Chapter 10: Costumes and Training
The second day of classes was, thankfully, somewhat less eventful than the first. Bakugo had once again walked with Izuku to the station, berating him once more for almost getting expelled on the first day. Izuku only laughed as they went along, beginning to learn the difference again between when his friend was blowing hot air and when he was really mad. There were still sore spots between them, but it seemed like Bakugo had really made an effort to change, and the therapy sounded like it was helping too even if Izuku would never say that within earshot of the boy.
After his scolding they talked about nothing for a long while; hero shows, Lunch Rush's cooking, and other pointless distractions that helped them to feel like they were kids again. When they were met at the gate by Tamaki and Mirio, Bakugo walked with them, but slowed his pace so that he and Izuku would fall somewhat behind.
"Oi, Deku," he hissed, speaking as softly as he could, and trying to seem nonchalant. Izuku gave him a questioning look. "I know you said they're your friends or trainers or whatever, but isn't it weird that they're always around you before and after school?"
"What do you mean, Kacchan?" It didn't seem strange to him to have his seniors around, but then again, Izuku knew he didn't exactly know what the baseline for normal was. Thanks for that , he thought a little sourly, glancing at Bakugo.
"I mean that you've always had one or two of them walk with you to and from class, and spiral-bitch has been following your train to and from school both days and in both directions. She's been there all three times I've gone with you." He looked over his shoulder at that, as if trying to catch Nejire behind them. Izuku simply shrugged.
"I guess they might be a little protective since, well, you remember how you guys all met…"
"This is different, Deku. Something feels, I dunno, off. Like they're...eh fuck it. You've probably just got a bunch of weird-ass stalker seniors that worry about you too much. C'mon, I'm not gonna be fucking late, and you can't afford to get on Aizawa's bad side anymore than you are."
They walked in silence after that, content to let Mirio do enough talking for Tamaki and the two underclassmen as well. When they finally entered the classroom proper, the students present all seemed strangely quiet. Izuku realized that even though it hadn't really been brought up yesterday, the fact that he was quirkless was now widely known.
His stomach dropped, and he felt a bit of a sweat start up on the back of his neck. He thumbed mindlessly at the interface and tried not to notice the stares he was receiving. Bakugo brushed past, screamed something about extras, and made his way to his seat while Kirishima ran up to try and talk to him. Izuku swallowed dryly and made to follow, only to find Iida's hand on his arm.
"Midoriya-san, I have not yet had the opportunity to apologize for having misjudged you during the entrance exam. You perceived the true nature of the test while I did not, your deduction about rescue points was spot on!" His hand chopped the air as he spoke, glasses shining in determination and seeming goodwill.
"A-ah, well thank you Iida-kun, b-but I didn't really perceive anything, I just kind of did it w-without thinking." Iida shook himself at that and smiled.
"Then you were acting the hero even when there was nothing to gain! Truly, you are like my brother Tensei. Hopefully I will be able to learn much from working with you." The name was familiar, and now Izuku was able to place where he had seen a similar engine quirk before.
"Ohmygosh Tensei Iida, the hero Ingenium! You're his younger brother? That's so cool Iida-kun, you've got to tell me all about him sometime!" Iida was positively beaming as he began to recount some of his brother's lesser known exploits, only pausing when Uraraka joined them after arriving to class. Suddenly he stopped himself, glancing at the wall clock and going rigid.
"Goodness, there are only five minutes left before the first bell, quickly, to our seats." Izuku and Uraraka shared a look at that statement, but decided to humor him through unspoken agreement. Shaking his head, Izuku made his way over to his seat behind Bakugo and took out his latest notebook.
He scribbled idle thoughts about replicating Iida's speed enhancers, wondering if the other boy had ever had any analysis done on how his body converted orange juice into such a potent form of energy. Perhaps there was some biological reaction he was capable of which allowed for citric acid to produce energy efficiently enough to power his engines. Did Tensei also drink orange juice? Technically there shouldn't have been enough energy in the orange juice beyond it's caloric value to produce that kind of output, but then again normal physics and biology kind of broke down when quirks were involved. Hell, he still had no idea what the mechanism of his own mother's telekinesis was and he had been studying that for years . Not to mention that Bakugo's own preference for spicy food seemed to have some effect on his nitroglycerin production, which made no sense whatsoever.
"Spicy food makes you sweat, dumbass, stop overthinking things," grumbled Bakugo, not looking back at him. Yeah, like that made any sense biologically. Bakugo snorted, and Izuku realized that he had been on yet another mutter storm. He clamped his hands down over his mouth at the realization and tried not to draw anymore attention to himself. Feeling eyes on his back however, he turned to meet the icy stare of Todoroki. Ha, icy stare, good one Izuku , he thought, trying and failing to suppress a small smile. When the other boy seemed not to notice him looking back, he shrugged and returned his attention to his notebook. Just then, Aizawa slammed open the door and trudged into class.
"I have no homeroom announcements today, you should have all learned the schedule since you have your syllabus. We'll be going over quirk usage laws this morning during your normal Japanese classes, then you're the others' problems until this afternoon. Open to page 33 of your text, the introduction is a waste of time." He looked out at them through bloodshot eyes, a cup of coffee appearing in his hand and rising to his lips as he spoke. The bell signalling the start of class chimed, but everyone had already taken out their books and quietened. He almost looked pleased. "Good, now pay attention, and take notes, everything I cover will be on the tests."
Izuku found the classes somewhat engaging, which came as a bit of a surprise after how disinterested he had been with the curriculum at Aldera. Aizawa's coverage of quirk usage laws was something he had never particularly studied before for, well, obvious reasons. The information was easy enough to absorb however, and he hoped that future language lessons would be even half as interesting as the day's special diversion.
History, English, and Math all passed with little incident, though he made sure only to answer the questions when no one else was able. Old habits died hard after all, but he still found himself wondering if there was a way for him to test out of these courses. The brief health course with Recovery Girl on the basics of quirk overuse was interesting enough, but unfortunately only from a theoretical perspective. Maybe in the future he would be allowed to conduct independent study during that period, perhaps focusing on quirk theory.
On that particular subject, his own research was progressing nicely, though he would have liked more opportunities to observe his classmates' quirks to see if any were replicable. He was fairly confident that he understood enough about Bakugo's quirk biology that the designs he had submitted for his costume would effectively solve the issues he had with fuel in his prototypes. Finding the exact chemical compounds needed to create the explosions had become much easier once he realized that his friend wasn't actually sweating nitroglycerin, but something very much like it. With a proper energy supply, his gear would be able to produce the substance as needed.
Present Mic-sensei's English course had been the best of the morning, and he found himself conversing easily with his teacher in the foreign tongue. Noting his fluency, Mic had set him to assisting other students on the proper placement of conjunctions, which gave him some small opportunity to observe his other classmates. The girl with pink skin, Mina, seemed to struggle the most alongside Kaminari and Kirishima, all of whom had seemed to congregate around Bakugo for help. Another student, the bicycle girl Yaoyorozu, seemed the second most able, and Izuku made a mental note to speak with her after class. It would be nice to talk with someone other than Mei about the curriculum, and considering how deep she had burrowed herself into the support lab, he doubted he would be hearing from her anytime soon regardless.
Heroics art history with Midnight-sensei, the penultimate course of the day, was the most interesting by far, and had Izuku making new aesthetic considerations for both his costume and the gear he would use. Apparently, heroes who favored practicality and efficiency were not as well regarded as their more flashy counterparts, something Kirishima seemed to take note of as well. That was an avenue of inquiry worth pursuing, especially considering the boy's rather bright appearance and attitude. Neon red wasn't exactly subtle after all, but if the reassuring way Mina had patted him on the arm was any indication, there was likely some history there.
Finally, finally, the class he had been waiting for arrived, and with a tumultuous bellow that began down the hall, their final instructor of the day made his entrance.
"I am coming through the door like a normal person!" bellowed All Might, grasping the sides of the door frame and leaning in as his silver age costume flapped in the wind generated by his own powerful movements. There was a cheer at his arrival, and even Bakugo seemed excited to be taught by the top ranked pro hero himself. "Now now, settle down you bunch of Zygotes! You're here to learn after all!" A groan of disdain followed this statement as Aizawa rose from behind the desk where he had been napping, rubbing tired eyes as he glared at All Might.
"Yes they are, which is why I hope you're prepared for the alterations to the lesson plan I submitted to you after my assessment was concluded yesterday." A few students seemed taken aback by their homeroom teacher's seeming hostility, but All Might took it in stride as he barked out one of his trademark laughs.
"Indeed I did, Aizawa-san, and thank you for your excellent work!" He strode into the class fully at that, towering over the small podium at the front that was used for lectures. Nervously, he patted his pockets before pulling out a small note card as well as a scribbled over syllabus before grinning up at his students. This gave a few of them pause, the idea of All Might needing notes seemed absurd.
"As your teacher has informed me, most of you have not yet had any kind of formal combat training. Ordinarily we would begin your foundational heroics courses with practical one on one bouts in a heroes vs villains set up, but seeing as both Aizawa-sensei and I are concerned about safety primarily, we're going to be putting the foundation into foundational heroics today! That means getting you all acquainted with proper quirk usage in combat scenarios, how to spar safely, and most exciting of all," a remote had appeared in his fingers looking tiny compared to the giant of a man, "how to get comfortable moving in your costumes!"
At that he clicked a button on the remote and panels detached themselves from the walls sliding out smoothly. Each of the racks had a number of hard silver cases safely cradled in between the bars, and the students eyed the boxes hungrily. Aizawa let out a world weary sigh at the theatrics.
"All of you get dressed and head out to training ground Alpha! Oh, and Young Midoriya, you should head to the support lab as soon as you're finished with your base costume, Principal Nedzu has approved the form you submitted and your gear is ready for pickup."
This earned Izuku a few curious glances, as well as a knowing wink from Aoyama, but he had already snatched up the case and made for the door before the questions could start. His interface tingled, and he smiled madly to himself as he hurried to get dressed, excited to finally get his hands on his upgraded gear. Finally, he would have a proper prosthetic to use.
Izuku had changed even before the other boys had made it to the locker rooms, and was running down the halls in his costume as the others walked past him. With Iida's admonitions against running in the halls fading away behind him and Bakugo's angry shouting echoing even after that, Izuku felt himself laughing. The basis of his costume was a simple dark green jumpsuit his mother had designed for him; reminiscent of Eraserhead's own loose fitting gear, but also sported a number of slots for connecting with the more advanced pieces of technology he would be implementing.
The lengths of cables that ran under his clothes clung to his limbs in a familiar tightness, though the professional touch had robbed them of any discomfort they might have presented previously. The metal bracing was gone, replaced by a sleeker, stronger polymer, and when combined with the much smaller number of connecting cables that now ran under his suit, was totally undetectable to the naked eye. He could feel his interface reaching out along the suit, trying to find a connection to the space where his quirk should have been, or to one of his prostheses.
He was positive now that his quirk had been taken or damaged somehow, amputated in a way. The phantom feeling, the rush that came with using his support gear, it felt almost the same as the time he had run again after having broken his leg when he was seven.
As Izuku drew near the support labs he became aware of a number of muffled banging sounds, as well as some excited screaming. The sign above the door indicating that the lab was in use by class 1-H was drooping, barely hanging on by a single screw as the wall shook again. Suddenly, the reinforced door buckled and was blown off its hinges as a tremendous explosion sent it flying, his inventing companion riding the wave of the blast, all the while cackling maniacally.
"Damnit girl," screamed a slight man who seemed to be wearing the claw from a back-hoe as a hat, "third years are supposed to be the ones blowing up my lab, and only in the last semester!" He waved his hands, curiously tipped in what seemed to be orange metal, and noticed the put-upon look that Izuku was wearing. "Oh great, you must be the 'Lab-Assistant' she kept babbling about." Izuku opened his mouth to reply but was cut off with a dismissive wave. "Yeah, yeah, I got the forms from Nezu, come in and get your gear." The teacher, who could only have been the hero Power Loader, turned around after he saw that Mei was mostly unhurt and made to send the other support course students back to their own tasks.
"Ah, there you are! How dare you not visit me already, huh Midoriya-kun? Who else will test all my beautiful babies, everyone else here is too scared they'll explode," she exclaimed, dusting herself off as she got up off the broken door. Though the metal was singed quite substantially, Mei herself only sported her usual splatterings of grease and perhaps a bit more soot than usual. Izuku heard the subtle whir of her quirk activating as she zoomed in to look at the sleeve of his costume, noting that she was able to trace the path of the wires even under the dark green fabric.
"Ah, Mei, I'm sorry but I've got h-heroics with All Might and I r-really just need to get my equipment…" he trailed off, noting that she wasn't paying him any attention as she ran practiced fingers over the fabric, muttering to herself about potential improvements. He was about to argue that the company had made the costume to his specifications, but was again interrupted when an angry Power Loader grabbed the girl by the back of her neck and dragged her back into the lab.
"No more development until you A: clean the lab, B: finish this project, and C: take an extra course on lab safety…" He paused, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. "Reverse C and B actually, then you're cleared for development again you little demon. Midoriya, grab your gear and go, before she tries to disassemble it again." Izuku dashed inside at that, taking the bulky black case that the teacher had indicated and making to rush back out under the curious stares of the other support students and Mei's own predatory gaze. He managed a quick 'thank you' as the teacher shook his head.
"It's a good design kid; if heroics doesn't work out like you want, I'd be up for swapping you for this one," he said, shrugging the arm he was holding up Mei with. A few of the other support students perked up at that, but Izuku's fading laughter told them that it had been a joke. I really would too, thought Power Loader as he pushed Mei towards the broom closet and gave the schematics he had been sent a once over. "You kids are going to be the death of me, this year, I swear," he grumbled, though it held a note of undeniable fondness.
Katsuki had many good qualities among his more tumultuous ones, he told himself, but patience was something he had not inherited from his father. The scale of his patience was measured in seconds, rather than hours, and if the shitty nerd took any longer getting out to Ground Alpha he might just start popping off little explosions to ease some of the tension. His shrink might have some comments about that of course, the bitch always did, but he personally considered it progress that he wasn't popping off on one of the stupid extras.
Shitty Hair was being obnoxiously chummy, especially considering his basic-ass personality, though he seemed like he might be strong at least. And then there was Round Cheeks, using the word 'Deku' like it meant nothing, talking to Glasses about him as if they were some kind of reporters on the nerd beat. Deku didn't like it when people talked about him, and there was that pang of stupid fucking guilt again, reminding him of how bad he had fucked up. His hands began to smoke, and he shook them quickly to try and disperse the vapor before anyone could see.
Up front, Aizawa was looking bored while All-Might explained something about rules for sparring and combat scenarios, how to pull punches, bullshit like that. Katsuki simply did his best to look like he was paying attention, then let his mind begin to wander. His costume was cool, that was for sure. The support shitheads had definitely gotten the munitions theme right, though the weird little blasty bits behind the ears might need some reworking in case anyone thought it made him look funny or cute or whatever. The gauntlets felt sturdy enough, and he found himself wishing he could have been running laps or doing something, anything else, for them to start collecting his sweat. Then, he heard the slightly metallic footfalls behind him, rushing through the tunnel that led into the training ground, and he couldn't help but grin wickedly as he turned to look.
He startled a bit when he first saw the nerd, though no one would ever know that and live to mention it. The dark green jumpsuit he had seen earlier had some additions now, the color still peeking out underneath the metallic plating that covered his arms and upper torso. Segmented, and resembling something like human musculature, the pieces were a glossy black with small lights visible in the crevices where the plates separated, and a green pearlescent sheen where the light hit. The chestplate seemed to glow in two rows of three lines, connecting with a larger back-plate in a tight seal around Deku's upper torso. He had some kind of helmet, a tinted visor covering the upper half of his face, and a stylized 'V' of dark green metal jutting from the top in an homage that was painfully obvious. Of course, Round Cheeks was the first to speak up.
'Whoa Deku-kun, your costume is really cool! It looks kind of dangerous though, it's a really different feel from the one you had at the entrance exam! Oh, and your voice won't be all weird anymore." Katsuki expected the nerd to react to that, but he only chuckled lightly and offered a small compliment in turn. Cheeks seemed a little nonplussed at that, and said as much. "Ah yeah, but I wish I had given the support company more directions, a skin-tight body suit isn't really what I had in mind." That did get the nerd flustered, though not as much as the Grape to his left. For him, it seemed like his world was ending, even as he continued to stare determinedly at the ground and muttered to himself about respect. Finally, fucking finally, the nerd made his way over to stand beside him, Cheeks and Glasses following close behind.
"Heya Kacchan," he said, smiling. "It looks like you stuck with the design you came up with when we were kids, huh? It looks really cool." He made to offer some harsh retort, but bit down on his tongue and took the compliment. Fuck, this shit was gonna be so hard.
"Course it looks good Deku, why change what was already perfect, huh?" He saw the nerd's eyes flick down towards his gauntlets at that last statement, even behind the tinted visor, and he felt a snarl building up.
"It l-looks great Kacchan, but how do the g-gauntlets feel? They look kind of h-heavy, and if y-you want Mei-chan can w-work on a lighter design for you. I've got a few d-designs in my notebook you could look over if you want." Fuck , Katsuki thought, the fucking stutter is back just like that .
"Yeah, sure Deku, you can show me your drawings or whatever," he spat, fighting himself for every word. When he was almost sure the nerd couldn't hear him, he added as quietly as he could, "thanks for the offer." There was a little giggle from behind him, and he fixed Cheeks with the harshest glare he could before finally giving up and deciding that even listening to boring-ass combat instructions was better than this shit.
Izuku felt his tension ease as he and the others slipped into Aizawa and All Might's exercises, the familiar routine of basic striking and blocking techniques wrapping him up like a blanket. Looking over his classmates' costumes, he couldn't help but note that there was significant room for improvements in most cases. He would be having words with whoever had saddled Mineta with a diaper, and Yaoyorozu's costume, unless she had specifically requested it, was entirely too revealing. Why Aoyama had elected to wear the flamboyant glasses was anyone's guess, though at least the armor looked functional, if a little too ornamented. On the subject of armor, Iida had most of his vitals covered with his suit, an obvious nod to Ingenium, but there were materials that could cover the gaps while helping him to maintain his flexibility. The less said about Hagakure's costume the better.
As the training went on All Might had separated those with experience into leading groups of those without. Izuku was working with Shoji, Kaminari, and Tokoyami, while Ojiro, Todoroki, Iida, and Yaoyorozu led the others in groups of four. Izuku was currently trying to figure out the optimal way for a person with six arms to strike and parry while Kaminari and Tokoyami traded blows back and forth.
Without Dark Shadow, a quirk which Izuku would love to have a conversation with at some point, Tokoyami was withering under the other boy's assault. This seemed to indicate an over-reliance on his quirk, a problem he was finding in many of his classmates. Kaminari's overall form was sloppy, and Izuku found himself almost constantly stepping away from Shoji in order to correct his stance, posture, and even at one point, the way he held his hand while throwing a punch.
"Thumb under your fingers Kaminari, not inside them. You really hit someone like that and mean it, you're going to break your hand," he grumbled as he made the same correction for the third time. Kaminari simply smirked back at him and did as he said with an audible sigh.
"Sure, sure, can't say I see the point though since nobody'll ever get close enough for me to have to throw a punch anyways, considering I'll just shock em' first." Tokoyami expressed a similar sentiment beside him, noting how Dark Shadow provided an incredibly strong ranged defense, and suddenly the inside of Izuku's head sounded like breaking glass. Overconfidence could be lethal, after all.
"Aizawa-sensei," he called over the sound of the other students, catching the tired man's gaze as he waved him over. "Would it be possible for you to use your quirk on the three of us really quickly? Wait, can you do multiple people at once?" He titled his head, only earning another world-weary glare before his teacher's hair began to float and his eyes turned their distinctive red. Nodding his thanks, Izuku struck, pulling his fist before it made contact a millimeter from Kaminari's nose, then spun on Tokoyami, leaving his knee resting gently against the other boy's stomach.
"Kaminari-kun, if you were to run into someone like Aizawa sensei, or someone with, I don't know, rubber insulation on their gear," he patted his arm as he spoke, "what would you do then? And Tokoyami-kun, without Dark Shadow, say he's tired, or you're under direct light, or a flashbang goes off, or you're inside a burning building, what will you use to defend yourself then? Quirks are tools, part of your arsenal but they don't define it."
"Problem Child," came the warning tone of Aizawa. Izuku shrugged and went back over to Shoji who had turned one of his arms into a grinning mouth.
"Sometimes people forget, Midoriya-kun, but don't take it personally, you know? When you've had a tool like that your whole life, it's kind of hard to imagine being without it." Izuku hummed noncommittally as he returned to working on blocks and strikes with the taller boy. "Me and Ojiro for example," he continued, deftly blocking a punch that Izuku had almost forgotten to pull, "basically only have extra limbs. It makes you think of your quirk as only one part of yourself, rather than your whole self. It'll take a while for them to break out of that mindset, but once they do, they'll be all the stronger for it." Suddenly Izuku's head snapped back over to the other pair as he lazily batted aside three of Shoji's fists and marched over.
"Kaminari, thumb!" he exclaimed, more loudly than he would have liked. He felt his hackles rise as he stalked over, a bit of steam coming off his armored shoulders and the interface tingling insistently on the back of his neck. He slammed a hand over it as he usually did, but was only met with the back of his helmet and his soft collar. He grumbled a quiet curse, great now I'm turning into Kacchan , and placed himself between his two classmates. "This is the third time I've told you now. If you keep striking like that you're going to break your thumb. Why the shit aren't you listening to me, huh?"
The other boy only stared at him, wide eyed, and he suddenly found he had acquired an audience in the form of the rest of his class. They were all looking on in seeming disbelief, especially Bakugo who looked the most surprised of all, and he couldn't figure out why. Then, he looked down.
His palms, encased in his gear, were crackling with small explosions reminiscent of his friend, the ports in his gauntlets having slid open to reveal the barrels of his weapon points. He froze, staring down at his hands before shaking them quickly and willing the ports to close, mumbling hurried apologies, and sending out little tendrils of smoke as he went. His face was redder than Kirishima's hair at that point, and it was only the sudden laughter of Mina that broke him out of his stupor.
"Holy crap, when Midori gets mad he turns into Blasty, hahaha. Oh my god, you're a terrible influence," she said slapping Bakugo playfully on the shoulder. His friend continued to stare at him, mouth slightly agape as others joined in the laughter before Aizawa called for silence and All Might directed them back to their practice. Kaminari offered a quiet apology and corrected his form after that, while Izuku returned to his work with Shoji. They continued in relative earnest for the rest of the period, the teachers and more experienced students offering corrections and advice as they went, save Izuku who went through the remaining exercises almost automatically. His mind, always busy, was running on overdrive trying to find out where the sudden change in his disposition had come from.
Certainly, there was the possibility that the change was a natural result of having made new friends, and his own renewed friendship with Bakugo. He had always tried to emulate the other boy to some extent. Hell, he thought, even my very first piece of support gear was designed after Kacchan's quirk. Still, that device hadn't been nearly as powerful as the one he now wore, and the interface he had used then hadn't been nearly as well developed. His current prosthetic had been manufactured by a proper support company instead of him and Mei using scrap, which might account for part of the sudden change, but only if his theories on quirks proved accurate.
Using the observations he had made on Bakugo's own biological functions, he had fairly successfully replicated the mechanism by which the other boy produced his nitroglycerin, albeit mechanically rather than biologically. In his case, his gear used the energy his interface drew out of him in order to power the machines responsible for nitroglycerin production, along with a variety of other tasks. In that way it was similar in that he was using his body's own energy to fuel the chemical reactions necessary for producing the blasts, but his had been externalized whereas Bakugo's had been a function of his sweat. In either case, the actual use of energy in simulation of a quirk might have been affecting his mental state, but it would not have been to the level he just saw. Besides, he had externalized the process to his armor, so there was no way any of the chemicals should actually have been affecting him directly, or his hormones indirectly, and inducing a heightened aggression response. He would have to ask Recovery Girl to run some tests after class.
"Geez Midoriya, you really do think a mile a minute, huh?" teased Shoji, bringing all six of his arms down as Izuku realized he had been thinking out loud again. Before he had realized what he was doing, momentarily surprised as he was, Izuku had slipped past Shoji's reach and then stepped back in, his fist pausing right as it brushed the other boy's throat. The two looked at each other for a full five seconds before All Might called time and dismissed them for the day, telling them where to place their costumes in the locker rooms for cleaning, and wishing them well as he dashed off, leaving an unhappy Aizawa to finish telling them he would see them the next day.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Izuku made for the showers with the others, all the while running over possibilities in his mind as to what could have caused his sudden emotional outburst. Bakugo stayed a little closer than normal, which almost took the sting out of Kaminari moving to the other side of the group of boys as they headed back. Izuku only sighed and shook his head, resigned in that moment that not only was he going to be seen as the quirkless kid, he was going to be seen as the quirkless kid with issues.
Chapter 11: Confrontations and Loopholes
Izuku was not a fan of the look that Recovery Girl kept giving him every time he made his way into her infirmary, but when he voiced his interest in using her lab equipment the old woman's scowl softened almost immediately. His explanation for why he wished to use that equipment caused it to return even fiercer than before however, and she fixed him in place with all the terror that small elderly women can inspire.
"Sonny, if I'm understanding you right, you've performed surgery on yourself and it's begun to affect your mental health, is that right?" She was prodding at the interface, Izuku sitting uncomfortably on the edge of one of the infirmary beds while she examined the device.
"O-oh God, no! I wouldn't even dream of cutting into myself. My mom would absolutely kill me. Here," he said, relaxing his hold on the device and letting it part from his neck. "I based its adhesion off a number of magnetism quirks I was able to observe while I was building my prototype for the entrance exam. T-the materials respond to n-neurological impulses and the natural electricity that the human body produces, a-and it mimics the effect of a m-magnetism quirk when it comes into c-contact with skin." Recovery Girl gave him a level look before prodding the exposed section of skin, searching carefully for any signs of incisions or scarring. Finding none, she sighed unhappily and allowed him to return the piece of technology to where it belonged.
"I can't say I like it, but it's a lot less self-destructive than some of the support items I've seen come through here. But I swear, you better not start mucking about with anything surgical or you'll have me to answer to, boy, and Aizawa's not the only one that can expel students for being reckless." Her rant over, the old woman crossed her arms and returned to her desk chair, grumbling as she opened up a series of forms on her computer. Izuku peered over, interested in what his files said about him, but another warning noise from the small heroin had him averting his gaze. "I'll run your blood tests, but from what I can see, you've had a fairly normal development so far. Some of the levels I'm seeing in your prior blood work seem to be elevated for someone without a quirk, but that may just as well be the result of your conditioning. There's records here too that I can't access without yours and your mother's consent, APPI and all that good stuff you know, but nothing here to suggest that your mood swing is anything other than a case of nerves or being a teenager."
"Uhm, t-thanks Recovery Girl, b-but I'd really like to c-check to make sure there's nothing going on all the same. I r-realize that it's probably nothing, b-but considering I'm technically using my mind to c-control my gear anyways, and I'm using my body's e-energy to power it as well, I just want to be sure t-there's no side effects I didn't account for." She fixed him with another piercing stare. Oops.
"Using your own energy?" The woman's already thin lips were pressed into a line so sharp and small that it could as well have been a scalpel as a scowl.
"W-well it's not entirely my energy, I mean, all quirks use the body's energy in a way, and besides the special backups," his mind went quickly to the glowing tubes on the breastplate of his armor, "m-mostly the interface just transfers the energy that I would use in activating or u-using a quirk into the prosthesis. If i-it's any help I've tested it, and I c-can't even push myself into a s-state of quirk exhaustion, m-my supports just stop h-having the quirk function." Maybe trying to get help had been a bad idea. Recovery Girl shook her head, pinched the bridge of her nose, and seemed to resign herself to whatever this was.
"Sonny, you're going to have a meeting with myself, Power Loader, and Principal Nezu before I allow you to continue developing these, these, 'prosthetic' quirks of yours. You've already got more cooking up, don't you?" She jabbed her cane into his chest, eliciting a soft yelp from Izuku. "If the three of us together can't find anything to complain about then I won't be able to stop you from doing what you're doing. Frankly, I don't like it, but I also don't like it when students drop into these beds from quirk exhaustion and combat training, and you learn to tolerate a lot of what you don't like in this profession. Sometimes I just wish you kids weren't in such a hurry to be heroes."
She smiled sadly at that, and scooted her chair over until she was in front of Izuku again. Wizened hands grasped his, his right hand already slightly scarred from his prototype gauntlet exploding during the entrance exam.
"This is about more than just the gear though, isn't it boyo? I'm putting you in for a weekly guidance session with Hound Dog, and - don't give me that look! You're not even the first from your class I'm sending to the mutt, and it's only been a day. You've got the makings of a hero, no doubt about it; just promise me you'll let your teachers actually help you, huh kid?" She got an earnest nod in response, maybe a soggy smile from the disbelieving boy as well, and then she sent him on his way.
As it turned out, Bakugo had waited for him while the others had gone ahead after the last bell, though Izuku thought he caught a flicker of movement from above them as the pair walked to the station. He tried his best to look disinterested, shifting his gaze around while trying to track movement through his peripherals and, yes, there was Nejire popping in and out of clouds. Okay, so she was definitely following them, and was trying to be subtle about it as well. That was new.
"So you caught her too, huh?" his friend grunted, face ticking up into a sneer. "Bout time you worked on your spatial awareness, shitty nerd."
"I uh, I mean, she's probably just being overprotective K-Kacchan."
"Fucking bullshit. Something stinks about all this, and it's pissing me off. And what the fuck was that in training today, huh? You trying to copy more than my quirk now?" Izuku blanched at that, waving his hands apologetically as if he expected to be hit. Bakugo looked unhappy for a moment, but made no move towards him.
"I'm s-s-sorry Kacchan, I r-really d-d-don't know w-what happened there. T-that's w-what I h-had Recovery G-Girl look a-at. I think that q-q-quirks might h-have an influence on p-p-personality in a m-more uh, h-h-hormonal sense I g-guess. L-l-like an increased level of s-s-serotonin and testosterone as a s-s-side effect of nitroglycerin p-production, w-which is why my p-prosthesis m-m-might be having an i-influence on me…" They had arrived at the platform and already swiped their cards, standing off by themselves waiting for the train. Bakugo was looking at him somewhat concernedly, but also thoughtfully.
"So what, my quirk makes me mad, and you using a machine to fake it makes you mad too? That doesn't make sense, nerd. Also, stop freaking out and fucking stuttering already, I'm not mad at you."
"Wait, y-you're not?" Kacchan bumped him with his shoulder and gave a derisive snort as their train pulled up, and found the pair some seats near the end away from the other passengers.
"Fuck no, I'm not. I'm worried I guess, tch," he grit his teeth, "that ain't it either. But fuck, it's like, I dunno I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop." Izuku cocked his head at him and he continued. "Deku, this shit you're doing with the gear and all that other shit, you're smart nerd, sure, but how come no one else has done it first, huh? You can't tell me that in the two hundred fucking years since quirks became a thing no one ever tried this shit before. Fuck's sake, there's god damn intelligence quirks, so why is your nerd ass figuring this shit out at six-fucking-teen with nothing more than an extra fucking toe joint to help you?" Bakugo definitely seemed uneasy, and Izuku noticed his eyes darting back and forth along the train, surveying the other passengers like there was imminent danger. Izuku paled.
"You think the reason the others have been following me is because someone is gonna try to stop me?"
"Or they're gonna try and steal your shit, nerd. Or they're gonna steal you . Fuck, Izuku, this shit, it ain't normal, and I can blow shit up by sweating at it. Our principal is a fucking giant gerbil that's smarter than everyone else, and even he hasn't pulled this crap before, and no one is saying a damn thing about it. This shit should be all over the fucking news, or you should be at a lab somewhere, or I don't-"
"Kacchan," Izuku cut him off, worried at how his friend had begun to spark, "no one knows because I haven't shown or told anyone outside Saito-sensei at Aldera, and now the staff at UA. Do you know why I know I can trust Principal Nezu not to show anybody this stuff before I'm ready?" Bakugo just shook his head, still looking tense, so Izuku dove in head first.
"We talked a lot when I showed him the gear for the prototype, for the exam. And he told me about how dangerous it is to be smart. Did you know he was experimented on for years before he got free? Because he was an animal with an intelligence quirk, because he didn't have any rights." He let his facade drop for a moment, let the sadness that always nipped at him in the back of his mind peek out at Bakugo. "And you know how this world treats the quirkless. But principal Nezu promised to protect me, until I was ready. I know this is weird, and scary, but Recovery Girl and Power Loader and Nezu all want to help me be the best I can, and they're all gonna help me." He sniffled, putting on a false smile, though it felt less like a lie in that moment than when he normally did it.
"It's really nice to have people who believe in me, Kacchan. And Mirio and the others, our teachers, they're all really great to have support from, but you were the first person whose mind I changed about me. When you call me Deku, you don't mean useless anymore, do you?" Bakugo shook his head mutely, his face red, but no tears falling. Bakugo never cried, after all. "It's like Uraraka said earlier, I'm the Deku that means 'you can do it' and the fact that you said as much to me last year means the world to me, Kacchan."
The rest of their ride passed in relative silence, Izuku wiping his eyes which for all his happiness were still runny, and Bakugo sitting in quiet contemplation beside him. It wasn't until they had stepped off the train at their home station that his friend spoke again.
"Hey Deku..." He grinned up at him, and Izuku felt a real, genuine smile come to his lips. "Race you to your place, shitnerd?"
"For sure, Kacchan, the last one there gets the blue controller!" Bakugo spluttered as Izuku took off.
"You still have that piece of crap?" Izuku's only response was to laugh over his shoulder as his friend gained on him. When they arrived at the gate to his apartment, they were neck and neck, though Izuku had managed to fling an arm out at the last second to touch the gate before Bakugo barreled into him. With a shout to his mother that he had company, the pair descended on the mess of technology that was Izuku's room to relax for a bit before they started on their homework. If Inko cried happy tears in the kitchen at the sound of the two boys arguing over the controllers to Izuku's old console, no one would know. It had been far too long since she had heard her boys, both of them, sound so happy together.
In the sky above, forgotten by the two in their rush to the gate, Nejire smiled to herself as she flew away from the Midoriya household. Beneath her, on a lonely rooftop, a large black deformed bird with what looked to be an exposed brain croaked quietly at the scene. Its dull, dead eyes observed the household, both seeing and not seeing. There were a few quiet clicks of a shutter snapping open and closed as the thing blinked. After a while, it jumped from its perch, flapping great ugly wings as it too soared off into the early evening sky.
After arriving at school with little incident Wednesday morning, and subsequently having his English class interrupted for the meeting Recovery Girl had promised him the day before, Izuku was cleared to return to class with his support items and permission to continue to develop his prostheses. Unfortunately, it came with the condition that he would submit to a weekly check in with the aged heroin for any further signs of side effects.
Nezu had seemed all for the idea, thankfully, and Power Loader had mentioned that Izuku was the least of his headaches, which could only have been said in reference to Mei. Recovery Girl had maintained her obvious disdain for his work, but even she had been unable to find anything truly dangerous in the schematics and research he had presented to them.
As he walked down the hall back to his classroom something roiled uncomfortably in his gut, and he felt his hairs stand on end as his interface began to tingle insistently. He didn't often get gut feelings, so he decided to trust this one, shrugging out of his blazer and activating the device on his back.
Metal shot out and covered his upper torso, the row of orange lights on his chest glowing faintly as his armor wrapped around him, snapping shut with a hiss and a whirl as the seals connected. His tie was flopping loosely out the bottom of the plating over his chest, and he regretted not having taken it off before he had activated the device. Still, the feeling wasn't leaving, and as he advanced cautiously down the hallway back towards class, blazer draped casually over one arm, the feeling only grew.
Rounding the last corner before his class, he came face to face with a large boy who appeared to be from general studies holding up Mineta by his collar, the smaller boy squirming uncomfortably in the other's grip.
Izuku stepped forward, making sure his footsteps were as loud as possible and the other boy turned at him, snarling. Suddenly, he was four, or five, sometime when he was young. Kacchan was staring at him, angry, another kid in one grip while his fist crackled with small explosions. Izuku blinked, and he was back at UA, Mineta looking at him with pleading eyes, mouthing something that looked suspiciously like 'walk away.'
"What the fuck do you think you're doing," Izuku hissed, surprising himself as his anger rose in his throat. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that this anger was different from what he had felt yesterday; this was all him, no quirks or side effects involved. He stalked forward, throwing his blazer to one side as he fixed the student from general studies in his sights. The other boy just snorted at him, sneering as he shook Mineta again.
"Little shithead said the quirkless freak deserved a spot in the hero course more than anyone from general studies." He spat, glaring daggers at Mineta, who began trembling. "Course, if crybaby thinks that loser's got what it takes, then this bitch here must be even weaker than him. What's it to you anyways?"
"He's my classmate, and I hate bullies, so drop him and walk away," Izuku growled, surprising himself. He shook his head, trying to calm down. "There's cameras all over this place, so you're already up the creek without a paddle. Why don't you stop this before you get expelled, huh?" He glanced over towards one of the cameras in the corner of the hallway, and sure enough the red light was blinking reassuringly. "Teachers are probably on their way now, so put Mineta down and we'll say it was all some big misunderstanding, okay?" The other boy laughed at that, and Izuku felt the knot in his stomach tighten.
"Holy shit, are all you hero kids such fucking pussies? Oh my god, I get it, you're the quirkless shit, aren't you, trying to talk cause you can't fight? You know you're just taking up space from someone who could really be a hero, you useless piece of shi-" the boy was cut off as Mineta slammed one trembling fist into his jaw, the student dropping him in his shock.
"He's already more of a hero than you'll ever be, asshole!" screamed Mineta, grabbing furiously at the orbs on his head as he did his best to stick the other boy to the ground. By pure chance, the bully stepped backwards onto one of the grapes, and found his foot unmoving as his right arm was slammed into a locker under a deluge of purple orbs.
"Mineta, Mineta!" Izuku yelled, grabbing the small boy and pulling him back, his anger forgotten in a moment. "Mineta stop, he's not going anywhere, and you're bleeding. Mineta!" After a moment he stopped his frantic movements and looked down, sniffling, tears in his eyes. Izuku let his armor unlatch, the metal plates sliding back over his arms and chest until they rested in a compact disk of interlocking metal plates on his back. It stayed there by the same process as his interface, though the larger size meant he could wear it over a layer of clothing, thankfully. He retrieved his blazer from where he had dropped it, and rebuttoned it as he made his way back over to Mineta. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"I'll fucking kick both your asses is what will happen you-" Izuku had had enough, and tuned the other boy out as he set to work. He reached into his pocket, pulling a page from his notebook with a wince, grabbed an orb from Mineta's head as gently as he could in the paper and marched over to the general studies student before shoving the grape over the boy's mouth. The other student swung wildly with his free arm and struggled vainly with his one loose leg, but Izuku simply stepped out of his reach and turned back to Mineta. The small boy had stopped crying now, and was looking on in disbelief and maybe even amusement.
"I'd like to know as well…" came the tired drawl of Aizawa. Izuku turned to him, mouth pressed into a line and an uncharacteristic expression of contempt on his face as he glared at his teacher. Aizawa looked taken aback for a moment, before he resettled his features into his mask of careful disinterest.
"Oh, so the teachers here do care if their students are getting assaulted in the halls, at least once it's all over. That's nice to know," Izuku spat, the venom clear in his voice. Aizawa raised an eyebrow at that.
"Nezu called me three times; I keep my ringer off in class, so he had to call me on the class phone. Allowing altercations between students is not a policy of UA. Now, I suggest you both follow me to the principal's office while I send for someone to dissolve Mineta's handiwork." With that Aizawa marched off back down the hallway Izuku had just come through, the pair of students following behind. Mineta seemed nervous, while Izuku was fuming. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and the anger dissipated, just a bit.
"Aizawa-sensei, why didn't you just erase Mineta's quirk on the other student to get him off the wall?" he ventured, not quite daring to hope. There was something like an amused huff from in front of him, but Aizawa didn't turn around as he answered.
"Hmm, must have just slipped my mind. Too bad, he might be there for a while…" he trailed off, but even with his back turned and his face buried in his scarf, Izuku could hear the smile in his voice. Maybe UA is different after all , he thought to himself as he followed along back to the principal's office he had left not even ten minutes before.
The conversation with Nezu was uncomfortable to say the least, as the principal reviewed the security footage and the boys recounted what had happened. After listening intently, Nezu had apologized to both students for allowing the incident to occur, and had promised that the aggressor would be receiving a suspension as well as mandatory counseling. Izuku had just begun to relax when Mineta was dismissed and he was left alone with Nezu and Aizawa.
"Midoriya I'd like to first commend you for your actions with regards to Mineta, and to thank you for your restraint in dealing with the other student." Izuku nodded to the principal, sensing that something else was coming. "However, I feel it would be wise for us to reevaluate the presence of your support items outside of heroics cour-"
"No," Izuku cut him off, his stare unusually intense as he regarded the principal. Nezu raised an eyebrow affably and continued.
"Midoriya-kun you must realize that had you intervened with your support items you would be liable to charges for assault regardless of the other boy's intentions. Use of force laws are-"
"That's not fair," breathed Izuku, the unusual temper he had developed of late rising once more. "Mineta used his quirk until he was bleeding and you just sent him back to class like nothing!"
"Quirks and support gear are very different Midoriya, you know-"
"You signed the forms yourself!" he interjected, rising from his seat. "If Aoyama can wear his belt and defend himself if he has to, then what the hell is the difference, huh? Why are you trying to take away another part of me?"
"Midoriya," Aizawa said in warning. Nezu simply clapped his paws together and waved his teacher back down. That the boy had chosen that particular phrasing was concerning.
"Midoriya-kun, I understand having a great deal of attachment to your support items, much in the same way that a police officer or soldier might feel an attachment to their sidearm, but even they don't carry them all the time."
"And does Ectoplasm-sensei take his legs off when he's not being a hero?" Izuku shot back, eyes narrowing at the mystery mammal. Light seemed to dawn over the principal's face as he realized what his student meant, though he felt his heart sink.
"I think I see, Midoriya-kun. I should have paid more attention to the fact that you referred to them as 'prostheses' during our meeting this morning. You consider your gear your quirk, or at least, a replacement quirk, do you not?" Izuku nodded and Nezu gave him a patient smile, his own guts twisting up as he spoke. He knew the boy's condition, but it wasn't like he could expose it, and the constraints of the law were such that his paws were being forced.
"Midoriya-kun, while I can definitely understand that sentiment, it is very different from an actual prosthesis, in the same way that one could not wear one of Ectoplasm-sensei's legs over their own. You must realize that you cannot count your equipment as a replacement for a quirk you never had. You applied to this school registered as quirkless, after all." Nezu felt his own reassuring facade drop as Izuku slumped forward, eyes burning and shoulders beginning to shake. He gripped the fabric of his trousers tightly, knuckles turning white as he mumbled something incomprehensible, and Nezu leaned forward. "What was that, Midoriya-kun?" he inquired gently. Izuku's head shot up, and red rimmed eyes, puffy and desperate met beady black.
"I said, I know that I had a quirk once," he said, lips trembling at the admission. "I-I don't know h-how I know, a-and I know how it sounds, like s-some crazy f-f-freak defect dreaming about b-being normal, b-but it's the truth, and I know it is! It was a part of me," he clutched his chest, the pit in him yawning wide as a terrible emptiness blossomed behind his eyes. "And it's gone! I don't know how, if, if I b-broke it, or or or if something else did, but it, it was there, and it hurts every day, and when I use my prostheses, the g-gear, whatever, it almost lets me feel normal! You can't take away my legs again, n-not after I just started to learn to run!" The boy was crying now, breathing too fast, eyes wide in terror and beginning to glaze over.
"Oh dear," breathed Nezu as Aizawa rushed to his student, holding his shoulders as gently as he could. His eyes flashed red as he glanced up at the principal, anger mixing with naked worry as Izuku continued to hyperventilate, muttering all the while.
"If, if I g-g-go back to being q-quirkless, everyone here will h-h-hate me just like everyone else. They'll hurt me again, k-k-kill me this time! I won't, I hate it! It was supposed to be d-different here, not like Aldera! You c-c-can't take it away again, you can't!" Aizawa's capture weapon shot out, wrapping around Izuku and pinning his arms to his side in the tight cloth. The panic attack was in full swing now, and the boy fought hard against the restraints, the machine on his back beginning to hum ominously, gradually becoming higher and higher in pitch.
"Izuku!" shouted Mirio, slamming the door to the office open as he burst inside, small charges of white lightning grounding themselves into the carpet from his legs. At the sound of his friend's voice Izuku collapsed into the scarf, the whining of the machinery on his back ceasing as he passed out. Principal Nezu glanced at him briefly before rubbing the bridge of his snout thoughtfully. He made a sweeping gesture, indicating the open doorway.
"Recovery Girl's office, now please."
After a scolding from both Aizawa and Recovery Girl, Nezu had stayed by Izuku's bed in the infirmary looking thoughtful. Aizawa had been informed about the boy's past, naturally, and Recovery Girl had already known after he had brought the dossier to her for confirmation as to the legitimacy of the medical records. A quick X-Ray performed while Izuku was unconscious had revealed the lack of a joint in his toe, meaning that the original X-Ray they had on file had been doctored. Now, Mirio and the three adults were mulling over their best options with regard to the young student.
"He already suspects as much, he deserves to know that he's not imagining things," growled Aizawa, uncharacteristically protective. He was leaning against the wall opposite Izuku, scowling as he spoke. "Besides, technically this means that his support gear is classified as a prosthesis, though I'll be damned if there's a precedent for a prosthetic quirk."
"I agree with Aizawa-sensei," said Mirio. He was looking grave, seated across from Nezu and overlooking Izuku on the boy's left side. "It's wrong to keep something like this from him. He's suspected for years! It's the whole reason Sir was able to find out about All for One's return in the first place. Besides, it's not like he needs to know about everything. Just tell him a villain with a quirk that can take others stole his when he was young! He deserves at least that much." Recovery Girl was the next to speak, shaking her head as she did so.
"While I agree with the sentiment, the danger posed by letting the boy know about All for One is too great. Forget him trying to build these 'prostheses' of his, what if he tries to go and get his original quirk back? Do you have any idea what that kind of notion could do to him, could cause him to do? It's irresponsible at best, and negligent in the extreme. Telling him now will only hurt him in the long run."
"Excuse me, but I believe I have a solution which should help us in the interim." Nezu stood up on his chair so that he was eye level with the seated Mirio. "Technically speaking, if Midoriya's gear were to be classified as necessary for the use of his quirk, rather than as a separate support item, there would be no restrictions on its usage."
"We just went over how he doesn't have a quirk," droned Aizawa, passing a hand over his forehead and down his face. He contrived for all the world to look as done as possible with everyone present, but Nezu could sense his interest nonetheless.
"Quite so, quite so. But, perhaps the poor boy had only been misdiagnosed at an early age, and had, all this time, been manifesting something similar to High Spec?" Mirio's eyes widened, and Recovery Girl chortled from her desk.
"So you propose we cover a misdiagnosis with a misdiagnosis? You want to let the boy go thinking he had an intelligence quirk this whole time?"
"Goodness no, that would be unfair to poor Midoriya. He deserves to know that his work is his own, most definitely. No, I am proposing that we present this solution to him, as a way of bypassing those unfortunate regulations on support gear. He will think that we are knowingly offering him a loophole to exploit, bending the rules for him so to speak, while we will know the truth. So long as UA presents this excuse to any government busybodies that ask, all will be well."
"Except for where you are asking me to intentionally misdiagnose a patient." Recovery Girl was glowering, but Nezu had already begun to sink his claws in.
"Not so, dear Chiyo! I simply wish for you to update his medical records to indicate his more current X-Rays, and to state that we don't know what his quirk is, rather than him being listed as quirkless. After all, it is true we don't know what his original quirk is, so listing that formally should be no problem. In turn, I will explain the parameters of this, ah, arrangement to Young Midoriya, and everything else should be able to proceed as normal. If anyone really asks we'll suggest that we believe it to be some kind of undetectable intelligence quirk that lets him intuitively build technology, but we won't be able to give a definite answer." Mirio stared at him intently while the other two present gaped.
"So Midoriya can keep his gear?" he said, a challenge in his voice. Nezu smiled reassuringly.
"Yes, I should dare say we've navigated this particular sticky wicket. Though I'm afraid we may have more issues to deal with for Midoriya than I had previously anticipated. Chiyo, I think perhaps a bi-weekly session with Hound Dog might be in order."
"I'd put the poor dear there five days a week if he'd let me," she steamed.
"Put me where?" Asked Izuku groggily, opening his eyes and looking around. At the sight of the principal and his teacher standing together he began to tense again, only for the calming influence of Mirio's gentle grip on his shoulder to ground him quickly.
"We're glad to see you're awake, Midoriya-kun, and I have some good news to share with you!" chirped Nezu. "As well as an apology to offer." It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough to start to win back the boy's trust. And if what he had heard back in his office was true, it might also help if he took some time out to destroy a particular middle school as well.
It was always dark in his room, save for what was illuminated by the screens of various medical devices. It was usually quiet as well, besides the hiss and clicking of his life support. Tsubasa was surprised then, that in entering into the soft carpeted room there was music to be heard, wafting out from unseen speakers like incense in a cathedral. All for One seemed to sense his presence and turned his ponderous head, still a network of scar tissue despite his constant treatments, and raised a single digit to the space where lips should have been. Tsubasa waited for the music to conclude, then bowed his head.
"My apologies, Master, I had always thought you disdainful of such things." The ancient villain rasped from the bed, his equivalent of a chuckle.
"Dear doctor, I have always loved music, but I much prefer to read it than to listen to the nonsensical interpretations of mediocre practitioners. It seems that even that simple pleasure has been taken from me."
"If reading is your preference I could have some compositions transcribed in the braille code."
"That will be unnecessary, doctor. I have found myself less objectionable to the ministrations of others as of late." He gestured to the surrounding machines. "The soprano was adequate at least, but the strings left something to be desired." Tsubasa looked over to a darker corner of the abyssal room where a cello case leaned mournfully against a disused bookshelf.
"Was that Puccini, Master?" The doctor had previously used music as a distraction during his work, playing it in the operating theatre as he worked on the Nomus. Unfortunately, the images from the table had begun to appear whenever he listened to the pieces, even outside the surgical space, and he had cut himself off entirely from the music ever since.
"An early twenty first century rendition of 'Vissi D'Arte' from a Ukrainian opera company's rendition of Tosca ."
"Pre-quirk, then," mused Tsubasa as he performed the usual maintenance on the devices. His Master rumbled noncommittally, and left the doctor to his tasks. After several minutes of silence between them, the doctor making a few minor adjustments to the equipment, All for One spoke again.
"When you leave, doctor, I should like for you to do two things for me: first, if you would be so kind, I would like for you to secure a recording of Aida, but omit the second movement." Tsubasa nodded in understanding, and All for One offered a lipless smile. "Second, I would have you advance the production on a particular Nomu. Young Tomura wishes to make an attempt on my old enemy's life, and I have no problem with sacrificing a single specimen to the endeavour."
"The attempt itself could be dangerous for the boy, Master. Are there any other measures I could adopt to ensure his safety?" Again, the villain offered his not-laugh in response. It sounded wet, this time.
"No, doctor, Kurogiri will ensure his survival, and children often learn best from the pain of their failures. He has already learned well, the failings of this present moral law, and if he is better served by a demonstration of the unfailing law of history, so be it. I intend to allow him as many lessons as prove necessary for him to understand this."
"Yes, Master," said Tsubasa, inclining his head as he made for his retreat. "I shall have your recording within the hour."
"Very good, doctor, very good." He leaned back into the cushions of his bed, and after the doctor had left, spoke quietly to himself. "I lived for art, I lived for love...why, Lord, do you reward me thus?" He glanced towards the cello with eyes that could no longer see in any real detail, and sighed.
Rumbling to himself, he thought of the records the doctor had brought him on the Midoriya boy. He had been so sure that there would be some interesting developments there, even if only in his psychological profile, but as his machine had read out the papers, he had been surprised to find the boy surprisingly normal. Perhaps altogether too normal. If Tsubasa had been deceived by the records, it meant the boy was likely being protected somehow, that someone had taken an interest in the child. The thought that Tsubasa might be the one deceiving him never crossed his mind.
Smiling grimly, he sunk further into the bed, allowing the oxygen mask to saturate his lungs as much as it could. The Nomu he had dispatched would give him proof, one way or the other, about the boy.
After another moment of quiet contemplation, he selected a different piece of music from his catalogue of options, something awful from the hits of the past month. Hopefully, it would settle his mood more firmly. Behind the mass of flesh where his eyes should have been, his quirks screamed, and All for One rejoiced in their chorus.