Some folks will do anything for a story. Doesn't matter what rules they have to bend - or break - while they're Going for the Big Scoop. Doesn't matter who might get hurt as a result, so long as it's not them suffering the consequences.
After one such individual pays U.A.'s campus a visit, a bombshell is dropped upon the world in the form of a tabloid article: U.A. Exposed: All Might secretly training the next Symbol of Peace?! But Izuku's horror swiftly gives way to confusion when he learns that he's not the subject of this headline.
Ojiro Mashirao is.
Inspired by Season 4's Filler opener, "The Scoop on U.A. Class 1-A", marysuofyay's Exoteric
takes Tokuda Taneo's suspicions about All Might having a secret successor at the school and has him focus his crosshairs on the wrong target. Suddenly Mashirou finds himself thrust into the spotlight... and with the full attention of the League of Villains, who are just as drawn in by the publicity stunt as the rest of Japan.
For another work by the same author, see Cracked Glass.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Accidental Innuendo: While it's ambiguous as to just how accidental it was, Mei's declaration that she wants to make a baby with Ojiro is enough to throw all her peers into a dead silence. She means having him help with her inventions- she calls her devices 'babies'.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: The paparazzi who asks Ojiro's mother whether her son is All Might's illegitimate child probably didn't care about the validity of such a claim... until she points out the sheer stupidity of that question.Ojiro's Mother: [while laughing] "Oh, brilliant deduction skills you have going on there! Yes, makes perfect sense, out of all the people in the world, the number one hero just happened to meet a random primary school teacher and have a torrid tryst, and my son just happened to end up with a tail exactly like my husband of twenty-two years, just like the rest of his siblings! Good job, people!"
- Bait-and-Switch: Done twice over in the first chapter; not only does Izuku initially assume that the article's about him, but when he realizes otherwise, mistakenly assumes that Tokoyami was the victim.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: Tsuyu considers cicadas to be quite the seasonal treat.
- Chocolate Baby: Inverted; Mashiro's mother points out that all of her children, Mashiro included, have inherited their father's tail.
- Comically Missing the Point: Upon seeing the headline, Iida is aghast... at how the reporter lied to the principal and their teacher.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Iida notes that Tokuda could have torn into and insulted each of the students he ruled out as potential successors, slandering them to strengthen his case, but chose not to... aside from dismissing Bakugo as 'too mean' (Which is... not wrong).
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Tokuda figured out one of the school's secrets, but fingered the wrong candidate for All Might's successor.
- During a team exercise, Aoyama brings up how he and Ojiro both 'assisted' Shinsou during the Sports Festival, only for Ojiro to give up the opportunity that he felt he hadn't rightly earned while Aoyama... didn't. He expresses his relief that Ojiro wound up as the center of attention rather than him.
- The Generic Guy: Shigaraki complains that Mashiro seems far too average to be the successor, before wondering whether hiding him among the 'NPCs' was, in fact, the whole point.
- Heroic BSoD: Ojiro enters one that makes him look remarkably like a kicked puppy as the ramifications of the article's existence sink in.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Shigaraki quickly convinces himself that Mashiro's plain appearance is part of a clever scheme to hide All Might's successor right in front of everyone.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The media circus that forms outside the Ojiro residence stumbles headlong into this thanks to broadcasting live... meaning that his mother's brutal mockery of their attempts to suggest her son is All Might's secret love child is broadcast live as well. Then it ends on a shot of her husband and all their children, who all share the same tail Quirk.
- Hope Bringer: Discussed and Deconstructed:
- Since All Might served as a Symbol of Peace, his retirement has left the public nervous and emboldened criminals. Tokuda's claims tap directly into the masses' desire for reassurance; people want to believe that there's already plans in place to account for his absence, and they latch onto the rumor as a result.
- Katsuki suggests that if it became widely known that One For All wasn't Toshinori's original Quirk, it would shatter everyone's faith in their former symbol, since that wasn't his strength that protected them for so long.
- Humble Hero: Key to Tokuda's claims that Mashiro is All Might's successor is his decision to step down during the School Festival, giving up his place in the tournament because he believed that he hadn't earned it fairly (since Shinso's brainwashing meant that he didn't remember how they won).
- I Resemble That Remark!: When Denki lazily declares that Tokuda was right to dismiss Katsuki as 'too mean' to be All Might's successor, Katsuki immediately snarls at him.
- Media Scrum:
- The first of these that poor Mashiro gets subjected to is a variation with U.A.'s business and support students, who descend upon him in a manner akin to sharks.
- Another forms outside his family's home, peppering his mother with questions about her son - and her fidelity.
- Morton's Fork: As Aizawa points out, denying the article's claims won't do any good, as many people simply won't believe them. But claiming that there's any truth to it won't make things better, either.
- Paparazzi: One kickstarts the plot, and many more of his peers make appearances throughout the story as they aim to milk his 'discovery' for all it's worth.
- Serious Business: Uraraka and Sato immediately leap to the defense of food photography as an art form, and Jiro admits that she's interested in seeing whatever pictures Ochako intends to send Ojiro as proof.
- Skewed Priorities: When they see Mashiro's mom being harassed by reporters, Mina is briefly distracted by the sight of his baby brothers.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: If not for Katsuki's intervention, Izuku would have combined this with Saying Too Much while under the impression that the article was about him.
- Tabloid Melodrama: Mashiro finds himself stranded at the center of one thanks to Tokuda's claims.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Izuku grapples with guilt over the notion that he should be the one getting harassed instead of his classmate, and whether or not he should come forward with the truth. Katsuki points out that doing so could destroy Toshinori's legacy, as people might consider him a fraud if they learn the truth about One For All.
