Chapter 5: "Now Then, Eat This"
After a frantic explanation, that Hatsume only made more difficult when she started talking about making babies which led to another round of Yagi-Sensei barfing blood, Izuku was able to clear up the misunderstanding and introduce his new friend/business partner/source of headaches. Toshinori then pulled Izuku to the side and asked him what he thought should be done about the girl. He had his own ideas but he figured he'd see what the boy thought, almost like a Pseudo test to let him get a feel for the boy, the more he understood him the better after all.
"Honestly I say let her stick around, it's clear that she's going to get into UA and she's not getting in the way by being here. It's not a bad idea to make connections before the year even starts." Said Izuku before looking over to Hatsume, who was happily tinkering with that grappling gadget she'd demonstrated beforehand. "Even if she seems a bit odd, I can tell she's a good person."
Yagi-Sensei chuckled. "Oh trust me my boy, all support gear inventors are like that. I still remember how I met my old friend David while I was in America."
That piqued Izuku's fanboyistic interest. "The world famous inventor David Shield? The man who designed your various costumes over the years?!" He asked, eyes practically sparkling.
Toshinori's chuckle was even louder than the previous one. "You would know about him wouldn't you? Hero fanboy you are. Though trust me when I say he was a real wildcard when we were younger. Man saw a guy with a super strength Quirk so strong that the backlash destroyed his clothes and his first reaction was to practically drag him into his car before he could be arrested for indecent exposure and drive off to his home. I woke up the next day with the alpha version of my Golden Age costume ready for testing." Izuku could see his idol smile fondly at the memory. He had to admit, that was a pretty funny story. "The point is, my boy, you don't find your support engineer, they find you."
Izuku nodded his head to the lesson. "Thank you, Sensei, I can tell that Hatsume is very skilled, I'm excited to see what she'll make once she has access to what UA has to offer." He smiled fondly at the girl as she continued to work hard, practically numb to the world around her.
"Oh? Do these old eyes deceive me or does my successor seem to have some interest in Young Hatsume?" Asked Toshinori, a smirk on his face.
Izuku blinked before looking up at his mentor with a look of… honestly coming up with a word to describe the emotions on his face was probably impossible. "Sensei, that's ridiculous! Hatsume and I literally just met! Yes she was a bit… up in my personal space the first time you saw us together but I swear it's not like that!" He said, frantically trying to shut down whatever ideas Yagi-Sensei was forming in his head. "Besides, I think we both know that the idea of a girl ever having interest in me is more than a little unrealistic."
Toshinori couldn't help but frown at that. "Wait, what do you mean by that?" He asked, concerned now.
Either Izuku didn't hear the question or he simply chose not to answer it as he looked back towards Hatsume, a sad smile on his face. "It's just… nice to meet a girl my age who hears about what my goals are and her first reaction isn't belittling me…"
"Does that… normally happen?" Asked Yagi, becoming increasingly worried.
"Sensei, how many Quirkless people do you see these days? How many do you think there are?" Asked Izuku, not looking at him.
"Eh? W-well, we both know that twenty percent of humanity is-"
"And how much of that twenty percent consists of people from my generation?" Asked Izuku with a sigh, taking a deep breath as he tried to keep himself calm.
"Young Midoriya, what are you saying?"
"The day I met you, one of my classmates had told me I should take a swan dive off a roof and hope I get a Quirk in my next life, and then on my way out of school I saw my teacher talk to that same student and the friends he had had with him as he congratulated them on completing their 'extra credit'."
"What?" Toshinori's voice was flat, the man at a complete loss for words. Then his eyes widened as he realized something. "Wait, and the day we met-"
"Don't." Izuku cut him off. "Just… don't, Yagi-Sensei. I definitely did consider it for a moment, but I didn't make that choice, and you came to apologize to me later. It's in the past and I just want to move on."
He was caught off guard when he was pulled into a hug by his mentor. "Even so, I still want to apologize for the things I said back then. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it…"
Izuku said nothing, instead accepting the hug quietly, his arms hanging at his sides.
"Let's… get back to the original topic, we still need to talk to Hatsume." He eventually said.
That's when Toshinori remembered that it wasn't just the two of them there, much to his embarrassment. Though when he looked over at Hatsume, it seemed like the girl had ignored them completely. She was dedicated to her work, wasn't she? "Of course, Young Midoriya." Replied the Number One Hero.
Eventually the two were able to work something out with Hatsume, she was free to go through anything that Izuku carried to the pickup truck to keep for her inventions, and Izuku could continue his training unimpeded.
As the afternoon came to a close, All Might bid the two farewell as they all went their own ways, though before Young Midoriya went home, Toshinori made sure to get the name of his school out of him.
With a fire in his eyes, he rang up a certain principal. "Nedzu, we need to talk."
"So, would you be willing to explain why exactly you called this meeting, All Might?" Asked Class 1-A teacher Shouta Aizawa, giving the sickly blond a tired look, to his sides were Hizashi Yamada and Nemuri Kayama, his friends that Aizawa seemed too Tsundere to acknowledge as such, if Toshinori was to understand it correctly. They'd all apparently attended UA together when they were trainees.
All Might shook his head. Focus. "I'll keep things as straightforward as possible, a couple months back I found a student, a personal one that I'm currently training, who plans to attend UA next year."
Aizawa seemed to actually scoff at that. "What, some bright eyed brute with a flashy Quirk who punches first and asks questions second? I'm guessing you called this meeting to do something as illogical as send him a recommendation letter?"
Toshinori's years of media training allowed him to avoid rolling his eyes. Aizawa certainly wasn't shy about making how he felt about him known. "No, actually. The boy is an incredibly smart individual with an eye for Quirks and analysis that would make those with intelligence Quirks blush. The reason I'm training him is because he's not capable of using his Quirk yet."
This seemed to catch the attention of the faculty. "What do you mean by that? He's Quirkless?" Asked Class 1-B teacher Sekijiro Kan.
Toshinori shook his head. "According to his official documents? Yes, though I believe this to be a misdiagnosis. For context, I'm going to reveal a secret or two about my own Quirk. See, my Quirk is more than a simple strength enhancer, it's a power stockpiler, one that had such a high stockpile that I couldn't use it for the longest time growing up."
"What are you saying, All Might?" Asked Midnight, wanting to make sure she was understanding the situation properly.
"I spent the first fifteen years of my life mislabeled as 'Quirkless,' a label that only went away after I happened to build up my body to become strong enough to use my Quirk." Replied All Might, much to the shock of his future coworkers. "Now, that may have been three decades ago during an era when Quirklessness wasn't as discriminated against, but you can imagine what kind of life my student has had to lead thus far. And to anyone planning to ask, yes I am certain that my student holds the same type of Quirk, I know that signs. Frankly, even Quirkless the boy has the brains and drive to be a hero."
"How bad an upbringing are we talkin' here pardner?" Asked Snipe. It never failed to impress Toshinori how much the gunslinger managed to pull off a western accent while speaking Japanese.
"The other day he told me a story about how one of his teachers rewarded some of his classmates with extra credit for throwing one of his notebooks on Quirk analysis out the window before telling him to kill himself." Said Toshinori flatly.
After he said that, the room became so silent one could hear a pin drop.
"Name." Came a voice that had yet to speak during this meeting.
"Inui?" Asked Vlad King, looking over to his coworker, the school's counselor Hound Dog.
"Gimme a damn name to the school that allowed such vile teacherrrs to worrrk therrre!" Snarled Ryo Inui, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. "I'm gonna burrrn it to the damn grrround!" The dog man became so angry that the rest of what he said devolved into a series of barks with the occasional understandable word thrown in.
"So no, the reason I called this meeting wasn't for something along the lines of 'favoritism' like you seemed to assume, Aizawa, it was because I plan to sic' Nedzu onto Aldera Middle School. Hound Dog isn't the only one who wants to watch that dumpster heap of a school burn." Explained Toshinori. Aizawa probably would've been more annoyed about being called out like that if he wasn't so focused on planning how he'd choke the life from the teacher he'd just heard about.
A chuckle from Nezu caught everyone's attention. "I must say All Might, you've piqued my interest. Both when it comes to this student of yours as well as you being so generous as to grant me a Quirkist establishment to bring to ruin." Toshinori had to admit, his future boss was scary. "I'll look into Aldera, uncovering the crimes of the faculty so that they can all be ruined sounds like a positively delightful way to spend my time. In the meantime, please tell me more about this student of yours, what you said about his intelligence piqued my interest."
Why did Toshinori feel like he just sold the boy's soul to the devil…?
Izuku grunted as he tossed the old tire into the back of the truck before using his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. His lungs felt like they were on fire after an afternoon of dragging all this junk around. He was definitely making progress though, more than half the beach was cleaned at this point.
"Hey! Hey! Greeeen! I found something good in this pile! Do here next!" Izuku let out an exasperated sigh, a smile on his face as he turned towards the source of the voice, seeing Hatsume standing at the peak of a trash mountain. After three months she was still as high energy about material gathering for baby making as she ever was.
It'd taken Izuku at least two of those months to be able to use that term without his face turning red. He really had no experience with girls did he?
"Stop moving around up there! You're gonna bring the whole thing down like a house of cards!" He called as he jogged her way.
"Well then why don't you stop being so slow!?" Countered Hatsume as she crouched down and started pulling on something in the heap. "I need this piece for my latest baby, and if you're not gonna get it for me, then I'll just have to get it myself!"
Izuku picked up the pace. "Hey, hold on, the agreement was that I take care of pulling stuff." He called to her as he approached the base of the mountain. "Quit it, that's dangerous!"
"Relaaax, it'll be fine!" Grunted Hatsume between tugs. "Besides… you can't… get results… without taking risks!" With one last tug, she yanked the piece free from the pile, standing triumphantly at the peak of the mountain while holding her prize in the air just as Izuku reached the base. "Haha, success! See, you worried over nothi- woah." Izuku didn't even have time to breathe a sigh of relief at nothing going wrong before something did, in fact, go wrong.
His eyes widened as the trash mountain started to tremble, preparing to come down just like Izuku was worried it would. "Crap crap crap…" He muttered under his breath as he looked around before quickly moving his feet. "Hatsume, jump this way!" He shouted.
"Eh?" Hatsume turned towards where Izuku stood, holding out his arms in a clearing.
Now, to any sane or rational person, what Izuku was suggesting would be absolutely insane foolishness.
Which of course meant that in the mind of Mei Hatsume, this plan was completely rational. She took a step and then leapt as far as her inventor legs could take her.
Izuku was able to quickly calculate her trajectory and then his legs moved on their own. Pink collided with green and the pair went down as Hatsume practically landed on him just before the mountain came crashing down completely. Izuku grunted from his position on the ground, he was going to have to work on his footing in the future, that catch left something to be desired since he let the impact knock him over. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he couldn't see anything. He could however feel something soft on… his… face…
Wait a minute.
Just then, the world regained light as Hatsume used her arms to prop herself up, a smile still plastered on her face, completely unbothered as she pulled her chest away from his face. "Woo! That was fun!" She said with a laugh as she got off of him.
Izuku blinked as he stared at the sky, his brain currently going through a system reboot as it tried to process what just happened. "Thanks for the catch Green, you make for a great crash pad!" Said Hatsume with a thumbs up.
Izuku sighed as he decided to sit up, having enough of that crisis for the moment. "Hatsume, do you even remember my name?" He asked, looking over at the girl tiredly as she examined the piece she'd collected.
Hatsume turned to look at him, smiling and blinking, before responding. "Of course I remember your name! It's… uh… Izuju Akaya?"
'So close, yet so far…' Izuku shook his head. "Green it is." He said with a sigh. "Anything hurt?"
Hatsume gave herself a quick pat down. "Mmm… nope, don't think any of my babies broke on the way down." She replied.
"I mean are you injured anywhere?" He clarified with a sigh.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." She seemed to care a lot more about her babies than about her own well being.
"Just try to be more careful, we're lucky I was able to catch you but imagine what would've happened if I'd been too far away."
Hatsume scoffed as she turned around and started walking towards the truck with her newest material. "Please, I knew it'd be fine, you said you're gonna be the hero who saves everyone, right?"
Izuku was actually thrown off by that. "You can't remember my name but you remember that?" He asked, more than a little surprised.
Hatsume didn't respond, instead she simply kept walking while humming to herself as she started making plans for how best to use her latest findings.
Time flew by from there, more months and more than a couple more incidents came and went, until it was time for the entrance exams. Toshinori got out of the car he'd driven to Takoba, the sun just coming over the horizon. Inko Midoriya got out from the other side, they'd both come to pick Izuku up for the exam. Hatsume couldn't come, she had her own exam to prepare for.
"I'm surprised that he was willing to cut it this close." Admitted Inko as they walked towards the beach.
"It was a lot of trash, and your son decided to really go beyond when it came to cleaning." Admitted Toshinori with a proud grin.
Inko chuckled. "Yes, that certainly sounds like Izuku."
Toshinori would've said something, but the sound of yelling caught their attention, a loud scream coming from the beach.
"That sounds like Izuku…" Said Inko. The two exchanged a glance before they both ran towards the beach.
They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw what was waiting for them there. Izuku was standing atop a pile of garbage, the light of dawn reflecting off the sweat coating his body as he screamed in triumph. The adults looked around them, every last piece of trash was picked up, down to the smallest piece of litter. Takoba hadn't looked this good in a long, long time.
"Oh… my… goodness!" Declared Toshinori as he turned into All Might before moving to catch Izuku as he swayed and fell off the final trash pile he'd gathered up.
"Well done young Midoriya!" Said All Might proudly as he carried his successor. "Take all the time you need to catch your breath, you've earned it!"
Izuku chuckled weakly. "I… did it… Yagi-Sensei…"
"Indeed you have, this was an incredible feat for a boy your age, I have nothing but respect for the work you've put in!" Declared the pro as Inko finally caught up to them. He put Izuku down gently so that Inko could have a moment to hug her exhausted son. "You've become a bona fide vessel, all that's left now is the entrance exams." All Might reached up and plucked a hair from his head.
The mother and son looked up at him as he held the strand of hair in his hand. "Take heart kid, you've earned this power, you're officially the ninth wielder of One for All."
"Thank you… All Might…" Said Izuku with a smile.
"Now then, eat this." Said All Might.
There was a beat of silence.
"Eh?" Asked both parent and son.
"The uh… Quirk requires the successor to take in the DNA of the predecessor." Admits All Might while scratching the back of his head. "This is the least weird way to go about it that I can think of, my mentor did the same kind of thing. And we're on a time crunch, we need to get going if Young Midoriya's gonna make it to the exams."
Izuku stared at the hair in All Might's hand for a moment before sighing and reaching out with his own.
It tasted really gross.
Chapter 6: 'Ooor maybe this is the epilogue to the story of how I died like an idiot…'
Izuku had to admit to himself as Yagi-Sensei's truck rolled up to UA, the place looked intimidating, and he wasn't even inside yet. It'd been a couple hours since he'd eaten the hair, but he hadn't felt anything yet…
"Izuku, we're here." Izuku was pulled from his thoughts as he looked at his mom and Yagi-Sensei, who were both looking at him over their shoulders from the front seats. He looked around and realized that the truck wasn't moving anymore. "O-oh, we are. I guess I'll be going then…" He said as he climbed out of the truck, holding tight to his backpack. Once he was out, he slung the bag onto his back.
"Izuku." The boy's attention was pulled towards his mom's voice again, who was looking at him from inside the car. "I love you sweetie." She said with a soft smile. From next to her, Izuku could see Yagi-Sensei giving him a thumbs up and a grin.
Izuku gave a weak smile. "Thanks mom, love you too." He said before closing the door behind him.
"Yeah yeah, see you around old hag!" At the same time, Izuku heard a familiar voice from behind him followed by the slamming of a car door. He turned around, and wound up bumping into Kacchan, causing both of them to stumble backwards into their respective cars. "Deku? The hell…?" Kacchan's confused questioning was cut short as he suddenly narrowed his eyes in realization. He and Izuku turned to look at Mitsuki Bakugou giving them a grin and a thumbs up from her seat, before looking at Inko, who was giving them a much more polite looking smile. Katsuki sighed and face palmed. "Let's just fucking go already. Cheesy fuckin' geezers…" He muttered to himself under his breath as he walked away, adjusting his scarf as he tried to preserve as much warmth as possible so that his Quirk would be ready to roll for the physical exams.
Izuku chuckled as he followed after him. He decided to take in the view, UA was a sight to behold after all, this was the school his idol, now mentor, learned to be a hero at after all. 'This is it,' He thought to himself as he almost spun around while walking, wanting to see the entire yard. He's a fan boy, so sue him. 'This is the next chapter in my story to becoming the number one hero.' And then he tripped on his own feet. 'Ooor maybe this is the epilogue to the story of how I died like an idiot…' He thought to himself as he fell towards the ground, only to notice that the fall had abruptly stopped. And that someone was touching his arm.
He slowly turned his head to see a cute girl with brown hair and pink cheeks smiling at him as she then used her hands to orient himself upright. He looked down to see himself floating in the air. Some sort of gravity removal Quirk? She then brought her hands up, touching the fingertips of both hands together. "Aaand, release!"
Izuku immediately felt the sensation of gravity return, and he managed to land on his feet this time without falling over like a fool. The cute girl giggled. "Sorry about using my Quirk on you without asking, but I figured you'd appreciate it if I kept you from falling." She explained. Izuku opened his mouth and then closed it. The girl then turned and pumped a fist into the air. "Alright then, let's go ace those tests, best of luck!" She then jogged away into the school.
Izuku continued to stare as she left. 'Wow, that's the second girl I've talked to that was actually nice to me…' He thought to himself.
"I don't think it really counts if you don't say anything kiddo."
"Oh hush Fifth, let him have this!"
'No, what he said is fair… wait, what?' Izuku blinked in confusion as he realized that he just responded to voices that spoke inside his head. He frantically looked around to see if someone might be using a telepathy Quirk or something.
"Wait, what?"
"Wait, can you hear us!?"
"Well, this is an interesting development…"
'Oh my god… I'm having a breakdown before the test even starts…' Thought Izuku as he put a hand over his eyes. But doing so finally let him put faces to the voices in his head. Eight figures, floating in the darkness as he closed his eyes… almost like… ghosts. Each of them seemed to be a different color too, almost like a photographic filter.
There was a purple one with a large jacket that obscured some of his face, his short dark hair parting twice around his narrow eyes.
An orange bald one that wore a pair of goggles, he had a large muscular body with an open jacket and a bandolier over his otherwise bare chest.
A green one with pale hair that parted from his forehead. He had two large scars, almost like cracks over his face.
There was a red one, but Izuku couldn't see his face, as he had his back to him, he could see that his hair was tied up in a sort of spiky ponytail.
There was a blue one that also had his back turned to Izuku, his spiky hair immediately brought memories of Kacchan to his mind.
There was a white one that looked pale as a ghost, his wavy hair covering one of his eyes, he wore loose clothing, he seemed the most… unalive looking of all the spirits.
There were two more, a golden one who lacked any solid features, almost like he wasn't all there, but his hairstyle reminded Izuku of Yagi-Sensei, and the other was… Nimbus?
Wait… eight? Didn't All Might say…
'Oh my god One for All is haunted.'
That seemed to be the right thing to say because it earned him a few chuckles.
"Well that's not an entirely inaccurate description of our situation if we're being honest here."
'Why didn't Yagi-Sensei say anything about this?' Izuku had to admit, he felt like this was the sorta thing you shared with your successor before you gave him your haunted Quirk, not after.
"That's because Toshinori didn't know, isn't that right Eighth?"
Nimbus nodded towards the yellow spectre who frantically gave apologetic bows to Izuku. It seems that they could sense his confusion because one of them decided to clarify.
"Eighth can't speak, he probably won't become whole until his living self passes on."
Something about the thought of All Might dying made Izuku's stomach churn. Nimbus smacked the orange one, Fifth he was fairly certain he'd been referred to as, on the back of his head.
"Show a little more tact man."
"What, I'm just saying it like it is Seventh!"
Before Izuku could hear any more of their argument, a voice brought him back to reality. "Are you going to go in or just keep standing there with your eyes closed like a weirdo?"
Izuku's eyes snapped open and he whirled around to see the person standing behind him. He'd been so spaced out that he had let his guard down! Though rather than waste time chastising himself, he decided to see who he was dealing with. A guy with serious eye bags, a messy head of indigo hair, and a pretty scrawny frame. Izuku felt his finger twitch, a little on edge from being approached by someone his own age again, though this one seemed far less friendly than the gravity girl. At the very least his body language didn't seem all that hostile, he simply stood there with a raised eyebrow.
"…Sorry, it was a Quirk thing, I guess I let the stress get to me." He decided to say, not really the truth but far from a lie either. The tired guy simply blinked at him before shaking his head and walking past him.
"That was weird."
Izuku practically jumped into the air. 'That's going to take getting used to…' He decided before turning to see the boy walking away. 'But I think he was just trying to help. Makes sense if he's trying to get into UA, it is a hero school after all.'
"You should probably get going yourself Izuku, wouldn't want you to miss the exam."
'Right.' Izuku jogged into the school while still occasionally engaging in back and forths with the vestiges.
As he found his seat for the written portion, Izuku found the time to get to learn a little bit more about the voices in his Quirk.
First was Yoichi Shigaraki, a sickly man who was rescued from unjust imprisonment by Second and Third.
Second and Third refused to share their true names. Or, more accurately they refused to even really interact with Izuku at all, First explained that they're just from an older era, the dark age of Quirks in fact, and they were struggling to accept Izuku as the Ninth. They barely tolerated All Might honestly and Izuku didn't see himself filling those shoes any time soon. First assured him that they'd come around eventually, and that they just had very different opinions from the others when it came to the concepts of Quirks and Heroes.
Fourth was Hikage Shinomori, his Quirk when he was alive had been called Danger Sense, a sort of sixth sense that lets the user know when danger is coming their way. It was up to the user to figure out the details of the danger though, and apparently it'd been pretty mediocre before he received One for All, which practically supercharged it into what Fifth liked to call, "Super Anxiety." Izuku was shocked to learn that the man was only forty when he died, he looked much older after all. He grimly explained that the human body couldn't handle having multiple Quirks, it caused his body to slowly destroy itself. He had been on death's door when he passed it on to his successor.
Speaking of his successor, Firth was named Daigoro Banjo, also known as the pro hero Lariat in life. His Quirk was called Black Whip, allowing him to create and control tendrils made from a sort of dark energy. Really useful for mobility even before he got One for All. His death had been caused by rubble crushing his body during a fight against a powerful villain, deciding to pass the Quirk on to Sixth to keep it from dying with him.
Six's name was En Tayutai. Quirk, Smokescreen. It let him generate a purple smoke from his body that obscured the vision of those around him, as well as himself. He claims that it wasn't the flashiest Quirk, but it helped him in his time as the Underground Hero Gaen. Izuku argued against the claim that Smokescreen was bad, he rapid fire listed off numerous uses for the Quirk to support those claims, which seemed to flatter the vestige, and amuse Seventh at the same time. Honestly all the vestiges seemed impressed by Izuku's sudden analysis, even Second and Third if their body language was any indication.
Izuku was already familiar with the pro hero Nimbus and her Quirk. She explained that Sixth gave the Quirk to her after being grievously wounded by a villain. He was surprised to learn that she met Yagi-Sensei when he was Izuku's age, a crazy Quirkless Kid trying to fight off thugs using nothing but a metal pipe and dreams to become a symbol of peace. Izuku was shocked to learn that Yagi-Sensei had been Quirkless once upon a time, but it did explain how he managed to live as long as he had without One for All killing him…
She'd also been the first user to actually choose a successor in advance rather than pass the Quirk on in a moment of desperation. The tradeoff being that she got to watch her own body die through the eyes of what had essentially become her adopted son. Izuku's heart bled for the woman, but there was something that had been bugging him.
'Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh all died at the hands of a villain, and First, Second, and Third haven't told me how they died either… What villain killed you?'
"One that you won't have to worry about, because All Might dealt with him."
'But who was he? Either you can tell me or Yagi-Sensei will, so please don't dance around the subject.' Said Izuku. First looked like he was about to say something when Seventh cut in.
"Looks like the test is about to start Izuku, we don't have time to go into the story now, but tell you what? If you do really well then we'll explain, ok?"
Izuku felt like he was being treated like a small child but he decided to relent. He could stress over this kind of thing later. 'Fine, one last question then. You seem fine referring to me by my name, same with Yagi-Sensei for that matter, but when it comes to his vestige and the rest of you, you seem insistent on sticking to your numerical nicknames. Why?'
There was a moment of silence amongst the vestiges, before one spoke up.
"Because your predecessors are gone, we're just the memories they left behind.
"…Geez kid, I knew you were smart but that was just absurd."
Izuku couldn't help but smile at the compliment as he sat, alone, in the waiting room for those who had finished the exam early. 'Thanks Fifth, but it wasn't anything special, I just put in the work studying.'
"Izuku, there's a difference between 'putting in the work studying,' and 'being able to finish the test twenty minutes early even after answering those last ten questions that I'm pretty sure wouldn't be on the final exam for a college student.'"
Izuku turned his head, as if he was trying to avoid eye contact with the voices in his Quirk, earning him some amused chuckles. Look, even after training with All Might for ten months, that didn't erase the eleven years he spent being belittled by adults.
"That's kinda sad kid."
'Are you always going to be reading my thoughts at any given time?' Asked Izuku drily.
"No, thankfully Second figured out how to sort of… block everything out in order to give the current user privacy."
'Well that's good. Don't get me wrong I enjoy talking to you all but I'm still a teenager who enjoys privacy.' Replied Izuku before his eyes narrowed. 'And Fifth if you try to make a crude joke out of that I will pass One for All to someone else.'
The only response he got was the sound of the bald vestige blowing a raspberry in his mind.
"As amusing as this is, it's good that you've finished early Izuku, we can use this to our advantage to show you how to properly activate One for All."
"Preferably without you accidentally turning your bones into oatmeal."
'Eh?' Asked Izuku. 'Wait, didn't Yagi-Sensei say that I was a proper vessel now?'
There was a feeling of unease, a feeling Izuku could attribute to Eighth.
"Your body might be strong enough to hold One for All without exploding, but you're nowhere near tough enough to be able to effectively use it the same way All Might does. Maybe you could handle throwing a single punch and that arm would only suffer severe muscle tearing. Maybe. But any more than that and the bones would shatter."
'Why didn't Yagi-Sensei warn me about that!?'
"Unfortunately it's another case of Toshinori not knowing better. He was already taller than me when we first met despite being the same age as you back then, not to mention the Quirk was almost thirty five years younger and didn't go through the severe training that was his hero career, You'll need to become a lot stronger before you can handle One for All at its full power."
"Also, 'clench your buttcheeks and yell 'Smash' from the depths of your heart' are very, very lousy instructions."
Well Izuku was glad that Fifth found it funny. At least Eighth had the decency to look apologetic about his living self's instructions. 'You said that I'm currently unable to handle One for All's "full power," implying that there's a way for me to handle some of the power, right?'
"Heh, kid catches on quick."
Izuku nodded his head, glad that he was understanding the situation so far. "So then, what do I do?'
"First, you need to take a deep breath and loosen your body up, become as relaxed as possible."
Izuku followed First's instructions, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. Once he allowed himself to relax, he slowly felt a spark of energy flow through his body. He twitched a little at the sensation, but continued to let himself be relaxed.
"Can you feel it? That's One for All, though only a small fraction of the power. Now you're going to manifest that power on your own. Slowly though, start from zero and slowly go up."
Izuku nodded his head and closed his eyes. Remembering the feeling of that spark, he did his best to recreate it within himself. The spark that came for was far much more intense this time, if the first had been a small jolt of static electricity, then this was like a trip to the electric chair.
"Don't get distracted by metaphor's Izuku. Feel out the power, see if you can get a measure of it. Sense the full potential, then take from it a small percentage and let it flow through you."
First sounded a lot more intense when he was giving instructions to be honest, though Izuku could still feel the gentle wispiness in his voice as well.
Izuku focused, he tried imagining One for All's stockpile of power like a large lake, and he was simply going to take a small handful of it out. Once he scooped out about one percent of the 'water,' he began to hear a crackling sound of electricity. His eyes opened to see green lightning dancing across his body through his clothes. He could hear sounds of cheer and congratulations coming from within his mind. It was nice having a support system in the back of his head.
"Now we're gonna have you try moving. Do it slowly though, we don't want to risk something breaking."
Izuku nodded as he stood up. He decided to go through a few of the stretches he would do whenever he warmed up before his training. Huh, now that he thought about it, he hadn't had the chance to go through his old routine since the day before he met All Might.
"Focus Izuku."
'Sorry.'
"Alright, let's start increasing the power, continue to let it flow through your body and keep going higher. We need to see what your upper limit is."
'Right.'
After some more trial and error, Izuku was able to find his upper limit, a percentage where he could move while One for All caused a level of strain without risking any debilitating damage. The comedic irony came in what that percentage was.
"Nine percent. Nine! Of course. That's hilarious."
He may be loud, but Izuku appreciated Fifth's sense of humor. Maybe less so the universe making jokes at his expense but he supposed he could take the small mercies he'd been granted thus far. But for now he needed to tune the vestiges out so he could focus on Present Mic's explanation of the physical exam. He wasn't sure how he felt about having to fight robots. Definitely useful to use as punching bags that could be rapidly taken out by those with flashy Quirks that were good for offensive moves or general creativity, but against someone with a more subtle or mental Quirk it'd be a far greater challenge. Thankfully Izuku was confident that his Quirk would be able to-
"Are you trying to sabotage us?!" Izuku was pulled from his thoughts by the shouts of a boy his age. He turned to look at the boy in question, trying not to notice that everyone else's eyes were on them.
'Was I-?'
"Mumbling all of that out loud? Yes, yes you were."
'Dammit.'
"Do you think that such tactics would be acceptable at such an august institution?!" The blue haired, bespectacled boy continued his badgering. "If so then I suggest you just leave!"
Izuku was feeling bad about causing a disturbance with his muttering, he really wished Kacchan could've done something to shut him up, but now he was just feeling pissed as he stood up to the boy. "I was trying to strategize for the test, until your shouting distracted me and interrupted Present Mic. So if anyone is committing sabotage, it's you." He snapped back. Katsuki let out an amused huff from the seat next to him. Other test takers voiced their amusement towards the taller teen, though they were treated mostly as background noise.
The boy seemed to actually take in what he said. After a moment he bowed to Izuku, much to his surprise. "You're right, it seems I let the stress of the test get to me and wound up lashing out at you, I apologize!"
Izuku stared for a moment before sighing. "It's fine, I need to get a better handle on my muttering. Let's just sit down and let Present Mic finish his explanation of the test." The boy bowed again before both of them sat back down.
After a moment, an unfamiliar voice spoke up in the back of his mind.
"Credit where it's due kid, you at least have enough spine to not take what others say lying down."
"Holy shit, he speaks!"
'Second? Or was that Third?'
Izuku got no response from the unfamiliar voice, so another spoke in his stead.
"That was Second, I suppose that display was enough to earn a little of his respect, which from him says a lot more than what I've heard from him in a long time."
Izuku digested that for a second before responding. 'Thanks, Second.'
The vestige didn't respond.
As Izuku boarded the bus to take them to the exam site, he shot a quick text to Hatsume wishing her luck with the special exam for the Support Course. Honestly a thumbs up emoji was more of a response than he was expecting from the girl.
Speaking of girls, Izuku noticed the gravity girl who had helped him before. He was tempted to go talk to her, but she seemed like she was busy warming herself up and frankly he should be doing the same. Everyone moved to get into position at the starting line as they awaited the exam's beginning. Izuku breathed in through his nose as he called upon Nine Percent of One for All. His skin became a light show as his veins practically began to glow and green lightning danced across his body.
The sound of Present Mic's voice could be heard by all the students, no loud speaker required when his Quirk made him into a walking megaphone. "Ready? And START!" Izuku paused for only a half second before his reflexes caught up and he took off, practically a green blur as he made his way into the fake city.
Behind him he could hear Present Mic's voice talk to the other examinees. "WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? THERE AREN'T COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE!"
Soon after that, he came across his first robot, a one-pointer. 'Here goes nothing…' He grit his teeth, leapt at the robot, reared his arm back, and, "SMASH!" Obliterated its face with a single punch. He examined his handiwork before squeezing his fist a few times. The skin on his knuckles stung a little, he was definitely going to need to invest in gloves for his hero costume.
"Let's try and see if you can stick to kicks for now"
Izuku liked Seventh's idea, his shoes protected the skin of his feet. And besides, he had legs, he might as well use them.
"Watch your left."
Izuku turned to put his fist through another bot, but a laser fired from the stomach of one of the other examinees beat him to the literal punch. "Merci, the distraction was much appreciated, Adieu!" Said the blond boy before taking off. Izuku let himself get distracted. He quickly slapped his cheeks with his hands before focusing again.
It became a whirlwind of metal from there, Izuku ripping and tearing through robots as if they were made of cardboard rather than metal. It seemed like the only one who could even keep pace with him was the loud one from before. It seemed his Quirk involved having engines in his calves that granted him enhanced speed and kicking power. Izuku hoped he passed just so he'd get a chance to analyze his Quirk.
"Don't space out you Quirk nerd. You're just barely ahead with forty nine points, Toshinori got a hundred and eight during his exam."
'Seriously!?' Asked Izuku as he jogged away from the wreckage from his latest destroyed robot. 'How the heck did he manage to get so many so quickly…?' He wondered to himself. Though any answer that his predecessors gave was drowned out by the sound of a rumbling that shook the entire examination site. Izuku looked upwards to see the absolute unit that was casting a shadow over him and the rest of the test taker.
"What… the fuck?"
Izuku was pretty sure that was the first time he heard Sixth ever curse. He couldn't say he blamed him given the fact that they were being confronted by a robot that towered over all the other buildings.
"Crap, this is way above your weight class kid, let's dip and see if we can find some more points somewhere else. You heard that guy's explanation, this thing's just a hurdle. A very, very large hurdle."
'Right.' Replied Izuku, turning to leave the area. Unlike the other students, he was actually managing to maintain his composure. That composure was quickly lost however when a sound of pain reached his ears. His head turned and his eyes landed on a familiar sight of brown hair. The gravity girl was on the ground, trying to pull herself free from some rubble that had fallen on her thanks to one of the Zero Pointer's attacks. And it was slowly getting closer to her.
Izuku was pretty sure the vestiges were saying something, but it was tuned out as once again, Izuku's body moved on its own. He could hear the shouts of the vestiges within him, much like he could hear the shouts of the heroes that last time he ran headfirst into danger, but just like it had been in the past with Kacchan, he paid them no mind. Everything was drowned out by the fact that someone right in front of him, someone who had shown consideration and kindness to him, was in danger right in front of him. He couldn't do nothing, that wasn't who he was, who he wanted to be.
As he ran, his brain began to work into overdrive. Pulling her out would injure her worse. Digging her out would take too long. Even if he did manage to get her clear, the Zero Pointer would still be a threat to them as they got away, not to mention that other examinees might be in danger. He'd need to get rid of that thing. Impacting it from the bottom would just push it back, or even force it to fall on top of them. No, if he wanted to make sure she was safe, there was only one option.
Right as he moved past the girl, he allowed One Hundred Percent of One for All to be charged through his legs, before he crouched and leapt into the sky, leaving a crater behind in the ground and clearing away all the dust that the Zero Pointer had kicked up.
He transferred One for All from his legs into his right arm, rearing it back the same way he'd done with his first ever Smash, only this one carried far more weight. Then, from the depths of his heart, he shouted, "SMAAASH!" And caved in the face of the Zero Pointer.
Chapter 7: 'That's what it means to be a hero.'
For those brief few seconds after Izuku smashed the Zero Pointer, it felt like he had been floating in the air. But soon enough the tunnel vision he had developed in his attempt to protect everyone finally cleared away and gravity finally reclaimed its hold on him as he began to fall towards the ground. Now he probably might've been able to use One for All to reorient himself, there was just one minor problem. The bones in his legs and his right arm were broken.
"I thought you said his limbs could handle a single One Hundred Percent usage Sixth?!"
"I said that they might be able to. Might. And not without heavy muscle damage either way. I didn't think he'd test that theory in the worst way imaginable."
'I'm falling.' Thought Izuku as he saw the ground get closer to his body.
"Really? I didn't notice. Honestly, over a hundred years of fighting that megalomaniacal bastard and One for All's snuffed out because some naïve brat decided to play hero."
"Shut up Third."
"Note the lack of a counter argument."
"Shut the fuck up Third."
'Right, you're not helping.' Thought Izuku as he swung his good arm, using the momentum to reorient himself to be facing downwards before he began to charge One for All through his remaining functional limb. 'I'll have to use another Smash to stop my fall right before I'm splattered.' He heard a scoff.
"Hope four broken limbs was a good trade for some girl you just met."
'If I see someone in front of me who's in trouble, I'll shatter every bone in my body if it means I can save them.' It seems like Second had no rebuttal to that. However before he could throw his punch, he felt a hand slap his face, completely throwing him off balance to the point that it deactivated the charge in his arm. After a second he realized that he wasn't falling anymore.
"That also works."
"Agreed, and look Second, Third, it seems that 'playing hero' wound up working out in Izuku's favor after all."
"His limbs are still broken."
"Don't you have a corner to stare into like an edgelord?"
Izuku turned his head to see the brown haired girl, hovering in the hair on top of the piece of debris that had trapped her foot in the first place. Thanks to her Quick thinking he'd avoided either ruining his one good arm or becoming a gross stain on the ground. She quickly pulled him onto the debris she was floating in before saying, "Release." Causing the two to fall the rest of the short way to the ground.
Their 'ride' broke on impact, causing the pair to roll off of it in different directions. Izuku managed to prop himself up with his arm just in time to watch her gag before barging up her breakfast. Izuku decided to at least try and preserve her dignity by looking in the other direction.
"Poor girl, even with an injury she pushed herself to the point of overtaxing her Quirk just to save you."
Yeah, guess what Izuku had done wasn't enough, all he could do was stare at the ground and tune out the noises of sickness the girl was making.
"What, no Izuku you shouldn't feel bad! You saved her and she saved you! You should be happy!"
'If I'd been better she wouldn't have needed to push herself too far to make up for my screw up.'
"Oh just take the damn compliment, brat. Seventh may be way too soft for my liking but she's not wrong either so quit being such a Prima Donna."
"Bitch, who are you calling soft? I'll kick your ass!"
Izuku could have listened to their bickering, but it sounded like the gravity girl was done, so he decided to focus on her instead. "You alright? Sounds like your Quirk takes a lot out of you."
"You're one to talk, I'm pretty sure the sight of your legs and arm would've made me puke if overtaxing my Quirk hadn't done that first. But after you did that for me, I couldn't just do nothing and let you fall like that."
Izuku was about to apologize, but he could practically feel Second glaring at him so he quickly switched gears. "Thank you… for saving me."
"Uraraka."
"Eh?"
"Ochako Uraraka, that's my name." Explained the girl before groaning and lying on her back. "And you are?"
Izuku decided to follow her lead, staring up at the sky. "Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya." He replied. 'God, how am I still conscious?'
"Adrenaline is a hell of a drug."
'Fair enough.' Then Izuku had a thought. "Now that I think about it, I still owe you one, you saved me twice but I only saved you once."
"Huh? Oh right, the entrance… I'd almost forgotten… guess you'll have to pay me back by letting me call you Izuku!"
"Eh!?" Izuku turned his head to look her way. She looked back at him with a big grin.
"Sounds like a fair trade to me!" She said, continuing to grin.
Izuku blinked before sighing and chuckling weakly. "Alright, I guess that's a fair trade, Uraraka." He said, relenting to the girl's demands.
"Ohoho no you don't." Ochako cut in. "No way am I letting you stick to my last name while I use your first! Call me Ochako."
"Wait, but then won't that set us back to me owing you one?"
"Mmm, nope! Since it's my request that you're doing, then that means I owe you one now! I'll be sure to settle that debt once we both get into UA!"
Ochako then raised a fist and pointed it his way. Izuku blinked in confusion.
"She wants a fist bump you socially awkward tool."
'Oh.' Izuku used his good fist to bump hers, the pair's arms then collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.
The click of a cane against the ground grabbed their attention. "My my, this display is very endearing but I'm going to need the attention of you two now." Their heads turned to see UA's nurse standing in front of them.
"The Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl!" Izuku exclaimed as the old woman approached. She assessed him as he said, "Wish I had my notebook for you to sign."
"You've got your priorities mixed up, young man," Recovery Girl said. "How did this happen?"
"Overtaxed my Quirk. Saw her in danger and I decided to Go Beyond my limits to help her." Izuku said weakly as the pain was starting to grow.
Luckily, that was the point where Recovery Girl's lips extended and she gave him a kiss on the forehead. The pain eased as his bones were restored to their rightful shape, and he finally felt the exhaustion catch up to him as his adrenaline wore off.
"It's good to see Chiyo again… she's aged well. And you shouldn't even be conscious right now you absolute mad lad. Get some rest."
Izuku felt his eyes beginning to droop as he watched Recovery Girl tend to Ochako. 'Yeah… that sound… like a good idea…' He thought. In his final moments of consciousness he tried to reach towards his newest friend one last time, but failed to do so before the whole world went dark.
"Why do you stand against me? Join me in my conquest. My adorable, foolish younger brother." Said Torei.
Why did Izuku know that name? Who was this man?
"Because what you're doing is wrong brother!" Said First- no, Yoichi as he grit his teeth and stared down the most dangerous villain the world had ever seen.
Izuku couldn't speak, almost everything from the nose down was gone, including his mouth, most of his body being replaced with an odd black and green mist. All he could move was his left arm. He was frozen in place too, it was hard to walk without legs after all.
"What a terrible thing to say." Replied Torei as he gestured in an almost cartoonishly evil fashion. Man was trying way too hard if Izuku was being honest. "And here I am trying to compromise. Isn't there even a tiny bit of open mindedness in your so-called righteousness?"
Two brothers… One for All and All for One… a conflict that would span generations to come.
Why did Izuku know these things? Was it One for All? Did All Might receive similar visions?
Izuku continued to watch in almost abject horror, seeing Yoichi's brother straight up pull a Quirk out of a man before pushing it onto another. He saw things continue to fall into madness from there. He learned the story of the legendary Quirk Thief, who rose to power during the chaotic age that was the Dawn of Quirks, giving and taking powers as he saw fit, creating an army in the process.
He saw as Yoichi was locked away by his brother, a man who was the living incarnation of the sin of Greed and desired that everything would belong to him.
He watched in horror as a power stockpiling Quirk was forced onto Yoichi against his will.
He saw the birth of One for All.
Izuku blinked as he suddenly found himself somewhere new. A strange gray room.
"Good to finally see you properly, Izuku."
Izuku knew that voice! Though it sounded a little different than he remembered. Looking forward, he saw eight fancy looking, red velvet chairs. Six of them were being sat on by his predecessors, while the remaining two were left vacant. No prizes for guessing which ones refused to take part.
There was something endearing about the way Sixth sat on the chair, almost curled up into a ball.
It was also a little strange to see what they all looked like without those colored filters altering their appearances, Izuku could now see their true appearances within this dreamscape.
"You wanted to know about the villain who killed most of us, I figured it would be the type of story that was easier to show than it was to tell." Explained First, before chuckling. "I'm sure you have more questions, but we should probably save them until you're awake and have a functioning mouth. It'd probably be simpler than playing a game of 'blink once for yes, twice for no' wouldn't you agree?"
Izuku blinked once, much to the amusement of most of the predecessors. If Second and Third wanted to continue sulking with their noses in the corners then that was their decision.
"Even if you can't speak yet, we can keep you company until you wake up and tell you more about our living selves, right?" Suggested Seventh.
Izuku liked that idea, he was glad to have his predecessors keeping him company.
And so they talked. First they gave a more detailed explanation about Torei Shigaraki, the infamous Quirk Thief All for One, a man who took the worst possible type of inspiration from the comic books Yoichi read as a child, declaring himself as the Demon King who would rule the world. First cringed just from recounting it all.
"Worst of all, he had the power to back up his theatrics." He said, shaking his head. Izuku couldn't help but agree, he'd seen how dangerous multiple Quirks used in conjunction could be from the visions he'd been shown. Talk about horrifying, even if it did tickle the curiosity of his Quirk Analyzing brain.
Eventually the subject changed from All for One and the predecessors got the chance to talk about themselves. About their lives as heroes, about what the world was like during their eras. Izuku wanted to interview them about their Quirks but without his notebook, and more importantly his ability to speak, that was something that would need to be postponed until he woke up.
They talked, and talked, and talked. Until eventually-
Izuku's eyes opened slowly. He blinked a few times as he stared at the white ceiling above him. Where was he? He looked around a little to get a better feel for his surroundings.
"Nurse's office if I had to guess. You must've been taken here after losing consciousness."
"Well I'm glad that UA is at least nice enough to send their students somewhere to recover after sending giant ass robots after them. How have they not been sued into oblivion over someone getting seriously hurt?"
'Recovery Girl's Quirk. You saw how fast it put my limbs back together despite the state they were in.' Explained Izuku. 'As long as she's here they can afford to keep doing those dangerous tests.'
"I question how effective those tests are, not every Quirk is going to be viable for a test like that."
'You're not wrong, though there's not much that can be done. This is probably the best they could come up with through trial and error. They are the best hero academy in Japan for a reason after all.'
"I guess that's true…"
Izuku's head turned to the sound of his phone buzzing. Slowly he reached over and grabbed it. He was met with a wall of notifications. From All Might, from Kacchan, from his mom. Mostly from his mom, it seems Izuku being sent to the nurse's office distressed his mother. The boy couldn't help but smile when he saw how much she cared for him. He quickly texted her telling her that he was ok, that he got a little banged up but UA had a healer that made sure his injuries were all healed up, he just needed to take a quick nap as a side effect.
Next it was time to address the message he got from Kacchan…
-
Kacchan: Oi, nerd, how many points did you get in the Practical?
Deku: Forty Nine if my count was right.
-
After a few minutes, Izuku got a response.
-
Kacchan: The hell have you been?
Deku: Nurse's Office.
Kacchan: How the fuck did you end up in the Nurse's Office when you've got All Might's Quirk?
Deku: Yeah so remember how All Might said my body wouldn't have handled One for All Ten Months ago?
Kacchan: Even now it's still too much?
Deku: Yeah no. Way too strong, Seventh basically said that All Might's body was just way better suited to the Quirk than mine was upon first being received so he was able to access the full power immediately. And that was before over three decades of using it as the Number One Hero. Thankfully First was able to guide me through tapping into a smaller percentage.
Kacchan: Who the Fuck are Seventh and First?
Deku: Unfortunately I had to go all out against my area's Zero Pointer and the over taxation shattered three of my limbs almost as badly as how I shattered its face.
Deku: Huh? Oh, One for All's haunted.
Deku: …
Deku: You've been typing a while, are you ok?
Kacchan: Deku.
Kacchan: There's so goddamn much to unpack from what you just said that it goes beyond the character limit on here.
Deku: Goes Beyond? Plus Ultra?
Kacchan: Shut.
Kacchan: The Fuck.
Kacchan: Up.
Kacchan: Now can you KINDLY elaborate from the beginning in a way that makes FUCKING SENSE?!
Deku: Sigh. Ok. Tl;dr, One for All doesn't just stockpile power but also the memories of its users. I basically have the ghosts of the previous users inside my head now.
Deku: Except they specified that they're copies of the originals so it's kinda hard to explain. There's even a vestige for All Might but he's not fully formed. Fifth thinks it'll stay this way for as long as All Might is alive.
Kacchan: …Good Fucking Grief. Just when I think I've heard it all you continue to fucking surprise me.
Deku: Put yourself in my shoes for a minute, I've got eight ghosts living in my head!
Deku: Or are they in my soul?
Deku: I mean, they're all very nice people.
Deku: Ok, MOST of them are very nice and then there's Second and Third but at least they seem to keep to themselves!
Deku: Though it's thanks to them that I managed to last longer than thirty seconds into the test!
Kacchan: That reminds me.
___Deku: Forty Nine if
Kacchan: 77 Points, Read 'em and weep bitch.
Deku: Seriously? Guess I'm still a little rough around the edges when it comes to One for All…
Deku: Hopefully it was enough to pass.
Kacchan: It'd BETTER be, I'll be pissed if you don't pass.
Deku: Yeah Yeah, talk to you later Kacchan. Let me know when your acceptance letter arrives in the mail.
-
Izuku sighed and shook his head, texting Kacchan always was… entertaining if nothing else. He moved to texting All Might next.
-
Yagi-Sensei: I saw your performance during the Practical Exam alongside the other teachers, quite an impressive performance my boy.
Yagi-Sensei: I hope your recovery in Recovery Girl's office went well?
Young Midoriya: Hi Yagi-Sensei, I'm all better now thanks to Recovery Girl.
Young Midoriya: There are some things we need to talk about, starting with the fact that One for All is haunted.
-
"Tell him 'Nana says hi.'"
-
Young Midoriya: Nana says hi
-
Less than a minute later the door to Recovery Girl's office slammed open, Izuku turned his head to see Yagi-Sensei standing in the doorway, steam coming off his skin and his shirt splattered in what Izuku safely assumed was his own blood. "C-can you elaborate on that, my boy?"
"One for All stockpiles more than just power, there are vestiges of our predecessors living inside it. It seems when you passed One for All to me, the Quirk hit singularity and I became able to talk to them." Explained Izuku.
"And… they're here right now? Nana's here right now?"
"Always have been Toshinori, I never left your side, even when Nana died."
"This version of her goes by Seventh." Explained Izuku. "She said, 'Always have been Toshinori, I never left your side, even when Nana died.'" After parroting back the message his eyes widened when he realized that there were tears forming in his mentor's eyes. "Sensei?"
Toshinori quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I-it's nothing my boy. Just… thank you."
"Oi, are the rest of us chopped liver or something!? I'm proud of the brat too! I thought it was badass when he blew that bastard's head clean off!"
"Crudeness aside, Fifth is right, we're all proud of how far Toshinori's come since the day Nana gave him One for All."
Izuku chuckled. "The rest of the vestiges want to know that they're proud of you too." Then the corner of his mouth quirked upwards. "Especially Second and Third."
"Wait, what?"
"Really?" Toshinori was interested to hear about his predecessors.
"Oh yeah, you should've heard the things they had to say, they wouldn't stop talking about how cool they thought you were throughout your career as the Symbol of Peace."
"Oh. Oh this is funny."
"Why you little punk-"
Izuku did his best to keep a straight face as he continued to praise All Might, pretending he was speaking for Second and Third. It was very difficult considering their indignant shouts coupled with the laughter of the other vestiges.
After a while, Toshinori decided to change the subject. "I have to ask, can you explain what happened during the Practical? You seemed fine at first, you were using One for All with little issue, but then when you destroyed the Zero Pointer you broke most of your limbs."
"Oh, right, that." Said Izuku. He quickly explained his first meeting with the vestiges and how his body hadn't been properly adjusted to One for All yet, so they taught him how to use a smaller percentage of the Quirk without damaging himself, but when he saw that Uraraka was in danger he forced himself to use One Hundred Percent to destroy the robot, as that was the best course of action that wouldn't put anyone else in danger.
"Anyone else besides you."
'It was a risk I had and was willing to take.'
"That mentality will get you, and us, killed."
'A Hero needs to be willing to throw themselves into danger for the sake of someone else.'
"That doesn't mean you should throw self preservation to the wind!"
'That's the only reason I even have this Quirk!' There was a moment of silence within One for All, Izuku could practically feel the vestiges staring at him.
"Izuku-"
'We're not having this conversation right now.'
"I see," Said Toshinori, completely oblivious to the literal inner turmoil his student was experiencing right in front of him. "So you only succeeded due to the advice of our successors, rather than any of my own teaching."
"That's not true." Responded Izuku, shelving his own issues once again in order to help someone else. "They already told me that there's no way you could've known that this, any of this, would happen. Seventh said that you did your best with what you had. I never could've gotten this far without you. Without any of you."
Toshinori blinked at the boy, a little dumbstruck by his words. Eventually he let out a chuckle. "Honestly, aren't you supposed to be my student? And yet here you are trying to make me feel better. Honestly I don't think I could've found a better student if I tried."
Izuku managed to smile at his words, while trying to ignore the fact that it had become very quiet within One for All…
After getting home and making sure that his mom knew that he was in fact fine and that as long as he was careful from now on, accidents with One for All will be prevented in the future. It was just a bit of a do or die situation.
His mom was nice enough to make katsudon tonight, his favorite. As he ate he talked about how the test went and how he unfortunately lost to Kacchan when it came to points. His mom reassured him that it was ok, and that keeping that girl safe from the Zero Pointer was more important anyways. They continued to talk and Izuku explained the intricacies of his Quirk, as well as him now sharing headspace with his predecessors.
After he finished describing them, his mother said, "They all sound like very nice people, make sure to thank them for helping you for me."
Izuku chuckled. "Well they can hear you, but I'm sure they appreciate it nonetheless." He replied. 'Right?'
…
But there was no response.
'Guys? Seventh? First? You there?' His brows furrowed.
"Something wrong sweetie?" Asked Inko.
"Huh? Oh, uh… they said you're welcome. Yeah." Replied Izuku before quickly finishing his meal. "I'm still kinda tired, I think I'm going to go to bed." He said, standing up. He took his dishes to the sink before quickly heading to his room. He got changed, turned the lights off, jumped into bed, and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for sleep to come so he could get answers.
"That won't be necessary."
'Eh?' Izuku's eyes almost opened in surprise, but he was currently seeing First and he didn't want to risk him going away. 'So you guys are still there. Don't scare me like that…'
"Then don't scare us by saying such concerning things."
'Seventh, I-'
"No kid, you need to listen."
'Fifth-'
"Izuku."
'…Fine.'
"Thank you."
"Izuku, your desire to help people is admirable, you're more than worthy of One for All, no matter what Second and Third say otherwise. But you need to value yourself more."
Izuku remained silent, not wanting to cut in until his predecessors said their piece.
"Think about it this way, you can't save people if you die or allow yourself to become too injured to protect them."
"Exactly. You said that you believe the only reason Toshinori chose you was because you were willing to put yourself in danger for someone else's sake, but you're missing the point."
"You were chosen by All Might because he knows you have the heart and determination of a hero, not because he thinks you'll throw your life away at the drop of a hat. We're not against your desire to save people, just don't be so willing to die in the process."
'I have no intention of dying.'
"Eh?"
Izuku breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth. 'Alright, I've listened to you all, so please now listen to me, perhaps that phrasing isn't one hundred percent accurate.' He elaborated. 'However, hero risks death as a possibility when they face a villain or a disaster, and I've accepted that danger. Moreover I'm not someone who can just standby and do nothing when someone is in trouble, it's not who I am.'
"But then-"
'But I have no intention of dying. Not until I'm the Number One Hero. I'll take everything the world has to throw at me, and then go beyond those obstacles. I promise to not be reckless with my health or anything but nothing you say will deter me from pursuing my dream. I'll overcome the obstacles in front of me by giving everything I've got, and save people no matter the cost. That's what it means to be a hero.'
The vestiges were speechless in the face of the kid's determination. It was clear that while what they said made somewhat of an impact, his resolve was unshakable. Toshinori was right, he couldn't have picked a better successor, even Second and Third found it harder to look away the more time they spent with this kid.