A Meeting

Hoshiko had mixed feelings about the interview. She knew she did well, it was hard to hide things like that from her, but at the same time, she didn't know if she did well for reasons she liked or not. In her most honest moment, the only man who was impressed was a guy who had pretty unrepentantly broken her nose. She logically knew it wasn't planned on his part but she could be a little petty in this instance.

She now had a mental profile on each of her interviewers. Shota Aizawa is a hard ass who cared a great deal about his pupils once they earned that right, but apparently none had recently. Nemuri Kayama is a sadistic artist who loves her students unconditionally. Anan Kurose is a passionate, caring educator. Nezu…Nezu. Majima was a bit awkward but got along with his kids. Chiyo was wise but disconnected.

All of them were intriguing to her in their own ways. Despite the rough start, she did see a future where she could be happy working with that group- possibility of a random broken nose and all.

Now though, she knew she needed to be prepared for the coming year, assuming she was hired, which meant creating lesson plans for various styles, refreshing her memory on those styles, and generally making sure she could provide an education. As she sat down at her computer, Hoshiko sighed, as for all her power and ability, her quirk did nothing to defeat the ultimate enemy of every teenager across the world.

Homework.

To Do(Teaching)-

-6 month child development course

-6 month children's mental wellness course

-Earn official qualifications in Judo, Wrestling, Taekwondo, and various Jiu-Jitsu forms

-Actually study foundation mechanics of Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Boxing, and the various Karate subsidiaries

She was technically qualified to teach college students mixed martial arts and wrestling. Both of which were more based on mechanics and understanding movement rather than categorically specific styles.

She was also qualified to teach quirk theory, though UA wasn't offering that. She figured it would assist her in tailoring styles to individual students.

All in all she had 9 months. She could only do her best. So she got working.

——-

Izuku

Izuku had watched the debut video of All Might thousands of times in his life. At different points it had been for different reasons, especially as school began to get hard, but it had always been mesmerizing in an inexplicable way. The triumph of All Might, bringing person after person back to safety. The fires raging around him were nothing but a minor nuisance in the way of his victory. The video was the essence of what Izuku wanted to embody as a hero, and nothing had ever felt the same.

That is until he and his mother stayed up for 10 hours to watch the news broadcasts of the Niigata attacks. The world was watching, it should have killed 100,000 people, the single largest terror attack in history. Breath was held, just like the challenger explosion, just like the attacks on the World Trade Center so long ago, the world remained quiet and watched on in horror. Horror when the government announced that the emergency shelter's failsafes prevented them from opening. Horror when the reactor leak was reported.

But the deaths never came. She had been little more than a moving sphere of light on camera, but Entropy had been noticed immediately. As reporters began to notice the Hardlight structures supporting buildings and the fires that would suffocate in her presence. His mom had started crying when the reporter had yelled out, "The shelters! She opened the shelters!"

After the event, Izuku had scoured the internet, one of the first to see the press conference, one of the first on the forums discussing it all.

Most of all, he remembered a photo. A mother, with her child in her hands staring up in fear at falling rubble, not having had time to process that she was underneath a giant shield. Entropy is behind the mother, eyes glowing white with power, hands thrown out hastily to create the defense.

Izuku would never idolize someone more than he did All Might, but Entropy had brought back that feeling. Returned in him the meaning of heroism. She had made him understand why he loved that debut video so much, turning the tides against overwhelming odds because you have to. He supposed it was the same reason he ran after Kacchan during the sludge villain attack, there just wasn't another option than to fight fate and win.

Izuku would always be thankful to Entropy, because she proved to him that he could win.

——-

Stain watched the video once again, of the girl flying through the city. No showboating, now wasted movement, only ever stopping to set a leg or retrieve someone from rubble. He watched the press conference where she so clearly despised being on the podium. He was enraged on her behalf as the false heroes tried to lessen her accomplishments by focusing on legal technicalities, her authority, some even going so far as to say she was just doing it all because she was told to. But Stain knew the truth. For the first time in many, many years, another true hero had arisen, one perhaps just as worthy of killing him as All Might. Her very existence would prove him right once more…that this hero society was sick to its very root. That true heroism would rise to the top on its own.

Hoshiko Okane had never once offered information that wasn't directly asked. She never once beamed in pride. She was never paid for her actions that night. A true hero once more.

Yes, for once in a very long time, Stain was pleased with the world.

——-

Toshinori Yagi sat in his office, unaware of how to proceed. Chiyo had just informed him of the rather unfortunate news that Young miss Okane would see right through him—literally—and know exactly who he was when she met All Might. He took the news in stride, it wasn't an ideal situation but he had put himself in a position where couldn't exactly avoid it, he would just have to bite the bullet.

His turmoil was less about the girl herself, there was no sense in worrying about something that was literally impossible to avoid, they would be coworkers after all, it was more focused on the HPSC.

The commission wasn't an evil organization. It wasn't a bad organization at all, they were efficient in their purpose, well regulated, and didn't do anything without very good reason. But it was a government run organization that repeatedly worked outside its own scope to get things accomplished. Notice, sending a 17 year old into a nuclear crisis without approval. The presidents also happened to be Machiavellian by nature, at least in regards to hero's. The Hawks situation was well known, it has caused the last president to be sacked and it led to some uncomfortable questions about the organization's authority over their lives. Many heroes, he knew, were concerned that Hoshiko Okane existed at all.

He was a little concerned actually. One off comment in her interview, which he was currently watching, "the quirk is matrilineal." That comment bounces around his brain as he tried to remember anyone using a quirk that ridiculously powerful before. He'd looked into her family tree, what was public record at least. she had a sprawling family with at least two dozen women that could possibly have a nearly identical quirk if what she said was true. In the men they married, he noticed almost all of them were quirkless or possessed power enhancement quirks. Funny enough, there was a stockpile quirk in there.

He didn't feel guilty snooping through records like this, even if it was morally dubious at best, but he did recognize that something's were better asked from the source. Knowing that, he sighed, and picked up his phone from his table, dialing the number to Hoshiko in his contacts.

——-

Her mother did not come with her this time. Hoshiko was an adult now, capable of agency, and she knew her mother was better served knowing everything after her impromptu meeting with the symbol of peace-holy shit she was just called in for a meeting with All Might.

'Oh god oh hell whyamidoingthis shouldihaverescheduled oh hell-'

She took the train because driving in her current mental state would cause severe damage to someone's vehicle. She was pretty confident she could save someone before they died but it was just…better to not test it. The HOSC complex was in the mountains by Ome, so it would be about 2 hours each way to arrive at All Might's office in Minato. She'd never been to Daimon station, it made her extremely nervous, but new experiences were a fact of life.

She sent her mom a text that she was going out for the day, because she might as well patrol if she was going into the city.

+Hey mom, going to a meeting, then patrolling the city. Need those public appearances to build up rep if UA's going to higher me.+

+Got it. Love you little Star.+

+Love you+

The nickname Star was a play on her translated name, 'Star Child'. The name was cliché as all hell and her aunts gave her mother endless shit for it, leading to the nickname little star from just about everyone she knew outside of the HPSC. The commision officials generally stayed with 'Ms Okane' and 'asset'. The latter name lead to an executive being pinned down with Hardlight by her enraged mother, who while not as powerful as Hoshiko, had much more anger. She apparently got her temperament from her father, but he…he'd been gone for longer than she'd ever been able to know him. She took her mother's word for it.

Watching the news on her phone until she made it to the city, her costume folded neatly in her backpack behind her, she let herself just…exist for a moment.

She was brought out of it when a young woman, maybe 13 or so, sat down next to her and tapped her shoulder.

Very quietly, she asked, "Aren't you entropy?"

Hoshiko smiled, "Yup. What can I do for you?"

She smiled back, "I'm Yu. I just thought I recognized you, but since you're here, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure", the girl was perfectly polite, why not?

"Do you think you can beat All Might? That's what the news says. Because if you can I want to rub it in my brother's face. He doesn't think a girl could do that."

That…was not question she was ready for.

"…honestly, it's a bit difficult to answer that. It really depends on whether or not I could outlast him. A fight between us would probably not result in a winner, it would just destroy things and generally not be worth it for either party. Do you know what I do know, though?"

"What?"

"That I don't need to be compared to All Might. I'm powerful all on my own and in the end, what matters is that we do our best. All Might and I have very powerful quirks, but that isn't what makes us great heroes."

She tilted her head, thinking about it, "I guess not. At least your quirk allows you to be heroes."

Hoshiko tilted her head as well, "Why do you say that?"

The girl smiled a little sadly, "All I can do is tell the time. It doesn't help me at all."

"It doesn't take a strong quirk to be a hero. All it takes is a good head on your shoulders and a bit of bravery. You don't have to be a hero, but a support class would love you. You could use your quirk for exercise, being able to know your limits exactly would be an asset. In the end, going into a burning building is never about a quirk, it's about a desire to save what's inside. It could be All Might punching the air to put out the fire or it could be a young woman who knows exactly how long she has inside, equipped with a fire extinguisher."

She smiled, "Thanks for that. This is my stop, have a good day, Ms Okane."

True to her words, the train started to break

"Have a good day, Yu. By the way, how long did we talk?"

Yu smiled as she got up, "2 minutes and 13. 468 seconds rounding up as of the start of me speaking."

"Go be a hero, kid."

——-

Hoshiko walked out of Daimon station, then down the street until she was in the park. She stared up at Tokyo tower, smiling as she went under, then kept walking until she hit Gaien Higashi-Dori Avenue, taking the street until she reached Might tower in Roppongi. The walk took a minute but was enjoyable.

Might Tower was ridiculously large, easily the largest tower in the district, which confused Hoshiko. His brand was successful, but she didn't realize it was THIS successful. Shrugging, she walked in the front door.

She walked through the spacious lobby up to a help desk.

"Good morning, what can I do for you?" A professional looking woman with a black ponytail and square glasses greeted her. Hoshiko didn't need glasses, her vision was pretty inconsequential when she could detect pretty much all light radiation that hit her.

"Hiya. I'm here for a meeting, name should be Okane."

The woman looked down at a screen and her eyes rose to the top of her head.

"Uh…let me…you know what, I'll just take you up there myself. This is actually the first time I've seen this happen. I have no idea what the procedure is." She was speaking fast but still slow enough to understand.

"All Might doesn't…meet people?"

"No, usually he has Toshinori do it on his behalf. Or he meets at a different location. Follow me."

So Hoshiko did. The elevator ride took 5 whole minutes to reach the top, other people getting off and on. The back of the elevator looked over Tokyo, which was beautiful from so high up. Despite it being the prefecture she grew up in, she hadn't explored much of Tokyo, and almost never went down to Minato. She'd never seen the city from a Birds Eye view, it was beautiful.

Eventually they reached the top, the elevator letting them out with a ding. The secretary walked Hoshiko over to another desk, with a PA working diligently.

The woman spoke as the PA looked up,"Sakura, could you take Ms Okane to see the boss?"

"Yes I could. Welcome to Might Tower Ms. Okane, he's actually waiting for you in the lounge, just press the button next to the big door and say your name, first and last, and you'll be let in."

A little confused, Hoshiko made her way down the hall until, sure as shit, she reached a gargantuan metal blast door. She pressed the button, said her name, and the shockingly quiet door lifted into the ceiling, closing as she walked in.

All Might, in all his glory, was standing in the room.

"Ah! Hello! Come, come!", the big man gestured.

She followed him into an office, and sat down across the desk from his massive chair. He sat down as well, turning towards her.

"Hello, I'm-", she started, immediately getting interrupted.

"There's no need for that, you've been remarkably polite not activating your quirk, but your free to."

That gave her pause. She focused to other spectrums until she could see what the hell he was talking about and-OH-

"MR TOSHINORI!?"

He gave a big, hearty laugh as he slowly shrunk down into his more…pathetic? form.

"Ah, that's certainly a reaction. Yes, hello Ms Okane."

She just stared, slack jawed.

"You're starting to freak me out."

Her mouth clamped shut before she opened it again in search of words. She eventually settled on, "Why? Nevermind, that's a dumb question. How have you gotten away with hiding this for so long?"

"Occam's Razor. I'm not what people expect All Might to be thus I am not All Might. My staff is probably starting to suspect and a choice few people know…after enough time and circumstance." He informed her.

"…you know, the last few days have left me very, VERY confused, certain people have taken far too much interest in me for what I've accomplished, and now All Might is telling me his secret identity. What is going on." She was at her wits end.

He sighed, "Well, my actions have been an…external influence, so I'll start from the beginning. A little over a month ago, I was entering a phase of extreme burn out. An…injury, has whittled my time I can activate the quirk down. On a particular bad day…I said some words to a young man that were not reflective of the words I live by. I had just saved him from a villain attack andhe asked me if he could be a hero, I said no. I was so far into my own misery that I think I almost killed the kid, indirectly.

Later that day, I watched him run into an attack involving the same villain, who had gotten away from me, without thinking to save his friend. There's other details to that story, but that young man reminded me what it means to be a hero, and I have asked him to be my successor.

But then I rewatched that video, of you flying through that city, right after I had that press conference. That same heroism was right there, and for three months I had just ignored it. I had thought to myself 'how did I not immediately see this opportunity'. And then I realized what I also didn't do. I realized I should have offered support immediately, it was weak to just leave the situation alone and let certain…entities attack you online. I figured the situation would resolve itself and I could stay in the background, but that wasn't fair." His face was grim as he spoke it all.

"Yeah, your input would have helped a lot, though you haven't explained why you brought me here. Or why you revealed…this to me." She said the last part gesturing to his small form.

He smiled, "While young, you are a fully fledged hero now, one that is going to work at UA with me. I was originally going to offer a sidekick position but I'd doubt you'd take that right now. I…revealed this weakness because it was an unavoidable fact you'd find out once I had the information that you could see through me. I didn't want you to have to confront me about it. This meeting happened to clear the air before we start UA and generally just to meet you."

She stared.

"Why would I not take it now. For what ungodly reason would I not take a sidekick position with the number 1 hero."

He seemed startled by that, "I am clearly weakened and not what I used to be-"

This time she stopped him, "Yeah, no shit, you're 11 years from retirement age. But even if I didn't have an absolute ton to learn from you, think about what that would do for my career. That sounds selfish, but if you were going to offer it don't stop because 30 goddamn years of fighting has reduced your ability a bit."

He looked at her with mixed emotions, "You know, I think you're going to like Aizawa Shouta a LOT."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're hired."