4 - ||

It was as he entered his home that he got a message on his phone from Ino.

'we just saw you in the news. Suku-chan had a panic attack and fainted, so Himi-chan and Sakura are taking care of her. But watch your ass, once she's recovered, you're gonna explain some shit.

Luv ya bye!'

Izuku shuddered, but not from fear, a feeling he couldn't fully identify. Taking a deep breath, he laid a hand on his doorknob and prepared to face his mother…when a voice spoke from behind him. "Midoriya, m'boy."

He jumped and barely refrained from yelping as he spun around, eyes going wide as he beheld the form of All Might in his stairwell. "A-All Might-?"

Then All Might coughed and vanished in a cloud of steam, waving it away to reveal his emaciated body. As he hacked up blood, he held a finger up and got it under control, wiping his mouth on his arm. "Before I say anything else, I want to know," he rasped, blue eyes staring into Izuku's green, "Why did you do it? Why run in, after all the stuff you told me on that rooftop…why did you run in?"

Izuku licked his dry lips and searched for an answer. Then he shrugged helplessly. "I-I don't know," he admitted, "I just s-saw it and…my body-"

"'-My body just moved on its own,' right?" All Might smiled knowingly.

The teenager blinked. "U-uh, yeah…how'd you…?"

"Because, Young Midoriya," the skeletal man put a hand on his shoulder, "Because that's what every great Hero says. You saw the danger, you saw someone in trouble, and without thinking, you ran in. No fear. No doubt. I was wrong, Young Midoriya."

Izuku blinked. "W-what? Wrong?"

"When I said you can't be a Hero," All Might said, shaking his shoulder slightly. "I was wrong. You can be a Hero, Midoriya. You have the heart of one, and if I have my way…you could be one of the greatest."

The green-haired boy felt tears flood from his eyes as a spectrum of emotions ran through him and before he knew what he was doing, he'd hugged All Might.

The Number One Hero grunted slightly, but patted the younger man on the back. "It's alright," he comforted awkwardly, wincing. "Easy, easy."

"S-sorry," Izuku sniffed, drawing back and wiping his eyes before giving the man a blinding smile. "Thank you, All Might…it means a lot, coming from you…w-wait, what do you mean, 'your way'?"

All Might grinned. "You wanna find out? Come to Dagoba Beach tomorrow at six. Be prepared to train yourself into the ground." He stepped back and made to leave, but turned around. "Good job today, Young Midoriya. You overcame your fears, you saved someone you don't even like and nearly sacrificed yourself. If nothing else, that makes you a Hero in my book." He waved over his shoulder and left.

Izuku brushed another rush of happy tears from his eyes and sighed. "What a day," he mumbled, turning the knob and stepping inside. "Mom?"

There was a flurry of cloth from the living room, then Inko came skidding into the entrance hall, staring at him with red-rimmed eyes that even then became watery. She took a running start and threw herself at him like a Midoriya-mama-shaped missile. "IZUUKUU!"

…

Takeyama Yu was many things. A beautiful woman, possibly one of the most in the world, in her opinion. Shameless at times, a bit vain (okay, maybe more than a bit) and if the internet was the internet, she'd have a legion of fans by the next day.

She was also a Pro Hero with a powerful Quirk. She could become gigantic, multiplying her size, strength and durability by magnitudes.

And, as of the third incident of her debut day, she'd been completely. Fucking. Useless. She had to stand back and watch as that slimy sonofabitch tried to drown a teenage girl in front of her, unable to act without her Quirk and unable to act with it for fear of accidentally stepping on the hostage, or crushing her in her fist or any other myriad ways.

And then she'd been useless twice over, when another kid got put in danger, and the second time she'd had no one to blame but herself. He'd slipped by her so fast she'd only been able to grab a strap of his backpack and he turned to look at her with wide green eyes, like he was surprised by what he was doing before his face firmed and he ran right into an extremely sticky situation.

And then she'd watched as some random kid completely showed up her debut by doing what she, Kamui Woods and whatever-his-Arms couldn't; trying to save someone in need. Like everyone, she'd been amazed by the kids freeing themselves, then horrified when she realized the slimy bastard wasn't done.

Then All Might had showed up and solved their problems with a single punch. And made it a clear sky in time for sunset, too.

Yu held onto the backpack as her peers pulled the kids towards the ambulances and watched as they chewed them out and cheered them on, respectively, though she felt it was a bit unfair. She saw the green-haired kid seemingly wilt (heh) from Kamui Woods' lecture, and moved to return his backpack and maybe offer some comforting words. Shown up or not, he'd still done his best and that deserved some recognition.

Also some teasing, if she felt like.

But then he'd sat up straight and she saw his eyes. She thought they'd been green, but in the moment they burned with emerald flames. Her step hitched and her heart stuttered, a quiet gasp leaving her lips as the sheer weight in his eyes seemed to reach through the distance and jam a needle of something burning and powerfully hot into her chest. She stood there, stunned by something she couldn't identify as he got up and walked off with determination writ plain in his every feature.

Then she blinked as she realized she'd been standing there for minutes, looking at nothing until Kamui Woods waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, Debut-stealer," he grunted, giving her an irritated look, "How's it feel to be on the other end of it?"

Yu cursed to herself and quickly rifled through the backpack.

"…Are you serious?"

She found what she was looking for, a name and an address. Glancing up, she looked at the nearest street sign and nodded to herself, marching off.

"…Just…just gonna ignore me entirely, then."

Mt. Lady, as she was known, walked through the streets, pausing to get her bearings before continuing until about thirty minutes later, she threw her hands up in frustration and retrieved her phone, hidden in a special pouch under her suit and looked up the address. Then cursed. Audibly.

It was ten minutes in the exact opposite direction. Though she was tempted to Gigantify and cut the travel time, she simply hurried towards the address.

And then she was there, standing awkwardly in front of the door, debating on whether to knock or not, or knock and leave the backpack or just wait. Yu huffed and drew herself up, then knocked firmly. "Hi there, I'm-"

The door opened and she was looking into a cozy little home. "Um, hello?" She adjusted her angle and found a short woman in a very comfortable-looking sweater, gazing up at her with questioning green eyes. "Can I help you?"

Yu blinked and mentally adjusted. "Oh, uh, yeah. Does Midoriya Izuku live here? He left this-" she held his backpack up, "-after an incident with a Villain and I wanted to return it."

Inko blinked at the beautiful woman and smiled warmly. "He does, actually. Why don't you come in, I'll make you a snack. You look like you could use one." She stepped back and opened the door wider.

The Pro Heroine blinked. She'd been doing that a lot that day. "Er, that's alright, I just…"

"I insist," Inko insisted, waving her inside, "My son should thank you face-to-face and you look hungry. Come in."

Yu sighed and walked inside, finding it to be just as warm and honey as it looked on the outside. "Only for a bit, okay? It's been a busy day."

"Of course," the older, shorter woman nodded, directing her to the couch. "Izuku! Someone's here to see you!"

A masculine voice, muffled by a door, echoed down the hall. "Is it Toga-chan?"

"No!"

"…Ino?"

"No! Come out and meet them!" She called back, patting Yu on the arm. "Just a minute dear, I'll make some tea."

She doubted she'd be there long enough for it to matter, but nodded anyway and perched on the couch. Then she looked up as someone came down the hall, her eyes widening. I've been calling him a 'kid' in my mind, but…no kid has arms like that. She pulled her gaze away from Izuku's arms and met his eyes. He'd paused in the hallway, squinting thoughtfully. Hey, he's kinda cute.

"You're…Mt. Lady, right?" He asked, carefully taking a seat. "Why are you here? A-and how do you know my address?"

She held up his backpack as an answer, and was pleased to see him blush. "You left that with me before your heroics. I thought it might be a bad look for the hero of the day to not have his homework on Monday."

Izuku chuckled and sheepishly ruffled his fluffy hair, and Yu was struck by the desire to pet him. "Heh, yeah, I guess," he took his backpack from her with a thankful smile and set it by his legs. Then he fixed her with a curious look, and she wondered why. "Uh…was there…something else?"

She blinked. "Oh, right, I wanted to say something…" she cleared her throat and reached out a hand and laid it on his, meeting his eyes with a small smile. "I just want to say something. My uh, peers might've been pretty vocal about your actions, and I wanted to let you know that it's not your fault. They were feeling pretty worthless, just standing around doing nothing. I know I felt pretty much useless. And then you come in, and All Might comes in…they were trying to compensate for it, is my guess."

He looked away, scratching his cheek. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I didn't mean to make anyone feel bad, I just…saw someone in trouble and-"

"You had to jump in?" Yu finished with a knowing nod. "Yeah, I've been there. I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or anything, the opposite, really. Since they didn't want to say it and that little b-" she didn't want to say 'blonde' because that was her hair too, dammit. "-brat couldn't be bothered, I'll do it." She cleared her throat and leaned in, gently squeezing his hand. "Thank you, for what you did today. You were very brave, maybe a little bit crazy, but you did something good. So…thank you."

Izuku blinked at her, mouth open. Then red creeped up his neck and his eyes started to water, and she inwardly panicked as he quickly hid his face in his shirt. She wasn't sure what to do, and the helpless look she gave Inko was answered with a knowing nod instead of anything actually helpful.

Eventually, though, he gathered himself and dropped his shirt after wiping his face. "Sorry," he muttered thickly, "I just…wasn't expecting that. A lot of things I didn't think would happen, happened today."

"It's alright," Yu nodded kindly, setting down her tea cup. "Though, there was something else. I don't know your history, or your Quirk or your future plans, but personally I think you could be a good Pro Hero. You've got some talent and with some training, hopefully at UA, you could be a serious board-climber. Oh, right!" She looked around, searching for a pen and paper. "I want to give you my number in case you have any questions, or you need advice or something. I'd be happy to cultivate that talent of yours."

She turned back and felt color creep into her cheeks at the look in his eyes. "Can I show you something?" He asked suddenly, making her blink. "In my room?"

Yu leaned back a little, squinting her eyes at him. "…Say what?"

Izuku looked thoughtful, then blushed. "Oh, no, not-uh, not anything like…that." He cleared his throat and pretended he'd said something less weird. "I have something to show you…if you don't mind?"

Mt. Lady thought for a second, glancing over at the kitchen door. "Won't your mom mind?"

"No!" Inko called through the door.

"I guess not," he shrugged, standing up and realizing he'd been holding her hand ever since she'd grabbed it. He dropped it with a blush and nodded down the hall. "Just down here."

Yu looked at her hand as she followed him, then at his back. She hadn't realized she was holding his hand that whole time, either. Her eyes scanned the room she entered, a little awed by the sheer amount of merch on the walls, on shelves and on the bed. A lot of it was All Might, but there was a decent scattering of other Heroes, too, like Eraserhead. They weren't official merchandise, though they were exceptionally well-made. When she looked closer, they started to seem familiar, somehow, especially the one that looked like the statuette Uwabami had been showing off, and the second one she'd gotten a couple months ago.

"Here, you can add your number," Izuku held his unlocked phone out to her, sitting at his work desk and already withdrawing bags of sand from small drawers.

She watched him dump sand onto the surface, then turned her gaze to his screen, using her thumb to open the contacts menu. She made to enter her number, but paused over an unread message and, after subtly checking that his attention was elsewhere, opened it. There was a picture of her from this morning, when she'd made her debut, a cheeky shot as she posed against a building. Underneath that was a message. 'How bout this one? ;)' And then came a reply. 'No erotic shots.' Under that, the unread, 'oh come one, how's that 'erotic'?'

She remembered those messages, and that picture, because she'd sent them to The Sculptor. Biting her lip, she scrolled up and found another picture, one she'd taken even before leaving her the house. Her, in her mask and horns and a bathrobe, standing in front of a mirror with a finger pulling the neck down to show more than a hint of her cleavage.

Yu dropped the phone, covering her face as it burned. I sent cheesecake shots to a teenager! She mentally screamed, clutching her head. Holy shit, a bunch of people send sexy shots to a teenager! Why is that thing?! "You-you're The Sculptor!" She hadn't meant for it to come out accusing, but she couldn't help it.

Izuku looked up from his desk, blinking. "I sculpt, if you can call it that," he shrugged, looking down at his phone. "Oh yeah, that's right, you wanted to commission me. Hm." Then he turned back to his work.

"S-so why didn't you take it?" She asked, quickly scooping up his phone and entering her number before tossing it on his bed. "Was it the offer?"

"No," he muttered, liquid sand swirling between his palm, "I take the money, sure, but I don't make these just for that. It's more in honor of the Hero in question, not…vanity shots. Well, on my end, I don't know what the Heroes do with them."

Yu rubbed her eyes, thinking. "Oh." She peeked over his shoulder at the figure that was coming together. Wait, is that liquid rock? "Who are-?"

Izuku shushed her quietly, leaning in on the work. "Quiet, I need to concentrate."

She sat back and watched him do his thing, eyebrows arching as she saw the figure. It looked like her, but nearly kneeling, holding something above her head. And her eyes widened as he brought out different colored sand, bringing life to her suit and hair. Then he gathered a measure of glittering purple dust and infused it into the eyes, leaning back in his chair with a hum.

It was her, gigantic-sized, holding a chunk of building up, stopping it from crushing the little people gathered around her feet. But what struck her the most was her face; purple eyes peering through her bangs, glittering with determination, with an audacious smirk on her lips. "That's…I never…I haven't done anything like that," she murmured, almost reaching out to touch it.

"I know," Izuku shrugged, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "It's not really based on anything, just…a vision of the future, maybe? Something that might happen? I don't know, it just kinda…jumped into my mind and I had to make it." He fiddled with his fingers, shyly looking up at her. "Do you…do you like it?"

"It's beautiful…" Yu whispered, running the tip of a finger along the cheek. It was stone, obviously, but she half-expected it to feel like flesh. She gulped and leaned back, turning to the teenager. "H-how much?"

He blinked at her. "It's not for sale," he stated, pushing it in her direction.

She understood immediately and stepped back, waving her hands. "H-hey, you can't just…give it to me! This is art! There has to be a price, so come on, tell me." She chewed on her lip, hoping that it wasn't too steep. Why am I fighting him on this?

"I made it," Izuku pointed out, "I can do what I want with it. So I'm giving it to you."

"But why?" She asked, once again wondering why she couldn't just take it. "You don't have to…"

He shrugged, sliding the statuette around on his desk. "You didn't have to return my backpack, or say what you said…but you still did. Why did you do it?" He sat up, his emerald eyes piercing into her amethyst.

Yu threw her hands up. "Because you deserved it!" She admitted, "You did a good thing, no one said 'good job' and you deserved someone saying that!"

He gestured meaningfully at the statuette.

She couldn't help but look back at her debut with a little shame, her shameless steal of Kamui Woods' collar, all the posing and flaunting…not that she was, like, horrified or anything; a Hero's career needed a clear statement of intent if they didn't want to disappear from the public in a year. But having a boy who'd thrown himself into danger while she stood around like a lump, offering a beautiful dedication to her heroism when she hadn't truly done anything worthy of it felt…wrong, somehow. "C-come on, there's gotta be a price. Do you want a…a kiss or something?"

Izuku blushed and gulped, but shook his head. "Fine," he sighed, slumping into his hand in thought. "I guess, if I had to put a price on it…" He glanced up at the various figures, most of them All Might, "My price is this: Be the Best Hero you can be."

Yu blinked at him. "That's, uh…that's not a number of yen."

"And that's my price," he nodded firmly, pushing it towards her. "I make these for Heroes, so, be a Hero. That's enough for me."

She looked at him, then back at the figure. "…You're not gonna budge, are you?" He shook his head and she sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Lookit me, the Pro Hero getting bullied by a teenager…alright, Midoriya-kun. Fine. I accept your price." She extended her hand and he took it, shaking firmly.

Then his phone chimed and he opened it up. "Huh. My friend's staying for dinner with my other friends…guess mom might've made too much tonight." He turned a thoughtful look on her as she cradled the figure to her chest like it was a child. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

She looked up at him. "Dinner? Er, not really, I have a thing…" A debut party to be exact…though, she wasn't feeling in a 'party' mood just then.

"Are you sure?" Izuku prodded, cleaning his desk, "It's tonkatsu pork tonight, and my mom's a really good cook."

"Yeah, I…pork?" She perked up, sniffing as a delicious scent wafted into her nose. "Oh…okay. But just a little bit, alright?"

She ended up staying for an hour and ate three plates, matching Izuku.

Eventually, though, she noticed the time, thanked Inko for the food, reminded Izuku that he had her number just in case and left, carrying the heroic figure of herself in a borrowed bag. As she went down the stairs, a quartet of teenage girls rushed by her, led by a girl with green hair. Soon after, a shout of, "IZUKU!" echoed down the stairwell. Yu looked up at the noise and shrugged. "Dodged a bullet there," she muttered, stepping out of the building and into the street.

…

Stone by stone, brick by brick, the foundation is laid. Set with vigor, cemented with blood and determination. And with room to grow into a Pillar of strength, bolstered by others…while offering its own.

After all, a wide foundation begets a powerful pillar.

…

…

…

…

A/N: So, those of you keeping an eye on this story may notice that I didn't update the same day the following week the last chapter was published, like I have the other two. This is, in short, because I wanted to take some time and rest my brain and hands, perhaps write a smaller chapter.

As you can see, I failed.

Anyway, let's get to it. The obvious questions, I believe, will be about the girls and the harem, so I've cast my mighty brain into the future to answer what will (most likely) be the pressing questions:

Are those three girls, Sukuro, Ino and Sakura in the harem?

Short answer: No. It's a temporary thing for them to experience a casual dating relationship that remains Nothing Serious until it ends, so that when they start dating for real, they'll have a leg up. Also an excuse to mack on/cuddle a good-lookin' boy and girl.

Who is Sukuro?

Answer: She's based on Sucrose from Genshin Impact without the Anemo power. And the setting, obviously. I needed a third, shy girl and I'd already used Hinata, and it was between Sucrose and Fischl, and if I used Fischl she would've been in the harem, no doubt. Because Fischl is the best, fite me. Sucrose is close, though. Also yes, everytime i referred to her as 'sweet' i did, in fact, giggle to myself because i can be easy to please at times.

NS: If only I could pull more waifus from the gacha...at least I got Beidou and Noelle on my first rolls, though.

Did I look at Naruto and Hinata's continued cameo and pick Ino and Sakura from the source and then use their names for their Quirks?

Answer: No actually, I just needed names and I'm familiar with them. It was five minutes later that I derived some kind of Quirk from their names. And about an hour later that I actually figured out their Quirks.

Who Dafuq is 'Ariel'? You tryna get sued?

Answer: boy it sure is lucky that this is a work of fanfiction. Boy it sure is lucky for Ariel that Disney as a global megacorp of dystopian proportions self-destructed during the Quirk Wars and doesn't exist as a massive, all-consuming body.

But seriously, who is Ariel and will she be in the harem?

Answer: Just 'cause I introduce an OC who's a hot lady doesn't mean she'll be involved in anything to do with the MC. Could she? If it fits, maybe. As for who she is, I took anime Aquaman and an anime mermaid and mashed them together. If you wanna use her for something, contact me for more details. Although why you would, I don't know.

Who's in the Harem?

Answer: Toga, obviously. Anything else is a secret for now.

How big's the Harem gonna be?

Answer: See above.

What's the deal with the red book?

Answer: what book?

Did this take longer to write because you were hyped/playing Cyberpunk?

Answer: Shit's preem, choom.

NS: City always wins, choomba.

Am I tired of this Q/A Format? Yes, yes I am and this chapter's fuckin' long enough already, so let's wrap it up.

Big thanks, as always, to NorthSouthGorem and his weebness, and editing and soundboarding and just generally being around. Thanks choomba.

Next chapter, more training, but with All Might this time! More girls! And the story and the characters advance! Woo! Stuff happens!

If you liked it, let me know. Until next time.

Stay Safe, Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: Yeah, if you didn't realize it (somehow), it's gonna be a harem. I really don't give a shit if you don't like it, harem stories are the only kind of relationships I write. Why? 'Cause I like the challenge, and I know my limits. I like to dedicate parts of the story to each girl, to dig into the characters and their personal relationship with the MC. No girl is just 'another girl' and frankly, no character is just a 'character.' Maybe it's fantastical, but I like to believe, and write, that people have more to them then just the surface.

NS: You're welcome for introducing you to the 100 Girlfriends manga.

Also if a Persona 5 story just randomly pops up, blame NSG. He fuckin' knew what he was doing when he poked me.

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus

…

…

"VERGIL!"