workload has enough paperwork that would make an officer worker faint and throw up. On top of training?"
"Eh, as they say, to understand someone, you need to walk a mile in their shoes? That's what I have in mind when I made that stipulation."
"Young Bakugo made a severe mistake, all because she refused to tolerate his misbehavior; he tainted her name out of spite. I'm surprised you didn't expel him outright when she told you about that and his actions after that."
"This allowed me the chance to get rid of him, and his falling to the one he considered so underneath him is fitting."
"Aizawa will throw a fit that it could lead him to villainy."
"He can whine about it as much as he wants, Bakugo's behavior is more in line with villains and low-tier corrupt heroes than anyone substantial."
All Might had no rebuttal, as he knew all too well that Bakugo's behavior would have gotten him booted within the first week, rather than being allowed to fester as it did now. He barely held back the shudder of what Gran Torino would do if Bakugo did a tenth of the crap he did back then.
They made their way to his office to discuss and plan.
[With Izuku]
She got dressed, minding her scars as she had them bandaged, grabbed her bag, and found Wolf-sensei waiting for her.
"Sorry, did I keep you too long?"
"Nope. Come on."
They walked together as they passed by both classes on their way back to class, while she headed to the P.E. grounds.
The stares were prominent, but she didn't falter as she moved further away from them.
"Are you okay?"
"I've seen and felt worse, sir."
They trained for the rest of the day, leaving her to sit on a pile of broken combat drones, drenched in sweat as she chugged a bottle of water and dumped the rest on her head to cool off.
"God, that felt better."
"You will get the recording of your training session when you get home today."
"Thanks. Any words of encouragement?"
He took a moment, "Make them eat shit."
"Always so blunt. Thank you."
He grinned back as he helped her down and told her to get changed and have a good day.
She nodded as she took a quick shower, got changed, and left for home. She savored the walk towards her home when everything from Maggot's Nest was cleared out, and neighbors could walk unhindered in peace, a joy she would never get sick of. She was greeted by her neighbors, with some of the children coming up to hug her as she opened her apartment door and saw her mother working in the kitchen.
"Hey, Mom."
She turned towards her and smiled, "Hey, sweetie. Did anything interesting happen today?"
"Well...I get to be the villain in a week."
"Another one of Nedzu's games?"
"Yep."
"Show no mercy. Not even to Katsuki."
"You'll never forgive him...will you?"
"He made you miserable because of that disgusting place, even having the sheer arrogance to smear your name for refusing to be his verbal and physical punching bag. He needs to be taught a damn lesson. I don't blame his parents, because you can only do so much, and he kept the worst aspects of his personality away from them until now. He will either learn from this or fall even lower. Now, enough about him, I know you're dying to see him."
Izuku flushed, "Mom."
She went up and hugged her, "Sorry, hon, but embarrassing my teenage daughter is kind of par for the course for Moms. Now, have fun and tell your boyfriend to come over for dinner."
"What are we having?"
"Your favorite, but I'm making spicy garlic udon noodles and dumplings for him."
"Thanks, Mom. I'll tell him."
She changed into a comfortable sleeveless black shirt, jeans, and sea-green high-top shoes.
She felt the connection that had been impeded in her soul since she defeated that bastard; it was such a shock she nearly snapped her head off her neck because she thought it was a deadman's switch for a takeover, but it wasn't. It was something that would make historians shit themselves, many of whom thought such an ability was beyond the realm of quirks. Golden bands rested on her neck, biceps, wrists, and ankles. She raised her hand, pressing it against the door, shifting it into a black double door with golden accents.
Izuku then walked through the door, revealing a black-and-gold living room.
It was a beautiful area, and one young man was lounging on the black couch. He stood at 6'2", with fair skin, dark hair styled in a wolf cut which hid the dark horns that were short in times of peace and dark amethyst eyes. He wore a dark band t-shirt and sweatpants, and he was listening to music through emerald-green headphones.
His name was Akira Hanzo, who stood up to greet her with a kiss.
"My dear princess."
She still had butterflies in her stomach when he wanted to be her boyfriend; she didn't feel worthy, but he convinced her when he told her he fell for her, not just for saving him, but for her drive. How she cared, how, despite how uneven the odds were, she remained steadfast in her convictions, how she worked herself sick to make sure they all made it out of that hell alive. He didn't give a fig that she was quirkless, just as she didn't immediately brand him evil for his horns.
In fact, the first thing she thought when she saw them clearly was that they were cool. He always thought those love-at-first-sight things; some rom-coms promoted were a load of bullshit, that love is something that blooms with time. But when she smiled at him after helping him and his brother, he had an inkling of care and immense respect for her. It only grew with more contact with her, and when she won.
He would have given her the world, the sun, and the moon if she had asked, and she returned his devotion with her own tender care, which made both Inko and his parents happy at the love that bloomed between them.
She pulled him into a loving hug, "I'll never get sick of hugging you."
"Believe me, whenever I hug and kiss, I'll never get enough."
He pulled her towards the couch and had her sit in his lap as she listened to his heartbeat, "I swear, I never would have thought I'd get a boyfriend like you."
"I didn't expect to have a girlfriend like you either, but I'd say it's a miracle. So tell me, what did those shitheads do?"
"Other than glare and stare, not much."
He scoffed, "I swear, you get more tired because of those pathetic people; if it wasn't for Nedzu, I would have taken you away from that wretched place."
"Yes, yes, but I'm okay, I can handle myself, plus I adore my teachers and the Big 3."
He calmed down slightly, "Yeah, they're cool."
"But I have something that will interest you."
"Oh, what will that be?"
"Nedzu allowed me to be a villain in a training exercise against Class 1-A and Class 1-B."
"40 vs. 1?"
She spoke in a knowing tone, "Possibly."
He grinned, "Oh, that's just perfect. So are you going easy or hard?"
"Hard as hell. Nedzu wants me to crush their pride."
"They need it. Their arrogance will be their undoing; it doesn't matter that they were attacked at the USJ. They haven't improved in the slightest, especially due to that asshole at the helm. It seems that he's only training purple fuck. Not that it matters, they'll all fall."
"Well, looks like I have to be a bit mean."
"Please be plenty mean, repay them for every disgusting rumor and dirty look. I want to see the look on that bastard's face when you knock him on his ass."
"Yes, yes. Oh, before I forget, Mom is inviting you over for dinner. She made your favorite."
"Really, wonderful. Come on. I want to show you what I've been working on."
He took her into his arms and carried her up into his office.
After that, they went back to her apartment, and the table was set, the kitchen warm with comfortable conversation until dinner was finished, and it was time for him to return home. He left with another kiss and a wave to Inko before returning home. Waving goodbye to the tenants who haven't broken the habit of watching their homes.
She did her assignments, put on her pajamas, held her All Might plushie, and turned in for the night as Inko kissed her good night before turning in himself.
The situation at U.A. left many students and teachers pondering what would happen next.
Another snippet that came from updating My Villain Academia, I swear, I'm not slacking; it's just writing a proper fighting scene is like pulling teeth at times, and I have over 45K words on that, and it's bleeding into Thursday. I'm ending it on Friday, instead of the usual Sunday. I'm splitting that chapter into two when I finish and polish up certain scenes.
Anyways, this is an AU of the future of my MHA story: The Tactican Hero: Lady War. Basically, I was sick of waiting, and I can't type as fast as I think, so I decided to make this AU of it. I already have it outlined; I just need to add the details to the original. Overall, this is just for me to empty my head a bit.
It may be a bit weird, but Izuku is a conqueror in this story. This title ties into the story arc I plan down the line, as I don't think I've seen anyone use a villainous country as a plot point yet. Or maybe I haven't looked hard enough. I want to see an Izuku lead a charge against a villain country and the clusterfuck of mayhem that goes with it.
Make Aizawa, Bakugo, and Shinso seethe is a proper bonus in all of that. Take care, everyone, and if I don't update 'My Villain Academia' or Fun to be Had' story before the holidays, let me say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
~Kourtney Uzu Yato!