The Emperor's Dragon II

The Billboard

Izuku looked around the bar as he settled into one of the booth seats in the back. Kurogiri would be pleased with how business was going. There appeared to be a lot of people who'd come to watch the Billboard and drink beer and from some comments that Izuku had heard when he'd come in from the kitchen, the crowd wasn't universally supportive of the heroes.

Given the neighbourhood, that made perfect sense. Still, he'd see what they thought of the top ten. Izuku expected Endeavor to be at the top, then Hawks. Best Jeanist was still out of commission from Kamino so... He wondered how they'd handle that. Then Mirko, Edge Shot, Yoroi, Ryukyu and Crust would probably be near the top.

He huffed to himself. The amount he knew about heroes, even when he wasn't paying attention was pretty pathetic.

A bowl of katsudon appeared in front of him, with a drink. Izuku frowned, and then shrugged. He'd be using a lot of energy tomorrow, so having a second dinner wasn't going to harm anything. And it was katsudon... no point in letting that go to waste.

"Thank you, Kurogiri," he murmured to the air and picked up the chop sticks, just as the MC announced the rank 10 hero.

"And in tenth place, and the first time she's ever made the top ten, we have the North South hero, Magnetee!"

The name brought a memory and Izuku smiled.

"You know that hero?" Compress asked, seeing his reaction.

"I've never met her," Izuku murmured. "But she recommended an... acquaintance for admission into UA."

"An acquaintance or a friend?" Atsuhiro pressed. The man knew the difference.

"An acquaintance," Izuku replied firmly. If Inasa was on his side then he could have told Hitoshi something but... He hadn't and that wasn't unexpected. If he did turn out to be sympathetic, then...

That would be a nice surprise, but Izuku was not counting on it.

It appeared this year, the Billboard was going to run things slightly differently. Instead of going through all the ranks, and then interviewing the top ten, they were interviewing as they were announced. Magnetee took the microphone and stared at it for a few moments. Izuku didn't know much about Magnetee, except that she was predominantly a rescue hero. She made sure she always had a male and female side kick with her and used them to help her find those to rescue but she was capable of fighting and...

Of the female Heroes Izuku was aware of, her costume was one of the more sensible. It included body armour and was not skintight or not there in the way many other women's costumes were. Magnetee had earned her rank on the strength of the work she did, not on the transitory popularity she held.

He could respect that.

"I wouldn't be here without the help from my agency," Magnetee said after several, very long moments. "And I will continue to work with the agency to rescue everyone who is hurt in the current chaotic state."

With that, she handed the microphone back and went to stand in the light from a spotlight that was illuminating a part of the stage. There was a shot to the audience to show a pink haired, green skinned and rather lizardly looking hero clapping ecstatically.

The master of ceremonies grinned. "There you have it! The North South Hero, Magnetee! And now in ninth place we have the Dragoon Hero, Ryukyu!"

Whoa, that was quick. Usually, they did a montage of the hero's work for the year but...

Izuku shrugged. He didn't really care if they avoided that now. The sooner the Billboard finished, the sooner he could conclude arrangements and get what little sleep he could tonight.