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The seven sins of Lust, Greed, Pride, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony and Sloth pervade in the lives of all who truly live. Which sin is truly most prevalent is ultimately up to the host of said sins. To sin is to live in all reality.Izuku Midoriya is truly happy when the school year was ending. Summer break is and has been the favorite of students for what seems forever, but for Izuku this is finally his chance to proceed with his life. Surround himself with fresh faces and fresh hopes, finally, it is time for him to live his dreams!That dream starts with getting in to his dream High school U.A. U.A could train Izuku, allow him to control his power and use it for the good of the world; make him a hero. All that would have to happen would he would have to get in-“It seems we have two students in our class going above and beyond! Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya are the only two in this class who are applying to U.A”
Izuku’s teacher was standing in front of the class, giving some kind of speech about the future it seems.The class is silent as eyes bore into Izuku and Katsuki. In all honesty, this is a bit of an underreaction from the class in Izuku’s opinion, he was expecting more yelling. Or maybe that was Pride acting up…“WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT YOU EXTRAS” Izuku sighed as Katsuki’s loud voice rang out over the formerly silent class.
“NONE OF YOU WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO APPLY ANYWAYS” There are some sparks coming off the loud young man’s hands, a remnant of his quirk. This explosive boy could create Explosions from his hands by sweating out a constant stream of an explosive liquid similar to nitroglycerin and igniting it at will. A truly powerful ability, or quirk as it is called.“The only one even close to me is coming with me” Katsuki’s voice had lowered to a growl, “YOU” he suddenly spun around, pointing his arm in the direction of a slumping, tired Izuku.
“When we get into U.A, I’ll beat you Deku.” the growling stopped as Katsuki suddenly sat back down.Guess that’s enough excitement for one day…The end of the day bell rang, signaling the beginning of summer for such grateful, grateful students. The class filed out as Izuku began to gather his things into his bag.“Oi Deku” Katsuki slammed his hands on Izuku’s desk
With a deep sigh, Izuku slowly shifted his eyes up to match Katsuki.
The indifference seemingly annoyed the explosive boy, though there was a trace of fear in his red eyes.“Why are you going to U.A” an undercurrent of anger flowed through the blonde.
Izuku looked over Katsuki’s shoulder, spotting the two lackeys the powerful boy had brought along.Izuku shrugged.
“Why are you doing this Kaachan…” Izuku’s voice came out soft, but not weak. That sent Katsuki reeling, literally as he took a step back from Izuku’s desk.And then he was pissed.
Katsuki stalked over to Izuku and grabbed a seeming inconspicuous notebook out of his bag.
“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHY I'M DOING THIS DEKU” Quickly flipping through the book, Katsuki found the page dedicated to him.Katsuki leaned in close to Izuku and whispered in his ear.
“You will be what you are meant to be. A fucking villain” Katsuki pushed Izuku and started ripping pages out of the book.
Only then did Izuku respond.“Wait Kaachan! stop What are you doing!” his voice was pleading for Katsuki to stop, but he didn't.
Izuku threw himself to where the blonde stood, but not fast enough. The lackeys stood in his way, holding him back.“Strengths, weaknesses, uses, how to fight” with every phrase Katsuki ripped out another page.
“You are a villain Deku”“STOP” Izuku’s cry broke as his voice deepened suddenly.
A deep green engulfed Izuku’s body as the two goons of Katsuki’s scrambled back.There was a tearing noise as Izuku bet over, crying his eyes out. From his back, a form began to take place, slowly forming into a humanoid shape.
Then there were two.The amorphous blobs continued to gain detail, until suddenly they were formed.There were two nearly identical Izuku’s standing behind his still-sobbing form. The differences were extremely apparent though.
Izuku took after his mother in a lot of ways. Especially in his eye color, and a very similar shade of hair. His eyes were a more vibrant, royal green in comparison to his mother, while his hair was black with a green tinge on the outside, as if so dark it wasn't green at all. His mother, Inko Midoriya had similar coloring, with dark green hair and mellow green eyes.These copies were… different. On was very similar, though the tinge of his hair color was closer to lime. The copies eyes followed the pattern with a pale-yellow green, almost the color of celery. The other copy was as far away from Izuku as you could get while still being a clone. His eyes were a deep Maroon, while his hair looked like it was on fire from the bright red tinge to the black curly mess.Them forming took less than a few seconds, and while they stood there everyone froze. The only sound was Izuku’s sobs.The red Izuku raised his hand as the lime green dashed forward to where Katsuki stood.Grasping the book, the lime green Izuku let out a quiet demand.
“Give it to me” the voice was still Izuku’s but was so cold it was almost unrecognizable.
Then it happened.
Katsuki’s hands exploded, burning the book in his hands. The blast was significantly stronger than it should have been, launching the charred book out of a nearby window.Katsuki realized at that moment that he couldn't move his arms or legs. He could still talk though.“Red one!” everyone present could hear the tremble in his voice, though he still stood strong.
“You're Wrath, right?”Silence fell over everyone as Izuku’s sobs had finally stopped.Through his teary eyes, Izuku saw what could have been a nightmare.The lime green Izuku, otherwise known as Greed, stood in front of Katsuki, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.
The red Izuku, otherwise known as Wrath, stood behind him, arm up and using his quirk.
The book was nowhere to be seen.
Then it clicked for Izuku.
“Oh god…” Izuku whipped around to look at Wrath “Release them please.” with a look of annoyance, Wrath lowered his arm and stopped exerting his power over the young boys around them.
He then turned to Greed.
“Greed come here please” Izuku’s voice was quiet.
Katsuki and his lackeys were finally released. The two weaker boys immediately ran. Katsuki stayed, watching the next conversation.“Greed please show me what just happened” Izuku let out a sniffle.Greed raised his arm and slowly cupped the true Izuku’s face. Izuku’s eyes suddenly looked far away and unfocused. As quickly as it started, it stopped, and Greed took a step back from Izuku.Izuku let out a deep sigh.
“It's probably in the koi pond. Greed could you go get that for me please, since you're already out.”
Greed looked annoyed, almost angry, but he swiftly turned on his heel, and walked out the door.Izuku took a deep breath with closed eyes, before making eye contact with Katsuki.
“Why are you still here?” there was no anger in his voice, just questioning.Katsuki let out a growl.
“There it fucking is Deku.” he started walking towards Izuku, before noticing that Wrath was still present. Stopping where he stood, Katsuki continued with what he was saying.“Why aren’t you fucking angry you useless Deku.” the anger was in his voice, but the question was true. He wanted to know.Izuku shrugged, before gesturing to Wrath with his off hand.
“My anger is right there”Katsuki’s eyes widened for a second, before he bared his teeth in Izuku’s direction.
He didn't say anything though, he just grabbed his bag off of the ground and began to walk to the door. Standing next to the open door, Katsuki let out what he wanted to be his only warning.“You are a villain Deku. I’ll kill you if i have to”Katsuki left.*Izuku let out yet another sigh before turning to Wrath.“Well that was melodramatic huh?”
Wrath let out a gruff chuckle before looking down and wringing his hands.
“Are you mad…” The sound was way too deep to come from such a small body, though sounded regretful.Izuku let out another sigh.
“I can't be mad. You're here” Wrath flinched. “But I wouldn't be anyways”
Wrath looked up, hopeful.
“You didn't hurt any of them, just made them stand still.” Izuku had a hesitant smile on his face.
“Also, you used your power on three people at once?!”Wrath let out a gravelly chuckle.
“I only stopped arms and legs” His face darkened. “ I couldn't stop the quirk though”
Izuku let out a sigh for the third time in just a few minutes. His poor abused lungs.“It’s okay Wrath. Greed can make another” Wrath let out a nod at this, before he started walking out the door.“Where are you going?” Izuku was honestly only a little worried, but he knew he could keep out of trouble.“Alpha said Greed could fix it. I'm going to Greed.”
Izuku hated when they called him Alpha.“Let’s go Wrath.” Greed was standing at the Koi pond out back of the school, staring into it when Wrath and Izuku arrived. They went to stand next to Greed and stared at what he was looking at.“Well that's depressing”
Wrath wasn't wrong. The notebook had been horrifically charred, the cover nearly illegible and was now being nibbled on by the fish of the pond.
Greed took a deep breath before reaching in and grabbing the book, scaring off the fish.They all stared at the book before Izuku broke the silence.
“Let's go home.” The clones look at Izuku expectantly before he continued
“Yes, you two can stay out. Only because nothing bad happened though. Mom said she missed you guys”The clones let out matching grins as Izuku began to lead the way. Izuku had manifested his quirk at the age of 5. This was a little bit older than usual but seeing as his quirk was so difficult and stamina intensive it made sense. Under the watchful eye of his mother, Inko Midoriya, a second Izuku clambered out of the first, having a baby blue tint in comparison to his green. This copy was just as confused as Izuku himself when it came into the world. Seeing as it was his first time using his quirk, it took days to first convince him to, and then for him to figure out how to banish his clone. At first, they had thought that Izuku had been able to make clones of himself that he could call and banish at will, though that then proved to have a few complications. This clone, while seemingly happy to do so, didn't have a choice when Izuku ordered him to do something.And then it happened… The clone developed his own quirk. This baby blue Izuku was able to copy actions exactly after seeing them only once. A perfect student, and wonderful at observing. When banished and re-summoned the clone had no idea how to do his previous copied action. Tens of trips to the doctor revealed nothing until Izuku managed to summon 2 more clones. There was the blue, a pink copy and a bright yellow. It was only then when they realized the gravity of what Izuku was doing. As he summoned the three other copies, he himself stopped acting like Izuku. With the other three, he no longer was interested in his childhood fascination: heroes. It was the strangest development as of yet in his quirk.Then they met the right quirk doctor who put the pieces together. These clones were not clones at all, but manifestations of personality traits. As far as the blue and pink one, 2 of the 7 deadly sins seemed to be represented, while the bright yellow tinged one, they had no idea.From that point on Izuku’s quirk was more and more interesting. Officially being called Fragment, allowing him to separate his emotional state into individual copies of himself. Each major personality trait each had their own quirk as well, while all being loyal to what they called the alpha. The alpha was the original Izuku, the one they held more and more traits that could be released at his convenience. The traits seemingly had to obey their alpha, while not being able to directly affect or attack him, unless ordered to. It was one of the strangest quirk dynamics ever seen.The light blue trait was later revealed to be his embodiment of Envy, having shown up while his childhood friend was showing off his cool new quirk. The light pink had been Lust, while the yellow copy hadn't shown its face since it had been banished that day. That didn’t mean more did not show their faces since that day, many more in fact. Until they did not anymore. After he- - The three almost made it home before something went wrong, thrusting Izuku out of his train of thought. They were passing under a small bridge when suddenly a sewer drain tore itself from the earth and some kind of slime being slithered its way out.
“Three hosts instead of one. What wonderful costumes!”Wrath lunged into Izuku’s back, bringing them both to the ground as the slime wrapped its way around Greed, sucking the Trait’s body into the muck.
“I can't fight this” wrath growled out into Izuku’s ear. “Summon more”
Izuku gave an incredulous look over to wrath as the slime started saying something about not struggling.
Wrath growled.
“I can't bend slime Alpha. We need more to fight this.”Wrath was getting angry? Oh boy this was fun. Greed also looked like he was about to pass out. They hadn't had a trait die outside of Izuku’s body in a long time, this would be a good time.Izuku set his jaw as a green glow started forming around his body. It was right when his back began to tremble with the form of another Izuku immerging when they heard it.“TEXAS SMASSSSHHHH!!!!”The wind pressure was insane as the slime creature and the three boys were literally blown out of the tunnel by what felt like a hurricane.As Izuku lay on the concrete, trying to pull himself back up he saw a large blonde head stick itself into his view. He heard two gasps and the sound of sizzling as his traits were dissolved back into his body… and then he passed out. When Izuku awoke, it was not to the sound of a man trying to wake him, but rather even more wind. Creaking open an eye he didn't see what he expected to see. All Might, the number one hero in Japan and maybe the world around was carrying him bridal style. Why was he being held? Because the two were currently a few hundred feet up into the sky as they flew to All Might’s destination.
Izuku did the normal person thing to do.
Izuku screamed as loud as his throat would allow.All Might looked down at the screaming child in his arms and internally sighed before bellowing out.“Worry not Young Man! I will Land us somewhere near by so we may speak. Then i will take you to the hospital!” With that the top hero began to angle his descent to land onto a nearby rooftop of a tall building so he could check the boy for injuries before turning him over to the hospital. Then he had to turn the villain over to the police.When the two landed the boy immediately fell onto all fours.
“Are you okay young man?” All Might was standing a few feet away, giving the boy room, just in case.“All Might!!” the boy let out between huffed breaths “Can I get your autograph!!!” he was pulling out a notebook before he even finished the sentence.Opening the book to a blank page, Izuku saw that he had already left a massive signature spanning over two pages. This is the best day of Izuku’s life.“T-thank you All Might…” Izuku had happy tears in his eyes as All Might approached him. Giving the boy a check over, he seemed fine.
“I’m going to take you to the hospital, though you should be okay…”
To be honest All Might was running out of time, having maybe 7 minutes left.“Wait before we go-” Izuku butt in, but he was more than willing to be rude in this circumstance.“All Might… All I’ve ever wanted is to be a hero. But people think my quirk is evil. I've done some bad things with this power…” Izuku lift his head and made eye contact with the number one hero in the country. His favorite hero for his entire life as he asked his question.“Can someone like me, someone who has done bad thing with an evil quirk become a hero?”
Izuku’s eyes were watering as he asked his question.All might seem to be think this over, before the massive tall man lowered down on his knee to make eye contact with the boy.
“A quirk cannot be evil, nor can it be inherently good. It all falls in how you use it. If you have made mistakes in your past it doesn't matter, as long as you wish to be a hero.” standing up the man let out a loud laugh.
“Some of the top heroes today are reformed villains, it doesn't matter your past as long as you pay your price, and wish to reform”Izuku was openly crying at this point.
“Does that answer your question my boy?” All Might leaned in close to the boy.
“You too, can be a hero!”All Might left the boy at a nearby hospital, before dropping the villain off at the nearest police station. At that point he proceeded home, though the boy was still strong in his thoughts. What kind of quirk would be scary enough to make the boy think he couldn't be a hero, and where had the two clones of him gone? They had dissolved the moment they landed on the ground. How could a cloning quirk be evil??? Maybe he would be lucky and would run into the boy again. The boy had told him that his name was Izuku Midoriya. Maybe if he had a day off, he could find the boy, talk to him about his quirk.What can he say. The boy was interesting.After a few hours at the hospital, Izuku was able to return home with his mother. She was worried, though glad that her son was okay.
When they got home Izuku summoned Wrath and Greed, allowing them to relax as promised.All in all, a productive day.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Izuku Midoriya had been 7 years old when he appeared. He had been “playing” with one Katsuki Bakugou when it happened. As per usual, Katsuki didn't understand the concept of holding back and had hurt Midoriya. The small explosion the blonde had created was larger than anything the child had made before, knocking back the green haired boy and even burning part of him.While getting up Izuku could feel the push from his quirk, something trying to escape from within him. His annoyance at being pushed over quickly turning to excitement, the young boy immediately set to summon a new Trait, as the quirk doctor had called them.What came out was Wrath.The red version of Izuku raised a hand the moment he was summoned, and young Katsuki let out a scream. This trait, as opposed to his first he had ever summoned, envy, had immediately developed his quirk. In less than a second, the quirk had broken Katsuki’s right arm. Izuku, of course, panicked, desperately trying to figure out what Wrath had done to Kaachan, his friend but Wrath let out no emotion.“Alpha is safe…” the words were whispered from Wrath’s mouth as his body dissolved into steam, and slunk back within his host.Only hours later, Katsuki had a cast on his arm and Izuku was back at the quirk doctor. With another summon, this trait was determined to be named Wrath and had an interesting quirk of his own.
Wrath had was the doctor named “mild Bio-Kinesis manipulation”, fancy words for “he can make your body move without you.” the ‘mild’ part came from Wrath’s inability to move more than one limb at once, at the time. Though, as time continued and the boy aged, his traits gained strength, just as their host did.*Izuku finally got released from the hospital the following morning, having been kept for observation after being jumped by a walking sludge pile. The 24 hours were excruciating. The moment he got home he began research on what he needed.I can be a hero, I can be a hero too, I can be a Hero!
The words passed through his mind like a mantra as he desperately searched online for what he needed. At one point he summoned greed and asked for his help on finding what he wanted.In all of japan, there is one hero school known to stand above all others: that of U.A. U.A high school was known to churn out heroes like a normal high school churned out McDonald’s employees. The only issue, to get into U.A there was an entrance exam. For the Heroics department of the school, it was a two parter: a written portion and a physical portion. The written portion was no issue, even without the help of his quirk Izuku was near brilliant. No, the physical is where the issues lay.Due to the nature of Fragment, training was and is far from easy. For him to train to his full potential, both body and quirk, he would need somewhere secluded. Being caught in public with more than one of himself would lead to… issues, and if he lost control of his quirk…He needed somewhere secluded.Greed was one of the most interesting of his traits that he could summon. Izuku himself was honestly not a traditionally greedy person, he would be happy with life’s minimums as long as he could live even some of his dreams. No, where Izuku’s greed lay was in knowledge.Being raised without friends had really left him to soak himself into whatever medium would leave him entertained. Izuku’s personal favorite had always been the world of heroes, and would regularly scour the internet or news in search of more information on the world of heroes. He loved to learn, but his obsession with quirks and heroes had consumed him whole.Greed, therefore, being an extension of his mind, was a wealth of knowledge that soaked up anything that could be slightly be concerned to quirks, heroics, fighting or maybe just fun facts if he was really bored. Thus, Greed’s quirk and personality was all heroes.When used in person, he could instantly analyze a person on a basic level. Gender, age, basics of quirk, and so on. The magic was when he touched someone. By having greed touch anyone, he could analyze on a horrifically deep level. Quirk specifics, nationality, weaknesses, basically anything not considered a personality trait. As if to make it even better, by touching his alpha, he could pass on the information into Izuku. Greed never forgot anything he ever learned, and was on par with Izuku on a good day in terms of intelligence. He was by far the strongest of the traits Izuku would summon.That's why when Izuku summoned Greed after researching every area within walking distance, Greed already had an answer for where they should train. “Dagoba municipal beach”Izuku’s eyes widened, the body of greed had barely finished forming before the words came out of his mouth.“No one ever goes there if they don't have to, and the multitude of trash would allow for easy weights for you to lift, if you so wish”
Greed’s voice was cold and calculated, though the excitement was evident in the clone’s eyes. If his Alpha became a hero, the pure amount of heroes they could and would meet would be insane. There would be no limit to the amount they could learn while being heroes, the higher on international rankings the better.Izuku thought for a moment. Moving trash would allow for muscle development of his entire body, and he could just add something like running for endurance exercise. As his quirk wasn't strong enough, any improvement made do Izuku’s body would be copied when he summoned a trait. Though this wasn't the same for injuries for some reason, and if he just had one of his traits exercise it wouldn't do anything for him at all. Though with the help of a couple traits, that might just go a little faster…This would be great!*Inko Midoriya was confused to say the least. When she had gotten the call that her son had been in the hospital, Panic had consumed her until she had actually driven to him. They had told her that he was okay but how exactly did they expect her to respond?What she didn’t expect when she got to her son was for him to burst into tears when she stepped into the room, crying about how All Might had told him he could be a hero before dropping him off at the hospital. Apparently he had been attacked by a villain, which was a heart attack for the poor woman unto itself, before being rescued by All freakin Might and flown to the hospital.Izuku Midoriya wasn't exactly emotionless, but having a quirk that removes your emotions when used did not help him either. Inko had seen him cry of course, but after a few major mishaps with his quirk he had seemed more withdrawn at home. She hated it, but understood nonetheless. His quirk was dangerous, and harmful to himself.When he went to her suddenly and explained his plan, she was shocked. It kinda hurt really, she was supportive of his dream when he was little, and even when he brought it up again mere months earlier, but when All Might said one thing, one word of encouragement he dove into heroics like there was no tomorrow. But she wasn’t petty. He was finally going to embrace his dream, and she would back him up every moment of the way.With light argument, they decided that yes it would be okay to train on a mostly abandoned beach, though she would develop a diet and enroll him in some hand to hand classes.He wanted to be a hero? She would make him into a hero!***Training was going great for the first few weeks. Izuku had figured out a good pattern, running every morning, hand to hand 3 days a week, and going to the beach for the rest of the day. School work was sprinkled in, but with the school year ending and his impeccable grades it wasn’t that big of a focus. He trained his quirk two days a week, while spending the rest of the week just pure lifting at the beach.He decided that if he was going to be moving all of the trash of the beach anyways, he was going to clean the beach entirely. It would provide a good challenge, and add to a sense of accomplishment when completed. Physical improvement was going well, but summoning wasn't going too much better.
His handful of traits could be summoned banished and re summoned, but honestly he couldn't summon that many a day. A few traits helped pushed that further, but his quirk itself wasn't getting much stronger.His physical training was going farther faster than it should have due to 2 of his traits. These were two summons that were probably his most useful; Sloth and Pride.Sloth’s quirk was something to be valued, it allowed for massive stamina regeneration when Izuku rested. If he was moving in any way the quirk wouldn't take effect, though if he was resting he would regain stamina at a crazy speed. Though testing he could gain the energy of almost a full night’s sleep in only a few hours. Sloth had a strangely white outline coloration, and was completely useless in a fight himself. Sloth, being the embodiment of laziness in Izuku was always asleep, along with being the weakest of his summons. If not for his quirk, Sloth would honestly never be summoned.Pride, on the other hand was amazing. With his royal purple outline, Pride’s quirk allowed for him to power up fellow traits and the alpha. Pride wasn't able to make anyone superhuman, though it was still amazing. The more targets he had, the weaker the power up, but if he just focused on one target he could raise their power and endurance in over 20%Together they made training amazing, as pride’s quirk did not protect his body from training, just from physical damage.All in all training was going well, until one day one massive pile of trash exploded as a body was launched into it. Izuku, along with Sloth, Pride and Greed, watched with wide eyes as the body of a person emerged from the trash pile. With even wider eyes, they all watched as the massive form of All Might fell from the sky, landing in front of the trash pile.While Izuku was trying to process that the number one hero was currently in front of him, seemingly in a fight, the body that had been launched into the trash pile began to shift. From out of the mountain of trash came a man who was covered in what looked like raw muscle fibers. The man was massive, nearly matching All Might’s insane height, and quickly narrowed his one glowing eye on the hero, before launching himself at un- monitorable speeds.
All Might, however, would not be stopped by something so simple and blocked the attack, holding the criminal off before him.“You criminal reign ends here Muscle!” All Might called out, like he was in a T.V show.
“They deserved to die you stupid fuc-” was all the enemy, Muscle, got out before All Might struck him across his face, once again launching the man backwards, and this time into the ocean.It was at this point that Izuku noticed that All Might had smoke coming off of him.
With wide eyes he watched as the number one hero coughed up a splattering of blood, before being enveloped in smoke.he‘s hurt!
Izuku whirled on his heel, coming face to face with greed. All ready following his thought process, Greed was already speaking-
“You have 2 that can heal. I think Charity would work for you best” Izuku’s smile was more than grateful.
Pulling at the feeling of his quirk, Izuku let the familiar feeling of splitting overwhelm him. But… Charity didn't seem to want to come out like all the others did. Inside his mind’s eye he could feel Charity, even see its strawberry red color, but no matter how hard he pulled the trait refused to summon.
Setting his jaw, Izuku let out an annoyed whisper-“Charity-”And like that he felt his form shift as a trait was forced into reality. Greed was already marking this down from a notebook he had miraculously taken from somewhere, muttering under his breath about audio queues.Turning around to face his stubborn summon, what was left of Izuku was met with a steely red glare.
“Why did you summon me Alpha?” the voice wasn't angry per say, but wasn’t as happy as charity usually was to be summoned.Without a word, Izuku pointed at the cloud of smoke, simply stating “All Might is in there” and it clicked for charity. Charity was rare as far as the traits went, as he was one of the only ones who ever concerned himself with the physical and emotional state of his Alpha, Izuku. Though, as greed had said, he was one of the only ones that can heal others, and the only one that could do that without harming himself.Charity’s eyes widened at that, and he immediately set off to find the smoking all Might, before suddenly stopping. At the sudden change in motion, all eyes slowly slid over to where All Might should have been standing.In the clearing steam stood a skeletal man, wearing his oversized hero costume. The man doubled over and coughed harshly, hacking up blood into his open palm. Izuku couldn't help it, he made a noise of shock.The man's eyes shot upwards, wide and panicked and spotted Charity.
“M-Midoriya??”Oh fuck was that All Might???Then the symbol fell overCharity unfroze, rushing over to the man. Hesitantly Izuku followed his summoned trait. When Izuku got into sight the man stiffened even more, if that was possible, at seeing two Midoriya’s. If anything it got worse when the other three rounded the mountain of trash they had been hidden behind. With a sigh, Izuku recombined Pride and Sloth into himself, figuring this would take a while.He was right.*“So, you were attacked…” Izuku recounted as he was pacing in front of the man, Charity still checking on his physical health. “And that made you into this skinny manlet that stands before me. Am I getting this right?”All Might looked like he was about to cry, before bursting into laughter so loud that he started coughing up blood up again. Charity was panicking, trying to make sure he wasn't too hurt but All Might just kept laughing.“OOOhhh I like you young Midoriya!” he claimed between laughs.
He was acting like he was drunk... to be fair the villain had punched him on his open-chest-wound/scar, he was drunk on pain.
To Izuku’s benefit, he knew what he said was inappropriate, it was just always harder to take others feelings into consideration and turn of a verbal filter when charity was out and about. Honestly it made him a worse person, as Charity was most of his nice emotion.With a grumble, Izuku said an “I’m sorry” as charity was sending the hardest glare the red Izuku was capable of.“Tell you what young man, I’ll tell you more about me, if you do the same” All Might had a scheming look to his eyes.
“I’ll start! When I’m in this ‘manlet’ form, my name is Toshinori”
Izuku’s eyes were wide. He considered this before turning to Greed.
“I know you can read my thoughts sometimes, but I need you to scan him. See how much we can heal of him with Charity”
All Might’s eyes widened as Izuku turned to him.
“If it’s okay with you, my clone here named Greed can scan you by touching you. It’ll let us know how bad you’re damaged, as well as confirming that you are All Might.”All Might looked uncomfortable, before he spoke.“You know it's illegal to use your quirk on another person, especially in public. I guess I can let you scan me, if you want. It’s non-intrusive or damaging right? That's easily looked over by the law. I don't think I can allow you to heal me” All Might was rambling, but suddenly squared his shoulders. “I may only have 2.5 hours as All Might but I am still the Symbol of Peace, and a pro hero!”Izuku let out an annoyed sigh, before nodding.“I don't even know if we can heal you. But I’m pretty sure we can. If your injuries are bad enough, maybe we can get a doctor to oversee us?”All Might was skeptical.
“Young man this injury is old. It has been seen by every pro healer and doctor in this country and across the world. There is nothing anyone can do. I will allow a scan. Nothing else.” he turned his head to the side like a petulant child, sill laying in the sand having Charity hover over him.Izuku let out a kind of annoyed trumpet noise. He sounded like he was honking.
“Fine! But if I can heal you we are going to a doctor to do it!!”All Might narrowed his eyes, but nodded nonetheless. Greed approached the top hero and gently grabbed the larger man’s hand. The response was instant, Greed ripped his hand and let out a hiss.“How are you alive?!” Greed demanded.All Might just kinda shrugged, it looked funny, almost like he was making a snow angel out of sand.With a disgusted scoff, Greed stalked over to Izuku. With an apologetic look, the Trait laid his hand onto Izuku’s face.Yea, that was bad.
The information slammed into Izuku’s head faster than he could comprehend, though as he slowly went through what he had gathered from greed, his stomach dropped.The man in front of his was a loosely held together bag of skin, honestly he should be dead. His stomach had been completely removed, Irreparable damage done to parts of his kidneys, and was missing one of his lungs. It was kinda gross in reality. His ribs were more metal than bone with all the screws holding him together. It looked as though someone put his abdomen through a blender on puree.Izuku opened his eyes.“You’re All Might. Quirk name unknown, though it allows for the storage and use of massive amounts of energy. Something about this quirk isn't right though. You're in your mid-forties. There is a lot more information here, but that is more than enough to prove your identity to me.”Izuku finally took a breath.“So let's talk.”*Toshinori wasn't really sure what was so interesting about the child that stood before him. His quirk seemed cool enough, being able to make sentient copies of yourself is no small feat. On top of that each clone had separate quirks? That was cool as hell! And strong as hell!If only he could just… talk instead of this little game he had to play with the boy. But Toshinori had never been the best at conversing, and this game had gotten the boy’s attention.“Before we start” Midoriya turned to greed.
“We can heal the small damage right? Just stuff from the last fight?” greed nodded at this, so Izuku turned to Charity.“Could you please heal-?”
“You don't even have to ask” Charity cut him off as a gentle red glow spread from his hands.
Charity brought his glowing hands down on the now squirming Toshinori. He specifically said he didn't want to be healed, but if he was offering to heal the scrapes only there wasn't an issue right??
The feeling of having his skin stitched back together against his body’s will was a feeling he would never get used to. As the red glow faded, Charity let a smile and started to dissolve.Izuku let out a gasp, stumbling, though Greed caught him.Toshinori slowly sat up, testing his new healed body. He felt better than he had in months, even the ever present aching in his chest lowered to some amount. And that was just one clone!As the pain slipped away from the man, he realized the weight of the deal he just made.
What if the boy asked about his quirk?
Toshinori truly was an idiot sometimes. Apparently when in pain is a major one of those times.With a sigh, Toshinori realized he wouldn't be getting out of here any time soon. The villain he had been fighting had been launched off into the ocean, and he had notified off shore police to pick him up. Hopefully that went okay, Muscular- as the villain liked to call himself- was able to take a hit from him at 100% power and barely stumble, let alone take damage. It was a tough battle, to say the least. On top of that he was out of time...Toshinori took a deep breath and stood up to look through the pile of trash that littered the beach. Maybe he should start easy.“So…” Charisma is really hard in his true form “what are you doing on... where are we, a landfill? What are you doing here?”Izuku shifted uncomfortably. Well, might as well get to their little game, if he backed out now Greed would kill him. Well, he physically couldn't, but the trait would find a way.
“Training to get into U.A” Izuku all but mumbled out. “Who was that villain?”“That was a man named muscular. You may remember him, he was responsible for the deaths of the water hose duo…” Toshinori sounded uncomfortable about this fact. Silence stretched between the two before Toshinori suddenly spoke up-“My turn” the man brightened at being able to change the subject. “How old are you young man?”
Izuku just kinda looked at him.
“Ah wait….”
“Yea I’m applying for U.A”
“Right…”“Okay! What about this! Explain your quirk to me!” Toshinori looked proud of himself and stood in a faux heroic pose, hands on his hips with his chest puffed out as if he had done something amazing by asking that question.Izuku sighed.
“It's not a short explanation, so I’m gonna have to ask something big in return.”
Toshinori didn't move, though Izuku could see the sweat drip at that.
“Alright…”
“My quirk is called Fragment. I can separate individual personality traits and copy them into separate clone bodies of myself. The issue is, if I copy a personality trait, it’s like I lose the ability to feel that emotion until I recombine with them. Each trait has its own quirk though, so it in all honesty is more powerful than I deserve” Izuku looked down at the self-deprecation, but continued on anyway. “The quirk doctor realized that what I could summon could be named under the names of the seven deadly sins and holy virtues. But I just keep finding more to summon.”
Izuku made eye contact with the now shocked looking Toshinori.
“The more traits I summon, the stronger I am, but I slowly become more and more and more sociopathic…” Izuku cleared his throat.
“That doesn't mean there aren't bright sides though… I guess. The traits have the habit of calling me Alpha, I guess in reference to the fact that I control them. It’s kinda awkward sometimes, but my quirk makes it so only a few traits can use their quirks on me, and that I can command them to do things. They can't just outright attack me. So that's good.”
Izuku shrugged.
“That's about it… Oh! And depending on how much that trait affects me, that's how strong the trait is. Greed here-” Izuku gestured to Greed “-is a lot more powerful than Pride, but he does not have an offensive quirk.”Izuku looked at Toshinori, giving him a moment to comprehend all that he had just said.Finally Toshinori met his eye.
“That is a truly powerful and versatile quirk son… To be able to create clones with independent minds and quirks and use them to your advantage? Truly amazing!” Toshinori looked pumped.
“As long as you don't overdo it, you could use your quirk for amazing things. Before I let you ask your question though could you do me a favor and answer a few more questions about your quirk?”
Izuku nodded.
“Is there a limit on how many you can create, is it hard to create them??? Oh! And what happens if the clone dies?”Izuku’s eyes narrowed, though he answered anyways.“It takes a lot of energy to summon a trait, I can manage maybe ten a day. There are a couple i can summon that boost my energy, so it's technically closer to 30ish. If a trait dies, like Charity just did, they are returned to me and I can't summon them for a while. It depends on the trait but most are around a ten hour wait until I can re-summon. If I pass out or run out of energy, they are recombined with me automatically, like with the slime villain. Then there is no wait when i get my energy back.
And before you ask when I get them back I get a small boost in energy, maybe a tenth of what i use to summon them”Toshinori’s mouth hung open like a fish.
“Charity died?!”
Izuku sighed.
“That's more than one question…”
Realization dawned over Toshinori that, yes, they were still playing the game.“Lemme ask one for Greed. What is your quirk named?”Toshinori looked annoyed but chose compliance rather than to fight it. Nurture a good relationship and all that, maybe he can keep this kid around. With how Izuku was now it wasn’t likely he would turn to villainy, but if he did he would be one hell of an opponent. In the best case situation he would be okay, but on the off chance Toshinori wanted to keep an eye on him.
With that as the current situation though, He didn't want to give the kid too much information, just on the off chance.“My quirk is named One for All. It's more or less an average strength/speed augmentation times 1000. It allows me to stockpile energy into different parts of my body.”Izuku was nodding along as Toshinori spoke, seeming to accept the watered down version of his quirk. With a short pause, Izuku followed by saying-“Charity used all the energy I used to summon him. He didn't use any energy from me. He tried to heal you too much and kinda dissipated. My turn.”“Is the person who did that to you dead?”The kid knew how to cut right into what Toshinori didn’t want to talk about, but in the name of the game he was going to answer.“No.” Toshinori was curt.“Oh…”“Yea…”“…”Toshinori decided to just dive right into the hard stuff, if the kid was going to.“Why did you need to ask me if you could be a hero? Your quirk is very powerful and you seem to have a good head on your shoulders… Anyone looking would be able to tell that you would be an amazing hero…”At this Izuku physically flinched. Taking a moment to pull his answer together, Izuku let out a shuddering breath.“I’ve done some bad things. My quirk makes me lose all morals if I use too much at once...“
His eyes suddenly shifted to Toshinori, full of anger. “It's a powerful quirk that makes me more of a monster the more I use it. The only person who saw me use it at my full potential said h-he’d kill me if he h-had to.” he was starting to cry. “If I u-used it at its full potential” he took a deep breath. “My quirk would have killed you. Using you for energy, my quirk would kill as many people as it could before I died.” Izuku let that set in while he tried to regain control over himself.“There are traits that I will never use again. Some that I can summon cannot be used… ever again.”Izuku let his rant fall off as he lost speed, the two falling into an uneasy quiet.“T-that being said All Might” Toshinori really didn't like how broken his voice sounded.
“If I am as strong as you say… why won’t you let me heal you” his eyes widened.“Young man you just tried to heal me… it killed that version of you!”Izuku’s watery eyes met the strange eyes of the number one hero.“I have two healing quirks. Charity is my weakest. At most he can heal a few broken bones by himself.” Making heavy eye contact, Izuku continued.“My other healing quirk… it can fix anything but death.”Toshinori’s eyes went wide.“Do you understand what I’m saying Toshinori” Izuku put emphasis on the man’s name.“I can heal you. Make you into the hero you used to be.”He extended his hand to the older man.“All you trust me...”Toshinori was at a loss for words. To be fair, how do you respond to a child offering to heal what every doctor in japan couldn’t? Seeing his hesitation Izuku pushed just a little harder.“Let me heal you. I can’t leave my hero suffering. I’m going to be a hero, and that means helping people. Even the invincible number one hero...” Izuku’s emerald eyes shone.“I can fix you All Might!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You know that this is a very strange request, right?” Toshinori sighed as his friend’s voice shot disapproval over the phone.“Yes Naomasa, I do understand that. But, as I said, this is a strange situation!” Toshinori tried to reign in his emotion with an annoyed sigh.
“He says he can fix me, and I believe him…”“He is a child Toshinori!”“We both know strong quirks don't wait for adulthood.”Detective Naomasa made a strangled annoyed sound. He loved Toshinori, he really did, but damn did he old friend know how to push his buttons. Getting a child to practice his quirk on him legally. That would be a stretch, no matter how much paperwork they did.Of course, that doesn't mean that they can’t; just that it would be difficult. If Toshinori was dumb enough to tell a child about his condition, who then offered to heal him? Hell, it just might be crazy enough to work.“One condition…” Toshinori perked at his friends defeated voice. Victory!“Yes of course!” he had his pep back in his bellowing.
“You have to be overseen by recovery girl before, during, and after. She will have all the necessary paperwork. Also, gonna need parental approval, and you probably shouldn't pull the All Might card with them.” Naomasa sounded defeated, but it was a false victory for Toshinori. Have fun with recovery girl, and good luck with the parents Toshi!Silence fell over the line.“Do we have to?” Toshinori was sounding childish again…Naomasa let out a long-suffering sigh.
“This will be hard enough with these conditions. Being overseen by a professional hero who focuses in healing, Recovery Girl, should help us on the legal front for the most part. But this boy is still a minor. Without parental consent this could go very, very, very wrong for us. Last thing we want to do is open a lawsuit from you being healed. So yes Toshi, we have to”There was the sound of hissing over the line before the booming voice of All Might called over the receiver.
“Then Consider It Done Good Friend!!”Naomasa swears, Toshinori will be the death of him… if the idiot doesn't get himself killed first.He let out a collective prayer that this kid was the real deal.*The last week had been a strange one for Izuku. All Might dropped out of nowhere while he was training, they talked, he promised to heal him then the man gave him his phone number and left?On the bright side the rest of the week had been relatively normal. The muscley guy All Might punched into the sea was never found, he kept up his training and the number one hero in all of Japan keeps texting him about cute puppies he finds on patrols???Greed would always grumble about that. He's more a cat person, but Wrath and Pride loved dogs, and therefore loved All Might for being a steady supply of puppies.As for training, Izuku developed a base team to train with: Sloth, Pride, and Greed. With the help of Sloth, training was going incredibly well. Not having to rest was amazing, truly. The only issue is that Izuku couldn't use charity to heal himself, as that would negate all muscle gained. At this point he was able to run a 5k and stay running the entire time without the help of any traits. A far cry from where he was 20 days ago when he started. But while he was progressing faster physically than he should have been able to, he still hadn't really made any progress with his quirk.Because of an increased base stamina in him, his traits all received little boosts the power of their quirks. For example, before, Pride could give an all-over body enhancement of about 20% base strength, now it was around 23%. Not the biggest improvement in the world, but a lot considering none of that was from quirk training. Occasionally he would summon other traits to let them practice their quirks, but as any physical training didn't really affect them, it had little effect. The only real training his clones were doing was that of Wrath and Lust, the two that had quirks that could only be used on others and needed to practice using it on multiple targets at once. Wrath was having wonderful progress, while Lust not so much. It made sense, because of how Izuku was Lust wasn’t as powerful as Wrath.Honestly, he didn't want Lust to get too much stronger, their quirk was… problematic. Lust was a bright Pink version of Izuku, 5th place in concern to strength of his sins. Lust quirk was similar to that of Midnight, the 18+ hero. Though, where Midnight created a mist that was able to knock out others, Lust did it mentally. Well, Lust couldn't knock someone out, but their quirk allowed for their target to start to become fatigued. The quirk negated the pain of the target, which was the good part, but it also made the target sluggish and tired, they didn't respond to stimuli as fast as they should have. Kinda…. Problematic, for lack of a better word.Izuku tried to put the thoughts of what that quirk could do in the hands of someone with a lack of morals out of mind as he continued his run. He was almost back to Dagoba beach, and honestly, he was really proud of the pure amount of trash he had removed from the beach. He had removed maybe a 5th of the trash in one month. Summer break had just started, and he had 3 months to clean the beach entirely. If he sped up, especially considering he is getting stronger, he should be able to finish cleaning the beach with maybe 3 or 4 days before the opening exam for U.A.As the remaining trash piles of Dagoba Beach came into view, Izuku stopped running. Taking a long drink from his water bottle, he began to summon Sloth so that he could quickly rest before getting back to cleaning at 100% efficiency.Right as the green light of his quirk engulfed his body, he got a text.
Probably another dog picture from All Might. I should probably summon Wrath and Pride so they can look over it while I’m resting. I need pride anyways-As the amorphous glob of stuff separated from Izuku’s back, beginning to form the body of Sloth, Izuku pulled out his phone.
Izuku my boy! I just got word from my friend in the police force that we can have you attempt to heal me. All we need to do is be overseen during the operation, but i have that covered. Well, we also need one of your parents to sign off, but then we are good! - All Manlet
Why Toshinori had put his name into Izuku’s phone as all-Manlet Izuku may never know, but that was far from the point. Consent from his mother… oh boy. That would be fun.
Are you sure you want to do this young man? - All Manlet
Izuku shuddered at the thought of having to explain how he was going to heal someone to his mother before responding.
Toshinori I want to be a hero. I think a good first step would be to heal you. Let's do this! - Izuku Midoriya
*“Absolutely NOT!” Inko Midoriya was a usually quiet and almost meek woman, but when she put her foot down, it left an imprint in the crust of the earth.“Mom I-”“No. I already know why you're asking me this, and I won't let you. If it was something small they would go somewhere else or you chould justusecharityandicantbeliveyouthinkthisisagoodidea-”“Mom…”“Itssoirresponableandcouldgoreallybadandwhatifitdoesntworkand-”“MOM”Inko Midoriya stopped rambling and looked at her son with that angry and disappointed look only mothers can pull off.Izuku took a deep breath.
“I can let you meet the man, let you see that I’m the only one that can fix him. He's been everywhere, and I know that Selflessness can do this. We will be looked over by pro hero and doctor Recovery Girl.” Tears began to fill his eyes. “I… I can be a hero too mom, and I need to make up for everything else” Inko’s eyes began to mist as well. “if I can heal even just one person, I can make up for what happened at the park… “ Izuku was openly crying now.“All I need is for you to sign this, and I can start to be a person.”“I don't have to be a villain anymore mom…”
And Inko broke.Her son, her beautiful son had made mistakes before he knew what he was doing. He deserved to be looked over, taught and trained to control his mind and quirk. Instead, because of one mistake he had been cast out by society. Even his best friend was calling him a villain. Her little boy was being broken.Maybe this was his chance to believe he could be more than what other people said.
Maybe this would be good for him.“You’re not a villain Izuku. You could never be.”
She wrapped her son in a tight hug, tears falling from mother and child alike.“Let me meet him. Let me meet him and then I'll tell you.”Izuku nodded.*It was nearly another week of training before Izuku could convince Toshinori that meeting his mother would be worth of it. Obviously not in his All Might form, but as the emaciated Toshinori form: his true form.
In this time his last year of middle school had ended, and it was time to shift into Training Mode. Healing Toshinori could be considered training, right? Speaking of Toshinori, the man was making his way to the beach more and more often as he ran out of superhero time, content to chat with Izuku and make sure he took proper breaks. When he learned what Sloth could do, the man looked close to tears. The idea that a quirk so powerful would go to an underling of an even more powerful quirk was astounding. In comparison the number one hero almost felt small, even if he could destroy the city with a single punch. Okay, that was a bit much, but he could destroy like, a few buildings. Maybe a block? Let’s not find out…Toshinori had been giving Izuku some tips on how to improve his training as well, much to Greed’s charagrin. But begrudgingly, the clone allowed for the more experienced man to allow for help. Taking Sloth into consideration, the man put more emphasis on endurance training before having to rest, in mix with pure muscle building. Izuku’s hand to hand class had ended a few weeks earlier, not really teaching much and the boy had yet to ask the hero for help in that department.But here they were, the most powerful man in all of Japan, arguably all the world, shaking at the thought of meeting Izuku Midoriya’s mother, a woman named Inko.“Come on Toshi, we can't just stand outside my door all day.” Oh yea, Toshi, that was something that happened as well. Toshinori had met up with a training Izuku and spotted Lust. Having been the first time seeing this particular trait, he introduced himself. Lust was… different than Izuku… Bubbly and extremely affectionate, both physical and not. Lust had immediately called him Toshi, and it just kinda stuck between them. Kinda like how Toshi refused to let go of the fact Izuku had called fucking All Might a manlet.
“Just have tea and we can go meet with recovery girl to cement the rest of the plan.” Even with Izuku’s voice being flat, there was an undercurrent of nervousness in his voice. If his mom said no, he wouldn't be able to do this. Healing this man was important, he couldn't simply just leave this man in pain, All Might or not. He was going to be a hero goddamnit, not a person playing hero and ignoring those who are truly in pain. Toshinori deserved this, Izuku needed this.Toshinori was staring at the door as if Satan lay on the other side. Truth be told he had all but given up on his condition, going as far as to start hunting down the next holder of One for All. but this situation could be good. He was hopeful for the first time in years.Izuku decided to bite the bullet, and with a sigh unlocked his door.
“Mom! I've got him with me-” Inko Midoriya shot to the door with the speed of a cheetah.But even with the excitement, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a truly suffering man. He was at least 7 feet tall but stood with a horrifically slouched posture. His face was sunken in and skeletal, with long spindly limbs that cried of mistreatment. It was obvious that this man didn't take care of himself enough, though maybe that was because of his condition?Gathering herself Inko straightened her posture and jutted forward her hand.
“Hello. I am Izuku’s mother.”
Meeting her hand Toshinori let out a low rumble.
“I am Toshinori”
Well aware that her son would watch every moment of her encounter, Inko tried to hurry things along.
“I made some tea. How about we get settled…”
Inko led the man to a western-style dining room, before taking a seat on the far side of the table. Toshinori sat as far away from the woman as possible, while Izuku sat in between the two.The silence was awkward before Inko broke the silence.“Izuku tells me you were injured a long time ago”
“Ah… yes, I was.”“Have you received treatment for it?”
Toshinori quirked an eyebrow at that question.
“Yes, I have, nowhere in the world where they able fix me 100%, though the immediate action was able to save my life”“Izuku told me you were attacked by a villain? But apparently I can't ask more about that….” Inko trailed off as Toshinori began to sweat.“Just… why have my son heal you? If everyone else cant, what makes you think that he can?”Now that through Toshinori for a loop. It was something he was considering himself in all honesty, what could a teenager do that all the medical world can't?Izuku said that she valued honesty…“Well… to be honest I don't really know. The more time I spend with Izuku the more amazing I realize he is, and with every new power he shows me of his quirk I’m starting to believe that he can make a difference. From the way I see it there is no harm. If he fails, I stay the way I am, if he succeeds… well, he succeeds. He won’t tell me the specifics, but he makes it sound like he won't have to suffer anything other than exhaustion. We would be under supervision of the best doctor this country has to offer and in all honesty?” Toshinori glanced to Izuku.“I want to believe that he can. This is probably the most incredible young man I have ever met, even without healing me. He makes me feel hope for the future.” Toshinori let out a humorless chuckle.
“And from he's told me, he needs this as much as I do, if not more.”Toshinori smiled, wide and with teeth. It would probably be more reassuring of he didn't look so skeletal.“If Izuku says he can heal me, he can heal me. Who am I to stop his passion? His first step into heroism is to heal someone from the brink of death sounds like a good start.”Inko smiled.*Inko wasn't happy that she wouldn't be able to accompany the pair to the session, but in the spirit of Toshinori’s privacy she agreed.She agreed, and recovery girl was willing.This was happening.Toshinori drove Izuku to where they would do this. It was with wide eyes, Izuku looked past the gates of U.A.“Toshi… why didn't you tell me we weRE DOING THIS AT U.A” Izuku’s voice rose to a scream as Toshinori just shrugged and handed him an I.D card.Toshinori still didn't answer as he led the child to the doors of U.A. Izuku was trying desperately not to panic as he followed to the… nurse’s office?! They were doing this in a school nurse's office?!!?Toshinori knocked before opening the door.
“Recovery girl, hello”
Izuku cast a glance to the small old woman and tried not to fanboy. The easiest way would be to summon greed, but he would most likely need the energy. He'd just have to deal.“Yes yes hello Toshinori,” her voice was dull, “And hello young man!” her voice sounded more lively as she addressed Izuku.“H-hi recovery girl…”The two heroes looked at Izuku, before sharing a glance. Recovery girl’s glance was this boy is gonna heal you and Toshinori’s was something more along the lines of give him a chance.“Well Midoriya, I’ve read what your quirk can do, but Toshinori said you already tried to heal him with one of your copies. What I’m trying to ask is how are you going to do this. You're being rather secretive young man.”Izuku looked like a deer in headlights.
“Um- I... “Izuku let out a nervous chuckle. “I'm going to have to get used to talking to famous people….” he muttered under his breath.
He cleared his throat.
“C-Charity is the w-weaker of the traits that can heal, I have one more… but I don't like using him too much. His name is Selflessness, there is a catch though….” he trailed off.The heroes didn't say anything, allowing the boy to continue.“S-Selflessness kinda… takes the damage of whoever he uses his quirk on…” Toshinori’s eyes widened while Recovery Girl gave him a squinty glare.“He… will die if he takes too much damage, but that should be about it…”Izuku suddenly squared his shoulders and looked Recovery Girl in the eyes.“If anything goes wrong you can help me, right?”Recovery Girl nodded.“Let's do this.”*Toshinori was laying down in a hospital bed, Recovery Girl and Izuku looking at each other intensely.Without a word, Izuku started glowing a forest Green. From behind him three forms began to form. There was Sloth, one Izuku was orange and the other was a golden color.
“This is Gluttony” Izuku gestured to the orange Izuku, “and this is Selflessness” he gestured to the golden Izuku.
“You already know Sloth, Toshi”“I thought you were only making Selflessness Midoriya?”“Sloth lets me regain stamina faster. Gluttony is basically a battery, he can give myself and my other summons energy that he stores by eating food. Gluttony is gonna power up Selflessness, and Sloth will help me be stronger faster afterwards.”“Is this who I think it is Alpha?” the gold Izuku spoke smoothly, his voice sounded like chiming bells.
“He’s hurt” Izuku was curt, almost emotionless. “We are going to heal him”
Selflessness had a serine look on his face as he glided over to Toshinori.
“Greed, power him up” Greed grunted in response.Selflessness was next to the bed as he started glowing slightly orange, a sign that Gluttony was using his quirk on him. Sloth was asleep in the corner.Selflessness set a hand on Toshinori’s arm, making direct contact with his skin and he started to glow bright gold. It was as if a mini-sun was formed in the center of the room as the light spread to Toshinori. The man began to gasp as a fish out of water, as selflessness began to shimmer.The light kept getting brighter, before Gluttony started to steam. With a puff of smoke, Gluttony was destroyed, reformed into Izuku.The golden light dimmed considerably.“Alpha I can't do this alone.” keeping physical contact with Toshinori, Selflessness turned to look Izuku in the eye.“Do you wish to heal him” the trait continued.
“Yes” Izuku’s voice was still flat.
“Will you carry the burden”
“Yes”
“Then you consent.”The room exploded into light, blinding all in the room. Toshinori let out a yelp, as Izuku screamed.Then the light disappeared.*Izuku woke up in a bed next to Toshinori. Recovery girl was fretting over him, seemingly muttering in anger. Then she noticed him awake.“You weren't kidding about him” she pointed to Sloth, who was peacefully asleep in the corner.
“From what I saw you didn't seem to take that much damage. You were hurt, I don't know exactly how bad though. Although, given what Sloth can do, I should be able to heal you in an hour or so. Let me go check on the only person that seems to be more self-destructive than you”She walked away from Izuku, leaving him to his thought. That was the first time he had used Selflessness in many years. The trait was still absurdly powerful. If he was the kind to attack others, he would be unstoppable. It was good to know that the trait would still be more than willing to help.Recovery Girl let out a gasp, jostling Izuku from his thoughts. Toshinori was waking up, as she started to scan him again.“What is it Recovery girl” Izuku asked in hope.“I may be wrong but….”Recovery girl froze as the second scan formed on a screen.“Young man… you re-grew his organs. His ribs are in perfect condition, he has a stomach and both lungs. He hasn't looked like this in ten years!”Izuku stiffened as the elderly woman rushed over to him.“Midoriya!”
Did… she have tears in her eyes?“He’s healed!”It was just then that it all went to hell. Izuku suddenly couldn't breath as his entire chest seemed to cave in on himself. Blood began to seep out of his mouth as his vision became tunneled. With a jolt, he felt Sloth re-enter his body… then the world slipped away...*There was the muted sound of conversation floating around him as Toshinori started to wake. Almost as soon as he his eyes creaked open, the sound stopped.With bleary eyes Toshinori say the small form of Recovery girl standing above him.“Well nice of you to join the party…” the woman’s sass was not appreciated.
“W-what happened?” The last thing Toshinori remembered was a bright yellow light… and then nothing.“The boy did what he could, and apparently that was returning you to perfect health Toshinori” Recovery girl sounded… uncomfortable, but there was an undercurrent of relief in her voice.Looking across the room, he could see why. Izuku’s mother had arrived, along with Nezu, the principal of U.A. and Naomasa, his detective friend. They were gathered around the other bed in the room which held none other than the chosen boy himself, who happened to be asleep now.He was… bleeding from his mouth?Following his line of sight, recovery girl quickly stated.“Something happened during the healing. He didn't tell us that it would hurt him...”
Inko Midoriya gave the pair a withering glare.“There were micro-tears across his diaphragm, his stomach nearly torn in half, bruising everywhere and his left lung collapsed.”Recovery girl looked at the hero.
“You were healed at his cost”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Two days have passed and Izuku still lay where he was left. They had moved him to a proper hospital, though he was still under the primary care of Recovery Girl. Healing was moving slow... her quirk relied on the stamina of the target, and in a case where the recipient of her healing was comatose her healing was made almost useless.Toshinori attempted to spend his time in the young boy’s room, but his mother was rather adamant about being in there alone. Thankfully she was surprisingly understanding about the fact that Izuku had failed to share the negative side effect healing him would have. She allowed him in there when she herself was unable to be present. U.A was covering his hospital bills, as he had been injured on campus under the supervision of not one but two employees.It was during the times that Inko Midoriya was visiting her son that Toshinori came to a halting realization. Toshi’s physical body was healed, his chest no longer ached, he no longer coughed up blood when over exerting himself… but his time limit as All Might had not returned to normal. He was still stuck at his 3-hour time limit per day… the bright side was he wasn't losing time anymore.He attempted to push himself past his 3 hours one day only to find that when he threw the final punch needed in that encounter, he had broken his arm.But he was better. The boy had done the impossible.Toshinori’s plans stayed in effect.Even if healed, he was going to continue to teach at U.A in search of a successor, while in debt to this boy. Maybe he could give him a recommendation…Toshi had successfully spent his three hours as All Might, and it was nearing midnight. After a good night’s sleep, he should be ready another day of heroism. For now, he would be traveling to see Izuku. When he walked in his hospital room however, he wasn't shown with the motionless form of the boy that he expected. Rather, there was Izuku peacefully sitting on the edge of his bed. The ventilator they had place had been removed, and he was currently in the process of slowly removing his IV.In a rush, Toshinori came into the room and put a stop to him.At the sound the boy’s eyes became wide, as he tried to pretend he wasn't just trying to do what Toshi had seen him clearly doing, but to little avail.“Y-You’re awake!” Toshinori was working fast, almost All Might fast, but only just below. He pressed the button on the bed to call for a nurse and had Inko on the phone in mere moments. As Toshinori began to speak, he saw it.Izuku coughed into his hand… there was blood.“Izuku woke up.” Toshinori hung up to continue his calls as a nurse came into the room. Seeing the boy awake, the nurse rushed off to find a doctor.This was going to be a long night.*Izuku woke with a struggle. There was something awful jammed down his throat and he started to gag. With a struggle, Izuku managed to remove the straps holding the device in place. With another held back gag, he started to pull the tube from his mouth. You would think from the accelerated heart beat and action someone would come in and look for him, but they didn’t. In fact, his heart beat didn’t really raise at all from his comatose state.With the tube successfully removed, Izuku took a moment to catch his breath, chasing away the taste of vomit.He could tell from the ventilator that he had been out for quite a while, though he didn’t feel as fatigued as they always described in shows. With a little effort he swung his legs to the side, moving to stand before he noticed that his IV was still in.Even he knew it would painful to remove an IV by himself. Though from Greed he knew not to rip it out, and began to slowly wiggle it out. When it became too painful, he would stop for a second to regain his breath, though right as he almost had it out the most unexpected thing happened.Toshinori walked into the room, eyes wide.Izuku tried to say some kind of greeting, but the cotton mouth was real and all he managed was a croak.Toshi was on the phone, as a nurse walked in. with wide eyes the man ran out and went to hunt down a doctor.Finally, after the third call, Toshinori turned his attention to Izuku, who was still sat on the bed.“Hey… you're probably thirsty right”Izuku didn't notice until he said it, but yes. He was very, very thirsty. Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out yet again, so he nodded.Toshinori approached with a cup, holding it to Izuku’s lips to let him drink.“Young man…” Toshi spoke as the kid drank “Not telling us that this procedure could hurt you was very, very, very irresponsible”He gave Izuku a look, a disappointing look that only someone like the number one hero could pull off.“Y-you would have said no” Izuku all but croaked, the water was helping some but not enough to make him sound normal.“I'm sorry”At this Toshinori frowned, the boy had in fact known that this was a possible side effect yet went along with it anyways. Either incredibly stupid or incredibly generous, and it was dangerous regardless.“You mother barely allowed me in this room…” at this Izuku snorted“I think you could take her Toshi”Toshinori laughed.“Have you seen your mother? She takes mama bear to a whole ‘nother level! She could kill me if I thought too hard in your direction” he let out through hearty guffaws. “I could never take that!”The pair got a few laughs in before the doctor finally made it into the room, immediately kicking Toshinori out to do a thorough check on Izuku.
Looks like it would take more than that to ruin Izuku’s sense of humor.
*They released Izuku the following day. His official state was “recovering”, though with help from Recovery girl in conjunction with Sloth he was all but healed that night. There was only issue that remained. The damage to his stomach.No matter what they tried there would be no way to fix that completely. Izuku knew he could heal it with Selflessness, Recovery girl even brought up that point in private though the boy seemed against the idea.“The injury is mostly harmless, I can still eat whatever I want I’m just going to spit up some blood every now and then right?”With hesitant eyes recovery girl nodded.“I'd like to keep this injury. A reminder to not act so hastily in the future” Izuku’s eyes were set, obviously unwilling to change.“Maybe a sign to trust some heroes more” izuku continued with a smile.“It shouldn't be harmful… and we can't force you to heal yourself….” recovery girl relented rather quickly. “It’s your choice to keep this injury or not, though by all accounts it would be better for you to be healed.”And thus, his trip to recovery girl was over.Inko was keeping a close eye on Midoriya, hardly letting him out of her sight if she could help it, much to Izuku’s annoyance.What did help was Toshinori dropping in from time to time. He was always text Inko beforehand to make sure it was okay; the pair having traded numbers in the hospital in case something happened and Toshinori needed to call Inko.All in all, Inko’s anger was not nearly what the pair expected. She was understandably upset with Toshinori for putting the weight of his injury on Izuku, though from extensive talks with both Toshi and Izuku, she quickly saw that Izuku was all but forcing the older man to be a part of this. The reason Izuku was so determined however, evaded her. But to be honest, she didn't care about the why that much, her baby was safe and healthy and that was enough for her… well, except that he kept coughing blood.From the reports that was due to intensive internal damage that they couldn't heal, though Izuku could apparently heal himself. Inko had tried to convince him, but upon realizing how harmless the injury truly was she relented. In all honesty it was more of an annoyance, so she allowed him to heal it at his own rate. She loved Izuku, she really did, but he could be so stubborn sometimes.All was fine until one day when Toshinori stopped by to visit the Midoriya’s, when Izuku broke the uneasy peace.“The U.A finals are in about a month and a half”Inko frowned and Toshinori looked up in surprise.“Izuku are you sure you still want to go-”“Yes mom. I'm sure.”Silence fell over the three, until again Izuku broke it.“I was waiting until Toshinori visited, I want to ask you a favor…” Izuku all but mumbled. Toshinori’s eyes got even wider, if possible.“Of course, young Izuku, after what you did for me, anything you want. I was actually thinking about this; how would you feel if I-”“Would you train me!” Izuku cut off the man with a shout.The group fell into silence as Izuku coughed up blood into a napkin.Now it could be said that Inko didn't trust Toshinori, in fact, didn't even like him. That, however, would have been before he made repeated trips to make sure that her child was okay, both mentally and physically. She had seen Izuku break into tears more than once just to have the man comfort him while she pretended not to notice. For lack of a better option, Toshinori was a good influence on her kid... maybe a neutral influence?He wasn't bad for Izuku. And so Inko Midoriya made up her mind. Before the man could respond she broke into the conversation.“It's been awhile since you got out of the hospital…” she seemed to muse out loud, pretending to consider.“If you're going to continue to train, we are going to make a plan for you, no more of this doing whatever seems fit young man” she gave Izuku a stern look, though the boy looked like she just gave him the world.“MOM SAID YES TOSHI, NOW YOU HAVE TO!” the boy’s massive eyes targeted onto the sputtering Toshinori.“I… Can do that young man…”“YES!!!”*If Izuku’s last training regimen had been difficult, this one was hell.The All-American Prepare to Dream! Exercise regiment was honestly the deepest level of hell. Toshinori had adapted Izuku’s original training plan to include more strength building, as well as getting him into another hand-to-hand class now that he was out of school. He would leave the house at 6 am and not come back until almost 5. It was hell.As if to top it off, for the majority of his exercises, All Might had banned his quirk. He did allow Sloth, though only while weight lifting, never during endurance training.“If I use Pride, I should be able to lift more. That would push my muscles forcing them above what they can do, and because of how Muscle training works it should allow to re-creation of muscle fiber faster. Making me stronger faster!”At his desperate plea Toshinori just laughed.“Well young man you certainly did your research! But the issue with that is-” Toshinori suddenly morphed into his muscled form “- that would help you bulk up larger! We are going for more lean muscle rather than a massive muscled form! Due to your stature a larger form would only hamper your mobility!!” All Might let out a laugh, still muscled.God, All Might was loud.Taking this as a chance to take a short break, Izuku decided to try to distract his now-Mentor.“You know… we haven’t talked about the results of me healing you” All Might morphed back into his skeletal form in surprise.“It’s pretty obvious I didn’t do the whole job… you still transform back and forth between your forms. If you were totally healed, you would just stay muscly…” Izuku looked almost… forlorn?Toshinori sighed.“Ah…”Izuku continued-“I mean, you don’t cough up blood anymore, which is good! And your gaining a little weight in your true form but… you’re not the same as you were before...” Izuku trailed off.“You are right Young Izuku.” The boy in question looked up to the number one hero in surprise.“I am not back to what I was before. While you healed all the physical damage done to my body, we believe there was irreparable damage done to my quirk…”Toshinori suddenly stooped down to Izuku’s height and faster than the boy could register pulled him into a hug.“You may not have gotten me perfect, but my life is so much better now. I have a limit of 3 hours. I’m not losing any more time. I’m comfortable now. What you did can never be replaced, and I am forever grateful” as quick as the hug started, the man released Izuku and shifted to the muscled form of All Might.“That being said, the best way I can show my gratitude is by doing what we promised! I will get you into peak physical condition young man!”
Oh shit
And so the training continued.*The U.A exam was two weeks away. Two. weeks! If Izuku wasn't so nervous he would say he was excited. Training had ramped down just the slightest amount. Yet again he had gone through another hand-to-hand class. This one had been more intermediate, though only lasted about a month. If he had more time, he would have started to take martial arts, though self-defense and basic hand-to-hand had been invaluable.But as life decided to so often do, it shit directly on Izuku’s dreams.He had two, fucking 2, trash piles left on the beach and was lugging one of the last refrigerators to All Might’s truck when out of nowhere there was the sound of shifting trash.If the training with Toshinori had taught him anything it was situational awareness, as the man had decided a few weeks back to start randomly throwing small bits of trash at Izuku when he seemed too out of focus. They had started studying while exercising, and by that he meant All Might had decided and Izuku had to live with it.Dropping the fridge (god how his strength had grown recently) Izuku whipped around to see something straight out of his nightmares.In the clearing of the beach there was a dark puddle that was wiggling.
No fucking way!
In a panic, Izuku summoned traits as he watched none other than the Sludge Villain begin to take form ahead of him.The Sludge Villain had learned something very interesting in prison. 1. They underestimated a man made of slime. 2, he could drop to near flat at the cost of his sight. In practical uses, that meant he could slide his entire body underneath doors and though drains, but it required his eye to become slime.And so, what had once been man had escaped from his containment. Of course, his first thoughts were that of revenge, though even he wasn't dumb enough to go after the number one hero in japan. The boy that had distracted him however… that was a good skin suit if he were to rejoin the land of the free.It had been almost luck as the escapee passed through a landfill that the boy with the unruly green hair had been dropping off trash. And the slime wasn't one to overlook good fortune!“You…. You were the one responsible for my capture” the slime rumbled in a threatening tone. “I can’t hurt All Might, you however---” The slime let his sentence trail off as he lunged at the teenager.What he failed to notice was how different this kid looked now.No longer did the kid look meek and scrawny, rather he had his head held high, his shoulders squared and was standing in a defensive pose.And not to mention those behind him.Behind the green haired boy stood 4 more of himself, all in a rainbow of color.As the slime rushed, Izuku began to glow purple, a sign of Pride overclocking his body.“Lust! Slow him down!” Izuku called out as he dodged left. The slime continued his trajectory as he slammed into the maroon clone.With a puff of smoke and steam, Wrath was re-combined with Izuku. Izuku spat a mouthful of blood into the sand.“Pride overclock me! If anyone else gets targeted shift to them but I have priority”The slime rushed him again but had not taken his speed into account as Izuku easily dodged all his lunges for the small boy’s form. The slime was a disadvantage in an open field, and all that training along with Pride’s speed increase made him almost untouchable.“Greed! get Toshi!”Izuku could see the effects of Lust taking effect on the slime monster as his eyes began to look slightly glazed as he continued his assault.To be honest, Izuku didn't have much of a plan here. He only had a few traits that could even affect the slime, and if greed was to be believed there were very few ways he could hurt the slime himself.At this point it was just hold on until Toshinori arrived as backup…Unfortunately, the slime was more intelligent than the boy gave him credit for. The slime had encircled him and was about to close in on him when he noticed.Reacting rather than thinking, Izuku jumped.Pride had done something because instead of hopping, the boy was launched no less than 10 feet into the air. Landing in a roll, the boy put more space in between the two again as the slime continued his assault.There was a booming sound as All Might landed in the sand not 10 meters away from where the boy fought the slime.This was All Might, not Toshinori, and the Villain’s eyes ran wide as he took in the angered look on the hero’s face.Then, as both men tried to understand what was happening, the slime began to… sink into the sand? His eyes and mouth became sludge as he became a thin mucus and slipped beneath the sand.With a wildly whipping head, Izuku spotted a dark spot under the sand.“All Might he’s under the sand! He can make himself into only sludge!”But the slime was already gone.*All Might scoured the beach in search of the slime villain, though not before dialing Naomasa and handing the phone to Izuku.“Toshi?”“Detective Naomasa?There was a pause“Midoriya???”The confusion was clear over the line.“A-ah yes, see I was training with Toshi and longstory shortthevillainwhoattackedmecamebackandwecantFindhim?”There was a second of pause yet again as the detective attempted to decipher Izuku’s assault on his eardrums.“Where are you and was anyone hurt”“Dagoba municipal beach, and he only attacked me, so no one was hurt”There was a click as the detective hung up and Izuku looked at the phone in confusion. Luckily at that moment All Might made his way back in a massive leap, retrieving his phone from the boy.“Did he hang up on you”Izuku nodded“He does that”*It was what felt like hours before the police let him go, having to take a statement, and answer a million questions Izuku was more than tired. Talking to the police just seemed to have that effect on him.God this day sucked.It was supposed to be a more relaxed day to just continue to remove garbage off the beach, but instead he was attacked. On the bright side, that hand-to-hand finally came into play as he dodged like a pro. He finally began to realize why Pride isn’t allowed during most training, Pride was a crutch. If he used pride while learning, he would never learn how to properly push himself because pride would pick up his slack. He would work half as hard.Still dumb he couldn't lift weights with pride but as Toshinori said ‘there are no shortcuts’Pompous prick.He was probably born chiseled like a Greek god.Fucker-Izuku was ripped from his thoughts as there was the sound of an earth-shattering explosion from not too far away.
No fucking way...
Yes, fucking way.In an alley the slime villain had none other than Katsuki Bakugou cornered. Around the entrance to the alley stood a small crowd, along with four heroes trying to stop the villain.Izuku watched in horror as Bakugou’s explosions did nothing to slow the advancing slime. The slime wrapped around Bakugou and began to cover his eyes and mouth.The heroes just stood there and watched. One with a water quirk was attempting to put out the fires Bakugou had caused while yelling about needing a hero more suited for this villain
More suited?!
Bakugou lurched his back, trying desperately to get the slime to release from his mouth, to no avail.Something inside Izuku snapped.Before he knew what he was doing, Izuku had summoned his traits once again and he was running. Grabbing the stupid hat off the hero with the water quirk, Izuku had pride power him up as he launched it at the villain. The throw was true as the hardened fireman's hat hit the slime directly in the eye.Lust was at it as soon as he was summoned, full power of his quirk focused on the slime as he shot a not-so-subtle wink to the nearest camera.With pride and lust standing back, Izuku rushed forward while glowing purple and grabbed at Bakugou.Now if this had been mere months before, he probably wouldn’t have been able to release the boy from the villain’s grasp. But this wasn’t before; this was now, and he had worked for his strength.Using his strength, the power of pride and the sludge’s uncoordinated nature, Izuku grabbed Bakugou under the arms and pulled. It was strong enough as the boy was released and fell backwards away from the slime.As soon as they fell, the boys were back on their feet, Bakugou looking at Izuku who was focused on the slime.“Kaachan get out of here! The heroes can take care of him”At his voice the slime villain seemed to come out of his stupor and let out a screech.“YOU! AGAIN!” the slime yet again launched himself to the green haired boy, but much to both boy’s surprise, Bakugou let out a massive explosion at the advancing slime.This one seemed to be big enough as the offending appendage of slime retreated, burned.“This doesn’t make us fucking even Deku!” Bakugou let off another explosion at the slime as Deku dodged back.“Kaachan let the heroes deal with this!” Izuku pleaded but the boy remained determined as he let yet another explosion out at the sludge.Seeing his set jaw Izuku just kinda… stopped caringRolling his shoulder, Izuku summoned gluttony and greed.Slightly more apathetic than usual, Izuku ordered them“Get him to the hero's over there. Don't hurt him” the two traits gave him a strange look before Gluttony tackled Bakugou to the ground. Izuku blocked out the impending scuffle, though he didn't feel his traits reform with him so he took that as a good sign. Izuku coughed a mouthful of blood onto the ground of the alley.The slime seeing Bakugou stop firing took full advantage to come at Izuku full force.Izuku was expecting this though, and rolled under the slime, missing by the skin of his teeth.With the slime still distracted thanks to lust, Izuku did the only thing he could think to do.Poke the monster in its eyes.With a screech that could shatter windows, the slime’s eyes sank into his body.Now in pain and effectively blind, the pro heroes finally rushed in. even with 4 pro heroes, the blinded slime was still almost proving too much.Izuku had taken their advance as a chance to finally let someone who was getting paid to handle with this. Now that no one was in direct danger. Though that didn’t stop him from having pride power up some of the heroes.Honestly it wasn’t looking good, the water hero had been knocked out and the others were struggling. Izuku was still standing behind them, stunning the slime and powering up the heroes, but they were still losing.Until All Might appeared. The crowd roared as the number one hero defeated the slime with a single punch.It was amazing in reality. All might had just done in one second what 4 heroes couldn’t do at all.Izuku stood there shocked until one of the less injured heroes came up to him and dragged him to the police.Oh, the earful he got about interfering in hero work was something to go down in history.“That was extremely risky kid! Even if your quirk is powerful that doesn’t give you the right to interfere where you-”Maybe it was the stress of what just happened, maybe it was just a bad day, whatever the case Izuku had enough.“If I hadn’t stepped in, he would have died! You were all just sitting there, doing nothing watching a child die because your ‘quirks weren’t suited for the battle’. What would you have me do? Let Kaachan die because you were too incompetent to at least try to do your job?!” at this point Izuku was yelling at the hero death arms, though he didn’t care. What he didn’t notice were the news cameras focused on his trembling form as he screamed at the hero.“You would have let him die because you care more about failing then you do being a hero. None of you did anything so I did. A damn CHILD had to step in and do your job because you were going to let him die. I didn’t want to, but my body moved before my mind. I moved because he was in need of help and you did nothing.” with a shutter, Izuku suddenly cut off his monologue, as though aware what he was doing.“Oh god”By whatever love god had for the boy, it was this moment that All Might stepped intervened.“This boy has a true heroic spirit!” he cast a near unnoticeable glare to Izuku that had the boy shivering.“That being said! I met him earlier today when he was attacked by the Villain. This was actually the second time he had to defend himself against that villain! I apologize on his behalf to you Death Arms” All Might gave a bow to the hero in question, then turned to Izuku“I also extend my apologies to the young man here. You were put into an impossible situation in more than one case today due to my incompetence. I am truly sorry.” All Might kept in his bow as cameras began to flash.Suddenly straightening up, the hero directly spoke to the news camera.“That being said, this young man acted out of turn. This is unacceptable, so I will personally accompanying him with to the police station to let him give a statement! If you would please!”All Might suddenly scooped the boy up, parted a space in the crowd, and jumped.*Toshinori was angry at him, that much was clear as he, in his hero form, had adamantly defended him against the law. With a little help from Naomasa, they had managed to get him a slap on the wrists with a minor charge of unlicensed public quirk use.Toshi was walking Izuku home when he suddenly stopped.“Young man… is what you said true?”Izuku stopped to look at his mentor.“What do you mean Toshi?”“You said your body moved before your mind when you rushed in to save your friend.” Izuku flinched at the word ‘friend’ but he nodded.“There is one story common the beginning of almost all heroes. A moment of great stress where they stepped in where they had no right meddling for the greater good. They all said the same thing. Their bodies moved before their minds...Keep in mind I’m not rewarding you for your action but…”Toshinori paused.“My quirk, One for All, is special. It had been specially created to be passed on, stockpiling energy as the quirk is cultivated from one form to another. With every generation the quirk has gained in strength. When I began, I was quirkless… though my mentor saw something in me”Toshinori suddenly buffed up to his All Might form“Three hours a day is enough to be a good hero, but not enough to be the Symbol of Peace. Izuku Midoriya. I offer to you the unyielding power that is One for All, and to train you in my steed. As my successor. You have the spirit of a true hero. I now see in you what my mentor saw in me. You could do better things than I ever could. You, Midoriya, with all your strange traits and powerful quirk are my hope for the future. I wish to lay in you the quirk One for All, to carry on the title of Symbol of Peace!”Izuku’s eyes were wider than seemed imaginable. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes as he stuttered out.“Do… do you really think I’m worthy. I’m nothing special, I just stick my nose where it doesn’t belong and hope to help…”“That Izuku, is what makes a good hero. I said before, ‘You can be a hero too!’ but I failed to see what was right in front of me. You already are a hero young Midoriya. Will you accept One for All and my place as Symbol of Peace?”Toshinori purposely left no space for self-doubt in his question. If he let the kid question it, it would take years before he said yes…“Toshinori.” Izuku’s watery eyes made crippling contact with the older man.“I will accept the power and do my best”All Might smiled as Izuku began to weep.“I guess we will have to work on the crying” Toshinori said as he deflated to his smaller form and embraced the boy.“Shut up Toshi”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Toshi was some special kind of bastard, saying he would only give Izuku One for All after the beach was clean.Like it made sense, his body needing the final push to be able to handle the quirk. Toshi had even given Izuku some kind of bullshit about the quirk ripping him limb from limb if he was too weak, but he had been training all summer and there was no way that would be a problem any more. Greed reckoned that the only reason Toshinori would do this would be so he had some kind of sense of accomplishment before getting the quirk.
Which was bullshit.
But it wasn't Izuku’s choice, it was Toshinori’s, and he decided that the beach had to be cleaned before the quirk would be transferred.What Toshinori hadn't considered when he told the boy his plans was the pure fire he had lit under the young man.A string of curses a mile wide passed through Izuku’s mind as he slips out of his house, all of which somehow included All Might in them. Time had just passed 1 am when Izuku arrived Dagoba beach. The walk had been quiet, the appearance of not only the slime villain but the number one hero had put a temporary hold on any and all activity. The section of Mustafu that Izuku lived in was basically on a self-imposed curfew as he crept through the streets. Finally, the beach came into sight. The light of the moon reflected off the crashing waves, showing the two last towers of garbage.Izuku smiled as he went to the nearest one and started lugging a small refrigerator off the beach.
Toshi wants a clean beach… I’ll give him a damn clean beach.
*Toshinori woke up at 7am, rolling out of bed. He had been a hero for the better half of his life, and yet waking up bright and early still was a struggle. His lungs gave a slight contraction, as if trying to cough before remembering they didn't need to. Toshi used to wake up every day with a mouth full of blood, now could sleep peacefully, among other things. The kid had really worked some magic.Speaking of the kid, if Toshinori didn't hurry up he will be late in meeting him the first day after he roasted a hero on national television. Grabbing a quick shower and a pack of food, Toshinori began a short jog out of his home to the beach where he would meet Izuku. Brining food at this point was a matter of habit, as the stupid boy seemed determined to ruin his diet while spending all day training.Another thing that wouldn't have been possible if not for Izuku, Toshinori jogged the way to the beach. Before, any strenuous activity outside of all might form would lead to violently coughing up blood and a chest that threatened to collapse. He could do just about anything a normal person could nowadays. The kid was truly astonishing.What was more astonishing was the sight Toshinori arrived at the beach. Usually, he arrived a little after Izuku, who always made it a point to arrive early. This time, however, Izuku was asleep on the concrete walkway under a tower of trash.The...the beach was clean.
What the fuck Midoriya
He had cleaned the beach.
The day earlier when they were attacked and subsequently kicked off of their beach, there were two massive towers of trash left on the beach. Now, under 18 hours left, there was nothing on the beach, as well as only one pile of trash left even close to the area. Meaning the kid had walked one tower of trash to the nearest landfill.“What the fuck…” even though he tried to keep his thoughts internal, there was just slightly too much turmoil for that.As the harsh K sound slipped his lips, Izuku launched himself up and into his direction.
With a yell, the once sleeping boy had tackled Toshinori to the ground, arm pressing into the man’s throat.Izuku let out a yelp as he realized who he just tackled to the ground, and as he started to truly wake up. He spat a little blood onto the ground before yelling at the man.“Toshinori what the FUCK man, you scared me so much!!!”
The kid just… swore at him?“What do you mean what the fuck! You’re the one asleep under the trash WE were supposed to clean!”
Toshinori might not let it show, but Izuku scared the shit out of him like that.Izuku’s eyes seemed to clear a little from the tired-angry haze he was in as he realized what was going on.
“Oh. right.” Izuku gestured to the beach. “You said you would give me one for all when the beach was clean. So… I cleaned it”
Toshinori was going to slap this kid.“I can’t believe you Izuku.” Toshi bit out through a clenched jaw.
“Do you remember why I said we would have to wait.”Izuku seemed to think about this, before shaking his head no.Toshinori let out an annoyed scoff.
“Of course not.”
“You have to do community service hours for your little act yesterday”
Izuku’s eyes went wide as Toshi continued.
“Community service, overseen by a pro-hero. We were going to finish cleaning this beach and we should be able to put this to bed, keep it off your record even. But noooooo, you're too impatient.”“Fuck”“Yes young man. Fuck”*And that's how 14-year-old Izuku Midoriya found himself cleaning up trash off the side of his local highway under the watchful eye of either All Might or some other small time hero, serving his hours.Dumbass.Regardless, Toshinori held true to his word, and transferred the quirk to Izuku.“One for All is a special quirk. Young man! Are you ready to receive the power that is One for All!”Izuku lifted a fist, face set in determination.
“Yes!”In one smooth motion, All Might pulled out one of his long blond hairs and shoved it into the face of the boy.“Eat This!”
What
“What”Toshinori seemed to realize what he had just said as he suddenly reverted to his true form.“Ah... sorry. To transfer the power of One for All, you have to ingest the DNA of the previous holder of the quirk. It was either this or some blood, and this is so much less horrifying. So, Eat it!” Toshinori pushed the hair even closer to the slightly horrified boy.
Fuck it
Faster than most could even comprehend, Izuku had grabbed the long hair out of the man’s hand and shoved it down his throat with one big gulp.
Fighting the shudders, Izuku swallowed what seemed to be dozens of times before the long trail of hair was gone.“Congrats my boy! You did better than I did!”
Izuku let loose a large shutter before blurting out-
“What happens if someone eats your DNA and you don’t want them to get your quirk”“Then it doesn't transfer”“It's that easy?”“One for all is smart. And weird. It just kinda doesn't pass on unless you want it to Izuku. I don't really know how to describe it.”Toshinori shrugged as though describing the weather, while Izuku watched with wide eyes.“SO!” Toshinori transformed back into All Might “We have less than two weeks before the exams for U.A! It will take you a few hours to digest and incorporate my quirk, but what do you say we train until then!”Izuku lifted his arm in victory. Finally! Training with All Might in some way that wasn't bodybuilding!“Let’s spar!”Wait wha-All Might punched Izuku in the face.*
Admittedly, All Might was going beyond easy on the boy. He could kill the child in an instant, so it was fair to assume he wasn't going to go all out.
Though to Izuku’s credit, he was holding up pretty well.Using a multitude of traits, specifically Pride, Lust and Wrath. Izuku was almost able to keep up with All Might at 5%. Lust and Wrath were more distracting that he had given them credit for, having slowed his mind and his movements to the point to where Pride could power up Izuku to the point of almost keeping up with him. All Might was barely able to focus as he went at Izuku again and again. Finally, a plan came into effect in the man’s mind.
If I take out Wrath and Lust, I’ll crush him without hurting him really bad!
Still capped at 5%, All Might rushed off to his left, where Lust and Wrath stood, slowing him mentally and physically.
But Izuku seemed to have planned for this and landed a punch on his right side, putting the hero off balance enough to have him fall into the sand.All Might whipped himself back into a standing position. Izuku was surprisingly capable in a one on one fight.“All Might we need to take a break” the boy had blood spilling from his mouth.That made Toshi freeze, they were doing well, Izuku just won the first round!“Um… okay my boy.”
All Might shifted into his true form as he watched the traits behind the young boy begin to shimmer, then one by one slipped back into the boy.“Izuku are you okay”
The boy was shaking.“Toshi something is wrong…” his shaking was much worse up close, he looked like a leaf in a hard wind.
Toshinori was at a loss for words as the boy began to shake harder, letting out a small cry.“We need to get you to a hospital” Toshinori muttered to himself, laying his massive hand on the boy’s shoulder.As soon as his hand touched Izuku, he stopped shaking.Izuku opened his eyes.What were once a bright lovely green color were now a kaleidoscope of different colors, all seeming to shift and settling at random parts of his eyes.Luckily it wasn't affecting his entire eye, as his pupil and white were left untouched, but it was still unsettling.“I can hear them Toshi… I can hear them all”“Hear what young man?” Toshinori was getting more unsettled as time went on with the small boy.“The traits. I can hear them all. Apparently, Greed thinks we need to kick more”
We?
“Young man we need to get you to a doctor. Recovery girl at least. I think this is a side effect of One for al-”“Hey Toshi, can we spar again?” Izuku’s voice was cold, as though he was barely present. Blood dripped down his chin onto the sand below them.“What?”“Yea let’s spar” The boy took a step back and was engulfed in the green energy of fragment, as Greed, Pride, Wrath, Lust and Charity emerged from him.There was… something behind him. Another trait Toshi had not seen yet, it was a sort of light purple colored version of Izuku.“Izuku we need to get you to a hospita-” Toshinori was cut off.“After we spar Toshi!” if possible Izuku sounded even more emotionless.With that Izuku launched himself at the number one hero, who started to shift into the form of all Might. Izuku dashed forward and immediately led with a heavy right hook, something Toshi dodged with little issue. Toshinori was immediately put on the defense as Izuku attacked with a speed he shouldn't have, forcing the hero to use more of his quirk just to keep up. This had to be put to an end, and fast.Toshinori channeled a massive amount of energy into himself as he launched himself to Lust and Wrath again, but this time he was moving so fast that the average person wouldn't have been able to see him, much less keep up. But something was wrong with Izuku, as the boy launched ahead of the number one hero and stopped him with a solid hit to his gut.That was Toshinori using almost half of One for All, and the boy kept up with him. Then Toshinori noticed, even with lust effecting his mind. Izuku right leg was purple all the way up from his ankle, disappearing under the shorts the boy was wearing, he had broken his leg.He was using One for All.If it was possible for Toshinori could panic, he would be doing it now.On the bright side, that meant the hero could go all out and probably put a stop to this before Izuku got hurt himself more.Finally channeling 100% of one for all, the hero launched again to the traits, this time faster than the boy could keep up with and landed a solid hit on Lust. with a puff of smoke, the trait disappeared, and just like that, Toshinori could think straight again. Moving fast, he took out Wrath before being hit with what felt like a train.Toshinori was Launched across the beach, hundreds of meters from where he once stood.
With a BOOM the man crashed into the sand, leaving a crater. He had to end this now before the boy got in even more legal trouble. With a mighty jump, the man was back where the boy stood, now with a broken arm and a leg.“Izuku you’re getting hurt! Please! Stop”Izuku honest to god grinned.“But I’m not done yet Toshi”
Something was… wrong with his voice. It sounded as though there were two layers to it, one much lower pitched than the other.The kid tried to sweep his leg under the hero with a glowing green leg, but All Might easily dodged backwards. He had just broken his other leg.Damn Izuku and his stupid smart brain toshinori thought as he was showered in the sand that had been blown back by the pure speed of Izuku’s leg.Blinking out the sand, Toshinori saw something he really wished he didn't have to deal with. Izuku was standing next to Charity, who was using his quirk to heal him. The trait had just healed his left leg and started to move to the right when All Might stepped in.Toshinori began to hear sirens when he did the only thing he could think of.With just enough power to not seriously injure the boy, he swept forward with a massive uppercut.The boy tried to dodge, but even with Pride he was unable to dodge in time.With a crack, the boy’s head snapped back, knocking him unconscious.*Toshinori landed on U.A campus with a resounding BOOM, sounding as though a bomb went off in the courtyard. Still in the form of All Might, the man rushed to the nurse's office in seconds, cradling the boy in his arms.“Toshi what happe-”“He lost control. I gave him one for all and he lost control and tried to fight me and I need help and he needs help NOW” the man was panicking.It was almost impressive how fast he was speaking to the elderly woman.“Into the hospital bed. Now. you and him both.” Recovery girl kept her calm surprisingly well, considering.With a quick check over Toshinori, she almost let out a gasp.He had broken three ribs fighting a child?!The kid was in much worse condition. His right leg and arm were both purple, and through examination she could see that the bone underneath had been broken.It looked like his arm had been ran over by a truck, though it's not the worse she had ever seen. The bone was all localized, not chipping majorly in any way. Relatively easy fix.By All Might’s account, he had done that to himself fighting the hero, though he did admit to hitting the boy in the head.Surprisingly, Izuku’s jaw was only slightly bruised, though there was a slight concussion. She gave the man a slight scolding as she healed what she could on the boy, before moving onto the hero.“Toshinori… would you care to tell me how you broke your ribs on your right side”
Toshi’s eyes went wide
“He broke my ribs?!” came his incredulous voice.“You're telling me this tiny boy here broke the number one hero’s ribs in a fist fight?!” the elderly woman sounded even more unbelieving.“He landed a good hit on me, hard enough to break his arm… but I didn't think I got hurt from that at all! I mean I’m me!”
Recovery girl couldn't help but nod along.
“In your muscular form you could get hit by a truck and not even move, and he broke your ribs?!”They kept increasing in volume due to the ridiculousness that was being beaten up by a middle schooler, before said middle schooler began to shift.Without a word between the two, the elderly woman went to her phone and began to call in other teachers, just in case.“Toshi…” Izuku’s voice was tiny.“Why are we in recovery girl’s office again…”Toshinori was on his feet in seconds at the boy’s side.“you’re telling me you don’t remember anything that just happened…”Izuku squeezed his green eyes shut.“I… I remember us training, and then my head hurting really bad… but then nothing…”
Izuku looked down.
“Wait… why am I in casts… Mom is gonna kill me! And then you!” he looked at Toshi “And then me again!!!!”“Izuku.... Something happened. We need to talk about it.” completely ignoring the boy, Toshinori began to recount what happened.“Wait… describe my eyes again” Izuku was suddenly extremely serious.With a strange look Toshinori described them again.
“It looked like all color was sucked out of your eyes, and then refilled with random colors. It kinda looked like a kaleidoscope if you know what that is.”“Fucking goddamni-” Izuku began to curse as U.A teachers began to enter the room. He started to yell as he was getting more and more worked up, before something wrapped around his mouth.“Recovery girl told us it was an emergency. This can’t be it Toshinori” came the tired voice of a man wearing all black. He had something akin to a white scarf wrapped around his neck, stretching out to wrap around Izuku’s mouth.“Well… uhhhh” Toshi started as Izuku continued to scream into the scarf, much to everyone’s concern… and the tired man’s annoyance.“This young man broke All Might’s ribs, lost control of his quirk and was brought in.”That silenced everyone, even Izuku stopped screaming expletives as he looked at Toshinori with wide eyes.As the tired man unwrapped the boy, Izuku launched himself at Toshinori wrapping the man in a tight hug.“I’m so sorry I’m so sorry imsosorryimsosorryimso-” the boy began to spiral, hugging the man even tighter.Startled, the man hesitantly wrapped his arms around the boy.
“It’s okay Izuku”The boy was once again shuddering, muttering and sputtering like a mess.
The teachers that had arrived, Izuku recognized them as pro heroes midnight, blood king and present mic. He didn't recognize the tired man. Began to converse with one another and recovery girl until the door opened.“Hello Izuku Midoriya!” there was a cheery high-pitched voice that came through the door, though Izuku couldn't see the form from where he nestled in Toshi’s shoulder.“P-principal Nezu…” at this Izuku stopped muttering and perked up, though didn't detach from the man.Continuing as though he didn’t notice, Nezu said
“I’m sorry we haven’t met properly, as when I first saw you, you were unconscious!” the voice was still cheery, though had lost a lot of energy.
“I approved you to heal out very own Toshinori, and I’m sorry to see you here again in this way.” The principal turned to recovery girl.
“Is he okay to move, I’d like to continue this conversation in my office.” The teachers were aflame with muttering as they saw this boy. This tiny, weeping boy that had not only healed Toshinori, but had broken his ribs by accident continue to cling to the emaciated form of Toshinori.Recovery girl gave a hesitant nod, and the principal let out a strange clap before turning to the pair.“Izuku, would you mind accompanying me to my office?” the principal phrased this as a question, but it was an order to anyone paying any attention.Izuku simply held on tighter to Toshinori harder.“Toshinori, you can accompany us as well, if you please.” another order from the principal.At this Izuku turned to look the principal in the eyes and became shocked at what he saw.The principal… was an animal?The principal laughed and let another clap out as the boy’s eyes shone in confusion.“Let’s speak shall we?”Izuku slowly released the man and followed the white… dog? Rat? Bear? Mouse? Thing to the massive office of the principal.Taking a seat on a couch across from the rat thingy, Izuku began to spiral back into his panic of a few minutes ago.Toshinori took a seat next to the boy.“So! I looked into your files!” the principal’s voice was still cheery, though Izuku froze.
Toshinori looked concerned, though confused.“It seems that this episode is not the first time this had happened!” Toshinori’s eyes burned into the boy’s head, though the boy couldn’t see that from where he held his head in his hands.“I am wondering what you hope to do with this power. Toshinori said he was going to pass his quirk down to you, so i was wondering your plans for the future.”Izuku uncurled himself as he made eye contact with the mouse man.“I… I want to become a hero…” his voice was meek even to himself, Almost silent.“Do you have a plan on where you are going to go in your next years?”Oh my god.“Are… are you trying to recruit me to U.A???” Izuku was so confused.
The rat man let out another loud laugh and clap combo.
“Yes! You seem to have a lot of power, and we could help oversee your development over the next years.”Izuku wanted to laugh.
“I… I was going to apply to U.A next week anyways” Izuku lost his battle with himself as he let out a bitter laugh.“Great! Now, we should consider your options as to on-campus liv0”“Wait, principal Nezu. I want to take the entrance exam.”That gave everyone pause.Toshinori spoke for the first time.
“Young man, you fought me and held your own… you really don't need to take the entrance exams”Izuku’s eyes suddenly hardened.
“I… I need to be able to act by myself. What happened there wasn't me.”“Then who was that Izuku?” Toshinori asked.Izuku paused.“That was Empathy. He's the strongest trait I have…”“For being named Empathy he doesn't seem to be very empathetic…” Toshinori said under his breath.“He’s is the embodiment of my empathy Toshi. What you fought was what was left in me...” Izuku made eye contact with the hero.“That was me without empathy. The last time that happened, someone died.”*Regardless of what had happened in the day, Izuku seemed determined to continue training. For what reason, no one could really figure out. He deserved a rest and every person present had told him such. His mother all but abducted him off campus, but with some convincing of
If you bring me home I’ll just train there, and it's safer here where pro heros can oversee me she folded pretty fast. She was starting to get annoyed with how often she had to give the boy what he wanted, regardless of how dangerous it was.So there he sat, trying to call on the power of One for All, now overseen by Present Mic. the teacher had given him a little talk, though had seemed happy to help and just kinda chill on the campus rather than do paperwork.Toshinori had been taken back to the nurses office for a conversation that Izuku hoped desperately was going well for him.
It probably wasn't. It was then when it happened. Izuku felt something drain a fair amount of energy off of him. Maybe 1/50 what it took to summon a trait. A small amount, yes, but not unnoticeable. “What the hell” izuku muttered under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut.
He could feel the hero’s eyes on him as he searched his mind, trying to find what just sucked power from his quirk.He wasn't happy with what he found.Hello Alpha-
The overwhelming sense of the color green invaded his mind, as though all he could see was lime. “Arrhg- What the FUCK”
Izuku physically jumped back, falling onto the grass where he was previously sitting.
Now laying down, what he could only assume was greed continued to speak.Sorry. Let me tune that down a little
Just like that, his senses were back to normal though he could feel a touch of green in the back of his mind. “Woah little listener! Are you okay?” the hero sounded concerned.“Sorry sorry yes I'm just… going through some stuff”
Is that present mic?!
“Shut up greed!”“Greed?”
Hello Mic!
“AARRHHH” It took some work, though it was considerably easier when izuku convinced greed to be quiet. It turned out he could now speak with his traits in his mind.Which was cool and all.But the issue is that it took what felt like a half-summon to do it, and they could summon themselves to talk to him without his consent.Which was not cool.Present Mic still looked at him like he was crazy, though was considerably more understanding when Izuku finally summoned greed so he would shut up inside his head. The annoying fucker immediately started to talk to the hero, who looked shocked.It was also at this time when izuku figured out One for All, much to everyone's annoyance.
Toning out Mic and Greed, Izuku closed his eyes again and focused on strength.It wasn't long before he felt something in the back of his mind. Though it felt… familiar.
It felt like it was going from Fragment, so Izuku just kinda… moved on.
Something for a later date
A particularly loud noise coming from present mic set him back a little, though he quickly felt Greed’s interest so he went back to focusing on his quirks.
Telepathy with Greed was really useful sometimes.Then he felt it. He had been looking for One for All in the wrong place. Fragment was focused on him, his mind and his mental state so he had been searching his mind for One for All. that wasn't where it was at all. He felt a sort of heat from his core and began to feel it out.The moment his mental hand touched the warmth in his chest it was if he had been plugged into a nuclear power plant. Energy flowed through his entire body without control, barely held within his skin. It was…
Incredible.He sat there, unaware that Greed and Mic had stopped talking to watch him. Bolts of green electricity flew off of him in every direction and he had a massive smile gracing his face.
Mic was concerned, though silent but Greed felt it… the power.Izuku held it for another moment, the energy heating him pleasantly before realizing it was probably too much. From what he was told, when he used this power before he broke bones.That was precisely the moment he realized he had no idea how to let go of the energy.
He tried pushing it back to its core, but it was like glue sticking to his skin. So… pushing the energy to where he wanted wouldn't work.
Well it worked a little, but not really. His torso felt energized and his limbs slightly less so, though the energy was still there. He just wanted to let go, but the quirk seemed to not agree with that idea.
Who knew the most powerful quirk on the planet would be stubborn.
He probably got it from Toshinori.
Wait… he?/
Was One for All a he?
What the fuck?
And with that, he felt the energy begin to slither its way back into himself. It felt sort of like banishing a trait, though instead of the trait re-combining with his mind, this recombined with his chest… if that made any sense.
It made sense to him, and that's all that mattered.
Apparently his little electric show was enough to startle the Pro hero Present Mic into talking him into only training on campus from now on… which was annoying but doable now that the beach was clean.
Training went really well actually. Having Toshinori close to his new job ment that Izuku could be left alone for long periods of time to figure out his quirks alone, and it also meant that they could train later and later at night now that Toshinori didn't have to stop and go to work.
It was cool.
He also had a few other teachers step in and help with training, all seemingly interested in the boy that had not only healed All Might but had then accidentally injured him again.
It was all fun and games with Cementoss and Present Mic, his two most common visitors until one day, four days before the exam, Midnight came to visit.
Izuku was doing laps around an indoor gym when he noticed her. Feeling a slightly larger split of energy than usual, his mind was filled with two voices.
Is that midnight? That was greed again. He always did this when a new pro would talk to him, not that Izuku was complaining.
Oh fuck yea thats Midnight~ ah fuck… that was Lust.
Finishing his lap, Izuku tried to ignore the yammering voices in his head as he walked over to where the pro stood.
“Um… hi. Midnight?” his speech was stilted and awkward. Great.
Midnight opened her mouth to reply, but Izuku beat her to it.
“Hey you know how my quirk works right? Do you mind if a couple of me meet you”? He didn't wait for a reply as he summoned Greed and Lust.
“Behave guys” Izuku said as he began another lap. He wanted nothing to do with lust. The last time he had been summoned he did nothing but hit on Present Mic.
Even from across the gym Izuku could hear Midnight’s loud laugh. Stealing a glance, Izuku could see lust… shrink in on himself? And Greed was excitedly writing something down.
Izuku sighed, he would have to step in… again.
He made his way over, just in time to catch greed describing Lust’s quirk.
“-Its kinda like yours, but targeted and weaker” the trait finished as Midnight returned her eyes on the true Midoriya.
Swinging her arm around lust she loudly exclaimed
“I like this one! Lust right?” Izuku nodded, dumbfounded.
Lust was… trying to escape from the woman?
“Aw come on lust play nice!” she said through sharp teeth as she wretched her hand into the traits hair and pulled him back.
She purred something into the trait’s ear and Izuku watched the trait’s eyes grow wide.
“Alpha take me back now please”
Still confused, Izuku recalled the trait.
“I think you are the first person to scare Lust” greed muttered.
What the fuck did she say to him!?
*
Time training on campus passed by fast for Izuku as he waited for the entrance exam. But his patience had payed off, today was the day. After his conversation with the principal, they had contacted his mother, who was more than unhappy about what had happened.
She agreed to his attendance to U.A, and begrudgingly to his participation in the entrance exam. On campus living had been put on hold until further notice.
Nezu had offered to pay for his attendance to U.A under a sort of scholarship, and everything was settled.
Izuku had spent the last week training with All Might and the other teachers on campus, training both of his natural and given quirks, and he felt ready.
Progress had been made on both fronts.
While One for All mainly functioned as a body enhancement quirk, it had done something amazing. Fragment was much stronger than it used to be. His trait’s individual quirks were much stronger, for example Pride was now able to power up one target to plus over 40%.
His ability to talk to his traits in his mind, with a sort of half summon was surprisingly useful, and surprisingly annoying when traits summoned themselves to talk to him. Luckily, he had caught on pretty fast to banishing the traits from his mind, though if there was more than one it became slightly more difficult.
Surprisingly, the one who had gotten the most advancement other than Izuku himself was Pride. In his week, Izuku and Pride had learned how to power up specific parts of his body.
Along with pride, Izuku finally found a way to use One for All without harming himself.
At first he thought it would be as easy as powering up his bones with Pride, but that led to his ligaments tearing. It was horrifying to watch the flesh rend from his limbs as his bone became visible.
He didn't go to recovery girl that time, rather choosing his new powered up Charity to heal him.
He was as prepared as he could be for this exam.
All of this was passing though his mind as he walked passed the gates to where the exam was being held on U.A campus.
Even with him being on campus for the better part of the last week, he was still caught off guard by the size of the building. It was a truly incredible mark of heroism in japan.
That was until his foot caught on a skewed brick on the floor and began to fall.
Welp. it's been a good run. I'd like to thank all might and my mom an-
Izuku’s internal monologue was cut short as he realized that no, he had not hit the floor.
Opening his eyes, he saw himself mere inches from the floor.
“I'm sorry for using my quirk on you! I thought it would be bad luck to fall on your first day!”
Izuku was floating off the ground, as if in zero gravity. Twisting at the hips, he twirled in the air to meet a cute girl’s eyes.
Izuku felt a small bit of energy suck from his body.
She’s cute~
Shut up lust
“Thank you… f-for not letting me fall” Izuku’s voice was shaky even to his own ears.
“That's no problem!” the girl was extremely cheery and let a large smile-the pink splotches on her cheeks turning up.
There was an awkward pause.
“C… can you let me down?”
“Oh! Sorry!” the girl pressed pads together on her fingers, and suddenly gravity took hold on the boy, dropping him on his head.
“Ow…” Izuku stood up, rubbing his head.
The girl opened her mouth to say... Something, but it was interrupted by someone pushing pass her to grab Izuku by the shirt.
“What. the FUCK do you think you’re doing Deku.” even though he was trying to keep his voice down, it wasn't particularly working for Katsuki. His voice was more an angry growl as his eyes burned with rage.
With a sigh, Izuku removed Katsuki’s hand from him, then he spoke.
“Kaachan, you already knew I was going to apply here.”
Katsuki growled, and stared into Izuku’s eyes in an unspoken threat. Then he stomped off.
Having finally pulled herself together, the girl spoke.
“So… what was that about.”
Izuku shrugged.
“He’s always like that. He doesn't like me.”
The girl looked at him a little sideways but shrugged.
“Let’s go get seats!”
They started walking in, before she continued.
“My name is Ochako Uraraka, and you are… Deku something?”
Izuku let out a bitter laugh.
“Deku is an insult that Kaachan uses for me. My name is Izuku Midoriya.”
They kept walking as Uraraka seemed to think.
“I kinda like Deku, it sounds like You can Do it! Ya know?”
Izuku shrugged. “You can call me Deku if you like. I wouldn't mind from you”
Another splash of energy
Smooth talking the cute girl. I’m proud of you Alpha.
Shut Up Lust.
Izuku banished him again as Uraraka blushed.
The two walked into the preparation area and received their tickets that showed them where they were going to be taking their exams.
“Hey. do you want to sit together” Izuku said this quietly, worried that he had made her uncomfortable?
“Sure!” she seemed completely unbothered.
So they sat together as Present Mic began to give an explanation of what was going to go on during their exam.
There was going to a multitude of robots that they were going to encounter in an arena. Depending on the difficulty of the robots, they would receive an assortment of points, ranging from 1-3. when a loud boy with glasses interrupted, it was revealed that there would be another robot worth 0 points, meant to be avoided.
They let the kids wait a little before the written exam, where Uraraka and Izuku realized they would be in the same arena.
They then took everyone to take the written portion of the exam, and honestly Izuku probably wouldn't have even needed to study. Especially with Greed backing him up, Izuku breezed through the written.
And then came the physical.
Izuku stood in a crowd of potential heroes. Waiting for the timer to run out.
Spotting Uraraka in the crowd, Izuku began to make his way over to her, before Present Mic suddenly called out
“Go!”
The crowd stiffened as the sound hero began a speech on how villains don't wait for a start time, when the crowd started moving.
The loud boy had made the first move, smashing a 2 pointer using engines on his legs to power him up.
And so the exam began.
*
The exam was ten minutes long, and by minuet 8, Izuku had gotten a respectable 41 points. The only reason he hadn't gotten more was the stiff competition. The other children were destroying everything in sight. It was amazing to watch.
On top of that was the fact that Izuku had not used one for all. Using basically only pride to power him up, he had crushed everything he came across with a 40% body upgrade.
Then it happened.
The ground began to rumble as what could only be the Zero-point robot arose from the ground. All the potential heroes began to run ad Izuku and Pride stood and watched.
Then he heard it.
A small voice was yelling for help from the direction of the robot.
“Pride, power up my eyes”
His eyes hurt as he could see much further than usual. With a slight headache he could see something he wished he hadn’t.
Right in the path of the zero pointer was a person, who could only be Uraraka.
Within seconds Izuku realized he couldn’t use only Pride and was powered up with One for All.
“Pride, power up arms and legs. Don’t let me break” Izuku jumped.
He launched himself at the robot, using the full power of One for All he jumped up to meet the robot face to face. Cocking back his arm, he let loose a massive punch at the robot.
With an explosion the robot fell back, and the boy began to fall. Having not broken his legs, Izuku prepared for a painful fall. Blood began to seep from his mouth as he tried to keep from screaming.
Right before the boy hit the ground, he felt something hit his leg and he stopped falling.
Uraraka… saved him?
The girl let out a quiet “release” before throwing up.
An alarm went off.
The exam was over.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Inko Midoriya was insanely grateful that her son had at least come back from the entrance exam without injuring himself.
Izuku was currently not allowed on campus due to their decision-making process in allowing him in. though, he was pretty convinced that he would get in.
Well
He would get in either way…
But he felt like he passed the entrance exam. Unfortunately this was a forced break for him, as he wasn't allowed to train on campus or even see Toshinori until decisions were made. Knowing the man, he probably couldn't see him more because Toshi couldn't keep his big mouth shut rather than Izuku pushing for his answers.
So he sat in his house, helping his mother with household chores and spending some quality time with her that had been severely missing in the past few months.
Turns out she was still apprehensive about him becoming a pro hero, though that was about what he had expected. What kind of mother would purposely want her child to go into one of the most dangerous jobs in the nation?
Not Inko, that's for sure.
It was when Izuku had just finished cleaning their kitchen when Inko suddenly ran into the room.
“Izuku! Your letter came!!!”
Without hesitation Izuku ripped the envelope from his mother's hands and noticed that something was off.
It was an average envelope, but it didn't have paper in it.
“Come on Izuuuukuuu lets watch it!!” for not being happy about him becoming a hero, his mother sure was excited to see his results.
“Yes!” Izuku ripped open the envelope and out fell a small disc… thing.
“Whaa-”
Izuku was cut off as a hologram burst from the small disc, apparently some kind of projector?
“Midoriya my boy!”
All Might was on the projection giving the news apparently.
“Yes! It is Me! All Might!” a little self-indulgent but that’s okay. “As you know, within this message is your results for your entrance exams, though what you may not have known is that it holds news as well!” All Might man you're killing me.
“First! I will be U.A’s new heroics teacher, so look for that in the news!”
comeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeonnnnnnnnnn…
“Now for your results!”
YES!
“As for the written portion of the exam, you aced with flying colors my boy, you are far intelligent enough to be placed in our school. That, as you said was never a question” way to make me sound cocky....
“But for the Main Event!!! The Practical portion of the Exam!”
Oh boy.
“With the points you scored on your own with taking down robots alone, you scored 41 points! Which is more than enough to get into U.A”
Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
“But what you didn't know, Is that there is another portion to the Exam!!!”
What
“Yes! We calculated your score on the practical using the Villain points you obtained from defeating the robots provided, though we also provided points for helping out your fellow hero!”
Oh my god
“Due to your actions-” the camera cut to a recorded clip of Izuku flying into the robot and Inko gasped “The board chose to reward you with 40 hero points!” oh no….
“We would have appointed you more, but seeing as your villain points were so high we were able to grade you a little more harshly on your heroic actions! This comes out to a total of 81 points! Making you the highest scoring student this year!”
“Congratulations Izuku Midoriya! And welcome to Your Hero Academia!”
The image of All Might fizzled out and the Midoriyas lost their minds.
*
Both Midoriyas along with Toshinori went out that night to celebrate. It had been a little hard to reach him at first, though with a series of angry texts the hero had finally replied and subsequently been forced into going to dinner with the green child.
The night was pleasant, Inko having finally warmed up to the man. They laughed and relaxed and had an overall good night. Toshinori had let out a cough/snort of indigence when he realized the boy intended to take him to an All Might themed chain restaurant, causing the small boy to laugh so hard he was coughing blood.
That sobered Toshinori a little bit, but regardless they still did their collective best to enjoy themselves. He walked the pair to their modest home before continuing to his own, enjoying some ice cream they had bought after the restaurant.
The next morning, however, was not as peaceful.
Izuku was determined to up his training right before going to U.A and Toshinori was opposing him with as much strength as he could muster.
“Young man. When you get to U.A you will be properly trained, for the next few weeks you should relax! Not push yourself even harder!” the man was walking to the Midoriya residence, unconvinced that he could stop the boy without physically holding him down.
“Plus Ultra Toshi!” the boy was even more sassy when he was being told no.
“No! You only get to go ‘Plus Ultra’ when you are actually attending the school!” the boy on the other side of the line let out a huff and the house finally came into sight.
“You can't stop me!” there was a noise on the other end of the line as Toshinori watched the green haired menace exit his home.
“Look across the street Izuku” Toshinori was
so
done
.
The green head whipped around, spotting the skeletal man instantly from across the street.
“Shit.”
They maintained a tense eye contact before the boy suddenly started glowing.
“Lust! Wrath! Stop him!” the boy dropped his phone and started to make a run for it while the two copies shrugged and did as they were told. But it was too late.
Toshinori shifted into All Might and lunged across the street, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt, raising him into the air.
The boy struggled and kicked his feet, but eventually sighed and recalled his quirk.
“Relax. School is in less than two weeks. Get some rest.” the boy glared daggers into the man, but relented.
With a nod, Izuku re-entered his home, leaving the hero on the street.
This boy will be the death of me
*
Izuku had managed to stay out of trouble for ten days.
Ten days of basically house arrest under the number one hero and had had enough. Screw waiting around, he's gonna go outside if it killed him. So he did.
This time he gave Toshinori no heads up, as it was pass 10 at night.
His first day at U.A was in the morning, and the nerves were getting the best of him. So he went on a walk to try to clear his mind. Before he knew it, he was back at Dagoba beach, though this time he wasn't alone. One the beach was a couple sitting on the sand. The beautiful night had drawn them to the beach as the moon reflected off the crashing waves. It was peaceful…
I did this.
We did this alpha.
I know… I’m proud of us.
The voice, who could only be Pride slipped away from his mind as his a feeling of, well, pride filled the boy. Izuku and his traits had made a landfill into a beautiful beach area for all to enjoy.
If this is what all public service felt like, he could get used to it.
The couple stood up and made to leave, but Izuku had already slunk into the shadows.
Sprinting through back alleys and dark streets was bound to be trouble sooner or later, and unfortunately it was the former in this situation.
Izuku doesn't know what drove him to run from the beach, but all he knows is that he's happy he did. If he had to talk to the couple… it would be awkward. Though this… this was a touch more awkward.
In front of the alley stood a small group of men circled around where one was pinning another man to the wall.
The man who was pinned was covered in scar tissue, open stitches and medical staples could be seen trailing just above his jaw line and down to his chest. The man opposite to him was strangely dark, as though he was absorbing all the light around him. The two were in a never-ending stare down, while the surrounding gang were shifting uncomfortably. A few of them had weapons, though the majority were unarmed.
We should step in
A small portion of energy split as Wrath’s voice slipped into his mind.
This was the most complete sentence the trait had said in months.
We could get in trouble again…
The man could be in trouble right now.
…
This is what being a hero is. And besides, doesn't this scene look a little familiar?
Memories flashed into Izuku’s mind faster than he could comprehend, though he recognized them. Bakugou over the years attacking him while his lackeys stood behind, a silent wall against fighting back.
There wasn't time to change that, change the past but that doesn’t mean the man couldn't be helped, vigilante laws be damned.
Quickly pulling up his hood, Izuku began to glow under his hoodie.
The second the green aura began emanating from the child, all eyes were on him.
“Oi kid, get lost-”
Izuku cut him off
“Let him go please” his voice was small and shaky, even with clones of himself slipping behind him.
Some of the men actually had the gall to laugh at his statement.
The dark man dropped the one covered in scars, who began to choke and gasp for air.
A quick kick to the man’s ribs, the man gave the order to
stay, scar boy
and turned his attention to Izuku.
He may have bit off more than he could chew, though he wasn't about to back down. There was a fleeting idea of calling All Might, though the lecture would be worse than the beating he could get if he lost.
Izuku was finally done summoning and took stock of his situation. The man covered in scars had coughed blood and didn't look to be moving, and the boss-man, the dark one, was starting to approach. Behind him was seven…
fucking lackeys.
Izuku definitely bit off more than he could chew.
Behind Izuku stood Lust, Wrath, Pride, Greed and for the first time in a while Envy. hopefully that would be all he would need.
Wrath and Envy could hold the group back if need be, but it looked as though they were going to let the boss do the work here. He was easily 2 meters tall, and still emanating a strange dark energy, as if absorbing all energy around his form.
“I-I'm gonna give you one chance to leave…” goddamn his weak child voice!!
The man laughed again, much to Izuku’s annoyance.
“Kid. if you don't leave, you're going to regret it. You aren’t no hero boy.”
That kinda ticked Izuku off.
Your mistake dickhead
.
Pride had already powered him up as Izuku pushed One for All into his legs and lunged at the man.
Ow
His legs were sore, though thankfully not broken as he rushed the man. The dark man dodged, faster than he looked.
With a large swing, the boss-man went to hit Izuku, but found himself unable to move, glowing slightly maroon. Wrath.
Izuku smiled as he twirled around and struck the man in the side, right about where his kidney should be.
He hadn't used OFA but he had hit as hard as he could using pride, and that was enough to send the man recoiling.
Taking a few steps back, the man was stunned as Izuku went in again, landing punch after punch to his midsection. The guy finally came to his senses and was blocking his midsection as Izuku continued to wail on him.
The boss of the gang finally got the idea to fight back, and with a kicked-out leg managed to trip Izuku up long enough land a hit to the side of his head. The punch was weak, more of a panicked lashing out of the man rather than a proper hit. Even so, Izuku took a step back.
Then the man made a mistake, going to land another punch on the small boy’s head.
What he failed to notice was just how
fast
Izuku is, as the boy effortlessly dodged and grabbed onto his arm.
Thank god for those hand-to-hand classes
Izuku again shifted his center of gravity low and used his opponents arm to lever the man over his shoulder. With an added bonus from Pride, he managed to slam the man into the ground so hard it left cracks in the concrete.
With a wince, Izuku turned to the group of men.
“Are you going to leave or do I have to do the same to you” finally his voice had some strength!
Before any of the gang had time to respond, Izuku felt something foreign drawing on his stamina. Looking down, the man was still awake! And his dark aura had expanded, wrapping around Izuku’s leg.
He can absorb energy.
Oh boy this is bad
.
Before Izuku had time to dodge, the man was back on his feet and had struck Izuku
hard
in the gut.
“Ya did good kid.” the boss looked at him with a predatory grin. “But not good enough”
For all his worth Izuku smiled back, a wide, dangerous grin that promised pain.
“Oh good. I hoped you wouldn't go down so easy.” The boss faltered at this but did not let that stop him as he began to rush the kid.
The boss rushed at him with a massive uppercut from the right, and unfortunately landed on Izuku. The man continued to try to hit Izuku, though only managed to land a few punches on the boy’s midsection. Dashing backwards, the boy gave himself a moment to breath. Even if he wasn't letting it show, all those hits to the stomach were really fucking with his injury. He spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground and the man looked proud.
“You ready to back down yet kid. This can't go on too much longer. I’ll kill you!” the man said with a self-satisfied grin. In response, Izuku just grinned, all teeth and all danger.
Izuku shifted his center of gravity down a little in a slight crouch as he let OFA fill his arms and legs. Green electricity began to spark around his arms and legs as pure power rushed his limbs. The dark shadow-like vacuum still wrapped around his legs, though seemed to recoil as it was struck with small lightning bolts coming from the boy.
The Boss could feel the energy coming from the boy, sinking into his body though his quirk. The amount coming out of him should be enough to suck a grown man dry, yet the boy looked
more
energetic if anything.
What the hell was wrong with this kid.
Faster than anyone present could even see, Izuku dodged to the right powered by All for One at 100%. With a twist of his hips, the boy let out a massive kick with his right leg.
The resulting boom could be seen for blocks as dust a debris flew everywhere.
So much for being subtle
The man crashed into the brick wall behind him, leaving a cartoon-like human imprint in the stone. The man was at least unconscious, if not dead.
Izuku turned to the rest of the group.
“
Anyone else feel lucky?”
Izuku could feel Wrath deepening his voice, but honestly, he rather liked it in this case. Intimidation was key, and with the explosion heroes could be on the scene any moment.
As he expected, the group of men ran, leaving behind their boss and the man that was being beaten. Thankfully he had remained mostly untouched in the fight and even the explosion.
Letting OFA slip from him, Izuku turned on sore legs to look at his traits.
“Pride did you…”
“Yes alpha.” the response was clipped, though he could feel the confidence boost coming off the trait in waves from the victory.
“Thank god” the boy quickly banished Wrath, Lust and Envy as he summoned Charity.
“Greed check on the boss. Charity, see what you can do for the scarred one. Don't try to heal his scars, just the damage done from being beat up.” the traits set off to do so as Izuku checked the time.
How in the hell was it 11:30 already??
Izuku sighed and began to mop up the mouthful of blood he had spit on the ground as he heard the scarred man coughing awake.
“The man will live, you cracked a few ribs and he has a concussion from hitting the wall, but Pride managed to protect him enough to not kill him. His spine is also injured, though i'm not really worried about that”
“Thank you Greed” With that, Izuku recalled Greed and made his way over to charity.
The scarred man looked confused, though healthy. Izuku decided to cut right to the point.
“Heroes are on their way soon. You can stay here and give a statement or i can take you somewhere you can go home unbothered. Your choice.”
The man looked at him confused.
“I like your hair”
Fuck! My hood fell off! My most defining feature!!!
Luckily in the low light, the man he had crushed into a wall would most likely be unable to tell its color. With a sigh, Izuku gathered the man into his arms and began to run. Getting annoyed, Izuku resummoned Pride and used OFA to dash to Dagoba beach in record time.
Now on the beach, Izuku could see the flashing lights of cop cars investigating the area he had just been in.
Got out just in time.
The man had finally come to his senses as the small boy let the lanky man out of his arms, unceremoniously dumping his ass into the sand.
“Hey man. I healed you so you should be fine, but you should still get to a doctor. I’ve gotta get home” Izuku turned to leave as the man scrambled to his feet.
“Wait!”
Izuku turned, and the man paused. From this close Izuku could see that he wasn't really a man at all. He looked to be in his late teens, only a handful of years ahead of Izuku himself.
“I… thank you” the man-boy said sheepishly.
At that Izuku let out the biggest shit-eating grin he had in him and gave a two fingered salute.
“Anytime good citizen!” he bellowed his best All Might impression.
“I owe you one” the man seemed to completely ignore his attempt at humor, much to Izuku's annoyance.
“Nah. it’s gonna be my job to help people like you pretty soon.” at this the man looked up.
His eyes hardened.
“A Hero… fine” he looked down and set his scarred jaw.
“I owe you one… hero”
Izuku let out an exasperated sigh.
“You should see a doctor. I might not have been able to fix your brain.”
Izuku had an idea flash through his mind.
“And call me Deku!” in all honesty, that was probably the most idiotic thing he had done that night, though considering there were only three people who would recognize that name anyways, being Kaachan, Toshinori and his mom, it shouldn't be a problem.
“Dabi”
Strange name, but who am I to judge
“Alright Dabi! I hope you have a good night” Izuku began to leave.
“Why did you do it?” Dabi called out quickly, as though scared of the answer.
Izuku sighed and turned on his heel. The faster he answered his questions the sooner he got home and got some sleep before school.
“I've been in that situation more than I care to remember. I always wanted help, but nobody came.” Izuku made eye contact with the sheepish man. “I guess I helped because I could”
Dabi’s eyes widened, before he nodded.
“I owe you one… Deku” with that the man began to stroll down the beach.
What a strange night.
*
The morning after was anything but productive as Izuku trudged through his morning. He hadn’t gotten nearly the amount of sleep he should have, as he had gotten home a little before 1 am and didn't sleep for hours. He had been riding off excess adrenaline for hours before the pain finally slipped in. it hit him all at once while he was neck deep in his fifth cup of tea.
Almost out of instinct he summoned charity and within minutes the trait was pissed.
Not only was he not sleeping but he had internal bleeding from all the hits he had taken to the stomach. Not to mention a concussion from his strike to the head.
“You should see the other guy” Izuku tried to joke, but it fell on deaf ears.
The trait led the limping boy to his bed before using his quirk. All at once, the boy was ridded of pain and fell asleep.
Now he was full out running to school. He still had 4 minutes as he finally sighted the now familiar blockish shape of U.A.
Not slowing down the boy continued until he was at the overly large doors of class 1-A. Slamming the door open, he tried to make his way to the nearest open seat.
Tried...
“Deku!!!!” there was suddenly a small form latched around his middle. The form quickly jumped back to reveal Uraraka who had seemingly just hugged him?
“Sorry! That was probably inappropriate but I haven't seen you since you saved me at the entrance exam and I never even got to say thank you! I tried to find you through the school, but they were tight lipped about you and I couldn’t” was talking so fast it was almost incomprehensible.
“Uh…”
“Find you and then I thought ‘oh I’ll just look him up on Facebook and that didn't work either because I only knew your first name!” the girl finally seemed to realize what she was doing as she took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry!” she apologized quickly with a light dusting of pink on her cheeks, apart from the big pink patches.
“Um… its fine? Izuku was one step above flustered into solidly embarrassed territory.
She had a small blush on her face?
Before she could come up with a reply to tall boy that had yelled in the auditorium speed walked over.
“Hello! I don't believe we have met, have we?” the boy was speaking in odd clipped sentences, as though he were a robot.
“Ah… no. Hi i am Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku reached his hand out to shake, and the boy reciprocated enthusiastically.
“I am Tenya Iida!” Izuku’s eyes grew wide.
“Iida? Like the pro hero Ingenium?” at his words the other boy’s eyes began to sparkle.
Iida opened his mouth to respond but was cut off as a yellow… something… slammed open the door.
It kinda looked like a caterpillar, and they all watched in amazement as a grown man rose from what they class could only assume was a sleeping bag.
“Hello.” the man looked too tired to be alive, though Izuku recognized him from the man who he had seen in the infirmary.
“I am Aizawa, and I’m going to be your homeroom teacher”
The man threw a bag full of gym uniforms into the room.
“Put these on and meet me outside.” with that the man began to stalk away, leaving the class in shock.
*
The entire class had gathered outside of the school on one of the many, many fields on campus. This one held what looked like a baseball field and a marking for shot put. Fun.
“In normal schools you take a physical exam that excludes usage of your quirks. This is irrational for this school, as it is our purpose to not only train you but train usage of your quirks” the man made harsh eye contact with Izuku as he said that, though quickly shifted his attention as he continued.
“Your quirks and you need to become one being if you are to become a great hero. For this purpose, we will be testing your quirks, pushing you as far as your limits may take you” the man suddenly focused his tired gaze on Uraraka, as she had her hand up.
“Aren't we supposed to go to the opening ceremony?”
The man’s permanent frown deepened slightly, and the class shivered.
“The opening ceremony is a useless endeavor for this class. It is more practical to see who is worth my time here and now. weeding out any with no purpose here.” he finally broke eye contact with the now almost shaking girl.
“This is no ordinary school and I am no ordinary teacher”
“Katsuki Bakugou.” their teacher suddenly called out in a bark. “Take this and throw it as far as you can from the circle. You can do whatever you want as long as you don't leave the circle.”
Kaachan looked all too happy to comply as he stood in a pitcher’s position before snapping his entire body to throw. Powering his throw with an explosion, the boy propelled the ball far enough to not even be seen anymore. The collective jaw of the class dropped as a distance of over
700 meters
was shown on a tablet that the teacher had provided from
somewhere
.
“We will be providing a multitude of tests. Let's get to it.”
The tests were a range of interesting to normal. Side to side lunges, sprints, grip strength ect. On the fifty-meter dash, Izuku decided that pride would finally be needed.
Standing next to Kaachan, Izuku summoned his trait as the counter went down.
3
.
.
.
2
.
.
.
1!!
Izuku powered up his legs and pushed himself forward as hard as he could, and before he knew it he was over the finish line. 5.43 seconds! Nice!
And so it went.
Izuku was sticking to Pride, not using One for All at all.
Grip strength was just over 100kg, at 112 kg while some other kid in class with tentacle arms got over
500.
And then they got to the final test. It was the ball throw activity. Katsuki had gotten over 700 and had really set the competition. For the most part, everyone did well until Uraraka got up to bat.
The entire class watched in shock as she gently tossed the ball and it just sort of… floated away. The class almost lost it when the tablet showed
an infinity sign
.
This was insane.
Then, Izuku is called up to bat. Izuku and pride made way to the circle, prepared to throw the ball until something stopped his movement mid-step.
“Izuku Midoriya.” Aizawa’s voice was cold, colder than he had ever thought possible.
“We both know you aren't giving it your all. If you continue down this path you can and will be expelled. Think carefully before you throw this ball”
Well fuck.
With a defeated sigh Izuku walked up to the pitch. He stood in the pitch awkwardly as Pride settled behind him.
With an even more annoyed sigh, Izuku gave a simple command.
“Power me up Pride. I'm going to give it my all here.” pride also let out a sigh.
There was a feeling of rushing wind as Izuku powered up his arm using One for All. with great reluctance, Izuku set into a pitching position and
threw
.
As soon as the ball slipped from his hand the power slipped from his limb, though the deed was done. He was too tired for this shit.
The resulting wind from the throw was enough to knock over half the class on their ass, Izuku included, fortunately still in the circle. The explosion rumbled the building, and the ball flew.
The sign on the tablet showed 1.3km.
Holy shit
.
“What the absolute FUCK Deku!!” Kaachan started exploding his way over to where Izuku was standing. The boy got into a fighting stance before suddenly, Kaachan was stopped.
The man’s, their teacher’s, eyes glowed red as he used his scarf to hold Kaachan in place.
“You better get this temper under control. Its unbecoming” but Izuku was busy.
With a flash of energy, Greed was screaming into his mind.
Eraser head! Its pro hero Eraser head!!!!
Uhhhggg shut uppppp
With a sigh, Izuku summoned Greed to let him go bother his teacher. The trait ran over to the man while Kaachan was released.
While Greed was slamming the teacher with questions, the poor man called out.
“Class dismissed. Everyone passed”
Passed? Was there any chance of failure?
First last night, now Monday morning.
This wasn't going to be a good week, was it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The rest of the day went relatively normal… well, that was until lunch time.
A bell rang
“That marks lunch. Everyone, please make your ways down to the cafeteria” Aizawa looked even more exhausted, if at all possible.
Students began to shuffle out, though as Izuku reached the door….
“Midoriya. You are wanted in the staff room. I'll take you” the class shot him a weird look, especially Uraraka who seemed to have wanted to eat lunch together.
Izuku gave her a confused shrug and began to follow the tired man to what seemed like a teachers lounge. When Aizawa opened the door Izuku became even more confused as he saw Present mic, Midnight and Toshinori in his true form crowding around a computer, seemingly Mic’s judging from the desk’s contents.
Midnight was laughing, seating behind the monitor while the two men stood behind her. Toshinori mildly amused and Mic mildly horrified.
They all quieted when the pair walked into the room.
“Izuku!” Toshi didn't sound happy… just loud.
“Hi… Toshi?” Izuku couldn't be more confused if he tried. Did they kno-
“They know about my true form young man.”
Oh
Izuku awkwardly cleared his throat and shifted to the other adults, both of which looked as though they had struck gold.
“Hi Midnight, Present Mic…” Izuku let a little hint of a bow but they were already squawking laughter like birds.
“Toshi?!!? He calls you Toshi?” Midnight was borderline yelling in excitement.
“Can we call you Toshi?!” Present Mic gave Toshi his best puppy dog eyes, to which Toshi stiffened.
“Ah… I guess?”
“You fool” Aizawa finally spoke up. “Now they have power”
What the fuck is going on here.
Midnight began to cackle loudly while Present Mic did a little fist pump.
“Thanks Toshi!”
Toshinori was blushing, though quickly shifted his attention to the boy.
Clearing his throat, Toshi began.
“We need to talk Izuku” Toshinori began to walk to the door, probably expecting the boy to follow.
“We need to talk?” Toshi stiffened.
He quickly turned to the other teachers.
“Izuku Midoriya did something that probably should lead to him being arrested. “
fuck
“I'm not going to turn him in, and if you feel like you probably will I please ask that you give us some room to talk.”
Fuck fuckity fuck fuck
Being carried to a police station had been embarrassing enough the first time.
Much to Izuku’s surprise, none of the teachers left. Aizawa actually pulled a chair to sit closer to them. Fucker.
The pair settled down on the teacher couch.
“I know it was you young man” Toshinori was giving the best glare his sunken in eyes could manage.
“Uhhhh. Know what wa-”
“Don't bullshit me Izuku.” Toshinori cut him off.
They sat in tense silence for a moment, Toshi staring daggers into the boy.
They sat. and sat… and sat until-
“In my defenc-” Toshinori shot out of his chair.
“There is no defense Izuku! That was blank slate vigilantism!” Toshi was now pacing, almost yelling.
“You are lucky that none of them recognized you or I would be going to the police!” Izuku began to cringe even further into the couch.
“Vigilantism?” Aizawa’s voice was cold.
Izuku shrunk down even further.
“He attacked-”
“Defended!!!”
“-A group of men late last night! The men said they were attacking a former member when someone” Toshinori gestured to Izuku “Interrupted them and beat up their boss! Who has a fractured skull and multiple broken ribs!”
Izuku tried to slow the simmering anger that was gradually growing within him.
Maybe I should summon wrath… at least I’d be calm
Aizawa suddenly looked at Izuku.
“Is there anything you’d like to add?”
Was… was Aizawa the impartial third party in this fight? A Judge?
My teachers are weird as hell.
“Toshinori had me trapped in my house-”
“You were supposed to be relaxing! Or Studying!”
“We both know I don't need to study Toshi…”
Aizawa’s eyes were glowing red as he stared down the tall man. “Quiet! Let him talk”
Toshi looked almost… cowed? Damn.
“Uh… so I went for a walk…” Aizawa's eyes relaxed but Toshi still muttered-
“At ten o'clock…” Aizawa shot him a look.
“And I went to the beach where we trained. But when I left I saw some men in an alley. The one guy was kicking the other and it was really late so I didn't try to, like call Toshi or anyone. I was a bit antsy so I wanted to see what was going on. Wrath wanted to stop them… he convinced me I guess. Then they noticed me and the next thing I knew we were fighting…”
“Wrath?” Aizawa looked confused.
“It's his quirk” Toshi quickly answered the teacher. “He can split his personality into multiple clones of himself. Recently he has been able to talk to the personifications in his head. They kinda act like separate people but they are all still Midoriya.”
It was only at that point did Izuku realize that Aizawa had never seen him past that one day in the nurse's office.
Aizawa nodded and turned back to Izuku.
“You said Wrath convinced you to step in?”
Izuku could feel Wrath peek in his mind, as though a silent request to explain himself but Izuku ignored it.
“My traits have to be partially summoned by me for me to be able to talk to them in my mind, but apparently they figured out how to summon themselves to speak without me…” Aizawa’s face was a blank slate.
“Wrath… brought up some old memories and me just kinda…. Acted.”
There was a tense silence before Aizawa spoke up again.
“Fine” Aizawa stood up and turned to where Toshinori was sulking. “I’ll contact the police and we can figure out some punishment for him.”
At that Izuku shot up.
“I thought you weren't going to the police!!!” his voice was bordering on hysterical.
“Of course I'm going to the police.” Aizawa’s face was still blank, but there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes. “I am a pro hero after all. I Might be able to work on some plan for cooperation with the police. Just one more question” The eye contact between student and teacher was crushing.
“Who attacked first?”
Memories flashed through Izuku’s mind, him lunging at the boss.
“I did” he looked down, ashamed.
“Very well. And don't worry Toshi, hes answers were good.” Aizawa exited the room.
There was a heavy silence before Present Mic began to laugh heavily.
“He… He called you Toshi!” Mic squeaked between heaving breaths.
Toshinori, on the other hand, looked relieved. He took a seat and put his head in his hands.
“Oh thank god. I thought he was going to expel you…”
“Expel me! Why didn't you tell me that!” Izuku was appalled.
“Aizawa said it would alter your answers to whatever we asked.” Toshi muttered while still hanging his head.
The cogs in Izuku’s mind began to turn.
Holy shit. Aizawa knew before I came in and… OH MY GOD
“TOSHINORI!” Izuku all but howled and the man jumped, frantic.
“DID YOU JUST GOOD-COP BAD-COP ME?!!” Mic began to laugh even harder. Honestly, how was he even breathing right now?
Toshinori put on an innocent face and shrugged.
“ALL MIGHT YOU WERE THE BAD COP WHAT THE HELL” Toshi chuckled at this, and Mic was in tears.
Fuckin U.A man.
*
Izuku was 8 years old when he finally found Empathy hiding in the cracks of his mind, seeping into his quirk. He and Katsuki were at a local wooded park, playing heroes and villains when it happened. Izuku began to glow a vibrant green color and like usual a trait began to form from his back.
Katsuki was excited. They had become good friends again after Izuku developed his quirk, especially when the two of them were the only strong kids in their school. The two were said to be the next great heroes, though Katsuki was determined to be number one. Izuku, for the most part was okay with being under Katsuki, as long as they were friends. So when a trait neither of them had ever seen emerged from the small boy, they both reacted with excitement. But something was… off.
Izuku’s eyes looked glassy, as though he wasn't really present. His excitement fell quickly as the new trait talked to Katsuki.
The trait was a light purple color, a sort of lavender, and spoke lightly.
“I think I should be called empathy… going from what Alpha calls the others.” his voice chimed.
Izuku was looking more and more disinterested.
“So what's your quirk then Empathy?!” the blonde boy excitedly demanded.
Empathy responded with another chime-like laugh.
“It's not as good as yours… of course,” he spoke with strange pauses in the middle of sentences. “But I can do this!”
Empathy lifted his arm and a light purple light encompassed Izuku’s form. Katsuki watched in wonder as another form began to be summoned from behind the Izuku, something that quickly turned into Envy.
“Hey envy. Come over here” the blue trait looked uncomfortable, but nonetheless walked away from his Alpha over to empathy.
“Something is wrong with Alpha. He's not speaking. He doesn't feel rig-”
“Shh Envy” the purple clone gave a gentle command, and Envy’s jaw snapped shut. “See Kacchan? I can do what Alpha can! Summon them and control them! And watch this!” empathy was speaking a little faster, excited.
Another light covered the still form of Izuku as Katsuki watched silent, with wide eyes.
Wrath was summoned from Izuku, and before he knew it Katsuki couldn't move. But he wasn't covered in the deep maroon energy that Wrath used, but rather in the lavender of Empathy.
“I can use their quirks!”
That seemed to snap Izuku out of his stupor as he shifted his eyes over to the small group.
“Empathy. Don't use quirks on Kaachan. And stop summoning. I'm tired.” with that, Empathy stiffened, energy stopping its flow to the 8-year-old. Wrath and Envy were also dispersed as Izuku allowed his eyes to glass over again. Something was really, really wrong with the boy. His voice was flat and lifeless, as though a machine was speaking. The boy sat under the nearest tree as Katsuki tried to shake off his shock. Luckily there was no-one nearby as Empathy continued to show off his quirk. Izuku didn't speak… until their isolation in the park went against them.
“HA! See! I told you that light was coming from over here!” one older boy spoke to his two friends.
“Look at the little kids. Think it's them?” his friend to the right spoke.
The lead boy swiveled to look at the children, a boy with spiky blonde hair, a boy with curly green tinted hair and a near identical looking boy but with light purple hair rather than green.
“Oi kids! You know it's illegal to use your quirks in public right” the boy was scolding them but had a strange grin on his face.
“Yea! And so what!!!” Katsuki was his usual abrasive self.
The boy smiled wider. He was easily a teenager, probably around 15.
“Well, some good upstanding citizens should probably stop you right. Do we need to get your parents?” the kid’s smile was now unnatural as his facial features shifted. His eyes grew wider apart as his mouth stretched nearly to his ears. His nose was shrinking into his face as if it was going to disappear any second.
“Why should we listen to an ugly bastard like you! Leave us alone” Katsuki didn't seem to realize that he was in trouble.
“Think they got any money on them” the boy to the left whispered to the boy on the right.
“I don't think it matters…” the other whispered back. “Boss is mad”
Boss? Fluttered through Izuku’s mind though he stayed watching with impassive eyes.
The boy with the shifting face suddenly lunged forward, grabbing the 8-year old by his shirt and lifting him into the air.
“Ugly huh?!” the boy growled into Katsuki’s ear.
Stupid Katsuki loudly said back “Yea! You ugly bastard let me down!” a small pop came from his hands. He was scared.
The boy seemed to take exception to this and threw the child. Stalking to the boy on the ground, the last thing the boy expected was for the blonde to let loose a large explosion to his face.
“DIE” the explosion was large enough to hit the teenager, but not large enough to really hurt him. Maybe singe his hair.
“You little bitch…” the larger boy ran over to where Katsuki was trying to stand up and kicked him, hard.
The teenager began to kick Katuki repeatedly.
“Alpha… we should help” empathy called out over Katsuki’s cries. Izuku’s uninterested eyes went to the purple clone’s.
“Kacchan is strong. He can deal with it.” Empathy opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Katsuki.
“DEKU HELP” he cried.
Empathy whipped around to look, seeing Katsuki being repeatedly kicked while still down. The boy had blood coming from his mouth and multiple cuts on his face from the teenager’s boots.
“You're strong Kacchan. You can take this” Izuku called back before closing his eyes, as though trying to take a nap.
Katsuki continued to cry, and empathy stood still. He couldn't interfere, and his alpha didn't seem to care.
All the clone could do was watch as the teenager continued to beat his friend.
Izuku just watched as Katsuki was beaten into unconsciousness.
*
Izuku was nearly in tears when he went to lunch. He hadn't been able to Meet Lunch rush, unfortunately, though Uraraka had still gotten him lunch. She tried to say that she hadn't bought it, but was unconvincing.
“Look… I'm just trying to say thank you for the exam! That robot could have really hurt me!” she had finally relented, and was desperately trying to defend herself while blushing.
Izuku whipped out a wallet, and slid her enough money for lunch, though still teary-eyed.
“Thank you… Uraraka!” god he was actually crying at the smallest sign of friendship. It was almost pathetic but Izuku was too happy to really care. He quickly ate and tried to make conversation with the boy that had decided to sit with them, the loud and fast boy Iida.
Lunch ended all too fast though, and they all had to return to class. The group sat in an empty room for a few moments before they began to speak to one another.
“What do you think is coming next?”
“The schedule says hero training but doesn't say who our teacher is?”
“Why aren't they here yet!”
Suddenly, the door burst open and none other than All Might came in.
“I am entering the room like a normal person!” All Might declared while being bent at the hips at a ninety-degree angle to the side, like a maniac.
The class cheered and even Izuku got hyped.
Toshinori had told him he was going to be teaching at U.A, but he didn't say that he was going to be his damn Heroics teacher!
Izuku was honestly spaced out for a few moments before All Might suddenly said-
“Now let us meet at Ground Gamma!”
With that the man left, leaving the kids to their Hero costumes.
They all made their ways to the U.A changing rooms, and reconvened at ground gamma.
Izuku’s costume was rather simple. He had heavy duty gloves and boots on to protect himself, as well as a simple jumpsuit. The suit was a forest green color, matching his hair while his gloves and shoes were a simple black. His head was uncovered.
The suit and gloves were padded however, hopefully helping with getting hit and such.
As minimal as the hero course would allow, while others seemed to go for the exact opposite. Bakugou was wearing some ridiculous outfit that involved what looked like fake explosions coming out of his head, and grenades on his arms. Iida was in a full suit of armor??
Uraraka seemed to have also gone for a more simple look with a pink and black jumpsuit and an astronaut themed helmet. Her boots also seemed to go up to and above her knees to act as sort of shin guards.
She was pulling on the chest of her suit, as though uncomfortable. A portion of energy was spent as Lust forced himself into Izuku’s mind.
Talk to her. She looks uncomfortable.
Was… was lust being wholesome?
I can be nice
No, you can't
Izuku began to walk over to her before All Might just kinda.. Appeared in front of the class.
Toshi is really making the most out of his super speed today Izuku thought as the man began to talk.
“Today we will be conducting Combat Training” the number one hero declared.
“Oh! Will we be fighting robots like the entrance exams?” Iida asked, his voice muffled by the helmet.
“No young man! We will be moving far ahead of that!” the hero quickly answered.
“Most of the time, Fights involving heroes takes place outdoors, in full view of the public. Though, if you actually check crime rates, the majority of Villain activity takes place indoors!”
The hero was holding a box suddenly, having procured it from…. Somewhere. He wasn't holding it a moment ago and the costume didn't exactly allow for… pockets.
“For this activity, we will be splitting the class into teams of two, for two on two indoor battles! One team acting as the heroes vs the other acting as villains! So! The situation!” the man didn't allow for the class to ask any questions as he barreled on, pulling out a booklet.
“The villain team will be hiding the mock Nuclear explosive somewhere inside of the hideout! The heroes will be entering the building, and to win they need to either capture all of the Villains or capture the nuclear device! For the Villains to win they need to either capture the heroes or defend the bomb long enough for the timer to run out, signifying the explosion of the bomb. As for your teams-” The man held up the box with flourish.
“They will be decided by drawing lots!” All Might moved to grab something from within the box but was cut off by Iida asking a question.
“Sir! Why would teams be chosen randomly-”
He didn't get to finish before Izuku cut him off,
“If you are on the street, you don't always get to team with your friends. You do what you have to with who you have.” Izuku began to trail off as he realized that the entire class was watching him strangely. Izuku looked down and sent a “sorry” to Iida.
“That is exactly right young Midoriya! Heroes often have to team with heroes from opposite agencies, regardless if they have any experience together!”
Iida nodded.
“Now! The teams!”
All Might began to draw papers out of the box, each holding a name on it. Izuku was truly lucky as he was teamed with Uraraka, arguably his only friend in class. They were team A.
“Now for the first Fight!” All Might materialized two more boxes from god knows where, one labeled Villains and the other Heroes.
From the Villains box he drew Team D, And from the Hero box he drew Team A.
Fuck
Team D was Katsuki and Iida.
Why me.
Maybe All Might was getting revenge for his earlier breaking of the law with what can only be a trainwreck of a class.
Goddamnit.
*
The rest of the class was directed to go to a monitor room to view the fight, while All Might guided the teams to the building. He gave the Villains five minutes to properly set up before returning to the monitor room, though not before sending a malicious grin to Izuku.
Bastard.
“So uh… you got a plan Deku?”
Izuku quickly looked at Uraraka. He was so focused on All Might fucking him that he almost forgot that this was a team exercise.
“Uhhh..” Izuku panicked, before forming a quick plan.
“So! Kacchan will go for me first, no question. We can split up from there, and you might be able to surprise Iida and capture the bomb before I get Exploded.”
“Get exploded? Not only is that not really a word but why wouldn't we just both take down uh… Kaachan?”
“Bakugou…”
“Take down Bakugou together, then take down Iida.”
Izuku thought about this for a moment.
“Kaachan is the one with the explosions. I don't think we could take him down together…”
“But you’re really strong! You threw the ball thingy farther than he did and could literally take down the building with a punch! We can take him together!”
Izuku shook his head and sighed.
“In all truth, I don't have much control over that strength. I could kill him and you if we were in close combat and I tried to use it. The rest of my quirk however…”
Then Izuku realized.
“Oh my god! We never explained quirks! What is your quirk Uraraka? I know you can make things float…”
“Oh!” Uraraka smiled. “I can make objects have zero gravity. I can do it to people and myself, but I get nauseous and might throw up if the object is too heavy or if I do It to myself. What about you?”
“I uh… can create clones of myself that have separate quirks. I control them, and only have like ten of them at most. That's the basics at least.”
“The Villain team has had ample time to prepare, it is time for the hero team to advance! The time starts now!”
“Fuck” Uraraka looked at Izuku strangely as he swore in English.
“Lets just split up and do this I guess” Izuku shrugged.
Uraraka nodded and the two entered the building.
Bakugou is strong and really fast. If I'm going to take him alone I'm going to need to be able to match him.
Izuku summoned Pride.
It's also been a few years since we last fought properly. His fighting style has probably changed, and I'm going to need to account for that.
Izuku then summoned Greed and Envy.
Wrath can hold him down, but not for long. Might just give me the edge. I can't use lust or he might get distracted and go after Uraraka.
Izuku summoned Wrath.
I shouldn't need Sloth… it shouldn't be that long of a fight. And he's a liability. Gluttony won't really help either. Summoning many more will leave me too tired, and god forbid I rely on Gluttony for energy… talk about liability.
With his team successfully summoned, Izuku entered the building with Uraraka.
Apparently, Katsuki didn't want to wait, as he was standing in the entrance way.
“Wrath!” Izuku called out, and Katsuki looked murderous at being temporarily rendered immobile.
“Uraraka stick to the plan! I'll take Kachan!” at that Izuku began to run past Katsuki with his small army in tow.
Uraraka split off and found the nearest stairwell.
When they were a decent distance away, Wrath released Katsuki as evidenced by the massive explosion and animalistic roar.
“FUCKING DEKU”
Izuku had more of a plan than he lead on, but not by much.
He was going to give Kacchan a little chase until he was at the far wall. That should give Uraraka enough time for a sneak attack. At that point, she would either capture the bomb or be in a fight with Iida. If they fought he would have to use One for All to burst down part of the building, giving Uraraka enough of a distraction to capture the bomb.
If she got captured before that… they would lose.
The plan was going well for a while. Nearly five of the fifteen minutes had passed before Izuku had basically cornered himself.
Now for the next part of the plan…
Izuku quickly turned as he heard thundering footsteps, moving his traits to take cover behind him.
“CAN'T RUN NOW CAN YOU” the blonde boy huffed through heavy breaths.
“Ummm. Hi Kacchan???”
Apparently not wanting to deal with Izuku at all today, Katsuki rushed forward with a heavy right hook.
Acting on instinct, Izuku ducked the hit and dashed backward.
So he still leads with a right punch. Fun.
Without giving the green haired boy any breathing room, Katsuki twisted at his hips to launch an explosion over his shoulder.
It connected, burning the boy’s shoulder.
Izuku winced but continued dodging.
With another attempted punch, Katsuki was getting more annoyed… somehow.
“IS ALL YOU CAN DO IS DODGE! FIGHT ME!”
Izuku sighed.
“Pride.” the green boy began to glow blue, faintly. Katsuki grit his teeth and let out another large explosion at Izuku’s face. The opposing boy ducked, though still singed his hair.
Now powered up, it was time to go on the offensive.
Unfortunately, Katsuki knew his quirk pretty well and had prepared for the speed boost. The explosive boy twisted to go for a kick, but Izuku dodged easily.
Izuku went for a punch, something to strike his middle, though he didn't expect Katsuki to use his explosions to reposition. With an explosion out of his left hand, the boy managed to move his body out of the way from Izuku’s fist and follow up with his own.
Izuku’s ears rang with the strike to his skull, though managed to stay on his feet.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that keep up with me Deku” Katsuki growled.
Ignoring him, Izuku lifted a hand to his ear, pressing on his earpiece.
“Uraraka. Sitrep.”
From the other side of the connection, Izuku could hear engines and Iida laughing manically.
“Um. Iida keeps moving the bomb around the room, and I can't catch him! There isn't anything to throw either! Other than that I'm doing gooo-” the connection cut off as he could hear Uraraka making another pass at the bomb.
Well. guess I'm going to have to distract then...
“HEY! DONT FUCKING IGNORE ME!” Katsuki was getting agitated again, self-satisfaction slipping away.
Izuku shot him a flat look.
That set the boy off again as he rushed.
Suddenly, a connection opened in his mind.
Alpha. It was greed.
Envy has a download on his new fighting style. Try to separate and get it.
Izuku sighed. That wouldn't be possible.
Cant, you just explain it to me? Izuku replied.
Greed knew he wouldn't be able to make it over either.
Kacchan has a much better understanding of his quirk and uses it more offensively now. He also used it for a tactical advantage. His fighting style seems mostly focused on gaining speed and large punches. He doesn't focus on legs mu-
Greed was cut off by Izuku getting punched square in his face.
“DONT IGNORE ME YOU BASTARD!”
Tsundere Greed muttered in Izuku mind.
Izuku decided to not deal with that comment right now as he finally rushed to his opponent.
Katsuki had a toothy grin on his face and sped to meet him.
As expected, The blond explosion tried to lead with a punch, but Izuku expected this.
As soon as the boy thrust his arm forward, Izuku dropped to his knees and slid under his attack. Now effectively out of sight, Izuku punched to Katsuki’s middle.
Katsuki’s reaction time was crazy though, and he lifted his knee to retaliate.
Izuku managed to land a solid hit on Katsuki, but at the cost of yet another strike to the head.
“You know what Deku. I'm getting tired of you. I'm gonna finish you off and then go kill that fucking bitch.”
The boy lifted his right gauntletted arm and pointed it at Izuku, reinforcing it with his left arm.
“These gauntlets aren't only for show you know” Katsuki was growling, eyes full of murder.
“They have been storing the sweat from my arms this entire fight. Pulling the pin will detonate it all at once.”
Izuku’s eyes grew wide.
“Kacchan! Think this throu-”
“STOP FUCKING CALLING ME THAT”
All Might’s voice called out over their earpieces.
“Bakugou! You could kill him!”
Katsuki had a manic grin on his face.
“HE WON'T DIE IF HE DODGES” and pulled the pin.
If you asked Izuku after why he didn't dodge, he wouldn't really be able to tell you.
Part of him felt like if he was going to die it might as well be by Bakugou’s hand. The only man who believed him evil. He would also bring up that if he dodged, the traits behind him would be killed, and he would have lost anyways at that point.
Whatever the reason, Izuku didn't dodge, but rather stood in front of the attack.
Time seemed to slow as the pin disconnected with the gauntlet, and Izuku felt something within him.
Within his quirk.
His mind’s eye was filled with a warm brown color, as though a wave of molten chocolate flowing through his mind.
It looks like Uraraka’s eyes. The though blasted through his mind faster than he could stop it.
Fucking shut up me.
This… this could only be his quirk. This color was not one that he was familiar with. Could it be a new trait?
Then he heard it.
I can save us alpha. If you allow me. The voice was deep and full of bass.
Not like it can get much worse Izuku thought as he summoned the brown color into a body.
He felt something leave him, though not nearly of the same strength of Greed or Charity.
He watched as the air in front of him lit in slow motion, and felt something wrap around his body like a warm blanket.
His arms locked, blocking his face from the impending explosion. The rest of his body froze, as though turned solid.
And the explosion came.
*
When the dust cleared, Katsuki could only watch in amazement as a form slowly became visible.
Izuku fucking Midoriya stood in the center of ground zero, not a hair harmed on his head.
The traits behind him had disappeared, no doubt recombined with him.
But then Katuski saw it… there was another clone behind the green haired boy. This one was a soft chocolate color, though had eyes of such determination that it was almost frightening.
Behind the pair was a hole where a concrete wall used to be.
“Kacchan… did you just try to kill me?” Izuku’s voice was cold… just like it used to be when he summoned empathy.
Katsuki could only stare with wide eyes as the boy slowly shifted, as though stretching after a long nap.
Izuku turned to the new trait.
“What are you named?”
“I'm fortitude. Kick his ass.”
Izuku could feel it, of course, it was as though all conviction was stripped from his mind. He felt an overwhelming need to surrender, to curl into an impenetrable ball. But Wrath was back now, not summoned in the world.
And he was angry.
Izuku could feel the effects of Fortitudes quirk. His skin felt as though it was made of steel, impenetrable, unbreakable. There was no doubt he could use One for All in this state.
Izuku shifted his glare to Katsuki’s eyes.
“You did this to yourself Kacchan.” Izuku powered One for All into his legs and lunged at the boy faster than the blonde could even see.
Stripping One for All from himself, Izuku punched Katsuki as hard as he could. It lacked the extra oomph from Pride but was plenty strong enough to knock the wind from the taller boy.
“For years-” Izuku rounded and hit Katsuki upon the head while he was distracted.
“You have called me a villain” The blonde wasn't going down without a fight and let out a massive explosion to the green haired blur. Izuku just shook it off.
“But tell me Kacchan. What's worse” Izuku again used super speed, but this time didn't rid himself of One for All as he approached, instead of cracking the floor at Katsuki’s feet and punching him in the head, keeping One for All in his legs.
“One who wears his sins on his sleeve, For all the world to see” The boy jumped back, putting distance between him. Through bleary eyes, it looked to Katsuki as though the boy was glowing with all the colors of a rainbow, his sins shining through his skin.
“Or one that hides their sins behind false bravado and abuse” Izuku hit the ground again lightly with One for All, cracking the concrete further.
“You forget Kacchan. I know your sins like I know the back of my hand. You can't pretend to be better than me, I know the kind of person you are.” Izuku stomped again, leaving a spider web of cracks in the concrete. Katsuki was speechless and angry. He dashed forward, trying to lay a hit on the green boy.
“I remember you Kacchan. No matter how hard you try to hide your sins, you can't escape me. The world can see my sins, can you say the same?”
Izuku dashed forward into the rushing Katsuki, though rather than hit him the boy put 100% of his power into his legs and pushed against the floor. Still using fortitude, Izuku shot into the ceiling, breaking through the concrete ceiling like tissue paper, while shattering the floor beneath him and leaving Katsuki to fall.
The force of the jump caused the very earth under the building to shake, as though in an earthquake. The wind alone forced the blonde boy down, crushing him into the concrete below. The hurricane reminded Izuku of when he first met All Might, that wind tunnel that knocked him out from sheer force alone, and Katsuki didn't look much better off.
What Izuku had not known at the time was that the room where the two were fighting was right below the room with the bomb, where Uraraka and Iida were still playing cat and mouse with the nuke.
His entrance was enough to put Iida off balance though, and the boy froze as Uraraka used her quirk on herself to jump at the bomb.
Latching onto it, she called out-
“Captured!”
“VICTORY GOES TO HERO TEAM A!” All Might called out over their intercoms.
“EVERYONE MEET BACK AT THE OBSERVATION ROOM!”
*
For what it's worth, aside from a bruised pride Katsuki was mostly fine. He gotten bruised and battered but was almost less injured than Izuku, who was sporting yet another concussion. The group gathered back in the monitor room, Uraraka talking excitedly to Izuku about how cool his power was.
Fortitude was still present, having been forgotten by Izuku but followed nonetheless.
Izuku himself was burned in multiple places but was more or less okay, nothing Charity couldn't heal.
“SO!” All Might was positively beaming. “Can anyone give any feedback on that fight and name the MVP for the fight!”
A boy with spikey red hair shot his hand up so fast it could have dislocated his shoulder.
“Yes, Kirishima!”
“Midoriya would be the MVP right? He took down Bakugou and distracted Iida long enough to capture the bomb! “ the boy spoke with a lot of enthusiasm, and let out a quiet “so manly” under his breath.
“I don't think so” a girl spoke from behind Midoriya.
“As a hero, he should have been minimizing collateral damage, and he destroyed almost the entire building in taking down bakugou...” the girl trailed off.
“You are quite right young Yaoyorozu! Who would you say should be MVP then!” All Might added with flourish.
The girl liter her hand to her chin in thought.
“Probably Iida. Midoriya caused too much collateral damage and Uraraka was unable to capture the bomb without assistance. Bakugou split off on his own, endangering his teammate and the mission” Katsuki tsked at that.
“Iida was able to hold off Uraraka by himself, as well as remove all loose objects in the vicinity to negate the use of her quirk. He performed his duty the best, and by himself on top of that.” the girl finished and looked to All Might.
The man cleared his throat, obviously not expecting the girl to go so in depth.
“I absolutely agree! Iida is awarded the MVP for the match. You all may go to the nurse to fix the slight injuries you may have suffered in this class!” All Might had held them for a moment for the review.
Katsuki began to stalk off, but Iida and Uraraka were completely unharmed.
“Deku? Aren't you going to see the nurse?” Uraraka turned to the green haired boy.
“Wha? Ah no. I’ve got a guy for that” Izuku said absentmindedly as he summoned Charity.
Charity healed him, and after a solid scolding looked over the rest of the class, much to their embarrassment.
Uraraka was absolutely in love with Charity, fawning over how useful his quirk was and trying to hold his attention for as long as possible before charity gave his final report.
“Uraraka was a little nauseous, so I fixed that. There were some scratches and bruises on Iida, and you. Alpha what am I going to do with you…” the trait trailed off before making eye contact with the boy again.
“You had another concussion, and so many bruises I can't even count them all. You should be fine though. Banish me and Fortitude and get some rest.” with that the trait stopped speaking and sat down.
It was also at that moment that Charity realized the class was staring at him strangely.
“Ah. Hello. I am Charity. One of Izuku’s many many traits. If you ever need healing you can come to me if Recovery Girl is busy. I'm more than used to it.”
The class was stunned as Izuku called the traits back into his body, the brown glow finally fading. The boy promptly sat down against the wall. All Might called their attention back to the screens on the opposite wall as he drew the next two teams that would be competing.
What a day.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The rest of the day went well for the most part.
Izuku tried to pay attention to the next competitions but was honestly too tired. The next fight had someone named Todoroki, and he ended the fight before it began.
It was boring.
So Izuku accidentally fell asleep. While asleep, Bakugou had returned but remained as far away from the napping boy as possible.
After what had happened, the class unconsciously decided to leave the boy be. Maybe All Might was picking favorites.
Lucky for him the class with All Might had been the last class of the day. Katsuki had stormed off as soon as possible while Izuku was still packing.
“Deku!” It was Uraraka with Iida in tow.
Izuku turned on the spot and gave the girl a questioning look.
“‘You have to take the train home right? Let's walk together!”
And so they did.
As it turned out Iida had taken notes on the rest of the fights and offered to share them with Izuku.
“Thanks!” Izuku paused.
“I don't really know what came over me then. I hope my being asleep wasn’t too disruptive to the class.” Iida shook his head.
“While sleeping during class is never a good thing, you were not disruptful. We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again!”
“We?” Uraraka said with a smirk.
The boy had a slight blush covering his face but continued on anyways.
“y-Yes!” he cleared his throat.
“I'm going to help keep you awake if necessary! We are students of U.A and should act accordingly!”
Izuku’s mouth slowly formed into a smirk.
“Let's be friends then. I mean, if you're going to help me you might as well get something out of it.”
Iida let out a gulp.
~He's scared. We scared them again.~
Shut up greed.
“y-Yes! That way I can easier help you if need be, and it's always nice to have friends!” the poor boy struggled out, as if trying to justify friendship to himself.
Izuku let a full smile form on his face.
He won't be nervous for long. We can be friends!
Lust was whispering into his ear excitedly.
Izuku smiled.
*
Izuku groggily waddled into class twenty or so minutes before the begging bell rang, and was surprised to see not only Kacchan but Iida already present. The Todoroki kid was sitting in the back of the class, as well as the girl that had named Iida MVP.
The moment he saw Izuku, Iida stood up and walked over to him.
“Good morning, Midoriya!” it was amazing how much energy the boy had this early in the morning.
Iida gave him a handful of notes and returned to his seat with little said.
As Midoriya sat down at his desk behind Kacchan, he came to a realization.
Aizawa isn't here yet.
He could probably get away with using his quirk!
Now, you could blame Izuku for what happened next. He did summon his trait after all, without being asked even. Izuku took a seat and summoned Sloth, trying to get as much energy as he could before the day truly started.
Sloth was summoned and was already asleep, curled into a ball. The entire class watched as Sloth began to slowly un-wrap himself and
inchworm his way to the front of class
.
Now effectively away from Izuku, the clone curled back into a ball and fell asleep in the corner underneath a blackboard.
Izuku let out a sigh at Sloth’s antics and laid his head on his desk with a resounding
whump
.
“Hey… Midoriya?” Izuku let out an unhappy whine at being interrupted but raised his head anyways.
It was Iida that had spoken to him, but everyone (except Kacchan) was looking at him with varying amounts of shock. The Todoroki kid in the back didn't look to be that surprised, just curious.
“What was that?” Iida didn't sound stern, just startled.
Izuku blinked his bleary eyes and let out another whine.
“That was sloth… He is part of my quirk.” Izuku went to lay his head back down but was interrupted once again.
“Your quirk? Did you summon him? It looked like your back started to rumble and form another body” this time it was the girl in the back of class. Izuku leveled at her with an uninterested stare.
“My quirk lets me make copies of myself,” Izuku thought for a second. They would probably ask more questions if he didn't give them more infor-
“Why was he white?” It was Todoroki this time.
Izuku looked at him incredulously.
“My clones are a little different from me. I summoned him because he has a quirk that makes resting more effective. I was just trying to get as much energy for the day as I could.”
That really opened the floodgates to questions from the three.
“Your clones have different quirks?”
“How many do you have?”
“Are they all colorful?”
All three of them spoke at once, leaving Izuku rather stunned. He had not been asked about his quirk in a long time by anyone other than Toshinori. Attention was still a bit new for him after so many years of being left alone.
“Um… they all have different quirks. I have 11 right now but only found one yesterday during class. And yes they are all different colors…” His voice shook, but not too bad.
He looked at each person as he addressed their questions, though still looked a little shocked at the attention.
Iida had wide eyes while the girl began to speak.
“Are they all themed after the 7 deadly sins? If you have Sloth that is…” she began to mutter. “You have more than 7 though so maybe the 7 holy virtues? But if that were the case you would hav..” her muttering got too quiet for Izuku to hear properly, so he just decided to answer.
“Um… a doctor I went to named the first few after the deadly sins, and thought they would all follow the pattern but I got a few that just kinda didn't.” Izuku sounded better but was still visibly nervous.
There was a pause.
“Oh!” the girl blinked, as though she realized something.
“My name is Momo Yaoyorozu! My quirk is called Creation and allows me to create things using fats in my body, though nothing organic.” The girl was on the taller side, easily taller than Izuku. She presented herself in a way that just screamed high class. Yaoyorozu seemed nice.
Oh. introductions.
Izuku gave her a little awkward wave as Iida began to rush into his own introduction.
“My name is Tenya Iida! My quirk is called Engine and allows me advanced speed using engines in my legs!” Yaoyorozu gave him a polite greeting and the two turned to Izuku.
“Ah!” why was he so jumpy this morning?
“My name is Izuku Midoriya! My quirk is called Fragment!”
~And one for all, but that's not important.~
Shut. up. Greed.
A slight amount of energy slipped back into Izuku as Greed slunk back into the depths of his mind.
Realizing that Izuku already gave a good enough explanation of his quirk, the three turned to the Todoroki boy.
“Shouto Todoroki”
There was another drawn-out pause.
Realizing that was the most they were going to get from the boy, Iida and Yaoyorozu turned to Katsuki. The boy was staring ahead, acting like he wasn't listening.
They stared at him for a moment before Izuku realized what was going on.
“Oh. That's Kaccha-” Izuku cleared his throat. “Katsuki Bakugou. He can create explosions, but you guys already saw that.”
Katsuki stiffened and Izuku could feel the pure malice coming from the boy wash over him like a wave.
Making the decision that he
really
didn't want to get into a fight with Bakugou today, Izuku changed the subject.
“So you can create anything that isn't alive Yaoyorozu?”
“Please, just call me Momo, and as long as I have a solid grip on its molecular layout and have a big lunch yes. More or less!” Momo explained with a laugh.
Even her laugh is high class…
~you’re blushing~
SHUT UP GREED
“Midoriya!” Iida interrupted “Are all of your clones sentient?” he was still strangely serious, as though this was life or death.
Trying to shake the slight blush off of his face, Izuku shook his head.
“Um… y-yes. They all have their own minds and stuff. They have to listen to me though, and can’t directly attack me. Would you like to meet some?” Izuku was rambling faster than he could think.
“YES!” Iida all but shouted.
“It would help explain so much! And would be a good time to bond if we are to be friends!” Iida had a lot of energy for so early in the morning.
Izuku looked at him perplexed, trying to understand what he was saying before he realized what he offered.
“W-wait I… we are on school property! I don't want to get in trouble!” Iida’s grin fell, but the world was against Izuku today.
Uraraka walked into the room.
“It is true that we are on school property… and even if this is U.A unmonitored quirk use is-”
“What's going on?” Uraraka walked up to Iida.
“Midoriya was about to show us his quirk.” Todoroki said. He also had very little emotion in his voice, though lacked the overwhelming energy that Iida held.
“Really! Come on Deku!!!” Uraraka suddenly didn't understand personal space as she shoved her face as close to Izuku as she could.
Now Izuku really didn't have any choice. He had four students staring him down, begging for a demonstration.
If I only bring out a couple of the little ones, the drawback shouldn't be that bad. I’ll still be Izuku.
Sloth is already out, so I guess gluttony would work.
Bring me out too!
~me too alpha. I wish to meet your classmates~
Lust and Greed were suddenly clamoring in his mind, excited about meeting the class.
Izuku let out a very audible groan.
“Fine.”
Uraraka let out a cheer while Momo sat forward in her desk a little. Iida still looked uncomfortable with the fact that they could get in trouble, but his curiosity shone through his eyes.
Izuku let out a quiet grumble and summoned Greed, Lust, and Gluttony.
The moment he did, he realized just how big of a mistake he made.
Gluttony was strangely well behaved, sitting on Izuku’ s desk but the others had their own agendas.
Greed B-Lined it for Momo and was already assaulting her with questions on her quirk, notebook in hand. Lust, on the other hand, had wrapped Uraraka in a massive hug and was spinning her around.
Lust set down Uraraka and she looked to Izuku with wide, scared eyes.
“So uh. The pink one is Lust, and the green one is Greed.” Izuku pointed to Gluttony.
“This is Gluttony. They all have their own quirks, personalities, and minds. Say hello guys.”
Greed stopped verbally assaulting the poor girl for long enough to shoot a wave over to the rest of the class, before returning to what he was doing.
Todoroki spoke up again.
“What are their quirks?” He finally had some emotion in his voice, Curiosity hidden under a layer of ice.
“Well, Sloth makes it so that when I rest, I regain stamina at an increased pace. About one hour of sitting gives me the same amount of energy as a full night’s sleep with him.”
“Gluttony eats food and stores it as energy. He can power me up or the other clones, it doesn't really matter.” Izuku gestured to Lust.
“Lust is a little creepy...” he quickly moved on.
“And Greed can transfer thoughts telepathically. He also can talk to me that way, but we don't do that much.”
Izuku widened his arms, gesturing to all his traits.
“Say hello to my sins!”
*
Unfortunately for Izuku, more students came in before he had time to put away his clones.
The next person to walk in was the boy with the spiky red hair, the one All Might had called Kirishima. He took one look at the five Izukus and just laughed and made his way over to where the true Izuku was.
“This is your quirk right?” he took a seat next to Izuku, who nodded.
“That's so cool! You can create so many at once!” he looked around, seeing Lust now a fair distance from Uraraka (ie. not currently crushing her, but rather just touching her from arm's length), and Greed who was now having a conversation with Momo rather than an interrogation.
“Is there any drawback to making so many?”
The class froze.
Lust had his arm looped around Uraraka who, much to her credit, didn’t look uncomfortable anymore.
“
Just tell ‘em Alpha
”
Izuku leveled the quirk with a glare, something screaming
I will kill you
.
“They call you Alpha?” Iida was asking once again. He had been sitting with Gluttony, who had taken a seat not too far from Izuku.
“Yea. I don't really know why” Izuku sounded so tired, but was more than willing to cooperate.
“Lust made it sound bad. What is your drawback?” Momo asked. Greed opened his mouth to reply but stopped when he saw Izuku’s glare.
“You don't need to worry too much about it. It just costs a lot of energy to summon them!” Izuku put on a big smile as he lied through his teeth.
He didn't catch Katsuki trembling.
“I get a little bit back, and with Sloth’s quirk it's not a big deal!” the students looked relieved for a moment.
For a moment.
Katsuki had had enough. He suddenly stood up and began to stalk his way to Izuku. Gluttony got up to block him, but Katsuki just pushed past him.
The explosive boy slammed his hand into the desk with a loud
thud
. Smoke was coming from his hand.
“Tell them the whole truth
Deku
” the name was spoken with an unbelievable amount of spite. “Or I fucking will.”
Izuku’s eyes were wide, Katsuki hadn't been this mad in a while.
Greed opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by Katsuki.
“NOT YOU, YOU OVERGROWN ENCYCLOPEDIA! HIM!” He swung his hand in Izuku’s direction, almost hitting him in the face.
“Bakugou! This is U.A! You should not be acting like thi-”
Izuku spoke up, interrupting Iida before he started.
“No no. he's right. I should explain the whole drawback, not just the easy stuff.” Izuku met Katsuki’s eyes. They were so full of rage, but even Izuku could see the fear hidden behind them. Izuku blanched.
I haven't used my quirk this much around him since…
Katuki hissed.
“Explain to them, or I will.” he then turned on his heal and stalked back over to his desk. There was a resounding thunk as he slammed his head down.
“Well that was dramatic” Greed muttered as he took a seat back next to Momo.
“Sorry about that…” Izuku said, almost under his breath. He cleared his throat.
“So!” Izuku said with gusto, wide grin on his face.
“If I summon what I call a Trait, like Greed or Sloth, my mind is no longer able to access those emotions! Which is fine, but if I summon too many I’m basically not myself anymore.” His grin was faltering, but he was still trying.
“The traits are actual personality traits, and by removing them I become less and less… human? Me? I don't know… I've been told I act more sociopathic. That's the major drawback, but it mostly isn't an issue as I would have to summon a lot of traits!” Successfully out of breath, Izuku sat back down and looked at Kirishima.
“What about you guys?”
They looked a little shocked at his outburst of energy, but Iida was quick to get back on his feet.
“If I overuse my engines, they could break down or need to cool down and such.”
“I get stomach aches!”
“My quirk can only take so much damage before it breaks!” All eyes turned to Kirishima as he realized he never explained his quirk.
“Oh! I can make my skin harden so I can take a lot of damage!” Kirishima hardened his forearms and hit them together, but rather than smacking of skin on skin, it sounded more like two rocks being banged together.
Greed turned to Izuku.
“Alpha… that's quite like Fortitude.” Izuku just glared at him while the other students all looked at him.
He had only summoned Fortitude once, but at the mention of his name by Greed the trait began to push on the back of his mind.
Before he got the question, Izuku already began to summon Fortitude.
All of the summoning was pushing Izuku to his limits, especially while tired. Nonetheless, Fortitude was summoned, though he confused.
“
Hello. I am Fortitude. Why have I been summoned
?” His voice was rather flat, as if disappointed.
Izuku let out a large yawn and settled his head onto his desk. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to answer the trait.
“Alpha has summoned us to meet his classmates. Your quirk is similar to Kirishima’s” Greed pointed at the red-haired boy.
“
This isn't right. I should only be useful in fights. Why summon me to talk
?”
Greed looked at the trait critically, as though trying to read into its soul.
“Its... For Alpha and his class, they get to meet you for the first time. I get to manage Alpha… see your impact on him. Make friends.” Greed’s eyes were hard as he commanded his fellow trait.
Fortitude looked at him as though regarding a cockroach, but nodded regardless.
The frosty aura that had fallen over the classroom was suddenly broken as Kirishima stood up from the seat he had taken and clapped loudly.
“Hey! They said we have a similar quirk!” Kirishima bellowed with much enthusiasm.
Fortitude looked at him with cold eyes.
“From what you told Alpha… yes we do”
Kirishima strengthened his arms again, his skin turning jagged and looking more like rock than human flesh.
“So what’s your quirk?!”
Fortitude looked caught off guard by the excited energy in the redhead's voice and turned to Greed. Without even turning around, the lime green trait let out a nod. Fortitude turned to check on Izuku, but he seemed to be asleep… or close to it.
“I… can reinforce myself and Alpha to be able to maintain more damage, but not much else.” Fortitude suddenly looked down, as though embarrassed.
Kirishima's smile had faded a little, looking a touch more sour than it was a moment prior.
“It's not like your quirk where it makes us hit harder or give our skin that cool look like yours Kirishima.” He was talking a little less stiff now and was talking more freely, as though absorbing some of the redhead's energy.
“But I can make sure we can take a hit!”
Kirishima suddenly looked surprised.
“You think I look cool?” His voice was much smaller than it was moments earlier.
Fortitude nodded.
“The jagged look makes you look really intimidating. You look like you could scare a bad guy into giving up. And think how unique that looks for a hero!” Fortitude was speaking like a fifth grader now, all frost from earlier having melted.
Kirishima looked to be on the edge of tears and had a massive smile on his face.
He mumbled something under his breath, but all that anyone could hear was ‘
manly’.
Just at that moment, more people began to walk through the door. Unfortunately, Izuku fell asleep.
One by one, starting with sloth, all the traits suddenly melted and slipped back into the sleeping boy. The class was startled, the new additions having seen five kids just disappear and the others having been in the middle of conversations. No one moved for a moment, shocked by what just happened, but then Izuku let out a soft snore.
Kirishima let out a loud barking laugh, and everyone else was soon to follow.
Katsuki grit his teeth and kept his eyes staring straight ahead.
*
Izuku was eventually woken up by Iida, as promised the day before.
Blinking with bleary eyes, the boy decided maybe summoning five traits in quick succession moments after waking up was a bad idea.
No shit.
Taking a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, Izuku resummoned Sloth. This time however, told the trait to stay next to his desk.
He was right against the wall, so the trait just propped himself up and began to slumber in earnest.
Looking at the clock, the bell would ring any moment.
In all honesty, Izuku was looking forward to his first real class with Aizawa. The man had been rather brutal the day before but had shone in his knowledge.
Hopefully, they would be learning something fun this time.
As if summoned by his thoughts, his teacher slammed the door open as the bell rang. The class scrambled to their seats at an, honestly, impressive pace.
“Seven seconds. Not a good time.” The tired man said with a sigh. Taking his place at the podium, the man gave a glance to the class.
Almost immediately the man locked his eyes on Sloth. His eyes flew to Izuku and he instantly made the connection.
“Midoriya. Don't interrupt class.” With that, the man started to take roll.
What kind of instruction was that?
Izuku felt a drop of sweat roll down his face.
Did he mean I can have my trait’s out as long as they don't interrupt class?
The teacher continued to take roll. When he called out Izuku’s name he let a small glare.
“Midoriya.” the teacher called out. Izuku began to respond but was cut off by Aizawa.
“I don't want you to cause any more trouble. You are only one step away from expulsion as it is, Problem Child.”
Izuku gulped and let his hand fall.
The rest of class went pretty normally. Aizawa didn't make any other comments on Izuku and led the class rather normally. The teacher didn't even mention Sloth, and thus the trait had been out all day.
The lunch bell rang and Izuku finally recalled Sloth. Izuku felt like he could run a marathon, and at this point, probably could thanks to Sloth. That trait was truly a life saver.
Izuku began to stand up and was immediately jumped by Uraraka.
“Eat lunch with us!” She had Iida in tow.
Her forwardness was rather surprising, and Izuku followed.
Settling down at a table, the three were alone to eat for a moment.
“Your quirk is really cool Deku!” having his name used in that context was just… wrong, but he smiled.
“Thank you. Honestly, I think yours is much more amazing.”
Uraraka looked honestly surprised at that before she laughed and shook her head.
“You have like 10 quirks in one. Most of us don't even compare!”
At this, Izuku shook his head.
“Think about it. My quirk has such a massive drawback it makes it difficult to use in lots of situations. You can negate gravity right?” Uraraka nodded. “You said your only drawback was nausea and a hurt stomach. That's amazing! If you think of how powerful your quirk is by how low the drawback is, your is much more favorable! You have a truly versatile quirk and could easily use it for rescue, and it would still be really good in fights. You could just make a bad guy float away!” Izuku seemed to realize he was rambling at this point but didn't stop.
“My quirk might be strong, but its drawback makes its use really narrow. I can't exactly catch a building with a clone that just sleeps” Izuku laughed self-deprecating.
Uraraka seemed to have enough of it though. She was blushing pretty hard as she spoke.
“The super strength you used in the hero fight was really useful! You broke a building by running! If you can be that fast all the time then you would be better at rescue work than I could ever be!”
Izuku’s face fell.
How in the world did I just forget I have One for All…
With a slight shake of his head, Izuku got back into his conversation.
“Even with super speed I wouldn't really be able to help with a rescue. If someone was trapped under a building, all I could do would be to lift some rubble or punch it. You could just float the rubble away. We just have different uses. But I still think yours is way more versatile!”
Uraraka opened her mouth to continue to argue but was interrupted by a couple of fellow students.
“Hey! Midoriya!” Kirishima called out. He took a seat next to the green haired boy.
“Hi!!!” the pink girl next to Kirishima said and took a seat next to Uraraka.
The pink girl launched into a conversation as soon as she sat down.
“Kirishima told me about your quirk! We saw you when you were fighting and it was amazing!” she turned to Uraraka.
“You were amazing too! There was so little time left that without you Midoriya would have lost!” she turned back to Izuku.
“Long story short Kirishima wanted to-”
Kirishima cut her off.
“Fortitude seemed like a cool guy! I wanted to see if I could talk to you, or him if you are busy!” Izuku was at a loss for words.
He had kids come up to him and compliment his quirk, maybe even try to be his friend, but never had anyone come up and ask to talk to one of his traits.
Izuku didn't really know how to feel about it. On one hand it was kind of insulting that Kirishima didn't want to talk to him, but on the other hand it was really cool that his traits could make friends themselves. Kirishima seemed like a cool guy and probably didn't mean any insult by it. He probably just wanted to continue his conversation that they were having this morning.
The pink girl was scolding Kirishima but Izuku blocked it out.
Hey fortitude!
Izuku called into his mind.
…
I think you made a friend!
Izuku could feel the alarm coming off of Fortitude as he began to summon him.
As Fortitude finally slipped from him, His other traits began to clamor, all asking to be summoned.
Izuku ignored it for the time being.
“Fortitude!!” Kirishima held out a fist for bumping, but the trait just looked at him.
“
You… asked to see me
?” The poor guy sounded so confused.
“Yea! I was thinking we could talk!”
Izuku stopped listening as the noise in his mind finally hit an annoying pitch. He looked over to Iida and Uraraka.
“Do you guys mind if I let a few others out? They all want to meet the class.”
Iida looked like he wanted to protest, but he held his tongue.
Uraraka just nodded enthusiastically.
With a grateful sigh, Izuku summoned some others. In an instant Lust had sandwiched himself in between the two girls, and Greed was off to talk to Momo again. By the time he was done summoning, Gluttony was in line for some food. Checking his pants, Izuku noticed the trait had stolen his wallet.
Izuku let them run wild as he sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. He had already finished lunch, but summoning was always tiring. He did just summon four traits at once after all.
The pink girl had managed to shepherd Kirishima and fortitude away to
somewhere
, while Uraraka took Lust to meet the rest of the class. Iida was busy scolding gluttony for stealing Izuku’s wallet.
Izuku was almost peaceful as he sat alone at his table, letting his traits run wild. That was until he was interrupted.
Todoroki had taken a seat across from Izuku. He was finishing what seemed to be Soba. The boy took a long drag of noodles into his mouth before making eye contact with a startled Izuku.
“What did Aizawa mean by you were close to being expelled already?” The boy tried to appear casual but failed horribly.
Izuku just looked at him, but the boy went back to slurping soba.
There was a tense moment of silence before Izuku spoke.
“U-uh… I got in trouble earlier with the teachers?” Izuku posed this like a question to the cold boy across the table.
“Why did you get in trouble? Not for destroying the building…” Todoroki continued to eat soba.
“No. Better question is how did Aizawa know you.” There was steel previously unknown in the boy’s voice.
Ah. scouting competition?
“I trained on U.A campus over the summer for a couple of weeks. A few of the teachers offered to give me recommendations to enter the class but I decided to take the entrance exam.”
Todoroki nodded, lifted his tray and left.
What a weird guy. Kinda intense too. I like it.
Taking a moment to try to make sense of what just happened, Izuku looked around the lunch room.
Gluttony was scarfing down what looked to be the cheapest meal he could buy under the watchful eye of Iida. Lust currently had his arm wrapped around the boy with a bird head. The bird head boy had… something coming out of his chest that Lust was absentmindedly petting with his off hand. The bird looked embarrassed.
Fortitude suddenly walked through the door with Kirishima. The two were sweating with the trait covered in….
bruises???
The pair sat across from Izuku again, still panting.
“
Alpha. That was amazing.
” the trait looked at Kirishima.
“
We were sparring and his quirk is very, very strong. I couldn't even get close to its pure strength.
”
Kirishima laughed.
“Don't lie! You were keeping up! I just hit harder!” The two shared a laugh again.
In his mind, Greed slotted that away.
“I hope he didn't make you fight. Sorry about that Kirishima!” The redhead looked startled.
“If anything, I made Fortitude fight, not the other way around!” The boy let out another laugh.
He was laughing a lot, sounding relieved.
“It was lots of fun. This is one manly quirk you have here Midoriya!” The pair fist bumped.
Izuku smiled.
“I think you made a friend Fortitude.” He stage whispered to the trait. The trait looked like he was slapped while Kirishima had wide, expectant eyes.
“Friends!” Kirishima held out a hardened fist. Fortitude locked eyes with him and began to glow brown.
“Friends!” he punched Kirishima's hand
hard
and made a loud smack.
It's weird. People seem to like the traits.
Izuku looked over to where a satisfied Gluttony was talking with Iida, and where Lust was now hanging off of the pink girl again but this time with the shadow quirk from the bird boy wrapped around his waist.
It's the good kind of weird. I could learn to like it here.
Maybe I can make friends here. As long as they don't know…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The rest of the week went well, all things considered.
Classes flew through like a normal high school, with some interesting differences. To start, every teacher they had was a pro-hero of some sort. Aizawa was their homeroom teacher, Present Mic was an English teacher and so on.
Days slid by in an almost-unnoticeable blur… well, at least until Friday.
That day, when trying to get onto campus, there was a large group of media personnel in front of the school. Izuku’s heart nearly stopped at this, but he just pulled his hood up and pushed through the crowd.
Friday was also class-1A’s second class with All Might. For the most part, it was almost indecipherable from an average class. The teacher went over hero ethics and began to teach some basic CPR. Unsurprisingly, the best of the class in CPR happened to be none other than Momo, with Uraraka in a close second. the issues arose at the end of class.
“ Class!” All Might clapped his massive hands.
“As you have noticed from the past week, I will be meeting with you on Mondays and Fridays! The next upcoming Monday, we are planning on going on a small field trip! The location will be on campus, but in keeping with the consent push from Principal Nezu, I will be sending you all home with Permission Slips!” The large man produced a stack of papers with great flourish.
“Unfortunately, the location cannot be disclosed but I can Guarantee that it will be on campus!” The man passed out papers and was interrupted by the lunch bell ringing.
“Make sure to get those signed! Aizawa will be collecting them on Monday!”
*
As Izuku began his way to the lunchroom, he was again jumped by Uraraka. At this point, it was more or less a pattern to have her approach him to have lunch with her and Iida. what was unusual was that this time Iida was with her, asking Izuku to join them. It was nice.
As the trio sat at their regular table, they watched as Kirishima approached. The rest of the class had more or less gotten over their interest in Izuku’s traits, except Uraraka and Mina occasionally asking for lust for some reason. Kirishima, however, had made a habit of coming up to Izuku during lunch and asking to talk to Fortitude. It had long since stopped being insulting, rather just intriguing to the green haired teen. Nonetheless, Izuku complied and the pair walked off to spend lunch together.
“That is rather strange, isn't it?” Iida said, taking a mouthful of his lunch. Uraraka made a nodding noise in agreement.
“I’ve tried to ask Fortitude what they do, but I never really get an answer…” Izuku could feel the lack of drive within him from summoning the trait but was slowly getting used to it.
The trio watched the boy and trait walk off to a table with a couple of their classmates, who Izuku had learned from greed were named Kaminari, Mina, Sero and of course there was Kirishima. Fortitude said hello loudly and slung his arm around Kirishima.
Iida cleared his throat.
“So. I’ve been meaning to ask…” the boy hesitated. Izuku raised an eyebrow.
“You and Bakugou went to the same middle school right?” Uraraka turned to Izuku at and loudly proclaimed.
“Right! There's a rumor going around about that!” Izuku visibly cringed.
“Um… y-yea. Kaachan and I went to the same middle school…”
Iida looked off-put by his reaction, but Uraraka continued on as if not noticing.
“If you two knew each other, why does he treat you like that”
You could hear a pin drop at the table as Izuku floundered for an acceptable answer.
This is too close…
“A-ah” Izuku sounded panicked. “We… we are neighbors and used to be really good friends but had a falling out…”
There was a tense pause.
“Well, I wouldn't have been friends with him either!” Uraraka said with a little indignation in her voice.
She thinks he did something wrong….
“Wait.” Iida interrupted. “I sat right behind Bakugou in the opening ceremony. His hair is very recognizable, but I didn't see you anywhere Midoriya? Did you get in on a recommendation?”
Midoriya cocked his head in confusion “Iida, we were in the same exam arena. I took down the zero-pointer. Remember?” Iida opened his mouth to replay but Uraraka barreled on.
“Deku and I sat together during the ceremony with Present Mic. We were a little late.”
“I thought you said you came from a school across town Uraraka?”
“I mean yeah, my school was really far away. What does that have to do with anything?”
Iida looked at the two incredulously.
“You do know that we were seated by school right?”
“... no?” Uraraka looked honestly confused.
Izuku turned to his food and took a bite in an attempt to appear normal.
Hey Alpha
a small portion of energy summoned Greed into his mind.
Whats up greed.
See that boy with the purple hair?
Izuku turned to his right towards the lunch line. In the middle of the line, on his phone, was a boy with bright purple hair on his phone.
What about him?
I wanna talk to him.
Izuku sighed.
You know I can't just let you bother students whenever you please Greed.
Izuku could feel the trait pout before it spoke again.
Will you go talk to him then?
Izuku sighed even deeper.
Can I not?
Please?
Izuku banished greed.
“- yeah it should have been obvious right! You should have heard how he spoke when we are about to go into the building!” Uraraka was talking rather enthusiastically.
“You should have heard Bakugou! He was so inappropriate. I tried to tell him as such, but he just left me with the bomb!”
“What are we talking about?” Izuku butt in.
Uraraka responded way too quickly. “Your similarities to Bakugou.”
Izuku looked as though he had been slapped.
“My…. what?!”
The girl turned to him. “Yea. When you are talking to new people you sound like Bakugou… kinda…” The girl looked away uncomfortably.
“That's probably pretty insulting…”
“It's just-” Iida cut in “- you come off really aggressive when approached. From what Uraraka was saying, it sounded like you were just as aggressive before the hero training!” the boy was speaking as though reading from a textbook.
Izuku was at a loss for words.
“It's not a bad thing!” Uraraka was quick to continue as soon as Iida stopped talking. “Its just really off-putting for people!”
“What???”
Its true alpha. Since you began training with All Might you have started to come off as more and more aggressive.
“I-”
Izuku was cut off by an alarm.
It kinda sounded like a fire alarm, though was set to a pattern.
“That is a level three alarm… that means someone has broken on to campus!” Iida sounded slightly alarmed and said that a touch too loudly.
As if spurred by his words, the entire cafeteria began to rush to the exit in what could only be considered a stampede.
Izuku, for his credit, didn't even bother to stand up.
they think I'm too aggressive?
The crowd grew slowly yet steadily as the rush to exit became more and more maddening. Iida and Uraraka had already been swept away but Izuku continued to sit.
Et Tu, Greed?
Alpha. Shouldn't you be evacuating?
I HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS GOING ON
Stop yelling please.
DO I REALLY ACT TOO AGGRESSIVE?
Stop yelling alpha. I can and will go deaf.
IM NOT AGGRESSIVE.
Izuku was suddenly wrenched out of his thoughts by someone shaking him.
“Hey. we should evacuate with everyone else. You can't just sit here.” the voice sounded really tired.
Looking to the voice, Izuku saw the purple haired boy.
“Uhh?” he put elegantly.
The boy only sighed and grabbed Izuku’s hand. He then pulled the motionless teen to his feet and began to lead him away.
“H-hey where are we going…” Izuku stammered out but was drowned out by the overwhelming noise of The Stampede.
The purple haired boy had just pulled them into the stream of students when Iida began to float and latched onto a part of the ceiling.
Iida was giving some sort of speech from the ceiling, yelling over the crowd, but Izuku could only focus on the strange boy in front of him. The crowd suddenly lulled as Iida pushed himself back down to the floor where Uraraka was.
Then, the intercom made aloud announcement stating that it was a false alarm. Murmuring began to break out among the students as they all began to look out the windows. The front gate to U.A had been completely destroyed, a large pile of dust being all that remained. News people were pushing to get past the gate, but a group of teachers had already made their way down there to stop anyone from breaking in.
Reluctantly, the stampeding students returned to their duties.
The purple boy, however, seemed to have different plans as he began to lead Izuku out of the cafeteria.
“Um… H-hey! Where are we going! They said it was a false alarm!” the boy continued to pull Izuku down the hallway.
“Nurse.” the boy was curt, almost rude. “Whatever happened to you back there… I can't just leave you. “
“Hey! I'm fine!”
“You froze.”
“I was distracted!”
But it was too late. They were already in front of the nurse's office. Without even knocking, The purple haired boy wrenched the door open and pushed Izuku inside.
“Hey. something happened when the alarm went off. This kid was acting weird.”
Why did he say that like I'm being arrested?
“Hi… Recovery Girl…” Izuku said meekly.
The woman in question was sitting at a desk and spun around at the sound of someone entering. Her eyes narrowed when seeing Izuku.
“Well hello, Midoriya. And you too young man.” she nodded to the purple haired boy. “Normally, you knock before barging in on someone. But you seem to have a problem with this Midoriya…” the woman almost instantly was scolding, but the purple-haired boy interrupted her.
“He froze up and was looking sick when the alarm went off. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. Sorry about barging in.” he didn't sound very sorry.
Recovery girl sighed.
“What is your name young man?”
“Shinsou.” the boy was still extremely curt, as though he really didn't care where he was or who was talking to him.
“Well thank you for taking him here Shinsou. I’ll give him a checkup. You can return to lunch if you wish.”
The boy’s face was still impassive, but he nodded and left.
“Well. he’s just a load of fun isn't he” the woman said under her breath while standing up.
“Please shut the door behind you.”
Izuku did as he was told and sat on one of the beds placed nearest the entrance.
“Look. I'm sorry to bother you recovery girl. I'm fine, he just seemed rather focused and he dragged me here and I really don't want to bother you-”
The elderly woman put a hand up and stopped Izuku’s rambling.
“I’ll just give you a quick examination. Make sure you are okay, then you can go, okay?”
The boy nodded and the woman moved closer.
“I was just talking to Greed and got a little too invested is all. I'm fine, I swear!”
As if invited by those words, at that moment Izuku began to cough. Recovery Girl let out a small
tutt
and handed the boy a tissue. As always, there was blood.
“I am also going to check on how your injuries are progressing, while I have you in here.”
Izuku sighed but resigned himself to stay in the nurse's office.
*
Recovery girl kept true to her word, and Izuku was released back to lunch no more than ten minutes later. When re-entering the lunchroom, however, he instantly spotted the boy with the purple hair that had all but forced him into the nurse’s office.
“Hey!” Izuku tried to make his voice enthusiastic, but it came out a little more aggressive than intended.
Maybe they have a point.
“Thank you for taking me to the nurse’s office. It wasn't needed, but it was still really nice!” Izuku tried to give him a big smile, but the boy kept his face blank.
There was an awkward pause.
Izuku cleared his throat. “Anyway! If you ever need anything, I owe you one!” With that, Izuku made his way back to his table.
“Hey, Midoriya! Where did you go?” Iida straightened in his seat as soon as the boy had returned.
“Oh, some boy dragged me to the nurse’s office…”
His friends looked confused, so Izuku explained.
After that, Izuku spaced out and slowly ate his food while his friends chattered away. For some reason he couldn't stop thinking about that weird boy- Shinsou-, he seemed to be withdrawn and sat alone at a lunch table. It made Izuku want to find out why he was sitting alone. What it really made him want to do is make friends with the boy.
A small portion of energy was ripped from him as Lust summoned himself in Izuku’s mind.
Maybe it was just because you think he is pretty?
Izuku choked on his food and began to cough really hard.
“Midroiya are you alright!?” Iida called out while Uraraka began to hit his back in an attempt to get him to stop coughing.
LUSt wHAT THE FUCK
Don't say that like it isn't true
DUDE
Dude.
“Sorry about that” Izuku let out another cough, now with a slight tinge of blood to it, into a napkin. “Guess it went down the wrong pipe!” Izuku tried to laugh it off, but the metallic taste of blood in his mouth was really setting his mood down.
His friends seemed to take it at face value though and continued to talk between themselves.
Izuku sighed and continued to eat. There wasn't much of lunch left.
*
The rest of the day went somewhat normally. The class was nearly thrown into chaos when Aizawa announced they were going to be deciding their class president and vice president, but that issue was over almost as soon as it began when someone declared they should take a vote.
Izuku stood up.
“Before we vote I want to say something.” Aizawa being asleep in the corner, Izuku took to the blackboard at the front of the class.
Hey Greed, help me with their names.
Without saying anything back, Greed began to feed the names of all his classmates into Izuku’s mind as he spoke to the class.
“I'm not going to say to vote for me, I don't want to be responsible as class president for the class. But I am going to say who I think should be president.” Izuku finished the last name and turned to the class.
“I don't know how many of you saw it today-”
All of them
greed helpfully added in his mind.
“- but during the panic, Iida managed to calm all the students down enough to make sure no one got hurt. He seems to be the exact student we want as a class president. My vote will be going to him.” the class was stunned at Izuku’s frank yet meaningful speech.
There was a slight class grumble, and Izuku saw Kirishima and Kaminari joke with Iida, calling him president stop sign, but the majority of the class seemed to be okay with it.
“So, I say we all put the names of who we want to be president in a hat. The most voted is president, and the second most voted is vice president. That work for everyone?” Before the class responded, Izuku already went back to his seat.
Something about how Iida had stopped the stampede had inspired Izuku, and the purp- Shinsou- from earlier had really solidified that he shouldn't be nervous around his class. Going from what Uraraka said, they already found him abrasive, so it's not like he could make his reputation any worse.
With that in mind, Izuku had gone in front of the class and spoken to all of them without stuttering. Which was a huge improvement for him, but it left him exhausted.
Momo took to the podium next and passed around a hat. Izuku, true to his word, put a slip of paper with Iida’s name on it and continued to pass it around. He then promptly slammed his head into his desk with more force than necessary.
As he had hoped, Iida got first place with four votes to himself. After him, however, there was a tie of two votes for Momo and two votes for Izuku.
Shocked by how the voting turned, Izuku quickly relinquished vice president to Momo.
When he sat back down and the voting was finished, Aizawa continued class.
The day ended like normal, and Izuku walked home with his two new friends. He got home with little issue and greeted his mom.
She quickly agreed to his field trip, though made it vocal she wasn't happy with the fact she wasn't going to know where it was going to. Izuku explained the need for U.A privacy and she folded pretty fast.
Izuku settled down into his room and began on some homework. It was actually more interesting than he cared to mention as he filled out a worksheet on hero ethics he had gotten from All Might. Math and Japanese history were a breeze, even without Greed helping. He eventually found an issue though regarding English.
See, Izuku himself didn't struggle with English on a basic level, but when it got even slightly complex he was more or less lost.
Unfortunately, the English language was also one of the only things that Greed couldn't be less interested in.
Izuku struggled for longer than he cared to admit before folding and sending a text.
Hey Toshi. Can I ask for your help on something? - Izuku Midoriya
Izuku was pleasantly surprised when Toshinori responded within seconds.
Of course my boy! What is it that you need - All Manlet
Izuku chuckled at the way the man typed before responding.
English. - Izuku Midoriya
English?- All Manlet
English. - Izuku Midoriya
Izuku almost laughed at the confusion he could feel from the other side of his phone. He was almost tempted to call but decided against it. He probably would get too distracted and start laughing.
I would love to help but - All Manlet
Izuku watched with bated breath as Toshinori typed, erased, and retyped a message.
I'm grading an assignment for class 2-B… - All Manlet
Izuku lost it.
The thought of All Might sitting at a desk, struggling to grade papers was enough to send Izuku into hysterical laughter. When he finally composed himself, Izuku sent back another message.
How about this. You help me with English and I’ll help you grade papers. - Izuku Midoriya
Toshinori typed and erased a message multiple times before disappearing for a few minutes. Disappointed, Izuku turned back to trying to understand American-English contractions. He just couldn't understand the difference between what made a word a word or not a word. Like, why was
Isn't
a word, but
Ain't
isn't? Finally, his phone rang and took the poor boy from American-English hell.
I asked the other teachers and they said I could as long as I made it clear I can't pay you or boost your grade for helping me grade - All Manlet
Izuku burst out laughing again before typing a reply.
Deal! Where are you! - Izuku Midoriya
U.A - All Manlet
Izuku chuckled again and put on his shoes.
It was an interesting day.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Izuku stood with the rest of his class in anticipation as Iida began to call out a seating order to their bus. The boy was really giving class president his all, and it made Izuku happy to know he had made the right choice with his endorsement. He went on to talk about proper bus behavior until he was interrupted by Aizawa explaining that they had open seating. Having been effectively shut down, Iida stepped away and the class filed onto the bus.
The first few moments on the bus was spent in silence until
someone
had to break the peace.
“Hey Midoriya! Your quirk is really amazing!” the boy with blonde hair-
Kaminari
- called out through the tense silence.
Izuku started in surprise and let out a surprised cough into his hand. Ignoring the wetness from his mouth, what could only be blood, Izuku let out a small chuckle.
“Thanks. Honestly, I wish I could have something straight forward though, like you or Kirishima.” Izuku was having a good day, but the self-deprecation was almost instinct. Kirishima was quick to call him out on it, however.
“No way! My quirk is boring, but you have such a powerful and flashy quirk! Who is gonna forget the guy with 15 of himself!” Kirishima had a lot of energy for it being so early in the morning.
Izuku let out a laugh, one that sounded more genuine this time.
“Kirishima, I overheard what Fortitude said to you and I agree absolutely. Your quirk is not only insanely versatile but gives you a really cool look when you use it! Why would you love the one-man-power-ranger team when you could have the man who makes himself into a harsh, amazing creature of pure power!” Izuku was really getting into it now and missed the growing blush on Kirishima’s face.
“I mean, have you seen yourself when you harden your skin?! It looks so jagged and intimidating it's amazing! Your presence when you strengthen yourself goes up so much! And then you can take a straight explosion without even moving! Your quirk is amazing no matter how you look at it.” Izuku cut off suddenly, realizing just how many eyes are on him.
Kirishima was looking at him like he just gave him the sun, while the rest of the class is staring at him with wide eyes.
A voice in the back, someone that Greed identified as Mineta suddenly called out.
“Just marry the man already!”
There was a slight murmur of laughter that ripped through the bus, but it was quickly put to silence as Izuku shrugged and stood up.
Yo, fortitude? Any advice on how to make this funny for Kirishima without embarrassing the hell out of him?
Repeat after me.
Izuku got down on one knee in the middle of the bus and repeated after Fortitude.
“Kirishima, will you be my bro, bro?”
The bus exploded with laughter and well-intentioned jeers.
Iida was yelling at Izuku to sit back in his seat but could barely be heard over the roaring laughter.
Thanks Fortitude!
The rest of the bus ride went well, with a constant but not overwhelming chatter. A girl named Tsuyu introduced herself to Izuku.
“Your strength is a lot like All Mights” Izuku felt his heart drop. “If not for the cloning, I would ask if you were his son or something” the frog girl said, not noticing how nervous Izuku was.
He laughed it off and the bus ride continued. Kaminari was actually brave enough to insult Katsuki’s personality, and almost lost his eyebrows from the resulting fireball, but he laughed it off in good faith.
After what felt like years to Izuku’s anxious brain, the bus finally pulled into the parking lot of a large building. It struck the class at that point that they had failed to ask where they were actually going. Aizawa quickly fixed that fact.
“We are at the USJ”
Kaminari and Mina both called out
Universal Studio Japan?!
But were shot down.
“It's called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. It is used for situational rescue. We will explain more inside”
Kirishima mocked the heartbroken pair lightly, and everyone exited the bus.
The doors, in true U.A fashion, were absolutely massive; easily 20 meters tall. Aizawa pushed the doors open with no hesitation and walked right in like he owned the place.
The students scrambled to catch up with him and was shocked to see another teacher within.
Uraraka let out a little squeak.
“It's the rescue hero Thirteen! They are my favorite!” Uraraka was trying her hardest not to yell, and Izuku was easily just as excited. He held a special affinity for heroes who’s entire focus was just to help during things like natural disaster. It was a more pure form of heroism in his opinion. There wasn't really any press coverage, just good heroes helping people.
“Hello, and welcome to the unforeseen simulation join, otherwise known as the USJ. we mainly use this building to practice the safe rescue of civilians and other victims of natural disasters.” Thirteen was a… person?... in a big puffy space suit. He? Gestured out with their right arm to show the area behind them.
The USJ was a massive dome, having the area under it split into many different sections. The most obvious ones were an expansive mountain section close to the entrance, a decaying city, a city that was on fire and the central area. The central area looked as though it was meant to act as a safe point as it was built in such a way that it acted as a hub for the multitude of different zones. Thirteen continued to talk.
“Here we teach young heroes such as yourselves how to use your quirks for rescue.” There was a pregnant pause as Thirteen seemed to think something over. With a shrug, the rescue hero began to speak.
“My quirk is called Black Hole. When I use it, any material that gets sucked into the resulting vortex gets turned into dust. I use this quirk to remove wreckage from villain attacks or even natural disasters. It is an incredibly powerful quirk that has many uses in rescue work, be it for clean up or rescue itself. ” something about the way they said this showed that they were not bragging.
“But just as easily as it can rescue, it could kill.” the class stilled under Thirteens poignant stare.
“Many of you are similar. Your quirks are powerful, useful for Hero work but could take life as quickly as you could save it. In some cases, especially those like mine, your quirks are so dangerous it is a better idea to focus on rescue. Nowadays, with powerful quirks and even more powerful villains appearing seemingly around every corner, it would be all too easy to make a mistake that would bring the end of someone’s life. We all need to know control because being a hero isn't just fighting the bad guys, sometimes it's helping the good guys. That's what we are going to teach you here, how to use those quirks; especially the dangerous ones. We want to show you how to save those around you, rather than to harm.” Thirteen trailed off to silence.
Many in the class had eyes as wide as saucers as they held onto every word. When Thirteen finished, it felt like no one was brave enough to break the silence, the seriousness of it. Then Uraraka began to applaud.
The class cheered.
It was a moment of realization for Izuku.
Yes
, he had a powerful quirk, but past cleaning up the beach he hadn't really done anything non-violent. The closest to non-violent Izuku had gotten in recent months had been healing Toshinori, and that hasn't gone exactly
well.
It was like what Kirishima always was talking about, Izuku’s quirk was flashy and strong, but he had no idea how to use it just to purely
help
someone. All he had figured out thus far had been how to fight, and that,
at best
was one-fourth of the job of a hero.
Izuku had used it quirk before, intending to do good and had done so much more harm than intended. It felt as though Thirteen was reading his soul during their speech, pulling out memories like a magician pulls out fabric from their sleeve. An image of child Kaachan floated through his mind, a memory of the older kids that used to pick on them taking their anger out on the explosive boy. Izuku had already caused too much damage; maybe it was time for him to learn how to help.
Izuku is going to need to spend some time in the USJ.
Uraraka looked close to tears, and someone kept calling out bravo, most likely Aoyama. Thirteen took the moment to walk over to Aizawa. The two began to quietly converse while the class tried to calm itself down.
Izuku couldn't catch all of what was said, but he did hear Aizawa say “All Might” and thirteen held up three puffy fingers. Apparently, All Might was supposed to be here but passed his limit for the day, the goof.
The excited chatter of his classmates came to a sudden and violent end. Izuku was still watching Aizawa, and was able to see the hero turn toward the central atrium with wide eyes. Following his line of sight, Izuku felt his heart drop.
In the center of the plaza was what looked like a wall of dark purple smoke. It was swirling inwards toward its center and
growing.
“Is this part of the training?” Kirishima said in a quiet, confused voice.
They all watched in horror as formes began to push through the mist into the USJ.
“Everyone! Stay together!” Aizawa sprung in front of the class and began to tug on his goggles. Throwing an arm out, he said-
“Stay back. These are real villains!”
The class shook from the force of the order before horrified comprehension fell over them.
Villains?
On
campus?!
They could only watch as
more
people continued to pour out of the mist. Hundreds of villains came through before the portal closed. At the very rear stood three men and one…
thing
.
There was what looked like a young man, with stringy light blue hair that was covered in disembodied hands. He scratched at his neck under the large palm covering his face.
“Hey… All Might isn't here” he all but hissed. He was speaking to the man on his right, a being made of mist in a snappy suit.
“The paperwork said he would be here.” the scratching intensified as he looked around the USJ.
“The information said that he would be at the USJ at this time. Look, the class is here. Maybe he is late.” the mist-man spoke in a clear, controlled tone.
The blue-haired man tsked and stopped scratching.
“He’s not here…hey Suro… how many students do you think would have to die before we get his attention?” his full attention shifted to the third man. He was tall and thin, with short black hair and glasses. He looked like a nondescript businessman.
“Not many. He seemed to have taken a liking to this class.” the man spoke in a clear and concise way, as if he was in a job application. The blue-haired man turned to the mist-man, apparently named Kurogiri.
“Make sure none of the students get away while I try to work through this headache.”
The man with blue hair took a step back and grabbed the man on his left, apparently named Suro.
Aizawa was in a tough spot. On one hand, he could stay with his class and defend against the man named Kurogiri, on the other hand, there was a slowly approaching army of villains coming from the front. Aizawa made his decision.
“Thirteen! Protect the students! I'm going to take out the villains. Kaminari! try to get contact to the outside!” the orders came out clipped and sharp, Thirteen and Kaminari nodded. Aizawa pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and began to move toward the approaching army.
Izuku was talking before the he even realized, the words spilling out of his mouth like a waterfall.
“Aizawa! You can't take that many at once! It's an Army!”
His teacher gave him a smile. It was small, probably trying to be reassuring but it only looked sad.
Aizawa knew he was right, but was going to fight anyway.
Without a word, the teacher jumped over the railing of the entrance and began to fight.
Izuku couldn't go down there, even with his training and OFA he would just be a liability to the man. Instead, an idea became present in his mind. he called down to the man.
“Aizawa! You’ve got Pride!” he hoped that would be enough to tip the man off without explaining what was happening to the villains. The man continued to fight and Izuku began to summon. He only summoned Pride, trying to conserve energy just in case.
“Pride. Power up Aizawa, make him as strong and fast as you can.” the purple trait nodded and turned his full attention to the man in question. A visible purple energy began to wrap around the teacher, and before everyone's eyes, the man grew to be even faster. Aizawa didn't falter, rather took out villains with even more speed.
At least it's something…
“I can't get any signal to the outside!” Kaminari called out, panicked.
“Well, we wouldn't be any good if we just allowed you to call for help now would we…” Thirteen let out a swear and whirled around.
Kurogiri had made his way behind the class, standing in between the students and the door. They had been too preoccupied watching Aizawa to notice.
The man had expanded his body to a wall of mist, though was significantly more purple than before. The wall grew and grew and
grew
until it looked like a hurricane of mist was staring down at them.
“I don't know who you are, or what you want but I will not allow you to hurt my students!” Thirteen called out. There was more steel in their voice than could be imagined from a big white puffball.
Kurogiri sneered, or at least his eyes looked like he sneered from the mist that was his body.
“We are the league of Villains, and we have been tasked with the purpose of killing All Might. You are just collateral damage. Now, I would usually avoid harming children, but unfortunately
I
have been tasked with killing enough of U.A’s prized students to draw the attention of All Might himself, so you will have to excuse me.” he sounded
so polite
, even while threatening murder.
The mist-man rushed forward with what looked like a tentacle of mist but was stopped in his tracks as Thirteen held up their hand. The class watched in amazement as the tips of Thirteen’s space suit themed glove opened, and everything around them was suddenly engulfed in wind. The vortex that the hero had been speaking of mere moments earlier was now producing enough wind to almost knock over a few students and was destroying the mist the moment it separated from Kurogiri.
Izuku’s mind was running a million miles a minute.
If the villains had known that All Might was going to be here, they must have had a plan to take down Aizawa and Thirteen. The army of Villains was to stop Aizawa and us students, but how were they going to take down Thirtee-
Izuku realized a moment too late.
“Thirteen sto-!”
Kurogiri had managed to slip behind the hero as they tried their all to control the black hole within their suit from harming the students. The moment mist was behind the teacher, Kurogiri opened a portal.
Kurogiri was their way in and out, and in addition to being made of mist, he was able to open portals between two spaces allowing for instant teleportation. If on one side of the portal was a harsh force turning any matter into dust, then that effect would apply to the other side of the portal.
Izuku watched in horror as Thirteen’s own quirk worked against themself as the back of their suit was torn to shreds. After only a second Kurogiri cut the portal, but the damage had been done, and Thirteen was
at best
out of commission.
The mist man pulled back into his full height, unperturbed at the sight of Thirteen. He reared back as if to say something, but never got the chance to speak.
With a war cry Katsuki and Kirishima rushed the man, launching themselves up toward where his head would be. Before they could even reach the mist, Kurogiri once again expanded, this time around the students.
Kurogiri was too fast for anyone to react.
Before he even realized it, Izuku was falling.
*
Izuku flinched as he was wrenched from the darkness of Kurogiri’s teleport with a large splash. He had fallen into water? He opened his mouth to yell, but was quickly proven that that was a bad idea.
Opening his eyes, he quickly realized that
yes
he was underwater, and
oh shit
he was deep underwater.
From his open mouth, a slowly building cloud of blood was beginning to form. He lungs were acting up again.
Feeling panic fill his mind, Izuku began to scramble to the surface.
His lungs already felt pained as he slowly crept up from the depths of where he was in the water. The surface didn't look like it was getting any closer.
Pride is still at the entrance, probably keeping Aizawa powered up. I cant use One for All.
Izuku tried to move faster but wasn't making much progress.
Fortitude might be able to help but I can't summon him right now or I’ll probably drown.
I guess I could just use One for All uncushioned? Charity can heal m-
Izuku was interrupted from his panicked reasoning as he heard a heavy clicking noise from his right. Whirling around, he saw what could have been a nightmare.
One of the villains was apparently a shark-man and had made a B-line for the water section of the USJ that had been filled with water. He must have sensed the blood, and decided to go after Izuku. The man was now only feet away, and approaching much faster than Izuku could paddle his way to the surface.
His lungs cried for air as he made his decision.
One for All it is I guess.
Izuku began to charge up his arm with the power of One for All. His lungs cried for air and it was becoming considerably harder not to just take a deep breath.
The resulting blast should at least move a massive enough wave to give me some time to breathe. The water will take most of the force, the guy should be okay…
Izuku pulled his arm back and prepared himself to release his arm. He hesitated, however. It had been a while since he last used One for All without Pride cushioning his bones from being completely obliterated, and he was
not
excited to have to feel that again. Green electricity began to spark from his limb as if the energy was annoyed to be trapped in his arm.
His lungs cried.
Izuku made his choice and threw the punch.
Before his arm had the chance to crush through the water, Izuku felt something wrap around his middle and begin to pull him to the surface. The next thing he knew, he lost his grip on One for All and was in the air.
And then he was on what felt like solid ground. Gasping for air. He began to cough, and was annoyed to see
another
coagulated blob of blood rid itself from his throat. Luckily, his company didn't seem to notice.
“Are you okay?” a voice croaked at him.
It was Tsuyu, the girl in class with the frog quirk. She must have used her tongue to pull Izuku out of the water.
Izuku continued to attempt to catch his breath. Tsuyu let out an unhappy croak.
“I think this was what was supposed to be the flood zone. We are on a yacht in the center of the water and there are a lot of villains in the water. I only barely got to you in time, I was preoccupied with Mineta.” the girl spoke frankly, as though unperturbed.
Izuku took a deep breath, finally pulling himself together.
“Haaaaa… You’re Tsuyu right?” the frog girl nodded.
“Thank you…” the girl nodded again, but Izuku’s attention was suddenly shifted when the other student on the yacht began to wail.
“Were gonna dieee!!!!” that was all that was understandable before his blubbering got too bad to listen to.
Tsuyu and Izuku shared a look.
Maybe we could get away if we threw him over the edge
Izuku laughed internally at Greed’s open displeasure.
“So…” Izuku trailed off.
“We gotta get off this boat.” Tsuyu nodded, expression unchanging. Her face was different than the average person. Her quirk changed a lot about her body, long arms and legs, an extremely long tongue and her face was more frog-shaped than the average human. Of course, with the advent of quirks the ‘average human’ was more or less a memory of the past. Izuku shook his head from those thoughts and focused. Izuku looked deep in thought for a moment before he began to speak.
“It's pretty obvious that they don't know our quirks, otherwise we would already be dead…” Mineta wailed louder, and Tsuyu nodded.
“I was thinking something along the same lines.” Tsuyu let out a thoughtful croak. “We have the upper hand here.”
Izuku nodded along with her.
“I’d say we have a little while before they start to push onto the boat. We need to come up with a plan to get us off this boat. We can meet everyone else at the entrance.”
Izuku looked at Tsuku, and then over at Mineta.
“So what are your guy’s quirks?”
Tsuyu was the first to jump into an explanation.
“My quirk is called Frog. I can do just about anything a frog can do, stick to walls, leap really far, and have a really long tongue that I can use to pick people up.” The girl lifted her hand to her chin in thought.
“Oh! And I can throw up my stomach. It's covered in a weak acid that's more or less harmless, but I can store things in there for a bit if need be. What about you Izuku?” she let out a little croak at the end of her sentence, but Izuku ignored it.
“My quirk is called Fragment. I can create clones based on my personality traits that each have their own quirk. There was one trait that I found right before applying to U.A that gave me the ability of super strength and speed, but he died after I got that power. I'm not exactly used to it either so there's a good chance I'll break my bones if I use it without one of my other traits backing me up.” The excuse was flimsy, but there was no way to prove him wrong…
Tsuyu nodded at that, and then they turned their attention onto Mineta, who was still crying. Noticing the attention on him, he seemed to pull himself together a little.
“I-I make sticky balls from my head” he pulls one of the purple balls off his head in example. He then sticks it to the floor of the yacht. It stays.
“They will stick to anything that isn't me, I’ll bounce off of them.” Mineta finishes a little Melodramatically.
The other two just kinda
look
at him.
“See! I'm useless and we are going to die-!” he kinda trails off into tears again.
Izuku looks at Tsuyu and shrugs. She shrugs back.
Izuku sighs, and puts his mind to it. It's time to start planning in earnest.
*
Bakugou let out a growl and another large explosion pointed at the nearest villain, some extra with a knife. The man goes flying, as expected.
“Nice bro!” Kirishima gave enthusiastic encouragement as he slammed his hand into a villain that had tried to go for Bakugou’s back.
Bakugou let out a larger growl, blasting another villain away.
When they had jumped at the mist-fucker, he had teleported them away to the faux urban environment in the USJ. They were currently in a high level of one of the skyscrapers, teetering on an unstable foundation.
Bakugou let another explosion and felt the floor rumble a little. The buildings had been made in specifically delicate, with brittle concrete making up nearly every building. Bakugou exploded the last visible villain in the area.
“Shitty hair. I'm making back to the entrance to kill that fucking mist fucker. Stay the fuck out of my way.” Kirishima looked at him incredulously.
“Bro! You cant take him out on your own!”
As if to prove him wrong, Bakgou let loose an explosion behind him and hit
something
. When it hit the ground, it revealed it was an invisible villain. Kirishima let out a quiet “cool”
“Like I said. Stay out of my way.” Bakugou stalked out of the room, and Kirishima followed.
On the other side of the USJ, Aizawa was fighting to the best of his ability.
Pride is amazing. He is making this even easier than it should be.
Aizawa flipped around an arm that was extended to hit him and wrapped his capture weapon around the offending appendage. Using the capture weapon as an anchoring point, Aizawa curled his body around and struck the villain in the head. With pride, the strike to the head pushed the entire enemy backward, blood spraying from his face.
He began to wonder why the villains that had invaded the USJ were so untrained. In all honesty, most had the personality of a common street thug, not a dangerous super villain. Their training seemed to reflect that. Aizawa shook the thought from his head.
Maybe I’ll need to hold back a little?
Aizawa curled his body around the fallen enemy, removing his capture weapon from the fallen villain. He continued to fight his way through the army. Taking a quick look around him, he noticed that he had easily already burned through a third of the army in front of him. If not for Pride, he would begin to be waning in energy.
Thank god for this stupid quirk.
He was so distracted by said quirk that he missed the quiet order given by the blue-headed boy.
“
I want to talk to Eraserhead. Bring him to me.”
In a flash, Aizawa’s rampage through the villain army was over and all he saw was black.
*
“Come on boys! They’re fucking teenagers! Let's get this shit over with before All Might gets here!”
Turns out the shark-man that had almost been the end of Izuku was acting as some sort of water-boss for all the water-based villains. They were almost ready to break onto the boat, and the plan was about to go into effect.
“Alright guys. We’re almost ready.” Izuku shimmied his way back from the edge of the boat, trying his hardest not to be noticed.
Tsuyu nodded, and Mineta let out a little snivel.
Over the last few minutes, they had not only managed to get a functioning plan but also got Mineta to stop being so loud. It helped that he had next to no functioning part in the plan. He was more or less extra weight for them to get away. Izuku had also managed to get Greed to shut up about leaving him there.
The plan was about to go into effect.
In all reality, it wasn't a wonderful plan… but their options were limited.
First option: Wait for the villains to get bored and wait for them to board the boat. Try to fight them on the only semblance of land they had at their disposal. Cons: if anyone other than Tsuyu fell into the water, they were all but dead. Not viable.
Option Two: Escape. It would be significantly harder, as escaping through the water would be nigh impossible for even the water-based Tsuyu. There was more than one villain that had gotten uncomfortably close while she was trying to collect the boys. According to the frog-girl, she would be outsped in a moment. That only left one real option.
Escape through the air.
This posed several logistical problems. First: none of the students had viable flying quirks. The closest to be able to fly was Izuku, but he had used One for All a total of maybe 3 times since getting the quirk, and he was less than enthusiastic to make time four so horrific. Problem 2: They had to get the villains together somehow as to assure that they were not going to be captured once away from the ship. This was by far the easiest of all their problems. Problem 3 was also quite easy: how to keep them all together while flying. If Izuku aimed one of his punches straight down, he would have a free arm to grab Tsuyu, who would, in turn, grab Mineta with her tongue.
A real plan was beginning to form in earnest here, but only one issue remained.
Due to the constraints of who they could carry, any Trait Izuku would summon would inevitably die on the ship and be unusable for at least 10 hours. On the off chance that they didn't fully get away, Izuku needed to be able to hold his own with his full arsenal. What that meant was that Izuku would have to use the full power of One for All with zero cushioning to his limbs to be able to get out of this situation.
It was unfortunate.
All these thoughts roared through Izuku’s mind in moments, almost too fast to comprehend for the shaken boy. Nonetheless, he shared his plan with the other students.
As expected, Mineta was against it and continued to weep at the prospect of death. Tsuyu, however, seemed to accept this plan as their best viable option.
He may have foregone mentioning that this action would essentially turn his arm into jelly.
Izuku hoped charity would be… well…
charitable
with his quirk.
Izuku prayed for forgiveness as his plan went into effect.
Step one was easy: wait until the villains got irritated and got closer to the boat. That way, Izuku would maximize the number of villains he would incapacitate with a direct punch to the water.
So they waited for what felt like years until the villains
finally
took the bait and approached.
After he had glanced over the edge, Izuku gave his group 30 seconds to prepare.
The time passed too quickly for his liking, but it was now or never.
Izuku offered his hand to Tsuyu, who grabbed onto his wrist in return.
“Don't drop me…” She let out a quiet croak. Izuku nodded.
Standing up, He prepared himself. This would hurt like a bitch if it went
right…
if not...
Well, better not to think like that.
He gave a sharp nod to Tsuyu, who wrapped her tongue around the still-immobile Mineta.
With a deep breath, Izuku let his world explode with one massive punch.
In all fairness, the plan was working better than it had any right too. Izuku and his companions went soaring through the air, leaving behind a split ship and a certifiable whirlpool that had sucked all the villains into the center. Izuku let himself spare a glance back and saw that, regardless of all his blubbering, Mineta was throwing his sticking balls into the center of the whirlpool. To his credit, it was causing the villains to panic much more than they should. Though to be fair the villains, they had just watched the equivalent of a bomb go off right in front of them, so maybe they had a reason to be so shocked.
But the plan had worked, and Izuku guessed that was all that mattered in the end.
He tried very hard to ignore his left arm flapping in the wind like a loose scarf, rather trying to revel in his glory.
Yea, Charity was going to kill him…
Sooner than any of them wanted or expected, The trio crash-landed into the very edge of the flood zone. The fell into water that reached no higher than Izuku’s waist and were placed right up against the center of the USJ.
Izuku quickly regained his bearings and began to summon Charity the moment he could breathe. Before the trait could even move, he was speaking.
“Alpha you are so stupid it causes me physical pain. Actually no, you're so stupid it causes YOU physical pain, and then I have to fix it!”
Charity was unhappy.
Izuku’s arm throbbed, and he barely withheld a groan of pain as he waited for Charity to end his little tirade. The cherry red Izuku apparently saw it fit to let Izuku suffer as he continued on and
on
about how stupid that move had been.
From at least his mid-bicep his arm was a deep, royal purple color. Now that the adrenalin of literally
launching
himself hundreds of meters was over, every breath seemed to agitate the broken bones, blood vessels, muscles and other various tissues that had been destroyed.
Charity seemed to notice his grimace getting worse, and decided to take pity on him.
“I'm going to heal this, and then I'm going away and I want to be able to take a long,
long
nap. Don't bother me unless you have too. And try to stop breaking yourself?” The trait said the last bit quietly, almost under his breath as he waded through the waist-deep water over the agonizing Izuku.
Placing his hand on Izuku, the trait began to glow a vibrant red, engulfing the pair in his energy.
Before getting One for All, Charity was barely able to heal a broken bone. But now, with One for All and Izuku’s intensive training, Charity held enough power to heal entire limbs like they were scratches. Well, he wasn't that powerful, but he could easily heal Izuku’s arm after using One for All to a healed state a few times over before dying from overexertion.
The healing was just finishing when Izuku felt it.
Tsuyu tapped on his arm and pointed to the center of the USJ with a trembling finger.
What Izuku saw stopped his heart, for real this time.
The monster was crouched over, holding Aizawa by the head in what looked like a puddle of his own blood. The tall man covered in hands was standing in front of Aizawa, seemingly talking to him.
Just as the man laid his hand on Aizawa’s head, the hero wrenched his head up and glared daggers into the man, quirk activated.
The tall man let out what looked like a hearty laugh and stood up from his crouched position.
“You really are cool Eraserhead…” the man hissed out from what sounded like a dry throat.
“Kill him Nomu.”
*
Izuku was flying forward before he even knew what he was doing.
The monster,
Nomu
, had lifted Aizawa up by the scruff of his neck and was about to slam his head into the concrete. But before anyone could realize that he was there, Aizawa was suddenly out of the clutches of the monster.
Izuku found himself holding his teacher in his arms before he even realized he had moved, leaving the villains and his friends in his wake.
Behind him, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Concrete in his path had been destroyed by his One for All-ed leap to Aizawa. On the bright side, Izuku hadn't broken his legs.
Setting the injured teacher on the ground, he realized just how big he fucked up.
The man with hands and the man with glasses were both staring at him. Behind the hand on his face, It was hard to tell his expression, but Izuku assumed it was similar to the other man’s. The monster was still, having not moved from its original position.
On the other side of the villains were Tsuyu and Mineta, still hiding in the water.
Ooooooooh Izuku fucked up.
The man with blue hair was hissing something under his breath, but Izuku couldn't hear it from his distance. Rather, he took this time to prepare himself.
Izuku summoned Fortitude and Sloth.
Hopefully, Fortitude would allow him to use One for All unimpeded, while Sloth could give him bare snippets of energy in moments where the villains saw it fit to monologue.
The bad sign was that Kurogiri wasn't back yet, meaning he was still blocking the entrance.
Izuku had really fucked up. Finally, the man’s mumbling got loud enough for Izuku to hear it.
“Too fast… too fast… he's like All Might…”
That didn't bode well.
Fortitude and Sloth were finally summoned. Good, this was going to be a long fight. Hopefully, Sloth would hold his part. The trait in question had crawled over to Aizawa and was curled up against his back.
Weird. Sloth wasn't usually cuddly.
There were more important things going on, however, and Izuku flashed Fortitude a look. The trait nodded and brown energy covered Izuku.
Good, that should be a start.
Izuku was already feeling the side effects of summoning. With Pride gone his mental state was barely altered, but with Fortitude the effects were much more pronounced.
Part of him was screaming to surrender, to run.
More than that, Izuku was angry. He knew that, without Fortitude, He would be feeling more cowardly, but that didn't stop him from being frustrated about that.
Izuku was suddenly hyper-aware of his mental state, which was new.
I found that in the back… One for All really helps with Fragment. Maybe this can help keep you calm-?
Izuku banished Greed mid-sentence.
He wasn't in the mood.
It was like there was a list of percentages filled out inside his mind, each showing the amount a trait was affecting him.
One the top of the chart was Wrath, right below that was Empathy.
It made sense. Izuku was mad, mad that these villains had broken into his school. Mad that they had been hurting his teacher and mad that they thought they could kill All Might.
But he felt so much more in regards to Aizawa. He guessed that was Empathy, a mix of so many different emotions that would honestly be overwhelming if not for Wrath masking them.
Izuku was wrenched from his thoughts as the blue man stopped his rambling, and began to scratch at his throat.
“He must be a cheater.” the blue-haired man hissed.
“He's a kid, he cant be that strong. He has to be cheating. I hate cheaters.” the man stopped scratching.
“Suro. should we use Nomu?” he seemed to be addressing the tall man beside him.
The man in question, Suro, seemed to think for a moment.
“Better to get cheaters out of the way fast. Unless you want to do it yourself you should use the Nomu.”
The Nomu let a visible shutter at the use of its name but remained in its crouched position.
The blue haired man nodded.
“Nomu. bring him to me.”
There was an explosion as the Nomu rocketed through the air to Izuku, but it was too late. Izuku had already dodged.
Panic had filled his system, taking the place of rage.
Oooooh this is bad. The only thing I’ve ever seen move this fast is All Might, and even with Fortitude, I can't keep up with this!
The Nomu retargeted and charged again.
I can't dodge!
Rage was starting to take its rightful place within him once more, above the panic.
He couldn't be a coward. He
couldn't.
Aizawa would die, Tsuyu would die… hell, even All Might might die to this beast.
Izuku needed to fight back.
Izuku wanted to fight back.
The Nomu made another grab for him, but Izuku dodged again. Even with 100% of One for All, it was far from easy to keep away from the beast.
Izuku had had enough and decided it was time to strike back.
The Nomu made another go for him, nearly too fast to comprehend, but rather than dodging this time Izuku rushed
toward
the monster.
There was a massive explosion of wind pressure; Izuku struck the beast directly in the stomach with as much force as he could muster.
When the wind calmed, fear overtook the rage in Izuku’s mind.
The Nomu hadn't even moved. It stood there, Izuku’s fist dug into its midsection. From up close, Izuku finally got a good view of the monster.
Its skin was a shiny dark purple color, almost black, Like Kurogiri’s portals. There were scars covering the beast, exposing softer red muscle underneath the outer layer. The worst was its face. Its head
wasn't
human, even if the rest of its body most definitely was. The top of its skull had been
removed
, showing the bright pink of its brain for all to see. Directly connected to its brain were two beady eyes. The eyes were sunken
into
the brain, partially covered with the tissue. Its head tapered down into what looked like a beak, but the mouth gave it away. The mouth may have been a beak, but it was filled with row after row of dagger-like teeth.
It was horrifying.
And it grabbed Izuku.
With a horrifying squeeze, the Nomu grabbed Izuku’s arm and it
broke.
Izuku screamed, and the Nomu moved faster than the eye could see. Pulling by the broken arm, Izuku was suddenly on his knees in front of the villain.
Izuku let out aloud sound of surprise and was momentarily taken aback by the blood pouring from his mouth. He didn't know if it was the old trauma or the new.
“How did you like our Nomu, little cheater…” The hand villain spoke to Izuku. The Nomu still had a firm grasp on his now-broken arm, holding him at an awkward angle.
“I saw you try to punch him. Not a bad idea, but it's not going to work on Nomu. We created him to kill All Might, no little kid is going to stop him.” the man continued.
Something deep within Izuku’s mind reared its ugly head at those words.
In spite of the agony of his twisted and broken arm, Izuku
laughed
.
The man looked at him, shocked. Izuku could see his red eyes on either side of the hand placed on his face.
“You think
that
could kill All Might?” Izuku’s laugh was
not
pretty.
“You are going to lose. All Might is better than some fucking
thing.
” His anger was getting the better of him.
“All Might will destroy this beast, and then you for good measure. If you’ve come here to fight him then you’ve already lost” Izuku’s laugh got slightly louder.
The man with the hand on his face seemed to not appreciate his laughter.
With a growl, He moved his hand to Izuku’s face.
Slowly, one by one, he placed individual fingers to Izuku’s laughing face. He held Izuku’s face with nearly his entire hand, only his index finger remaining off the boy.
“My quirk… If I touch you will all five fingers, you will turn into dust.” Izuku’s laughter cut off abruptly.
The man smiled.
“I don't like cheaters…” he placed the fifth finger onto Izuku’s face, and Izuku shut his eyes.
But Izuku didn't die.
“You really are cool Eraserhead.” the man’s voice was filled with wonder as he glanced off to the side.
Izuku’s eyes shot open.
From where he left him, Aizawa seemed to pull himself together enough to use his quirk on the man, saving Izuku.
He really
was
amazing.
With an amused huff, The man stood up and looked over to Izuku’s traits.
“So, you can create clones,
and
have super strength? That's not fair. That's not fair at all.” the man started to wander off to his traits, Izuku forgotten. Fortitude still reinforced Izuku, unconcerned with the approaching villain. Sloth was asleep.
Even in his position, Izuku could feel the effects of Sloth. Energy had been pouring into him ever since he got caught.
The man with the glasses finally broke his silence.
“Shigaraki… we should finish the child while we have the chance.” his voice was flat, as if bored but his eyes shone the truth. He saw Izuku as a threat. The blue haired man waved him off. Apparently, his name was Shigaraki.
Fortitude was staring Shigaraki down, as if daring him to come closer. The villain continued to walk. Fortitude prepared to attack, getting into a fighting stance.
“Fortitude DON'T!” Izuku suddenly screamed out. Fortitude stiffened, being frozen by the order.
If he lost fortitude, He had already lost. Without One for All, he stood no chance to take down even some of the villains.
Shigaraki continued to walk, unperturbed. He passed by Fortitude with little fanfare, rather moving closer to the downed hero and the trait laying next to him.
He crouched down near the unconscious hero and reached out a hand pet his hair slightly.
“I like you… you're cool…” he turned his head.
“Suro, can we keep this one?” the man with glasses shook his head.
“Eraserhead could undo the entire plan. We need him where he is or not all.”
Shigaraki frowned but continued to pet the man’s hair.
“Where he is… or not at all…” the man muttered under his breath.
Shigaraki stopped petting Aizawa and rather moved his hand away in contemplation. He seemed deep in thought for less than a second before his hand went back to the hero.
“It would be better to get the hard hitters off of the enemy team, yeah?”
He was going to kill Aizawa.
Shigaraki was going to turn Aizawa into dust, and Izuku couldn't move to stop him.
Fortitude could reinforce himself, but he didn't have enhanced strength or anything like that. He wouldn't be able to stop Shigaraki for long, if at all.
In hindsight, Izuku’s plan was really bad. His left arm was pinned and broken (again) behind him by something many times strong than him, and he was outnumbered three to one.
Stupid ideas never stopped him before.
Moving quickly, Izuku twisted his arm
further
and
pulled.
He felt his bone crack further and his shoulder screamed out in pain…
but it worked.
It was like when in handcuffs, one of the easiest ways to get out of them is to break your thumbs… Breaking the thumbs allows you to squeeze your hand through a circe the circumference of your wrist, most of the time. Although, in this case, he was being held by an ungodly powerful beast and he had to break his arm to escape.
So it was nothing like handcuffs.
Moving quickly, Izuku dashed to where Shigaraki was with all his strength… but was stopped in his tracks.
What he saw in front of him… couldn't be. Where Sloth had once lain was an empty spot, and the trait was apparently gone. Standing in front of Shigaraki, in between the villain and Aizawa was something new…
Sloth was standing in front of Shigaraki, awake and aware.
Sloth had never woken up, never even opened his eyes before. Since Izuku discovered him, Sloth had always been asleep.
And now he was awake.
It was impossible.
Even more impossible was that Sloth’s color was
changing
. Whereas normally he was wrapped in light white energy, the color was slowly darkening to pitch black.
“
You will not touch him.”
*
As it turned out, a short boy glowing a slightly dark color was not enough to stop a villain in his tracks.
Very unfortunate.
Shigaraki dashed around Sloth, determined to land a hand onto the vulnerable head of Aizawa, and Sloth raised his hand.
Fortitude and Izuku felt something within Fragment, It was as if a wave of pure
energy
poured over the pair as Sloth raised his hand and made contact with Shigaraki.
When he grabbed onto the man, Sloth’s hand exploded into a pillar of light. The sound of crackling filled the air as Shigaraki was essentially electrocuted. The man went flying back and was caught by the Nomu.
Suro’s eyes widened, and he began to dash to the man. Shigaraki, however, was more or less unharmed and went into action immediately.
“Nomu! Get the glowing one!” he pointed at Sloth, and the monster went to work.
The world seemed to explode as Nomu laid his massive fist onto the trait, and Sloth exploded again. This time, Nomu didn't go flying, but the damage had been done. The monster roared in pain, the earth shaking in its pain. Sloth looked unperturbed.
“
You can’t touch me, or that will happen again. Aizawa will not be harmed.”
Regardless, the Nomu rushed again and a clear pattern formed.
Any time the Nomu would make contact with the trait, a small explosion of light would come off of the quirk and the Nomu would screech in pain. Any shrapnel created or thrown would be completely destroyed when making its way to the trait.
Shigaraki whirled around to Izuku.
“What is this?!”
Izuku couldn't help but shrug.
That was another wrong choice as Shigaraki decided he had had
enough
of the sassy boy in the front row.
The man leaped forward, hand outstretched to decay his head into oblivion, but before it touched, Izuku felt something wrap around his middle and
pull
.
Tsuyu had wrapped her tongue around his waist and had pulled him away from the villain.
On the bright side, Izuku was alive because of her. On the downside, the villains now noticed the frog girl and the very small shaking boy.
Shigaraki didn't hesitate to continue his assault onto the green haired boy, though with Fortitude assisting him, Shigaraki was no match for One for All’s speed. Even so, the man came closer to melting the boy than he should have.
Maybe it was because of the pain from his broken arm, maybe it was the shock of Sloth fighting off something built to
kill All Might
. Whatever it was, Shigaraki managed to catch Izuku with a surprise sweep to the legs, landing him flat on his ass.
That was enough to truly piss him off. Izuku had kept a moderate control of his rage ever since he had summoned Fortitude, but he was meeting the edge of his patience and control.
Recovering quickly, Izuku threw himself to the villain. He had finally decided to attack back. All for One cracked across his unbroken arm, sparks of electricity flying off in all directions. Izuku lunged and was soaring to Shigaraki’s midsection.
Shigaraki was smiling.
Almost faster than he could comprehend, Shigaraki was no longer in front of him.
Sailing forward with his arm mid-punch, Izuku realized what the man was playing at.
Behind Shigaraki were Mineta and Tsuyu, directly in the path of his hit. And it was too close to stop.
Izuku let out a scream as the energy of One for All left his limb, the pure power of it creating a whirlwind.
Tsuyu and Mineta were pushed back,
far
into the water as resulting wave after wave crashed into them. They went flying back to where the ship once was.
He couldn't see them, he hit them and he couldn't see them.
Shigaraki began to laugh, a cruel, gross sound that invaded into every crevice of Izuku’s mind.
That motherfucker.
Shigaraki’s laughter suddenly cut off as Izuku fell to his knees. A new voice appeared behind him.
“Thirteen is incapacitated, but I was unable to stop one student from escaping. The pro heroes are on their way.” the voice belonged to Kurogiri, the dark mist man.
Shigaraki let out an angered growl.
“If I wasn't having so much fun with the cheater, I would kill you. But you are our warp gate out….”
Shigaraki sighed.
“Its game over, I guess…” his voice had returned back to his low hiss it had been when he first appeared in the building.
A silence fell over the group as Izuku desperately tried to catch his breath.
He could feel Wrath peaking. The trait itself wasn't trying to be summoned or even speak, but rather was making his presence
known
. Izuku pushed back with all his worth, but Wrath continued to creep down his spine.
“Well, that's not essentially true Tomura.” the man with glasses spoke this time, Suro.
Shigaraki turned to him, interested.
“We are the first major villain attack to make it onto U.A campus in many, many years. In some ways, we have already won.”
Shigaraki let out an annoyed growl. Suro sighed and continued.
“If you are looking to cause the most damage to the heroes however, there is now greater strike to pride than killing the next generation.”
There was a pregnant pause, and then Shigaraki began to chuckle again.
“Yes… Yes Yes! We may not kill All Might today, but we will crush everything he fights for. We won't kill him….” Shigaraki broke into dark chuckles again. “We will break him…”
Izuku had
enough
of this bullshit. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground beneath him.
The small membrane of sanity he had used to separate himself from Wrath ruptured at that moment, rage filling his body.
Not only did they plan to kill All Might, but they wanted to kill his classmates. His teacher.
Izuku remembered all that Toshinori had done for him. The first person to truly believe that he could still be a good person. The first man to truly
believe
in him. And they are going to kill him…
No.
Izuku felt One for All rush into his system as he grit his teeth hard enough to bite through steel.
These motherfuckers won't get close to Toshi. They won't get the chance to kill his classmates.
He was fucking
done
with this bullshit.
Izuku stood up and the villains fell into silence.
Meeting Shigaraki’s eyes, Izuku smiled. A large, dangerous grin.
“No.”
Izuku took a step forward. The businessman, Suro, took a step back.
“Leave now. Or die.”
Izuku’s voice sounded wrong to his ears, it sounded hollow. His mind was fuzzy and it was hard to focus for too long. His mouth felt like it was moving on its own.
The villains froze, even Kurogiri’s mist began to blow in the wind less rapidly.
“This is your one chance. Or you’ll wish All Might would come to save
you.
”
The sound of the Nomu hitting Sloth reverberated through the air once again with a deafening roar.
For a moment there was nothing...
Then everyone moved at once.
“Nomu-!” Shigaraki called out, but Izuku was already moving. With a massive punch, Izuku planned to hit the villain. Kurogiri had started to move mist behind Shigaraki and was in the midst of forming a portal. Izuku smiled.
Just like he thought they would. Izuku’s arm came down to strike Shigaraki’s chest-
and then it went to hell.
Suro, the tall man with glasses that had accompanied the villains dove in front of Shigaraki, as if protecting him from a bullet.
Izuku’s punch hit but did not hit the right target.
His fist connected with Suro’s head, striking downwards and pushing the man into concrete at their feet. The resulting blast of air was enough to rid the mist forming behind Shigaraki, and blast all parties away from the target.
Izuku could feel dread settle under his skin, but Wrath suppressed it, spreading his sickly influence throughout him. Izuku didn't let up.
With another rush, he
again
attempted to land a hit on Shigaraki’s middle.
Shigaraki expected it this time.
Izuku saw his eyes, red and filled with rage as the man reached forward. His hand was spread wide right in front of himself.
Izuku walked into his hand.
Realization flooded through Izuku as the fingers made contact with his face.
Within the second, Izuku had already retreated.
But it was too late.
The contact was less than a second, but the effect had already started. Blood poured out of into his shocked eyes as his body struggled to catch up with the pain.
The effect hadn't taken off his entire face, thankfully. Shigaraki hadn't been able to place his entire hand onto Izuku’s face, just the tips of his fingers. Where Shigaraki had placed his fingers, in circular segments easily 3 millimeters in diameter there were large patches of skin missing. Three of his fingers had placed onto his forehead, while the other two were on either side of his face.
Muscle and skin had decayed, but thankfully Izuku’s skull had remained untouched.
That didn't do anything to stop the pain, however.
With a shudder, Izuku fell to his knees.
It
hurt.
It felt as though someone had ripped off his skin, as one would tear off a band-Aid. Blood poured from his head, covering his shoulders and spilling onto the floor.
Shigaraki was
angry
.
“Suro…” he walked to where the man lay in a slowly growing pool of blood.
“You killed him…”
Izuku could barely hear him through the pain.
“HES DEAD!” fury filled the man’s voice.
He kicked the body in an almost childish display of emotion.
“He was a gift and you broke him!” the man continued to yell at the immobile child.
Izuku’s head began to spin.
I'm losing too much blood. I need to summon Charity…
As if to interrupt any plans before they began, Shigaraki kicked the boy again.
With a solid kick to the ribs, Izuku was moved from his crouching position and lay on his back. Shigaraki continued to yell as Izuku and moved to kick him for the
third time
.
Izuku did something then that he would look back on with pride.
Using the last of his energy, Izuku summoned One for All into his arm and
caught
Shigaraki’s leg. With a squeeze, there was a satisfying
snap
to the man’s tibia.
Shigaraki let out a satisfying scream and fell back. All too quickly, Kurogiri had him back away from the boy.
“Nomu!” the man let out in a large gasp.
“Kill him.”
The bird-monster immediately stopped throwing itself against Sloth and circled its beady eyes onto Izuku’s prone, bleeding form.
Well. this is where I die…
At least I bought my class some time...
As though the universe had heard him, the moment the Nomu made eye contact with Izuku the doors to the USJ burst open.
“
There is no need to fear. I am here.”
All Might’s booming voice could be heard across the entirety of the USJ.
Izuku smiled… Backup had arrived.
*
All Might was
not
smiling.
It had been as if the world had wanted him to not make it on time for the field trip today. Event after event had occurred, making his usually short transit from home to U.A take up his entire 3 hours as All Might.
It was if the universe was laughing at him as his thin form finally jogged its way through the gates of U.A and was almost immediately stopped by the principal.
Their chat had been nice, a much-needed look on how he needed to function as a teacher as well as a proper mentor to Izuku now that he was a teacher.
To be fair, he knew he treated the boy with some favoritism, but he was trying his hardest to remain impartial. It is just hard to do with how casual their relationship was.
Finally, feeling rested enough to at least make an appearance for a short time, Toshinori buffed up into the form of All Might and began his journey to the USJ. As long as he didn't do anything
too
strenuous he should be able to hold his form with little issue. All Might began to walk to the USJ.
But who else would stop him but Iida, who was sporting a head wound that looking rather bothersome. It wasn't deadly, not even really that painful from the look of it, but it set a pit in the stomach of All Might.
Quickly explaining the situation at the USJ, the pit in All Might’s new stomach only grew.
Giving him a quick thanks, and ordering the boy to inform the other teachers before proceeding to the nurse's office, All Might pushed energy that he didn't think he had into himself and
ran
to the USJ.
The situation in the USJ was truly something to behold.
At least one hundred villains were congregated in the center area, but at least half of them had been incapacitated in one way or another. Thirteen was injured heavily, their space suit’s back was completely torn, showing an empty void within. Young Momo and Sero seemed to be desperately trying to patch up the suit of the hero using material and tape. A group of other students was huddled, trying to make sure everyone was unharmed and applying first aid.
Looking to the center, All Might’s heart stopped.
Three bodies lay in varying puddles of blood. Off to the side of the center, two students were hiding just under the ledge, completely soaked. The water was bloody.
The bodies… Aizawa was easy to spot due to his hair. He looked unconscious but alive. In the direct center was a man with short black hair, head soaking in a pool of blood around a crater in the concrete. The crater looked like it was made with his head. He wasn't breathing.
Finally, there was Izuku. He was conscious if his writhing said anything. His puddle of blood was by far the smallest, but even from the far distance, All Might could spot the wounds on his head. Bone was visible in multiple parts of his forehead, as well as being able to see his teeth where part of his cheek had been destroyed.
He was staring at… Something.
On the other side, there was a person made of smoke apparently trying to take care of a man with what looked like a severely broken leg. Bone jutted from the man’s shin, and he looked to be rather angry about it.
Served him right.
All Might had seen enough.
Taking a deep breath, He rushed.
The first thing Izuku noticed about All Might was that he was
not
smiling. His mouth was forming something similar to a grimace, or maybe he was baring his teeth like a rabid animal.
In a flash, Izuku, Mineta, Tsuyu and Aizawa were gathered together and unceremoniously dumped onto the ground. All Might had slotted himself between the villains and students.
“I am sorry for my tardiness!” the usual cheer in his voice was replaced by a steel edge. He was
mad.
“Tsuyu! Mineta! Make sure that these two make it to the entrance. The other students should be able to help with first aid. I have it from here!” His voice left no room for argument, rather was a poorly concealed order. The students nodded.
Before he could help himself, Izuku blurt out-
“The mist guy can make portals! The monster has some kind of shock absorption and the blue-haired guy can destroy what he tou-”
He was cut off as All Might turned his head slightly. The shadows that formed on his face were slightly harsher now.
“Thank you for the information! Now Please! Seek medical attention!” His grimace became closer to an actual smile before he turned to address the villains. He gave a big
thumbs-up
over his shoulder. The number one hero turned to the villains
“I believe your time here has come to an end!” his smile was
gone.
Tsuyu wrapped her arm around Izuku and began to pull him away.
The conversation blurred slightly as Izuku struggled with his consciousness. Suddenly he felt Pride recombine with him, giving him enough of an energy burst to stay awake.
Neat. I completely forgot I summoned him.
Izuku opened his bleary eyes, seeing Fortitude helping Mineta transport Aizawa.
Sloth was nowhere to be seen.
A smidgen of power was suddenly ripped from him as something filled his mind.
I banished myself as soon as the Nomu changed targets. I must apologize, the exhaustion is actually from me. The only thing stopping the beast was pure charges of energy. If not for One for All, you probably would have died of exhaustion after the third hit.
Izuku recoiled at the foreign voice before responding.
Sloth?
Not exactly, I was… summoned in part by Sloth, so I guess?
The voice let an unsure noise, a mental raise of the trait’s shoulders in a shrug.
When Sloth woke up, he no longer became Sloth. I am….
The trait paused, thinking.
Diligence. Nice to meet you.
Izuku nodded, and the energy slipped away from the trait. Blood dripped from his head onto the ground. The students continued to move to the entrance.
Izuku spared a look back to the fight and noticed that, for all All Might’s words, the fight was more evenly paced than it should have been.
Blows were struck with speed most couldn't even see, much less respond to. All Might was speaking, but from this distance, all that could be heard was the smashes of skin on skin.
Finally, the man became loud enough to be heard over the fight.
“GO ABOVE” the man struck the nomu. “GO BEYOND!” the man hit the beast again.
“PLUS ULTRA!!!” with one final hit, the nomu was sent flying out of the USJ, breaking a hole in the domed ceiling.
An eerie silence fell over the USJ as all eyes turned to All Might with wonder.
The man was steaming, and his arm was a dark purple color.
It's broken…
It seemed that Shigaraki was fighting with Kurogiri to rush forward to the hero, regardless of the broken leg, but the mist man managed to hold him back.
As if the final nail in the coffin, The doors to the USJ burst open again. This time, a veritable
army
of pro-heroes stood at the entrance.
Izuku smiled.
They were safe. It's over.
As if agreeing with him, Kurogiri opened a portal and assisted Shigaraki though it.
Teachers poured down the stairs, engaging in any villain that hadn't surrendered at the pure
sight
of them.
They had survived the USJ.
Izuku felt consciousness slip away from him, though felt something was wrong.
The image flashed through his mind as he lost consciousness.
Suro, ground into the cement and very, very
very
dead.
A thought was struggling to make itself known in his mind, but before he could understand what it was. Izuku passed out.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Izuku was falling.
It was strange though, it didn't
feel
as though he was falling. There was wind rushing across his face and the sound of air overwhelming his ears. His eyes were held shut, as to keep out the sheer force of the wind.
But it didn't feel like he was falling, there was no dropping of his stomach nor ability to move.
It was like he was laying on a fan.
It took him a while to gather his wits. His mind swirled without purpose like the air around him. He finally opened his eyes.
Nothing.
It was as if he hadn't opened his eyes at all, just an overwhelming
dark
shrouding his sight.
It was nothing.
And then the wind stopped.
*
The USJ had been a fucking nightmare, in every sense of the word.
There were bright sides however, so that's good.
The only student seriously injured had been Midoriya. Thirteen and Aizawa had been injured, but only enough to temporarily put them out of commission. Thirteen was healing within the day, while Aizawa took a little longer.
Aizawa had been crushed into the concrete of the USJ, had his arm broken by the monster named Nomu, and was knocked unconscious. Luckily, there were no long-lasting injuries to the man.
All Might had been able to defeat the Nomu, with some slight assistance from the students Kirishima, Bakugou, and Todoroki. The only injuries to the symbol of peace had been a broken arm and deep lacerations to his side. That injury would have been much worse if it had been for the intervention of the students.
The students were successfully evacuated, having only scratches and scrapes… except for Midoriya.
The villains Shigaraki and Kurogiri had gotten away and had left mayhem in their wake.
Hundreds of villains were captured by the ensuing rush of Pro Heros.
All in all, there were only two left seriously injured,
Midoriya…
And the man he killed.
They had yet to find any name beyond
Suro
for the man that had lost his life in the USJ invasion. His head had been crushed into cement hard enough to break rock, his skull shattered. When they managed to pull his head out of the ground, it wasn't pretty.
His face… or what used to be a face, was beyond recognizable. His skull had broken to such an extent that brain matter was visible from his forehead.
The man was very, very dead.
Midoriya wasn't much better off.
Quarter sized pockets of flesh had been missing from multiple points on his face. From Asui’s report, that had been from contact with the villain Shigaraki, for less than a second. Bone was visible on his forehead, while one point of contact on his cheek was deep enough to reveal his teeth.
His left arm had been horrifically shattered, seemingly broken twice in quick succession.
At least his heart was beating.
On top of his injuries, conversation with one of his traits had revealed that the amount of energy used by
Diligence
, as he called himself, could be life-threatening.
The boy was in the hospital. Recovery girl couldn't do anything to help him with her quirk, seeing as he was currently in a coma.
The rest of the class had been healed.
The USJ was over, the villains defeated and captured with only one casualty.
Please be only one casualty.
Toshinori sat beside the bed of his successor. Inko had been forcing her way into the hospital room as much as possible, but the staff still forced her to go home at the end of visiting hours.
Toshinori, being the number one hero, had a few rules bent for him.
The man rested his broken arm against the bed as he held Izuku’s hand. Recovery girl would be by in the morning to fix his arm. They would kick him out of the hospital after that, number 1 or not, and visiting Izuku from that point on will be much more difficult.
Toshinori closed his eyes and thought a silent wish for Izuku.
Please, don't let there be more than one casualty due to my incompetence.
*
Izuku finally righted himself up. He was right, he hadn't been falling. The blackness beneath him acted as a floor as he struggled to his feet. His eyes were open, straining for any speck of light to no avail.
With his feet finally under him, Izuku began to walk.
He didn't know why he walked, he just did.
The darkness was all-encompassing, the kind where you could hold your hand in front of your face and couldn't see any difference.
Izuku walked for what felt like years, all the while the darkness was his only friend. He wished he could have light, but to no avail. His head felt fuzzy, no full thoughts actually made their ways through.
If not for the walking, he might have been tempted to try to think.
His mind was hollow, merely a means for movement.
He walked… and walked…. And walked.
And then he saw it.
A small green light shone in the distance, just enough for his eyes to begin to work again.
He walked to the light, like a moth drawn to a flame.
Closer and closer he crept, the light growing larger with each passing second.
Before long, a form began to come into his vision.
The green was overwhelming as the form turned to look at him.
It was Greed.
“
Alpha…
”
Something in Izuku’s mind clicked, and it was as though he was whole again.
Memories rushed into his mind, thoughts, feelings, skills.
“Greed.”
The trait looked down as if embarrassed at the attention.
Izuku’s memories rushed back all at once, and he spoke.
“What happened? Is everyone okay?” he sounded frantic. “The USJ-”
“
Alpha. It's okay. Everyone is okay.
” the trait was quick to calm him back down.
“
We got out of the USJ, and the class is safe. The only injuries other than you were Eraserhead and All Might. They will be fine.
” the trait finished his speech and looked back down at the ground.
“
You on the other hand…”
Izuku didn't like the sound of that.
“So… where are we? and what is going on? And how do you know if we ar-”
“
Calm.
”
Izuku shut his mouth quickly, his jaw giving a
snap
.
“
You are currently in a coma. The fight at the USJ left you injured, and Diligence left you without energy. You have slipped into a coma due to your overexertion. You should have already woken up…
”
Izuku felt a small shiver of fear slither down his spine.
“Then why am I here? If I should have already woken up then why am I still aslee-”
“
Alpha, please.
” Izuku shut up, yet again.
“
Where you are currently… this is what your mind looks like to us traits.
” Greed spread his arms as if showing off a large room.
“
We needed to talk
”
Izuku felt a spark of anger fill himself as the trait's words washed over him.
“You kept me in the coma because we needed to talk?!”
“
Yes. This might be our only chance.”
Izuku felt tears of frustration spring into his eyes.
Huh. that hasn't happened in a while
Greed began muttering at the sight of Izuku’s tears. “
Damnit. I thought you would remain the same in here. Dumb of me to assume, I guess. We are in your mind after all…”
“What?”
“
When you are in here… you are
you
.
There will be no change to your mental state due to Fragment.”
Izuku thought about that for a moment, feeling in his mind. It made sense…
sort of
.
“I mean… you said I am basically in my quirk. How are we in here anyway?”
Greed sighed before explaining.
“
When we were in the USJ, I was pushing in the back of your mind using One for All. When you finally passed out, I was able to pull your consciousness in here.”
Izuku’s mind wasn't working normally, but he was still able to put a few pieces together.
“Wait… When I don't use fragment, there aren't any changes to my mind-”
Greed let out an even deeper, more dramatic sigh.
“
None of the effects of Fragment will take place in here. In here, you are unaltered.
”
Something wasn't sitting right in his mind, but Izuku couldn't pull himself together enough to find out what it was.
“
The USJ was… a poor situation. We have decided that we need to talk to you before you get back into the world.
” Greed paused.
“
Well, I needed to talk to you… The others didn't let me use their power unless they were also able to talk to you…
”
“Use their power?”
“
I'm not strong enough to pull your consciousness into Fragment by myself, I had to borrow from some… less than savory traits.
”
Izuku didn't understand, but he found himself nodding along regardless.
“
I don't have much longer with you, so I am going to have to make this quick.
” Greed leveled him with a cold stare.
“
The death of the villain Suro was not your fault. Wrath was pushing the limits of Fragment in conjunction with One for All. He was able to meld with you in a way that
shouldn't
have been possible. It was as though he was summoned, though still within the quirk. It was not your fault. It cant be your fault.
”
The trait suddenly cut off as it looked closer into Izuku’s eyes.
“
You are crying again. This is frustrating.
”
Izuku sniffled.
“You… you said I was supposed to be unaffected in here.” tears continued to fall.
“Why am I crying?” he tried to sound angry, but it failed as a sob finally wrenched past his throat.
Greed looked uncomfortable.
“
I… That would be me…
” the trait looked bashful.
What.
“What?” the tears suddenly dried as anger began to fill his mind. It was… unnatural how fast the emotions changed.
“
I… am the reason why you don't cry as much.
”
“How.” Danger filled his voice as anger began to overtake him.
“
Before I explain… Emotions are going to be harsher within here.
”
Izuku didn't flinch.
“How are you the reason.”
Greed looked progressively more uncomfortable.
“
For the last few years, I've been… making adjustments.
”
“Adjustments?” The anger began to drain from Izuku, replaced with shock.
“
I am one of the more powerful traits… and I’m the only one that you allow to have control more often than not. As such, I began to make minor… adjustments to the chemical reactions regarding stimulus.
”
Izuku blinked… and then the words washed over him.
“You… have been altering how I react? Changing my mental state?”
The trait looked down.
“
For lack of a better term…
”
Izuku blinked.
“That's why they thought I was too violent! It was you!” His eyes burned with something unrecognizable to Greed. At least it wasn't anger.
“It was you! I'm not like him at all! You’ve been trying to alter me to act more like Kaachan!”
“
What?
”
*
Katsuki was angry, but that wasn't anything special really. What was special, however, was the reason
why
he was angry.
The little shit is getting himself killed.
Deku had fucking thrown himself into the fray, while Katsuki was off fighting
nobodies
.
The little shit didn't deserve to die a hero.
At the very least, Katsuki had been able to make it in time to hold down the misty motherfucker while All Might wailed on the bird thing.
But Deku had helped more.
What the fuck is he playing at?
Bakugou threw a right hook at his punching bag, purposely holding back his quirk.
The little fucker is going to dig his way deep. He already has the fucking teachers thinking he’s a fucking saint, and this little fucking stunt is going
Katsuki growled and threw another punch, this time harder.
Why is he digging so deep? He's just going to fucking make it harder for everyone.
Katsuki thought on his class, especially the fast bastard and the one that grabbed the bomb in the match. They wouldn't help when Deku snaps. They might even take his side.
Katsuki let a small explosion strike the punching bag.
I'm going to have to take him out on my own.
Katsuki thought back to the exam All Might had put the class through.
I have to be strong enough to take him down on my own.
*
Greed disappeared, leaving Izuku back in the darkness with only his thoughts.
Greed had been changing him for years, without even letting him know. It was… disturbing. He didn't know how to feel about it. It didn't help that his mind was so murky.
On one hand, it had helped him more than anyone could even realize. Greed had been almost single-handedly maintaining his mental health during some of the horrors of the last years. He had been abandoned by everyone but his mother and Greed had saved him if he knew it or not.
On the other hand… he didn't even tell him. Greed didn't even think it was important enough to tell him that it was happening as he slowly became more and more emotionless beyond his control. It made him more aggressive, less emotional, less himself.
This was a conundrum.
And he was alone in the dark again.
He had time to think, and fear what was coming next.
*
“What do you mean we can't wake him up?! You said he was healthy!” Inko was yelling at the doctor. She was usually more in control of herself, but Izuku’s injuries were pushing her further than she could take. He had been asleep for days, and all physical damage to his body had been repaired. There was a rather large patch of scar tissue on his right cheek, but it was much better than it should have been due to an array of healing quirks.
The doctor had just informed Inko that Izuku was physically healthy, and while they had means to do it; they couldn't wake him up.
The doctor tried her best to ignore the yelling and continued to give as best a report as she could.
“At this point, it is clear that he is not in a coma due to physical restraints but rather due to his quirk. It is nearly a guarantee that he would wake up if we were to nullify his quirk through medication or physical restraints, but we cant. Due to the mental nature of his quirk, forcefully waking him at this point could harm him beyond repair. At this point, the best course of action would be to give him time, let his quirk and mind settle. He should wake of his own accord.”
Tears were freely spilling from Inko’s eyes as the doctor continued to speak.
“If he is still in this state at a later point, we can re-examine our options. It is ultimately your choice how we proceed, but I believe we are both looking for the best possible outcome for Izuku. I am sorry”
The doctor gave a mild bow and turned to leave. Inko needed time, Izuku needed time.
It was all that they could do.
*
The next to arrive was Lust.
He was quiet, for once.
A light pink light washed over Izuku as he approached the trait. Lust was… off. The trait was sitting on the void beneath him, eyes cast down into nothingness.
“Lust?” Izuku called out.
It was met with a resounding silence.
The silence felt like it stretched for eons before the trait finally spoke.
“
We did the right thing. Protecting those around us.
”Lust was quiet, and sounded unsure.
Hearing the meek voice of the usually bombastic trait was enough to throw Izuku for a loop, more than Greed already had. Lust was also so… energetic. This subdued form was…
Wrong
.
“
We did good. Protecting what you care for.
”
Silence stretched between the pair once again.
“What I care for?”
Izuku was confused, reeling from the rapid change of pace. On top of that, what Lust was saying didn't sound right.
Lust continued to look down and spoke reluctantly.
“
I'm not just Lust. even though it is an accurate name…
” the trait trailed off again. Suddenly shaking his head, Lust continued.
“
I'm not just things sexual. The majority of what I embody is Desire. Even though you are a teenage boy, you have something you desire more than sex…
”
The trait finally met Izuku’s questioning eyes.
“
Friends.
”
Oh
“
We were able to protect them…
” Lust cast his eyes back to the void.
“
It was worth it.
”
Izuku was at a loss for words.
It made sense though. Lust is more than just, well,
lust
. Izuku was a teenage boy, but he was self-aware enough to know that just lust wouldn't be that powerful. He feels that way, but it's not as strong as some of the emotions his other traits cover.
Lust was…regretful?
Izuku didn't even know traits could feel anything out of their sphere of emotional influence.
My mind is too fuzzy...
He felt tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes and let out a growl.
I need to think. Not to cry.
Unfortunately, Lust noticed and cast a glance in Izuku’s direction.
“
Oh. Greed cant affects you in here.
” the trait looked back down.
“
It's okay to cry you know. We have all been through something horrible.
” Lust didn't sound sad, just subdued.
More tears sprung up, regardless of Izuku’s frustration.
Lust took another glance at Izuku, before letting out a huff. The trait began to untangle himself from the ball he was in and stand.
Briefly stretching, Lust began to walk over to where Izuku stood at the edge of his light.
“
I can tell you are overwhelmed. Emotions work different in here, and trying to be logical is only going to make you more confused. I don't know how Greed does it…
” he said the last part under his breath.
“
I can help.
” Lust met Izuku’s eyes, now standing directly in front of him.
“
Do you want to know what you are feeling?
”
Despite himself, Izuku nodded. Lust’s eyes glowed a brief, bright pink before he shut them.
“
You desire to protect… You did protect, so I don't know why that is still so prevalent.
” Lust shook his head. “
You’re scared, probably because of what Greed told you if I were to guess. You are surprisingly angry still, even though it is slightly out of character for you. If Greed weren't to have adapted you, you would almost never get truly angry. You feel guilt.
”
Lust opened his eyes and stared at the still-crying Izuku.
“
You desire to have things go back. You wish the USJ had never happened. It shouldn't have happened…
”
Lust shook his head, seemingly gearing back into his normal self.
“
Just remember Alpha. We did what we had to protect those we care for.
”
*
Aizawa was lucky, all things considered.
The Nomu had been too much for him, and he knew that. He had never stood a chance, but he did what he had to.
In the end, it got him the result he wanted.
The Villains were focused on him, ignoring his students to lesser foes that the children
might
have had a chance to defend themselves against.
That had all changed when he had been used as a jackhammer, destroying concrete with his face. His goggles had done well in protecting his eyes, but they could only do so much. For the first hit, most of the damage had been done to the bone surrounding his eye, rather than to the organ itself. The second hit, however, had not been so kind.
The issue came when
someone
had stepped in.
For all he is worth Aizawa knows that, to a certain extent, He owes Izuku Midoriya his life.
To an extent
. The Nomu creature had done too much damage to him, and a few more hits would have finished him.
He just wished his student had a better self-preservation instinct.
Nonetheless, the problematic child had ripped him from the grasp of the Nomu and proceeded to protect him until reinforcements arrived to help.
The kid had done alone what most pros couldn't have.
The Nomu was strong enough to go toe to toe with
All Might
and come back kicking, and Midoriya had managed to hold it off.
It was the work of a true hero.
He just wishes that a child, his child, wasn't forced into the position.
While it wasn't reported to the public, the police and therefore the heroes were aware that the death of the villain Suro was a direct causation of Midoriya’s intervention. From what Asui and Mineta had said, the man had jumped in front of a punch and had taken the full force to the skull.
Accidents happened, though accidents like
this
were rare.
That doesn't mean they never happened.
Every Pro-hero had a story of a person they couldn't save, of a person that had inadvertently killed.
Very few could say they had killed someone directly.
The few that had directly caused death were never the same.
Well, most of them were worse off... Of all Pro heroes, Endeavor had the highest body count, but he never seemed to mind. An outlier, perhaps.
Midoriya has shown to be self-aware to an extent, and emotional at times. His quirk helped contain his emotions to forms outside of himself, and it made assessing the boy himself difficult, to say the least.
He would need help once he woke up, especially if he agreed to continue his hero career.
They had already formed the story for the police. It was easily classified under self-defense, and Izuku would therefore not be punished legally.
Unfortunately, there was nothing the U.A staff could do to stop his mental anguish. Also very unfortunate was his records. At the further examination, it wasn't his only account of quirk-use in self-defense.
Aizawa just hoped he could help him.
He knew he doesn't come off as warm or supportive. In fact, he worked very hard to create the persona.
But he was a teacher first and foremost, and his student will need help.
He just hopes he can give it to him.
*
The silence was deafening, the dark all-encompassing.
Honestly, it was preferable. Izuku needed time to
think
.
Greed, Lust. Their words were swirling in his mind, a calming cycle smoothing the hurricane of emotion that came from the USJ.
Their words gave him hope.
Hope that the USJ could be forgotten as an unfortunate relic of the past. The memories didn't come easy to him, but Izuku was unsure if that was because of Fragment, or because of the amount of time he had been in a coma. To a certain extent, he knew he had to wake up eventually.
But he had to
know
before he left.
Dealing with the after-effects by himself(himselves?) was hard enough, in the outside world it would be near impossible.
He had to
know
.
His repose was suddenly and forcefully removed.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted the maroon aura.
Wrath.
In all honesty, Wrath was the last person he wanted to see. Regardless, the trait made his approach.
Wrath was pacing, prowling like a large cat. Even standing in his aura was enough to make Izuku
feel
the rage.
His eyes fell on Izuku and he
growled
.
Izuku was being circled, and he knew it. He didn't make any move to stop his trait.
It was more than just emotions emitted from the stalking form of Wrath in his red light, rather mental images.
He was never the best at communication, so in all reality, it helped Izuku to understand him.
Images flashed through Izuku’s mind almost too fast to comprehend.
The USJ, Shigaraki, a prone Aizawa. Suro. Suro crushed into the ground.
Suro throwing himself in front of Shigaraki.
Shigaraki smiling as he moved to Aizawa.
Fortitude ordered into stillness.
Izuku breaking his arm to escape the Nomu.
The influx of information was enough to leave Izuku fealing nauseous.
He sunk to the ground, settling in a hunched sitting form with his hands over his ears, as though that would help.
Wrath continued to circle, a mirror image of Izuku’s form but one filled with rage.
Thirteen torn to shreds by Kurogiri.
Shigaraki tricking them into throwing a punch at Tsu and Mineta.
Aizawa being crushed into the concrete.
Suro being crushed into the concrete.
Shigaraki kicking him when he was down.
It only took minutes, but it felt like years before Izuku finally snapped.
“Why! WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THIS”
The images stopped. Wrath stopped circling and the growl quieted.
“
They did this. They did this and they escaped.
”
Izuku could only stare from his sitting position over the void.
“
We should have killed them all for even attempting this.
”
An image of Suro passed through his mind, the man dead on the ground.
“
He was a good start. Shigaraki needs to die for this.
”
His words were simple, but the bloodlust pouring through his aura was overwhelming.
“
They all deserve to die
”
Shigaraki smiling under his hand, deep and disturbed.
Kurogiri’s arrogant look at Thirteen attempts to make a stand.
The Nomu holding Aizawa by the scruff of his neck.
A boy, standing in the woo-
“STOP”
Wrath reeled back in shock as Izuku sprung to his feet.
“THEY DONT DESERVE TO DIE” he planted his feet and yelled.
“THEY NEVER DESERVED TO DIE. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU PULL ME IN HERE?”
Wrath looked at him, finally recovered from his shock. The trait looked confused.
“
You are as angry as me, but not at the right thing…
” Wrath looked closer at Izuku’s form, as though it held the secrets of the universe.
“
You are angry at us. At yourself. Why?
”
Izuku froze under the analyzing glare of Wrath.
“
You don't want them dead. You don't want anyone dead.
”
“Why did you bring me here wrath…” Izuku’s voice fell to a murmur, tears again forming in his eyes.
Wrath seemed to think for a moment.
“
You make it easier Alpha. You are why I don't destroy everything I touch.
” Izuku began to cry in earnest as more images flashed through his mind.
Izuku ordering Wrath to not injure Katsuki.
Izuku relying on Wrath during the slime attack.
Wrath looking at Izuku, standing up to said slime alone, wreathed in the flame that bakugou had caused when he was captured.
“
I helped you because you make me human.
”
“
I brought you in here because you need help.”
Wrath finished.
Izuku fell back to the ground and wept.
*
School was staring back up the following week.
There were only three days left.
After the USJ attack, U.A had allowed time for those injured to heal as well as time for them to get their legalities in order.
The grace period was coming to an end. in the end U.A was a school. Students needed a minimum attendance.
Toshinori had been healed.
His time was still at 5 hours daily, his arm healed in its entirety.
Surprisingly, his arm looked similar to what Izuku’s looked when he didn't reinforce himself before using One for All.
Speaking of Izuku, he had yet to wake up.
The doctors were decently certain that he was asleep due to his quirk, but it didn't do much to settle any nerves. They still recommended that they don't interfere due to the mental nature of his quirk. Waking him up could be disastrous, and Inko was unwilling to take that risk.
Toshinori felt the same.
So he used his five hours in hero-work and retired to Izuku’s hospital room.
The press had been relentless.
There was a leak about the death due to the USJ. Luckily, they were unaware who died and who was responsible. They only know that a Villain had died in the attack.
Toshinori intended to keep it that way.
He sat where he had kept himself as of late, at the bedside of a sleeping Izuku.
Toshinori sighed, and began doing the necessary paperwork for returning to school.
He would be there when Izuku woke up.
*
The silence was welcoming after the mental onslaught from Wrath. The darkness was still unsettling, but anything was better than Wrath.
Or so Izuku thought.
His mind was running so fast that he almost missed it.
There was a lavender light off in the direction of what Izuku assumed was the horizon.
Empathy.
No…
Noooooooo no no no.
Empathy was the last thing that Izuku needed right now. Considering how hard everything hit inside Fragment, talking to Empathy could break him.
Izuku froze.
Empathy approached.
The light was upon him before Izuku decided if he was going to run or not.
“
Hello.
”
Goddamnit.
“
There is no need to be rude Alpha
”
...
Oh fuck he can hear me?
“
We are literally inside of your mind. We can all hear you.
”
Fuck.
“
Yea, fuck
”
Empathy seemed to be somewhat… annoyed with him. It was unsettling, considering he hadn't talked to the trait in
years.
“
We need to talk
”
“Can we not?”
Empathy leveled him with a flat stare. Izuku gulped.
“
The USJ. It was… bad
”
Izuku was happy to see that even though the years, Empathy was still bad at talking. As if reading his thoughts, Empathy’s scowl deepened.
“
You killed the villain Suro. You can't blame it on me this time.
”
Izuku’s hope of a light-hearted conversation died.
“
At best, you can blame this on Wrath, but as much as you will try to avoid it- you killed that man. It was your anger, your rage and your adopted quirk that killed him.
”
Izuku couldn't breathe. Which was strange, considering his situation as more or less an astral projection within his own mind.
“
I am holding back the weight of your guilt, as I have been with most else. Once you leave this place I will not do that anymore. Your guilt is your own. This blood is on your hands.
”
Just like that, something snapped within Izuku.
Empathy was right.
He had killed the man.
Then he remembered.
Izuku wanted to be a hero since he was young, but he needed to be a hero now.
He needed to be a hero to redeem himself. His sins weighed heavy on his back, regardless of how his quirk affected his mental state. It was something he couldn't forget.
But it wasn't only
his
sins.
“You.” Izuku took a shaky breath, holding back a sob.
“You try to hold me solely accountable for my mistakes when you are the reason I am in this situation to begin with”
Empathy said nothing, but his lavender aura shivered slightly.
“I am here to atone for your mistakes. I have made so many steps to fix this, and you are trying to put the weight of your sins on me.” His voice was cold, yet wobbled slightly at his sorrow.
“
I am your sin Alpha. Our sins are one and the same.
” If possible, Empathy’s response was even colder.
Izuku snapped.
“YOU HAVE MADE ME A MONSTER EMPATHY. YOU CANT ASSIGN THAT GUILT TO ME” Izuku shook with his rage, his tears blinded him.
“
I DIDNT MAKE YOU A MURDERER. YOU MADE THAT DECISION YOURSELF. I AM YOU AND YOU ARE ME. WE KILL AS ONE
”
A sob finally wretched itself from Izuku’s throat.
He couldn't do this.
He cant do this.
“
YOU. you. I am not going to hold your guilt. As you have rejected me, I reject you Alpha.
“
Izuku wept, and Empathy watched.
“
I held back your empathy as you ended that man’s life. I felt what should have been your pain as you murdered him. I refuse to do so anymore.
”
Empathy finally turned his back on Izuku and began to walk away.
“
I can't help but feel empathy for you Alpha. I am sorry.
” the trait cast one last look back at Izuku.
“
When I am gone, you will wake up. I was the last one keeping you asleep.
”
“
Goodbye, Izuku.
”
Izuku’s eyes opened.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Iida was early to class,
it's what he did
. He prided himself in being the first to class, being able to prepare properly for the following day. Being prompt was one of the cornerstones of not only being polite, but being a hero! It did not only himself but his school pride for him to arrive early to class. As an extension, as he was class president, it also reflected well not only on himself but on the entirety of class 1-A.
He prided himself on his early arrival to such a degree, that once he became class president, he made a point to arrive
even earlier
. At this point, he would regularly be in the classroom around half an hour before school started. In his time he would usually review notes, write notes or attend to some Presidential Responsibilities.
That all being said, you can understand why Iida expected to be the first in the room every morning. It's not that he didn't
want
people to show up early, in fact, he wished quite the opposite.
Cough cough Kaminari and Mina cough
. But for the most part, his class arrived on time. He had come to expect this. First would be him, with roughly ten or fifteen minutes until the next student,
Momo
, would arrive. From there, students would begin to slowly trickle in at a predictable pattern. First was Momo, then Bakugou would arrive followed by Todoroki. Closer to class, people would arrive more rapidly. Midoriya was never late, but he wasn’t exactly
early
. He would usually come in around the same time Uraraka would, roughly five to ten minutes before attendance.
It was an easily predictable pattern, something that didn't change from expectations.
What Iida did
not
expect was for Midoriya to already be present, half an hour before school.
The boy was jittering, unable to sit still. Papers were spilled across his desk, and he was organizing in a panic.
The door slammed shut a little louder than Iida had intended, and Midoriya jumped. His head snapped over to the offending entrance, eyes wild.
“Hello Midoriya! I am glad to see that you are healthy, as well as on time for class!” Midoriya jumped at the volume of his voice.
“H-Hello Iida” His voice tilted downwards, his panic gone as quickly as it had arrived. The boy went back to quickly organizing his papers.
It was confusing! Midoriya was always polite, but he was acting strange. He looked… sad? It was hard to tell, and Iida was bad with emotions.
So he did what he always did when confused: resorted to the rules.
“Are you truly healthy? U.A has sworn to a minimum of two weeks of time off if under extenuating circumstances!” again, Iida was too loud and Midoriya flinched.
“U-um… I think I'm okay. They let me out of the hospital a c-couple of days ago…” His voice was quiet, unsure. It was in such contrast to the Midoriya that Iida had gotten to know over the course of the school year. The boy who had handed him his class position on a silver platter, stood up to Bakugou, rushed in head first to protect Aizawa from a villain. It set off leagues of red flags in his mind. For a second Iida considered attempting to do something about it, but the idea was dismissed as quickly as it appeared. Uraraka was better with emotional matters, planning a coordinated approach would be the best for the boy.
Wait…
“They only let out a few days ago? The USJ was over a week ago! I was unaware of how injured you must have been!”
The boy averted his eyes at the mention of the USJ, looking down at the explosion of papers on his desk.
“Y-yea. I've been...” Izuku swallowed heavily and took a deep breath.
“I was in a coma for almost a week?” he spoke in one big rush of breath as if it was physically hurting him to speak.
Iida was left dumbfounded.
Now that he mentioned it, Midoriya looked significantly worse than he had before the USJ. he looked rather sickly and was avoiding eye contact like it was the plague. Behind the curly waterfall of hair, Iida could see the edge of a scar.
Iida couldn't help it. Midoriya looked so small, so unsure.
He placed his hand onto the smaller boy’s shoulder.
“I am happy you are okay.” His voice was softer than Izuku had ever heard before.
“I have read that being bedridden for long periods of time can cause damage to your muscles…” Iida trailed off, seemingly thinking. Suddenly, he straightened up and his ‘class president’ voice came back.
“That just means we will have to work harder to make sure you are at peak performance!”
Midoriya finally looked up from his desk, meeting Iida with teary eyes.
A large patch of scar tissue could be seen on his left cheek, nearly encompassing the entire thing.
“We?” his voice was wobbly.
He was
crying
.
Iida was overwhelmed with the need to backpedal, figure out what he said wrong. He opened his mouth to begin to apologize, but Midoriya beat him to it.
“You want to train together?!” his voice was incredulous, as though he wasn't worthy.
And it clicked for Iida, at least partially.
Putting on a large smile, Iida raised a massive thumbs-ups in a poor imitation of All Might. All Might was Midoriya’s favorite hero, after all.
“Of course! Not only as class president but as your friend, it is my priority to make sure you are in top condition! The hero course of U.A demands nothing less!”
Finally, it seemed that Iida had said the right thing as Midoriya returned his large smile.
I really should have left this to Uraraka… but I don't regret it. It's what a true hero would do. It's what Tensei would do.
*
What do you mean you can't access my mind anymore?!
Greed sighed from within his mind, already adapting to the newly anxious reactions of Izuku.
Empathy… you can think of him as the doorway into your mind. Using him as the conduit, I was able to alter your mind. With him gone… I don't have that access anymore
Greed felt Izuku’s panic build, much to his frustration.
Can't you just force open the door?!
No, Alpha. Empathy
is
the door. Imagine it as if in place of the door was now a wall. Even if I could break down the wall... that could, in theory, break you. You will have to learn to adapt or find a way to make it up to Empathy. Make him come back.
Izuku tried to control his panic, though only panicked more as he realized that he couldn't. It was a horrific cycle that he had fallen into more than once since waking up without Empathy at his side.
He just wasn't aware of the insane amount of things Empathy did behind the scenes. According to Greed, not only did he give other traits (Greed) access to his mind, allowing for said traits to directly alter his brain chemistry, but also a major player in his altered mental state. According to Greed, Empathy was the number 1 trait that would hold back his overwhelming anxiety, among other things.
Izuku was not happy to have his first panic attack in 8 years.
For some reason, Greed knew how to coach him through it and was there to take care of him afterward. The trait was a godsend, regardless of his status as a sin.
He was not able to stop Izuku from his insomnia prior to the first day back at school. The green haired boy hadn't slept, yet somehow had still rushed himself to leave his house early. He arrived over 45 minutes before school even started, a time when the only things roaming the hallways were the cleaning robots.
Greed had decided that the silence offered the perfect opportunity to discuss the fact that Izuku was essentially on his own in the emotion department.
Greed was wrong.
Izuku had panicked, almost predictably. Luckily for both parties, he was interrupted by the arrival of Iida. The boy had done good, regardless of how emotionally stunted he was.
Then the morning took a turn for the worse.
Midoriya was packing away his newly organized schoolwork, idly chatting with Momo about all things not-USJ. She was a wonderful source of information in regards to almost any material accessible to man. They were discussing the feasibility of her creating gasses using her quirk when the door slammed open.
Katsuki.
His red eyes narrowed on him in an instant, rage reminiscent of a bull.
Izuku completely prepared for the boy to charge, Momo stiffening beside him. To the shock of everyone in sight, Katsuki slowly, almost calmly, walked over to where Izuku was sitting.
The eerie silence was broken in an instant as Katsuki slammed his hands into the desk in front of Izuku, palms sparking.
“I know what the fuck you’re playing at
Deku
.” He said the name for what it truly was: a slur. Worse than useless, a villain. The bad guy.
“I will take you down. Make you regret your fucking body count”
Tears sprung in Izuku’s eyes as he tried desperately not to respond. He didn't trust his own voice. Momo had visibly stiffened beside him.
“You always have been, and always will be a fucking monster. I’ll fucking kill you,
Deku
” as suddenly as he had stalked over, his rightened himself up, turned on his heal, and sat at his desk.
Izuku was shaking.
He didn't know
why
he was shaking, only knew that he was.
Fucking. Kaachan
.
There was a hand on his shoulder, something he vaguely recognized as Momo. Greed was whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down.
He heard none of it.
Kaachan was right. Empathy was right.
He had killed that man. And no matter how he tried to justify it, it was the fact of the matter. A man had died, and he had been the one to kill him.
Wrath began simmering under his skin, the trait growing unruly.
Empathy was right to abandon him. For all his power, for all the trust Toshinori had placed in him, he had just made mistakes.
He had attacked All Might, he had attacked villains much more powerful than him. He had killed someone using All for one.
If Empathy were here, he would be laughing.
“no.”
Maybe Katsuki was right. Maybe for all his power - Fragment and All for One combined - he was just meant to kill.
“No.”
The hand left his shoulder.
All he had done as of now was kill. Maybe it was what he was meant for.
“NO.”
This would be far from the last life that he would end, especially in this line of work. Especially with how little control he had over One for All.
Distantly, Izuku felt his body walk in the direction of Katsuki’s desk.
What of the man in the alley. The night he had broken the law to rescue the man with the scars. What of the man who he had used to crush cement with. Greed said he would survive, but would he really? Could he afford to be healthy?
Something in Izuku snapped, as it so often did. His volatile nature came back, if only for a moment.
“Kaachan!” The blonde looked up at Izuku, looking angry until he noticed the tears.
Deku is crying?
“I'm not a villain! It doesn't matter what you or Empathy or anyone else says!”
Empathy?
“I'm not a killer!”
Izuku ran out of breath, clearly trying to control his hyperventilation.
Izuku tried to gather himself and began to speak.
“We are heroes! This is a
hero
class! Aizawa is a hero!” each sentence was choppier than the last as tears invaded his speech.
“People don't deserve to die…” he was gaining ground on controlling his breathing as he spoke, but his tears flowed with fervor.
“But I would kill to keep this class safe…” tears roared down his face, racing around his newly acquired scar.
“I will keep everyone safe, regardless of-”
Izuku was cut off by a violent cough. To the horror of everyone in the room, he began to cough, wet and heavy. His hand went to his mouth, trying to stifle the coughs wracking his system.
His hand came back red.
Iida was over in a second, the sight of blood enough to shock him from his frozen position in the back of the class.
“Midoriya! You're bleeding!”
The boy continued to cough, though it was seemingly petering off.
“If you are not healthy enough to attend school, you should still be in the hospital! We need to go to recovery girl!”
Izuku coughed a rather large clot of blood into his hand, and his coughing subsided.
“No” he croaked through trembling breaths.
The room stood still as the boy slowly righted himself, breathing heavily.
“This i-isn't from the USJ.” his voice was quiet.
“You mean you got injured again?!” Iida was at his side, doing his best not to yell and failing miserably. Izuku winced at the volume.
“No!” He suddenly looked panicked, waving his hands in front of him frantically. “This is an old injury!”
“You haven't been coughing up blood in class! And there is no way that that can be healthy! I Insist that we head to Recovery Girl!”
Izuku seemed to deflate.
“I-I've been trying to hide it in class. I didn't want to make a mess…” he trailed off, and Iida stared him down.
There was a tense pause, and Izuku seemed to shrink in on himself.
“F-Fine. I should probably talk to recovery girl anyway…”
Iida straightened up and grabbed the boy by the arm. He seemed… pleased. The pair exited the room, leaving behind a shocked Momo and a conflicted Katsuki.
Katsuki couldn't find the words to properly respond. He didn't even know what he felt in response.
How dare the fucking Idiot come over to
him
of all people and try to proclaim his innocence. How fucking dumb did he think Katsuki is?
But… there was something off. Maybe it was the scar, maybe it was the tears trailing down his face, something he hadn't seen in Izuku since he was a child. Since his quirk developed.
Maybe it was the emotion that Izuku finally showed.
His fucking quirk was always fucking with him, making act like tough shit. But Katsuki knew. Katsuki knew Izuku was a weak bitch at heart, a weakling that
couldn't
kill if not for his fucked quirk.
More than anything else, it pissed him off.
Katsuki felt rage pouring into him, making a home under his skin. Part of him wanted to chase down the stupid fucker, but they were already gone. If there was one thing Katsuki had learned over the years, its that he had to pick the right time to hunt Deku.
Katsuki had to admit, Izuku’s acting was impressive. Not many could pull of tears like that.
Momo shot him a look, eyes wide and borderline horrified. She was… blaming him?
What the fuck?!
Todoroki glanced around the near-empty classroom, and almost instantly felt the
off
feeling that prevailed. Not that he mined, it wasn't his problem after all. But looking closer, it made it seem as though this
could
be his problem. There was blood on the floor in front of Bakugou’s desk. Momo was looking scared in the back, eyes flitting from place to place as if panicked, and Bakugou was just kinda
looking
.
It would be unsettling, but Todoroki just moved to his seat.
His desk was wet.
Recovery Girl looked rather annoyed at the duty-driven teen giving a complete rundown on what had happened. Izuku sat on one of the beds and looked down at the ground, embarrassed.
“We have not seen him bleeding before in class, and this looked rather violent! It cannot be healthy to cough blood, so as Class President I saw it fit to take him to you!”
Iida was rambling, and as with every time he felt uncomfortable, he resorted to the rules. What is expected of him.
Recovery Girl sighed.
“While I am not allowed to tell you the nature of Midoriya’s condition, I will tell you that I was aware of it. We are making moves to reduce its severity. Thank you very much for taking him to me. It's nice to see you so concerned for your friend!”
Iida sputtered, but Recovery Girl continued.
“As far as the condition, it's not deadly. He should be fine, but I am keeping it closely monitored. In the future, if this happens, just give him some space to breathe or bring him to me.”
Iida still looked flustered but bowed politely.
“Midoriya said he wished to speak to you, so I will take my leave. I must find Aizawa and explain the situation with Bakugou! Please take care of him!”
The boy promptly turned on his heel and left.
Recovery girl sighed.
“That boy… He's a good kid but so high strung. He is going to need to relax some if he wishes to be a hero…” The woman seemed to be thinking aloud before turning to Izuku.
“That was some fight you got in with Bakugou. I'm assuming the stress from the USJ and your resultant hospitalization, along with the inciting incident from Bakugou make your fit much worse. Are you sure there is nothing I can do to convince you to finish the healing job?”
The woman spoke lowly, yet kind. More like a concerned parent rather than a school nurse.
Izuku mumbled something in response.
“Midoriya, don't make an old woman strain her hearing! What was that?”
“I- Don't think I can heal myself right now…”
Recovery girl’s eyes widened, and Izuku jumped right into an explanation.
“M-my quirk is sentient. After the USJ, I-I got in a fight with one of my Trait. H-... He isn't going to help me anymore.”
“Selflessness refuses to heal you? That doesn't sound righ-” Izuku cut her off.
“Empathy.”
Recovery girl reeled back, as though slapped.
“What?”
“I have a trait named Empathy” Izuku closed his eyes, trying his best to hold back any stutter.
“He is the strongest trait I have. We got in a fight because of Sur- The USJ. He thinks I'm being too violent. So he left.”
Recovery girl was looking progressively worse as he continued speaking.
“Because of that… all the emotion he usually helped me with is hitting me straight on. And Fragment is weaker.”
Recovery girl seemed to find her voice as she spoke.
“You're saying that without Empathy, you are unable to heal yourself?”
Izuku shrugged, a speck of his personality coming back.
“I d-don't know for sure… but probably. Every trait I have is significantly weaker without him here. Selflessness might n-not be able to get the job done. Charity is back to barely being able to heal broken bones…”
Recovery girl muttered to herself as she quickly composed an email to Nezu. Normally, she would just send a student with issues regarding their quirk home. But this was not a normal case.
Fragment was sentient, and it was purposely holding itself back from Izuku. Sending him home wouldn't do anything. It wasn't like quirk exhaustion.
She stopped muttering as she hit
send.
She couldn't think of this as a normal Quirk. Each of his traits were borderline
people
. The only way to fix this would be to treat them as such.
Almost as soon as she sent the email, her phone began to ring. She picked up without hesitation.
“Would you be so kind as to send Izuku Midoriya up to my office! I would love to talk to him!” Nezu’s squeaky voice came over the receiver. With a noise of confirmation, Recovery girl hung up and turned to IZuku.
“The principal has requested you to his office. I’ll make sure to inform Aizawa where you are. You should head up there now.”
The woman sounded unsettled.
With a nod, Izuku slid off the bed to his feet. It was time to meet the principal.
Aizawa sighed and climbed out of his sleeping bag.
Izuku was a
problematic
child in every sense of the word, but Katsuki was a
problem
. He had hoped that he could give himself some time to assess the relationship between the two before interfering, but then Bakugou had to make a move like this. Aizawa had half a mind to expel him right then and there, if just to save himself the headache.
Unfortunately, that would probably just lead to more problems.
He had hoped that this had been some childish resentment, something he could easily nip in the bud. That didn't seem to be the case.
This isn't some newly formed, seedling of hatred. It was a mighty forest of resentment and anger on both sides. This would take time and care to deal with. Neither of which was Aizawa’s forte.
God, how he wished he didn't have Bakugou in his class. The boy was violent, nearly unstable. Hell, the same could be said for Midoriya, though in many ways the smaller boy was more palatable to the teacher. That being said, Aizawa did not trust anyone else to manage Katsuki. Others would be
okay
, but they could never truly fix the boy. Aizawa was his best chance, much to the teacher's displeasure.
His inferiority complex, his aggression and tendency to resort to his quirk was basically designed for Aizawa to fix.
The teacher shot a look at the clock. There were nearly twenty minutes before class needed to start. That would be plenty of time to talk to the boy and create a fitting punishment.
The teacher let out a deep, tired sigh and stood.
His injuries weren't that bad, but his head still ached. There was a small scar above his right eye, but nothing too drastic. If Midoriya had not interfered when he did, Aizawa could be dead, rather than having a mild headache and a new scar.
The teacher stretched, yawning. He made his way to the classroom, intent on finally having the necessary talk with Bakugou.
The door to the principal’s office was much less intimidating than the door to the 1-A classroom, yet for some reason, Izuku found himself hesitating outside of it. He wasn't
scared
… just apprehensive. He had met the man-mouse before, but this time was different.
This time his anxiety is not managed by anyone but himself.
He could feel himself breathing more shallowly, but couldn't stop himself. Before he knew what he was doing, he had knocked on the door. His mind recoiled at the action, and Izuku tried his best to ignore it.
“Come in!” the cheery voice resounded from within.
With a deep breath, one that failed to calm his nerves, Izuku opened the door.
As before, Izuku was stunned by the room. The wall opposite of the door was made of floor to ceiling glass windows, while the rest of the room looked rather simplistic. There was the mouse-man’s desk along with assorted furniture. In the center of the room was a pair of couches arranged around a coffee table. On the table sat two cups of steaming tea.
Nezu waved politely from one of the couches, gesturing to the other, prompting the boy to sit.
Izuku sat, and Nezu began.
“Unfortunately, class starts soon and it would be a crime to keep someone as bright as you away from their education! So we must be quick… ish” the rat creature shot Izuku a smile, kind and patient.
Izuku took this time to fully
look
at the creature that ran the best hero school in the entirety of Japan.
He was small, somewhere between 1-1.5 meters tall. He was most obviously
not
human, though with transformation quirks being so prevalent it was hard to tell. He had a rodent-like face, with a large scar running over one of his beady black eyes. His tail was fur covered, cutting
rat
from the running of what species he was. His ears were squarish, resembling that of a panda, or the like. His… hands? Were paws, with four large pads making up his fingers. His fur was a soft white color and looked like he was being begged to be pet.
Izuku did not pet the principal.
“Ahaha! What am I?! A man, a bear, mouse, dog?! You may never know!” the principal belt out from seemingly nowhere. Izuku felt like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“I-I mean. If I had to guess you would be some mixture thereof.” The words escaped Izuku before he had time to stop himself.
“What do you mean?” his friendly demeanor is gone, replaced with polite curiosity.
“U-Um... Y-you have signs of almost all of them?” he cringed as he posed it more as a question, and hoped he wasn't insulting the head of his school.
The principal’s eyes gleamed and brought one of the cups of tea to his mouth.
“Please explain.” his voice had fallen to neutral now, tone falling as Izuku’s anxiety increased.
“O-okay? You have the head of a r-rodent, like a m-mouse or a rat. But your tail is furry, m-meaning you're not a rat. Your paws are D-Dog-like, but your ears aren't like any of those animals. They remind me of a panda or a koala. But those animals don't fit everything else, your t-tail is too long to be a bear, and you don't have claws. It would only make sense if you were a bit of e-everything…” The boy wrapped up as best as he could, trembling under the watchful eye of the principal.
Nezu sat still, looking almost like a statue.
Then he began to laugh, a hard raucous laugh. The teacup in the hybrid’s hand began to vibrate, spilling some of the hot fluid onto the couch around him, but none on the principal himself.
Nezu found his composure pretty quickly, though there was a new interested gleam in his eyes.
“Please! Sit!” when Izuku complied, Nezu continued.
“How long did it take you to put that all together?” the mammal added some sugar into Izuku’s cup and offered it to the boy. Izuku accepted the tea and took a deep drink. It was really good tea.
“I… I didn't have m-much time to think about it last time we met… So I took my chance here…”
“You came up with all of that once you walked in the door?”
Izuku nodded sheepishly. Nezu’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“Oh, how I wish I had time to pick apart your mind…” The way he said that made it sound nearly threatening.
“But for the time being, we have more pressing matters” He looked honestly disappointed as he set his teacup onto the table and met Izuku’s eyes.
“Recovery girl reported your issues with me, asking for assistance.”
Izuku took a drink of his tea.
“I have an idea on how to get you back to top shape!” the hybrid gained a little light back in his eyes. Izuku cocked his head, skeptical.
“The faculty has been thinking about your quirk wrong this entire time. Rather than thinking of your traits as
quirks
, we should be treating them as students!”
Izuku wasn't really following, but he didn't interrupt.
“When two students are fighting, we don't send them to the nurse's office! We act as mediators for disagreements if possible. Now, can you tell me a little bit more about about this disagreement you had with Empathy? Or tell me more about Empathy as a person?”
Izuku didn't know where to start… So he closed his eyes and started at the beginning.
“Empathy and I have a… History.” he felt the ever-present anxiety melt away as he spoke.
“He is the embodiment of my empathy, and as such is the strongest trait I have access to. But, while summoning him, he takes my ability to empathize with him. Using him, for lack of a better word makes me a sociopath. He's a good person, but because of him, I have done some… bad things”
Nezu nodded.
“His quirk is similar to mine in a way. When he is summoned, he can command any other trait as I can, but he can't summon or banish them. Any order I give overrides one given by Empathy. He is light purple in color.”
Izuku paused, and Nezu popped in.
“That is all what he can do and how he affects you. What is he
like
.”
Izuku hesitated.
“Empathy… is kind. He never wants to hurt anyone but lacks the strength of self to stop me. He will dive straight in to help others and never cares about his own health. He is one of the two traits that actually care about my well being. When he's mad, he cuts deep and efficient. He's cuddly.”
Nezu nodded again, taking a sip of his tea. Izuku did the same, draining the cup.
“So… from what you told Recovery Girl, you two got in a fight over the USJ?”
Izuku stilled.
Nezu waited patiently.
“You know what happened at the USJ…” he swallowed thickly.
Izuku closed his eyes and spoke.
“While at the USJ, I stepped in because Aizawa was about to be seriously injured. I managed to keep him safe for a period of time, but I couldn't handle the villains on my own. During the fight, I summoned Fortitude, which helps strengthen my body so I can take a punch, and Sloth to regain stamina when I could. Stamina turned into Diligence, and protected an unconscious Aizawa.”
The next part hurt to say, but Izuku continued on anyways.
“There were three villains. Diligence distracted the big one, while I tried to do the same for the other two. When I went to punch one of them, the other jumped in front of us. I hit him. He died.”
Izuku could feel tears begin to form but didn't open his eyes.
“E-Empathy was mad. He had to take the brunt of the guilt and pain in an attempt to keep me safe. He told me he wasn't going to cover for me anymore.”
It was a simplified version of events, but it was the best Izuku could get out at the moment.
“As heroes, it is unfortunate that sometimes lives are lost in the line of duty. We never want to kill, but life has a funny way of ending anyway” Nezu’s voice was as low as he could get, probably in an attempt to sooth the boy.
“Empathy must have understood it was an accident.”
At that, Izuku began to sob in fullest.
Nezu pulled back.
“I'm sorry to have upset you.”
Izuku shook his head.
Nezu let him cry.
Aizawa was already too tired for this talk, and he had just woken up. Bakugou stalked behind him, shoulders hunched and teeth bared. The boy had gone without a fight, but it did nothing to reassure Aizawa. The teacher lead silently, already dreading the conversation to come. All too soon, the pair stopped at a door labeled “Aizawa”.
The teacher led the boy into his office, gesturing for him to sit.
It was a small area, with a desk against one wall and a sofa pressed against the other. In front of the desk sat a couple of chairs.
Strangely obedient, Katsuki sat in one of the chairs. Aizawa sat at his desk.
There was a silence as neither party moved to speak.
With a sigh, Aizawa realized he would have to be the adult.
“I heard what you said.”
Katsuki growled, much like the rabid animal he was at heart.
“As much as I would love to continue to watch you try to rip out Midoriya’s throat at every turn, It is my job to stop behavior like” his voice was emotionless, monotone.
Katsuki’s growling got slightly louder. Aizawa was overcome with the want to hit the boy.
Aizawa did not hit the boy.
“What I would like is for you to explain one thing to me. I have watched the two of you since the first day.” Katsuki stopped growling.
“Why are you so sure he is a bad guy?”
Katsuki looked at the teacher, and Aizawa realized just how much of a mistake it was to try to talk to the boy before coffee.
“He’s a surprisingly good actor you know.” Katsuki’s voice was borderline controlled.
“He has his mom convinced that he is innocent, but he's not going to fool me. I know what he is.”
Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.
“And what is that Bakugou”
“A monster.”
Aizawa sighed.
Katsuki was a child. Aizawa tried to keep that in mind as he responded.
“I have seen monsters. Midoriya is a child, one with a difficult and dangerous quirk but not a monster.”
Katsuki launched to his feet, knocking the chair to the floor.
“YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT. HE IS LYING TO ALL OF YOU”
“Bakugou. Sit down.”
The boy stared at him in a silent challenge. Aizawa didn't blink.
Aizawa was mistaken. Bakugou wasn't ready for this talk. Which meant he would have to talk to him
again
later
.
That sounded like hell to the teacher, but it was his job.
“We can continue this conversation later. For now, we need to address punishment”
Katsuki’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull.
“PUNISHMENT?!”
“Yes. Punishment. You entered my classroom and verbally assaulted a student who had recently gone through a traumatic event. You need to be punished.”
Katsuki somehow looked
more
enraged, his nostrils flaring. Aizawa could clearly see a vein pop out on the boy’s forehead.
“My first plan was to transfer you to class 1-B.”
“WHAT?!”
“But this… is a situation. The current assumption is that separate you two will cause more animosity between you two. Nezu has specifically asked to keep you two together for the time being.”
In Aizawa’s eyes, he had fucked up. Katsuki froze as realization flood over him. Aizawa had already made his choice on his punishment. There was nothing Katsuki could say to change his mind, and he fucking hated it.
“I will give you one chance. You get one change from this point on to leave Midoriya alone. The next time something like this happens the punishment will be much worse. Transferring to 1-B, general education or maybe Nezu will let me expel you. This is your one chance Bakugou. Don't waste it.”
It was a silent dismissal, and Katsuki took the chance to leave, all but sprinting out of the office.
Aizawa sighed.
he was not looking forward to their next conversation.
*
Izuku got back to his desk a few moments before class started. Nezu had been helpful, but it came down to one fact. He had to talk to Empathy. He just wasn't ready for that.
Nezu had also offered to talk more often. Apparently, something about Izuku interested the hybrid. He was nice enough, so Izuku wasn't against it. The Principal had more than his fair share of wisdom that he was more than happy to share. Unfortunately, Izuku had to make it back to class.
The class fell silent as Aizawa walked into the room, as per usual.
The man took to his place at the podium, only the small scar on his face evidence that anything had changed in the past weeks.
“I will make this as brief as possible. I want to go back to sleep. The first order of business: Midoriya”
The boy snapped to attention at his name.
“Change seats with Satou.”
The boy in the back row stiffened before began to gather his items. Midoriya wanted to ask why he had to move seats, or demand that it wasn't necessary, but something within him stopped him. It was as if the words caught in his throat, unable to speak.
So instead, Izuku gathered his stuff and moved to the back row, seated between Uraraka and Todoroki.
“Now that that is dealt with, the more important news. In regards to the recent Villain attack, U.A will be proceeding with the Sports festival as it has in past years.” A low murmur tore through the class, and Uraraka shot a worried look at Izuku. Aizawa stepped in before it went too far.
“Security will be strengthened many times to assure your safety. Please, leave the worrying to the Pro Heros. The Sports Festival is a very important event for young heroes. After the Festival, we will be progressing to work internships. Pro Heroes will be analyzing your performance, assessing who they would like to work with them for the internship week. On top of this, I don't need to inform you that this event is broadcast nationally. It is your chance to make a splash in the hero scene. I suggest you don't waste it.”
A wave of seriousness fell over the class. The sports festival was important on multiple levels, least of which was it being a massive school-wide competition. Everyone would be gunning for the number one spot.
“That leads me to the last point of the day. As the Sports festival will take place in little over a week, the school will shift from its academic focus to attempting to prepare you for the festival. We will still have normal classes, but they will be heavily modified to allow for more freedom before the festival. That being said, the time directly before the sports festival has been been a tradition for years. Welcome class 1-A, to Hell week.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Aizawa led them outside to a circular track.
“For the next week, you will have different teachers taking over per day. For today, you have me.” the smile that had been growing on the man’s face feel as a hand shot up with speed that could only be Iida, and Aizawa sighed.
“As far as education goes, at the end of the day, you will have one class.” Iida’s hand fell.
The smile was back, looking somewhat more sadistic than before.
“Now run.”
Izuku almost felt relieved. Finally, something easy! Aizawa was having them run along the track and had been pushing them for close to an hour. Anyone who stopped… talked to him? It was strange, and Izuku wasn't going to figure out what he was saying to them. Someone only stopped when they fell, which unfortunately happened to someone. Well, it was Mineta so it could have been worse. After about fifteen minutes, the boy had slowed down and had a chat with Aizawa. Whatever was said really put some bounce into the tiny boy’s step. Mineta had launched forward as if he was being chased.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the stamina to match his pace and had full on passed out. Or maybe fortunately? The girls of 1-A looked much more comfortable running without him nearby.
Izuku put it out of mind as he continued to run.
Time had hit an hour when more people had fallen out of track. For the most part, the students that couldn't continue didn't surprise Izuku. People like Sero or Kaminari weren't exactly the most physically fit, focusing more on their quirks than their physical body. Sato was rather large and focused on muscle mass rather than endurance. More lifting than cardio, Izuku supposed. Tokoyami had to stop as well, overheated and panting. For the most part, the class was still doing well as time ticked past an hour fifteen.
The herd was thinning as time went on. An hour and a half in and there were more that had stopped than not. It was becoming more difficult to control his breathing as Izuku continued, but he did his best.
The running group had split into two based on speed. In the front was more or less just Izuku and Iida, and surprisingly Mina. The girl was not only fast, but had the endurance to back it up. Katsuki was also with them but was keeping pace behind them, keeping his distance from the other three.
At two hours, Aizawa stopped the class.
The four in the lead were the only ones still running at this point. To be honest, Izuku was relieved. All Might’s training had been brutal and was by far the only reason he was still running at that point. In fact, if he had done the same exercise mere weeks earlier he could have kept going with little to no issue. Unfortunately, Being in a coma for a week and heavy exercise
really
didn't mix. Apparently, while he was under there was some sort of doctor that was able to slow the rate of muscle atrophy, but it was far from perfect. He was still in good condition, better than most would be in their entire lives, but it was a significant difference than what he used to be. He was just a touch slower, just a touch weaker and so on. It was somewhat frustrating, but this day would be good for him.
Aizawa rounded up the class for the next activity.
Lunch rolled around
much
later than it should have, or at least that’s what it felt like. Izuku’s frustrations were beginning to hit a peak.
Yes
, he had only been awake for like three days and
no
, he shouldn't expect himself to be in peak condition but
come on.
He had worked hard to put and keep himself as fit as physically possible. It's not only what One for All demanded, but an ideal that he hoped to keep himself at. The thought of losing it all to a
nap
was more frustrating that he would like to admit. Iida was right next to him through the entire thing, reminding him that he would be back to peak before he knew it.
It was still frustrating.
Fragment had been strangely silent today. It was as if his traits had collectively decided to just… give him a day to himself. He hadn't heard from Greed or Lust all day, which was more than unusual nowadays. Part of him was worried. Worried that Fragment was still getting weaker without Empathy’s presence, but the majority of him was glad that he would be able to give ‘hell week’ his full attention. Aizawa spoke about it as if it was going to rend flesh from bone, and just because the first day was easy did not mean Izuku would let his guard down.
Izuku was right and he hated that he was always right and he hated everything. Yes, it was dramatic and no, he didn't care. Hell week was
hell
.
Apparently, everything before had just been a warm up. That was fine, Izuku could handle more.
Izuku could not handle more.
Before the USJ, he would have been able to keep up with Aizawa’s thinly veiled tortures. But the USJ had happened, and Izuku was weaker and he was in
hell
.
According to Aizawa, they only had one day to push themselves as far physically as they could so he was using it to the fullest. The rest of the days would be focused on combat, with ‘light’ exercises.
Izuku hasn't been this tired since he started training with All Might.
With a dead flop, Izuku fell into his seat in preparation for his one class of the day.
English.
Fucking wonderful.
Present Mic had killed the class, and he knew it. He was
proud
of it. Izuku was fried, mentally.
He was a good student, but the English language was something else. None of it made sense - ‘rules’ that only worked sometimes - the entire past tense of the word
lay
- even sentence structure - it was all off. It was like the language was backwards.
Usually, Greed would be enough to carry him through the difficult parts, but the trait was MIA along with all of his brothers.
It was starting to get lonely.
Izuku was too tired to be lonely.
The trip home was a blur, all until he flopped into bed and fell into unconsciousness.
*
Izuku woke up feeling somewhat refreshed, which confused him. He should be sore as all hell.
Whatever, I guess
.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.
It seemed all too soon that class was beginning again, but this time they were taken by surprise. Rather than Aizawa greeting them that morning, it was the pro hero Ectoplasm. The math teacher took to the podium, face in a toothy grin and spoke.
“We will be meeting on the field. Get dressed and be out in five!” his voice sounded human but was off slightly. The class did as they were told.
Assembled on a grass field, Ectoplasm began to explain the training of the day.
1 on 1 non-quirk sparring, overseen by none other than the teacher and his clones. Similar to how All Might had split up the class, Ectoplasm paired the kids off at random.
Izuku ended up with Kirishima, who gave him a large shark-like grin. Izuku smiled back but was noticeably more apprehensive. The two stepped away from others, tailed by the clone of Ectoplasm.
Speaking of the clone, the teacher’s quirk was fascinating. He spewed a black sludge from his mouth that rapidly formed into a clone of himself. The clones acted both as a hive-mind and not, much to the confusion of Izuku. They either had their own minds or not, right?
Maybe he could ask for some advice from the man about managing clones. Their quirks had that in similar, at the very least.
The clone called start, and the boys began to spar.
It was surprisingly close. Kirishima lacked much in the way of traditional training, but his fighting style was surprisingly solid. His way of ignoring nearly any attack and just
attacking
kept constant and heavy pressure on Izuku through the course of the fight. He probably would have lost if Kirishima had kept in mind that he didn't have his quirk.
Izuku was able to swipe the legs out from under the red-headed boy with a sweeping kick. Kirishima hadn't dodged. The boy was on the ground, trying to catch his breath when a rundown of what happened came to Izuku. Normally, Greed would understand first, but seeing as he wasn't here it had to come to Izuku naturally. At least the fight was fair, neither side had any help from their quirks.
Kirishima had obviously never fought without his quirk before. The few hits that had landed on Izuku had hurt, but if the other boy had been hardened it could potentially bring him down. Kirishima didn't dodge because he had never had to before, his skin would absorb the majority of any hit he took. In most cases, because of his lowered mobility, it was better to just tank the hits. Which was great, if he had his quirk.
The boy needed to learn how to dodge.
Izuku helped Kirishima to his feet as the boy sang his praises on ‘how manly that move was’ and how ‘ he wouldn't fall for it again!’
Ectoplasm called for them to go again.
Kirishima fell to the same move.
“That was great dude! I'm really gonna have to work to avoid tha-”
“Hey Kirishima?” Izuku cut him off. He was trying to find a way to say this without sounding condescending.
“Can I give you a suggestion?”
“Sure dude!” Kirishima beamed and Izuku cleared his throat. He felt too awkward for his own good.
“Your quirk makes it so that when you fight you are really defensive. If you arent working with your quirk you don't have to fight like that…” Izuku trailed off. Why was that
so
hard to say?!
Kirishima looked confused for a second before something clicked. Like a lightswitch being flicked, the excitement was back.
“I can dodge!” his smile was a blinding flash of sharp white teeth
Izuku met his excited grin with one of his own. Ectoplasm called another round.
That's how the day went, sparring with occasional breaks to share advice. Kirishima had gotten much better in a relatively short amount of time and was making a considerable effort to dodge more often than not. Izuku and Kirishima were just starting to work on a spar focused on kicks when Ectoplasm called a group change.
Both Kirishima and Izuku focused on a punch-heavy fighting style, and had just come together to change that when they had to switch. With some disappointment, the pair split but Izuku was happy. That was the first time he had spent a considerable amount of time with Kirishima without him asking for fortitude. He knew it was only because they weren't allowed to use their quirks, but it was still nice, no matter how it stung.
His new partner was Mina and Izuku was not prepared.
The girl wiped the floor with him. She was a good fighter, and seeing as her quirk was mainly only used to aid her movement taking it away wasn't making her any less formidable an opponent. Luckily, she relied a touch more on kicks and allowed Izuku to get his own practice in. Obviously he wouldn't be learning anything new, but it was always good to shake some of that rust off.
Out of all his matches against Mina, Izuku only won 2. Despite her outgoing attitude and kind personality, the girl was nothing to laugh at. She was more than proving that during this training week.
As if to round off everything as a joke, class that day was Math with Ectoplasm. As if the bruises weren't enough, the punches just kept on coming. Luckily, Izuku is
really
good at math.
The days were hard. Really hard. But it wasn't as ‘hellish’ as Aizawa had hyped it up to be. Izuku guessed it was because of the limited school hours. If his teacher had full control over his schedule for an entire day, or god forbid
longer
, he might just die.
Nights were passing by in fast, sleepless flashes and Izuku was back at school. It was strange, as if the moment he left the U.A gate he stopped properly forming memories. All he could remember were sensations. Hot water that he assumed was a shower, his head hitting something soft, probably his pillow.
The class was dead. Exercising for just under five straight hours was really pushing at some of the class. Most of the class, to be honest. Izuku attributed his continued consciousness to the hell All Might put him through in the summer. He would train from dawn til dusk, almost every day. He could handle what U.A was throwing at him right now.
As if called by the thought, none other than All Might himself walked through the door.
“Now! I understand that yesterday you underwhent combat training with Ectoplasm!”
Even All Might’s rallying presence wasn't enough to bring the class back to life as they responded with a resounding grumble.
“We will be continuing combative training today! Though this time with your quirks! As such, you will be overseen by me!”
Most of the class actually perked up at the prospect, especially Katsuki.
“Let us meet at the same field as yesterday!”
Sparring with full quirk use was so much more than sparring had been the day before.
Again, the class was split into groups of two with one Ectoplasm clone to watch over them. Izuku got paired with Aoyama, of all people. The boy was something else, spurting out what sounded like French with every attack. His ‘Naval Laser’ pushed him back, allowing for him to have
much
more mobility than he should. If anything, Aoyama was really good at keeping distance between himself and his opponent.
Fragment was still quiet, and to an extent Izuku was scared to break the all-consuming quiet that was his mind. He hadn’t heard from greed in
days
, not since Aizawa told him about the week of training. One for All was more or less out of the picture, seeing as without Charity or Selflessness he had no ability to heal the broken bones that came from the enhancement quirk.
So he did his best quirkless, but it wasn't really a fair fight. Aoyama was always solidly out of range, no matter what he did to catch the boy. None of the lasers had touched him, which was good, but he hadn't touched Aoyama either.
It was an endurance match.
The sparkly french boy made it clear that extended use of his laser gave him a wicked stomach ache, and Izuku planned on using that to his full advantage. Eventually, he would fall.
And as if foretold, that was exactly what happened. Aoyama began clutching his stomach in between shots, and before too long he fell.
Izuku let out huffed breaths as he stared at his partner in the fetal position on the ground. He was still trying to keep his smile on, but it was more than stressed. It looked more like a stressed grimace rather than a smile.
Ectoplasm checked on the boy and almost instantly ordered him to recovery girl. To Izuku surprise, the sparkly boy stood up and waddled away, hands on his stomach. Then the clone turned to Izuku.
“You didn't use your quirk during that fight.” It wasn't a question. Izuku nodded.
“While it may not have been necessary to finish your opponent, this is your only chance to practice before the festival. We will go again but against me this time. Use your quirk.” The clone’s words were clipped, annoyed.
The clone stood where Aoyama once was and fell into a fighting stance. Izuku fell into a stance, still panting.
The clone was on him almost instantly. Ectoplasm’s hero costume was essentially just a trench coat, but it covered his entire torso. His arms didn't come out. Come to think of it… Izuku didn't even know if he had arms. Regardless, the hero was just as dangerous without them.
The teacher was relentless, crushing Izuku into the ground within seconds. Izuku had barely had time to react.
“Again. Use your quirk” The teacher took to his position again.
Izuku struggled to his feet.
Ectoplasm was
not
holding back. He was doing on purpose, and Izuku knew it. They both knew that on a base level, Izuku didn't stand a chance against him ate pure hand to hand. Without his quirk, Izuku would lose in a moment.
Hey Greed?
Ectoplasm rushed again, and Izuku fell again. Ectoplasm got back into position and Izuku struggled to his feet.
His quirk remained silent.
Ectoplasm rushed again, a kick aimed for his head. Finally, Izuku managed to dodge.
Finally!
The teacher followed up, hitting Izuku in the chest. Izuku went down again.
Lust? Wrath?
The beating continued, relentless. Ectoplasm wasn't going to actually
hurt
the boy, but he wasn't pulling his punches.
Izuku stood up and lasted less than a minute.
Anyone?
*
All Might watched as his protege was repeatedly beaten down by the clone, watching as Izuku did nothing to stop him.
He wasn't using his quirk.
It was obvious what was happening. Ectoplasm was trying to force the boy into a situation where the only out would be his quirk. It obviously wasn't working.
“All right everyone! Let's take a fifteen-minute break!” All Might’s voice boomed around the field, bringing the class to an awkward stop. They hadn't been sparring very long.
Izuku fell to the ground, breathing hard.
All Might walked over, waving off Ectoplasm.
“Midoriya. Can we talk for a minute?”
The two stood around the corner from the gym, far enough to remain in earshot but All Might was still watching the class out of the corner of his eye.
“What's go on young Midoriya?”
Izuku let out a frustrated grown.
“I don't know! Greed won't talk to me! I don't know what's going on!” Toshinori stared with his brows raised.
“You are having issues with your quirk?”
Izuku jittered, obviously uncomfortable.
“I haven't heard from anyone since we started training.”
“Can you still summon them?” Toshinori was staying somewhat serious, much to Izuku’s confusion. He averted his eyes.
“I… haven't tried…”
Toshinori leveled the boy with an annoyed stare.
“You’ve been fighting a pro-hero for close to half an hour now and you just… didn't try?”
Izuku stared down at his feet, hesitantly nodding.
Toshinori let out a deep sigh, before placing his giant hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
“I have an idea. Do you trust me?”
Izuku nodded, and he was pretty sure he had never regretted anything more in his life.
“All right! Break time is over! Everyone back to their activities!” the class grumbled and All Might continued.
“Midoriya! You’re with me!”
Oh god, Toshi please no…
The boy followed the number one pro hero a significant distance away from the rest of the class. Toshinori turned, hands on his hips in a hero pose.
“Midoriya! Your next sparring partner will be me!”
Toshi WHYYY
“I- are you sure about this?”
“Yes!”
Izuku gulped.
“J- just give me a moment please…” All Might held his position as Izuku began to panic.
Even if I just had Fortitude, I would have a chance to last at least a few seconds… He won't go all out against me. Not unless I can take it.
Izuku closed his eyes and called out into his mind.
Fortitude? Pride?
Izuku paused, waiting for a response. There was none.
With a sign, Izuku began the process of summoning. He drew into his mind and began to pull out Fortitude.
It went well for a second, but then something began to pull back. A small growl slipped past Izuku’s lips as he began to pull harder.
Toshinori didn't move.
What Izuku could only assume was Fortitude pulled back, writhing into the recesses of his mind.
“Come on Fortitude!”
The tension between the two snapped like a string pulled too tight. Izuku’s back began to shimmer as he forced Fortitude into existence.
“Just approach me when you are ready young Midoriya!”
Izuku began to call for Greed, only to get the same resistance. It was frustrating.
“
Alpha. Thank you.
”
What?
“What?”
The trait looked down at the ground, almost looking ashamed.
“
We were… arguing.
”
What?
The trait nodded, as though he could hear his thoughts.
He's a part of my mind. Of course, he can hear my thoughts.
“
Your traits were… fighting. Some of us were trying to stop them. I was stuck.
”
Izuku looked mildly horrified.
“You guys were fighting?!”
“
Are.
”
“WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS?!”
All Might visibly trembled, uncomfortable in his pose. Fortitude shrugged.
“
We will be fighting All Might?
” he glanced at the hero, looking contemplative.
“
I would suggest Pride, Lust, and Sloth. Summoning Greed would be… counterproductive
”
Izuku’s eyes couldn't get larger, but All Might cleared his throat.
“If you wish young Midoriya, you may take today to yourself-”
“No. I will deal with this later. For now, we should spar right? I won't have any more chances to train for the festival after this week. We should train.” the boy sounded determined if a little frazzled.
Against his better judgment, All Might nodded.
“Let's put on a show for your classmates!” his hero persona was back, loud and boisterous as ever. He went back to his hero pose, as Izuku began to summon the other traits.
It would be a little more difficult without Greed, but Izuku could rely on himself for the moment.
“We are having a chat later.” Fortitude nodded.
To be honest, summoning Sloth seemed rather useless in this situation so Izuku passed on him. Pride was almost as difficult to summon as Fortitude, causing Izuku to begin to fight with himself again. Lust came the easiest, though still was exhausting.
“We are also going to need to talk about how I managed to forcefully summon you.” Fortitude nodded again.
“But for now, we need to fight. Everyone knows the drill. Pride- protect the other traits. Lust focus on All Might and Fortitude on me. Let's do this!” Izuku was actually getting kind of pumped.
Soft brown light enveloped the boy as he turned to face All Might.
“Let's go!”
The ground shook as Izuku’s fist made contact with Toshinori’s forearm. The hero hadn't even attempted to dodge, rather just taking the punch head on. He hadn't even flinched.
“Ah! Nice to see that you are trying to hold back a little!” Izuku jumped back before All Might would retaliate.
“Tell you what young Midoriya! I will give you one more free hit before we spar proper!”
Izuku smiled.
Toshinori would regret those words.
“PRIDE! FOCUS ME!”
Toshinori almost laughed. Between the brown of Fortitude and the green electricity that flew off the boy due to One for All, he was starting to look like a disco ball. Adding blue wasn't really helping.
“Prepare All Might!”
Before Toshinori had any chance to respond, it was like the boy disappeared. There were fissures in the ground where he once stood.
The pro hero’s eyes flitted around, desperate to catch a glimpse of the boy. Before he managed to turn around fully, something made contact with his head.
Midoriya had
jumped
, managing to land a surprise hit to Toshinori’s head.
It was like a bomb when off. Dust and chunks of dirt went flying. Izuku’s classmates at the other end of the field stumbled as the ground seemed to rumble beneath them. If not for the dust cloud, they might have assumed it was an earthquake.
The dust cleared, and it began to
look
like a bomb had gone off. There was a crater, easily spanning twenty meters across. In the center was All Might, looking significantly more scuffed than before. There was a small trickle of blood coming from the crown of his head, hair blown downwards with enough force to make his ear-like hair fall flat. It was… shocking to see him like that. He was still smiling.
There was just enough time for Izuku to register that his attack had actually landed before he when flying.
Toshinori’s fit met with Izuku’s gut, making their new viewers from across the field grimace. To the surprise of everyone, the student managed to turn his attack into a roll. The moment he had stopped moving, they were at it for real.
Tsuyu shuddered. She had only seen a fight like this once, and it was when All Might had taken down the nomu.
The two were moving almost too quickly to be seen. If not for the array of light coming from the use of Izuku’s quirk, it would have been impossible to see who was fighting.
It reminded Tsuyu of the fight with the nomu a lot, though there was one significant difference. Both All Might and Midoriya buckled when hit with a punch. The nomu had just kept moving like the monster it was.
Izuku was flagging, and he knew it. Not only that, but All Might was going easy on him. Of course, the hero wouldn't have gone all out against him, but All Might was using significantly less of his power than Izuku expected. In fact, he hadn't even attempted to take out his traits yet, even with Lust’s evident pink light glowing off his skin.
Unfortunately, Izuku was too busy thinking to pay attention to his opponent. All Might landed a punch to his stomach. He didn't call out the name of an attack, obviously expecting the boy to dodge.
The boy did not dodge.
Blood spewed out of Izuku’s mouth as he was properly launched across the field. He tumbled a few times before coming to a stop.
The field was silent.
The wind had been knocked out of him, but that wasn't the part that was bothering him. As his chest struggled to figure out what had happened, blood spilled out of his mouth in a clear stream.
Large hands grabbed his head and he was moving.
Breath rushed back to Izuku’s lungs with one large gasp, followed by wet, hacking coughs.
It was only then that he realized where he was.
All Might was cradling him as one would carry a princess. He was in the nurse’s office, again.
Aoyama sat in the corner with wide eyes, hands still on his stomach.
When the coughing subsided, he was met with the worried eyes of Recovery Girl. All Might was nowhere to be seen.
“I'm going to kill him.” her voice was flat. A promise. She handed him a box of tissues.
“Uhg. Please don't.” Izuku spat some blood into a tissue before he began to clean himself up.
“It's my fault that I'm still bleeding. I really shouldn't have left this…”
Recovery girl laughed.
“Well, I can agree with that. I would like to do a checkup before I send you back out there.”
“You know that nothing has changed though right?”
She glared at him and Izuku instantly surrendered.
Doctors orders and all that.
Unfortunately, by the time that Izuku was done in the nurse’s office it was time for lunch. Due to the very awkward fact that none of the traits (except Greed) could communicate mentally while summoned, he just kinda awkwardly thought that the summoned traits should assist with class until he returned. Izuku hoped that would be okay.
“DEKU!” Uraraka launched to her feet the moment Izuku walked into the cafeteria. She was sitting at a table with Lust and Iida. Fortitude was off at Kirishima’s table where Bakugou was trying his best to pretend the trait didn't exist. Pride was sitting with class 1-B? Izuku hoped he wasn't making trouble.
As Izuku made his way over to the table Uraraka began to chatter excitedly.
“Your fight with All Might was amazing! You were all like
WAH
” She made a punching gesture “And he was all like HRRUG” she faked being in pain.
“I must agree! You spar with All Might was quite the spectacle! You truly show us how far we have to go in terms of pure power! You do to lack the control and combative awareness of All Might, but you are easily one of the strongest in class!” Iida seemed excited too, in his own choppy way.
Ha. Choppy.
“I uh... “ Damn his awkwardness! “It wasn't that amazing really! All Might was going easy on me-”
“Well, of course, he would go easy on you! Not only is he the number one hero, but you are his student! He would never do any intentional harm to you!”
Uraraka nodded along energetically.
“Yea! You’re obviously not as strong as the Number One hero, but you were still amazing! Why did the fight end early though?”
“What”
“Ya know! You were fighting and everything but then he just suddenly stopped and disappeared! When he came back you were gone! What happened?!”
Suddenly, the awkwardness in Izuku’s mind cleared as he spoke.
“Oh. All Might hit me in the gut and I coughed up blood.”
The reaction was instant.
“WHAT?!” Uraraka all but screeched. Iida looked upset, but significantly less so.
Izuku looked at Uraraka, then Iida.
“I thought you told everyone?” Iida straightened in his chair.
“In all fairness, I didn't have time to make the announcement. We started heavy duty training as soon as class started. I did, however, inform the teachers.”
Uraraka whipped around, staring at Iida with wide, betrayed eyes.
“WHAT?!”
Izuku sighed and sat next to Lust, gesturing for Uraraka to sit next to Iida. Lust grumbled something, but Izuku ignored it. When she sat, Izuku spoke.
“A while ago I got hurt. It's nothing that can be fixed, but it's not harmful. Every once in a while I will cough or spit up some blood. It's not really that big of a deal, and I plan on… dealing with it in the near future.”
Uraraka looked like she had been slapped. Lust passed Izuku a tray of food.
“
I bought you food while you were in the nurse’s office. We need strength. Eat.
”
Okay, What?!
That was weird. That was really weird. That was really really weird. This was Lust, and he was… not lustful? Something was wrong and every bone in Izuku’s body itched to figure out what.
But more important than that was the bowl of katsudon placed right under his nose.
Izuku took a hesitant bite.
It was
Amazing
.
And just like that Lunch was over and the class reassembled on the field.
Most instantly went back to their groups, warming up to spar. Izuku walked up to All Might.
“H-Hey Tos- All Might” Izuku swallowed heavily. All his anxiety and awkwardness had weaseled its way back into him. The hero dutifully looked at him, smile on his face. His eyes betrayed the guilt he was feeling.
“Can we spar again?”
Toshinori snapped to attention as if hit with a cold bucket of water.
“Y-young Midoriya… I'm not sure if I am comfortable with-”
“You won't hurt me again. I trust you. And I can't go all out against anyone else.
All Might wanted to protest, but Izuku had a point. Even if he had argued, he would have lost.
There was never a choice in the end.
“Okay, young Midoriya”
It was true, All Might was the only person who would be able to handle One for All at 100%, allowing him to train properly. It was also true that All Might was the number 1 hero in all of Japan.
Toshinori kicked young Izuku’s ass, and the boy couldn't be happier.
Sore all over, Izuku flopped into bed.
Toshinori had trained with him. Fragment was still functional and One for All still as strong as ever. All he needed to do would be to retrain his body, then get Fragment back to 100%.
Izuku fell asleep, forgetting what Fortitude had said.
*
Thursday, officially over the halfway point of U.A’s self-proclaimed ‘hell week’. In all honesty, it wasn't nearly as bad as Izuku had expected. Part of that, Izuku assumed, was because Aizawa only had one day to torture his students.
Unfortunately, that changed as none other than the erasure hero walked into the classroom and ordered the students outside.
He pushed them. Hard.
It was beyond what most of them had done before.
Maybe it was the last three days or the brutal training with Aizawa, but by lunch the class was dead.
Izuku was covered in bruises from his sparring with All Might, and the exhaustion was only exacerbated by the brutal training that day.
After lunch, they went right back to Aizawa and right back to training.
He then surprised them all by assigning them to spar, without quirks as well. They were set up with their old partners and set to spar under the watchful eye of Aizawa.
The class couldn't end too early.
The last day of ‘hell week’ was really something.
Izuku slid into his seat, battered bruised and exhausted. Around him, students sat anxiously. Some were even asleep.
To the horror of everyone, Aizawa walked into the room. Instantly there was a wide grin on his face.
“Relax. I'm here to make an announcement.”
The class visibly slumped in their seats in relief.
“I see that I really excited everyone with the ‘hell week’ comment” he gave a short pause, smile still on his face.
It dawned over the students, and the class made an exaggerated groan.
“Midnight convinced me that putting some fear into you might encourage better performance. Fortunately, she was correct. While there IS such a thing as ‘hell week’ that was popularized by U.A Alumni, it makes the last five days childs play. Which fits, as you are all children and students.” His voice was flat, but his mood was betrayed by the smile that stuck to his teeth. He looked truly sadistic.
Bakugou physically twitched at the ‘children’ comment, but even he was too tired to properly explode.
“While it is a shame that you will get no more last minute quirk training, I must inform you that today we will be giving a school-wide rest day.”
A half-hearted cheer wavered through the class, almost too exhausted to do more than mutter under their breaths.
“That being said, we are still a school!” Aizawa’s smile
fucking grew
.
“Everyone get out your work material. We will be having a quiz”
*
It was official. Aizawa was and is the devil incarnate. The man strived off the suffering of his students and he was nothing but a sadist in disguise. He made midnight look vanilla the way he enjoyed suffering.
The school day wrapped up, praise whatever power oversaw the world.
As if sensing his relief, Aizawa’s school phone rang. Giving a nod, the sadist turned to Izuku.
“Nezu requested your presence in his office. It's after school hours, do you need to go home?”
Izuku shook his head. Aizawa relayed the information and hung up.
Shooting a text to his mom, Izuku made his way to the principal's office.
With a deep sigh, the boy knocked on the only regular sized door in the building.
“Come in!” Izuku didn't think he would get used to the chimera’s voice any time soon. He entered the room and took a seat on the couch. Nezu was already on the other side, tea prepared.
“I bet you’re wondering why I called you! All Might relayed some information to me!”
Straight to the point then…
“You mean what Fortitude said to me?”
The rodent gave a confirmative hum.
“I am very aware of what Aizawa has put you through for the past week, and wanted to wait until you had somewhat recovered before breaching this subject. Seeing as this is causing issue with your quirk, we can't simply wait until the sports festival, now can we?”
Izuku sighed. He was right, this issue couldn’t be pushed off.
“So, what do you think we should do?”
The rodent sipped from his tea, smile on his face.
“Well, can we talk to him?”
“Do I have permission to use my quirk?”
The rodent nodded, and Izuku got to doing what he does.
He pulled for Fortitude, but just like before it felt like he was… stuck.
“Fortitude…”
The pressure stopped and his quirk began to work. Fortitude was called into existence.
The shimmering form solidified into a clone of Izuku’s form.
“
Hello.
”
Izuku raised an eyebrow. He was… polite?
“Hello! You are the one knows as Fortitude, yes?”
The trait nodded.
“You mentioned something about Izuku’s traits infighting?” Nezu prompted.
Fortitude sighed.
“
The traits… are fighting.
” Fortitude paused. “
Greed was attempting to force Empathy back into action. Or at least, force him out of non-action…
”
Izuku’s stomach dropped.
“
As you know, Empathy is by the strongest of the lot of us. While he is kind, for the most part… Wrath stepped in.
”
This was bad.
“
Empathy… defended himself.
”
Fuck
“
Obviously, Wrath was no match… but Greed stepped in to defend him. With that clash, it seemed all of us were pulled in one way or another. The last thing Greed did was fully shut off Fragment from Izuku’s mind before the fighting got worse.
”
Silence fell over the room. Izuku stared at Fortitude with wide eyes, who was adamantly avoiding the boy’s eye contact. Nezu looked… unperturbed.
“Who’s side are you on?” Izuku’s voice was shaky, quiet.
“
I am with Greed, Wrath, Lust, Charity, Selflessness, and Pride. Sloth is not taking part, as he was asleep. We are fighting with everyone else.
”
Those were the traits that gave some semblance of worry for his health. From the overbearing almost mother-like worry of Charity to the off hand concern from Lust. They were fighting the other traits for
him
.
“They want Empathy back in my mind. Taking care of me.”
It wasn't a question, but Fortitude nodded.
With a low growl, Izuku began to focus his quirk.
“Lust” Izuku shut his eyes. Fortitude opened his mouth to say something, but Nezu lifted his hand to silence the trait.
“Wrath. Pride. Selflessness. Charity.”
Izuku swallowed.
“Greed.”
Before they knew it, the six traits had joined the small group in Nezu’s office.
Izuku stood up before his traits, all looking some array of haggard.
“Now. tell me.
What
exactly do you think you all are
doing
.” Gone was Izuku’s awkward stammer, replaced with a wave of anger. It
burned
and had nothing to do with Wrath.
Nezu stood up and moved over to where Izuku stood. Fortitude took his place with the other traits.
No one spoke, so Izuku continued.
“Look. I get it… kinda. My fight with Empathy hurt all of you as well as me, and you all were thinking you could force us to talk it out. Maybe just get him to fix the broken me that he left behind. Nezu was thinking the same thing.” The chimera actually looked a little surprised, but it quickly turned into a large grin.
“He needs time. I need time. So tell me Greed” Izuku’s eyes
burned
through Greed as the trait awkwardly shuffled where he stood.
“Why did you think forcing him to do
anything
would be a good idea?” Izuku wasn't raising his voice, and that somehow made it worse. Fury was laced through his very being, as if his soul was burning. His mind was fuzzy not only with the exhaustion of the last week but the pain of summoning
seven traits at once
.
If not for how fucking
pissed
he was, Izuku probably would have passed out from exhaustion.
“Well?!” his voice raised slightly and a few traits flinched.
Nezu placed his paw on Izuku’s arm in a comforting gesture. The boy barely noticed.
It took the edge off.
“I… was hoping he would assist you through the Sports Festival…” Greed sounded meek… almost scared.
Izuku’s rage flagged almost instantly. The moment he began to calm down, a pounding headache overtook him.
Izuku slumped into the couch, holding his head.
“f-Fortitude-” he almost whimpered. Instantly a slight brown aura enshrouded him. With interested eyes, Nezu noticed a slight blue tinge wreathing its way around the green haired boy. As if to accent the colors, Green bolts of lightning began to pulse off the boy in uneven sparks.
“Midoriya? What are you doing?”
Greed spoke for him.
“Summoning traits causes an extreme draw in stamina. Normally, he can manage around 5-7 in a day. He was already exhausted and then summoned 7 of us at
once
. I'm shocked he is still awake.”
Ah. He is drawing on his quirk for energy. That along with
One for All
should be enough to keep him going. As principal, I probably should stop him…
Nezu smiled slightly.
I want to see how this plays out. This is necessary for his mental state along with his performance at the Sports Festival. Stopping him now would be a disservice
.
Izuku staggered to his feet, and Charity rushed forward to steady him. Izuku held out his hand to stop him.
“You. are all. Idiots” The words came out in short, broken bursts.
“We need time. Give us time and I will talk to Empathy myself. Give him room.” his voice became more steady as his back straightened. The lightning now a constant stream coming off of him. Looks like his body was waking up. Fascinatingly, everywhere the electricity made contact with a surface, nothing was left behind. The energy looked purely visual, rather than an actual lightning bolt.
Fascinating.
“This is a direct order. All of you
must
leave Empathy alone. If he approaches you, you may talk to him or do as you will.
None
of you may approach or in any way instigate interaction with him. I will talk to him when we are damn ready.”
The green lightning thinned slightly as Izuku continued.
“I appreciate it… but it was the wrong move. I need you
all
for the sports festival. Greed, I expect an update if
anyone
is misbehaving in here” Izuku knocked on his temple.
“Don't make me order you. I will see you all tomorrow. Greed, I am going to need your help. Please come when I call.”
Without the traits speaking a word, their bodies began to melt. It was kind of… grotesque, but more interesting than anything. Their now liquid forms seemed to disappear as it dropped to the floor. In a matter of seconds, the squad of traits was gone and Izuku turned to Nezu.
“I'm sorry about that…” the lightning abruptly cut off as he flopped onto the coach.
“Not at all! That was a good move on your part, and exactly what you needed to do. You were a bit… abrupt but it seemed to do well.” Nezu retook his seat behind his now-cold tea.
“You seemed to gain some energy when you banished your traits?”
Izuku nodded.
“I get roughly one-tenth of the energy back when I banish a trait. It's not much, but I think its the amount of energy it took to uphold the body’s form.” his stammer was still gone, but so was the anger from before. Now he just looked… upset.
Nezu sipped his cold tea.
“Could you explain a couple of things about your trait for me?”
Izuku nodded, taking a sip of his also-cold tea.
“You seem very tired. I will make this quick” The rodent sat forward.
“What did you mean by order? And why did you have to say their names before summoning them?”
He had never done that on recording before.
Izuku nodded.
“My quirk is… strange. As you may know, Traits call me ‘alpha’. Basically, I can summon them and any ‘order’ I give them, they don't have a choice but to obey. For the most part I try to avoid it. They are sentient, and it feels strange to bend them to my will like that…”
Izuku looked down, ashamed.
“As for their names… I don't really know either. It worked before so I did it again.” He paused, trying to go into more detail.
“Sometimes summoning them is hard. Say they don't want to be summoned, or in this case, were preoccupied with fighting one another. Saying their name forced them out of my mind.” The boy paused, hand going to his chin.
“Wait… Saying their name is kinda like giving an order for them to allow themselves to be summoned… I never thought about it like that…”
A million questions sprung through Nezu’s mind at that moment, but one look at the teenager across from him shut down any and all intention of asking them.
The boy looked dead on his feet.
Nezu sighed.
“I… would love to ask more questions. Truly yours is a complex quirk, and in knowing it better you may use it better. But… for the time being, I believe I must let you go. The sports festival is tomorrow, and you have a speech to give.”
Izuku’s eyes widened comically.
Nezu chuckled.
“I believe I need to release you. I hope you have a nice day Midoriya. I look forward to your performance!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Hey… - Izuku Midoriya
Toshinori’s phone buzzed, drawing his attention away from his paperwork. Swiping his phone, Toshinori smiled as he saw a message from Izuku.
Hello young Midoriya! - All Manlet
Are you busy? - Izuku Midoriya
Toshinori looked down at his desk, pounds of paperwork weighing his soul down. With a sigh, he texted back.
I always have time for you Midoriya - All Manlet
His phone fell silent, little dots wavering, signifying that Izuku was, in fact, typing. After a few minutes, Toshinori returned to his work.
Bzz
I… Need help with my speech. - Izuku Midoriya
Would you like to meet in person? - All Manlet
More dots.
Yes please… -Izuku Midoriya
I'm on U.A campus! I’ll let them know you're coming - All Manlet
U.A was much different without students. It was eery. Silent.
Izuku quickly moved to the room that Toshinori had said to meet him at. It was a meeting room with two couches and a low table. Toshinori was already there, sitting at one of the couches in his true form. When Izuku stepped in, Toshinori stood up, looking grim.
“Ah. Hello Midoriya.”
Oh boy. Something is wrong.
“Hi Toshi…”
Izuku sat at the couch across from the hero.
“I'm glad you reached out to me young Midoriya. I was hoping to get the chance to speak to you before the sports festival began.”
Izuku nodded as Toshinori continued.
“As you are well aware, the sports festival is a
big
event. Pro heroes from all over the country will be watching in order to scout for future sidekicks. More importantly, it is your first true debut to the world.” Toshinori seemed to really be getting into it, clenching his fist as he spoke.
“This is your opportunity to tell the world that You are here! Your chance to show the world what you got!”
Izuku felt himself get excited, even now All Might still had that effect on him.
“I can't be a hero forever.”
The mood dropped.
“This is your chance to show the world that they will be safe in your hands. In all of your hands” The man stood, walking over to the window. Whether it was just for dramatic flair or not was up for debate.
“I want you to tell the world that you are here. You, my successor.”
The hero turned around. He may have been making a ‘serious’ face, but it was hard to tell. His true form almost always looked serious in its own skeletal way.
Something stirred in Izuku. The hero was right.
This was his chance to show what he was worth. It was his chance to prove that he could be trusted.
His chance to prove Bakugou wrong
.
“I’ll do my best!” Izuku clenched his fist and Toshinori smiled wide.
“Let's write that speech!”
*
The weekend passed in a flash, most students taking upon themselves to continue their training.
Izuku took this as a chance to fully rest.
Ever since waking up, his body had been struggling to catch up. At this point, a few last minute training sessions were not going to do him any good.
His speech was written and approved for the festival.
The time for reflection was good for him. His quirks were quiet for once, behaved.
It was the first time in a long time Izuku could really just
enjoy
the silence, unadulterated, silence. Greed and Empathy were not poking around in his head, and he
enjoyed
it. It was… calming to be alone for the first time in years.
But all good times come to an end.
“Izuku you’re going to be late!”
The boy in question rushed down his stairs, bag in hand. His tie was messy and unkempt, but it didn't matter. He would be changing into his athletic uniform at school.
“I promise I’ll record it! Make sure to stay safe!” His mother sounded borderline panicked. Izuku smiled, in spite of his anxiety.
“I’ll do my best!”
Inko gave him a watery smile and nodded. Izuku opened the door and went to school.
“I know you will…”
Class 1-A sat in a room. A wide, quiet room with 8 tables set lengthwise down the center. Each table was holding a few students, with a few others standing. The only student not in the room was Iida, who was currently searching for information about when the festival was starting.
Even through the concrete walls, the roaring of the crowd could be heard echoing down the hallways. Class 1-A was on edge, most fidgeting with anxiety. Those like Kirishima were stood near the wall, pacing or talking to try to take the edge off.
Izuku sat at the table furthest from the door, patiently waiting.
The door burst open and Iida came through.
“We leave in five minutes!” his voice echoes through the silent room.
All at once, class 1-A began to stir. Izuku stood up from his table and walked to the door, only to be stopped by Todoroki, of all people.
“UH… Hey?”
Todoroki looked uncomfortable.
“Look” the bi-colored boy’s voice was flat. “In terms of pure strength, You may be stronger than me.” he looked down as if conflicted.
“But your quirk is useless if it puts you in a coma” Todoroki sounded like he was barely holding back a snarl.
“I will win.” his voice was still flat, but there was something different behind his eyes. He almost looked pained.
Pride snarled in Izuku’s mind.
Izuku ignored him. Todoroki was staring him down, obviously expecting a reply. The room held its breath.
“No.” Izuku’s voice took on an equally cold disposition. Todoroki startled, obviously not expecting such a curt response.
“We are all doing our best today.”
Izuku took a step forward, directly into Todoroki space. Wrath began to push at the corners of Izuku’s mind.
“I will be coming at you and everyone else with my all. This is supposed to be a festival, but it is also our chance to tell the world that we are here, that they should trust us to be
their
heroes. I refuse to let
anyone's
victory to be pre-decided.” Izuku’s eyes were hard, a light red wreathed his frame.
“I look forward to seeing you on the field”
The room was mostly silent, save for a low snarl coming from Bakugou.
As suddenly as he had approached, Todoroki turned on his heel and left.
The moment Todoroki walked away, Izuku’s mood significantly increased. Kirishima came forward and started talking but Izuku didn't pay much attention. He just shot the redhead a warm smile and followed Todoroki.
Exiting the room led to a tunnel, which lead to a grass field. The field was massive, a circular arena with a large central platform. Present Mic called out class 1-A, but could barely be heard over the roar of the audience.
Emerging from a different tunnel was Class 1-B. Present Mic gave a short description that again, couldn't be heard from the field. They really needed to turn the speakers up.
Izuku almost laughed at the thought. Present Mic not being loud enough.
After that Present Mic stopped calling out individual classes in favor of calling the departments. First General Education, followed by Supports and rounded up by Business.
All in all, the first years numbered around 200 students, all gathered on the field for the world to see. The bottom ring of the stadium was reserved for Media, cameramen and women flocked, desperately trying to get the perfect shot of the students of U.A.
Present Mic then introduced the umpire of the entire event.
On a platform in the center of the ring was none other than Midnight herself.
“Before we begin, we must allow for the player pledge!” The crowd quieted slightly as she spoke.
“Representing the student body of U.A’s first year is the student who placed first in the opening exams. Class 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya!”
Izuku took a deep breath as the crowd once again cheered. It was a touch overwhelming, having all that attention on him at once. Class 1-A all turned to him, some with large smiles on their face. The rest of the first years gave off a less than positive attitude. Even as his body began to shake from the anxiety, something within him solidified. There was a slight pressure in his mind feeling like Greed. Izuku gave the trait a reassuring thought and Greed sunk back into his mind.
Well, when in Rome.
Uraraka put a supportive hand on his shoulder, and Izuku gave her a smile. With a shuddering breath, Izuku began to make his way to the stage.
A million eyes followed him as he trudged up the steps.
Midnight guided him to the microphone on stage, and the crowd quieted down.
Izuku cleared his throat.
“The U.A sports festival is more than just a competition.” his voice was a little more forceful than he intended, but he rolled with it. The crowd fell silent. Izuku’s anxiety tapered off slightly.
“For the student of U.A, this is our chance to show you that your future is protected! After all, we are all here to become heroes for
you
!” A warmth spread through Izuku as he continued to speak. His anxiety began to fade away in its entirety and he found himself going off script.
“Today, we will show our dedication! Today, we are not competing with each other; we are competing to be
our
best!”
“I pledge that the heroes of tomorrow will be the best of today!”
A thought passed through Izuku’s mind, low and quiet. Izuku smiled.
“Plus Ultra!”
*
Though the pledge was rather stunted and awkward, Midnight was altogether satisfied with its effect on the audience. It seemed the boy didn't need to be
articulate
to rile up the already excitable crowd. Looking out at the students, his speech seemed to have some sort of rallying effect on the hero classes. The others… not so much.
I guess it's time to get this started
.
Midnight cracked her whip, gathering at least some attention as Izuku sunk back into the crowd.
“It is time for the Sports Festival to begin!”
From the mass of students, it was slightly harder to see Midnight. Izuku hoped it would also make him harder to spot.
“The first event of the day is!”
A giant screen showed a spinning wheel, choosing the event at seemingly random. Of course, it was all predetermined, but it kept the illusion up for the audience.
“Obstacle course!” Present Mic all but screeched into his microphone. His voice resounded through the sound of the roaring crowd.
Izuku almost snorted. It seemed like someone had turned up the speakers. Midnight began to explain the event.
“Around the stadium is a 5-kilometer track! The first to make it through to the finish line wins!” the audience roared in approval.
“We are starting… Now!”
To Izuku’s shock, The entrance tunnels began to shift, turning into one massive exit. A timer of 5 seconds was placed on the screen.
With shocking speed, the first years of U.A were in running positions.
With a loud buzzer, the obstacle course began.
The tunnel was made too small, that much was obvious. The students packed into the tube with less than grace, pushing and shoving each other. It looked like they were trying to trample each other.
Izuku hung back, a plan already forming in his mind.
Suddenly, ice sprouted from the ground, freezing most of the students in place. Of course, the front of 1-A already expected something like that from Todoroki and had managed to dodge.
I really hope I don't get disqualified for this…
Izuku brought out the form of Fortitude as he watched the classes struggle their ways free from Todoroki’s trap.
As soon as the trait was summoned he enshrouded Izuku with brown light. Izuku smiled.
Pushing as much of One for All into his legs as he could, Izuku launched himself into the air and leaped
over the stadium
.
Sooner than he would like, the ground rushed back to meet him. With a fantastic crash, he hit the ground. There was an impact crater. All Might made it look so easy…
Fortitude’s quirk was violently ripped from Izuku’s body as the trait was recombined back into Fragment.
Ahead of him, Izuku could see Todoroki skating along with his ice, closely followed by Bakugou. Banishing Fortitude, Izuku began running.
Aizawa had to cancel Present Mic’s quirk as the man screamed into his microphone.
“Izuku Midoriya just jumped OVER the stadium walls! Is that even allowed?!” He still screamed, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his quirk was negated.
Down on the field, Midnight snapped her whip.
“I’ll allow it!”
The crowd roared.
Izuku certainly got eyes on him. It was just time to see if he could keep the attention.
There were a surprisingly low amount of students with movement based quirks in the first year. Between where Izuku had landed and where he was stopped, he had only been passed by 5 or 6 students. Iida and mina were the only ones to overtake him from his class.
Then came the first obstacle.
Present Mic screamed something over the speakers, but something in Izuku’s mind blocked it out. Izuku could faintly feel something buzzing in his mind, but for now, he was more
grateful
rather than annoyed. It was keeping him focused.
As Present Mic spoke, the ground in front of them split open revealing glistening metal. The Zero Point robots from the entrance exam made themselves known as they raised to their full height.
Izuku stomach dropped as he began to resummon Fortitude.
He was gonna be
tired
after this.
Nothing Sloth and Gluttony can't fix…
As Fortitude was taking shape, Todoroki made his move. In the blink of an eye, a mountain of ice tore through the robots.
Bakugou screamed something unintelligible and began to fly his way over the robots.
Fortitude came into the world as the ice shattered, releasing the robots on the small crowd of students that had formed over the last minute.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku felt Fortitude use his quirk.
To be honest, he could probably just jump over the robots as he had the stadium… but he was right earlier. Today wasn't only about winning, it was about showing the world that he
could
win.
Releasing his breath slowly, Izuku ran. With a low jump, he was level with the forward-most robot’s knee joint. Cocking back his arm, he released a massive explosion of energy. The knee was shredded as Izuku was launched backward.
Working with his recoil, Izuku righted himself horizontally, hitting the next robot feet first. Filling himself with the power of All for One, he pushed off from the robot. As expected, the metal shattered under his feet. Launching himself forward, Izuku narrowed in on his nearest robot.
The boy acted as if he was in a pinball cabinet, leaping from one robot to another, shattering both in the process. He wasn't even touching the ground.
He continued, tearing through the metal like a wild animal. In the space of a few minutes, all that was left was scrap metal. A few robots were still functional on the fringes of his wake, but they were a non-issue. With a sigh, Fortitude was banished and Izuku continued.
Back in the announcer’s booth, Aizawa was starting to get annoyed with Izuku. Every time the boy went and did something stupid, Mic would react like he just saw someone come back to life. Aizawa’s eyes were getting irritated from the repeated use of his quirk. At least he still had his eardrums.
Unfortunately, Mic then asked Aizawa’s opinion on Midoriya. With a sigh, he closed in on the mic.
“In terms of pure strength, Midoriya’s augmentation quirk may be the strongest of the year. Unfortunately, what he has in strength he lacks in form. In the case of Midoriya, that clone he creates is one that ensures he cannot break his body from repeated use of his quirk. At this point, he is little more than a glass cannon.”
“That's harsh Eraser! Moving on to the current first place-”
Aizawa’s words washed over Izuku. Of course, the moment his homeroom teacher had begun to speak was in between obstacles, when Izuku could fully hear and comprehend the insult.
Glass cannon…
Is that what I really am?
He came to a sudden stop as the next obstacle became apparent.
In front of him was a large pit, a chasm really. The race continued on the other end. The only way across were towers of stone with thin line spanning across them.
Of course, that is if you weren't Izuku.
“Todoroki has made it to the halfway point, followed closely by Bakugou! Midoriya had just snagged the third place spot when he suddenly stopped! What is he doing?!”
Aizawa sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. Of course, it fell on him to explain the obvious.
“The clones of Midoriya’s quirk don't have infinite range. They need to be kept a certain distance from him to work. Right now he is recreating the clone from earlier. I expect he is about to-”
As Aizawa spoke Izuku jumped, clearing the chasm with one leap. As he landed, the clone began to dissipate.
“-jump”
All in all, Izuku was happy with how the race was going thus far. He was able to keep a high ranking as well as being able to show off a little. The only downside was how exhausted he was getting.
Even with banishing Fortitude every time he summoned him to regain some stamina, it was really beginning to rag on him. At this rate, he maybe had three more summons before he was toast.
Hopefully, the race would be over before then.
As if from prayer, the last obstacle quickly came into view. At the other side was a tunnel leading back into the stadium.
Wait….
A MINEFIELD?!
Sprawled out in front of Izuku was a wide, empty field. There was obviously displaced dirt, showing where mines were placed.
While he trusted his school not to kill him with landmines, he didn't trust his school to not
injure
him with land mines.
Izuku began to make his way across the field, slowly but without injury. He gave himself time to think.
As he began to pick his way across, Todoroki and Bakugou finally made it to the field. With annoyed looks, they both began to pick their ways across.
“We are at a standoff ladies and gentlemen! If anyone of these students breaks and runs, they will be out of the running! Even if they can make it through the landmines, they would just be leaving a trail for the others behind them!”
Izuku was nearly a third of the way across when the next students made their way to the minefield. It was a massive group of about thirty by the looks of it. Almost immediately, Tsu began to leap her way across at an alarming rate.
Todoroki and Bakugou were gaining on him, slowly but steadily.
Izuku needed a plan. One that hopefully didn't involve Fragment.
…
He had nothing.
One for All was almost useless in this situation without Fortitude or Pride to keep him from bodily harm.
Well, he could use One for All without them, but he would rather keep his bones intact for the time being.
So Izuku kept picking his path slowly across the field.
“The race is at a deadlock! No one student wanting to accidentally give the other an advantage! Though in this time I would be wondering why Midoriya isn't using his super jump?! Or why Bakugou isn't simply flying his way across as he did in the first two obstacles?! Eraser?”
Aizawa leaned into the mic, content to be asked a question that had a good answer. He may not be one for public speaking, but he could analyze his students if nothing else.
“Midoriya’s plight is simple. Summoning clones is very energy intensive. It is possible that he simply does not want to exhaust himself. There is also the fact that it takes time to summon the clone to allow him to augment himself, giving the others time to finish the race. As for Bakugou, he is more than aware of Todoroki’s quirk, The moment he begins to fly his way over the field, Todoroki will ice the path in front of him and begin to run. For all the power that Bakugou’s holds, his flight isn't as fast as Todoroki. If Todoroki begins to use his quirk, he is open to attacks from Bakugou. He also can't freeze Bakugou in place as easily due to his ability to take flight. It's a true stalemate.”
“You heard it here folks! How will this crazy turn of events end?!”
Mines were going off behind Izuku at an alarming rate as students repeatedly ran into the field. He wasn't ashamed to let it be known that he smiled when Mineta ran straight onto a mine after being knocked off of Momo’s back. He deserved it, the little rat. The boy wasn't killed, rather flew backward in a massive pink explosion. Apparently, the mines were non-lethal.
By mental estimates, Izuku was
maybe
65% done with the minefield. They
really
made the thing massive. It was nearly a kilometer unto itself.
Where they had gotten this many explosives, Izuku didn't want to know.
He knew the moment he began to summon anything that Bakugou and Todoroki would let their quirks rip. Right now, it was just a stalemate as to who would break the relative peace. Even as Bakugou and Todoroki near each other, neither actively sought to attack the other. The moment a quirk was used, all hell would break loose.
Hey. Alpha!
A voice rang out in Izuku’s mind. Pride.
I have an idea!
Katsuki’s eyes grew wide as Izuku stopped walking, the back of the boy’s shirt moving as he summoned.
What is that little bastard doing?!
Almost instantly, an explosion ripped from the boy’s palms as he launched himself into the air. Aizawa was right, even flying he wasn't as fast as Todoroki. But Todoroki would leave behind ice covering the mines, and
nothing
was faster than Bakugou on the ground. Katsuki was
sure
of it.
With a rather large explosion, Katsuki launched himself forward.
Pride grinned behind Izuku as a blue light engulfed the boy. Then, the blue light stretched out behind them, reaching to Todoroki and Bakugou.
Izuku was kind of ashamed that he was ignorant to just
how
smart Pride could be.
Pride’s quirk wrapped itself around Bakugou’s left arm. As the explosive boy let out another blast to boost himself forward he was put off balance as his left arm was suddenly
much
stronger than his right.
He was gonna be mad about that.
Katsuki careened almost instantly to the ground. He all but face planted into the mines.
Izuku smiled as Todoroki passed him.
That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen
Todoroki was a bigger issue, in his wake was a path of ice. He was basically running straight
over
the ice, for all intents and purposes.
If Pride overclocked his quirk, The ice would get… bigger?
Not what they wanted.
Izuku wanted to win.
The obvious solution was to use One for All, but that also led to some
big
issues. First and foremost, Pride didn't have an infinite range on his quirk. At the other end of the field, he would more or less be on his own. On top of that, Pride didn't reinforce his body enough to fully stop any damage done by One for All.
But there weren't many other choices. Izuku
was not
going to come in second.
He
literally
just told Todoroki he wouldn't let him win.
Mind made up, Izuku pumped One for All into his legs. For a moment he was worried that the sparking electricity would be enough to set off the mines but was pleasantly surprised when he wasn't launched to the stratosphere.
“It looks like Midoriya is charging another super jump!! Will it be enough to overcome the Todoroki for first place?!” Present Mic was
thoroughly
invested in the race. It had really heated up.
“In other news, Bakugou has finally recovered and has begun to fly his way over the race again! Will Midoriya have to resort to his secret attack again to fend off the flying menace?!”
Aizawa watched with much more interest than he had previously scheduled. While it was just a race, this was a beautiful examination in his student’s problem-solving. Unfortunately, Todoroki, Bakugou, and Midoriya all seemed to want to brute force their way through any obstacle. Not impossible, just not the best plan of action. Todoroki had shown some ingenuity in the begging with icing the field, but had done little since then. He more or less had been just… running. Midoriya’s use of Pride to take Bakugou out of flight was a brilliant move, but he had no good follow up. The boy was forced to resort to brute force to get through the rest of the race.
Bakugou had been… very Bakugou. While him taking flight was creative and a new way to use his quirk, it had been countered rather easily. His balance in the air is a fickle thing, it seems. It also seemed to be his best way to traverse the field, seeing as he was repeating the same actions and hoping for a different outcome.
And that was just the top three of the race.
For the most part, the rest of his class were doing well. No real exciting or new use of quirks. Mina was using her acid to slide again, which was creative but not a
great
use of her quirk. She may be moving slightly faster, but turning is a big issue. Certain students like Aoyama and Kaminari couldn't really use their quirks in fear of their drawback. Speaking of Kaminari, this race was basically his exact worst situation. Momo was creative, as always, using different machines to find her way across. For a moment, Aizawa was almost surprised as Mineta decided that
launching onto Momo’s back was the best course of action
, but had to repress a smile as Momo simply shed her jacket and picked up the pace. The boy hadn’t recovered since.
Maybe he should incorporate more creative problem solving into his early lessons. It did nothing if not show his student’s true colors. Of course, that's what the ‘quirk assessment test’ was for, but it did little to show where he could
improve
his students.
Just a thought for the next year.
Pride wrapped around his legs, Izuku finally launched into the air, leaping his way to the end of the field. More alarming than the no doubt bone fractures in his legs was just how
close
Todoroki was to the end of the minefield. The boy had really been hustling.
With yet
another
crater, Izuku landed just before the exit tunnel, Todoroki hot on his heels.
His legs were
killing
him. Even standing there without Pride’s assistance was
agony
. But that wasn't the issue of the hour.
Izuku had to run the last hundred meters, straight into the finish line. The boy banished pride in preparation.
With a wince, Izuku ran at full speed.
It only took a moment for Izuku to realize what was wrong.
Todoroki was still using his quirk to speed himself up and had passed Izuku.
“MIDORIYA RETAKES FIRST PLACE ONLY TO LOSE IT SECONDS LATER! WITH THE FINISH LINE SO CLOSE, WHO IS GOING TO GET FIRST PLACE?!”
Aizawa leaned forward in his seat.
Izuku reacted… poorly under pressure, that much was for sure. This did not bode well.
Aizawa grabbed a phone, instantly connecting to Recovery Girl’s number.
“Get some robots to the race finish line, I think Midoriya is about to do something stupid.”
Izuku had a stupid idea. On the bright side, he would get first place. On the downside, he could kiss his leg (or legs) goodbye for the time being. Of course, he could heal himself but that doesn't mean it wouldn't
suck
. And he was
really
tired, so there was that.
He really needed to summon Sloth.
Todoroki was nearing the end of the tunnel, literally seeing the light on the other side. The boys were at the finish line. Taking a deep breath, Izuku lowered himself to the ground. If he was going to do this, he might as well make sure he didn't hurt anyone else.
With a deep breath, Izuku pushed One for All into his already fractured right leg.
If he was going to do this, he didn't have to break
both
legs.
With a twitch, the air pressure in the tunnel exploded and Izuku shot out the tunnel like a cannonball.
The instant the ground changed from dirt to grass, he tripped.
“IZUKU MIDORIYA SECURES FIRST PLACE!”
Izuku face planted, but thankfully grass was
much
more forgiving than rock. His leg was mangled, twisted and shattered. He could feel it all the way up into his hip, his leg was
bad
.
The crowd was roaring as Todoroki iced the field right behind him, skidding in at a close second.
He looked at Izuku with a blank face, something with a hint of distaste.
Izuku didn't care.
He was proud.
First place!
The adrenalin was fading, and the pain in his leg growing. Katsuki rounded in for a solid placing in third as Izuku began to use his quirk again.
Before he could fully summon Charity, worker robots made their way to Izuku.
“
Please cease use of your quirk! We are transporting you to Recovery Girl!
” Surprisingly gentle hands dipped under his prone body. Even the slight jostling from that was enough to make Izuku flinch. His leg was shattered, and he was pretty sure his foot was sideways. Izuku tried to not look down.
Recovery Girl would not be happy.
Aizawa watched with annoyed relief as Midoriya was taken off of the field. The boy was an idiot and did an idiotic thing. Of course, Aizawa had called it, leading to as close to a gleeful smile the teacher could manage. Present Mic was in a state of shock and horror at the pain Izuku had caused himself, and the fact that Aizawa had seen his student’s idiocy a mile out.
After Bakugou, the next two students were from class 1-B. If Present Mic hasn't called out their names, Aizawa wouldn't have even recognized them. Finally, Iida made his way to the finish line in sixth place. It was a fitting warmup for his speed-based quirk.
From that point, things got more general. Tokoyami closely followed Iida, then was Sero and Kirishima and so on. Aizawa quickly lost interest.
What did amuse him, however, was that the only student
not
to advance to the second event was Mineta. Whatever it was, call it Cosmic retribution, but it made Aizawa smile. He would have to deal with the boy sooner or later, but for now, the child won't be in the event.
Izuku was sent from Recovery Girl’s office with a smack on the head for his reckless actions. Between Sloth and the hero herself, Izuku was healed before the event even ended. They had just called out place number 37 as he made his way back onto the field.
He was met with some surprised eyes, but all he could focus on was the cold glare of Todoroki. It was strange, he usually at least pretended to be civil. Or just ignored him. It was strange to be the focus of such intense… well, it wasn't hatred. More like an extreme distaste.
Whatever it was it was upsetting.
The race ended rather quickly once the last pack came in. Apparently, someone had somehow negated the minefield, either by triggering all the mines or by blocking them, and the last group had all rushed back to the arena.
As if called by some sort of demon, the center of the stadium rumbled as the last students made their way across the finish line. Shock once again fell over the students as Midnight made her second grand entrance of the day.
“What a great show of sportsmanship and competition! What lovely spirit!” She cracked her whip in turn with her rather strange statement.
“Unfortunately, we can't stop there! Moving on to the second event please!”
Even if it was usual for the events to be fast paced like this, especially the first two, Izuku had underestimated just
how
tired he would be before going into the second event. Luckily, Sloth was napping at his feet, feeding energy directly into his veins.
The screens did another overdramatic roll, pretending that the next event was randomized.
“Team hunt!”
The crowd roared in approval even though they likely didn't know what it meant. Midnight began to explain.
“The top 48 of the last event will pair off in groups of two! Our very own Cementoss will be constructing the Arena: A stadium-wide electrified maze! “ She paused for dramatic effect. It worked. The stadium exploded with cheers.
“Now, how to win!” She snapped her whip again.
“Each passing student will be given a point value in relation to their place in the race! Spot number 48 will be worth 5 points, while spot 47 is worth 10! To win, you must have more points than others! The top 8 teams will pass onto the third Event!”
Izuku’s mind was running wild. Being in first place that would make him the most valuable target. Starting from five points and doubling with every level-
“And, as a reward for getting first place! The person in first place will be worth Ten Million points!”
The crowd exploded in cheers.
Izuku had gone to hell.
“The top 48, make your way to the center of the stadium! Everyone else, we will be holding further events later on, They are completely optional!” the majority of students were looking… annoyed at worst. They hadn't been expecting much. Surprisingly, almost every Hero student had made it to the second event. That just left a handful of Support, Business, and General students.
“You have fifteen minutes to make your teams!”
*
Things were looking
bad
. Because of his point ranking, Izuku was basically the black sheep of the event. Even Iida and Uraraka had turned him away, citing their pairing with each other.
Ten million points made him the clear target. Anyone partnered with him was in for a
hard
time.
Most people were
actively
avoiding him to the point that Izuku actually started to summon some help. Yes, he should have been saving his energy but this was
important
. Sloth was still out and about, helping Izuku stay conscious. Lust and Fortitude were now exploring for any un-partnered person to pair with.
Kirishima is paired with Bakugou
Greed whispered in his mind.
Greed was a fucking blessing. He was able to communicate with other summoned sins and relay information to Izuku.
Lust has found 2 people. 1 already turned him down. Other one incoming.
Izuku whipped around wildly, trying to spot Lust from the crowd. Sloth was still asleep at his feet and Izuku refused to leave him.
Finally, the pink clone of Izuku made himself visible. Fortitude was right behind him, looking somewhat like a bodyguard. Lust had his arm none other than
Shinsou
, the boy who had helped Izuku out of the building when the intruder alarms went off.
Oh thank the stars
.
You can settle for thanking Lust. He was on his way to pair up with Ojiro
.
Izuku smiled wider.
“Lust you literal saint!” the trait in question saluted and released Shinou.
“Shinsou! Hey! We met at the lunchroom when the alarm went off! I mean you probably remember that seeing as you walked me to the nurse and-”
Izuku was just beginning to rant when Lust shut him up. Physically. He put his hand over Izuku’s mouth.
“What he is trying to say is, will you team up with him?” Lust, the ever-present god, asked his question for him.
Shinsou cocked his head to the side, almost looking like a confused puppy. A smile spread on his face.
“I mean, we could partner up. Ten million is a good look.” Shinsou gave a rather uncomfortable grin.
“So, are these clones your quirk?” Shinsou’s voice was lower than Izuku remembered, the smile on his face still wide and almost… dangerous.
“Yea, It-”
Got him
.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“
Get rid of Pink and Brown.”
Before either trait could utter a word, they were gone. It was a strange process to watch, seeing their bodies simply melt into the ground before seemingly evaporating. Shinsou smiled. They hadn't seemed to disappear when he had grabbed control of the other boy but were seemingly easy to get rid of with a simple order. He noted that for later.
The boy opposite of him stood stock still, eyes glazed and unfocused. It always kinda unsettled Shinsou with how… dead people tended to look while under control of his quirk.
Regardless, he had made a good choice.
He originally was going to go after the blond boy with the tail, try to partner with him but he was too late. The tail-boy was partnered with a seemingly floating set of clothing.
Midoriya, however, was also a good choice.
He had seen what the boy had done during the race. Hell, he had to run through a few of the crater he had left behind after jumping with his quirk.
The ten million points was kind of an issue, but it also had its fair share of rewards.
Shinsou wanted to transfer into the (in)famous U.A hero course. That was notably difficult, the only time faculty even properly considered transfer was the Sports Festival. Yes, the ten million put a target on his back… but if he could keep it? For the entirety of his competition?
They would have to transfer him.
Assigned groups were sent to independent tunnels built into the arena as the even began its construction. It was at this time that Midnight began to describe the event in more detail.
“The top 48 of the obstacle course has been delegated to 24 groups of two! Each team will be given a headband displaying the total of their points on it! The objective is to capture as many points as possible before time runs out!”
Even though the speakers in the stadium walls, the crack of midnight’s whip was distinct.
“For an added challenge, The contenders will be placed within an electrified maze - created by none other than our very own Cementoss!”
The audience cheered as the ground began to rumble, no doubt Cementoss getting to work.
“As always, murdering another student is not allowed! Also, to add extra fun, Quirk use allowing for an aerial view of the arena has also been banned!”
Midnight continued to talk as the ground stopped rumbling.
“And as an added bonus! The center of the maze contains a special prize to the first team to reach it!”
The audience roared. Shinsou smiled.
“With 25 minutes on the clock! We begin the second event of the Sports Festival!”
Shinsou burst out into his section of the maze and was met with blank, towering cement walls. He didn't really know what he expected.
Midoriya was following him closely, eyes blank and unseeing.
Fuck.
Apparently, Midnight had failed to mention one
very
important feature.
Hovering in the center of the maze was a massive screen showing a basic layout of the maze. On the screen were glowing red icons, all with associated names and point values. At the bottom of the screen was a timer, counting down from three minutes.
They are giving an idea of where others are. They don't want anyone to be able to hide...
“Follow me.” Shinsou broke out into a jog. This was going to be a long event, and he would need to conserve his energy.
Four minutes and not seeing anyone was an accomplishment by Shinsou’s standards. Unfortunately, it was likely that those near him would be B-lining it for his last known position.
Unfortunately, Shinsou’s good luck ran out in the blink of an eye as none other than the blonde tail-boy appeared in front of him.
The two stared at each other for a moment, both frozen. Then the other boy moved.
“Keep him away from me!” Shinsou ordered while dashing backward, using Izuku as a body shield.
That's when Shinsou’s luck
really
ran out.
Izuku took that to the extreme and punched in Ojiro’s direction at maximum power.
Izuku was back in that black void that, by now, he was sort of familiar with. At least this time he wasn't falling. He was simply stood on an unseen floor in a pitch-black room. Turning in a circle, Izuku saw nothing.
Then, a booming sound reverberated throughout the area.
“
Get rid of Pink and Brown.”
It sounded like Shinsou’s voice...
Suddenly, a light formed behind Izuku. Whirling around, it looked like a large rectangular screen showing what Izuku had seen just a moment ago. His nose was even in the center of the screen, as if looking through his own eyes.
In front of him, Lust and Fortitude shimmered into the ground as they were recalled into his body.
Weird…
Part of Izuku was shocked at how calm he was, being trapped within his mind again. He should be panicking, but for the most part, he was just… tired? Stupid shit like this was happening more and more often and it was getting kinda bothersome.
It seemed as though for the moment, Shinsou was somehow in control of his body.
Cool. This is your problem now
.
Izuku took a seat on the void, staring through his own eyes as Shinsou was seemingly planning out his next action.
Two heads are better than one ya know. You really didn't think this over, did you?
Midnight yabbered into Izuku’s ear, but he ignored her. He was more concerned with his now partner and what he was about to do.
He started out pretty well, being able to avoid enemies for far longer than Izuku had expected him to. Apparently there was some brain behind that outrageous purple hair.
Then he made a mistake.
“Keep him away from me!”
Without his control, Izuku’s body began to pull on the power of One for All. Izuku could only watch in horror as his body cocked back his arm, and let loose his power at 100%.
And just like that, Izuku was on the ground, writhing in agony. Only this time, it was the actual ground and not some bullshit in his mindscape.
Picking himself up rather quickly, Izuku surveyed the damage.
Surprisingly enough, his body had managed to miss the punch to an outrageous degree. He had punched up and to the left of Ojiro. The boy in question had been crushed into the wall behind him, but was far better off than he could have been. The boy
could
have been a stain on the wall and Izuku thanked every luck star in existence that he had
not
done that.
Shinsou was on the ground as well, knocked on his ass.
Now the two main issues: Izuku’s arm was
thoroughly
broken, and he had just set off a signal flare.
Large explosions sounded off, far too close for Izuku’s comfort.
In an instant, Izuku reached out with his good arm and grabbed Shinsou. Then they
ran
.
The purple-haired boy stumbled heavily but was being more or less pulled along by Izuku. Another explosion sounded from behind them, but Izuku didn't falter.
He took wild turns, never fully paying attention to where he was going until he hit a dead end. Thankfully, the explosions sounded significantly further away than before.
When he finally stopped, Izuku threw Shinsou to the ground and began to summon Charity.
“Where in your mind was that a good idea?! Charity is gonna kick my ass, and on top of that, you decided to do a
group
exercise
alone
. Why would you do that? Why did you think that was a good idea?!” Izuku ranted as Charity tore into existence. The trait scowled, but didn't interrupt the ranting boy. Shinsou watched with wide eyes.
Within seconds, his shattered arm was back to normal and the trait was banished. Shinsou was at a loss for words.
“Now, here
I
am in the middle of this situation with no plan and
You
!”
“W-what the fuck happened?” Shinsou stammered out.
Izuku frowned, but didn't reply.
It was fair enough, Shinsou had betrayed him just moments ago. Izuku ignored his question.
“We need a plan and I need you to
not
do that again. We need to work together.”
Shinsou… was confused. Midoriya was pissed, that much was clear, but he didn't seem pissed for the right reasons.
“I… won't do that again?” Shinsou posed it more as a question, but Izuku took it as confirmation.
“That was me using part of my quirk to its fullest extent. My body can't handle the full power and it breaks my bones. The other part is the clones. They each have their own power and are varyingly powerful. You obviously have some kind of mind control, triggered by vocal response.”
Shinsou nodded, surprised fading as he noticed that Izuku was still taking this seriously.
“That's just about right…” Shinsou didn't really know where he was going with this.
“I heard most of what happened while I was out, and I think I have an idea.”
Izukue began to summon specific traits as he explained.
“Defence is good, but we are not going to be able to hold out for the entire time. Eventually, we will most likely lose the ten million band. We need to take down a few of the easier groups while we can, just for insurance.. I can send a couple of my traits to go and harass others without risking our headband.”
Sloth and Pride had been summoned, Sloth slithered his way up to the wall, though didn't lean against it. He quickly fell asleep.
“We need to keep moving and try to avoid attention if we want to keep our headband. Pride!”
The trait snapped to attention.
“I want you to go and bother other people. If you can, get their headbands and return them to us.”
Pride gave a wide smile and a sarcastic salute, before turning on his heel and running off into the maze.
“Now here’s my plan.”
Izuku didn't have enough time to explain how
idiotic
it would have been to go through this event alone, but he did have time to explain where he intended to take them. Shinsou still seemed to be in mild shock, and barely responded as Izuku spoke.
“T-that… Might just work…” The purple-haired child took a step back, trying to capture a glimpse of the screen that displayed positions.
“If we are going to make it work, we should do it now. The next update is in a minute and a half.” Shinsou’s voice had finally returned to something resembling normal as he fully took in the insanity of Izuku’s plan. Izuku nodded.
“If this is going to work, we need to work together as a
team.
” Izuku stuck out his hand to Shinsou.
Again, just as quickly as Shinsou had been able to pull himself back together Izuku managed to throw him right off balance again. Was he offering to forgive? Or forget for the moment?
Did it even matter?
They had just under a minute to get out of there, and at the very least Izuku was offering a temporary alliance.
Shinsou shook his hand.
The first thing Izuku did was go back to where Ojiro was and took his headband. Luckily, it seemed that his partner was nowhere near. Of course, Hagakure was more… sneaky, so they couldn't be sure.
Izuku almost felt bad for leaving Ojiro there, but the impending fights were more than enough to push any worries about the boy out of mind.
Then, they began toward the center of the arena.
Present Mic screeched over the speakers… and it did not bode well.
“Team Midoriya is in first place, having not been challenged up to this point! Will they be able to keep the Ten Million points to themselves?!”
He is refocusing the game on us…
Izuku began to run through the maze in earnest.
Shinsou
wanted
to be confused, but he had come to a calm sort of acceptance with his situation. Midoriya was confusing, but seemed to have the right idea. They needed to focus on passing this round, not worry about each other. It made sense that the green-haired boy would prioritize winning over fighting his ally. Better to have a villain on your side than be alone.
“We are going to rush the center.”
Izuku’s voice was curt, but not as aggressive as Shinsou was expecting. Shinsou said nothing and kept running. Suddenly, Izuku stopped.
“Are you okay with that?” he sounded a little unsure this time. Shinsou nodded.
Izuku stared at him for a moment, as if trying to solve a rather confusing math problem before turning on his heel and continuing.
Midoriya was confusing.
Maybe it was luck, maybe Izuku had planned it out, but they had gotten nearly halfway to the center of the maze before running into another group.
With one wrong turn, Izuku had run right where he had
not
wanted to go. Right into the arms of another team.
They were just rounding a corner when Izuku felt
something
reach out for his neck.
“Sorry ten Million!”
Fingers grazed his neck as the hand wrapped around the point band.
That's when the screaming started.
Izuku dodged to the side, but was shocked to find that his points were still around his neck. Turning his head, Izuku saw his target. It was a rather plain-looking blonde boy. Maybe from 1-B? That's when Izuku noticed the noise.
The blonde boy was on the ground, hands desperately crushing his ears, as if his eardrums were about to explode. His partner, who had been running with the boy was standing frozen.
“Shinsou!”
Thankfully, the boy seemed to realize what Izuku wanted.
“Hey Blondey!”
The partner snapped to attention, hesitantly responding-
“Wha-”
His eyes glazed over under Shinsou’s control.
“Jesus….” Izuku gasped out, almost unheard by Shinsou over the screaming.
“Can you ask his partner what his quirk is?” Izuku said through gasped breaths. He won't lie, They had scared the hell out of him. Shinsou nodded.
“Hey! What's his quirk?” the boy was stiff, but did as asked.
Thank you Shinsou
.
“Monoma can copy any quirk he touches.” the boy sounded dead. It was almost scary.
“Ah fuck…”
Shinsou turned to Izuku, confused look on his face.
“He touched me when he was trying to get my band” Izuku explained. Shinsou nodded.
Izuku sighed and walked over to where Monoma lay.
“Sorry…”
He struck out with his leg and kicked Monoma in the head. The blonde's head jerked to the side as he slumped. Thankfully, the screaming stopped.
Swooping down, Izuku grabbed the band off the boy’s neck but hesitated for a second at the boy’s throat. He placed a finger to his neck, checking his pulse.
“He… should be fine? He's not dead at least.” Izuku spoke calmly but was honestly a little shook. He hadn't meant to kick him that hard.
Shinsou opened his mouth to say something, but snapped his jaw shut.
Izuku stared at him questioning for a moment before sighing deeply.
Shinsou was trying, but he was bad at acting.
“Look. You did something stupid, but I need your help. Neither of us can afford for you to hesitate. I trust that you won't control me. Don't act like that, please.”
Izuku had put the dots together rather quickly, considering Greed hadn't said anything.
Some kind of mind control. That’s almost worse than Izuku’s situation. The boy’s life couldn't have been easy.
“I need a partner, not a quirk.”
Shinsou was trying to be a good partner by not using the bad part of him. God knows most would consider him evil because of his quirk.
Unfortunately, Izuku was worse. Well, maybe fortunately in Shinsou’s case.
“Why was he screaming?” Shinsou’s voice was low, almost unbelieving. Izuku flinched.
“He copied my quirk…” Izuku took one look at the team that had jumped him, then glanced at the map. It would be updated in less than a minute.
“We need to get moving. We can talk later.” Izuku began to jog away from the pair.
Shinsou followed, but couldn't help wonder
what
kind of quirk could hurt its user that bad. Just who
was
this boy he had partnered with?
*
It hadn't taken long to realize that the ten million band was heading to the center. Unfortunately, Todoroki had been placed on the opposite side of the stadium. They would have to meet in the center.
The trip had been short, but annoying. More than one team from 1-B had tried to fight for points, but all had failed.
It had taken nearly half the time to get to the center when Todoroki finally saw his target.
Izuku Midoriya stood in the center of a large circular clearing, the seeming center of the stadium. At his side was someone Todoroki had never seen before, a tall, lithe boy with a shock of purple hair sprouting from his scalp. Todoroki put him out of mind as he glanced at his partner. Shoji had been his partner in class and was excelled where Todoroki didn't, mainly in his enhanced hearing and unbelievable strength.
Todoroki glanced at his partner and gestured to the team in the center. Shoji nodded, silent as ever. Todoroki appreciated the quiet.
Izuku had two bands around his neck, both having the text displaying how much each band was worth in points pointed away from the world. There would be no way for Todoroki to figure out which was the Ten Million band.
“We need both bands.” Shoji nodded again, silent.
With a steadying breath, Todoroki ran.
Izuku made it to the center of the maze with just under 13 minutes on the clock. It was a large circular clearing that was rather… empty.
No other team had made it yet then…
With hesitant steps, Izuku and Shinsou made their way to the center of the clearing. Midnight
had
promised a ‘prize’ of some sort or another.
Ah. there it was.
The center of the arena was directly under the screen showing the relative position of the competitors. Off of the hovering screen was a thin string with… something hanging off the bottom.
Moving closer, it looked like a letter.
Izuku reached out first, grabbing the letter and tearing the envelope and finding a… letter inside.
Shinsou watched over his shoulder as Izuku unfolded the paper to reveal the message withing.
‘You’re Doing Great!!!’ it said in bold letters. Under the text was a black and white picture of All Might, holding his signature thumbs up.
…
“What.” Izuku’s voice held all the disbelief and disappointment it could. Present Mic was screaming over the speaker, but Izuku ignored him in favor of giving Shinsou a flat, annoyed look.
“I fucking hate this school”
“At least it's signed by All Might?” Shinsou offered, awkwardness abandoned in the moment for a joke.
True to his word, there was an All Might signature at the bottom of the paper. Giving a small nod to Shinsou, Izuku slipped it in his pocket.
Then the world fell dark.
Todoroki swept his right arm forward and a glacier exploded. Izuku and Shinsou were instantly devoured by the tidal wave of ice.
Izuku took a second to look over his situation.
Todoroki was making good on his threat, to some extent. He was out for Izuku, and not only for the ten million points.
Izuku shook his head. He needed a
plan
.
He is partnered with Shoji. Shinsou is not going to be a real help here unless he can fight
. Greed chimed in. Izuku swallowed. This was a bad situation.
Todoroki had frozen both of them next to each other, but they were absolutely covered in ice. There was a small crack in the ice acting as an air intake, doubling as the only source of light. It was as if they had been hit by a avalanche.
“Shinsou, I have an idea… But it won't be fun.”
“I’ll take a-anything over frostbite…” The boy stuttered out, teeth clacking with his shivering.
“How are you at hand-to-hand?”
Izuku took a deep breath, thanking Todoroki for the numbing effect of the ice. This would be painful at
best
and crippling at worse.
He was in to tight a space to summon a trait. Thankfully there was a minute amount of space around his hand.
With a loud crack, green sparks poured out from Izuku’s body, cracking ineffectively against the ice.
With a deep breath, Izuku flexed his finger.
There was a moment of silence after Todoroki let loose an iceberg the size of a stadium, only broken by the ragged breathes from the boy.
It lasted almost a minute.
Then everything exploded.
Izuku fell to the ground in a rather unpleasant lump. Shinsou stuck the landing, however. Shattered ice had been pulverized to a sparkling shower of snow.
The moment Shinsou fell, he started running to the other team.
As Izuku said, he had a plan - just not a pleasant plan.
Todoroki responded with another, smaller wave of ice. More than enough to encompass Shinsou, freezing him on the spot.
But it was too late.
Behind Izuku stood Fortitude. They were smiling.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the boy had disappeared. Startled, Todoroki whipped his head around. What he saw didn't reassure him.
The brown clone was gone, as well as the purple-haired boy. It's like they had just disappeared, if not for the faint crater Izuku had left in the earth where he once stood.
Todoroki barely had enough time to react before a sound tore through him like a bullet.
Shoji….
Twirling on his heal, Todoroki had just enough time to see Midoriya sweep the legs out from under the massive boy.
Without hesitation, Todoroki threw another wave of ice.
“Plan B Shinsou! ETA 30 seconds!” Izuku called out before cocking back his arm. Pulling the energy of All for One into his fist, The ice shattered. Todoroki looked… almost surprised if not for the overwhelming sense of
cold
that came from the boy.
His face was solid but he was… shivering?
Behind him, Izuku could hear Shinsou trying his best to prompt a response from the stoic Shoji, to little effect. This really was a horrible matchup for Shinsou, two of the quietest people Izuku had ever met, in a hand to hand brawl. Hopefully, he could last just a
little
longer.
Izuku opened his mouth to say
something
, but was interrupted by an even
larger
wall of ice.
He’s trying to overwhelm me…
Izuku threw another punch.
The ice shattered.
Thank you, One for All…
His middle finger on his right hand was
killing
him, but Izuku could last… but for how long? Should he try to actually
fight?
Or evade?
It was… troubling, to say the least.
Running into Todoroki had not been part of the plan.
Adapt. Figure it out…
There was now visible ice forming on the skin of Todoroki, and he was clearly hesitating to throw another glacier around. Izuku hesitated just a moment too long as well.
Then it clicked.
The ice wa-
“The ice was a distraction!” Izuku turned to look at Shinsou, who was
very
close to getting grabbed by Shoji. It was obvious the larger boy was trying to not seriously harm Shinsou, but it still looked like the purple-haired boy was holding on by a thread.
“He’s calling other teams to us! The ice was a beacon!”
Shinsou audible swore under his breath but seemed a little too pre-occupied to worry about their issue at the moment.
Izuku’s whole plan had focused on
not
getting the attention of other teams, and here goes Two-Tone, ruining it all. Izuku couldn't help but grit his teeth.
Shinsou continued to dodge, not really fighting back as much as he was avoiding the other boy while throwing insults and the like. It was obviously getting on Shoji’s nerves. And then it got better.
A faint blue glow began to surround the boy as he continued to throw insult after question after insult. He moved to dodge and was noticeably faster.
Izuku smiled.
“Hey! I got you a present!” Pride strolled over to where Izuku stood, a band in hand. It held 135 points on it. Not a lot, but more than enough.
Before the trait could even hand the points over, he was encompassed in ice. Todoroki shot forward and landed a solid punch to the side of the trait’s head, while grabbing the band in his other hand.
Izuku met him to intercept. shocked, he didn't call on the power of One for All. Izuku did the only thing he could think of.
He grabbed the band around Todoroki’s neck. As if acting on instinct, the boy fell backward, avoiding Izuku’s outstretched hand like it was the plague. There was a sort of panic in his eyes.
That wasn't what stopped Izuku.
It was the small licking of flame riding up the arm of Todoroki that caused Izuku to hesitate just long enough.
Before he knew what had happened, Something struck him in the stomach. Todoroki’s fist probably would have been enough to make him vomit. even under the influence of Fortitude, it still knocked the wind out of him.
There was a faint tugging at Izuku’s neck as he began to right himself. Shinsou yelled something, but it was too late. A hand wrapped around his throat, while another grabbed his hair. With a resounding slam, Izuku’s back hit the wall of the maze.
The electrified wall of the maze.
The last thing he felt before he passed out was a hand near his neck.
Shoji had come over and snagged the other bands.
In his one second of surprise, Izuku had lost everything.
In the studio booth, Aizawa smiled. Say what he might about Izuku Midoriya, but that boy was beyond crafty.
After all, how did someone
brainwashed
manage to exploit the rules to such an extent?
Now if only Present Mic would stop screaming into his mic…
When Izuku finally gasped out a breath, it was as if he had awoken in a war zone. Iida and Uraraka skated by, seemingly uninterested with the fallen boy. Shinsou stood at his side, apparently having nabbed a team altogether, being of Kota and Sato. The two stood guard over the boys but didn't engage.
Izuku recalled Pride and Fortitude before attempting to clamber to his feet.
Oooh that was 100% a concussion. Thanks, Shoji, for spiking his green head into the dirt.
“We need to get out of here…” Izuku did
not
sound good.
Shinsou’s eyes shot to the boy, wide with surprise.
“Oh… I thought you were unconscious.”
Izuku stumbled slightly as
something
exploded
much
closer than he had hoped. Bakugou was here.
That woke Izuku up.
“You can let them go if you want or whatever but we need to get out of here
now
. Without making a splash.” Izuku slurred his words, but Shinsou nodded and turned. Apparently, the boy had understood.
Shinsou led the way as he left Kota and Sato behind, but he didn't break his control over the pair yet. Midoriya followed, as sneakily as his head injury would allow.
Within seconds, large walls once again surrounded the boys as they dove into the depths of the maze.
Wait… I'm forgetting something, aren't I…
Midoriya thought. Honestly, this concussion was probably pretty bad if it was impairing him
this
much. Midoriya tried to ignore that.
Note to self, Shoji can pop your head like a grape. Do not mess with him.
Then, It hit him what he was forgetting.
“And in First place-”
Present Mic
“Is team Midoriya, Still holding on to the Ten Million Points!”
Fuck
.
Kirishima ducked left
hard
as Bakugou let loose an explosion larger than any yet.
“DEEEEKUUU”
Kirishima had his work cut out for him. They had enough points to pass, but no doubt Bakugou was going to abandon the center brawl for hunting down Midoriya. That unto itself wouldn't be that bad, but there were only seven minutes left on the clock.
Kirishima hardened himself again as Iida ran forward with as much speed as he could manage.
Finally, Izuku and Shinsou hit where they needed to be.
Sloth lay on the ground, as close to the wall as he dared. With a resounding sigh, Izuku fell to his knees and began to summon Charity. Shinsou walked to Sloth and pulled the ten million band off from his throat.
“You know we can't just wait out the time here right?” Shinsou still sounded somewhat dejected but had his eye on the ball at least.
Izuku barely heard him over the chattering anger of charity but nodded.
“I just need a moment. How long until the next scan?”
Shinsou looked up, “About a minute and a half. One more after that before we win.” Izuku smiled.
He was starting to appreciate the other boy’s occasional bouts of cockiness.
Charity finally stopped running his mouth and began to do what he did best. It was a
lot
stranger than usual, of course, he didn't usually experience brain trauma. Or electrocution.
Charity finished up, and Izuku said a quick ‘thank you’ before recalling the trait.
“Well. I'm out of ideas.” He said as he stood up. Shinsou snorted.
“Probably a good thing. Look at how your last plan went.” he had a small smile on his face.
“Hey! It would have gone great if Todoroki hadn't shown up” That actually elicited a small chuckle from the purple-haired boy before his face suddenly fell.
“I… Need to ask you something.”
Izuku stood up and gave himself a little shake, trying to go back to feeling normal. He did
not
want to touch that wall again.
“What?”
“I…” Shinsou turned to Izuku.
“Why aren't you sc-”
He was cut off by a massive explosion. Izuku eyes widened, turning to the source. It was
very
close.
“Run!”
A head of green hair came into view as Katsuki continued to propel himself forward. He was so close. So fucking close.
Katsuki had left Kirishima in the dust when the red-head tried to stop him. If he wants second place he can have it. Katsuki was going to get first and stomp that little shit’s head in the process.
If only he could reach him.
Deku suddenly ducked right and Katsuki swore. He wasn't allowed to use his quirk to fly over the maze, so he could only follow.
Diving down as close to the ground as Katsuki dared, he suddenly blasted ahead of himself
hard
, totally countering his momentum. With his left hand, he pushed off from the ground again, but now around the corner. With a stabilizing shot from his right, Katsuki was shooting off again in Izuku’s direction.
Then suddenly, Izuku turned around.
Izuku whirled around on his heal, facing down Katsuki in the flesh. As expected, the blond boy didn't even slow down, just reached out a hand.
In the blink of an eye, Katsuki’s fist made direct contact with Izuku’s chin. He fell like a bag of bricks, not even bothering to block the hit.
Katsuki managed to get his feet under him as Izuku struggled to his feet. The moment Katsuki had his balance back, he let loose a massive explosion in front of him. Izuku let out a yelp as he was hit square in the back.
Katsuki was on him in a second, one sparking hand digging into the dark curls on the back of Izuku’s head, the other reared back for a punch. He ground Izuku’s face into the dirt below his feet.
“I fucking got you Deku. Finally…” Katsuki hissed through his teeth, mouth in a massive grin. Deku didn't move under his fist.
Katsuki’s grin fell, turning more into a scowl.
Growling, Katsuki went to grab the ten million bad from around Deku’s throat. If the little twerp wasn't going to let him enjoy beating his ass, he might as well get it over with. Katsuki reached down to grab the band, but only landed on Izuku’s neck.
What
?
Katsuki whipped Izuku onto his back and saw the fucker’s smirk.
He didn't have the band
.
“Wha-”
Izuku’s smile grew as Katsuki’s hand rested on his throat.
“My partner Kaachan.”
The blonde’s eyes grew wide before narrowing into a glare.
“I have to win Kaachan. I can be a hero!”
Katsuki had had
enough
. The hand around the green-haired boy’s neck began to tighten. Izuku’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He started to struggle and Katsuki whipped his other hand around, punching him in the jaw
again
, in the same place. The boy sputtered, but Katsuki’s other hand found its way around Deku's neck.
Distantly, he could hear something in the background, but all Katsuki could see was red. Izuku was going to take it
again
. Why should the villain get everything?
It wasn't right.
It was never right.
Then a sound tore through Katsuki like a cold blade.
“AND THAT'S THE END OF ROUND TWO!”
Izuku was purple under his hands but looked somewhat alive. With a disgusted huff, Katsuki stood up and began to walk away to the sounds of Izuku choking.
Why should the villain ever be allowed to win?
*
Present Mic was calling out the placings for the second event, but Izuku wasn't listening. Recovery girl was giving him a look over, but for all intents and purposes, he was okay
enough
. Tired from overuse of Fragment, but physically okay. She still looked over his arm that he had broken and fixed, but as always Charity had done an amazing job. Other than that, there were only a few scratches and scrapes on him. And the bruises.
To be concise, Izuku was battered to all hell but felt okay. The place where Todoroki had bunched him had some smoldering cloth, but he didn't even have first degree burns. It was strange, Izuku had never seen Todoroki use fire before but he was burned none the less. The maze was created to only hurt if you get electrified by the walls. Apparently, it was about the same voltage as an electric fence used for medium cattle like sheep and goats. Not enough to cause serious damage.
Then there were the bruises around his neck.
Bakugou had pressed directly on his trachea, but it was nothing that Recovery Girl couldn't fix in a moment. But it was more serious than it looked.
“We are thinking about disqualifying him. We already made sure that little incident wasn't on camera, but he…” she trailed off as she handed him a new shirt. Midoriya changed quickly.
“Please don't.”
Recovery girl shot him a hard look.
“Kaachan is… violent. But he wouldn't kill anyone. Even what he did, he would only really do to me. I can promise that it won't happen again.”
Recovery girl tutted.
“I’ll relay your opinion to the judges. Now get going.” Izuku moved to the door before Recovery girl continued to talk.
“And Midoriya? There won't be another time for Bakugou. I don't want you back in here young man. Now get to lunch. The next round is going to take a lot out of you kids.” Izuku nodded and exited at the clear dismissal.
Outside the door was none other than Shinsou, but that was to be expected, Izuku guessed.
“Hey…” Izuku gave an awkward wave, and Shinsou frowned.
“I… think we need to talk.” It wasn't a question. Izuku nodded. Shinsou led the way to an empty prep room. Izuku took a seat, but Shinsou began to pace.
“You don't make any sense Midoriya.”
Izuku let out a weary sigh. He had been hearing that a bit much lately. Shinsou continued.
“Why were you so nonchalant about everything when I let you go? You’re acting like everything was n-”
Izuku cut him off.
“Can I just…” he made a small hand motion, and Shinsou froze. Izuku took that as a yes.
“I'm just gonna cut to the chase. I'm sorry if im blunt. You're asking why I wasn't scared of you or angry at you after you brainwashed me?”
Shinsou hesitantly nodded. Izuku sighed.
“People aren't very… nice about your quirk, are they.”
“Don't patronize me.” the purple-haired boy’s face scrunched up with annoyance. Izuku gave him a hard look before relenting.
“Fine. People think your quirk is bad, yes? Mental quirks get a bad rep, so it's not exactly surprising. Probably call its a villains quirk if I were to guess.”
Shinsou froze.
“Brainwashing would get a bad rep like that from people who don't know what they’re talking about.” Izuku squared his shoulders and took a deep breath.
“I'm the anomaly. Acting like it was nothing when you misused your quirk against me. To be blunt, no matter how bad your quirk is, mine is worse.”
Izuku paused for dramatic effect, but it did not have the intended effect. Shinsou laughed. A big, hearty laughed that echoed in their small room.
“What the fuck do you mean yours in worse? You create super-powered clones.” Shinsou’s laughter dropped to something lower, more dark and threatening. “Don't pretend to know what I've been through. Don't flaunt your hero’s quirk like its some dark burden.”
Izuku’s faux calm fell as a full snarl fell onto his face.
“Don't you dare tell me what is a hero’s quirk. Did you hear the clone’s names?” Izuku’s back began to shimmer as he began to summon.
“I don't summon clones Shinsou. They are my sins.” Sloth formed behind Izuku, before promptly falling asleep.
“I use the evil inside me to be stronger. Every one of them removes emotion from me.” the snarl fell into a small grimace.
“I want to be a hero, but my only way to save others is to use the evil within me.” Izuku went to stand up. Shinsou was frozen, eyes wide.
“I promise, your quirk isn't as evil as you think it is. And in the words of a man much better than me, ‘A quirk cannot be evil, nor can it be inherently good. It all falls in how you use it. If you have made mistakes in your past it doesn't matter, as long as you wish to be a hero.” Izuku quoted All Might like a pro. Shinsou stood frozen as Izuku slipped out of the room, leaving only the purple boy himself and Sloth.
Izuku made his way to the school cafeteria as soon as he slipped out the door. Not only was
he
tired, but he assumed Gluttony needed some food to top himself off.
He wished he had stuck around, taken the time to talk with Shinsou but he knew it wasn't his place. What would someone like him know about making another kid feel like a hero? Maybe he could convince Toshinori or a teacher to talk it out with Shinsou. They would probably do a better job than he could.
Izuku finally got to the cafeteria and went to grab a tray. Luckily, he was a little late and the line was all but gone. Unfortunately, almost all of the seats were taken.
Getting his tray, Izuku moved to find his few friends. Thankfully, Iida’s voice boomed through the raucous room like a gunshot, so it wasn't exactly hard. Izuku fell in a lump next to the tall boy, before promptly shoveling food into his face.
“Hey! First place in both events!” Uraraka playfully punched him in the shoulder. Izuku swallowed
much
too much food in one go.
“Hi…” was all he got out before turning his attention solely back onto his food. Uraraka laughed good-naturedly before cutting off into choking suddenly. Izuku looked up but wished he hadn't.
Todoroki stood at the end of the table, staring at Izuku.
“Midoriya. I need to talk to you.”
Izuku looked down at his food mournfully.
I guess teenage drama is more important than my meals…
“Sure.”
Todoroki took them
far
away from the cafeteria. Honestly, probably a little farther than necessary, but Izuku wasn't about to ask him about it. Finally, the boy stopped in a seemingly random hallway out of the arena. Todoroki leaned on a wall, and Izuku stood across from him.
“You made me break a promise to myself.”
Oh, he's going to dive right into it I guess
.
“I promised I was going to win this without using my fire, but you made me panic and I burned you.”
“Wait, you refused to use your quirk?”
Todoroki’s scowl deepened.
“I refuse to use the fire side of my quirk.”
“Why?”
Izuku couldn't help but question him. Todoroki wasn't an open book, so any opening to glance inside the strange boy was a welcome one.
“My quirk has two parts. With my right side, I control ice and my left fire. My ice comes from my mother, and fire my father. I'm going to become a hero without the power of my father.”
Izuku wanted to ask a question but was hesitant. Todoroki gave him a look, before seemingly deflating slightly.
“Have you ever heard of quirk marriage?”
Todoroki told his story. Of his father’s
acquisition
of his mother, the years of abuse to force her to birth his children. A child strong enough to overcome his adversary. A child that could be stronger than All Might. Then when his quirk presented, his father’s attention turned from his mother to him. Todoroki told of his harsh training and abuse that broke his mother. Forced his mother to permanently maim him before Endeavor had her hospitalized.
Izuku’s mind was swirling, but not from his own accord, from his quirk. His traits were screaming in his mind, each screeching in hopes that Izuku would make a move, do something to comfort the boy across him. Izuku did nothing, and Todoroki finished his story.
“I have to win today. To show that I don't need his power to become the number one hero. To prove him wrong.”
It was so much. Too much. How was Izuku supposed to respond?
“I know it doesn't matter… but do you think he cares at all?”
Todoroki’s glare deepened, so Izuku rushed to explain.
“H-he just wants his name to beat All Might. I don't think he would really care if you did it using his fire or not, I think its the end result that he wants.”
“I didn't ask your opinion. I just wanted to explain why I have to win. Why you can't be the thing that stands between me and showing that old bastard that he can not control my life.” Todoroki turned and walked back into the depths of the stadium.
“Todoroki!” the boy stopped but didn't turn.
“I have something I need to prove to. There is someone I need to prove wrong, and someone I need to prove right. Don't expect me to hold back against you!”
Todoroki nodded and left.
And Izuku’s mind was quiet.