My Bizarre Academia

The next day was uneventful, given the circumstances. It was Sunday, so Mama Inko didn't have to go to work, and school started the week after next, so we had to do some back-to-school shopping.

I dragged myself out of bed, rolling Izu off me and shucking off my drool-covered shirt. My lungs still ached from my Hamon experiment last night, but I powered through, putting on a casual outfit for the day.

I was halfway through my cereal when Izuku stumbled out, shirt on backwards, shuffling like a zombie. Inko came out of the shower to see me flipping Izuku's shirt around as he shoveled Sugar'Os in his mouth.

"Morning boys! You ready to go shopping?"

Izuku and I just grunted in response. Inko just rolled her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, we'd hit some basic stores and grabbed the usual school supplies.

Ugh... I groaned. School. Again. As if being four years old wasn't punishment enough. Is there any chance I can get out of it? Maybe if I bribe Mom? But how would I get the money? I guess I could invest in some uprising heroes… I already know who is going to make it big… but where would I get seed money? I guess I could sell something from my previous wor-

"Akatani!" Inko scolded.

I snapped out of my thoughts to find myself standing in a doorway, the one for the store we'd just looked around in. Inko looked at me, scoldingly. Izuku just stood next to me, holding my hand, looking at me questioningly.

"Sorry". I said, sheepishly. "Got lost in my thoughts. What's next on the list, Mama?"

Inko huffed. "Honestly, you boys and your hyperactive imaginations." She rolled her eyes fondly. "Up next is bookbags. C'mon."

We made our way through the mall, our target some kind of children's clothing store. I looked around at the people passing us, all sorts of interesting Quirks on display. There was a perfectly normal looking man with his head in a fishbowl, chatting and laughing with his family. On the other side of the walkway was a young man, probably late teens, with an impressive chameleon quirk reading something on his phone.

Despite the otherworldly feel, It was all so familiar… so nostalgic. When was the last time I'd gone out to a mall? Hell, when was the last time I'd gone out at all? I barely had time to dwell on it before I felt a tug on my sleeve.

"You're doing it again, Aniki. You're spacing out." Izuku pouted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, you know, like a liar.

"Nnn." Was the only response I got.

We were rounding up on our destination; a bright red and green store labeled "Little Heroes." Obviously, it was a hero merch themed boutique. I saw in the window a giant poster stating "Back to School Blowout! Two for the price of one!"

Come to think of it, how can I read? Dan certainly didn't know Japanese, and Akatani could barely sound it out. Some kind of Isekai Privilege?

Inko lead us into the store, beelining for the backpack rack pushed up against the wall. Izuku dive-bombed an All Might themed abomination, the colors loud and garish, a red-and-gold colored assault on my retinas. It even had a patch with the phrase "I AM HERE" claiming a majority of the space.

"Look Aniki look! It's an All Might bag! It's got his Bronze Age coloring, It's even got his catchphrase on it!"

Izuku spun the bag around and noticed that the fabric on the back popped off, trailing down to make a red and blue cape.

"LOOK ANIKI! IT EVEN HAS HIS BRONZE AGE CAPE!"

"MA! MA! LOOK!" he shouts, eyes glowing with manic glee.

As Izuku begins terrorizing Inko's eyes with the fashion disaster, I slip away from the duo towards the other end of the rack, looking for something more practical. I began digging through the backpacks for lesser-known heroes, looking for one that suited me.

I had desecrated a small pile of 10-20 different heroes' merch when I found something interesting. It was a solid black colored bag, with a gray scarf attached to the top. At a glance, it looked like any ordinary bag if it weren't for the small patch of gold, slitted goggles on the side.

I tugged at the scarf, only to find it was detachable, probably meant to mimic a certain underground hero.

"Huh." I muttered, running my fingers along the patch. "I didn't think Eraserhead would have any merch. Then again, at this point he's probably a fresh high-school graduate desperate for money, so it makes sense."

Satisfied, I detached the scarf and put it around my neck, finding that it fit nicely. I slung the bag over my shoulder and marched back over to Inko and Izuku, leaving a graveyard of discarded hero merch in my wake.

I got there just in time to see Izuku do a damn-near perfect pirouette, cape fluttering behind him. He was deep into a rant about the benefits of the Bronze age costume. Inko stood there, dazed and confused, clearly having been taken out by the horrid backpack's color scheme.

When she saw me, she leapt at me like I was a life preserver. "Ah! I see you've found your bag, Akatani. That's good. I don't recognize the merch though, are you sure you want it? There's an Endeavor bag over here- "Inko rifled through the rack, searching for a bag she'd put back earlier.

I sighed sadly. "No Ma, I'm happy with this one. I think I'm going to move away from Endeavor stuff. He is a good hero who does his job well, but he is kind of Quirkist, so I feel like further support would be… uncomfortable."

Inko just slumped, resigned. "Ah. Ok baby. I'm just worried… you know so much for your age. You don't need to be concerned about everything. I'm here to help you."

I smiled softly. "I know Mama. Thank you."

Izuku dropped out of his rant, just noticing I was there. "Oh! Aniki! Let's go check out! I'll race you there! I bet I'm super-fast with this cape!"

I couldn't help but laugh when Izuku dashed off, leaving Inko and I behind. He took off like a rocket, his cape-backpack chimera billowing behind him.

Inko laughed with me. "I can't remember the last time he was this excited about back-to-school shopping."

"Yeah." I spoke. "I'd say it's a good thing, though. We had a rough day yesterday. He deserves a break."

Inko nodded and followed after Izuku.

Shaking my head, I followed them, looking around the store. There were a bunch of figurines on one wall, the left half of the wall numbered 1-100, figurines of all the top 100 heroes on the wall. I barely gave it more than a passing glance, until one caught my eye.

I stopped in my tracks and walked over to it, enchanted. It was a figurine of a woman with pink and purple hair, tied back into a ponytail. She wore a tight, purple costume with a serious look on her face.

Lady Nagant.

That's right… At this point she hadn't snapped yet. She was still a hero under the commission's thumb. I NEED to help her. Her and Hawks. At this point, he's around 11-12. Not much older than me. He might not even be under their control yet...

But what can I do? I'm a quirkless kindergartener. They're the GOVERNMENT. The scale is completely on their side… what can I do???

My fingers twitched rage and panic building in my mind.

I HAVE to do something to help these people. They don't deserve this. I need to make a plan.

I took a deep breath, my eyes never leaving the figurine.

Calm down Akatani. There's nothing you can do right now. You need time. How long do you have? Conservatively, I have four years. I need to do something before then. Anything.

I took a deep breath.

But I can't do anything now. I need skills. I need Stands. I need to get stronger. And that starts with beating the tutorial.

I grabbed the figurine and turned around, walking towards the counter. I may not be able to do anything now, but I will never forget.

As I was walking through the store, a weird thought hit me.

Why do I care so much? I was never the 'heroic' type back as Dan, so why do I care now? Is it Akatani? Is his soul affecting me? Is it even 'his' soul now? Am I just the two combined at this point? I mean, I consider Izuku and Inko to be my actual, real family… I don't think Dan would ever.

I made my way to the counter to see Inko and Izuku looking for me.

"Akatani! Where were you! I was worried sick!" Inko shouted, bending over to check my face.

"Sorry." I muttered. "I got distracted at the figurines. I saw this one," I held up the Nagant figurine to Inko. "And I really really wanted it. Can I? Please?"

Inko blinked in surprise. "Of course baby. Why do you want this one, though? You've never shown interest in Lady Nagant before?"

I rubbed the back of my head and hid my face in my scarf. "I don't know... it just speaks to me."

Inko just looked confused, and then got a big, warm smile on her face. "Okay baby. Put it on the counter. Your backpacks too."

"And Izuku pouted. "Do I have to take it off? I want to wear it home…"

you will, baby. You just need to let the nice man scan it first." Inko softly chided.

The 'nice man' in question was a bored looking teenager who wasn't even paying attention to us.

I unloaded my backpack onto the counter, placing the figurine right beside it. Izuku plopped his backpack next to mine, the bright, gaudy thing making the cashier hiss in pain.

I flinched at it. "How can you stand looking at that thing? It's basically neon. It's like its warning us it's toxic."

"What do you mean? It's amazing, Aniki. The colors are nice and vibrant, the patch is large and comforting, and the cape is just awesome. It's the best thing I've ever seen!"

I looked back at the near-radioactive bookbag, then at Izuku's bright green hair that clashed with it in a way that should be illegal.

I stared at him dumbly. "How?"

Izuku pouted. "You're so mean, Aniki. This thing is cool, you just can't see it."

I just stared at the psychedelic monstrosity of a bag.

I shook the sight from my mind. "Right. Well, if it's your kind of thing then that's ok. I'll find a way to love you even with this."

Inko paid for the bags and we left the store, moving on to the next thing on our checklist.

We made our way through a handful of stores, looking for objects on our shopping list.

Glue sticks? Check. Pencils and Pencil cases? Check. Safety Scissors? Check. Colored markers? Check.

The problem came when we got to the clothing store.

Izuku was exclusively grabbing clothing that was either All Might themed or neon. Everything he wanted made him look like a highlighter. I mean, what kind of store has toxic yellow jeans?

I just stared at Izuku, pain flooding both my eyes and my soul in equal measure. "Izuku… why do you hate fashion?"

"But Aniki! It's All Might's colors! I want to be strong and brave like him, so I should dress like him!"

My gaze softened. I walked up to my brother, putting the clothes back on the rack. "Izuku, you don't have to dress up to be a hero. You already have the most important part.

Izuku looked at me, confused but excited. "What's that, Aniki?"

I smiled and hugged him. "Heart. You've got heart, Izuku. That's all a hero needs. The other stuff, like a flashy costume or raw power… they help, but they aren't everything. You could have the strongest Quirk in the world, but it means nothing if you don't use it to help people. That's what makes you a hero."

*Click*

I whip my head towards the sound to see Inko standing in the middle of the store, taking photos of Izuku and I.

She looked sheepish at having been caught, but unashamed of taking the photo.

"You boys are so cute! I'm going to frame this photo at home." She said, giggling.

I'll admit it, I blushed. It had been years since I was called cute, ok? It felt good to be loved.

I walked off down the aisles, looking for clothes of my own. I just grabbed some basic stuff, jeans, shirts, and a small jacket for when it gets chilly. When I got back, Izuku had mercifully gone from trying to wear war crimes to some, well admittedly still bad clothes, but they didn't make me wish I was blind.

As I watched Izuku and Inko pick out clothes for the two of us, I thought to myself.

This new life might not be so bad.