Chapters 33, 37, 38, 36 under repair
Reparado.
"So... All Might didn't have a Quirk, just like you?"
"No, he didn't."
"Did he get the same negative treatment you did?"
"I have no idea."
"What did it feel like, not having a Quirk?"
"Normal. You can't feel something you never knew in the first place. It's like a child born blind doesn't know what it feels like to see."
"How did All Might give you his power? Was it like a sudden burst of energy?"
"...He made me eat one of his hairs."
"And...?"
"The hair didn't taste like anything. I didn't even chew it."
"Do you have a mind-reading Quirk now?"
"Your question was predictable."
"Why...?"
"Shoto, I get that you have questions, but coming to my room to crash just to satisfy your curiosity is crossing a line."
"I'm not crashing here."
"You brought your own futon, man."
"...Maybe you're right."
Shoto thought it was a brilliant idea to wait until nightfall to harass me with questions, making me seriously regret my decision to tell him about One For All.
I was staring up at the white ceiling of my temporary room, tucked in up to my neck under another set of amazing white sheets.
And he... had a blue futon.
"Can we just sleep? I want to train tomorrow."
"Fine, but one last question... Who is this 'Spider-Man' you sometimes mumble about?"
"He's an incredible hero this world never had the chance to meet. And that reminds me... how do you feel about becoming a millionaire? Without your father's money, of course."
"I'm listening."
That brings a smile to my face. I turned my head to look at my friend, his face illuminated by the small lamp beside him. "You and I, my friend, are about to make history in the world of heroes."
If Spider-Man doesn't exist...
Maybe I should be the one to bring him into this world.
"Can I ask why you're training with me?" I was back in the clearing the others had dubbed "the Midoriya Zone."
It used to be nice... until about two days ago.
It had plenty of trees, a small stream, and almost no imperfections. Or at least, it did before I got here.
My tests with Blackwhip, the high percentages I used to improve One For All, and now my recently acquired Fa Jin had turned the place into a war zone.
It even has trenches and everything. It's a perfectly organized chaos of my own making.
Today was supposed to be the same as always: me, punching the air to get my body used to the high outputs of my semi-sentient Quirk, and then adding Fa Jin to the mix.
But Shoto decided he wanted to train with me. The downsides of having friends, I suppose.
"You have outstanding control over a power you got less than a year ago. If you can do that, it means you have an outstanding mind," he pointed out, as if it were obvious. His stoic expression makes it impossible to get mad at him.
"Yeah? So what's your point?" I honestly thought his late-night interrogation would have been the end of it.
"My point is that you could give me ideas on how to improve my own Quirk." That made sense. "I'm aware that I still don't have enough control over my ice and fire to do anything truly powerful with them, but..." His brow furrowed slightly. It seemed that openly admitting he wasn't good enough at something bothered him quite a bit. "I could have a goal to work towards once I have the necessary skill." Hearing that made me admire Shoto even more, if that was still possible.
Seeing someone so determined to improve was incredible. I hadn't thought about guiding my classmates in mastering their Quirks for one simple reason.
My prior knowledge was one thing, but reality was something else entirely.
Every Quirk had its own rules and principles for how it functioned in a user's body, so giving someone an idea and telling them to go test it was dangerous.
If I tried to get Uraraka to negate the gravity of, say, an entire house for short intervals, I had no idea how her body would react.
She might just end up vomiting and getting nauseous... or something much worse.
Aizawa, Midnight, Present Mic—all of them have a much deeper understanding of Quirks than I do.
I'm just a guy with knowledge from a manga, which isn't all that useful anymore given the changes I've caused.
But in Shoto's case, I could make an exception.
"That's a reasonable request... let me think for a moment." I dropped to the ground, crossing my arms and thinking back on everything I knew about his Quirk. His body can produce both fire and ice, a perfect blend of two very powerful abilities. His greatest risk is a sudden drop in body temperature, or conversely, overheating from the high temperatures his body is subjected to. One For All encouraged me to follow that train of thought, a light energy flowing through me. Both effects can be perfectly counteracted if he has adequate control... but what if he combined them? What if he could bring out the best of both abilities to create a single, new one? That idea only opened up more theories.
Maybe it's an old trait from the original Midoriya that stuck with me, but I found it fun to dive into the mechanics of a Quirk, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses to improve it.
And it made me feel useful, which I didn't in most other things...
His body is adapted to his power; that's a given. I remembered my fight at the Sports Festival, how Shoto showed no signs of trouble until I pushed him to his absolute limit. And both the fire and ice are produced directly by his body, not the environment around him. With a simple flick of his left hand, he could send out gusts of fire; the same applied to ice with his right. That means his entire system is, to some extent, acclimated to these abrupt changes... which should also apply to his blood. It was difficult to understand how Shoto generated his attacks.
To produce fire, you need several chemical factors, yet he did it with a simple motion and a thought.
Something in his system was being altered to create the necessary conditions.
Fire basically requires fuel, heat, and oxygen.
Oxygen is easy; the environment provides it.
The fuel could easily be achieved through a chemical alteration in his system, produced by his Quirk factor.
But the heat... his own body must provide it, at least to create the initial spark.
"You've been sitting there for five minutes, Izuku. Thought of anything yet?" One For All generated a Blackwhip and lightly smacked Shoto on the head with it, signaling him to be quiet. "Alright, I get it, weird power."
If the heat used to generate the fire comes from his own body... that means it comes from his blood. A smile spread across my face at the deduction. It's so satisfying to solve a mystery that breaks the existing laws of chemistry and physics. Humans are warm-blooded. I suppose his ice works on a similar principle. The key is in his blood.
If Shoto was theoretically capable of alternating between freezing and boiling his blood at different intervals, he could achieve a fusion of two elements as different as fire and ice.
This is incredible! He'd be on a completely different level on the power scale!
Okay, okay... it's the heart that pumps the blood, so he should just have to use his heart to activate both sides of his power... a cold flame. The idea of fighting Shoto at that power level was exhilarating. I was starting to understand Goku's obsession with strong rivals a little better. Alright, calm down, Midoriya. You've just possibly created a very powerful and beneficial technique for the future. I stood up and dusted the dirt off my pants.
"Are you done thinking?" my friend asked, looking at me calmly.
"Fortunately for you, yes. Now, listen to my idea and tell me how plausible it sounds." With great enthusiasm, I began to explain my theory about his power, how it used and altered his body to achieve the necessary properties, and of course... the final result. "Imagine a cold flame. If you touch it, it doesn't cause damage because of its low temperature; it would be approximately four hundred degrees Celsius."
"Doesn't sound very useful."
"Exactly. But now, imagine you abruptly generate a massive increase in temperature."
"The increase would cause... an expansion of the element." His eyes widened as he grasped the new possibilities my idea could offer. "The fire explosion would be powerful."
"Powerful? Shoto, that's an understatement. We're talking about a combustion whose only limit would be your own skill and mastery!" I started gesturing wildly with my arms to make my point, more excited than he was. "Besides, in that state, you could control the damage of the fire you send at your enemies! Not just the rate of the flame!"
"Y-yeah, I think so. Could you calm down a bit?" What a buzzkill.
"Right, right... it's just... the possibilities are endless." I relaxed and reined in my wild ideas. "So, what do you think? Is it plausible or not?" I really hoped for a positive answer. My pride would take a hit otherwise.
"It wouldn't be impossible. I'll ask Mr. Aizawa to be sure," he said, giving me a grateful smile. "Thanks for your help, Izuku." He bowed to me, which made me extremely uncomfortable.
What a horrible custom.
"No problem, man, but stop bowing... it's awkward," I said, waving my hands again. "Don't thank me for doing something I ended up enjoying anyway."
In the end, Shoto returned to the main training area where the rest of the class was, leaving me alone to get back to my own training.
"Alright, Fa Jin... how can I unlock your full potential?" I made a simple motion, swinging my leg up and down. The kinetic energy I accumulated had become easier to feel over the past day. "I can recreate the 'Pseudo 100%.' It's actually pretty simple. I just have to correctly manage the energy in the required muscle." I stopped moving my leg, feeling the imperceptible tremor that indicated the stored power. "Okay, up to 50%..." Green, crackling lightning enveloped my body. "Regulate the kinetic energy and..." I sent an axe kick down into the lake beside me. The sheer pressure sent the water blasting fiercely into the sky from the rebound effect.
The lake was left dry. The resulting gust of wind was more than welcome, though I had to anchor myself to the ground with Blackwhip to keep from being blown away.
And after a moment...
The water fell back down like rain.
Kyudai Garaki was many things.
An excellent doctor, a certified scientist, and a very eccentric person.
He took great pride in these facts.
So much so that he had become the director of Jaku General Hospital. There was very little one could say to tarnish his public image.
That is the image everyone has of him, and so it must remain.
Because beneath the great hospital he runs, behind the facade of looks and attitudes he projects, things are different.
People like him, with above-average intelligence, should not be constrained by the meager offerings of the light.
They possess a unique privilege that should not be judged by concepts of good and evil. He understood that perfectly. That's why, as soon as the opportunity presented itself...
He didn't hesitate to take it.
All For One had everything someone like him needed to advance.
For the good of science, of course. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made in the process, but that was fine.
Rats or humans, what was the difference? Both share a beginning and an end; they live and die. He offered them a dignified end, one that would be useful for who knows how many people in the future, be they good or evil.
After all... the end justifies the means.
His "children," the perfect Nomus he had poured so much effort into creating; every Quirk he discovered, analyzed, and subsequently obtained for his master, All For One.
All of it was so that, when the time came, All Might could finally die.
There was just one small detail he did not appreciate...
Shigaraki Tomura.
The successor to his master and... a child in an adult's body.
He hated everything that worthless brat caused with his tantrums, how he squandered his perfect creations.
He wouldn't have hesitated to voice all of this to his master; the man was intelligent and would surely have listened.
But now... things were different.
"Answer me, Doctor..." Four of his fingers rested on the doctor's neck, the fifth hovering just centimeters away from making contact. "How exactly does this 'All For One' that you and Sensei are planning for me work?" The worthless brat wasn't just a brat anymore. His tone of voice, the question, the threat—everything about him was different.
When did this happen? He was afraid. His hands trembled as he tried to organize the papers he was holding. "T-the 'All For One' will be received by your body when we deem you fit for it. You will undergo some experiments to enhance your own Quirk and your general physical resistance," he cursed the stutter in his voice. He was showing a clear disadvantage against his master's successor. "Why the sudden question?"
Shigaraki didn't deign to answer him right away, choosing instead to toy with his fear, wiggling the fifth finger that was not yet touching his neck.
Garaki couldn't see it because of the large hand covering his face, but he was sure Shigaraki was smiling. And if there was one thing he had learned from his master, it was that...
There is never a good omen behind that smile.
"Oh, no reason. Tell me, does the name 'Izuku Midoriya' ring a bell?" The grip on his neck tightened slightly at the mention.
He knew that boy, and not just because he was the new wielder of "One For All."
"When he was a child, I was the one who informed him and his mother that he didn't have a Quirk. I told him to give up on his dream of being a hero." To think that a little boy with nothing special about him would become the center of attention for practically everyone was unheard of.
A loud cackle echoed through the room. The owner was Tomura himself—a sound that was both cruel and amused.
Terrifying, even.
"Aren't life's ironies amusing?" His neck was released. Air rushed back into his lungs as if it were the most precious thing in the world. "Thanks for the answers, Doctor. I'll be visiting more often. I have many more questions for you." A portal opened behind Shigaraki, and he stepped through it instantly.
Leaving his large, pristine laboratory in silence.
Hastily, Garaki activated a small, personalized radio. The private, unique frequency emitted static for a few seconds.
His hands were still trembling as he waited.
He anxiously scanned the entire room, expecting a portal to rip open somewhere, but there was nothing.
His Nomu testing chamber, every workstation, the comfortable rectangular communications table he was sitting at—everything was fine, and silent...
Until a voice cut through the quiet.
"What is it, Doctor?" the question came through calmly, a stark contrast to his own state.
"I-I n-need to discuss something important with you... All For One."
Author's Note:
Hey.
What did you think of the chapter?
Alright, so I mentioned that this chapter would feature the attack on the camp, but I thought it was best to extend it a bit more.
I wanted to show a bit more practice with Fa Jin and also include that scene with Shigaraki and the doctor.
Am I aware that Gran Torino, Shoto, the protagonist, and Tomura are the characters with the most development in this story? Yes, and I love it.
None of them were originally planned to be so important to the story.
But I don't plan anything in the first place, so... things like this were bound to happen.
The whole explanation about Shoto and his new way of using his Quirk was my interpretation of what was recently shown in the MHA manga, combined with some of my own research.
I looked into the temperature at which cold flames operate and the effects of a sudden temperature increase on them, all to give a solid basis for Shoto's power-up.
Also, the protagonist had a good moment of analysis similar to the original Izuku, which I really enjoyed writing. It made me question how Quirks function from a realistic and logical point of view.
I might be wrong on some points in my analysis, and if so, please correct me in the comments. I'm open to different interpretations to improve this story and its foundations.
Shigaraki questioning All For One as a Quirk has a lot of future importance. I'm sure by now everyone knows that Tomura will be the "final boss" of this story, so every action I write for him is meant to build the foundation for his future acts.
Although I love heroes, I also love writing from the villains' perspective. The story will often have points narrated by Shigaraki or his associates. It helps enrich their characters and their development.
And finally...
The protagonist wants to create Spider-Man as a character and profit from him... that's the key to success.
Anyway, take care of yourselves. See you next time.