"What can i do for you?" Giran directly went to the point, not even offering a greeting.
Something that AFO liked about him, direct and competent.
"The last batch was bad, I need more."
"I sent you over 100 thugs..."
"They were of low quality. I need better ones. They failed the previous mission." He spoke, as if addressing toys rather than people.
However , Giran simply didn't care, its all business after all.
Giran saw himself as a job provider. What type of job? That was irrelevant, after all, no one told them to be villains.
There are more more than half a million official professions out there, with hundreds of millions of non-official ones, yet they chose to be a villain instead of getting a job.
Why should he pity such a people? Instead of letting them die uselessly he felt like he should profit from them.
He lit his cigarette and took a long drag, it was time to make money.
"Hmm... Impossible. I ran out of money to recruit them." He lied as easily as he breathed.
AFO smiled. if its money then it's easy.
Controlling money-hungry people is his expertise, with close to 150 years of extortion and illegal to activities, he didn't lack funds.
With the amount of tools that he has, money is never an issue. Iff you lack any, just squeeze the cash cow for all of its worth.
And if his tools refuse? Just replace them.
It's impossible to control a man without morals, society simply can't shackle them.
"I'll double the pay."
Giran thought of accepting but a flash of greed went through his eyes.
"You have to consider their families too and my hard work, plus the last batch's disappearance left a bad reputati--"
"Quadruple."
"Say less."
A good gambler must always know when to withdraw.
Speaking of gambling, looks like he'll do that Tomorrow using this money.
AFO hung up the phone with a smile, he got up from his chair and left to the lab.
"Time to visit an old friend..." He spoke with a sinister glee.
---
Having finished with the race, Izuku walked to a bench and sat down Leisurely.
He gazed at the VIP seats and waved his hand at his mother, making her cheer for him with a proud face, an action that made the nearby figures chuckle with amusement.
Shishido really loved her, having lived with a mother who switched boyfriends every couple of months in his past life, he understood the true value of Inko Midoriya.
'This woman is a gem, I must protect her.'
The past 11 months have been a bliss for Shishido. Living with her is a warm experience.
It was like leaving a land of never ending winter to a warm spring country, simply incomparable.
Food was never cold, always tasty. Showered with love and affection everyday and hugged frequently every now and then.
Shishido can't remember the last time his mother hugged him, but look at his new mother, hugging him like a precious gem.
As for his father? He grew up fatherless. In his past life and his current one.
His father died of a car accident and his current father died of a villain attack.
He watched as the rest finished their race, Bakugo in 2nd, followed by Shoto in 3rd.
4th for Iida, 5th for Shiozaki Ibara, Uraraka and Tsui taking 6th and 7th, 8th went to Shinso who used brainwash to make some students directly carry him to the finish line, 9th for Momo who made a scooter, followed by Mineta from the general department who clung to the scooter using his beads and was dragged through the dirt to reach the 10th spot.
Izuku really had to give it to this guy, he's quite resilient but his personality really is terrible.
He eyed Midnight and compared her to Mineta.
Same perverts, different genders.
Yet Mineta was scorned upon while Midnight was worshiped like a goddess.
Shishido shook his head, the existence of Mineta was a joke.
A pervert with a Quirk that gives him sticky balls. Come on!
But the existence of Midnight was even worse.
A pervert with a Quirk that instantly puts you to sleep. Brother!
While the first one was gross, the 2nd one was concerning. Luckily he was safe from both.
A figure approached him rapidly, face fuming with rage.
"Why?!"
Shoto gripped Izuku's collar aggressively and looked into his eyes.
"Why didn't you do that from the beginning? Were you mocking me?"
His eyes narrowed down with rage.
Izuku stared at him for a couple of seconds, calm and unbothered as a crowd of students was beginning to form around them.
"I didn't need to give 100% directly, I could defeat you with less than 50%."
Izuku stared at his eyes meaningfully.
"Isn't that right? Mr. Half n' Half." He drawled mockingly.
"..."
The grip on Izuku's collar lessened.
"I'm going to be No.1 hero without using my father's quirk." Shoto spoke with venom, eyes turning cold.
Izuku chuckled as he gazed back at him.
The two were on similar height, After receiving Charm II his physique started changing.
He has been asked about this and he simply answered that it was his Quirk's doing, after all, who can prove him wrong?
Quirks don't follow logic.
Changing the body into a gas form, producing fire from nothing, ice from nothing, defying the laws of physics by controlling gravity.
Decay itself is the most illogical, how do you decay matter by a touch? Do you accelerate time for the target or do you change it's form into particles?
How do quirks work? Isn't it magic?
"You know... Last time I heard, people are born with quirks, not given it by others."
Shishido ignored the fact that he was given OFA.
He gripped Shoto's hand with force.
"Ukk..!" Shoto winced and retracted his hand back in pain.
"If you wish to be my equal... Fight like your life depends on it, go beyond Plus ultra~"
Izuku laughed and walked off, not caring about him.
"DEKUU!!"
Another angry figure blew an explosion at him, to which he dodged with ease with the aid of Danger Sense.
His eyes looked up and focused on Bakugo, it's been a while since he called him "Deku" he must be pissed.
Katsuki as a character is entertaining and popular but as a person, he truly is insufferable.
But Shishido understood that his Quirk was affecting his personality so he didn't hate him.
After all, Katsuki literally has rage coursing through his veins.
But still, to still use that title was a bit__
"...Rude."
"You fucker! Were you underestimating me?! Are you trying to mock me?!" He aggressively grabbed his collar.
Shishido wondered why people loved to grab his collar, it was ruining his tracksuit...
"What do you mean?" He said, acting oblivious.
"Why didn't you go all out? Are you saying that I'm not worth giving it your all?!"
He suppressed the urge to say yes.
But still, wasn't it hypocritical of Bakugo to be angry at him for acting like he was better? Didn't he spend half of his life saying that he was better than everyone?
"Why, do you hate when someone is mocking you? Looking down on you?"
"WHO DOESN'T?!?"
"Good. Have a taste of your own medicine."
"...." Bakugo Katsuki stood there, shaken to the core, face frozen.
Memories of him bullying Izuku Midoriya reached into his consciousness, making him frown with a hint of regret.
The words were like a slap to the face, the massage was clear.
Izuku Midoriya had a grudge against him.
Izuku leaned forward and spoke into his ear. "I don't forgive... Nor do I ever forget, remember that."
He pushed him back and walked to the crowd of students with a smile.
"..." Bakugo looked down, lost in a haze of old memories.
He bit his lower lip in regret, eyebrows frowning with his eyes showing remorse.
Having dealt with two hotheads, Shishido felt better so he decided to talk with his classmates.
After everything is said and done, he was the class president and his role envolved helping them.
Plus, he liked helping his peers, the better he treated them, the better they will treat him in the future.
"Nicely done over there Iida, number 4 is good, you've improved."
"Even if you say that, I'm still nothing compared to you..." Iida slumped with a sigh.
He, a guy that has a Quirk made to race lost in a race.
Izuku shook his shoulder with a laugh.
"Comparison is the enemy of joy, friend. Only compare yourself with yourself to improve yourself."
'Saying this to him while being the source of his problem is ironic.' Nana stared at Izuku with disbelief.
How shameless is this bastard?
'Meh. He's too young and innocent to understand that.'
Iida stared in surprise at his classmate. "That's... A very mature thing to say."
"Bastard you thought I was immature?" Izuku smirked and gave him a noogie playfully.
"No, no, I meant... It's impressive. Thank you for your words, president. I'll work hard to improve myself." Iida hurriedly shook his hands.
"Call me Izuku."
"O-oh..."
On his peripheral vision, Izuku noticed a bubbly figure approaching with excitement.
"You were amazing, Izuku-san!" Uraraka jumped with excitement staring at him like a star.
Izuku's eyes softened like butter. In his past life he loved a girl with a similar personality to uraraka, unfortunately he got stabbed to death before proposing.
But the past 10 months made him cope and overcome his grief, it made him grow as a person.
Sadly, he's still maidenless.
'Ha!' Banjo.
'Zip it.'
"You weren't half bad either, working with Asui was smart, you didn't let the schemes of Nezu get between you two."
It was true, Nezu has deliberately mixed them all up in one tight space to corner them and make them fight each other, showing their true sides.
But Uraraka and Asui were different, they worked with each other, proving Nezu wrong.
It's not that humans are inheritingly evil, it's the world that is. We are all born innocent, corrupted by the world.
"Umm... Yeah, it was a spur of the moment thing..." Ochako blushed and rubbed her hair shyly.
She wasn't good with the praise, but she loved getting it.
"Call me Tsu, Midoriya-chan." Asui Tsui quipped as she heard him call her Asui.
She liked to be referred to in a casual manner, the name "Asui" felt too formal for her.
"Okay~ then you can call me Izuku." He smiled warmly.
"O-oh..." The girl blushed slightly as he asked her to refer to him in first name basis so casually.
What is a "First-name basis"?
It is quite simple, in Japan, a first-name basis is when someone you consider close to you calls you by your first name, it's considered the first step in a relationship.
"Come on... Say my name."
"I-Izuku..."
"Good girl~" He patted her head fondly, like a child.
Tsu blushed heavily and averted her gaze.
His bold words made her heart flutter, having tasted her own medicine, she felt lightheaded.
Tsu, who was always bold and honest, finally met her match and it made her lose her composure.
"What about me? I did good." Uraraka interrupted with a displeased expression that she failed to hide.
"Right, right, you did great~" Izuku gently patted the short girl's head.
It felt nice to dote on her.
'This...!'
'What? unlocked a new kink?'
'..... Maybe.'
'Gross.'
'Hey Banjo... I'm sorry for being an asshole.'
'Fuck you, I'm never forgiving you.'
'I'll watch porn for you.'
'... Milfs?'
'Milfs.'
'.... You're forgiven.' He said after long and hard thinking.
Men. They are simple and direct, always knowing their priorities.
"...." Uraraka blushed but didn't push his hand off.
It felt nice to be treated like a little girl, but still, she didn't want to be treated like a little girl!
Women. Even they don't know what they want.
"What about me, president." Momo approached and spoke with a blush.
"I did great too, I scored 23rd." Jiro announced with pride, her hands twirling with her ear jacks shyly.
"..."
Izuku wondered if these girls had daddy issues, why do they want affirmation that badly?
'Am I that cool?'
"Uhh... G-good job." Izuku felt lost under their gazes.
Seeing all of them asking for praise, Shinso felt like doing that too, to get closer to everyone and make himself feel approachable.
So far, his only friend was Izuku and Sero...
"What about me? I scored 8th..." Shinso interrupted with a quiet voice.
"..."
"..." X4
"Im not patting your head, Shinso."
The girls stared daggers at him.
"Eiek!" Shinso hurriedly walked off, a new fear unlocked.
"..." Izuku stared speechlessly.
"Let's stand in line..." He spoke with a sigh.
"Yees~" The girls smiled innocently and followed behind him like a flock of ducklings.
Seeing him crowded by multiple girls, following behind him so intimately, Mineta Minoru of the the general department cried tears of blood and jealousy.
"Bastard...scumbag..." He bit into his clothes and cursed him repeatedly.
"It should've been me not him...!" He fell to the floor, punching it and crying.
"Pipe it down, Diaper boy." A 15 years old teenager of the general education department rolled his eyes at his colleague's antics.
"You got 10th place and you're still complaining..." He rolled his eyes in exasperation.
---
"Now, now!" Midnight whipped forward after the students grouped up.
"The first event is over, onto the second one!" She pointed towards a spinning wheel.
The wheel spun until it stopped at crystal picture.
"Artifact Hunt! All 64 remaining students must form teams of 16, led by their chosen leader! Every team is given an "Artifact" in the shape of a small diamond-faced coin, the competing team must steal it and put it into their given satchel until only 4 teams are left!"
'What is this...?' Izuku looked at the screen oddly.
"Of course the four highest teams get to pass unto the finals!"
Midnight's announcement made the crowd cheer with excitement and anticipation.
'That wasn't supposed to happen.'
'Told you, you rely too much on your future knowledge. The event changed because too many people passed the first event. Originally it was 42, now its 64.' Hikage shook his head.
'....'
"However, the 1st winner of the first event gets a Blue coin instead of a golden one, anyone that manages to steal it can progress into the 3rd event after the 5 minutes timer ends!"
The students instantly looked at Izuku like a predator looking at its prey.
"If I can just take his coin and hold on until the timer hits, I'm guaranteed to pass!"
"If we work together, we can take him down."
"Strength in numbers, we should also beat him up for having girls around him all the time!"
"Reasonable crashout."
"I'm with you, balls guy!"
"Let's kick his ass!!"
"Oohhhhh!!!" X47
Now, while the changes were unexpected, Shishido wasn't going to complain.
He spread his arms wide, inviting them to try him.
As for those that actually try to steal his coin? Then he shall give them a taste of their medicine by stealing their coin!