My CO Stash #12 - The Heroic Chronicles of a Young man by Requiem_Jeer (Youjo Senki/My Hero Academia)

-This CO fic is mad cool with da MC reminding me of Tatsuya Shiba and the most 5Head quirk I ever read about/

Synopsis: Deguchiya Tenya was not the best. He wasn't the worst, either, so he must be average.

In this modern world, the keys to success are simple. Signal the appropriate virtues to the society you are born in, climb up the social ladder in the defined manner, live frugally and save for your retirement, where the fruits of your labors are to be enjoyed for the rest of it. If your position allows, find a like-minded member of the opposite sex to start a family with.

When looked at with such a perspective, Quirks are irrelevant.

Rated: ???

Words: 56K

Posted on: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-heroic-chronicles-of-a-young-man-youjo-senki-my-hero-academia.875316/ (Requiem_Jeer)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 0+1

My name is Deguchiya Tenya. I can only stare at the innocuous white headband I held in my hands. "How did it come to this!?"

In this modern world, the keys to success are simple. Signal the appropriate virtues to the society you are born in, climb up the social ladder in the defined manner, live frugally and save for your retirement, where the fruits of your labors are to be enjoyed for the rest of it. If your position allows, find a like-minded member of the opposite sex to start a family with.

When looked at with such a perspective, Quirks are irrelevant.. The heroics industry is the largest, highest status industry one can be a part of. But it is also dangerous and fickle. On average, only a single new agency every other year has what it takes to last more than ten years of business. If you count the ones that get bought outright rather than dissolving, it's component human resources being picked up piecemeal by other agencies, that number triples.

No, being a hero is not something that can reliably lead to a comfortable retirement. Especially not for someone whose Quirk is merely average. My Quirk is Mathmagician, I have a reserve of energy that I can use to affect changes in the world, expressed via mathematical formulae. This reserve is refilled by cannibalizing my caloric energy.

So, I applied to the most prestigious high school in eastern Japan. UA high school. A truly top-tier business course, perfect for attaching yourself to the heroic industry, without that pesky 'risking your life' and 'being in the spotlight'. I got fifth place in the general exam, and second in the business exam. I had actually held out hopes that I could excel, for once, with that business exam, but as it always was, the first place podium was denied to me.

The culture of UA was significantly different from my middle school. While in most of Japan, the expectation was to respect the hierarchy, to succeed silently and humbly, and to not create a disturbance of yourself, in UA, the motto was 'Plus Ultra!'. The worst thing anyone could ever accuse you of is being lazy, and of not trying your hardest to succeed. Someone who proudly declared their expectations of victory was still derided for arrogance and presumption, as that top heroics student (And number three in the general exam, I remembered that name) demonstrated in his speech, but open competition was the norm.

So, coming in to the obstacle course race, in my regular gym clothes, I expected what my peers expected: to valiantly try my best, but to be left in the dust behind the forty demigods who have trained their bodies far longer than I, with Quirks stronger than mine, and quietly fade back into obscurity, rubbing elbows with my peers as we fill out Professor Nedzu's assignment on predicting the marketability of each contestant and their resulting offers from hero agencies.

So, when the recommended student iced over everyone except his own classmates, I used my Quirk to melt the ice, spin up a shell of applied force around me to deflect any further attacks, and flew at top speed through the course. My Quirk's reserves were only good for about two hours of sustained flight, which was woefully inadequate for any kind of full-time job using it, but after mere minutes, I had finished the course… only to look behind me and see absolutely no one. Present Mic, the announcer, was announcing my victory, only to follow it up with an announcement of the second person starting to encounter the second obstacle.

Even following the past events step by step, I still could not understand why, after my patient efforts to secure a nice, safe position as a manager in a hero agency, I now held this headband, with eight red digits mocking me and painting the mother of all targets on my back from those same demigods who have trained themselves nigh exclusively in violence for the past two months.

I can only repeat my mantra of despair. "How did it come to this?"

Chapter 1

Yaoyorozu Momo thought that of all the people in the stadium, she was the least, and yet the most surprised. Tenya was someone she knew in middle school, and she knew the vague capabilities of his Quirk. Like hers, it required that he eat enough food for a half dozen people, a common thread that, along with their high academic marks, ensured they were compared with each other constantly by their classmates. Unlike hers, he had to eat that much regardless of whether or not he was actually using it.

Tenya always seemed like someone who always knew what to do, taking what life dealt him with a stoicism that was the envy of the class. He was multitalented, succeeding with apparent ease, and never being bothered about losing to anyone, merely congratulating whoever he lost to with his usual placid expression, never emoting anything greater than annoyance, disappointment, and vague satisfaction at any point during the years she's known him.

Even in UA, he calmly sat next to her at lunch, as if being enrolled in the top hero school in the country was no more life-changing than sitting at the next table over. They discussed their classes, the teachers, what they'd done with their Quirks recently, normal things to discuss with classmates, even if he only ever spoke with her at lunch, even during middle school. At first, she thought he was trying to befriend her because of her parent's wealth, but he seemed most comfortable just asking about her progress on becoming a hero, and asking her what she thought about the latest party trick he figured out how to pull off with his Quirk, which was all he thought it good for.

He did have a truly wide variety of those, though. Instantly melting or freezing water, making things float, turning random flat surfaces into mirrors, cutting paper by running his finger over it, making his eyes glow, a laser pointer out of his finger… the list went on. She honestly thought that he had a real chance at getting into the hero course if he had tried, but he didn't get a recommendation like she did, and he resigned himself to the business course, which was plenty prestigious of course but in UA, everyone knew that it was the hero course that was what the school was made for.

Unlike some of the other students, he never seemed resentful of other people's success though. She didn't see him during that fracas where that general studies student spitefully challenged her class, and he gave insightful advice about her own Quirk use when she asked for it. When she brought up to him how students who did well in the sports festival could transfer into the hero course, he seemed interested, asking a few questions about what she knew of the process. It was a short conversation, as she knew essentially nothing beyond the limited information the general education student shared, but he said he'd have to do his best, with the same sardonic smile he used whenever his Quirk was brought up.

So seeing her sort-of friend completely counter Todoroki's Quirk, melting the entire ice structure he made to trap everyone, before shooting forward like a bullet past everyone else, flying over every obstacle in the way, was not something that surprised her overmuch. She expected him to rank highly, and knew he could melt ice and was fast on his feet. What did surprise her, however, were the glowing eyes and maniacal laughter he belted out as he shot past her. It was so out of character that in her surprise, she completely missed that little troll Mineta affixing himself to her butt using his Quirk until he had already succeeded.

Still, the first thing she did after the race was approach him. He seemed… surprised, which was a new expression on his face. "Deguchiya?" She began. "Could you always fly?" It was certainly never something he mentioned before.

Hearing his name seemed to snap him out of it, but his shock still put his expression into a must softer cast than she usually saw him use. "Yaomomo?" He began, before flushing. "I mean, Yaoyorozu, hello. I see you scored eighteenth, good job." Now that was an interesting reaction. While he certainly knew about her usual nickname, it was something her actual friends used frequently enough that he was bound to have heard it at least once, she had never heard him use it before. "And… that wasn't really flying. That was throwing myself through the air and missing the ground for long enough to reach the finish line. You could have done the same, I'm sure." He trailed off, seeming a bit confused. She thought he was going to continue with 'why didn't you?' but he remained thankfully silent.

At least she could be sure that this was definitely Tenya. "Are you hungry? I need to restock on lipids while I can, and I don't know how often you can do that, but from what you've said, you're probably spent after that. Let's get some food." WIth that, she turned around and went towards the snack table, where next to that lunch rush had a special table set up for students whose Quirks included large metabolisms with more substantial fare.

Tenya seemed thankful for the change in subject, if this audibly growling stomach had anything to say. His expression hardened once more into his usual stoic one, adjusting his glasses so the light reflected off of them. "Yes, let's."

-------------------------

After Tenya devoured his sixth bowl of food, he seemed to have recovered his usual equilibrium. He thanked Lunch Rush for the consideration, and brought no more attention to the matter, which was a level of self-confidence that she could never quite manage with her own dietary requirements. As they waited for Midnight to announce the second event, as the last student had crossed the finish line minutes ago, she nudged him in the side. "Don't worry. If you do even half as well as you did in the first event in the other two, you'll get in the hero course. I'll put in a good word for you with the teachers, too."

His expression didn't waver as he waved off her offer. "You don't have to do that, Yaoyorozu." He stopped talking, the silence stretching on as Midnight started her announcement. When she paused to let people review the scoreboard, he added: "No need to put yourself at risk on my account. The hero course is reserved for the best of the best, after all." She could understand wanting to avoid the feeling of not having earned his place, so she'll just have to ask Aizawa about it later.

Midnight continued her explanation of the next event, a cavalry battle. Every team will get a headband with their point total, which is determined by their ranking in the race. Tenya, as first place, will get an eye-dropped ten million points, more than everyone else combined two thousand times over. Top four teams get in, and fifth place gets a chance if smaller teams win. Simple enough, even if directly attacking formations so they fall down isn't allowed.

Before she could speak up to Tenya, a pink-haired girl bounded up to him. "MIster ten million! I will join your team so that I can show off my beautiful babies to the world! All eyes will be on us, and the support companies will see my work and they'll line up to endorse my genius!" Her mutated eyes were manic, staring straight into Tenya's own as he took a step back away from her.

After a moment, he nodded. "Yes, you have the right idea of things here. I will be in your care." He examined the girl's carried equipment with vague interest, and followed her when she asked him to help pick out additional equipment.

Before she could follow them, two of her classmates approached: Tokoyami, who was alone, and Todoroki, who was being followed by Kaminari. Both glanced at each other, before simultaneously saying: "Join my team." They glared at each other, before Todoroki spoke up first: "Join my team, we'll take out that business course student and get those points back where it belongs, in the hero course."

Tokoyami cut in with his own pitch. "I believe your Quirk's ability to spread darkness will be quite useful, and I wish to join forces." He glances over to Todoroki. "I do not object to joining you as well, Todoroki."

Todoroki shook his head, his cold expression unwavering. "No. Our last member needs to be someone that can enhance our mobility. Ilda ideally, but Sato, Shouji, or Kirishima will suffice."

Coughing, Momo decided to interrupt them. "Actually, I was going to join Tenya's group. He really admires heroes, and I want to help him get into the hero course." She nods to Tokoyami. "You can come with, I'm pretty sure he's only got one other teammate for now."

Todoroki became even icier at that. "Are you sure you want to declare yourself my enemy? You know what I can do." His fist clenched, and for a second she thought he might attack her, but after a few more seconds of silence, he turned away in a huff. "Come on Kaminari, we need to get Ilda. Afterwards… Ashido. Maybe Asui, or Sero." Kaminari said something back, but at that point Momo had already moved on towards Tenya and his partner.

Waving, she called out to him: "Deguchiya! This is Tokoyami, and we'd like to join you and…" She paused. Did the support course student introduce herself?

Fortunately, she wasn't quite as rude as her previous lack of introduction suggested, as she noticed the pause and replied: "Hastume Mei, at your service. What're your Quirks? I'm sure I have babies that will make them pop!"

Tenya quickly cut in: "She brought a large amount of gear, but I think the best option to defend our headband is to just fly up into the air and stay there. Yaoyorozu, do you think you could make an airtight cloth we could use to rig up a gasbag?" At her nod, he continued. "Hatsume, rig up your flamethrower into something less volatile, we need it to keep our altitude. I'll lift us up to height." She nodded and started rifling through the pile of machines she had set aside.

Tokoyami brought up his own contributions. "If we are to soar into the air, Dark Shadow will be the terror of the skies that he always yearned to be. He shall assault any who approach."

Momo was removing her jacket for the creation of the tarp, when Tenya asked a question that gave her pause. "How much do you all weigh? It's important."

Immediately, Hatsume piped up with "How many significant digits? My hover soles report a total load of… 76.453 kilograms." Glancing at the significant amounts of equipment she had in her arms, Momo could believe that, despite her small size.

Tenya nodded, adjusting his glasses again as Tokoyami muttered his own weight. "Yaoyorozu, make the tarp first, so we can adjust for it." Nodding, she leaned forward, slowly creating a folded peach-colored tarp out of her back. Tenya wordlessly grabbed along and extracted it, holding it on an outstretched arm to weigh it. He tossed it to Mei as Momo replaced her jacket, who started to assemble the balloon as Midnight gave a five-minute warning to get into position.

Frowning, Tenya kneeled down and held out his arm in front of Momo, fist clenched. "Sit on my arm. No need to waste time making a scale." Flushing, Momo started to sit on his shoulder, but he shook his head and gestured for her to sit further down.

Once she was settled onto his elbow, he suddenly stood up, holding her up on his arm as if she weighed no more than a bird. He moved his arm up and down, his eyes flashing gold as he did so, before nodding. "71.832 kilograms. Alright, Hatsume, behind me. Start the flames the instant the battle begins. Tokoyami, have Dark Shadow move Yaoyorozu onto my back. Each of you supports one of her legs."

Midnight came by, handing him the headband, and he spent the rest of the time until the beginning staring at it, as Mei started putting another harness on him and Tokoyami. Momo stopped her before she left. "Miss Midnight? I'm going to be the rider, but could we be Team Deguchiya? I think Tenya could use the exposure."

Midnight's grin could only be described as filthy. "Oh ho? Do we have some childhood friend romance?" Before she could deny it, Midnight cracked her crop. "I LIKE IT! Approved!" Hurrying off, Midnight jumped back onto her podium before beginning the starting announcements.

"Okay! The Cavalry battle teams are now finalized! If you will turn your attention to the board, we have point totals and teams listed here!" Cracking her crop again, each team got a few seconds listing each of their names and point totals.

Tenya cleared his throat at the fourth team to be shown. "Yaoyorozu, which do you think is our greatest threat, of the class 1-A teams?"

Momo glanced around the battlefield before looking at the display. "Hm. Most problematic would be those with long-range attacks. If we maintain an altitude of 200 feet, we should be able to avoid everyone except Aoyama's navel laser. Secondary would be flight-capability, which is limited in class 1-A. Bakugo can fly short distances, but his ability to gain altitude is limited. More concerning would be Uraraka, as she could make her entire team weightless. Combined with someone with strong legs, or someone who could maneuver mid-air, that could be very capable of taking the fight to us." Tenya nodded along with her assessment. "Tokoyami would probably be the most capable in that respect, but Ilda, Bakugo, Midoriya, Aoyama, or Todoroki would all be capable of such a thing."

Tenya's pronouncement was grim. "And four of those names are all on one team." His eyes started glowing again, and while she couldn't see his face from behind him, his voice was loaded with what she could only call… anticipation. "Perfect."

Such battle lust is not something she initially attributed to Tenya, but she did agree: it would have been boring if there wasn't at least one team that had at least a chance to grab their headband.

Midnight's pronouncement drowned out all other thoughts. "BEGIN!"