The Vigilante Bartender Trainee

A Talk with a Mummy

Izuku blew air out of his mouth then finished up the melon smoothie that Recovery Girl had given to him. She had earned her spot on his list of respected heroes way before that, but the sweet smoothie really sealed it into place. His eyes were glued to the screen as the program started replaying moments from the first round.

The arm wrestling battle between the red haired hard guy against that silver guy was decently entertaining considering it was better than the televised scavenger hunt. Kirishima won against his double from Class 1-B named Tetsutetsu.

And the second round was apparently starting soon after the commercials. Yet he could tell which ones would most likely win just from the matchups they briefly showed before the screen went to a deodorant spray. That was 'recommended by 8 out of 10 pro heroes!'.

Iida had speed on his side, so he could push his opponent out of the ring or dodge out of the way really quickly.

Tokoyami and Ashido were pinned against each other, so it's possible that it could be a good match with her acid and his offensive shadow attacks. Tokoyami has a good chance of winning against her acid from the way he fought against Yaoyorozu.

Todoroki would probably win against Shinso's because of his ability to not hesitate with attack. Sero had enough proof of that in the frosty first round where he turned half the stadium into a mountain of ice.

And Bakugo would win against Kirishima. Kirishima's hardness will work for defense only for a while, but Bakugo's explosion as the offensive power will overwhelm it in time.

He sighed as he watched the television screen fade from Mount Lady's shampoo and conditioner commercial duo to the blue and white stands of the stadium.

The sound of footsteps approaching drew his attention, particularly to the sound of one foot dragging more than the other. He narrowed his eyes as the curtain peeled back to reveal his new visitor.

Izuku blinked at the bandaged underground hero who was staring at him like a mummy that had just risen up from the grave. He scowled at the appearance of the hero as Present Mic's voice spilled through the speakers of his television. "Aren't you supposed to be up at the commentary booth with Microphone?"

"Microphone?" Eraserhead was temporarily stunned by the sudden name until his mind connected the dots. He huffed behind his bandages in a form of a laugh. "Technically, I am supposed to be there, but Mic can cover things for a bit. I just wanted to check on you after the punishment."

"The publicized punishment?" Izuku asked, already knowing the answer. His quirk exhaustion he had gotten from the punishment has faded away with the rest he had gotten. The punishment affected more of his vigilante image than his actual life but still.

Eraserhead quirked an eyebrow up. "Is it still better and more logical than being in jail in comparison?"

Man, how should he answer this? It was true that it was better than jail, but it might have been better if it was a smaller jail his brother could break him out of. "Yes and no." Izuku bit down on his lip, pausing to formulate a good answer. "Yes because jail would suck more than being locked up here. No because any credit I had as a vigilante has been blown away into smithereens. Ugh, I can only imagine how upset the others are."

"The others?" Eraserhead questioned. He stepped forward to get closer to the hospital bed. His eyes were focused right on him while Izuku reminded himself not to flinch. He didn't want the pro hero to notice any weakness or hesitance in his words. And he was careful to keep his eyes from darting away or fidgeting too much. "Are you referring to the league?"

He had to be neutral with his answer enough to say the truth with just the right amount of attitude needed for Eraserhead to draw his own conclusion. Dammit, maybe he should have gone the route of 'villain looking for redemption' instead of 'manipulated victim of circumstances'. It would make things so much better.