Rebirth and Blood

The tone was wrong, the pitch was off key, he sounded too nervous. "Hello, I'm Izuku Midoriya and I…" No, it's wrong again. Too eager, sounds like begging. Damnit, why does this have to be so hard? Here he was standing in front of the bathroom mirror talking like he was going to be sent back to school when all that would happen at best was a phone call. Sadly there likely wasn't going to be anything coming from this, but at this point it was the most daring thing he did in the last fifthteen years. Besides the fact he had to at least show the crazy girl she was wrong about him.

For a moment he thought about her, that strange woman who talked (and also threatened him) out of doing the ultimate "fuck you" to the world without hurting others. She wasn't like any woman he had met before, if that was a good thing or not he was unsure but it was so interesting to just listen to her talk. He frowned the longer he considered how much more she had lived at a time when he was doing nothing but wasting away at work for years. Frankly it made him angry with how better she was at dealing with life. 

However he took one look at his apartment and noticed how large a difference in quality was between them. That didn't really help at all. Sighing, Izuku walked out of the bathroom and fished his mobile from his pocket. He stared at it apprehensively with ever fear of rejection and dismissal that had rooted deep since his childhood began to agitate, yet that was aided by another fear, one he never considered in his entire life. What if he actually got the job?

That idea caused a shudder of cold coursing down his spine to nearly make him drop the phone. He wasn't qualified to be a hero, even if only being a sidekick to some E-list hero. Wait, he was quirkless, right? Of course, that meant he was going to fail anyway. Briefly he considered just forgetting the idea and going to blow more money on comics or booze or whatever while telling the girl he had done it. But if he did that, then he'd be proving her correct about him. A sick surge of fear shot him in the chest as he recalled the feral anger in her eyes when she put that knife to his neck and that was her trying to be helpful. He could only guess at how bad she got when actually angry, especially after being lied to.

Looking at the blank screen Izuku grit his teeth. What else did he have to lose? After all this was just another leap that would end predictably. Punching in the number, he took a deep breath and brought it to his ear. Dial tone ran on for a couple seconds before connecting the call to the other end.

"Sugar Man hero agency, how can I help you?"

The voice was husky and masculine with a deep striking tone that sounded like it wouldn't be out of place coming from a brick wall. Momentarily Izuku froze, amazed he even managed to make the attempt. Soon he regained some of that professional politeness which had been beaten into him for most of his existence.

"Yes, this Izuku Midoriya and I'm calling in regards to your wanted ad for a potential sidekick opening."

Rustling echoed through the speaker as whoever was talking readjusted themselves on what sounded like a chair. Wheels squeaked audibly on the other end along with it, making Izuku pull back a bit.

"Really? I didn't think anybody would actually call about that. You're serious?"

The quirkless office droned blinked, not quite able to process how casual the conversation was getting. This wasn't anything like what he'd been told all his life in regards to companies and business. 

"Yes, I've been wanting to break into hero work for a while now and your agency seemed like the proper fit."

Then came a scrambling sound with squeaky desk drawers being opened and pens getting clicked. It scratched through the speaker as ink met parchment.

"Great, um, can you be here in thirty minutes for the interview?"

This was proceeding far too quickly for Izuku's tastes, there was none of the verbal subtlety that every job he applied for had. It was too alien for him to feel comfortable, but still he had to prove a point.

"It'll take me forty five to reach your office in time, would you like to reschedule?"

More writing came through the line, increasing in quickness as the man answered. His gruff voice pierced the air smoothly in an amateurish sort of way.

"No, that's fine. Just please get here before the next hour if you can, the agency is located near the old sushi bar on 38th street by the way. Enter the alleyway and make a right and you can't miss it, it's the one with daisy yellow paint."

After an exchange of final pleasantries the call ended almost as soon as it started and somehow it didn't end in utter failure on his part. Izuku lowered the phone, staring at it like the thing had spoken the secrets of the universe. It can't be this easy, it just can't. Shaking his head in disbelief, the salary man double checked his portfolio and was about to leave when his eye caught sight of an old bookshelf in the corner of the living room, one that was lined with his quirk notebooks.

He cringed at the reaction those things always got him, it was so indifferent, so cruel. Yet he considered trying something new, maybe this would help(or maybe it would just end his chances right there). As such, he turned around and stuffed his latest volume into his satchel along with his other credentials.

The commute was thankfully mundane with none of the semi often robberies, high jackings, or other delays people with either too much time on their hands or not enough money cause. The train was cramped as he expected to the brim with other dead eyed drones in suits, homeless who eyed everything around them and even a pack of fresh faced students who had yet to be crushed under society's demands. Izuku sat on the bench of the metro, watching the world roll by as a sea of infrastructure swallowed the metal worm he rode in. Most buildings appeared from on high to be pristine, more than some likely were, but collapsed ruins of skyscrapers also dotted the landscape, old reminders of the madness of not that long ago which the nation had neither the time nor the finances to remove.

Twenty odd minutes went by until the metro arrived at his station near the city of Nagasaki, the rank smell of urban life seeping in like a forgotten curse. Izuku didn't react, his senses having long gotten used to the smell as he shuffled onto the platform. It in of itself was grimy with the filth of a million souls, but he still blended into the mob such in the way a cell collects around others to form an organism, never once paying too much mind to how easy he did it. 

Street preachers, hoodlums, victims and predators swarmed around him in the mass of bodies pushing every which way, all content on their own survival and pleasure without paying the green haired man any mind. He was so ordinary that he may have not even looked that different, interchangeable as gears in a machine were men like him. 

After drifting purposefully through the squirming mass of society, Izuku stepped out by 38th street, slinking into another avenue to disappear in until he passed an ramshackled sushi place like the man said, surrounded by various other buildings sprayed with tags and graffiti and then turned a corner into a strangely maintained back alley at the edge of two larger shops which led to a squat, ugly square of a building that was painted a faded sunflower yellow. It was identical to any sort of store front in the nation with a wooden sign hanging from a iron barred window by the door reading "Sugar Man Hero Agency" in bright red. 

Scanning around himself first, Izuku unlocked his phone to double check his map. Yep, this was the place. Not exactly what he pictured when heroic headquarters came to mind, but even then he was just here to make a point to that crazy blonde. He was just going to walk in, maybe take an interview and rub it in her face afterwards, nothing major.

Sighing to himself he moved to knock on the door when a speaker crackled to life, scaring the bejesus out of him in the process.

"You Izuku Midoriya?"

The quirkless man looked up at a globe camera focused on him from higher up the entrance and managed a soulless company smile.

"Yes sir, I apologize that I'm late, but I'm here for an interview."

Holding up his ID to the camera he remained frozen in that twisted purgatory of holding in his mind, fully expecting to be turned away at any moment.

"Alright, I'll buzz you in."

An electronic buzz flared out from the door, detaching the locks holding the steel frame to the building as Izuku walked inside. The interior smelled like a mixture of a gym and a bakery with the smell of sweat combining with the scent of cakes and candy that caused him to wrinkle his nose. The walls were likewise to the exterior with a bright yellow filling the majority of the hallway leading further down the place. He unconsciously gripped the strap of his satchel as feelings of claustrophobia increased his anxiety. 

Then came the sounds of heavy footfalls from the path up ahead, seizing his heart in a vice as memories of how often he'd been jumped in school came back. His hand scrambled to the weight in his pocket, suddenly indescribably grateful that he brought the knife he took from that girl's place with him. Still Izuku fought off most of the fear, suppressing it as he knew letting someone know you were afraid only made it worse. 

The noise stopped when at the other end of the hallway the bulkiest looking man Izuku had ever seen since middle school stood still, appraising the salaryman with a half critical eye. He was a good foot taller than the green haired quirkless with enough muscle to make him look like a runner up to Mr. Universe and took up a good portion of the space with how wide his stance is. His hair was a spiked brown that jutted out in odd ways while his eye color matched his scalp. However the most distinguishing feature of the man aside from his muscle mass was the set of obscenely thick lips that bordered near the uncanny valley. All this was covered by a sweat stained pair of shorts and a grey tee shirt which grew even dirtier when the man scooped up a powdered donut from a bag in his left hand. 

The distance was closed quickly as a hand was whipped on those gym shorts and offered to the newcomer. There wasn't the expected aggression radiating off the man's very being, in fact he seemed downright friendly with how he smiled.

"Rikido Sato at your service, though most just call me Riki."

Izuku took the outstretched hand, shaking it as politely as he could. His own smile being far more artificial then the goliath before him. 

"Izuku Midoriya at yours."

He couldn't help but be put off the strength in the stranger's grip which brought about another stream of internal worry. Still the quirkless drone kept his mask of a smile on like he was taught.

"Now, I apologize if I've inconvenienced you in any way but who exactly am I to report to for the interview?"

Rikido jabbed a thick thumb into the center of his own chest with a humble pride shining inside him, the bag of sweets still dangling in the other hand.

"That be me, Sugarman himself. Just follow me and we'll get started."

Izuku held in his shock at seeing the person who was supposed to be employing him showing up like this, when they were a certified hero no less, and carried after the giant of a man to a desk inside another room lined with little trinkets and news articles detailing the higher points of the street level crime fighter. The chair was basic and uncomfortable like every other one he was lorded over in and the fact the room stank vaguely of sweat and burnt bread didn't help. Rikido set the bag of pastries off to the side of his desk and fished out a few documents that appeared from the offset to be the standard forms for government work that Izuku had seen before in his career of number tracking. 

"Sorry about the delay there chief, been having a bit of a disorganization issue lately since it's just been me here to manage the stuff. Anyway let's get this show going, why exactly do you wanna work as a hero?"

Thankfully the mask remained on, holding the polite, soulless smile in front of the inner panic Izuku was feeling. "Don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up, don't-" He sighed internally at his angst, it wasn't like he'd actually be employed here so why worry? The only reason he was talking to this mammoth was to prove that girl wrong, which he already had simply by showing up. As if moving in key with his mind, his posture slackened and his features drooped a bit to reveal the tired, burned out sensation he always had since meeting All Might.

"To be honest, it's been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Saving people, making the world a better place and ensuring everybody can forget their worries and smile if even just a little, but I…"

He grimaced a bit at recalling what that crazy woman said about him.

"I gave up before I could try and get into UA because I never thought I could amount to what a hero needs to be. Except now I'm twenty four and realizing that I have to at least try to make my dreams happen, if not for myself, then for those in need. And I thought since your agency is known for more street level activity, it might be able to make use of a guy like me."

The Sugar Hero's eyes had a certain gleam to them as he listened, it wasn't quite sympathetic yet there was a strange sense of understanding that radiated off the crimefighter.

"We can only do the best we can, can't we? Anyway that aside, do you have any experience in law enforcement? Done any tours of duty in the self-defense force?"

Izuku shrugged, his previous tenseness all but gone.

"Unfortunately no, I've just been a desk jockey since leaving school."

Rikido nodded, picking up what appeared to be a quirk registry form with the green haired man's face on it. He read the paper one more time before looking back at him.

"It says here you're quirkless."

He raised an eyebrow at the question, a hint of anger finding its way to his voice.

"That's correct, is there a problem?"

The hero shrugged in turn, not seething in apology or carrying an annoying sense of superiority when he answered.

"Legally speaking no, you have the same right to apply to this position as anyone else, however I'm going to be honest with you, this job will kill you if you aren't fit enough. There are people out there with quirks you couldn't believe and I've almost died over a hundred times in my career and I've graduated UA and fought in the Paranormal Liberation War when I was still enrolled. It puts you in the crosshairs of some of the worst of humanity and there are days where I wish I never put on my suit since my safety is permanently jeopardized because of my career and I'm just a local nobody."

Izuku meditated on the response, he knew it was an extremely dangerous position that just came with the territory of dealing with chaos.

"But you still do it because it's the right thing to do and you're the only one around that's able to deal with the problem. It doesn't make you the best, yet someone has to do it."

Rikido pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I'm just trying to tell you the reality of the job since too many people think it's like what they thought it was as kids, that's all."

He inhaled, seeming to be somewhere else mentally for a little bit before shaking his head something Izuku couldn't guess at.

"Anyway, what skills do you have aside from combat? Being in the hero industry isn't just punching bad guys in the face, a lot of its paperwork and more paperwork on top of having to try to calm down the public and maintain good relations with them and the government. That sounds like something you can be capable of?"

Izuku reached into his satchel and removed his credentials, handing them to who could be his potential employer, leaning back in the chair as he did so.

"I worked as an accountant for multiple companies in my time along with dealing with some of the legal requirements of such transactions. Never been to court myself but I know the ins-and-outs of tax work and document management. PR has never been a field I found myself in, but I assume you're not out there advertising for profit so I could make it work if need be."

To his surprise, when reviewing the credentials Rikido's eyes practically bulged out of his head. Only to then regain some kind of poker face with a cough to his hand as the documents were handed back.

"Well someone with your qualifications certainly does seem to fit the bill of what I need, however I'm going to have to see you in action before any decisions can be made."

Again Izuku raised an eyebrow at the man, then at the form laid out in front of him.

"If you can complete this form before the day's out then there might be some serious consideration."

The tone of the man's voice sounded meek and worried as he avoided making eye contact. Looking the paper over Izuku found that it was a renewable warranty slip for a provincial government license, one that was a week away from expiring judging by the date. He gave Rikido an incredulous look that was met by gritted teeth and the sound of a man fed up with limitations.

"I didn't have the time to do the paperwork within the past couple of months because I needed to be out on patrol and since it's only been me here thus far, I never really had the chance to complete it."

Grabbing a pen off the desk, Izuku shook his head in mild annoyance as he went about filling in the form.

"And I'm assuming this is far from the only piece of paperwork you had gotten behind on?"

Shame colored the Sweets Hero's voice as his eyes went to the floor.

"Unfortunately. It's rather difficult to manage all the finances and other bureaucratic stuff by myself and I never really got a bump up in funding until recently due to a fairly good rate of arrests last year that got me into the 369th slot in the ranking. So hiring a sidekick has been outta reach for a while, until now of course."

Izuku couldn't help but to laugh at that. It sounded so innocent compared to what he was used to hearing. He finished the form in a few minutes since it was literally no different than any other governmental license out there in practicality that it was just another piece of paper to fill out. Handing it back to the hero he stood from his chair.

"Understandable considering it's just been you here, but personally speaking sir, you need to be more careful about that because the government has a tendency to look very closely at these things. Is there anything else you need done before I go?"

A sense of anxiety visibly left the sugar hero as he scanned the document, having his shoulders drop from where they were. He put the pamphlet on the desk and grinned, his large lips making him appear strangely cartoonish when he gestured down the hallway.

"Have you ever hit a heavy bag?"

The rest of the day devolved into Izuku, a skinny, short, quirkless man learning how to throw a punch in his work suit while a professional hero laughed at his efforts like a well meaning teacher, throwing him tips and advice until he managed to land a direct jab on the leather. Yet that was the farthest from the strangest thing which occurred that day, something he honestly never thought would happen in all of his life.

He got the job.

Sure there was still a two-week waiting period for the background check to go through, but there was literally no chance he would fail that and Rikido essentially asked when he would be able to start. This was a sure thing and he simply got it by asking. 

When he got home that night Izuku was still utterly shell shocked, how did this happen? How did a Deku like him manage to get...basically anything after life threw him to the side. Kacchan, All Might, even his mother told him in no uncertain terms that his dream was stupid and pointless. They couldn't have been wrong, could they?

He collapsed on his couch, still in his work clothes and unable to not stare ahead stupidly as he reviewed the events over and over again. He could have gotten in...he could have gotten in!

In an instant he was on his feet, launching himself up from the sofa with a hot rage building inside him. Goddamn it! This whole fucking time he could have done it, he could be a hero in some fucking capacity and instead he wasted years on a degree he didn't want in a field he loathed! What the hell was wrong with him!? How many opportunities did he waste feeling sorry for himself!?

In the midst of his realization Izuku was brought back to earth when a buzz came from his phone. He paused, allowing the fury to leave as he centered himself to answer the call. Looking at the screen and seeing the crazy girl's number, he forced himself to relax and slid the receive button as it came to his ear.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other side was light and femine as he remembered, sounding sweet despite the tone sounding aged beyond belief.

"So did you do what I suggested and go bother Candyman for a job?"

His fingers tapped against the device as a flood of emotions swarmed him. Again he tried to bottle the feelings, but knew he would fail.

"Yes I did and...I got the job."

A quizzical tip entered her voice when she responded.

"You don't sound thrilled about it, ain't this what you always wanted?"

He slid a hand down his face to ease the bubbling feelings.

"Yeah, I'm happy about it even if it is only part time for now. It's just...ah, nevermind, I proved you wrong didn't I?"

He felt the back of his spine jump from the iron in her voice, judging him harshly with those same narrowed eyes despite him not being able to physically see her, he knew in gut that was happening.

"Getting hired as a part time babysitter for some E list nobody doesn't prove shit, it's the first step outta a thousand you gotta make and it's only going to get harder from here. You need to radically change the way you think and live which is going to be the hardest thing you've ever done, you're going to have to sacrifice a lot if you want to get ahead. That means getting rid of some of your comforts and vices in order to develop a discipline about yourself. You're going to need to burn away what's keeping you weak in order to grow and I'm speaking from experience here when I say that's going to suck."

The girl sighed a bit at her own tone before speaking in a far gentler tone that honestly made Izuku blush.

"That being said the first step is always the hardest to make so you've done really well today, bravo I'm proud of you."

He swore his heart swelled at that despite the praise coming from some lunatic who had pulled knives on him. A compliment was a compliment after all.

"T-Thanks...no really, thank you for giving me the kick in the ass I needed to try."

She laughed in a light giggle he found himself liking, joy just oozing out of the sound before there came a lagging stop as a few more laughs continued until it stopped.

"Glad I could help, though if you really wanna pay me back come back to my place this Wednesday so I can train ya some more. It's a hard road ahead of you and it helps me blow off some steam."

He shrugged, figuring he could probably make time for that sort of thing since he wasn't in complete demand by his company.

"Sure, six pm work for you?"

A happier shade filled her voice at that, completely at odds with the person he'd seen.

"More than you know, I'll be sure to go easy on you, alright Izuku?"

He flinched at the use of his first name, not used to anyone other than his mother calling him that.

"S-Sure."

He hung up after what had to be one of the most uncomfortable conversations of his life thus far concluded, sure in the fact that at last this day would come to an end. Except there was one thing he noticed which mounted on his anxiety when he opened his satchel to empty it, his quirk notebook was gone.

He must have left it at the Sugar Man agency by mistake when he went to go train with that meathead. Damn it, why did it have to slip out from that chair and-

No, this would not ruin his sleep, he had far larger priorities at hand and a real job to go to in the morning. Those came before anything so Izuku merely buried the sensation with the rest of his repressed parts and readied for bed, hoping against hope that he'd finally get something good to happen to him for once.