A Gentle Encounter

The morning of the culture festival had arrived and the hustle and bustle of the students had already gotten started very early that morning. Izuku had made it a point to get up early and check out all the vendors' stands for any that would sell candied apples. Through the numerous multicolored vendors selling all sorts of finger and fried foods, none of which unfortunately sold any candy apples. Slightly discouraged, he makes his way back to the dorms disappointed that none of the vendors at the festival were selling candy apples. At barely 8AM, UA is already packed full of cars in the parking lots all over campus. People from all over Japan came for the festival here at UA. The amount of people rivaled the attendees to the sports festival, with thousands of people lining up at ticket booths to come inside and enjoy the festivities. Little kids with unique quirks like: Angel wings, scales, horns, cats ears, snake's eyes and gills were playing with each other in the training grounds. Izuku smiled to himself , seeing them play as he made it to the front door of the dorms.

As he opens the door, most of the class is in the common space getting dressed in their yellow, red and purple suits and dresses for the concert they are putting on today. Eri is floating on her little cloud near the ceiling drinking from an apple sauce pouch. "Aizawa must have swung by today." Izuku thinks to himself seeing Eri lap up the contents of the apple sauce pouch. The young girl quickly inhales the apple sauce before grabbing another one from inside her little cloud. "She can store things in there? How many of those does she have? Oh well, at least it's healthy." He monologues to himself before looking around for Ochako.

"Hey have you seen Ochako? I need to go on an errand for some C A N D Y A P P L E mix for Eri later since the vendors didn't have any." Izuku asks Iida, spelling out the part about candy apples as to not raise suspicion from Eri.

"I believe she's up stairs with Yaoyorozu getting her hair done." Iida says before checking his phone to see if Ochako had texted their group chat.

"Ok, thank you. Eri? Want to come with me or do you just want me to open the apple sauce packet you've been chewing at the top of?" Izuku asks, Eri is chewing at the end of the cap, what he thinks is a second apple sauce packet. She stops mid chomp on the lid before turning to Izuku.

"Yes please." She says floating lower towards him and handing him the apple sauce packet.

"You really did a number on the cap sweetheart." Izuku says before using a quirk to create a talon on his index finger and chopping off the top of the apple sauce packet. "Here you go." He says after retracting the talon and handing the packet back to Eri.

Izuku heads up stairs to his and Ochako's room, seeing as almost as soon as they started dating she moved into his dorm. Aoi is there to greet him at the door and trills upon seeing Izuku. He reaches down to pet the splotched patterned cat before opening the door to his room.

"Hey Ochako, I need to step out for a bit to pick up some stuff at a nearby store." He says walking into the room.

"Oh, alright then Yaomomo is just doing my hair right now, is that all you needed?" She asks peeking out from the bathroom with a straightening iron in her hair.

"I'll be back before 10, I promise." He says grabbing his wallet and putting on his blue jacket. "See you in a bit. Love you."

"Love you too, oh! And pick up some butter and chocolate mochi while you're out please." She says as Izuku nods and exits the room.

"You two act like a married couple you know that?" Momo asks as she brushes her hair, Ochako turns to face her with a blushing red face. "Don't give me that look, you know it's true. Your mannerisms, body language and even the way you talk to each other." Momo says but it still doesn't change Ochako's expression.

"He said he loves me... That was the first time he said it too." She says before covering her face with her hands.

"Ara Ara, guess he does know how to make you blush." Momo says with a smile, Ochako shouts at her to stop teasing her which causes the ravenette to start to laugh.

With Izuku

Izuku had run out into town to find all the ingredients he needed for Eri's candied apples and the butter and chocolate mochi for Ochako. 'Had to go to a few stores to get everything, but I think that's all I need.' Upon running back to UA, Izuku nearly runs into a man with grey hair and a woman wearing overcoats and hats seeming a little shady. "Sorry. Didn't mean to almost run into you." He apologises, taking a step back to give him some space.

"Please do be careful boy. You had almost made the taste of the Gold Tips Imperial that I had worked ever so hard to enjoy." The older man seemed to speak in a rather stoic term with the young AFO user looking over to where they had come from to notice a small building that looked more like a house instead of a tea shop.

"So that was a tea shop. Guess you can't tell from the outside." Deku questions, gaining a quick glance at the building they came out of.

"I see you are aware of the Gold Tips Imperial my boy. Quite a spectacle since someone so young as yourself tends to not know of quite fine teas such as that." THe older man seemed to be a little more talkative while the smaller woman seemed to worry for some reason.

"Actually, I only know it because of my one friend. Her mother gave her the tea and she was happy enough to share it with us. It is a very nice tea if anything." Izuku's mind started to remember a certain villain that seemed to drink unique teas before his villainous tasks.

"Well then, we must be on our way. Come along uh...honey." As the two left, the man's voice reminded him more and more about the villain and a unique comment he said in a video he had watched. "Be aware my loyal viewers, for my next video will be a wake up to this world and all who live within it."

"Stop." Izuku unintentionally said this for the two to look at him. "You're that villain with the schedule, aren't you?" Izuku looked sternly at the two before the man and woman revealed who they truly were.

"It would appear we have been discovered. But fear not." The man knelt down to look directly at a camera the woman was holding. "For I, Gentle criminal, shall persevere!" The woman seemed to admire this with Izuku not exactly certain if he should take this man seriously or not. "Hello my loyal viewers. Gentle criminal here with a special viewing. Upon mine and La Brava's journey to infiltrate UA, we have been discovered by one of their students."

'Wait, did he just say 'infiltrate UA'? If he does, what'll happen to the festival? Will they need to shut it down? The League had already caused enough problems for UA in the eyes of the public and something like this might send it over the edge.' Izuku remembered all the hard work that everyone had done. Not only his classmates and Eri, but all the students of UA had been looking forward to this event. Right now, Izuku had only one idea in mind. "I won't let you step onto UA's grounds, you hear me!" Izuku charged at the villain with him remaining perfectly still. 'Why isn't he blocking or dodging?' The AFO user realized too late why with some strange elastic barrier in the air in front of the villain. He was sent back a distance with the villain monologuing.

"It appears you have fallen for my quirk Rubber. It turns anything that I touch, even the air into an elastic rubber for a short period of time. I would discuss this more, but I am on a time schedule my dear boy. Come along La Brava." The two bounced away while turning the sidewalk they were standing on to rubber.

"Urgh, that quirk is something else if anything." Izuku began to get up while seeing the two jump away. "You're not getting into UA on my watch!" Izuku used OFA to run at them while the small woman looked back.

"Gentle, I know that boy. That's Izuku M-M-Midoriya! H-He t-took down Overhaul. H-he c-can steal quirks. W-we're no match for him!" La Brava began panicking with her discovery.

"Do not fret La Brava, for even the mightiest men have their weaknesses." They landed near a construction sight where Izuku was finally able to catch up. He glanced around unsure where they were, trying to end this as quickly as possible.

"G-Gentle, t-that's the thing.... He's no man. He's a God..." This statement intrigued Gentle as he wanted to test just how powerful a man that his assistant argues is a god is.

"Gentle criminal! We can end this right now if you can just go home! I don't want to hurt you, and I'm sure you don't want to hurt anyone either! I've seen your videos and you try not to use your quirk unless you have to with nobody being seriously hurt!"

Gentle stood atop some metal beams that were above Izuku while smirking. "You have quite the confidence. Not many pros can back up what you say however." He pulled a few metal support screws out of the beam. "Let's just see how far your resolve is, young man!" Gentle exclaims as he and La Brava jump off another rubber air platform and leap towards a nearby construction site.

"Tell me boy, how do you think I am running on the air?" Gentle asks standing on one of the metal I beams in the skeleton of the building being constructed. "Rubber allows me to change the elasticity of all objects but things such as steel still retain their rigidity. They're only bouncy for so long." He explains before bouncing off of the air and around Deku in random directions.

"Similar to Gran Torino but he's not attacking. He's evading." Deku thinks seeing the long collar sporting villain bounce sporadically around him.

Deku tucks his middle finger behind his index and prepares an air bullet with the flicks trying to aim at Gentle. He traces Gentle around trying to predict where he will bounce next. He flicks his finger releasing the blast of condensed air in front of the trajectory of where Gentle is headed. At the last second before it could connect, Gentle changes directions and rebounds into an I beam that starts to bounce up and down repeatedly due to the effects of Gentle's quirk. "What do you think will happen when this beam stops bouncing?" Gentle asks as he jumps up and down on the I beam. Below them, Deku spots a civilian looking up at the structure. His eyes widen when he realizes what is going to happen. Gentle launches himself higher in the structure on a beam above them as the one he was bouncing on snaps free of it's welds and rivets. Izuku rushes to catch the falling I beam and manages to catch it before it hits the beam underneath it.

"YOU WERE TRYING TO DROP THIS ON THAT MAN!!!" Deku shouts in anger glaring at Gentle as he holds up a several thousand pound steel beam over his shoulders.

"Not at all dear boy, I was merely dropping it for you to catch it. With the way it would have fallen that man was in no danger. Come La Brava, it's time. I'll sneak into the school festival." Gentle says turning to face La Brava and jumping up to another layer. He grabs onto a black and yellow crane causing it to become elastic before picking up La Brava and launching himself in the direction of UA.

"I... Won't let you... ruin the festival!" Deku shouts, dropping the beam with his right hand and aiming another air bullet at the criminal. "I have... to preserve her smile!" Deku shouts as he launches the bullet of Air towards the grey haired man.

Gentle looks behind him and narrowly avoids the blast from Deku's gauntlet. His eyes widen as Deku tears the metal beam in half and drops it harmlessly into the wet concrete beneath him. "He's quite persistent. It's admirable." Gentle says seeing Deku begin to fly towards them at incredible speeds. "Gentle, we need to use it." La Brava says, causing the older man to look down towards his assistant in his arms. "We need to use my quirk." she says. Gentle is about to respond but he is slammed in the back by one of the blasts sending him off his course and into the small forest around UA. Gentle wraps his body around La Brava to protect her from the fall as he slams flat on his back into the ground.

"I'm beginning to believe what you said La Brava." Gentle says as he spits some blood onto the ground and pushes himself to his feet. "You know what to do. Get close to the gates and turn off the security system."

"But gentle, you'll be defeated. You'll lose." She says, starting to cry.

"We won't lose La Brava, so long as you get in we will have accomplished our goal." Gentle says, La Brava reaches into her super puffy pants and retrieves a laptop computer and hugs it to her chest.

"YOU'RE NOT SETTING FOOT IN UA GENTLE! YOU HEAR ME!!!" Deku Shouts as he slams into the ground in front of them leaving a small crater in his wake. The anger in his voice shows through the activation in several quirks at once. His hair flowing wildly as his arms burn with the power of All for One, his body glowing with the power of One for All and the tips of his fingers glowing with pink energy from an emitter quirk he stole from the first Noumu at the compound.

"Gentle... please. I don't want you to die." La Brava pleads as Gentle dusts himself off, he turns to face Deku with his eyes shadowed over by his eyebrows and hair. La Brava grabs onto his leg and cries harder burying her face into his pant leg.

"It's okay La Brava, He is a hero. Something that I always wanted to be and I do not fear him taking my life or my quirk. I fear him taking away my conviction and fear him taking you away from me." Gentle says, this statement catches Deku by surprise hearing his words.

"He wanted to be a hero?" Deku thinks to himself but, this lapse in attention costs him in what La Brava says next.

"Gentle. I love you." She says, her body beginning to glow a warm pink color. Suddenly Gentle buffs up and his hair begins to defy gravity. His hair loses its gelled and perfected hold to appear spiky like it was out of some silly punching anime where people scream a lot.

"You wanted to be a hero?" Deku asks as his face drops the expression of anger on it from before. "Why did you become a villain then?"

"My powers were never suited to be a hero, I tried every exam in Japan to get into a hero school. I failed all of the practical exams and was denied entry into every single school. I never let that sway me from my passion, I wanted to help people. I became a criminal because I tried to save a man falling from a high rise window cleaner scaffolding. My body moved on it's own and I tried to save that man with my quirk but... it only made it worse. People branded me a murderer and a villain when I tried to save that man's life. I wanted to be known but I was forced into Villainy, I started making the videos as a means to make ends meet. La Brava came to me because she was bullied and I was the only one who was a light in the darkness that was her life. She was mocked due to her height, I was mocked because I couldn't save that man. Don't you see why I have to do this? I promised the people that I would sneak into UA, but I wasn't going to do anything uncivilized. I was going to enjoy the festival and record it for my viewers letting them know that not all criminals are bad, they just were foisted upon bad circumstances." Gentle explains turning to La Brava and nodding to her she starts to sprint towards the walls surrounding UA.

"WAIT!" Deku shouts, La Brava stops in her tracks before turning to Izuku. She sees him lower his guard putting his hands down and deactivating his quirks. "Do you still want to be a hero?" He asks, this catches both Gentle and La Brava off guard this time, the two look to each other.

"Yes. More than anything I wish I could go back and become a hero. I looked up to All Might and hundreds of other selfless pros. I would give anything to become one." Gentle says walking up to Deku, his body still overflowing with the power La Brava has bestowed in him.

"Maybe...Maybe I can help make that a reality." Izuku says, he extends his hand for Gentle to grab. "I can rewind you with a quirk I have. I will bring you to my age and you can take the entrance exams again or, maybe I can talk to Nezu or All Might about recommending you into the hero course." Izuku says with the horn on the side of his head growing larger and beginning to glow.

"I... I accept this. La Brava, we have a different mission now. We are going to become heroes." Gentle says beckoning the young woman towards him.

Suddenly a pro hero with the body structure of a bipedal Dog and long snout appears from the bushes having sniffed out Deku, Gentle and La Brava with his quirk. "Grrrr... Gentle Criminal." Hound Dog growls seeing the former criminal. "Did you capture him Deku?" He says before howling as he says Deku.

"No, I came to surrender." Gentle says, turning to Hound Dog. "I have committed many bad things in my time, but the worst is brainwashing a young woman named Manami Aiba and changing her to my disciple." Gentle confesses, La Brava breaks down thinking that this is the end.

"He's lying." Deku says, Gentle and La brava look back at him. "Gentle Criminal and La Brava were brainwashed by the league of Villains to be evil. Gentle was a hopeful examinee wanting to get into the hero course and La Brava was a middle school student that went missing some years ago. I have a way to reverse it." Deku explains, Hound Dog nods trusting Izuku's judgment as the son of All for One grabs the two of them by the tops of their heads. "You're gonna feel younger after this." A golden light envelops the two of them as Deku activates the rewind quirk on Manami Aiba and Danjuro Tobita.

9:58 AM

"Izuku! Get your costume on already, you're late!" Ochako exclaims, helping Izuku tie his tie. "Where have you been mister! You said it wouldn't be long for you to get the stuff and you're a mess!"

"I had a run in with Gentle Criminal but, after a small tussle. I helped redeem him." Izuku says handing Ochako a piece of paper.

"We don't have time Deku! Save it for after our performance and the next chapter." She exclaims, she quickly brushes her hand through his hair before having him get to his spot on the stage just as people finish feeding into the auditorium.