Here’s my entry for the Rooftop Zine project, now available for download! Enjoy the awesomeness of all the artists who joined this tribute to our favourite trio ❤

https://t.co/8LfCLmMMOL

Dedicated to @fengtianshi♡

Our antebellum innocence

Was never meant to see the light

Of our armistice day

(Vienna Teng, Antebellum)

Vigilantes Ch. 125 Review (the penultimate one, sob!!!)

It’s always hard to say goodbye. But it seems like we’re getting a good ending that fits thematically with both this series AND with MHA, and that gives me such a comforting feeling!!! Ok, the big news first…..

KOICHI IS A PRO HERO IN NEW YORK CITY!! KOICHI GETS THE SPIDER-MAN ENDING! And he’s no longer “just” the ground crawler or the wall crawler…he’s the SKYCRAWLER! Bless him for keeping the hoodie on his uniform.

Koichi examining his scar in the mirror was a great callback to Chapter 1, when Koichi got into his first battle with Soga (defending Pop!) and Soga slashed his cheek in the same spot.

Speaking of, Pop is still recovering in Naruhata, but I like that Soga is watching over her while Koichi is away. Considering that the series started with Soga as a villain assaulting Pop, seeing him go out of his way to take care of her is sweet. It’s also a great parallel to MHA, where this week’s chapter has Shoto convincing Dabi that he can choose a different path for his life. In case anyone’s curious about whether the MHA villains will be given second chances….yeah, they will.

And then, there’s AFO. He’s confused and baffled how an “utterly average civilian” could become so powerful. Circumstance, life experience, and “force of will” are not things he can manipulate or control, no matter how much money AFO spends.

AFO is very willing to pay a very exorbitant cost to keep OFA from interfering with his plans to live forever. But even with his funding, how can he possibly stop civilians from rising up and taking action? How can he destroy their hope? He can destroy their Symbol of Peace…..

Now, where’s Knuckleduster???

Sketch from Betten Court’s Twitter:

Everybody say thank you, Vigilantes

Chapter 13

Warnings: None, Swf. Pretty Long, but all my chapters are long so nothing new with that. Contains use of flashbacks.

Aizawa x OC (Mai Montoya, Pro Hero Zion)

Chapter Synopsis: Counselor Mai Montoya focuses on preparing the students for their work study in this chapter. It also mentions a little more about her past in work study and mentions more about her relationship with her mom. Maybe some slight romantic moments with Aizawa…

If you want to read of the events before this chapter here is the Master List

“Now, I don’t know why you insist on healing you faster when I told you that you have two weeks left with a normal check-up.” Recovery Girl stood up on the bed as she was checking Aizawa’s injuries.

“I just want to be over with it. Plus, I’m tired of having Mai over.” Ouch.Recovery Girl didn’t look amused, so she smacked Aizawa in the shoulder, making him wince, “What the hell?”

“Don’t be rude to my Mai. She didn’t have to take care of you for this long.” She then kissed him on the head, activating her healing quirk. “I’ll heal the injuries on your face and make it so you can use your arms, but you have to promise me to keep them bandaged up. As for the rest of your injuries, your legs seem to be okay enough that you don’t need my quirk. The same for your abdominal area.” Recovery Girl then reached over for my hand for assistance when she wanted to get off the hospital bed. “You can’t push yourself too much, Aizawa. Mai, sweetheart, can you help me with wrapping Aizawa up? The gauze is on the counter over there. I have to go check on a student.”

The little old lady scurried off with her cane to check on a student that came in with symptoms of a cold. I stood up from the seat next to the bed to grab the gauze she pointed out to me. To be fair, I only think Aizawa was rushing to heal, so that way, his students didn’t have to worry about him anymore. Either that or he just wanted to avoid the fact that he almost died, and his injuries are a reminder of that. I don’t blame him; I would’ve been the same way. I went closer to Aizawa and motioned him to move his arms up. He stayed quiet as I moved to wrap the gauze around him. I tried to avoid caressing the bruises and scars littering his porcelain skin. That was all nothing compared to any mental pain he’s endured. Every muscle, every scar, all came from hard work to improve himself as a hero. And that motivation came from losing the one person that embodied what it meant to be a hero. I remember Aizawa back when he was an insecure lanky string bean. A person who never thought he was good enough to be a hero because of his quirk.

Seeing that boy turn into this man before me struck me both with pride and worry. Aizawa clearly proved himself wrong and became a great, even selfless, hero. But he still held the burden that all of us did when Oboro died. So, it’s not like he or any of us could really be happy with ourselves. I mean, he literally told Recovery Girl to heal him faster so he can go back to work properly instead of being held back by his injuries. Once I was done wrapping his abdomen, I told him to put his arms back down as I went to look at his head and face.

His grey tired eyes searched my face while I examined his head. It looked like Recovery Girl did what she said and healed whatever was left of his injuries in that area. I held his face in both of my hands while I observed it. Nothing out of the ordinary, he practically looked the same as he did before aside from this scar under his right eye. He was still as effortlessly pretty as always. Not even the scar could change that. We made eye contact, but no words were exchanged. I felt that same gravitational pull tugging at the two of us. It was specifically pulling at my heart because it was aching to have him hold it. But I ignored the pull. I moved my hand to move his hair out of his face pretending to check his forehead. “Well, it looks like the old lady did a good job with your head injuries; you’re practically good as new.”

I felt hands resting above my hips as the rumble sang through, “Practically?”

I went to caress the scar under his eye with my thumb, “Yeah, she left a scar. But I’m sure it’s not a big deal to you. I’ll just replace the gauzing on your arms, and you could go to the classroom.”

I leaned over to grab more gauze and the scissors when Aizawa tightened his grip, “Make sure the students won’t be able to see the gauze. I don’t want them to know I’m not fully healed.” I paused my movement and looked back at him. “I don’t want them to worry. Or be reminded of the attack. So don’t give me that face.”

“Don’t want them to be reminded of the attack. Are you sure it’s just them?” I muttered.

“Mai.”

“Aizawa.”

“Call me, Shota.” I sighed and started wrapping his left arm, avoiding eye contact. “You used to call me by Shota. What happened?”

“I’m trying to be formal. Not familiar. And I am a counselor, so I know when someone has unresolved issues. You could always just ask me for a therapy session.”

“Okay. Well, I hate that you don’t call me Shota.” I gave him an irritated look. “You wanted me to talk. I’m talking. You let me call you, Mai.”

“Because I’m American, I’m used to it.” I stopped wrapping the gauze around once I got to his wrist. Hopefully, it wouldn’t show as he wanted. “Plus, we haven’t been close to each other enough for me to call you by Shota anymore. I only called you Shota because you never told me not to, especially when I needed to be comforted by a friend. But that’s not our relationship currently, so I call you by Aizawa or Eraserhead.” I felt the hands that were previously on my hips fall slowly, hesitantly, as if they didn’t want to let go. I didn’t want them to let go. “If you want me to call you Shota, I could start. I just won’t during work hours.”

“It’s not that. It’s just that… I notice you stop yourself from calling me by my name, so I just wanted you to know it was okay if you do.” Aizawa averted his eyes from mine with slight embarrassment tinting his cheeks. I went to hold his hand and gave him a small smile.

“Thanks for letting me know that it’s okay.” He gave me a small genuine smile back. One of those rare Shota Aizawa smiles that didn’t resemble the Joker’s. And as always, those rare smiles made me feel nothing but warmth. Aizawa then handed me his other arm to wrap up.

“Alright, how are my two favorite students doing?” Recovery Girl came trotting in. “Aizawa treated you nicely, right?” She gave me a wink while poking Aizawa’s knee.

We both nodded in response.

“Alright, good. Aizawa, please, as I said, take it easy. And please, Mai, make sure he does. Do whatever spell you have that gets him not to be his workaholic zombie self because the boy needs it.” Recovery Girl then went to grab a bottle of over the counter pain medication. “When I’m done with you today, you should only be needing the over the counter stuff and not the prescribed medication you were given.” She then looked over to me after handing him the medicine, “You can leave now, sweetie. I’ll take care of him from here on out.” I simply nodded and kneeled to give her a quick kiss on the cheek while ruffling Aizawa’s hair on my way out.

On my way out, I ran into All Might as he headed towards the teacher’s lounge. “Oh, Mai, I’m glad to run into you. I needed to talk to you about something.”

I tried to slow down my steps for him to catch up, which didn’t take him too long to do, “What did you need?”

“It’s about the work-study the first years are doing. I was thinking maybe training Young Midoriya, but I wanted your advice on it since it might look like I’m being…”

“Biased? Playing favorites? Yeah, I wouldn’t suggest having him work under you.” I bluntly spoke as I looked over to the tall, muscular form of my former mentor.

“I trained you. And you turned out to be a great pro.” He defended.

“It was still a biased situation. You had me intern under you after my incident with the yakuza and my grandfather. Where you saved me.”

The man pouted, “I guess you’re right. Maybe he can train under you?”

“I’m not on active duty, so I can’t take him as a work-study student.” I thought for a moment about Midoriya’s training. He needed someone who understood how his quirk worked and will build his strength and work with his limitations. Someone who had experience in teaching. If he’s truly to be All Might’s successor, he needed someone who could handle teaching him. I was most definitely not that person. Especially right now, I can’t let any of my students follow down that path with my suspension. Then one person came into mind that I thought was perfect. “What about Gran Torino? Do you know if he has his teaching license still? I talk to him from time to time, but I never ask.”

The symbol of peace’s face turned pale as his sunken eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets. I couldn’t help but look at him with a confused expression. “No. We are not calling Gran Torino to teach Midoriya.”

“Oh, come on. He’s not that bad. He was nothing but a sweet teacher to me. Have you not told him about Izuku Midoriya yet?” I brushed off his concerns. Clearly, he was overreacting.

“He was sweet to you but not to me! I highly doubt he would treat Midoriya the same way he treats you.” The man visibly shivered at the thought of his old teacher training Midoriya.

“I’m sure Izuku Midoriya will handle whatever the old man throws at him. I’ll send him a message asking if he’s interested in teaching him.” The symbol of peace choked up and coughed up a little. I had to go and make sure that he was okay while we were walking, “Honestly, I wished Recovery Girl, and I could’ve found a way to heal your injuries better so that way you wouldn’t be slowly dying.”

My old mentor chuckled and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. “With my recklessness, I highly doubt any more healing would’ve done anything.” He patted my head, “It’s not your responsibility to take care of me. You need to remember that.” He said that, but I remember that day. It’s hard to forget. It took everything in me to forget about it. It was my fault that he was injured so badly.

“You know that’s not true. You’re like a father to me! I take up the responsibility because you mean so much to me.” I gave him a stern worrisome face while he sucked in a breath. Beads of sweat glistening from his forehead. Poor guy only masks being strong. I grabbed the tissue pack I kept in my bag, levitated myself to reach up to his height, and gently wiped his face. “You, Nezu, Gran Torino, even Nighteye, were all I had to raise me when I couldn’t be with my mom. Taking care of all of you is the least I can do to repay you for all you did for me. I love you all.” Toshinori just let out a large sigh and let the worry in his face fall to a relaxed one.

“Sometimes, it feels like I failed you as a mentor, so hearing you think of me as a father figure really impacts me. I might be the symbol of peace, but hearing what you think of me is my greatest achievement and honor, Mai.” I couldn’t help but smile brightly at him and gave him a small nod in reassurance.

“I’ll definitely tell Gran Torino to train him the way he did me; otherwise, he could forget me sending him his favorite homemade desserts from me, so you don’t have to worry about Midoriya.” I gave the man a quick pat on the head before levitating back to the ground.

“What will you be doing while the students are in work-study?”

“I’ll still be on-call to all my students. But with Aizawa not needing me anymore, I’ll probably be going back to my apartment and finally finish unpacking.” I scratched the back of my head sheepishly while Toshinori gave me a fake look of sternness. “I might also finally get back to my mom, she’s been emailing me since the incident, but I’ve avoided responding.”

“Why have you been avoiding talking to her?”

“Oh, the usual, don’t want to hear how she expected differently from me with how I was brought up. Especially since all the emails involve her wanting me to move to I-Island with her and Uncle Dave.” I shrugged while I noticed Toshinori grew rigged.

“I’m sure she’s just worried and wants what is best for you. It’s probably difficult to hear that your only child has been through so much hardship and not having any control over it.” He grew defensive but still tried to be kind to me. “You’re not the only one that had to endure trauma involving your grandparents. Your mother dealt with it longer.”

I squinted my eyes in suspicion at him, “How would you know if my mom dealt with abuse from my grandparents. The only thing you knew about them was how obsessed they were with getting rid of quirks. I’ve never mentioned anything about my mom’s relationship with them.”

His sunken eyes widened slightly, “Uhh, I just assumed. It’s hard to believe loving parents could make a switch as they did. But you’re right. I don’t know anything about your mother…” He bit his lip. Something told me that he knew more about her than he led on, but I didn’t have the time to interrogate him about it. “Anyhoo, I am glad to hear that Aizawa is feeling better. How are you two doing?”

I accidentally let out a small groan.

“That bad…”

“No. It’s not, I swear. I just get annoyed that that’s all anyone asks me about when they bring him up. Recently, it didn’t bother me too much because it was understandable. After all, he’s injured, and I’m taking care of him. But when it comes to work, everyone asks how our dynamic is because of our past.” I turned to him, “It’s like everyone assumes that we can’t be efficiently working together because we have a past.”

“Well, he was your first real friend, and when you left, you didn’t speak for about a decade. I can see why it’s a little concerning.”

“But we’re fine. We pushed it aside and just… ”

“Act like it didn’t happen until it gets awkward.”

“No…. maybe… I hate you sometimes. You know that?” Toshinori just laughed at me and pointed out that I still made my pouty disgruntled face that made me resemble a child. “All I ask is to bring up other things. I have other things going on. My life doesn’t revolve around Aizawa!”

“Okay, okay, I get that. I’ll make sure never to bring up you and Aizawa. But you do need to remember that half of the staff you hang around all were around you and him during your youth. So, it’s natural for them to be curious.”

“Stop being so wise. It’s weird. I’m used to quirk himbo you.” Toshinori just laughed at me again while I just huffed.

After both of the hero courses had their lessons and learned about their work studies, they all were left the rest of the day to review their offers and decide which pro to work under. Each of the students blew up my phone with messages and emails about wanting my help with their decisions. It was annoying the whole teacher lounge as my phone continued buzzing. I gave up and opened my phone and saw that my students were all waiting in their homeroom and the same with Class 1-B. I’ll make sure to spend at least an hour with both of the classes and make time later while I take my stuff back to my apartment to handle any more questions they have. I got up from my desk and decided to make my way to Class 1-A, not bothering to take any stuff with me. I wanted to make this more casual talk with the students rather than me counseling them.

I scrolled through the messages as I walked over:

Mina: MS. MONTOYA SOS (btw Denki also needs help)

Bakugo: I know I normally don’t message you, but I want your opinion on Best Jeanist.

Todoroki: Ms. Montoya… Should I work under my father or another pro?

Momo: Hello, Ms. Montoya. I have a list of high ranking female pros that I would like to review with you.

Iida: Hello, Mai. I don’t really need help deciding who I want to work under, but I would like to talk to you about my decision to work under Manual in Hosu.

Midoriya:Hi, Ms. Montoya! I have some questions about finding work-study opportunities since I didn’t have any offers.

Iida… Hosu… Why do I have a bad feeling about this? I walked in to see all my kids in the midst of having mental breakdowns. Like the first day I met them, they didn’t automatically notice me right away, so it gave me the advantage to sneak around them to the podium. They were really loud, so I had no other choice but to raise my voice… with Mic’s voice quirk.

“HELLO, CLASS!” Of course, I turned it down a bit to avoid blowing their eardrums up.

Nothing but a sea of eyes blinked at me. And then a roar of relief, cheers, and sighs erupted in the class. “Oh my god, Ms. Montoya, thank god you’re here! We need your help!”

I simply chuckled at their cuteness. “Okay, okay, calm down. All of you take a deep breath and put your shoulders back.” I demonstrated, and they all sat and followed my actions. “Now, exhale slowly and relax your shoulders.” I opened my eyes to see my kids all calmed down now. “Okay, so how are we going to do this?”

Mina raised her hand, “Can you just tell us about your experience with work-study? I feel like hearing someone talk about what they did might help us a lot. Plus, we love hearing you talk about your life.” She smiled brightly as her horns slightly wiggled… Her horns wiggle… adorable!

Wait, my experience with work-study… shit… that’s not really the nicest story… I’m sure I can just mention the nicer sides of it. I gulped slightly before beginning to speak. “Alright, well, I transferred to UA late, so I didn’t have any offers for work-study. But luckily, I made friends who recommended me to the pro they were working with, and they took me in.”

“So, do you all understand the protocol, my little chickadees?” Aizawa, Oboro, and I were all standing in front of the Pro Hero His Purple Highness and Midnight as he explained how he ran his agency. To say this is the oddest thing to happen to me since my move to Japan is more an understatement. I still had the first day I met Oboro undressing in front of the whole class to beat that. “You think you’ll be fine to catch up with us right, Montoya?”

I was a little nervous. It was all of our first work-study, so it wasn’t something I was behind on experience-wise. But it was my first time outside of the school, outside of my dorm, and I had to use my quirk. Use it to help people, so it was a little unnerving. I didn’t know if I was ready for it, but I had to rush myself to be whether I wanted to or not. I simply nodded in response.

“Good, I’m very excited to have another girl on my team to be paired with Midnight.” His Purple Highness gave me a warm smirk, “Nemuri has mentioned that you have a lot of potential, and I hope your time here shows it.”

Oboro gave me a small nudge and gave me a wink, “Look, you’re already the favorite.”

Aizawa simply gave me a small smile that didn’t go unnoticed by His Purple Highness, “Oi, Aizawa. You see that smile you have right there. You must give that smile to every civilian you meet, so they know they will be okay.” He then turned to me, “You too, Montoya. It is important to smile. Be friendly. You’re all too cute not to be smiling.” That comment made all three of us blush. Aizawa was practically a nervous peach. His smile faltered, and he looked mortified that the pro called him out. I couldn’t help but reach my hand out to him and hold his left hand lightly, giving him a tiny smile, which he returned.

I continued to tell the students about my first day of work-study at the Purple Revolution Agency. The more I talked, the more they relaxed, and their excitement bloomed. I didn’t go into full detail about all the other days of the work-study. I felt that the first day was the most important story to talk about. “And so, for me, it wasn’t my choice to work at the Purple Revolution. But my experience there did help me grow as a hero and as a person. I didn’t have a lot of experience with other people and my quirk, but I luckily got stuck with a good mentor to help me build a foundation. Heck, I never even smiled before working there. It really helped me a lot. So, I would make sure no matter who you work under, you take into consideration their teachings and thinking. You are meant to learn, after all. Also, make friends with whoever else is working at the agency with you. Think of it as an extended family.”

“So you really did know Aizawa since you were kids. No wonder you guys work so well together!” Asuyu pointed out.

“It’s hard to believe Aizawa showing any type of emotions…” Kaminari muttered.

“I think it’s cute how close you guys were! It’s almost like you guys had a crush on each other!” Mina said excitedly. Her eyes were practically heart-shaped.

“Did you guys listen to the point of my story?”

They all nodded, and Mina spoke out again, “Yes, but the way you talked about your friendship with Aizawa was also so interesting. So, am I right that you and Mr. Aizawa used to like each other? I’m assuming from your blushing that I am.” She smiled proudly. “‘Cause if so… Now I want to know more about what happened between you two?”

The rest of the class all looked intently at me, waiting for me to respond. I collected myself internally to avoid showing any embarrassment. “Nothing happened because we didn’t like each other.”

“Aw, why’d you have to break my heart, Ms. Montoya…” Mina pouted.

“I feel like she’s lying. I’ve noticed that she and Mr. Aizawa linger around each other, whether through looking at each other when the other isn’t noticing or simply by the way he always has her favorite coffee and breakfast ready for her when she comes to class. Or how she always makes sure to keep an extra bottle of eye drops for him.” Everyone, including myself, all stared at Aoyama. The class switched their gaze between him and me.

I was heated in embarrassment. Damn, kids do notice things you don’t. I went to look at the clock and then my phone. “Oh, look at the time. I need to get to talking to Class 1-B about their work-study as well. So I have to go. You guys can ask me more questions later. Love you all, good luck!” I practically ran out of the classroom… Despite the door being closed, I could still make out what they were talking about after I left.

“Aoyama is right. I mean, Ms. Montoya even took up the responsibility of taking care of him while he recovered. You can’t tell me that they’re just friends by that alone.” Asuyu mentioned.

“They would be so cute if they got together. It’s like the whole opposites attract thing.” Mina gushed.

“It’s kind of like, a love story where they could’ve been together when they were younger, but it never happened, but now that they’re older and more mature, they can finally be together. Ugh, those are my favorite kind!” Momo admitted. Gah, I hate kids…

“Maybe we shouldn’t be romanticizing our teacher and our counselor’s friendship. Friends can do all of that too.” Kirishima butted in. I always knew you were my favorite, Kirishima. Thank you.

I decided to compose myself and make my way over to Class 1-B. I already made them wait long enough. First, my friends, now my students are going to tease me about my old crush on Aizawa. Love that.

——————————————————————————————-

Tag List: 

@inumorph​@multifandoms916​@thatgirlwithcamera​@mel-sanch​

Okay so I stopped reading BNHA Vigilantes after chapter 72 or so, and no longer remember why, but now I’ve decided to catch up… but since I fear I’ve forgotten something essential, I’ll be re-reading it from the beginning. 

Anyway, once I catch up to where I left off, I’ll probably be posting about stuff you guys have long since read. Just a little heads up.

From the way All for One was talking about him…If Koichi went to U.A., would he have gotten in the top ten quickly like Hawks did?

Miruko in My Hero: Vigilantes

can’t wait for the next chapter

Knuckleduster: I’d like to offer you moral support, but I have questionable morals.

Knuckleduster: You seem familiar, have I punched you before?

Knuckleduster: I’ve come to a point in my life where I need a stronger word than fuck

Puppy Pandemonium

Word Count:3340

Humor, Comedy, Crack

Summary: Just as Koichi is going to turn in for the day, a little girl approaches him about her lost pup. He and Kazuho set out to find the missing pooch, but it turns out that the pup has a nose for trouble!

Hello, everyone! Here is my story for the @vigilantefilesbigbang​! I had a great time writing for my favorite dynamic and dorky duo! Also, please check out the artthat my partner made!

Koichi stretched his arms above his head and hummed contentedly as his vertebrae decompressed with a series of satisfying pops. He held the stretch for several moments, allowing his tense muscles to slowly unwind. Vigilante-ing was never easy, but some days were more intense than others; after catching a purse-snatcher, running down a burglar, and rescuing a runaway baby stroller from a near-encounter with a large truck, Koichi was ready to call it a day.

However, duty calls, and it doesn’t have consideration for your plans. 

“Mr. Crawler! Mr. Crawler!” 

Koichi turned around with a raised eyebrow to see a little girl running as fast as she could down the sidewalk. She clutched a stack of papers to her chest, the pages bouncing with each desperate swing of her legs. The tip of her right foot caught on the raised edge of the sidewalk, and Koichi narrowly managed to dive in and catch her before she suffered a rough landing. As he straightened her up, he smiled kindly and asked, “Hey, what’s up?” 

“Mr. Crawler!” she cried, immediately bursting into tears. Koichi recoiled a little; dealing with sobbing children had never exactly been a skill of his. The tears ran in thick globs down her cheeks as she threw back her head with a wail. “Muh-my puh-puppy has guh-gone muh-missing!” she heaved through the wracking sobs. With a shaking hand, she held out one of the flyers, and Koichi grabbed it to look at it. A picture of a happy Jack Russell terrier was plastered over the page, as big as it could be without making the family’s contact information a pain to read. 

“A lost puppy, huh?” Koichi hummed thoughtfully. His aching muscles throbbed in protest, but how could he refuse? Especially when the little girl was clearly so heartbroken over it. “Don’t worry!” he cried and placed his hand atop the girl’s head. She looked at him with watery eyes, biting down on her bottom lip to try and stifle her sobs. “I’ll find him for you. What’s his name?” 

“T-Taeko.” 

“Okay!” Koichi said with a nod. He stood up, folded up the flyer, and stuck it in his back pocket. “The Crawler is on the case! Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to get your pup home safe and sound!” he reassured the little girl with a big grin and a thumbs-up. Immensely relieved, the child let out a happy giggle and smiled back, looking pretty adorable despite the tears and snot all over her face. She turned around to scamper back to her mother, who took her hand so they could resume posting flyers. 

“Now,” Koichi said once the little girl was out of earshot. “This can be a difficult job… That means I need reinforcements!” 

Unfortunately for him, reinforcements just meant Pop☆Step. 

“Seriously? They were all busy?” Kazuho whined, looking up from the flyer with a dour pout. Koichi was squatting on the ground next to her, rubbing the top of his head while he too sulked. Somehow Soga and his entire gang were busy, leaving his puppy-hunting squad dreadfully understaffed. Kazuho rested a hand on her cocked hip as she frowned at him. “Naruhata isn’t that big, but there are still a million places this dog could be! You’re not seriously considering still looking for it, are you?” 

“ButPop, you didn’t see the little girl’s face,” he pouted back. “She was so sad…”

Kazuho rolled her eyes with an exaggerated “Ugh,” but she then looked back down at the flyer. 

“Oh, all right. It’s not like I have anything better to do today,” she shrugged, then handed the flyer back to Koichi. He folded it back up and put it in his pocket, and Kazuho continued, “So where do you want to start?” 

“I was thinking we start at their home address and work our way outwards.” 

It was as good a plan as any, and so they made the short commute to the quaint apartment complex where the girl and her family lived. They started by making rounds of the building, carefully inspecting the alleyways and dumpsters, which were filled with all sorts of things that a curious puppy would want to plunder in. They found a scraggly stray cat, a colony of roaches, and an alarmingly big sewer rat, but no Jack Russell terrier. 

As they were standing in front of the apartment complex wondering which direction to proceed in, Koichi caught movement out of the corners of his eyes. He turned, blinked, then pulled out the flyer. He looked at the picture, then back up, then back at the picture again. 

Surely it couldn’t be thateasy. 

But it was unmistakable—just down the street, with his leg hiked up so he could relieve himself on a fire hydrant, was Taeko the dog. 

“Pop! Pop! Objective sighted!” Koichi cried, flinging the flyer to the wind and zooming for the pup. Kazuho exclaimed in surprise behind him and instinctively caught the flyer, then ran after him with shouts for him to wait. Completely oblivious to the two vigilantes charging at him, Taeko shook himself after he was done whizzing and set off in a happy little prance, slipping through a hole in the nearby chain-link fence. Koichi slammed into it with a groan, wrapping his fingers around the thin metal, and prepared to climb after it. 

That’s when he realized that the puppy had blissfully wandered into a live construction yard. 

“What is this? An episode of Looney Tunes?” Kazuho cried when she reached the fence. 

“Look, slapstick comedy or not, we still have a mission!” Koichi asserted, then began to scale the chain-link fence. He straddled the top, cupping his hands to his mouth to bellow “Taeko!” across the construction yard. 

Taeko’s ears perked up, his head tilted to the side at the sound of his name. His tail wagged as he looked around. Either he was just dumb, or he was pretending not to see Koichi; either way, he went back on his merry way, disappearing around some stacks of iron rebar. 

“Ugh, this is ridiculous,” Koichi huffed, hiking his leg over the fence so he could begin climbing down. Kazuho sniffed, then used her Quirk to hop over the fence, landing daintily beneath Koichi. Koichi was trying to go fast so the dog didn’t get too far away, and of course this was a colossal mistake. His sole slipped on the metal, slipping right out from under him. Since he was still unbalanced on top of the fence, he just fell backward. Luckily, the hem of his jeans caught in the pointed fabric at the top. His back flopped against the fence, his face just level with Kazuho’s. 

“Good grief,” she huffed while he gave her an embarrassed grin. “You just couldn’t help it, could ya? Ya had to go with the ‘hanging-from-the-chain-link-fence’ trope.” 

“Look, Pop, I’m not in charge here,” Koichi pouted. He hoped that whatever cosmic being was currently in charge of their fate would lighten up a little, though. Everybody loved a comedy of errors, but did they have to be this on the nose? 

Koichi heaved a sigh, then curled his body up to try tugging the fabric loose. As his core burned with sharp pain, he made a mental note to start working on his abs. He immediately began to sweat from the strain, causing his already shaky fingers to fumble uselessly around the denim. He managed to grab a hold of it, and after a few swift tugs, a loud riiiiiiiip! filled the air. 

For a second, Koichi felt accomplished. Then he realized that he was suspended in the air with nothing to hold him up. 

He let out a shrill shriek as he went plummeting to the ground. He landed in a heap at Kazuho’s feet. She looked down at him in pity, her hands on her hips and her lips pursed. 

“Anything else? Would you like an anvil, too?” 

“Pop, please, don’t encourage the cruel writer of our misery,” Koichi groaned. Maybe he should just make himself comfortable here. If he channeled his inner fire hydrant, would Taeko be compelled to meander back to come take a whizz on him? It certainly seemed better than venturing into the construction yard and finding out whatever fresh hell awaited them. 

Then he recalled the little girl’s sobbing face, her cheeks shining with tears. Ugh, I have to get up, he convinced himself. He rolled over with a loud groan, then slowly pushed himself to his feet. He brushed the dust and dirt off his clothes, took a deep breath, and then looked at Kazuho. 

“Ready?” 

“Ready, but you’re going first,” she said with a gesture of her hand. He laughed, but part of him felt a little betrayed by the fact that she was willing to sacrifice him for the entertainment of this cruel cosmic deity hellbent on citing every comedy trope in the book for this mission. He clasped his hands together in prayer as he walked, looked up at the sky through the shell of the half-constructed building, and mouthed, “Please have mercy.” 

“Hey! There he is!” 

Koichi wildly looked around, scanning their hustling and bustling surroundings for their runaway pooch. A flash of brown-and-white brought him to the edge of the building—just in time to see Taeko sit down on a piece of rebar and begin vigorously licking his crotch. All fine and dandy, except that rebar was now being lifted by a crane to the top of the building. 

“Okay, I’m seriously starting to think that we’re trapped in a cartoon or something,” Koichi groaned. 

“Stop whining and get after him!” Kazuho ordered, shoving him forward before taking off in a sprint towards the rising pooch. Koichi rolled his eyes, then ran after her. They both stopped underneath the rebar, not quite sure what to do. If the crane stopped, the rebar could shudder, dislodging the puppy from his perch. The best thing to do was to try to get up to the top of the construction site and grab him off the rebar, Koichi decided. So he activated his Quirk and went zipping up the huge piece of metal spearing into the sky. 

It didn’t take long for Koichi to catch up and match speed with the rising rebar. Taeko tilted his head and wagged his tail at him. 

“Don’t worry, Taeko! I’m gonna get you! Just stay there!” Koichi cried back at him. The rebar slowly stopped rising, coming to rest beside the top floor of the construction. Taeko turned his head to look at the piece of scaffolding beside him. He then looked back at Koichi, who gave him the sternest warning glare that he could muster. Then, with a happy bark, the dog jumped off and went scampering across the scaffolding. 

“You have got to be kidding me!” Koichi shouted. His aggravation temporarily made him lose control of his Quirk. He yelped as he slipped down a few feet, instinctually wrapping all of his limbs around it like a koala. It was then that Kazuho came hopping up, landing on the scaffolding. He gave her a sheepish grin as she pouted at him. 

“Youtotally owe me dinner for this.” 

The two hurried across the scaffolding. It was the width of two people, but strewn with construction supplies and very bemused construction workers. They seemed oblivious to the Jack Russell moseying along and weaving between their legs and were thus very confused by the two teenagers running through their construction site. One fellow with a very big wrench and very big muscles stepped in front of them to stop them. Koichi frantically pointed over his shoulder, and when he turned to look, Koichi and Kazuho slipped around them to resume their frantic chase of the puppy. 

“We’re sorry! Please direct all complaints to the author!” Koichi shouted over his shoulder as he dashed away. 

As he went up, Taeko went down, blissfully riding a crane elevator to the bottom of the construction site. Koichi peered down and nearly had a heart attack when he saw the pup walking through a verifiable minefield—whirring saws, jerking jackhammers, slamming sledgehammers. Despite the sparks and bits of metal and rock raining down around him, the dog pressed on and emerged from the carnage without a scratch. 

“We’re not going to get through there unscathed, are we, Pop?” Koichi asked, then swallowed thickly. She patted him on the shoulder. 

“I will. You won’t.” And she leaped away, using her Quirk to give her a safe descent to the edge of the work field. Koichi sighed, then did the sign of the cross over his chest. Here goes nothing. 

“Okay, so, a missing toenail, metal in my arm, and sawdust lung really aren’t that bad compared to what could have happened,” he wheezed to Kazuho as he dragged himself across the ground, flopping in front of her. She had her fists pushed into her hips as she leaned down over him, her lips pursed in faux pity. 

“You just haaaaaad to take a job right as we were done for the day,” she tutted. Koichi just groaned as she grabbed him by the hood of his jacket to haul him to his feet. “Come on, the puppy went into the fish market.” She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. Koichi peered around her, and his heart swelled with so much relief that it almost burst when he realized that the fencing on that side hadn’t been completed yet. It immediately renewed his vigor, so he set off in a sprint with a cheerful, “Come on, Pop!” She rolled her eyes, then ran after him into the fish market. 

The fish market was a maze of stalls, customers, and boxes full of dead fish chilling on ice. They walked up to the closest vendor, a petite old woman hacking off fish heads with a cleaver nearly as big as her. The cleaver made thick chopping sounds as it whacked into the wooden box she was using as a cutting board. 

“Excuse me—” Chop!“Ma’am—”Chop! “We’re looking for—” Chop! “a puppy!” Chop!“Have you—” Chop!“seen one?” 

The old woman finally stopped whacking at the fish carcasses to look at him with droopy eyes. Wordlessly, she pointed the business end of the cleaver across the street. Koichi and Kazuho turned around to see another fish stall; the boxes were empty, and the plastic draping the entrance of the small shack behind it was flapping in the fishy wind. 

“Thank you!” the two teenagers chirped simultaneously. They immediately sprang for the shack, oblivious to the old woman humming thoughtfully behind them. 

“Taeko?!” Koichi exclaimed breathlessly as he charged into the shack. The strips of plastic draping clung to his shoulders as he stood there, panting heavily. The little puppy was sitting in the middle of the room with his wagging tail repeatedly thumping against the dirty wooden floor, and he let out a happy bark. Koichi nearly fainted with relief. He opened his mouth to call him over, but the words died in his throat as someone gruffly cleared their throat. 

Koichi slowly trailed his gaze upwards. Behind Taeko sat a group of men at a card table. On the table were stacks of yen bills and a plastic-wrapped block of white powder. 

You have got to be joking, Koichi thought, casting a judgmental look at the ceiling. There was a hole in the wood, giving him a perfect patch of clear blue sky to shake his fist angrily at. I’m a good noodle! Do I really deserve this?!

The drug dealers certainly didn’t care that Koichi was a good noodle, either. 

Koichi tackled Kazuho to the ground as soon as they moved. The small shack rang with gunshots and scraping chairs and Taeko’s confused barks. Koichi and Kazuho used their Quirks to jump around the small building, rocketing around like the ricocheting bullets to subdue the criminals one by one. Taeko just remained where he was sitting the entire time despite the bodies falling to the ground around him, barking in encouragement. 

Koichi landed in front of the final thug and gave him a swift chop to the solar plexus. The man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, but despite the fact that he was clearly unconscious, he remained standing. Koichi poked him in the middle of his chest, and then the man slowly tipped backward. He landed flat on his back with a tremendous thonk! Taeko hopped up on the man’s chest, growling into his face before sitting on his pecs and giving a doggy smile to Koichi. 

“Aw, don’t give me those puppy-dog eyes,” Koichi sighed. Taeko whined and flattened his ears to his head as Kocihi waggled a stern finger at him. “Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you’ve put us through?” 

“Don’t scold him, Koichi,” Kazuho said. She scooped Taeko up into her arms, and the puppy immediately responded by enthusiastically covering her face in affectionate licks. As she tried to avoid his eager tongue, Kazuho giggled, “He’s so cute! He’s just a curious little boy who wanted to have an adventure, huh?” 

“Come on! You’ve been griping this whole time!” Koichi cried. He slammed his hands to either side of his head, dangerously close to pulling his black hairs out of his head. However, he decided that baldness was not the reward he desired for this mission; with a heavy sigh, he just deflated,  back hunched over to let his shoulders droop and arms dangling in front of him. “Whatever… Let’s just go return the dog so we can finallygo home.” 

“Taeko!” the little girl exclaimed with delight as soon as she opened the door to her apartment. Taeko sprang from Kazuho’s arms and straight into his owner’s. If he had been vigorous in showing Kazuho his affection, he was downright manic with the little girl, coating every inch of her face that he could with slobber. The little girl’s giggles were high-pitched and screechy with unbridled happiness, but it was a sound that filled Koichi’s heart to the brim with joy. 

“Thank you so much!” the little girl smiled at him when the puppy had finally settled down. He was nearly limp in her arms, eyes drooping as he struggled to fight off impending sleep. It was no wonder that he was exhausted, after the chase he’d led the two vigilantes on. “Please wait here! We’ll get your reward!” 

“Oh, that’s not necessary!” Koichi interjected quickly as the mother moved to pull her wallet out of her purse. “I’ve gotten all the reward I need with your smile,” he told the little girl. She shyly hugged the puppy, who cuddled further into her chest. “Just keep a closer eye on him from now on, okay?” he told her while reaching out to ruffle her hair. “That puppy has had an adventure of a lifetime today!” 

“Thanks again!” the little girl trilled as they took their leave, waving at them from her doorstep. Koichi and Kazuho walked down the steps to the sidewalk, where they both heaved simultaneous sighs and allowed the exhaustion to finally show. As both of them slumped down into a sitting position on the stoop, they looked at one another through the corners of their eyes. 

“So… You mentioned something about dinner.” 

“I’mstarving,” Kazuho agreed. She tilted her head to the side, then smiled slightly. “I know I said I would make you pay, but… that turned out to be kinda fun. I guess I’ll let you off the hook this time.” 

“Wow, thanks,” Koichi laughed sarcastically. Kazuho elbowed him in his arm, making him laugh again. Both of their bellies rumbled with the desire for food, but they both lingered on the curb for a moment. They tilted back their heads to look at the sky, watching it flood gold with the setting sun. 

Sure, sometimes vigilante-ing was hard… but it was alwaysworth it.