Chapter Text
After the students of class 1-A—most of them, anyway—dominated the provisional licensing exam, they had cause to celebrate. A small group elected to hang out around downtown Musutafu a few days after they returned. The eight students initially walked off of the UA campus together, but quickly split into smaller groups. The first departure was a sulking Bakugou, trailed by Kaminari and Kirishima, who had to power walk to keep up. Hagakure and Ashido split off next to do a little window-shopping. This left Iida, Uraraka, and Midoriya, who decided to enjoy the time off and wander aimlessly. The group chatted idly, mainly about the events of the preceding days.
As they turned a corner, the group passed a tall, lean man with his hands in the pockets of a long overcoat sauntering towards the crosswalk. His hair was short. Black. He was clean shaven, and his three-piece suit beneath the coat was pressed and tailored. The group did not notice the man's vacant look, or they might have realized he was about to walk in front of an approaching car. Instead, they heard a car horn and a startled yelp from the tall man, who fell backwards onto the sidewalk. The car swerved to avoid the man and honked again as it passed. Izuku Midoriya was quick to act, appraising the man for injuries.
"Are you alright?" asked the teen.
The man held up his hands to dismiss the concerns, the bulbous tips of his fingers faintly glowing. "Quite alright, I just wasn't paying attention to the road."
The prospective hero gave the man an encouraging smile. "Here, let me help you up," said the boy, already reaching for the man's hands.
At first the man extended his hand to be assisted, but his eyes flew open a moment after. "No! Stay back!" he shouted, already too late.
Young Midoriya's hands made contact with the strangers. A small arc of current formed between the tips of the man's fingers and the boy's skin. The glowing of the man's fingertips sputtered out, and Izuku Midoriya collapsed.
"Deku!" shouted his first friend.
"Midoriya!" shouted the other.
His two comrades rushed to his side, catching his limp body just before his head hit the sidewalk. Onlookers gasped in panic, and the gossiping began immediately. The stranger brought his hands to his face and sucked in air through his teeth.
"Damn," swore the stranger. "I'm really sorry," he pleaded with the students, still busy trying to wake their friend. "It was an accident, I swear!"
Ochako turned to face him. "What did you do to our friend!?"
The stranger's face paled. He stammered for a few moments, trying to find the words. "It was my Quirk. It, uh, put him to sleep. He'll be fine," said the man, before quickly adding "I hope" under his breath.
The taller of the two friends cleared his throat and addressed the other. "Uraraka, I felt a pulse."
"Okay, well that's good. Sorta. I guess now we should call the police?"
"Right, good thinking. As class president, I ought to handle the call."
The stranger brought himself to his feet. "Look, there's no need to involve the police, okay?"
"I'm afraid there is." replied Iida. "Even if it was an accident, a student is still unconscious. They need to investigate so they can sort this out."
"Look, kids, I get that, but I really don't want to involve them."
Ochako narrowed her eyes. "Because you're a villain, right?"
The man's eyes grew wide with fear. "No! Not at all! It's just..." he trailed off.
"Just... what?" she continued.
"I just... don't want to get in trouble over an accident."
"As I said," interrupted the blue-haired student, "they can sort it out. If it was, indeed, an accident, then you will not be punished."
The man stammered, but failed to arrive at an adequate response. The shorter of the two friends narrowed her eyes.
"I... think I figured it out. It was an accident that Deku was hit by your Quirk, right? But it wasn't an accident that someone was affected by it."
The man's silence was damning. He sighed. An onlooker, still watching the exchange from when Izuku first fell, tapped Tenya on the shoulder and explained that she was already calling the police. The man looked over his shoulder down the sidewalk and contemplated running. His overcoat waved slightly in the breeze. The antigravity hero took a step toward him in case he tried to flee, but was held back by her cautious friend, who advised that she could end up the same as their green-haired companion.
"Don't worry, my Quirk isn't active right now. I won't run, either." He chuckled scornfully and shook his head before mumbling. "Well, that's how it goes. My hope for revenge, up in smoke." He glanced down at the boy who tried to help him, hunched over, sitting up but fast asleep. I was so focused on getting even, the man thought, that I might have ruined this kid's life.
"Mister, um..." Ochako began apprehensively.
"Yeah, you can call me doctor—" the man looked up pensively, bobbing his head slightly as he thought, "—well, not anymore I guess. Muyume is fine."
"Okay. Mr. Muyume." She chewed her lip as she pondered a question she wasn't sure that she wanted to know the answer to. He had mentioned something about using his Quirk to seek revenge, and that made her fear the worst. "Is Deku going to be alright?"
"My Quirk doesn't cause any physical damage," he stated flatly.
"Ooookay, I sooooo do not like the way you phrased that."
Muyume sighed. "Me neither. To tell you the truth... probably not. On top of that, he could be asleep for a while. Hours. Days. Weeks, maybe."
Her heart sank. To her side, she heard a sharp inhale from Tenya.
"Sir, is there some way we can help our friend?" pleaded the class president.
"I'm... not sure, to be honest." Muyume admitted. "I never had any interest as a kid in heroics, so I never tried to train my Quirk beyond what I needed for work. I know most of the limitations, but not all of the applications. It's possible, but..."
The two students waited for him to continue. He only shrugged.
"But?" Tenya probed.
"...but I have no idea if what I think is possible could even work. And even if it does, it's too risky." The man scrunched up his face in thought. "How long has it been since he went under?"
Tenya checked his watch. "About six minutes."
Onlookers watched intently, their eyes darting between the unconscious victim, the two loyal friends, and the well-groomed possible villain. They were too engrossed by these unfolding events to leave before any semblance of a resolution. Muyume mulled over his options. He would probably be charged with the Unlawful Use of a Quirk in Public. He would need to argue that it was an accident. "Intentional" being put in front of that charge would make his situation a whole lot worse. If he used his Quirk again to try and let the friends aid the boy, he would be facing two charges, one of which would certainly be "Intentional". However, if it worked out, then he might get a more lenient sentence for trying to fix his mistake. If it didn't work out, then his life as he knew it was over. Musutafu police would stack as many charges as they could against him for putting two students out of commission indefinitely. Well, the whole reason I set out on this stupid revenge plot was because I had nothing left. So, it's not like it could get much worse for me. If he didn't at least offer to help, he would be even more miserable than he was already. And if he tries to help and it makes things worse, then, well... At least I can always just kill myself.
Waiting for a response was agonizing. Civilians, crowded around the scene, held their breath in anticipation. Two desperate students said silent prayers. Muyume yawned, and shrugged. The kid was nice, and he was suffering as a consequence of being so helpful.
"Okay. I'm not sure if I can help, but I'll tell you what I know. I think this will make more sense if I start at the beginning."