Chapter Text
Izuku had just finished writing the lesson plans on the whiteboard as the last students hurriedly slipped into the classroom. Technically, the tardy bell had rung a few minutes prior, but it was such a beautiful summer day out, and only the second week of the new semester, so he figured he’d let it slide. Just this once.
Izuku pointedly ignored the little Aizawa-like voice in his head telling him to be stricter and instead turned to greet his students with a bright smile.
“Good morning, class! I’m glad to see everyone here this morning. Now, as you can see from the board, today’s lesson is going to cover the history and basics of Hero Public Relations! Our guest speakers should be here any minute now-”
As if on cue, the door immediately burst open.
Loud chatter erupted from the class as Ashido and Mt. Lady strode into the room, waving and smiling at the students and their teacher.
“Hey Midoriya!” Ashido said brightly, stopping to first bump Izuku, “Long time no see, huh?”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry! It’s just been so busy this semester between starting hero work again and figuring out my new teaching schedule; I’ve been swamped!”
The pink hero laughed as she pulled him into a rough, one-armed hug.
“Oh, come on Mido, don’t you worry about that one bit! We’re all just happy to have you back in the field.”
Her eyes twinkled as she lowered her voice.
“Especially Bakugo!”
Izuku flushed as he stammered out a reply.
“H-happy to hear that! I’m glad to be back too; as much as I love teaching I- I have missed it,” he admitted, wistfully glancing at the suit briefcase under his desk, “I’m just so happy to have the opportunity to do both now!”
“We’re all happy for you too dude-”
The sound of his students' boisterous chatter pulled him from their conversation.
“Hey, hey! Quiet down everyone!” Izuku called out over the noise. “I know meeting pros like this is super exciting, but Pinky and Mt. Lady are on a tight schedule, and we need to be respectful of their time!”
“Oh hush, they’re fineeee,” Mt. Lady said, clearly reveling in the attention.
“Yeah, Midoriya!” Ashido chimed in, “We’ve got plenty of time, don’t you worry!”
Despite their insistence, the class was polite enough to turn down the volume, simmering to low murmurs and whispers as the two women made their way to the podium.
Izuku absolutely beamed with pride as he stepped off to the side of the room.
Oh, if only Aizawa were here to see them behave so well for me!
At the head of the classroom, Ashido cleared her throat dramatically before starting.
“All righty kiddos, listen up! We’re about to give you a crash course in Hero PR!”
Mt. Lady nodded enthusiastically before drawing and labeling four big boxes on the board.
“Yeah! For starters, as you all know, Hero PR includes media relations, hero rankings, public branding, merch, and more! So, which category would you kids like to cover first?”
Every student answered at once, waving their hands in the air frantically.
“How about … you there!” Ashido called out over the noise, pointing at a timid-looking boy with dark hair.
The room quieted as everyone awaited his answer.
“Um! I’d like to cover h-hero merch first, if that’s okay!”
“Hero merch it is then!” she exclaimed. “Before we start though, I want all of you to shout out your favorite example of hero merch for Mt. Lady to write up on the board, okay? Ready? Go!”
Once again, the class exploded with noise, each student yelling at the top of their lungs to be heard.
“The All Might Prime Movie Special!”
“Wash’s Laundry-Wash Liquid!”
“The Limited-Edition Silver Age Anniversary All Might Figurine!”
“Super Smash Pros Ultimate!”
“Best Jeanist Blue Jeans!”
Wow, such good taste! Izuku thought, Well, maybe not the laundry detergent, but who am I to judge?
“That’s a lot of good answers!” Ashido said, peering out across the classroom. As her eyes caught on Izuku, she squealed happily, “Ooo ooo okay, now it’s our turn! Let’s start with Midorya! What’s your favorite piece of hero merch?”
“Oh! Um, let me see-” Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought. After all, he had a lot of merch. Every piece was important to him; it felt almost wrong to have to pick just one! He quickly filed through his mental catalog of all the merch he owned. Between All Might, Katsuki, and all of his other classmates’ merch, it was so hard to pick a favorite! Eventually, he settled on one of his items that held a special place in his heart.
“Such a hard question! But I think I’d have to pick my All Might Non-No T-shirt!”
Mt. Lady quickly scribbled ‘All Might Non-No T-shirt’ down as Ashido clapped.
“Ooo, good pick! My favorite is definitely Red Riot’s Manly Calendar; it’s so cool!”
Ashido and Kirishima had started dating shortly after graduation and continued to be one of the most notable Pro-Hero power couples to date. Seeing how enthusiastically the two supported and cared for each other always put a smile on Izuku's face.
Awww, he thought, that’s so sweet-
“Well,” Mt. Lady announced dramatically, pointing the dry erase marker at herself, “My favorite is ‘My Hero : A Pro-Hero Dating Simulator’, a newly released game starring yours truly along with the other Top 15 heroes!”
Wait, what?
The students broke out into a chorus of whistles and cheers as Ashido cackled.
“Oh, now that’s a good one! Oh my gosh, you should’ve seen Red Riot’s face when he got roped into that; he was so embarrassed! And don’t even get me started on-”
Everything faded into the background as Izuku short-circuited.
Top 15? Top 15- that means-
He gulped.
Kacchan.
✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎ ✴︎
Despite his best efforts, for the rest of the day and a good portion of the evening, Izuku’s mind kept drifting back to the hero dating sim. After his third time zoning out grading tests, he plopped his head onto his desk with a groan.
God, I’m ridiculous! Getting this worked up over some- some silly otome game like a middle school fangirl!
Pushing the stack of test papers to the side, Izuku booted up his desktop computer and clicked the Steam icon on his home screen. With slow, hesitant taps on his keyboard, he typed ‘My Hero’ into the search bar and pressed enter. Within seconds, his screen showed the title card for the sim, complete with anime versions of all 15 of the top-ranked heroes staring back at him, surrounded by floating hearts. Including a certain explosive blonde.
My Hero <3 : A Pro-Hero Dating Simulator
Izuku’s cheeks burned as he clicked on the trailer.
“15 Pro Heroes … 15 interviews … and 15 possible dates.”
Mt. Lady’s voice spilled from his computer, narrating in a smooth, sultry tone as scenes of each hero flashed quickly on the screen.
“Welcome to My Hero : A Pro-Hero Dating Simulator where you play as a newbie journalist intern determined to get your big break by interviewing heroes at the top of the charts. Throughout the process, you’ll find out a lot more about them than you bargained for as you meet, flirt, and fall in love with your favorite members of the Top 15. But when all the interviews are over, only one question remains …”
A large pink question mark appeared over a blank silhouette.
“Who will you choose to be … your hero?”
The video ended, taking him back to the game’s home page.
“Playing as an interviewer, huh? That's pretty creative actually,” Izuku muttered to himself as he clicked through the featured screencaps.
To his disappointment, the heroes shown in that section were exclusively from the Top 5.
Makes sense I guess, they’re probably the most popular.
Izuku quickly flipped through various scenes of Lemillion, Shoto, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and Best Jeanist in a large range of settings, from semi-professional office interviews to flustered candlelit dinners, before he got to the minigame section.
Some of them seemed to feature photography and-
He gasped in delight.
“Notetaking!”
That’s a good enough excuse to buy the game, right? Izuku reasoned with himself as he clicked the 'Add To Cart' button.
Yeah, he wanted the game for the notetaking mechanics! Totally not because he wanted to play a sim where he could pretend to date his childhood-friend-turned-rival-turned-part-time-hero-partner who he’d been secretly in love with for years.
Ha ha.
Totally not.
Besides, no one would ever find out. He was the only person who ever used his own personal computer, so as long as he didn’t let anything slip in front of Katsuki, he’d be perfectly fine!
Mumbling a laundry list of other justifications under his breath, Izuku navigated to the shopping cart tab, where he quickly input his payment details for purchase.
After a few tense minutes of waiting, the game finished downloading and automatically opened.
As the home screen materialized, loud, upbeat pop music blasted into the air. Wincing, Izuku quickly rummaged around for his headphones and connected them. Even though he lived alone, the thought of playing a game like that out loud was absolutely mortifying.
When he finished adjusting the volume and getting comfortable in his chair, Izuku took a deep, shaky breath and pressed the start button.
Here goes nothing!
He was immediately taken to a character creation page titled ‘Build That Journalist!’
───────────────────────────────
|
Name : Deku |
Eye Color : <Green> |
Body Type: <Muscular> |
|
Gender : <Man> |
Hair Color : <Green> |
Face Shape : <22> |
|
Skin Tone : <Pale> |
Hair Style : <18> |
Face Markings : <3> | <15> |
───────────────────────────────
Within minutes, Izuku finished his avatar, complete with freckles and his facial scar.
The next page showed a few blurbs about the player's backstory, goals, and stats, which he quickly skimmed before jumping into the gameplay.
The game opened to an anime rendition of that year's Hero Billboard Chart ceremony. Each hero was introduced individually with a full-body portrait, a small catchphrase, and a little text blurb at the bottom of the screen, starting from the #1 spot down.
“Power-”
“Be strong-”
“What’s u-”
“Washa-”
“UNBREA-”
With an iron grip on his controller, Izuku shamelessly spammed the skip button until-
“Ha! Choke on my smoke, losers!”
On screen, Dynamight grinned wildly, his quirk exploding from one hand as he yelled into the microphone.
Izuku smiled softly.
There he is.
When he clicked the next button, the ceremony ended, and Izuku’s next objective was to travel through a maze of crowds and halls to reach the backstage room where the Top 15 heroes had retired for the night.
After pressing 'X' to knock, Lemillion cracked open the door.
“Oh! Hey there sport, are you lost?”
───────────────────────────────
-> Nah.
-> Not anymore big boy~
-➤ [ Nope! I’m with Juko News, here to get the scoop on the Top 15! ]
───────────────────────────────
“Oooh a journalist! Well then, come right in! I’m sure some of us heroes would be happy to sit down and chat for a bit. So, tell me, who do you want to talk to first?”
At that, Lemillion opened the door fully, revealing the other 14 heroes lounging around in the break room. Each had a floating label over their heads, indicating the level of difficulty their route would take.
Dynamight was, of course, ranked among the hardest.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Izuku selected him with a grin.
The scene changed then, zeroing in solely on a scowling Dynamight, who was sprawled out on a plush armchair with one foot propped up on a nearby table. Whoever the artists were paid particular attention to rendering his … well, his everything.
Izuku gulped as heat rose to his cheeks.
“Who the hell are you?”
───────────────────────────────
-> Wouldn’t you like to know?
-> The man of your dreams, baby.
-➤ [ I’m Deku, a journalist from Juko News here to get the scoop on the Top 15! ]
───────────────────────────────
“A journalist? Ha! Get lost, dweeb; I have better things to do than yap with a fuckin’ media extra tonight.”
Really, this isn’t all that different from normal Kacchan! Izuku mused, smiling at the familiar nickname.
───────────────────────────────
-> Well excuse me for doing my job, asshole!
-> I’m sure you do, Mr. Dynamight sir, and I’m very sorry, but this is my job! Please, just one interview?
-➤ [ And I also have better things to be doing, but unfortunately this is my job, so would you please just suck it up and cooperate so we can both get on with our very busy evenings? ]
───────────────────────────────
At that, Dynamight’s expression shifted into something curious and predatory. A dark laugh reverberated through Izuku’s headphones.
He shivered in his seat.
“Sassy little thing, aren’tcha? All right then, fine. I’ll do your stupid interview. But not tonight. Like I said, I’m a busy man; I’ve got shit to do. So nerd, how about you stop by my agency in the mornin’, we can have a nice little talk in my office, yeah?"
───────────────────────────────
-> Omg, for real!?
-> Yeah … I’m sure we’ll have a great ‘talk’.
-➤ [ Mhmm. Thank you for your cooperation, Hero Dynamight! I’ll see you tomorrow. ]
───────────────────────────────
The next scene started the following morning at the reception desk of Dynamight’s hero agency. A very tired-looking woman sat behind the desk, staring absently at her computer.
───────────────────────────────
-> Tell Dynamight that Deku is here for him.
-> Um, hello there!
-➤ [ Excuse me! I have an appointment this morning with Hero Dynamight. ]
───────────────────────────────
“Dynamight doesn’t do ‘appointments’ hon. Are you sure you’re looking for the right guy?”
───────────────────────────────
-> Well he does appointments with me, apparently.
-> M-maybe not! I guess I’ll just go then…
-➤ [ Pretty sure! Blond hair, spiky, little bit of an attitude problem, ring any bells? ]
───────────────────────────────
Izuku snorted.
Still pretty accurate!
“The fuck did you say about me?”
Suddenly, Dynamight appeared in frame, crossing his arms and glaring.
───────────────────────────────
-> Nothing important, don’t worry about it!
-> O-oh! Hey there Dynamight!
-➤ [ That you’re blond and spiky? ]
───────────────────────────────
Dynamight sneered.
“All right you little shit, come with me.”
The screen switched to an office scene. Dynamight leaned back in his desk chair, propping his elbows on the chair’s arms and a single foot on the seat’s edge.
“Don’t you go getting a big head because I’m letting you interview me, ya hear? I’m only doin’ this because my PR rep said I needed more ‘positive media interactions’ and all that crap. So c’mon, let’s get this over with already. Whaddya wanna know?”
A little notebook popped up in the corner of the screen with a blurb reminding the player to take notes for the news article.
Oh right! I am supposed to be a journalist after all.
───────────────────────────────
-> Aww, so you’ve gotta play nice for me?
-> Damn, you’re whipped.
-➤ [ Well, regardless of the reason, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to interview you! ]
───────────────────────────────
Dynamight scowled.
“Cut the sappy junk and get to the questions, dweeb. I don’t have all day.”
───────────────────────────────
-> Alright, first question : What can that mouth do?
-> Alright, first question : Why are you such a dick?
-➤ [ Alright, first question : What made you decide to become a hero? ]
───────────────────────────────
“I like saving people, I like winning, and heroes do both. Simple as that.”
“That’s definitely Kacchan,” Izuku murmured as he typed into the ‘notebook’, “Hm, I wonder if they got his input for some of these lines?”
He also wondered what Dynamight’s answers would be for the other questions but didn’t dare to voice that out loud.
Maybe in another playthrough…
───────────────────────────────
-> Next question : Who’s your least favorite hero?
-> Next question : Who was your favorite teacher at UA?
-➤ [ Next question: Who’s your favorite hero? ]
───────────────────────────────
“All Might, duh.”
───────────────────────────────
-> What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?
-> Favorite color?
-➤ [ Favorite food? ]
───────────────────────────────
“Anything spicy.”
───────────────────────────────
-> What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?
-➤ [ Favorite color? ]
───────────────────────────────
“Black. Look, are you gonna keep going with these middle-school-ass questions or actually ask me something interesting? Aren’tcha supposed to be a hard-hitting journalist or whatever?”
Oh … oh I see where this is going.
───────────────────────────────
-> What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?
-➤ [ Hard hitting? Oh, I can hit hard all right. ]
───────────────────────────────
Dynamight smirked.
“Oh yeah? Try me nerd.”
Dynamight’s voice came out in a low, teasing drawl. He sounded … good. Hot. Like, really hot.
Izuku was starting to feel very warm.
───────────────────────────────
-➤ [ What’s a guilty pleasure of yours, Dynamight? ]
───────────────────────────────
Dynamight leaned forward in his seat, resting his folded arms on his desk with a shit-eating grin.
“Aww that’s real cute, but I don’t give info like that out for free, y’know.”
───────────────────────────────
-➤ [ Name your price. ]
───────────────────────────────
“Alright. You really want it so bad? Beg for it.”
Izuku’s breath hitched. The command curled down his spine, leaving him instantly hot and needy. He could feel himself start to get hard in his pajama shorts.
───────────────────────────────
-➤ [ E-excuse me? ]
───────────────────────────────
“Are you fuckin’ deaf? You heard me. Beg.”
───────────────────────────────
-> I’m not begging for anything from you! Fuck off!
-> Um … pretty please?
-➤ [ Beg? Do you think I’m some kind of dog? ]
───────────────────────────────
Dynamight stood up and leaned over his desk, sprawling his wide hands out over the smooth wooden surface.
“I think that you’re not asking nice enough nerd. Try again.”
───────────────────────────────
-➤ [ Fine. Dynamight, please tell me. I’m begging you- ]
───────────────────────────────
“Are you? Cuz I think if you were really begging, you’d be on your knees.”
Izuku dragged a shaking hand down to palm at his rapidly growing erection.
───────────────────────────────
-> SIT STILL
-> STAND UP
-➤ [ GET ON YOUR KNEES ]
───────────────────────────────
As soon as he pressed the button, the screen switched to a side view of Dynamight’s office. Izuku’s player avatar sat on a guest chair with his legs tucked underneath him, knees spread out, and cheeks flushed as Dynamight grabbed his chin from the other side of his desk.
Oh.
“Tell me again. How bad do you want it, baby?”
“S-so bad,” Izuku whispered, groaning as his hips snapped up to meet the hard press of his hand. His entire body was thrumming with the want, the need to get himself off to Katsuki as he hurriedly pulled down his shorts and boxers. He hissed as the cool air of his bedroom hit the hot flesh of his dick. Izuku wrapped a scarred hand around himself as he clicked the replay button.
“Tell me again. How bad do you want it, baby?”
His grip on his cock tightened, and his teeth dug into his lower lip as he tried to stifle a moan.
“F-fuck I could beg so good for it, Kacchan, pl-”
Right then, his cell phone rang.
'A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!'
Izuku flinched with a shout, accidentally knocking the phone from its perch on his desk.
“Crap, crap, crap,” he muttered as he fished around on the floor for the device.
When he finally found it, he plopped back in his desk chair, pulled up his underwear, pulled off his headphones, and answered. Before reading the caller ID.
“Hello?” he said, breathlessly.
“Hey nerd,” Katsuki’s gruff voice responded.
Izuku choked.
“O-oh! Hi Kacchan!”
“You good? You sound a little funny. You’re not getting sick, are you? It’s the middle of the damn summer Deku, I swear to god-”
“No, no!” he reassured the other man, “I’m not getting sick, don’t worry; I was just, you know, working out and stuff! Can’t slack on that hero training, right?”
“...It’s 11:30 at night, nerd; why the hell are you working out? We have patrol tomorrow at 6, remember?”
11:30!? I guess I must have zoned out playing that game, he thought with a twinge of embarrassment.
Even so, he smiled at the thought of doing patrols with Katsuki again. After being gifted his hero suit, Izuku had decided to cut down his teaching schedule to part-time the next semester, with classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and hero work for the remainder of the week. Morning patrols with Katsuki were his favorite, and it pained him a little to think that Katsuki assumed he’d forgotten about it.
“Of course I remember! I just got a little carried away with some- uh grading stuff and wanted to still get my exercise in for the day. I promise I’ll be there right on time in the morning, ok? It’s only my second week back; you’re not getting rid of me that easily!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it Deku,” Katsuki said, his smile clear in his voice, “I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow then, bright and early, yeah?”
“Yup! See you tomorrow, Kacchan!”
The second he hung up, Izuku buried his face in his hands and groaned. At this point, he realized it was much too late to continue his … earlier activities if he wanted to go to sleep at a decent time, and true to his words to Katsuki, he was absolutely not planning on being late to patrol in the morning. With a final, pathetic sigh, Izuku valiantly pulled up his shorts, switched off his computer, and collapsed onto his bed.
Katsuki’s voice echoed in his head as he drifted off to sleep.