Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 103: Relationships

Izuku let out a sound halfway between a sigh of relief and a huff of frustration, "Yeah, I did lie, but uh, can we talk about this later? I kinda actually need your help right now."

Denki's grin got even wider, "I was right!"

Izuku rolled his eyes, but for some reason couldn't keep himself from smiling softly, "Yeah, you were. Now do you know where prep room three is? I'm supposed to be meeting Eraserhead there."

Denki started walking, "I was right."

Izuku just laughed and shook his head, "You're not gonna shut up about this for weeks, are you?"

"Nope!" Denki popped the p at the end as he started walking backwards. "You are, like, totally a badass vigilante dude! You beat Endeavor!"

"Not really." Izuku said shyly. "I had the help of a lot of other heroes for that one and..."

"But I bet it was your strategy that helped them win!" Denki interrupted. "Am I wrong?"

Izuku stuttered, "W-well, no, but..."

"Like I said," Denki smiled. "Total badass. So why are you here? And why do you need my help?"

Izuku took a deep breath, "I'll explain in a minute when we meet Eraser, but I...um, I totally understand if you hate me after this."

Denki cocked an eyebrow, "And why would I ever hate you?"

Izuku looked at him seriously as they arrived at the prep room, "Because I'm going to ask you to kill someone."

Shouta wasn't quite sure what he expected to see when Viridian arrived, but his problem child dragging a confused and vaguely terrified-looking Kaminari behind him like a lost duckling was not on the list. He sighed heavily, "Viridian, why did you kidnap one of my students?"

"Because he has more control than a standard defibrillator." Viridian said, as if that would explain everything. "Where's Nedzu?"

The rat in question popped out of Shouta's scarf with a grin, "So you're the famous Viridian. I must say, I am excited to finally meet you. Anyone with the courage to threaten the number one hero is worth knowing in my book!"

Kaminari turned to Viridian in shock, "You threatened All Might?!"

"Only a little!" Viridian insisted. "I needed to make sure One for All was safe and that he wasn't working with All for One before he just gave it to you!"

Shouta just blinked, unsurprised. He would pay good money to somehow watch a recording of that interaction, and he really wanted to be proud of the kid, but everything about this entire situation screamed that the kid was being reckless and putting himself in danger again, so he shouldn't do anything to encourage that no matter how tempting it was, "Problem child. You said over the phone that you knew who Queen Bee's host was. Explain."

"Oh!" Viridian turned to him. "It's the invisible girl!"

Shouta froze. Of course it was. After the fiasco with the waitress, All for One would have known that Viridian and the heroes would be suspicious of any girl with an eyepatch. Possessing a literally invisible hero student would not only allow Queen Bee to remain hidden, but would allow her to funnel inside information about UA to the villain factory with very few problems. No wonder the villains had known that All Might was supposed to be on the USJ trip. Hagakure had told them.

He groaned, "And how do you know this? You know that we can't afford to be wrong."

Viridian nodded seriously, "First off, logic, but I know you already figured that out. Second, I was watching the sports festival and saw multiple bees disappear right above her uniform."

"Of course you did." Shouta muttered and glanced over at Nedzu, who looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "Alright. Let's do this, I guess."

"Um...I'm a little lost." Kaminari piped up. "Who's Queen Bee? And what do they have to do with Hagakure?"

Shouta facepalmed as Viridian blushed, "Oh, uh, well, um..."

"Queen Bee is an animal with a quirk." Nedzu explained. "She is an insect and a villain. However, to survive, she needs to possess a human host. In this case, poor Hagakure."

"Her invisibility helped mask the obvious signs of possession and the villains have been using her as a spy. Most likely since before UA even started." Shouta added. "Because, obviously, making a teenage girl into a literal hive mind is a wonderful idea."

Viridian wrung his hands nervously, "The biggest thing is that Queen Bee is a parasite, right? But she can't survive without a host, which means that if the host dies, she does."

"Exactly right!" Nedzu praised. "We have, of course, managed to save hosts in the past by temporarily stopping their hearts to force the queen to leave, and then reviving them, usually through electronic means like young Viridian here undoubtedly had in mind when asking for your assistance. All other methods have, regrettably, ended in failure."

Kaminari let out a gigantic sigh of relief, "Oh, that's what you meant! Seriously, dude! You almost stopped my heart! Couldn't you think of a better way to phrase that than I need you to kill someone?!"

"Problem Child..." Shouta scolded. "Really?"

"Um..." Viridian looked between the two of them and winced, "S-sorry?"

"But now that we know who she's in, how do we get close enough to get her out?" Shouta asked. "You know the risks of showing our hand prematurely."

To his surprise, Viridian actually smiled, "That's where Denki comes in!"

Shouta almost did a double take. He'd known that Viridian had taught Kaminari how to fight, but to be on a first name basis with him, their relationship must be deeper than he'd initially assumed. He'd have to look into Kaminari's friends and family, especially because if Viridian was comfortable using Kaminari's first name, he was most likely comfortable using Viridian's.

He forced his attention back to the moment as the kids started talking again.

"Wait." Kaminari's eyes narrowed. "I thought I was just here to be the defibrillator."

"That too, but um..." Viridian bit his lip, "you were involved with that cheerleader outfit prank, right Denki?"

Kaminari turned bright red and Shouta turned to glare at him, "Oh? And what prank was this? I've been too busy preparing for a problem child of a vigilante to sit in the booth and watch everything, so go ahead. Enlighten me, Kaminari."

"Uh..." Kaminari smiled sheepishly. "Well, Mineta might have told the girls that you wanted them to wear the cheerleading outfits during the break games? And I might have fallen for it and encouraged it..."

Shouta groaned, "Kaminari..."

"But it's ok!" Viridian cut him off. "Don't get him in trouble, it gives him the perfect excuse to get her alone!"

Shouta raised an eyebrow, "And how is that?"

"Well..." Viridian smiled and turned to Kaminari. "You know how we talked about using flirting as a weapon?"