4 Hero Time

This is the only chapter released for a while because I'm headed to Washington for a week. Enjoy!

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North of the city Hayama, Kanagawa laid the bustling Metropolis that was Tokyo city. The setting sun bathed the city in an orange tint.

"Ten minutes? I haven't been able to improve at all." Standing on top of Tokyo Tower was none other then Deku. As soon as the coast was clear, he used 80% of One for All to get to Tokyo from Hayama, his hometown. Despite his continued training, he realized that he most likely wouldn't be able to use the last 20% until he finished puberty.

He was wearing his hand-made hero costume that he made from his part-time job at a restaurant. It was a green jumpsuit with segments of leather sewn on top. Covering his mouth was a modified gas mask that wrapped all the way around his neck. But the most expensive part of the suit were his red shoes that had iron soles and and steel lining around the rim of the shoe.

He learned soon into his solo time as a hero after the Liberation War was that anything that wasn't needed was an unnecessary attachment that would slow him him down. Of course, there wasn't anything that really needed to be removed because his former hero costume was barely holding together by a thread.

Double checking his gear once more, he took a moment to focus, before jumping off the tower.

-------

In Koto Ward near the harbor, two men were patroling around a warehouse.

"Hey Ando, why the fuck is boss man beefing up the security around this joint?"

"You know him, ever since his other warehouse, was destroyed, he's been on edge. Probably some rival gang tryin' to push us out of this ward."

"Fuckin' bastards, why if I see one of them, especially the Ohno family boys, sniffing around here, I'll fuckin' kill em.'"

Gunshots rang out to the right of the two men. Shocked, they both pulled out handguns, and slowly proceeded forward with their guns drawn. Still hearing gunshots, one of them men tried to learn more through their ear piece.

"What the hell is going on over there?"

"Ahh! It's everywhere, its the devil! Keep firing-." After that the radio went silent along with the gunfire.

"Shit! Let's get out of here, I didn't sign up for whatever fresh hell happened over there." Turning around to run back, he noticed his partner Ando was missing.

Thud.

Too the far left, he found his missing partner unconscious and tied up with a lamppost leaning against a shipping container. Just as he was about to bail, he began screaming as the feeling up being pulled upside registered in his brain. Suddenly, he was on the roof of the warehouse 40ft above ground dangling by his feet.

Although he couldn't fully make out his captor, the demonic green glow coming from this thing, no demon's eyes, stifled his scream and all but paralyzed him in fear.

The demon said in a deep voice, "Do you know where Tanaki Giyu is?"

Still stunned by the demon's terrifying appearance, he remained quiet.

"Nothing to say? So be it." And with that he was thrown 100s of feet up into the air. It wasn't until the pull of gravity pulling him down that he began to scream, "I know where he is!" With that the thing caught him before throwing him onto the relatively safety of the roof.

If the demon couldn't become more terrifying, it's smile widen.

"Good."

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After destroying a couple of small drug and arms rings operating, he took a moment to think about what occurred after school.

If you told him that he would need to die to save the life of another? He wouldn't hesitate to accept the offer. All of his life, he's been told that people, quirkless people, couldn't even fathom the notion of being pro-hero because it was just too dangerous. So when All Might told him he could be a hero, that was the one greatest moments in his life. And he never stopped sprinting forward, trying to reach out to grab his dreams and make them a reality. To be like All Might, and save people with a smile on his face and tell them everything was alright because he was here!

But talking to girls? Flirting with girls? Sure, he matured quiet a bit when he was soloing as a hero, but most of it was due to the heavy influence of the will's of All for One and the previous users constantly duking it out in his mindscape.

And that brought up the question of whether he was truly Naoto Hachioji or Izuku Midoriya. Although all the feelings and memories flooded back when he was a child, before those memories, he was still Naoto Hachioji, the boy who was excluded and bullied just because he was too shy and willingly to just take it in.

The way he acted as a hero was just too jarringly different from his everyday self. Hound Dog-sensei would probably be able to explain this to better than him; referring to him having two different personas like most heroes did. All Might was a prime example of this.

"-rash near the shopping district, asking for assistance."

Well, no rest for the weary. And with that flash of green zipped throughout the city.

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*Dream*

He was once again standing in the same dark room that his mind always wandered too when he slept. Standing in front of were the faces of people. He knew those faces, he couldn't ever forget them,

"Where were you when the end killed me?" A girl asked.

"Why didn't you save me from the villain?"

"Why weren't you quick enough to stop that car? My mom died!"

"Why Midoriya," one man turned to face asked. He couldn't forget the face of Nighteye. "Why didn't you stop Overhaul. I had to die for you to stop him. I knew it, Mirio should've been All Might's successor, not you."

All the people faded away before leaving one man left facing him.

"Be strong, young Midoriya, although we may never meet again, know that I always have and always will never regret picking you as my successor," putting a hand on his shoulder, he said before disappearing like the rest, "you have the heart of a hero, never forget that young man."

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It was bright and sunny as he walked down the hallways to the Art room.

He initially wanted to join the Manga club because he wanted to make a manga about his experiences so as to never forget his precious friends and family. But seeing as there wasn't a club created for it, he decided to join the next best thing: Art.

After stalking heroes for so any years, his level of drawing had reached a level that shocked All Might into spitting blood. At least the blood was in the same notebook All Might already signed so it fit well enough.

Because almost all of the club members except him were his upperclassmen, they were too focused to continue doing club activities and left most it too him.

As he was about to open the door, he heard a voice.

"Sen~pai. Sup.'" He turned to see the gyaru from yesterday smiling at him with a two-finger salute.

Yesterday was a fluke. Yes, he just was caught off-guard, that's it. Turning to face his kouhai, he greeted her.

"Good morning to you as well, did you need something?"

"Senpai, I didn't know you were in the Art club." She said as she was swaying her body side to side.

"Here." He said handing her the handkerchief from yesterday.

"?"

"I watched it. Thanks for letting me use it."

Confused, she looked at him strangely. "I gave this to you to keep."

"Oh, I couldn't. Have a good miss." And with that the door to the club room was closed.

Unbeknownst to him, the girl's face shifted from confusion to glee.

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Hmm, maybe he should try again?

He was looking at his previous canvas, a drawing of still-life. His senpai's recommended he try to do still-life as a way to practice his drawing skills and shading. Not anyone could be as good as the president.

As he was lost in thought, he heard the door open and close with a click. Huh, he was pretty sure most of the members were to busy to stop by.

Turning around, he began to greet the unidentified person. "Hello, this is the Art club, did you nee- it's you!?"

To his shock it was the girl from before. "Can I help you with something?"

Ignoring him, the girl began walking around the room with her hands behind her back and a grin on her face.

"Um, miss, what are you doing in here?" He tried again.

"Are you the only one here?" She asked while browsing the busts. Without waiting for a response she continued, "does that mean we're alone together? Senpai." Looking back at him.

"W-well yes, but that doesn't mean you can stay here."

"You're so cold, senpai."

He sighed to himself, and just continued drawing his still-life. When he looked back to his model, he was confused why the girl had sat down in front of him.

Smiling, she said, "I'll model for you, senpai."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm already busy with drawing something else."

"Are you sure, what if I offered something more sexy?" She then began unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt. "Is this more to your liking, senpai? I bet it's your thing."

B-breast!? Doesn't she know we're on school grounds? This girl knows no shame!

"Th-th-at's not true! Besides, a girls shouldn't be so quick to show her skin! Especially young as you!"

"So you're saying that if I was older, you wouldn't mind drawing me nude~?" Then she spread her shirt open a little wider to reveal a hint of her bra.

His mind short-circuited. B-b-b-oobs!? Stepping as if the distance would shield him from the enticing view, he fell backwards on to his chair which fell to the ground.

"Alright! I'll draw you! Normally! No nudes!"

She was already laughing from the commotion he caused when falling down.

"You're so funny senpai. 'Normally! Something normal!' Hehe."

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Ok, focus. He did this many times already. It would be no different with a girl. So with that he began drawing the girl sitting in front of him.

"Hey, senpai."

"Yes?"

"Has anyone told you that you act sus alot?"

"W-what? Of course not! I'm good student."

"Sure thing, senpai. You wouldn't want a poor like me falling victim to a sussy baka, would you?"

Breathe in. Breathe out. Ok. Just ignore here and finish the drawing quickly so that she'll leave. With that, he continued his drawing.

"Hey, senpai, let's make this fun."

"?"

"If I think you did a good enough drawing me, I'll give you a reward."

Curious, he looked at her. "What's the reward?"

"That's a secret, senpai. You can do it!" She started fist bumping the air as she chanted 'You can do it' over and over again.

After another 20 minutes, he was finished with the drawing. While his drawing skills were no where close to Prez, he's been drawing ever since he started his first Hero notebook. He was pretty confident that he would ace this competition.

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"I see. This is you giving it your all, huh?" She said as she looked up and down the drawing.

"I guess."

"I can't help but notice that you focused alot on my hands. Do you got a thing for hands, senpai?"

"W-what, no that's not why...I focused on your hands because they tell you a lot about a person." Confused she looked at him. His eye were serious as he continued speaking. "You can tell if someone works hard by their callouses or how kind they are by the way they hold things. Whether they're happy or sad, its all recorded into the the creases on your palm."

Speaking of hands... Eri would always run to his arms and whenever she could, she would hold only his right hand because she said they 'matched.' He... missed Eri.

Noticing how serious he was taking her comment, she blushed a little bit and tried to change the subject.

"Geez, senpai, here I was thinking that you weren't sus before. Anyways, its time for your reward!"

Kissing her index and thumb to her lips before making the heart sign with the two, she puckered her lips. "Reward time!"

Wait, what.

"Close you eyes."

"Wh-why?"

"Just do it." (BTW I'm not sponsored by Nike)

"Wait, you have to tell me wh-"

Leaning her head in closer, she shouted at him, "Just do it!"

Complying, he closed his eyes. Already close to his face, the girl raised his face upwards. Thinking she was going to pretend to kiss him and instead give him something like a candy to eat, his lips were slightly open and ready for action. In another universe, this scene would end up with the girl using her other hand to flick his wavering lips. But here, something else happened instead.

While she was focused on seeing his reaction, she didn't notice a pencil on the ground that fell earlier due to the commotion he caused. As she took another step forward, slipped on the pencil and fell towards the sitting boy. Trying to stop her fall, she used both of her hands to try and stabilize her body by using his shoulders. But the slip had enough power to her face down right to his face.

They kissed.

Paralyzed, the girl was still for a moment, before blush became transparent on her face.

On the other hand, the boy thought the girl was pushing something against his lip. He gave it a little lick and tasted... watermelon? As tongue tried to lick the object again to taste the wonderful flavor, the girl suddenly pulled back.

Noticing that his eyes were still closed, she began bluffing her way out of the situation.

"Ha-haha~! You thought that I ki-kissed you! Stupid, senpai!"

"...it tasted like watermelon..." Still lost in thought, he pondered what type of candy she let him lick. It tasted delicious. Unconsciously, he began licking his lips, trying to clean up the remnants of the fruity flavor.

Seeing his face, she blushed harder.

"What's with that face!?"

He began blushing realizing what he was doing.

"You didn't think I was going to kiss, did you?!" But she wasn't finished and pushed on. "You should've seen yourself! You made a funny face, expecting a kiss."

"I-I didn't." It was true! He was expecting this. But her continuous onslaught kept him beet red.

"You're kind of funny, senpai."

"Ar-re you done." He couldn't believe it, but he was looking forward to meeting criminals. He needed to vent all of this frustration.

"Go home if you're satisfied." But that only made her smile wider.

"I dunno," she said, "it's kinda fun observing you." Moving around him, eyeing him from mutliple perspectives. Leaning in closer, she whispered into his ear, "and you're pretty cute."

It was officially, his face was redder than Kirishima's hair. In effort to block her view, he put both hands in front of his face.

Seeing an obstacle blocking her view, she grabbed both his arms in an attempt to pry them from his surprise. To her shock, his arms didn't budge, as if her strength didn't register to him. As a girl who took part in various athletic clubs like track or swim meets, she knew her own strength. She was confidant that she could even overpower some adults even! Seeing that brute force wouldn't work in this situation, she tried another tactic.

The armpits.

The instantly she began tickling him, all his defense crumbled before her.

Laughter filled the room.

"Stop *hehe* stop *hehe*it! I *heh* give up!" He shouted between laughs.

With a delighted grin she said "Senpai, I thought you were a guy."

He laughed so much that tears began filling his eyes.

"Noo~!" he screamed, but it was too late.

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"I'm sorry, senpai." She said as she wiped the tears from her tickle-fest using the handkerchief he handed back to her.

"I had to mess with you again."

"You didn't mess with me." He responded, still gasping a little bit for air.

"Stop crying, senpai."

"I'm not crying." With an internal sigh, he already expected something like this to happen sooner or later. The Midoriya's, especially his mom, had a tendency to burst out into tears. Their neighbors below their condo kept on complaining about the leaks that would appear because of their comically enormous amount of waterworks the shot out of their eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I enjoyed your drawing. Please draw me again next time, senpai. I'll promise to give you a HUGE reward."

"I d-don't want a reward." And with that Art club activities for today, was finished.

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In the street canals next to the road, koi fish slowly swim back and forth in the setting sun.

As he was walking home, a girl was closely following behind him.

"Senpai! Senpai! Senpai!" she chanted as she skipped.

What were the chances, he thought, that they would have the same route home. Because he didn't interact with a lot of people, he would usually find the nearest alley to change out to patrol. But because the girl kept tailing him, he couldn't do that.

Walking in front of, she stopped.

"Senpai!"

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to ask you." As she said this, she began fidgeting in place, moving her feet back and forth and intertying her fingers quickly together.

"I know this is weird, since we've only just met... but please go out with me!" She finished with a smile on her face.

Brain has stopped working. A g-g-g-g-irl just asked him out. The light in his eyes started rapidly losing light. And imaginary thought bubble above his head showed a his chibi soul rising slowly away from his body only to be tethered by another chibi All Might holding the spirit's tailand repeatedly shouting, 'No young Midoriya, no!"

Dropping his bags, he quickly raised his hands and waved them back and forth.

"Wa-wait th-th-this is so sudden..."

"Psyche!" Slapping his back, she giggled before continuing her assault.

"Psyche! Psyche! Psyche!" With every word, she would deliver a flurry of light slaps to his back. Although he barely registered the pain, he was so embarrassed for jumping to conclusions so quickly.

"I was just kidding, senpai!"

"I get it already, could you please cut it out!"

After a while, they were walking together again.

"I can't believe you took me for real. Did you really think a girl would ask you out?"

"I-I knew you were kidding."

"Are you sure?"

"I was just surprised since it came out of nowhere. That's its, No buts."

"Uh-huh."

"You're just toying with me for the fun of it, miss."

Giggling, she repeated, "'Miss'?" She then ran up to and smacked his back.

"You're so gross!"

As car was approaching from behind, he noticed a large puddle on the road, quickly moving next to the girl, he was able to shield her from most of the water that was splashed as the car drove by. Great, now he had to wash his uniform with his hero costume.

"Senpai." She said.

"Yes?"

"How come you never get angry? I've been pretty horrible too you."

...She's right. She's just like others. Like the kids that followed Kacchan around, telling him that a quirkless freak like himself couldn't be a hero. That the only chance they had left... was to take a swan dive off and hope for a quirk in the next life. And for most of his life, it always been like that. No one believed in him, not even his own mother.

"Young man, you too, can be a hero."

Those words. The words he longed to hear his entire life. By someone, anyone, who would believe in him, were said by All Might. He couldn't let him down, he wouldn't let that happen. Failure was never an option.

He turned to look back at the girl, his eyes glinting green for a instance before returning to normal. The setting sun glowed behind him as he spoke.

"You want to know why I never get angry? Sure it may be easier to get angry, but that's not the only option I have. A great man once told me it's the times when your scared or worried that you should deal with it smiling." Turning to look at in the eyes, "So no matter how afraid, mad, or sad I get," he continued on with a smile, "I'll keep on smiling."

Stunned by the boys sudden change in attitude, she walked behind him quietly.

Thinking that she would stop bothering him, he mentally did a little dance in his mind. But he heard laughter.

"That was pretty cool, senpai. It was like something straight of a shonen anime. Before you know it, you'll probably say something like 'I'll beat you with the power of friendship!' Haha!"

"He-hey, I meant what I said earlier!"

"I got it now! You said all that stuff earlier to hide your crush on me! I get it now!" As if to reinforce the point she slammed her fist into her palm. Then started to hold her arms protectively around herself.

"You better not do anything, senpai."

"I-I wouldn't! And a-all that stuff about having a crush on..."

Mimicking his hand gestures, she repeated him, "On?"

"...on you aside..."

Smiling, she continued, "...aside?"

"While at times you're unbearable and a bit too much to handle at times," as he said this, her face looked at him, "... I enjoy talking with you and stuff, miss." At those words, she smiled at him.

"Seriously, that 'miss' thing is creepy."

"Oh, sorry about that... um let me properly introduce myself." Taking in a deep breath, he proceeded. "Hi, my name is Naoto Hachioji, what's your name?" He finished with a bow.

"'Naga' as in 'long,' and 'Toro.'" she said before getting close to him.

"'Toro?'" He wondered out loud.

She then pressed a finger on his chest.

"You write it like this." And she began tracing the word out on his chest. Too her surprise yet again, she felt a well defined pec under his wet uniform. Realizing she was close to touching his nipple, she finished quickly. With a smile, her finger left his chest.

With a smile, she said, "call me Nagatoro from now on. Let's get to know each other, senpai."

He couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, nice to meet you, Nagatoro."