Rebirth and Blood

Cheap craft beer, six plates of hot wings and a packed bar filled to the brim with off duty heroes was not Izuku's idea for a meeting between those charged with the protection of society. Yet apparently he was alone in this thought since Rikido, Ojiro and Shoji all conversed at the table they sat at last week like it was the most normal thing in the world. He hated the noise and even though the tab was on the three of them, he stuck to water and listened like a third wheel while the pros talked about their current case, capture rates and other things.

They had met at eleven in the morning like Sato said, yet it was nearing eight in the afternoon with nothing really accomplished for the hours they traded. Sure he had gotten to inform them of his notes, but he could barely explain Himiko's idea since they were busy with other things, leaving him to bottle up his professional frustrations.

"Turns out, Tsaki managed to climb up the tree while the sitter was away."

Shoji whistled in sympathetic pain for his tailed friend, two of his six hands transformed into mouths with one for talking and another for eating.

"Damn, I bet Toru lost her mind at that."

A hand was waved dismissively at the taller hero.

"Oh, you best believe it. She tore that lady a new one, but what can you do? Kids'll act like kids."

The martial arts hero brought his eyes up to the only member of the party who had yet to say anything in the half hour they've been at the table. Softly his tail tapped against Izuku's leg, getting him to nearly jolt upright.

"So Mop Head, what about you? Anything interesting going on in your life?'

Izuku tugged at his collar, trying not to let his anxiety win over.

"N-Not really. Worked my day job, did some research for the case, that's about it."

The room seemed to grow smaller under Ojiro's gaze. For most of his life places like this were anathema to Izuku, it wasted money, time and likely brought on unnecessary conflict if spirits started flowing enough. Being quirkless against someone who could perhaps set the air on fire or worse was never a winning equation, especially when he had no formal combat training. Yet here he was, in a situation he rarely had been in before, stuck right in the spotlight of three of the only people who might help him move up in the world. He wanted to be back at the office or his desk at the agency, somewhere he knew exactly how to act. 

An elbow lightly jabbed him in the ribs when Rikido stole the attention, perhaps to spare his sidekick the obvious discomfort he was having.

"Ah, don't worry about Broccoli Lad, he's just like Iida. All work and no fun."

Both independent heroes gave a few seconds to study the neurotic newbie, taking in his face and eyes which had the quality of a panicked dog before answering back to the Sugar Hero. The focus faded away from Izuku within minutes as more reminiscing about things and times he had no clue about entered the conversation, just how he liked it. Let him be as wallpaper and simply vanish in all but body. 

At least nothing could go wrong that way, at least he couldn't be mocked or thought less of if he wasn't involved. Sighing silently in relief, Izuku leaned back with a sip of his water. This wasn't his life, not the sort he had adapted to live since turning five years old and as such he didn't like it.

Briefly he considered leaving and returning home, but technically this was a meeting to discuss the case so that was out of the question. He had to endure it like every other shitty thing that came with a job. In his silence, Izuku found his mind wondering like it had for all his life, to things which might be better. He imagined himself as a different him, one who was strong, valiant and powerful with a quirk that demanded respect. Buildings raced below him as he leapt into the sky and he found that he could shatter them with a single blow just like All Might in his prime. People smiled, waved and shouted in gratitude for all he had done for them, praising him like a guardian.

It was a finer life than the shit one he had been handed, one where he could be anything, but as was always the rule Izuku eventually forced himself out of the fantasy, otherwise he wouldn't want to leave(not that he did in the first place). It was beyond horrible to retreat back to old habits when trying to move forward, yet as he slumped in his seat with another half hour passed of pointless conversation from the pros, he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention in the crowd.

Sitting at the counter in the densely packed space was a brunette girl with a roundish face dotted by two pink circles where dimples may have been staring at him critically. She had a half glass in her hand which was barely touched while she kept a pinkie raised off it, revealing a sort of padding at the end of the digit. Her hazel eyes didn't look away when he noticed and the two had a sort of stare down, except it was more akin to curiosity rather than hostilities. Her attire consisted of an ugly brown overcoat and jeans which looked cheap even to him and the liquor in her cup looked close to rot gut judging by the color. 

It took him a minute to recognize who he was looking at and nearly had a heart attack when he understood that Uravity herself was looking his way. That girl was a legend in her own right at the age of twenty four already from having the second highest number of rescues on record that barely lingered below All Might's. He soon berated himself mentally for entering his geeky fanboy mindset. She was just a woman looking to relax for the night after some hard work, nothing more.

Yet he had to shift in his seat when she got off her stool and began to approach the table. The others turned their heads in her directions and a sudden apprehension filled the air. Out of the three of them Shoji was the only one able to start a conversation with the girl while his friends kept the uncomfortable rigidity of themselves, making sure to avoid direct eye contact with the brunette.

"Hey, Uraraka. How've you been?"

The Anti-gravity Heroine smiled warmly at her former classmates, standing by the edge of the table with a waft of lilac perfume coming over the air.

"Oh you know, same old, same old. Hey, not to be rude, but do you mind if I borrow your friend here for a minute?"

The trio collectively raised an eyebrow at the heroine, yet Izuku found himself seeing a way out from the situation and took it. He stood up from his seat a hair too fast for his liking and felt the same flustered exasperation that came from somewhere deep in his neurotic self.

"S-Sure."

Uraraka pursed her lips into a mask-like smile and began to lead towards the door. Izuku followed soon after while those at his table gave a look of pity as he exited the bar to the cold night outside. The moon was full and shining, granting a heavy illumination to the streets that Izuku was infinitely grateful for when he finally was away from the crowd. 

The Anti-Gravity heroine continued to walk off to the east until she was at the side of an adjacent building, far enough away from the windows of the pub so that no one from inside could see them while Izuku made to copy her, glad to simply have some breathing room for a while.

The mood Uraraka exuded changed somewhat to a far more critical one that melted away her smile into a neutral line. Casually she reached into a pocket on her coat and withdrew a pack of menthol cigarettes. Opening the pack and popping one in her mouth as a lighter was taken from her other coat pocket, she regarded him.

"Sorry about pulling you from your pals like that."

Izuku placed two hands up in the air, feeling for all the world like he just stepped out of a fire.

"N-No, it's fine. I don't do well in crowds anyway."

A flame came from the lighter, igniting the tobacco with a silent huff when the brunette took a hit which caused Izuku to wrinkle his nose.

"Nice to know I'm not intruding then. Anyway, I felt the need to introduce myself since you look like the new guy to our little family. Riki always handled things alone and news traveled fast enough that I caught word of it when he hired a sidekick for the first time. I hope he's treating you well enough."

The greenete shrugged nervously with his view to the side. The girl had an air of being both welcoming and otherwise that made him unsure of what to expect yet he still felt the need to speak.

"S-Sato's a good boss for what he is, though I've only worked a couple weeks for him. As for introductions I don't think you really need to, you're the Anti-gravity hero Uravity. Everybody with a pulse knows who you are."

Sighing at his own uppityness Izuku leaned back against the wall and looked up at the moon, suddenly relieved of his flusteredness by old emotion stirring up.

"Shit, I apologize about that. I get that everybody here's off duty and code names are dirty words when you're off the clock, but I think I need to say this off hand. What you did for people during and after the war stopped a lot of suffering, including what your family's company did in the reconstruction effort. My Mom's apartment got demolished by that giant and it was thanks to you and yours we didn't go homeless for long, so...thanks."

Kicking the dirt he extended a hand to the pro, hoping he wasn't stuck looking like a Deku.

"Anyway, my name's Izuku Midoriya or The Limit Breaker if you catch me on duty."

A padded hand grasped him while a pinkie was kept away.

"Uraraka Ochako and...I appreciate it. People write to me every so often about that, but I never get to really see it."

She studied him once more, withdrawing her hand and pulling out a second cigarette to offer which was declined.

"Anyway, I wanted to scope you out a bit. You never really see quirkless folk in this profession and I wanted to know what brings you in? Being the curiosity that you are and all."

A glare was sent her way by the green eyed man before that vanished. He had to deal with that discrimination all his life and despite it being more akin to pity then scorn in most cases, it still pissed him off. Regardless, he supposed it didn't matter right now.

"It's an old childhood dream of mine. I always wanted to be like All Might but I never really applied myself to anything until now. Truth be told it's more of a hobby since I have a normal day job."

She nodded with the stick in her hands as white smoke went up from the burning end.

"I see. Mind me asking what changed from before now?"

Izuku clicked his tongue at the question. He certainly felt easier then he first did, but explaining that was difficult in how to properly step around the reason he was motivated in the first place.

"I met someone who convinced me to go for it since I'll be dead one day anyway. Though in all honesty, I kinda did it to prove them wrong about me."

Uraraka's body language shifted at that, becoming more standoffish and somewhat confrontational.

"This person, are they someone special to you?"

A raised eyebrow answered back at her when Izuku began to get uncomfortable from her tone.

"Excuse me?"

She shrugged as if suddenly realising how that sounded.

"I'm just saying that since this one person gave you a reason to change your life around then they have to mean something to you, right?"

Izuku found himself biting his lips habitually like he did in high school. What was Himiko to him? He wasn't anything much to her in all likelihood and she wasn't his ideal vision of a woman, but she did put up with a Deku like him. Meaning there had to be something worth remembering in there. Though that might be more from her being even lower on the social totem pole then him combined with an admittedly off putting quirk that probably scared everyone else away.

She was pretty and if he was a less virtuous man then perhaps he'd try to get somewhere physically with her(or maybe not considering the frightening lengths she's gone to deter such things). His weeks weren't as boring thanks to her and he knew for a fact he owed her for giving the push he needed, so she did mean something to him, just not exactly something he understood.

"She's a good friend who helped in a rough situation. I was going through some stuff mentally and she...for lack of a better word, browbeat me into getting better."

The heroine continued to gauge him with an obvious critical eye and he nearly flinched from the barb hidden in her tone.

"What did she say exactly? It had to be something remarkable to motivate you that much from just a conversation."

Izuku thrust his line of sight to the side once more, intent on not acquiring the woman's wrath from some unknown slight.

"That I'd be dead one day so I need to at least try. She pretty much pissed me off enough that I wanted to spite her assumption about me which is why I'm here today. That girl kinda gives me a reason not to give up, because if I do then she'll be right about me being a coward."

The words tumbled out from his subconscious as he spoke and rather than being embarrassed about the overly attached wording, Izuku merely shrugged at it. She was the closest thing he had to a friend now and by extension was a reason to keep going because it was a contest between them. If he gave up then she'd win, if he kept moving forward then he'd win. Uraraka had a small smile about her when her vice was finished.

"That's actually pretty sweet. So is she your steady? Because you seem to value her opinion quite a bit."

A blush overcame Izuku's freckled cheeks that hit him like a bucket of ice water, shocking his nerves and making him flinch.

"W-What? Oh, no, no, she's just a friend. That's all."

Uraraka flicked the flame on her lighter once more to illuminate the space around her out of habit, extinguishing it again and again to keep her hands busy. Her expression was utterly unreadable with a small grin that would have fitted better on a porcine doll.

"Have you ever been in a romantic relationship before, Midoriya?"

Anger flooded his veins instantly, banishing the emotions as he was suddenly reliving every humiliating time something like this happened. Was it really that obvious!?

"That's my own business, why do you wanna know?"

She shrugged while continuing to flick the flint of the plastic lighter. The heroine regarded him with that same doll-like sorta smile that made her hard to gauge.

"You're new to the game so I wanna get to know you better and one of the best ways to figure someone out is through their love history. Which begs the question, what exactly do you like in a woman?"

She twirled a finger in the air in a circular motion as if to get her mind working.

"Do you like strong, violent women? Weak submissive women? Because you kinda strike me as a sub if I'm being honest."

She squinted at him, taking note of his face in the moonlight.

"That and maybe a thing for bondage if I'm not mistaken."

Thousands of words, millions of reactions, trillions of thoughts Izuku could have used in this situation regardless of how weird it was. Yet he froze. He froze like a deer in the headlights because he was sure that the number six hero was hitting on him and trying to proposition him for some weird BDSM session. What should he do? He'd never been in a scene like this before, much less when his dream could be affected.

Sure he was flattered, but was this something she did with every newcomer? He had read rumors online about Midnight back before the war that summed up a thing like this, granted most of the alleged posters said they regretted it later. Yet...this could lead to increased mobility for him and Sato, couldn't it? 

Staring at her expectant expression he pursed his lips. Well, she was beautiful in the least and there were worse ways to move up. Besides, he owed Sato for giving him the chance to become a member of the hero industry. With a flush of blood rushing to his face, Izuku swallowed the little shard of pride he had left.

"S-So what if I am?"

She inhaled at his response in shallow disappointment, shaking her head and placing a hand on his shoulder. The hazel of her eyes shone with a quiet sadness.

"Then that's what it is. You seem like a swell enough guy...for now, just promise me you'll take care of this "friend" of yours okay? You've been a treat to talk to and I'll be sure to hit you up later, but I'm going home."

Then without another word the brunette turned around out of the alley between the two buildings and walked deeper in the night heading west. Leaving Izuku to wonder exactly what happened and what he may have done wrong.

Heading back into the pub Izuku found his table and took his seat next to Rikido, who along with the other two looked at him questioningly. Ojiro grinned mischievously at his flustered face, likely noting the red tips of his ear as Izuku silently sat down.

"So what did the dragon queen want from ya? I hope for your sake she didn't ask for a favor since explosion boy will probably blow a gasket. That's not a position anybody wants to find themselves in, let me tell you. Hell, all of us have the burn scars to prove it."

Shoji flicked the martial arts hero on the side of the head, causing him to grunt in pain as the mutant consoled the least experienced member of their group.

"Don't mind him, Midoriya. He's just pissed because Bakugou always kicked his ass."

There wasn't any need for an explanation even if he had no clue who the bastard was. Katsuki Bakugou always broadcasted his government name to the world once he hit it big. His real name was just as highly held up in modern society as his code name. Though there were never any articles hinting at him and Uravity being a thing.

Izuku didn't get a chance to speak since Ojiro glared at the multi-arm hero like he just threw somebody off a cliff.

"Don't feed him that shit Squidboy, you know as well as any of us how that asshole gets when it comes to her. He practically beat Kaminari into a coma in our third year when he tried to ask her out and he's only gotten more nuts since graduating."

Rikido rubbed his temples at the argument between his friends and cut it at last when he couldn't take it anymore.

"Give the man a chance to speak, damn it. Uraraka has always been the welcoming type so it's likely they just exchanged professional courtesies. Right bro?"

Izuku slumped back in his seat as more strawberry red colored his skin, then after seeing the quizzical reactions of his peers be soon followed by a show of shock, he stood up and walked towards the exit.

"I'm going home."