Chapter Text
Nagai Yubi. Age. 18. Profession. Currently unemployed. Dreams? Long since dead. Hope? Pretty little.
He walked down a street, nothing better to do. His parents yelled at him for being a no-good neet and told him to get some fresh air. See what jobs were available. Yubi had had a job working at an electronic store, but he got fired. So now he roamed the streets, the sun going down, in a Mustafu ward.
He walked by a couple punks. Ratty clothes. Scowls on their faces. One smoked a cigarette. Yubi counted three altogether. He then walked a little faster. He hid his fear. The leader had wide eyes and noticed Yubi. The leader slouched, and his legs bulged with muscle. He wore a green beanie. He called out to Yubi, “Yo”.
Yubi ignored him and walked further. The leader shouted, “Yo!” Yubi grit his teeth. He knew he shouldn’t stop, but he did anyway. He faced the leader. He just wanted to keep walking. He didn’t want trouble. Yubi thought, “Why did I stop? This guy’s obviously tougher than me”.
Yubi asked, “What’s up?” The leader grinned. Good. They just found their next target. The punks strolled up to Yubi. The smoker was transparent. Yubi just saw a puff of smoke coming out of nowhere. The third punk had a dyed mohawk and shark-like teeth. The punk punched his hands together, and they hardened like rocks.
The leader said, “This is our turf, and there’s a fee for walking down it”. Yubi sighed. He didn’t have much money on him, but he’d rather avoid a beat down. This wasn’t middle school or high school anymore. He wasn’t the top dog. He wasn’t friends with the top dog either. Yubi kicked the ground and fished for his wallet. He said, “How much?”
The leader had the power. He knew this. He’d drag this out. Make the kid sweat. The leader slapped his palm against Yubi’s chest. He croaked deeply, “Now, is that any way to introduce yourself? We’re all strangers here. I’ll go first. My name is Hiki. The handsome guy over there is Tomei”. The invisible guy waved, his jacket sleeve moving side to side. Hiki introduced the last member, “That’s Brick”. The guy with the rocky fists just glared. Hiki narrowed his eyes, and his tone became flat. “What’s your name, stranger?”
Yubi gulped and said, “I’m Nagai”. Hiki said, “Just Nagai? No first name?” Yubi became annoyed with Hiki. Couldn’t they take his money and let him go already? He disliked being played with. Yubi said, “Just Nagai. Now how much do you want?”
Hiki faked being insulted and said, “Ouch. You’re hurting my feelings, guy. We’re just being friendly. Establishing some ground rules. Why do you gotta be so harsh? Is it the way we look? You aren’t looking down on us, are you?”
Hiki’s sharp grin told Yubi to keep his mouth shut. Yubi knew that Tomei and Brick were flanking him. Nowhere to run. Yubi felt sweat beating down his brow. Hiki noticed. Hiki thought, “Hook, line, and sinker”. Hiki ordered, “Give us your wallet”. Yubi hesitated, looking for a way out. Maybe the goons hadn’t totally flanked him? Maybe Yubi could use his quirk? Tomei clapped Yubi on the back, “Hurry up, man. Hurry up”.
Yubi didn’t see anyone else out on the street. He didn’t see any nearby cops or heroes. Yubi couldn’t enjoy the irony. He bullied people for years, and now he was being shook down for cash. Yubi wondered, “Is this how Deku felt?” Yubi looked down at his fingers. He thought, “What’s the harm in trying?”
Hiki closed the distance. Yubi saw his dirty teeth and his acne spots. Hiki drawled, “You ain’t thinking of using your quirk against us. Are you? It’s three against one. What you got anyways?” Yubi’s eyelids fluttered. His heart beat like a jackhammer. Hiki was so close. Yubi could smell the leftover takeout on his breath. Yubi said, “I can elongate my fingers. You?”
Hiki laughed and stepped back. He did a slow clap, mocking Yubi. Hiki thought, “What an idiot, trying to be brave. Just give us the wallet before you get hurt, kid”. Hiki explained his small posse’s quirks, “Frog, invisibility, and hardening. You think your long fingers are enough? They might make you a good boyfriend, but those won’t do shit against us”. Hiki cracked his knuckles. He hadn’t gotten into a brawl, in what, two weeks? He could afford a little damage in exchange for the thrill of beating some ass. Hiki thought, “Go ahead, guy. Activate your quirk. We’re ready”.
Yubi heard the shuffling of feet behind him. Sounded like Tomei and Brick took fighting positions. Yubi breathed in and out. If he got into a fight, his parents would scream at him. They’d be so mad at him. Fighting instead of job searching. Hell, would they kick him out? Maybe his dad, but surely not his mom, right? Yubi didn’t move. He thought over the pros and cons of sparring these punks. It didn’t seem wise. Yubi made a decision. He’d hand over his wallet. Surely the wisest choice. Hiki couldn’t hide his disappointment at Yubi pulling out his wallet and offering it to Hiki.
An idea popped into Hiki’s head. Why did he, Tomei, and Brick have to settle? They could just beat up Yubi and take his wallet. Best of both worlds. Hiki moved his head side to side. He hoped his buddies would get the message, and they did. They kept their fighting stances. Yubi noticed Hiki moving his head. Yubi glanced behind him. They still wanted to fight. Yubi thought, “Goddamn it. Why’d this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?”
An image flashed through his mind. A green haired boy with freckles laid on the ground, bruised and burnt. An explosive blonde said, “That’s what you get, you useless deku. What can you do anyways?” A red winged boy laughed, flapping in the air.
Yubi blinked, and the memory faded into the current scene. The three punks ready to basically mug him. Yubi made a connection in his mind and thought, “That’s right. I was an asshole to Deku all the way to the end of middle school. Guess that’s what I did to deserve this”.
“Excuse me? Is everything alright? Why is he about to hand you his wallet, Hiki?”
Yubi turned to the side. The voice had come from Midoriya Izuku aka Deku. Though now, Deku was his hero name, not an insult. Deku ceased to be an insult when the hero made his debut. Hiki, Tomei, and Brick jumped in the air a bit. They had the jitters. They slowly turned to face Deku like clockwork soldiers. Hiki thought, “Oh shit. Not Deku. The only hero that can beat your ass and make you feel bad that he had to do it”.
Seeing him in person, Midoriya sure looked different from the bullied child from Yubi’s past. The green-haired boy had matured into a fit, strong-looking man with short-cut asparagus hair. He was in his hero costume. Yubi knew it well. He’d seen it on the television and the internet plenty. Deku the hero walked over to Hiki and asked, “Well, Hiki? Surely, you’re not trying to mug people. We already had this talk”. Yubi looked at Deku’s features. He seemed disappointed in Hiki. Hiki got nervous and waved his hands around to disarm suspicion. He said, “Of course not, Deku! We wouldn’t think of it. The guy just dropped his wallet, and we pointed it out to him. That’s why he’s holding it out in the open”.
Yubi snorted. What a dumb story. Who’d believe that? Deku said, “Oh good! I was worried for a second”. Oh, he guessed Deku would. Deku asked Yubi, “Do you back up his story?” Yubi looked at Hiki. Hiki had his hands clasped, begging Yubi not to tattle. It was kind of pathetic. What happened to all that intimidation? Yubi didn’t want to bother with a police report and be out later than necessary. He was already tired of this troublesome encounter. He said, “Yes. I back up his story. Thanks for pointing out my wallet, Hibi”.
Hiki corrected him, “It’s Hiki”.
Yubi said, “Whatever”.
Deku said, “Alright, Hiki. You and your boys get going, okay?”
Hiki said, “Yes, sir. Thanks Deku. Bye!”
The punk practically left a dust cloud shaped like them as they hurried off. Yubi thought, “Did they just call Deku a sir? They’re probably older than him”.
Deku put a hand on Yubi’s shoulder. It was light. Yubi knew that he could shake off the grip if he wanted to. Deku wasn’t stopping him. He just wanted to talk. Yubi asked, “Yeah?”
Deku looked sheepish. Yubi rolled his eyes, thinking, “How is this guy projected to be the number one hero in Japan? He looks as shy as he was in middle school”.
Deku asked, “Did we know each other as kids and in middle school? Sorry if this is out of the blue, but you look very familiar”.
Yubi was stunned. Deku remembered him? Him?! The guy who helped bully him? Well, this was embarrassing. Yubi didn’t have the heart to lie though. He wasn’t fessing up or anything, but he’d admit that they knew each other. Yubi awkwardly said, “Yeah. We knew each other. Midoriya”.
Deku looked at the ground, “Ah, that’s a relief. I thought you looked familiar”.
Yubi said, “Yeah, you said that”.
Deku said, “How have you been?”
Yubi laughed. If only he knew what a loser Yubi was. Deku might even laugh at the irony. Or maybe it was fate. Deku, with the heart of gold, was on the path to become the country’s greatest hero while the insecure kid who tried to chain him down is a failure of his own making. Yubi said, “Oh you know. I’m living my best life”.
Deku said, “You look good”.
“So do you. You’re ripped, dude. Got a girlfriend?”
Deku laughed and blushed, “Oh, something like that”.
Yubi nodded, “Glad to hear it. Genuinely”.
Yubi kicked a pebble, “Thanks for stepping in”.
Deku said, “You could have reported them”.
Yubi shook his head and looked up at the starry sky. It was so bright up there. Yubi looked at the twinkle of the lights. He wondered how bright the stars were up close. Yubi said, “Not worth either of our times, I assure you”. Yubi gave a laugh from the back of his throat, slightly bitter. Yubi thought, “What’s this tightness around my face and in my chest?”
Yubi looked at Deku, really looked at him, and Yubi liked everything he saw. A bright smile. A shining mind. A strong body. An honest and pure heart. God, could he ever be one hundredth of that? Even in their childhoods, Yubi supposed that Deku was always like that. A stream that’d eventually lead into the ocean that you couldn’t stop the flow of. Yubi was slightly taller than Deku, but in every other aspect, he looked up to him. Yubi felt a weird urge to ask a question.
Deku made him feel comfortable. Deku made him feel forgiven. Whatever happened when they were youth, Deku’d let it go. If Yubi asked, he’d get an honest answer. Yubi really hoped the answer was yes though.
Deku said, “Alright, I’ll respect that”. Deku noticed Yubi shaking like a leaf and swallowing rapidly. Deku asked, “You okay?”
Yubi said, “All good, man. I just um…”.
Deku looked at him expectantly.
Yubi thought, “Just ask him! If he could do it then you can too. It isn’t too late. There’s got to be a program or something! He’s not Deku anymore. He’s Deku . Do it, you coward. Chase after your dream. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Yubi welled up his courage, and he spat out, “Do you think I could be a hero like you, or is it too late? After all, I’m already 18, and schools accept people at 15. Do you know if there’s a program or anything like that? Please!” Yubi stared down at the ground, tears welling up now and flowing down his cheeks before collecting into heavy teardrops that hit the ground with a quiet plop that only the mice and cockroaches could hear.
Deku put a reassuring warm hand on Yubi’s shoulder again. He said, “Of course, Yubi. It’s never too late to become a hero. Anyone can if they put their mind and heart to it. Can we exchange cell numbers? I know that UA’s starting a late-term hero program in the spring. I can give you the information, so you can start training for it”.
Yubi blinked out the tears. Wait, it’s that easy. He could believe it. He asked, “I’m sorry?”
Deku was ecstatic now. He said, “Yeah! Nedzu, the principal, decided that there were plenty of people qualified to become heroes that simply couldn’t take the exams or one reason or another. There are villains that just wanted to use their quirks, but couldn’t make it into hero school. Of course, there are also vigilantes, so Nedzu decided to start a hero course without age restrictions. Anyone can give it a shot, and if they pass the exams, they’re guaranteed a spot in a special class for heroes! Cool, huh? Ooh, we could even train together. I haven’t seen you use your quirk in years. I wonder how much stronger it’s gotten”.
Yubi felt like a slot machine with three mismatched icons. He was lost. Deku would train him? A hero course for villains and vigilantes? No age restriction? What? WHAT?! Deku was still talking. Yubi held out a hand.
“I’m sorry, Midoriya. Thank you. Really, but you’re talking really fast. I can’t keep up”. Deku already had his phone out.
“Here, let’s exchange numbers. I can explain more over text. We already have plenty of people planning to take the heroes’ exam for the special program, but Nezu won’t mind one more. Especially since I know you”.
Yubi was in a trance. He was there, giving Deku his number. Deku texted him back, and Yubi logged in the number as “Midoriya Izuku, the hero known as Deku”. However, he felt like he was also looking at himself doing all of this. An out of body experience if you will. It was unreal. He was going to become a hero? Deku was going to train him? What? WHAT?!
He stood there even after Deku left for what felt like hours. Finally, a phone call shook him out of his trance, and he answered it. It was his father, angrily yelling at him. His dad yelled, “Get your ass home. Your mother’s worried sick about you!”
Yubi said, “Yeah, sorry”, then hung up. Yubi checked his contacts. There was Deku. Just like he thought. It wasn’t a hallucination.
The next day, Deku went through his day at UA, now a third year. Every now and then, he’d check his phone. He’d sent Yubi all the information he needed about the “Second Chance Heroes” program, but hadn’t gotten a reply back. Kirishima slung an arm around Midoriya Izuku. He clung to Midoriya and smiled big. Midoriya returned in kind, and Bakugou narrowed his eyes due to the sunshine radiating from the two young men.
Kirishima asked, “Hey, man. Are we still on for ‘Guess that Word?’ tonight with you, ‘Chako, Mo, and ‘Roki? I love Couples Game Night, man. You can bet your butt that Bakubabe and I will be there”.
Bakugou rolled his eyes. He loved his boyfriend’s antics, but he’d rather bite through a chunk of ice than admit it. Bakugou said, “Yo, Deku. I’m bringing the soda tonight, alright? You want Sprite or Dr. Pepper?”
Izuku said, “Sprite’s fine. We had Dr. Pepper last time”. Bakugou nodded, “Cool, man. See you in class”.
Izuku waved at them, and Kirishima released Midoriya from his half-hug and walked with Bakugou to the classroom. Izuku smirked. He thought, “When did they start holding hands?” Bakugou’s hand slid down to Kirishima’s rear and gave a squeeze. The redhead yelped, and Bakugou leered back at Midoriya and gave a shit-eating grin. Midoriya laughed in the palm of hand. Typical Kacchan. Nowadays at least.
Midoriya sighed and ate his food in the cafeteria. He’d only finished half of it by the time lunch was over. He cared more about Yubi than food. Specifically, his feelings about Yubi. Deku hadn’t expected to see him when he stopped Hiki from intimidating a person into giving their wallet. He especially hadn’t expected to smile and be friendly to Yubi like nothing's happened. Like the last time that Deku saw him, Yubi hadn’t dunked his head in milk. Deku’s grip tightened around his spoon.
Midoriya thought, “What was I thinking? I should have just left him alone. I can’t face him without dredging up the past. Maybe I should cancel plans to help him train? After all, I’m quite busy myself. I’m still fine-tuning All for One. I still got to perfect my extra quirks, and I have to stay up to date on my combat training and physical fitness. Yeah, I’ll just text him that I’ll be too busy to help him. He’d feel awkward around me anyways”.
Before Midoriya could execute his plan, he received a text from Yubi that read, “Sorry about taking so long to reply. I got busy last night. I appreciate the links. How about we talk later tonight at that new chicken place next to Tapo-Mart? My treat for last night, man”.
And Midoriya, dumb sweet Midoriya, typed out a full response and hit send before he realized he needed to avoid Yubi, not meet up with him for cheap chicken. Midoriya stared at his text. Midoriya had written and sent, “Sounds great, but I have plans tonight already. How about tomorrow at 5 pm?” Midoriya slapped himself. He thought, “Ah! Why did I send that?! Now I can’t back out”. Hope tugged at Midoriya’s heartstrings. Maybe he hadn’t seen the text yet? Midoriya could still salvage this. He could still sav- one new message appeared.
With trembling fingers, he clicked on the message. Yubi said, “Sounds great, man. See you there!”
Midoriya was ready to die.
Yubi sighed and laid his phone back down on the dresser. He didn’t even have the energy to scroll through his social media. He laid in bed and activated his quirk again, flexing his large and long fingers. He had to be careful to knock anything over.
Last night was rough. After getting chewed out by his dad for being late, Yubi then made the stupid decision to tell his parents about his meeting with Deku. He even said, “Deku told me I could become a hero, and UA has this program for older people to become heroes”.
His mother looked nervous, clutching her hands then rubbing them together like she was cold. She wanted to support him, but she knew her husband would disagree. She didn’t want to disagree with him. To Yubi’s credit, his dad responded predictably. No hope in his son. Just sheer derision and mockery. His dad laughed heartily and slapped the end of the couch. Yubi always thought his dad reminded him of a fast talking salesmen from the 1950s, complete with the grey suit and ribeye/cigar dinner his wife made him every night. If Yubi squinted hard enough, he could see the cigar dangling from his dad’s mouth.
His dad said, “That’s hilarious, Yubi! Looks like you found a job after all. Being a comedian! Because that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all week. You being a hero. You couldn’t get into college. You barely graduated high school. Christ, you can’t even do retail. But oh! Oh my! My boy, my little star, is going to be a hero”. His dad laughed some more before settling down. His son’s idiotic idea became less and less funny the more he thought about it. How could his head still be in the clouds? When would Yubi grow up?
His son clearly needed a swift kick in the ass. He needed to face reality. His dad said, “Alright, jokester, I’m giving you one week to secure a job. If you fail to secure one, I’m kicking you out”.
Mrs. Nagai protested, “Kurosa!”
Kurosa shot back, “Hanchi! Are you listening to him? The boy’s on cloud 9. He meets Deku once and decides he wants to be a hero”. Kurosa spoke to Yubi, “Didn’t you bully the shit out of him when you were younger? You, Tsubasa, and Bakugou. Except Bakugou actually made something of him. He’s a young hero, but you? You’re nothing”.
Yubi sighed. Kurosa then finished with, “Your quirk’s no good either. Remember you got one week, son. One week”.
Yubi looked at his mom for support, but she’d abandoned him a long time ago for a thin veneer of peace. All she wanted was a quiet dead marriage where she could focus on knitting and drinking too much wine on Sunday.
Yubi headed up to his room and punched his pillow a bit before laying down. He stared up at the ceiling. His mind replayed the incident earlier that night. Why did he stop to face Hiki? Did he want to be strong enough to take him like Bakugou? Did he just want the excitement? Whatever the answer was, he couldn’t do that until he was stronger.
Yubi’d picked fights all the way through high school before getting utterly trashed by another kid. After that, he stopped fighting. Yubi remembered high school. To be frank, it sucked. Besides puberty, girls, and classes, Yubi also dealt with loneliness. He lost the closest things to friends. Bakugou went to UA as did Deku to everyone’s surprise. Tsubasa basically vanished. Yubi didn’t have Bakugou to follow, and he faltered without a leader. He became a listless punk and delinquent, making piss poor grades and barely having any friends.
When Yubi found out about Deku, he was shocked. Some of his Aldera Middle School classmates went to Yubi’s high school. He talked with them, and they were as shocked as he was. Weak little Deku had a quirk? He made into UA? Yubi remembered watching Deku’s first Sports Festival. Deku’s strength quirk threw Yubi for a loop because Deku’d been scrawny. Yubi’d figured Deku had an analysis quirk or something intelligence-related. Instead it was strength? Yubi’d heard Deku mention his parents’ quirks. They were telekinesis and fire-breathing. Yubi overlooked most quirk things, but even he knew quirks were genetic. Perhaps, Deku had a grandparent with strength. Analyzing wasn’t really Yubi’s strength, so he’d tucked that speculation in his mind’s eye for now.
God, he wished he could be better. Someone as angry as Bakugou became a hero. Someone as weak as Deku became a hero. Could Yubi become one as well? He didn’t have to be the best. He just had to be one.
Yubi opened and closed his hand. He felt the tendons stretch. He felt them push and pull. He relaxed and breathed out. He felt his fingers extend. He stared at his two foot long fingers. He hadn’t activated his quirk since his last night in high school. Yubi laughed. He thought, “And I was going to beat up three guys? Dad’s right. My head is in the clouds”.
Yubi whipped his fingers through the air. There was a satisfying swish sound as the digits sliced through the air. He kept playing around with his quirk. As he went on, he felt better. He thought, “It’s not that bad. Heck, with Deku’s help, they might get even better. I guess I better reply to him”.
Yubi shortened his fingers to normal length and size. He read through Midoriya’s texts. They were just links, so Yubi clicked on one and read through it. He then read through another one. As he read, he got more and more tired. Finally, he resigned himself to slumber and promised himself that he’d reply to Deku tomorrow.
Cut to the present, and Yubi was done thinking about last night. He continued to flex his fingers. He then shortened the fingers before rapidly extending them. Yubi thought, “I need to find a good place to train. According to information Dekus sent me, I only have till the first week in April. Since it’s mid-December, that only gives me about 4 months to get in shape to compete against former villains and vigilantes. Perhaps Deku knows of a training place. Maybe he could even get me into UA to train in one of their gyms?”
Yubi shook his head. That was a silly idea. UA wouldn’t let him train on their campus. UA’s security was top-notch and 11th degree shit. Villains had tried to attack their students often enough that the place was as secure as Tarturus or Guantanamo. They wouldn’t let a stranger like him enter even with Deku by his side.
Yubi texted Midoriya, “Hey, do you know of a good place to train my quirk?” Yubi thought for a moment. Was it appropriate to call him Deku? After all, he’d always used it as an awful insult. Maybe it would sting Deku to hear Yubi call him that. Yubi then added another text, “Hey, I know your hero name is Deku, but do you want me to call you Midoriya or Izuku? Since our past is...complicated”.
Midoriya was quick to reply which made Yubi feel good. Yubi was glad Deku was serious about him. Yubi would need all the help he could, and Midoriya was wicked smart, especially about quirks. Plus, he was a third year. Who knew what kind of cool tactics and techniques they taught at UA!
Midoriya’s text read, “Yeah, we can train at Dagobah beach. There’s still a secluded section that’s great for working on your quirk without getting caught. Normally I don’t like rule breaking, but this is important!” Yubi grinned. How cute.
His next text read, “Yeah, Izuku works since we’re childhood friends at all”. Yubi couldn’t detect sarcasm in Izuku’s tone. Yubi knew they weren’t childhood friends though. Yubi almost typed, “You don’t have to pretend around me”, but he didn’t. It was too awkward to say. He wasn’t ready to rip off that bandage yet. Instead, Yubi typed, “Sure thing, dude. See you tomorrow for chicken. Hopefully we can train this weekend if you’re free. I’m sure UA keeps you busy though”.
As Yubi watched the three dots jump up and down on his phone, he smiled. This arrangement would work. He would become a hero, and even properly apologize to Izuku! If Bakugou could manage then so could he! Yubi wondered if Bakugou and Izuku had actually made up. Yubi’d seen videos of them fighting together, and they looked pretty close. Bakugou didn’t look down on Izuku or ignore him. Guess it was just another thing to ask Izuku. Yubi activated his Notes app and started writing down some questions to ask Izuku tomorrow. He bet Izuku’d be proud of him for taking notes.