Bullet Of Loyalty

Before that Day

“Ho, snap, that was quite the explosion ya did!” laughed Nozomi when a grumpy Izuku told her about his and Shouto's lecture with the Heroes at the sludge villain scene.

“I can't believe they even call themselves Heroes when they're not doing their roles as saviors!” he grumbled, stuffing another piece of Napoleon cake in his mouth.

Nozomi sweatdropped. “D-Deku… *uspoykoysya..”

“Chill, brat,” Tenko patted his head, his pinky finger raised like a dainty Englishman holding a teacup. Shouto rolled his eyes fondly and kissed Izuku's cheek, causing the freckled broccoli boy to freeze as red burst on his face like a bloom of dinoflagellates in a red tide.

“Jeez, you're that dense?” frowned Nozomi. “Dude, Shou-kun likes you too, hurry and fess up before it kills you!”

“Like you did to Tokoyami? That was very cute.” snickered Shinsou from his corner, where he was solving a puzzle with Eri. The aforementioned, who was reading a book on an armchair, squawked indignantly.

“Zakroy lovushku!” cried Nozomi, blushing. Izuku laughed at her beet-red face.

“Where's Touya-san, kero?” asked Tsuyu, changing the subject.

Tenko smirked. “He's got a hot date with Hawks this evening.”

“Wait, he's dating Hawks? The Number Three Hero himself?” Shouto was incredulous.

“Not exactly,” Nozomi quipped. “Hawks needed his help with something to do with the Hero Commission.” She added with a growl: “Spoiler alert, they're being En-dead-hoes in Hawks' life, and Touya-san's trying to see how he can fix that.”

(Ever since they agreed to add Endeavor to their kill list, they started calling him ‘En-dead-hoe’.)

“What're they doing exactly?” Izuku demanded.

“Basically what En-dead-hoe does to Shouto-kun, but worse,” Toga answered darkly. “Merciless Quirk exercise, punishments if he violates an order. The last time he was punished they…” she bit her lip and glared daggers out the window. Then she whispered it in his ear.

“THEY WHAT?!” He shot up, eyes wide in horror.

Nozomi nodded. “He told us everything. The Commission is piling more loads of govno on his shoulders than he already has, it's Hawks do this, Hawks be there, Hawks stop that, Hawks see here, they're blackmailing him with his career ending to do so-so against his will, and they're even touching him with their filthy hands!”

Toga twiddled a knife between her fingers. “I just can't wait to stab their sissy faces and drink the beautiful blood that's flowing through their veins,” she grinned.

“Until we can file some report against them, which is about the only absolute solution to this crisis, Touya-san is gonna help Hawks in coping with the trauma, kero.”

“Well, he can fix that up with a little bit of the L-word.” smirked Tenko.

“It's official,” Tokoyami agreed, a small smile creasing on his beak. “We support their relationship.”

“On the other hand,” Shinsou interrupted before Izuku could comment on Touya being a Florence Nightingale effect victim, “Dad offered to recommend us to Yuuei.”

“That's generous of our favorite Hero.” teased Toga. “Which classes are we in?”

“You, Mitsuga and I are in Class 1-C. Mitsuga's precious boyfriend and those two stupid lovebirds,” he referred to Tokoyami, Shouto and Izuku, “are in Class 1-A along with Uraraka and Tsuyu.”

“Why isn't Nozomi in 1-A with us?” asked Shouto. “Isn't her Quirk rather overpowered?”

“Y'all are strong,” Nozomi waved a dismissive hand. “Fumi is strong too. I trust you all, you'll be fine. And I don't want to make enemies of our future classmates because of my Quirk.”

“If we're gonna enter Yuuei, shouldn't we be training?” suggested Izuku. “I know we aren't taking the entrance exam because we are getting in via recommendations, but still…”

“Great idea,” said Shouto.

“I'll talk to my grandpa and uncle about training regimens,” offered Nozomi. “We have a gym in our place.”

“And you can try training our physical abilities by cleaning up Dagobah beach!” piped up an excited Eri. When she realized they were staring at her, she smiled sheepishly.

“Absolutely! That is genius, Eri!”
__________________

Cleaning the heaps of trash in Dagobah beach was the best way to train, they found.

The heavy work included moving heavy loads and used items like broken frigidaires, bummed cars, faulty televisions, worn out furniture, things like those. Everyone participated; it was tough work, but it was also fun and environment-friendly.

Sometimes, Tenko would accidentally crumble some huge hulk of trash with his Quirk, which had everyone laughing. Sometimes Uraraka unintentionally float heavy destroyed items, Toga would stab at cracked television screens and puncture flat tires to shreds when she got the chance, or someone would accidentally get themselves tangled up in old wires or stuck in a pile of trash, or locked up in some rundown vehicle that sent the others trying to dig or get them out.

During breaks, the girls would play on the sand and in the water with Eri and the boys would play hide-and-seek amongst the rubble. But there were also times when they had some trash item that seemed useful despite its battered state, so they'd deliver it to a fellow Vigilante of theirs: Sako Atsuhiro. His Vigilante name is Mr. Compress. Quirk: Compress. Allows Atsuhiro to shrink down anything inside a spherical area into a small marble without actually damaging it. He has to touch the target with his hand to shrink it into a marble-like object. It is effective on anything that is found within a specific range of space around the intended target, and the item's weight is reduced so it's easy to carry.

Training under Nozomi's uncle Alexei Lebedev was fun too, as fun as it was Spartan. Alexei was Quirkless, like Izuku, but that led him to become the determined coach to help people with Quirks he is today. He sets up obstacles that were on a real-life dangerous level for them to conquer with their Quirks and monitored their conditions, strategies and habits so he can point out some flaws and give tips on how to fix them.

Spartan as he was, Alexei was merciful. If someone was exhausted to the point of fainting, he would give them a timeout to rest until they recovered. They only had breaks on weekends, when he let them rest or cool down and relax. During these breaks, they would eat snacks, swim in the pool, go to the mall, or go ice skating in the Lebedev's private rink.

Of all the activities they could do during breaks, Nozomi's favorites were playing her instruments and skating. She could play her guitar with fluidity and precision so that music poured from where her fingers plucked a string or pressed a chord, and she can skate like a professional figure skater! Everytime she steps on the ice, she was lost in the land of Salchows and triple axels and lutzes and loops and bends and stretches and twists. Why, she even had her own personal routines and taught her friends!

When she played her guitar, she was often joined by her bandmates. Yes, she had a band, and they were all girls, and these rock-'n'-roll angels called their band King.  Shouto, Izuku, Tenko, Touya, Shinsou, Toga, Tokoyami & Eri would listen to them sing a handful of their songs. And they were awesome.

Sometimes, they would have their audience sing too. Their favorite singers were Touya, because his voice is charming as ****; Shinsou, because his voice was smooth and built from some mysterious energy and enthusiasm he rarely showed; Shouto, because his voice was soothing to hear; Izuku, because his voice was adorable; and Tenko… well, because Tenko's voice was beautiful, clear and young, unlike his usual low, bored, raspy voice.

By the end of their training, on the eve of February 26, they felt ready and accomplished and stronger than before.