Rejected Stones

Nose Butter

Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

52. Nose Butter

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Izuku woke from his nap to find Mei drooling on his shoulder, snoring softly. The rest of the others were sleeping as well, including Togata and Hari. It had been a hard couple of days, so Izuku wasn't surprised. He gingerly shifted himself, taking the remote and changing the input from Jiro's phone and the old cartoons. He flipped through the channels, settling on a news program. At first it was normal, everyday things, going over a few human interest stories such as a girl with a quirk that let her talk to her gerbils and how she'd trained them to perform tricks. But then it shifted to more dire matters.

"Crime rates are up 2% in the last month, a shocking rise. Despite the best efforts of the new Pillars of Peace and the pro hero community, criminals are becoming increasingly bold across the country," the female news anchor explained.

"That's right. And today, we've assembled a panel of experts to discuss this phenomena," the male reporter, who Izuku recognized as Miyagi stated. "With me tonight are, Mr. Rikiya Yotsubashi, CEO of Detnerat."

The screen split to show a smiling man with a long, pointed nose, and a receding hairline of red hair. Izuku recognized him, and Mei stirred slightly.

"Izuku?" Mei asked, blinking.

"Shh, it's OK, go back to sleep. I'm just watching the news," Izuku said, reaching around to pat Mei's leg.

She shifted, looking up. "Hey! It's Yotsubashi, the guy who makes all the cute babies! Well, not as cute as ours."

"-Junior Minister Koku Hanabata of the Ministery of Justice-" the screen this time showed a greasy looking man with a slicked back haircut and a ghost of a mustache wearing a cheap suit.

"No, go back to Detnerat!" Mei told the TV. "I want to hear more about their new babies! Did you know I used to want to work for Detnerat! They have lots of money! And they make all kinds of cute babies, we got Komaru's goggles from them until I made better ones."

"No I didn't, but it makes sense. You don't still want to work for a big support company?" Izuku asked.

"No, we are going to have our own company, and make cute babies for you and all of our friends," Mei stated. "I thought you knew that!"

"Well, I mean, we've never really talked about what we plan to do in the future," Izuku admitted. "It was always getting into UA, and then getting into the Hero Course, and now we're just trying to survive."

"Well, obviously you will have a big hero agency like Endeavor, but all of our friends will work there too. And Hari, and Togata, and even my mom and dad!" Mei proclaimed. She frowned, glancing at Izuku. "That is what you want to do, isn't it, Izuku?"

Izuku considered that as the last panelist was announced, a supposed hero expert named Aorio Kuraishisu. Izuku didn't think much of the man, who looked a bit like a demon with two small horns on his forehead and pointed ears on a pale face.

"I mean, that sounds really great. I hope we can all stick together." He glanced over at Ashido, Jiro, Kaminari,and Kirishima, who were splayed out together over a pile of pillows in the middle of the floor. "It would be nice to keep working together. We've gotten really close as a class. But... pro hero teams almost never work out."

"Why not?" Mei asked, sounding confused. "Don't they like to work together?"

"It's mostly because of money," Izuku explained. "Pro's have enormous overhead for insurance. Endeavor's agency is practically shut down right now as they try to deal with all the claims and lawsuits that are coming in from the Battle at Feel Good. You can make more money as one big pro instead of having to split the spotlight. But, well, there's also ego. Some people are too proud to be willing to work together. And people get in fights."