Izuku stared at his reflection in the mirror, visualizing the appearance he wanted as he pulled on a few quirks.
His skin lightened, becoming just slightly paler than it was when he was Oni, his face lengthened just a bit, with his cheekbones becoming slightly more pronounced. The irises of his eyes paled to a stark white-gray, with flecks of gold peppered throughout. His hair lost some of its curliness, though remained just as fluffy, and lightened from green to pure white. Antlers sprouted from his head, colored pure white with 'Palette' once they were fully grown. The pointed tips of the horns were colored bright gold, just like the flecks in his eyes.
Pulling on a newer quirk, acquired during his rampage after the shopping trip, his ears transformed, changing into something resembling a deer's ears. They became larger and longer, and a bit of fur sprouted across them, green at first, to match his natural hair color, but colored white once they were fully grown so that they would match his current coloring.
Giving the new muscles an experimental pull, the changed ears twitched. Playing around with it a bit, he found that he could move them without much difficulty
He also pulled on an older quirk. He'd already deactivated his snake tail, but with the activation of this one, his legs changed, much like they would with his scaled legs quirk. Rather than becoming digitigrade, his legs became unguligrade. Bones broke and shifted, changing shape. His legs lengthened, even as fur sprouted down their lengths and hooves appeared where his feet used to be. Unlike the ears granted by the other quirk, the fur that sprouted on his legs was brown, though it was changed to the same white after a few moments, with the hooves themselves being turned gold. Just like his scaled legs quirk, this one increased his height.
As a final touch, he activated 'Monster Arms.' With it, his arms grew longer, better matching his longer legs, and sprouted fur, turned white just as everything else once it was fully grown. He shortened the claws that it provided with his shapeshifting quirk, making them less pronounced.
All told, he looked as though he'd been born with both a fairly extensive deer mutation, and albinism, with the exception of his eyes, which would be red if that were the case.
Moving away from the mirror, he retrieved one of the outfits he'd custom ordered for this new alter-ego. Just like his appearance, much of it was pure white. Pants, shirt, vest, and belt. The only parts that weren't white were the belt buckle, and a few accents on the vest, which were colored gold. He also pulled on a pair of white gloves, hiding his now-furry hands.
Stepping back in front of the mirror, he inspected his appearance. After a moment, he nodded, satisfied. This would work.
With that, he turned to exit the bathroom, careful to maneuver his new antlers through the door without hitting the sides, and again when he went to exit his room.
Stepping into the living room, he found Rei, Iona, and Ochako waiting for him, waiting to see the alter-ego he'd told them about, but hadn't yet shown.
He held his arms out to the side just a bit. "What do you think?" He asked, voice altered.
Iona was the first to react. "Wooahh." She exclaimed, coming closer. "You have hoofs! And-. And-." She put her hands on top of her head. "You have, um…"
"Antlers." Izuku supplied, smiling at her.
"Yeah! Antlers!"
She reached up towards him, and he bent down to scoop her up into his arms. She wasted no time in grabbing at his new antlers, pulling his head forward to get a better look.
"Going for quite the exotic look for this, aren't you?" Rei asked, smiling. Though whether she was smiling at him and his appearance, or him interacting with Iona was hard to tell. Most likely the latter, as she'd already seen this face. He'd had to show it to her so that she could fabricate an identity for it.
"Yep." He answered. "I've got so many quirks that change my appearance. Might as well put them to good use every once in a while. And this is the first alter-ego that I'll be using for an extended period of time that isn't Oni. I'm planning to have some fun with it."
Ochako stepped closer, tilting her head as she took in his appearance. "What name are you going with?"
"I'm thinking 'Jinsei'."
"Jinsei…" Ochako repeated, trying out the name. She smiled, "I like it."
"As do I." He said. Then, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yep! I'm all packed up."
Izuku nodded, earning a giggle from Iona as her grip on his antlers limited the action. Gently shifting her around in his arms, he pulled her away from them, holding her out at arm's length.
"Looks like it's about time for Ochako and I to leave." He said.
That managed to dampen her bright mood. Her smile fell, and the excitement in her eyes dulled.
"Okay…"
It almost made him reluctant to go, seeing and hearing her disappointment, but he had used the last few days to spend as much time with her as possible, up to this morning, which was complete with an especially delicious breakfast, and now it was time for him and Ochako to meet Tsuyu and Yagi at the airport.
"Don't you worry." Rei said, taking over, and taking Iona from Izuku. "You and I will have lots of fun while they're away. And we'll make sure to call them every day so you can tell them all about what we've done."
"In fact," she continued, lowering her voice, "today we're going to the beach."
That brought her mood right back up.
Iona gasped. "Really!?"
"Yep!" Rei responded, raising Iona up over her head. "We'll go to the beach and make sandcastles and eat ice cream."
"Okay!" Iona said, giggling as she dangled in the air.
"Make sure you call us later." Izuku said. "I want to hear all about your trip to the beach."
"We will!"
Smirking, Izuku used his flight quirk to float up to Iona, quickly, though gently, snatching her from Rei. She giggled up a storm, and Izuku hugged her tight, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Time for us to go. We'll see you in nine days."
She hugged him back, before a moment later, she was being scooped from his arms by a floating Ochako, using him as an anchor point.
"Be good." She said. "We'll be back soon."
Using her quirk on Iona, earning more giggles from her, she floated her down to Rei, who scooped her out of the air. Making Iona weighted again, she maneuvered around Izuku until she was situated on his back, still weightless.
Still using his flight quirk, Izuku floated over to where Ochako's bags were, tucking them away into 'Hotbar' as soon as his hands were on them. Looking over towards Rei and Iona, he smiled.
Rei smiled back at him. "Have fun, and be safe."
"Of course."
'Time to go, Tamako.' He said. 'Keep an eye on them. Let me know if anything happens.'
"Of course. I'll watch over them. See you in a few days."
Their presence flitted out of Izuku's mind, likely over to Rei's. They would stay, as they were the quickest method of letting him know that he needed to come back.
With that, he floated over to the door to the balcony, exiting and floating through open air a moment later. With one last glance down at Rei and Iona, watching them through the glass door, he took off, careful to keep his acceleration gentle so as to not hurt Ochako.
A short flight later and the two of them were touching down outside of an airport. They went in immediately, as Tsuyu and Yagi were apparently already inside. Normally, Izuku and Ochako would've been the ones to arrive first, probably much earlier than was necessary, but the desire to spend as much time with Iona had overpowered his desire to be that early. Though even still, they were arriving right at the agreed-upon time that had been decided between them and the other two.
Evidently, this was to be a day of a few firsts and otherwise unusual occurrences. Because in addition to his uncharacteristic punctuality and the new appearance he was sporting, Izuku had never actually set foot—or hoof, tail, etc.—in an airport before. He'd spent enough time pouring through books and browsing the internet to know what they looked like, and had memorized the layout of this one in particular well in advance of this trip, but he'd never actually experienced one in person.
Once they were inside, and after Izuku took a moment to take in the massive building—it wasn't all that impressive compared to the scale that Yueii took its facilities, but it was still quite large—they separated, Ochako heading off to where Tsuyu had told her she was waiting, and Izuku heading to where he could see Yagi.
As he moved, Izuku took note of the fact that, even though he wasn't as large as normal—missing his snake tail—people still seemed to automatically move out of the way for him. He imagined that it was mostly due to his height. It was still close to the same; he still stood well over everyone else, and that was before taking into account the extra height added by his antlers. Though, it could very well also be the case that there was something about his appearance, some look in his eyes or his expression that he hadn't intended to include and hadn't been able to detect when he first chose this appearance, but which was making people unconsciously decide to move out of his way.
Whatever the cause was, he wasn't about to complain. He rather enjoyed having a clear path through the otherwise crowded airport. Not to mention that the borderline sadist in him took some small amount of joy in the minute scraps of fear that 'Observation' was picking up from a few people.
It wasn't long before he caught sight of Yagi—with his eyes at least. He'd been watching Yagi with 'All Sight' since before he and Ochako even landed—his increased height, along with Yagi's, making it easy.
After a few moments, Yagi's eyes snapped to him, likely his instincts from years of heroics catching on to someone focusing on him. He hadn't told Yagi what he would look like yet—just that he wouldn't be going as 'Izuku'—so it wasn't recognition guiding him. He watched as Yagi, still focused on him, turned to face him, subtly glancing around, either taking stock of the crowd surrounding him or possible exit points, or maybe just weighing the potential aftermath of having to become All Might in the middle of said crowd.
"Yagi!" He called out with a smile, before Yagi's instincts could push his anxiety too far.
Confusion immediately replaced that anxiety. He tilted his head as Izuku continued to approach.
"Etsumi?" He asked quietly once he was just a few steps away.
"Yep. Though for the duration of this trip my name is 'Jinsei'."
"I-. I see." He said, looking Izuku up and down.
Izuku raised his arms a bit. "What do you think?"
"You certainly chose an… interesting appearance for this. Especially the colors. I'm a little bit surprised that you didn't choose something more subtle."
Izuku shrugged, smirking. "I certainly could have, but why do something like that when I could choose to be needlessly eccentric instead? Think about it: a week spent in another hemisphere entirely, far from my normal life and responsibilities, where nothing of consequence will be taking place. Take into account my financial situation and my quirk, and I have the perfect opportunity to have some fun."
Yagi stared at him, eyes widened a bit. "…Okay then. Whatever you feel is best."
It occurred to Izuku that this was the first time that Yagi had seen him display this sort of behavior. Up to this point all he had seen was his usual calm, composed, and deliberate 'Izuku' persona—and some hints of anger, and bloodlust—He hadn't witnessed the more eccentric or childish aspects of his personality that usually came out when Izuku became Oni.
Hopefully, he wouldn't have to witness the sadistic, blood-thirsty aspect that also saw light with Oni. He imagined that Yagi would not react very well to that.
"Anyways." He continued, gesturing off to the side. "Shall we? Ochako just found Tsuyu. Why don't we start heading that way to meet up with them? Then you can walk us through the process of getting through an airport and onto a plane, because I'm pretty sure none of us have done this before. I certainly haven't.
Yagi nodded after a moment, seeming to get over his slight surprise, and the two of them set off.
It only took a few minutes of weaving through the crowds to reach Ochako and Tsuyu, and once they had, Yagi led them all through the airport security, which Izuku did not realize was as stringent as it was.
He almost found it amusing, how serious it all was. Because for all the machines, all the scanning and searching every person went through just to board a plane, they had no idea of the potential threats that were walking through it all unnoticed.
Izuku and Yagi. Both of them individually had the power to level entire cities. Compared to that, the effort necessary to take over a single plane—not to mention the resulting destructive potential—wasn't even worth mentioning. Granted, whether or not either of them would ever do such a thing was another matter entirely, but nonetheless, the thought of how useless the airport security was in that regard was still somewhat amusing to Izuku.
After a surprisingly long time, the four of them had gotten through and were allowed to board the plane. Apparently it would be just the four of them, with the obvious exception of the pilots and flight attendants. With their tickets permitting them to arrive a day early, they would be allowed to travel there ahead of the rush of guests.
Izuku sighed as they stepped onto the plane. "Man, I do not envy people that have to deal with that every time they want to fly."
Tsuyu tilted her head at him. "What do you mean? Do you not have to?"
He looked back at her, then smirked, before leaning back and catching himself with his flight quirk, lifting into the air, and being careful not to hit his antlers on the ceiling.
"Not usually." He said. "I tend to fly everywhere without any tickets or scanning or security. In fact, I would've flown directly to I-Island if they didn't have very explicit rules forbidding people from doing exactly that."
"They needed to make a rule that specific?" Ochako asked.
"Apparently it's happened enough in the past to warrant it. Although, technically it was already illegal to do so, since there are laws that make it illegal to cross into other countries through the use of quirks, and I-Island is technically its own nation."
"But you were still going to fly there if they didn't have that extra rule?"
"Well, those laws are horribly un-specific. They first came about when the first teleportation quirk appeared, and as expected of a law passed during the century-or-so that the entire world was panicking over the arrival and rapid spread of quirks, it was very half-assed. I'd definitely be exploiting a very glaring loophole in the law, but they wouldn't be able to do anything about it."
Having a sister who was well-versed in law, and who had been using him as a study tool as she went through law school had its benefits.
Tsuyu was still watching him with her head tilted. She was glancing between his antlers, his hooves, and where the latter were obviously not touching the floor.
"So your quirk lets you fly." She said, more as a statement than a question.
"Among other things." He replied with a smirk.
Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean? What exactly is your quirk?"
"Ah, but why spoil the fun? If I tell you now, that would completely ruin the mystery."
With that, he floated backwards down the aisle, settling himself into the seat opposite Yagi. Tsuyu remained where she was for a moment, until Ochako gently pulled her down into the seat next to hers.
"So is that why you chose to use a different appearance?" Yagi asked quietly, with a small smile. "To mess with people?"
"That's certainly part of it." Izuku answered just as quietly. "However, a bigger part is so that I can be purposefully vague as to what my quirk is. This gives me a chance to play around with it a little bit, and use certain aspects that don't see light all that often, and for an extended period of time no less."
Yagi nodded, a look of understanding in his eyes. "I see. That certainly makes sense. You're making the most of a rare opportunity."
Izuku nodded, smiling. "Something like that."
Toshinori watched Etsumi—or "Jinsei" as he would evidently be going by—for a moment after he turned away, before looking away himself. His explanation had cleared things up a bit.
He'd been surprised when Etsumi first found him in the airport, showing up with an appearance that, while not exactly out of place in the quirk-saturated age they lived in, was still quite noticeable. His height and his coloration—both his outfit and he himself—made him stand out in the crowd of the airport.
More than just that though, when he'd first noticed Etsumi, something in the way he moved, how he held himself, the look in his eyes and the feeling he gave off, had Toshinori reaching for One For All almost on pure reflex. He hadn't even been able to fully identify a threat and he'd come close to revealing himself. Had Etsumi waited even a moment longer to greet him, he might've just transformed right there in the middle of the airport.
And then he'd been surprised again when the reasoning that Etsumi had given for his appearance made it seem like he'd done it purely on a whim. That explanation had displayed something that Toshinori hadn't seen in Etsumi at all until that moment,
But then Etsumi's answer once they were seated on the plane had shed a different light on the situation. Etsumi might've chosen his appearance in part to have some fun and mess with people, but the more significant reason was so that he could utilize quirks that he normally couldn't. Quirks that he couldn't use as "Etsumi," like the antlers, hooves, and however many other quirks he used to change his appearance around.
Toshinori still didn't know how Etsumi had ended up with his quirks—and he wouldn't ask, nor would he worry about it. He would trust Etsumi, trust that he hadn't stolen them from innocent people—and he couldn't quite imagine what it must be like to have that many, let alone what it would be like to go without using them for an extended period of time, but he figured that it must bring some sort of relief, to be able to use them.
He leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes. Whatever the reason, he wouldn't worry about Etsumi's appearance or behavior during this trip. If nothing else, this was essentially a vacation. There was no fault in relaxing and having some fun, and if Etsumi's method of achieving that was to use his quirks to alter his appearance and behave in a way that he wouldn't normally, then so be it.
Izuku took a deep breath as he stepped out of the plane, relieved to be in a wide-open space on the ground and traveling under his own power once more. The flight in itself wasn't necessarily displeasing, nor did he have any sort of previously unknown phobia of planes, flying, or cramped spaces, but nonetheless he'd found no enjoyment whatsoever from the experience.
Being cramped in a small, metal tube flying incredibly slowly yet somehow quite unsteadily through the air had been displeasing in ways that he hadn't expected.
Well, technically he knew that the plane wasn't thatslow. It would've been going several hundred miles-per-hour. But now that he held the ability to, with relative ease, fly at speeds greater than two timesthe speed of sound, even that seemed pitifully slow by comparison. Being stuck in the plane for a few hours, when he could've easily made the trip in a quarter of the time, if not less, had felt surprisingly constricting.
He gave his head a slight shake. Oh well. He'd only have to put up with that once more. With luck, once they were back in Japan, he wouldn't have to deal with that more than absolutely necessary.
It wasn't lost on him that he'd promised to bring Iona to I-Island at some point in the future, and also wanted to bring her here for the sake of the more detailed medical examinations recommended by her doctor, meaning that he'd have to be stuck on a plane at least twice more, but that was different. If it was for Iona's sake, he'd gladly put up with it as many times as was needed.
Once everyone had made it off of the plane, they got to go through another round of dealing with airport security. Only, for as stringent and thorough as the Japanese security had been, I-Island's was on another level entirely. They had to pass through far more machines than before, scanning who-knows-what, while their faces and bodies were scanned in order to verify their identities, all while having to endure a barrage of questions from the workers that oversaw the entire process. Izuku was immensely thankful—and simultaneously extremely proud—that Rei was as skilled as she was, as he saw nothing to indicate that his identity as 'Jinsei' was detected as being falsified.
After far longer than going through the Japanese security had taken, the four of them were finally allowed to enter I-Island proper, and were soon stepping out into the sunlight.
Izuku marveled at the sight before him. In terms of scale alone, and the fact that it was all man-made, the island was already extremely impressive, but that wasn't what he found himself impressed with, it was just about everything else; the advanced technology displayed everywhere, the sheer number of heroes walking around, and the free use of quirks from both heroes and civilians alike. He saw water being freely manipulated in mid-air, hovering vehicles carrying guests, and what he assumed to be holographic displays of musical notes, he saw more heroes in his direct line-of-sight than he'd ever seen in one place before, even more than he'd seen at the Sports Festival, which was saying something. And above it all, he saw so many people, young an old, all freely using their quirks.
Oh, he had a feeling that he'd be immensely glad that he decided to go through with this trip.
Activating his flight quirk, he lifted up off the ground, holding his legs as if he were still standing on something solid. His already noticeable height was accentuated further as he hovered a few inches off the ground.
"Look around you." He said, before Ochako could even fully open her mouth to question him. "Look at the sheer number of people all freely using their quirks. There's either no law against public quirk usage here, or it's extraordinarily lax."
"That's right." Yagi confirmed. "Because of the almost complete lack of crime, and the truly complete lack of villain attacks here as a result of the strict security measures, and because this place is practically dedicated to quirks, people are allowed to use theirs with basically no restrictions whatsoever."
"Woah…" Ochako exclaimed quietly, a smile quickly growing.
After a moment, she shook her head, before looking over at Izuku, smile still in place.
"Can I have my bags? Tsu and I are gonna go find our hotel room before we start looking around."
Izuku held out a hand, activating 'Hotbar' to pull Ochako's bags from where he'd tucked them, handing them over once they were out. A faint pink glow suffused the bags as Ochako grabbed them, making them weightless. He also handed a map of the island—grabbed from the building behind them once they'd made it through security—to Tsuyu.
The two of them turned away, heading further into the island, leaving Izuku and Yagi behind.
"Now then." He said, looking over at Yagi. "Should we go looking for our hotel as well? Or did you have something else in mind?"
Since he had come using the invitation sent to Yagi, the two of them would be sharing a room, just as Ochako and Tsuyu, who had come using the invitations sent to him—to Deku—would be. And since the four of them had come with two separate invitations, his and Yagi's room was in a completely different hotel than Ochako and Tsuyu's.
He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about sharing a hotel room with Yagi—though his trepidation could very well just be a result of sharing a 'home' with anyone that wasn't Rei, and not because of Yagi himself—but in the end he convinced himself that it didn't matter. He had no intention of sleeping during this week, and between his desire to explore the areas of I-Island that he likely wasn't allowed to, and his ability to travel back to Japan in an instant once the sun set, and he likely wouldn't be spending much time in the room to begin with.
Besides, he imagined that this arrangement worked out better for everyone involved than if he were to share a room with either Ochako or Tsuyu, with the other sharing with Yagi.
"Actually, I was thinking of paying a visit to an old friend before finding the room. If that's alright with you."
"Ah, that's right. You did mention something before about visiting an old friend. It's David Shield, right?"
He smirked at the surprise that flashed across Yagi's face.
"How did you know?"
"Well, there are only so many people that All Might is publicly friends with, and of that list, only one works here. And while you could very well be visiting a friend that you've kept secret, or separate from your hero identity, the fact that we're here leads me to believe that you're not."
Yagi gave his head a slight shake. "That's correct. Dave and I have been friends since before I even graduated Yueii. His daughter was the one to send me the invitation to come."
"Ah, that makes sense." Izuku said. "That would explain why there's a girl by the name of 'Melissa Shield' currently heading right for us on a futuristic pogo stick."
Izuku turned to look in the direction she was coming from. He'd noticed her with 'All Sight' while they were talking and, upon noticing that she was focused intently on Yagi and making a beeline for him, had used 'Appraisal' to figure out who she was.
Also noticed, and filed away for later, was the fact that 'Appraisal' registered her as quirkless.
A wide grin stretched across Yagi's face as he noticed her, matching the bright smile that already decorated her own.
It didn't take her long to reach them, with how she was bouncing along, and as soon as she had, she was off the device and wrapping her arms around Yagi.
"Uncle Toshi!" She shouted, in English. Not surprising considering her western appearance.
"Hello Melissa!" Yagi greeted with a laugh. One that almost matched up to his boisterous All Might laugh. "How've you been?"
Yagi spoke in perfect English. Also not surprising, seeing as it was the universal language of heroics.
"I've been great! Things have been going really well here. What about you? How's life in Japan? How's Yueii?"
"Things are as good as ever over there, and Yueii's wonderful. The next generation of Pro Heroes is really something."
He glanced over at Izuku as he said that, drawing Melissa's attention over to him as well.
"Who's this?" She asked, eyes flickering to his antlers, then to his hooves, and then to the empty space beneath them.
"I'm Jinsei. An acquaintance of Yagi's." Izuku answered in English, floating closer to her and offering his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"And you as well." She said, taking his hand.
"So where's Dave?" Yagi asked. "What sort of crazy project is he burying himself in this time?"
"He won't tell me what he's been working on; apparently it's extremely confidential; but he's been working really hard for a while now. That's why I sent you the invite. He could use a break, and what better way to make him take one than to have his best friend show up during the I-Expo?"
That piqued Izuku's interest. A project undertaken by the man who was—arguably—the greatest mind in the world when it came to heroic support equipment, that was evidently significant enough to be labeled "extremely confidential."
The corner of his mouth twitched. Maybe he'd go snooping at some point during the week.
Yagi laughed. "Of course. It's just like him to get way too wrapped up in his work. How about we go fix that?"
"Yeah." Melissa said with a smile. "Come on, he's probably in his lab. I'll lead the way."
With that, she turned and began leading them deeper into the island. She and Yagi walked next to each other as they caught up, with Izuku floating behind them, attracting a few glances.
Floating around like this was giving Izuku an idea. He had just over a week where he could freely use his flight quirk with no repercussions, and in a way that took more fine control than just flying through the air. At his current level of proficiency, he still needed careful focus to float slowly through the air like he was. Maybe he'd make a point of using the flight quirk as much as possible throughout the week. If he were to spend every waking moment—or at least close to it—controlling the quirk, then maybe he'd be able to reach the point of not having to focus quite as much. Maybe he'd be a step closer to unconscious control.
The trip to I-Island's central tower, the tallest structure on the island and evidently the location of David Shield's labs, was a relatively short one. Melissa led Izuku and Yagi straight through the tower's security, apparently utilizing privileges granted to her by being David's daughter. The elevator ride had been a somewhat unique experience for Izuku, as he'd had to focus on his flight quirk to move along with it. Only "somewhat" unique, because he'd had to do the same thing on the train ride from the first city to the central one.
After a brief meeting with David Shield himself—during which Izuku paid more attention to the labs around them than the man—he and Melissa quickly returned back the way they came so that Yagi and David could be alone. Melissa had offered to give Izuku a tour of the Expo.
"So, you said you were an acquaintance of Uncle Toshi's?" Melissa asked as they exited the central tower, heading in the direction they'd first come from.
"It'd be more accurate to say that I'm a friend of a friend." He responded. "He's a friend of Deku's, and Deku's a friend of mine."
"You know Deku? The quirk analyst?"
He glanced over at her. "I take it you've heard of him then."
"Yeah. According to my dad, he's a pretty big deal among some of the Island's higher-ups. He says that they really want to know who he is, and that they really want him to come here to work for them."
Izuku smiled as he floated along, both at the thought that his analysis had reached such heights that it had captured the attention of the minds at I-Island, and at the fact that Deku was already on the island, right under their noses, and they would never know it.
"They're really that impressed with his work? I knew it was good; his workload and income speak for itself; but to think that I-Island has taken notice."
"Oh yeah, from what I've heard, they consider him to be the leading analyst across the entire planet. My dad told me that they've even sent him some quirks to test him, and were really impressed with what they got back."
Izuku tilted his head. Oh, now that was interesting. Pushing aside the sheer elation he felt at the fact that he was apparently considered the greatest quirk analyst on the planet, he had evidently been sent analysis requests with the intent of testing him, and he'd had no idea whatsoever. He mentally sifted through all of his completed requests. Which ones had come from I-Island? How many tests had they sent him? Did the quirks actually exist or were they specially fabricated for the test?
He narrowed his eyes. Now he was intrigued. He wanted to know more about these tests, and what I-Island knew about him, and what exactly they wanted from him. Maybe he could try to find some answers when he went out snooping through the week? Or maybe he would go a more legitimate—and legal—route. He was already planning to bring Iona to the island at some point, maybe he could reveal his identity to them then.
"Fascinating…" He said.
"Yeah, you might want to keep it a secret that you know him. Otherwise you'd probably get mobbed by people trying to get to him through you."
"I'll keep that in mind. Though it might just be amusing to mess with them. Make sure they know that I know him personally, and then refuse to tell them anything."
"In any case." He continued, before she could respond. "Where does this tour of yours begin?"
"First, how much do you know about the island? Do you know what each of the different cities focus on?"
"I only know basic history, not many specifics. I know that the central city acts as the hub, and as such is likely where the most important work is focused, but beyond that I don't know much of anything."
Melissa nodded. "That's pretty much true. The central city leads the rest of the island, with most of the higher ups living and working there. But each city serves a specific role in the island's functions."
"Hm. I'm guessing that each city handles a different area of research? Either that or something along the lines of one city handling the research and development of support equipment while another handles manufacturing finished products."
"Yep. Each city focuses on a different branch of research. The central city handles everything relating to support equipment, primarily for heroes, but civilian support equipment is developed there as well."
"City Two. Which is the one to the northwest," she pointed off to their right, and a bit behind them, "Handles non-support-equipment technology. Seeing the potential for the advancements in support equipment tech to be applied elsewhere, and in an effort to ensure that technological advancement doesn't lag behind any more than it already has been for the last two centuries, the countries that founded I-Island wanted it to focus on everything else as much as it did on heroes."
"That makes sense." Izuku said. "Support equipment has been advancing at an exponential rate in the past few decades. If all of the genius behind that advancement were to immediately and indefinitely focus on the betterment of mankind rather than support equipment, we'd likely be launching spaceships bound for mars within a decade."
"You're probably right. One of the most common beliefs is that if quirks hadn't emerged, humanity would be a space-faring civilization by now."
"City Three, to the northeast," she pointed to their left and behind, "focuses on anything and everything pertaining to quirk biology. Everything from the origin of quirks, to how they exist and function within the human body, to mapping out how quirks combine and mutate across generations."
Izuku turned to look in the direction she'd indicated. So that's where he would end up bringing Iona. He added it to the mental checklist of places he would be trespassing in throughout the week.
"I've heard that the island has some of the most advanced medical technology and equipment in the world. I imagine that most of it is concentrated over there."
"Well, each of the four cities has its own hospital, and the entire island shares the technology developed here, kind of like a huge testbed before tech is released into the world, but I think you're right in that a lot of the more specialized equipment stays in the city. The sort of equipment that costs millions of dollars and that might see only a dozen uses in a year. So yeah, at least in terms of diagnostics, that city has the most advanced medical tech."
"Lastly, City Four, to the south," she pointed straight ahead, "has almost nothing to do with any of the research and development that takes place on the island. Just about its whole purpose is to serve as a place to hold the Expo every year. Otherwise it's overflow residential space. That's where all the attractions are, so that's where we'll get started. There's a museum there dedicated to the development and advancement of support equipment over the years."
"Sounds like fun." Izuku remarked, as they entered the subway station that would take them back to the city.
In the end, the museum actually did end up being enjoyable. The history of support equipment wasn't a topic he was well-versed in. He knew enough about recent developments, and had a decent understanding of that which was available to the public, and by whom, as it was necessary for his analysis, but the history wasn't something that had caught his interest yet.
The development of support equipment started as a primarily underground venture. Support gear for early quirked individuals; 'heroes'—meaning vigilantes—criminals, and everyone in between. The lines between the three groups were incredibly blurred back then, it wasn't so much about heroes versus villains as it was about people with quirks wanting equipment to make things easier. It wasn't strictly illegal, as there were no laws prohibiting the development or sale of the equipment, but public opinion was still largely set against quirks at the time, so no one wanted to publicly support quirked people in such a way. And even if they had, the mess of laws were quick to pass, and it did become illegal.
Naturally, the laws didn't do much to stop the already-underground market of gear, but it did make things harder. The general public could no longer get their hands on anything, and gear became more commonplace for criminals—slowly starting to be distinguished as villains—to get it than the vigilantes.
It wasn't until decades passed, and the ratio of quirked and quirkless began to tilt in the favor of the quirked, that the first legal, public providers of support equipment emerged, right alongside the first legal heroes.
From there, the industry started on an explosive rise. As heroes very quickly became more popular, more necessary, the need for support gear rose with it. And, through the beauty of capitalism, as soon as support equipment was realized as a profitable venture, and countless companies rose up to fill the need, the rate of advancement skyrocketed as they all vied to be to the best, sparking the greatest period of scientific advancement since the arrival of quirks.
Nowadays, support equipment was still the largest industry in the world. The margin wasn't quite as large as it used to be, with other industries starting to catch up—namely entertainment, hero merch, and medical—but it was still both the most profitable and the fastest growing.
Izuku and Melissa ended their trip through the museum at a section dedicated to the latest developments in equipment, created on the island. Technological marvels, created with heroics in mind, but very clearly designed for use by non-heroes.
"Truly incredible." Izuku stated, looking around at everything. "I take it your father had a hand in creating most of this? He isn't the head researcher for nothing."
"Not everything. The higher-ups have him working on top-secret stuff more often than not, but everything in here does rely in some way upon something that he's patented. He's done so much. So many people will be affected by his work. So many already have."
Izuku studied her expression. He could feel pure admiration from her. Admiration and love directed towards her father.
"Do you intend to follow in his footsteps?"
She nodded. "I do. I'm actually attending the university here. If all goes according to plan, I'll start work as an assistant in one of Papa's labs next year."
"Impressive. It can't be easy to land such a position. Though I imagine that already living here on the island and being related to David Shield might make things a bit easier."
"Thanks! It definitely wasn't easy, especially since I told Papa that he wasn't allowed to pull any strings for me. I wanted to make sure that I made it through on just my own ability."
Izuku grinned. He could appreciate a desire to achieve something under one's own power. Even more so someone actually following through and managing it.
"Doubly impressive, then. It seems that you must have some lofty aspirations."
"I don't know about that. But I know that I need to do the best I can in order to help as many people as possible."
"Lofty aspirations indeed. Support equipment is vital. The vast majority of heroes would not be able to function as well as they do without the people supporting them. And that's to say nothing of the equipment made available to the public."
"What about you?" She asked. "You seem pretty smart yourself, with how well you were following along with everything in here. Do you have any experience with any of this?"
"Oh, no. I don't do much of anything relating to quirks. The extent of my knowledge on that front is the little bit I've picked up from Deku regarding analysis."
"So what do you do? It's hard to pin down how old you are, but I can't imagine you're that far off from me in either direction. Are you going to school for something?"
"Something like that." Izuku responded with a grin, not intending to give anything away.
Before she could pry further, Ochako and Tsuyu rounded the corner, with Yaoyorozu and Jiro in tow. Izuku, having been aware of their approach, turned to look at them. He noticed them glancing down at his hooves, where there were still a few inches of empty air separating them and the ground.
"Excuse me." Jiro started as soon as they were close enough. "Did you say something about Deku? Do you know him?"
"I did." Izuku responded. "And I do."
"Ochako. Asui." He greeted, nodding at them.
He felt confusion from Jirou and Yaoyorozu.
"You two know him?" Jirou asked, looking between him and the two of them.
"Yeah!" Ochako confirmed with a bright smile. "This is Jinsei. He flew here with us."
"He called you by your given name." Yaoyorozu noted.
"I'm a friend of Izuku's." He answered in Ochako's place. And wow, it was weird to refer to himself in the third person. "Naturally I've become familiar with Ochako as well."
"You're friends with Etsumi?"
"That's what I said, yes."
"Interesting." Yaoyorozu said. "I wasn't aware that Etsumi had any friends outside of our class. He doesn't strike me as the most sociable person." Then, with a smile and an extended hand, "It's nice to meet you. How long have you known Etsumi?"
Well, she wasn't wrong. Discounting Yagi, and maybe Nezu, Izuku hadn't had any friends since Bakugou, before attending Yueii. Though, he wasn't exactly sure who among his classmates were his friends. He certainly cared more about all of them than most others by virtue of his familiarity with them, but which ones were his friends? Ochako, certainly, though she was practically his sister, so that might be a disqualifying factor. Tsuyu, probably. Bakugou, maybe sometime in the future. Other than them, he wasn't sure.
He took her hand, shaking it. "Oh, quite some time now. Years. I've known him longer than just about anyone else."
"An old friend, then. Interesting that we just happen to run into you here, and that you came with Uraraka. I imagine that your being friends with him has something to do with it?"
"That's right. Izuku got two tickets to the Expo by virtue of his analysis, which were given to Ochako and Asui, and I came here with another friend of Izuku's, in his place."
"By the way," Izuku continued before she could respond, "this is Melissa shield. She's been showing me around."
He turned back to Melissa and, switching back to English, explained what was happening.
"These are students from Yueii's heroics class. They're some of the students that All Might teaches."
"I recognize them from the sports festival." Then, in Japanese. "It's nice to meet you. Welcome to I-Island."
Izuku's eyes widened. She had an accent, as was to be expected, but otherwise she had spoken perfect Japanese.
Well, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. If her and her father were such close friends with Yagi, then it would make sense for her to try to learn the language. Her speaking it perfectly though was a bit of a surprise.
The others were surprised as well, evident by their expressions, even if he didn't have 'Observation' to confirm it. Yaoyorozu recovered quickly though, and opened her mouth to speak.
Whatever she was about to say was cut off though, as an explosion sounded out, lightly shaking the building. Izuku tilted his head. That explosion sounded familiar.
"What was that?" Tsuyu asked.
"Sounds like that came from one of the active exhibits." Melissa said.
That caught Izuku's interest. That implied something that the attendees were allowed to participate in. And judging by the size of that explosion, assuming he was correct in guessing its source, it was sure to be at least partially interesting
"Sounds like fun." He said with a smile. "Shall we go take a look?"
"Sure!" Melissa said. "We're all done here, and those exhibits are always one of the most popular spots during the Expo."
The other four glanced between each other, before Ochako smiled. "Let's do it."
From the museum, Melissa led them to a large, open area with a giant, cragged outcropping of rock jutting out of the ground, looking very out of place. Walking around it revealed something of an odd colosseum. Raised seating overlooking a lowered area in front of the simulated mountain(?). An announcer's voice filled the area, shouting out scores for the 'villain attack course.'
"An impressive showing! Twenty-two seconds! That puts him in fifth place!"
Izuku watched as Kirishima made his way down off of the rock, to where the announcer was standing.
"Oh! That's Kirishima!" Ochako exclaimed as he came into view of those with normal vision. "Hey! Kirishima! Over here!"
He turned towards her voice, smiling when he caught sight of her and the others, jogging over to the area below them.
"Hey!" He shouted up at them. "There you are! I was wondering when I'd run into you!"
"We just got here a little bit ago." Then, looking up at the mountain, "What's this? Some sort of combat simulation?"
"Basically. It's a bit like the entrance exams. Just based on speed rather than points. You should give it a try! Bakugou was here not too long ago. Blew everyone else out of the water and took first place. I think he left to go get a snack or something."
Izuku watched as a group of robots wheeled out from an opening in the ground, spreading out and climbing the mountain. A timed trial. Eliminate the robots as fast as possible.
He smiled. "Oh well this does look like fun."
He pulled off his gloves, before rolling up his sleeves, revealing his furry arms and clawed hands. "I think I'll give it a try."
He felt excitement from Ochako at his words, but a bit of confusion from the others.
"Are you sure?" Yaoyorozu asked. "Do you have experience in a fight?"
"You could say that." He answered, deactivating his flight quirk to touch back down. If he was going to do this, might as well go all out, and despite his lack of experience with this particular leg-altering mutation, he was more familiar with it than he was his flight quirk.
He gracefully hopped up onto the railing, before dropping down to the area below, ignoring the slight concern he felt from everyone who wasn't Ochako.
"Looks like we've got a new challenger!" The announcer exclaimed. "The course has been reset. How will he fare I wonder?"
Izuku pulled all of his enhancers into place as he walked over to the starting position, relishing the rush of power through his flesh and the smell of ozone that soaked into the air.
"Ready?"
The world slowed around Izuku as his focus narrowed. Six robots, spread around the fake mountain. His plotted the quickest path to each on in an instant.
Sure, he was going overboard for what was basically I-Island's version of a carnival game, but the whole point of this trip was to have fun and enjoy himself, and he intended to do just that.
"Go!"
Izuku exploded forth and had a fist through the first robot before the word was even fully out of her mouth. He used his flight quirk to immediately change his momentum, launching himself towards the next, which met the same fate. Every one was destroyed in an instant, with number six meeting its end to his antlers, impaling its head and tearing it straight off.
He landed back where he started with enough force to crack the ground, the resultant gust of wind almost knocking the announcer over.
"I-Incredible!" She shouted as he stood up. "Two seconds! Our new challenger has completely blown away the competition and stolen first place for himself!"
Smirking, Izuku reached up to dislodge the head stuck in his antlers, before wiping away a bit of oil that had dripped down onto his face, using 'Shower In A Can' to clean it away. Reactivating his flight quirk, he floated his way back up to the others. He dropped as soon as he made it up, sitting back onto the railing and crossing his legs.
He took a moment to just sit and observe pure amazement practically radiating from everyone but Ochako, who still only gave off excitement.
"How did you do that?" Jiro asked. "I thought you had a flight quirk, or maybe some kind of mutation, but that was insane. I'm not sure if even Etsumi could do it that fast."
Reaching up, Izuku brushed imaginary dust off of his shoulder, activating a newer quirk, 'Laundromat,' as he did to clean up the few drops of oil that marred his white clothes.
"I'm a man of many talents." He answered. "And maybe my quirk isn't something that can be so easily labeled."
"Now then," he said, fluidly floating up off of the railing to hover just over the ground, "that was fun, but it was rather short-lived. Are there any other exhibits like this one? I would so love a chance to stretch my legs."
Melissa smiled. Izuku could feel that her confusion had completely morphed into the same excitement Ochako was feeling. "There are a few more."
"Then let's go take a look, shall we?"
Izuku hummed to himself as he stepped out of the smaller of the two bedrooms in the suite that he and Yagi would be sharing. Perks of coming as All Might's plus one, they got the penthouse suite in their hotel.
He'd just wrapped up a rather lengthy video call with Rei and Iona, during which the latter had gone over every detail of their day, much to Izuku's delight. She'd recounted the trip to the beach, telling him about all the sandcastles she'd built—which Rei had sent pictures of—and showing him all the shells she'd found, talking about the ice cream they'd eaten, what they had for lunch, the movies they watched when they got home, everything.
Izuku would've gladly spent another several hours on the phone, enraptured with her excitement, even if he wasn't close enough to feel it with 'Observation.' Unfortunately, it was late back in Japan—the sun had just barely set on I-Island—and Rei had announced that it was time for Iona to go to bed. The call ended with a promise to do it all again tomorrow.
Between the events of the day, the call with two of his favorite people on the planet, and what he had planned for the night, he was in incredibly high spirits as he stepped out into the giant living room.
Yagi looked up at him from where he was settled on a couch, book in hand. He was already settled in for the night.
He blinked at Izuku, taking in his appearance, and what he was wearing. Dress clothes, as was his usual nightly wardrobe, but all pitch black, completely opposite of what he'd been wearing earlier. And as for his appearance, he'd been given another chance to play around. He wanted something set apart from 'Jinsei,' but he didn't want to run around as Oni, and obviously Izuku was a no-go.
He'd decided not to use any physically noticeable quirks—so no fun mutations—for the purpose of not giving this alter-ego any distinguishing features. And, ultimately this one was less important, as it would see less use and would be seen by fewer people, but he'd had fun nonetheless. And he'd surprised himself by how much feeling had gone into it.
He'd ended up with a mostly unintentional homage to Shadow.
Pitch-black hair, more matte than the almost glossy shine his Oni hair had, unkempt and ruffled just like the man's had been. The same eyes, cloudy white, with no discernible iris or pupil. Slightly hooked nose, and equally slight downturn on the corners of his mouth. He'd even worked his voice around into a passable facsimile.
Had they been able to stand side-by-side with him looking at this, they probably could've passed for family. Really, he might've been able to pass for a younger version of him.
He'd have to take a picture at some point to show Rei.
And with both Shadow's quirk, and with 'Shadow Blend' from the Noumu he'd been turned into, the shadows seemed to cling to him as he moved.
Yagi raised an eyebrow at him. "Interesting choice in pajamas."
Izuku raised an eyebrow right back at him, more out of disbelief than anything else.
"You speak as if you've forgotten that I know who you are.
The man was wearing All Might-themed pajamas, of all things. Not even a subtle use of his color-scheme, but an obscene usage of his image. He was covered, almost head to toe, in a repeating pattern of countless pictures of his smiling alter-ego.
Izuku really hoped that Yagi didn't think he'd ever be allowed to live that down. God, if the other teachers at Yueii were made aware. He'd have to make sure to secure at least one picture while they were here, for blackmail.
Yagi seemed to realize the same thing—if the wave of embarrassment Izuku could feel from him was any indication—as he averted his eyes, cleared his throat, and tried again.
"So, it seems like you have plans for tonight?"
Izuku, deciding to show mercy, nodded. "Yep. I'm not sure if I've ever told you or not, but I don't sleep. Physically don't have to. And while I'll still end up working on my analysis while I'm here, that only eats up a few hours. That leaves a lot of time to fill."
He walked over to the glass doors that led out to the balcony. "I plan to go exploring. A place like this, the technological advancement hub of the world, no crime to speak of. There's bound to be lots of interesting things to see once the sun goes down."
He gently floated up into the air,
"I'm going to go have some fun." He said. "Definitely all very legal. Nothing illegal to speak of. Absolutely no trespassing or breaking and entering to go take a peek at confidential research projects."
Yagi's brow knit together, and Izuku could feel concern bleeding from the man. "Why are you saying it like that? You're not actually going to do anything like that, are you?"
"Of course not." Izuku said with a smile. "It's just all about plausible deniability. And you don't have to be concerned. Nothing that I do tonight will involve anyone getting hurt or with anything getting damaged or stolen. It'll all be perfectly legal."
Yagi just blinked at him, before turning back to his book.
"Have fun." He said, not looking at him.
Izuku smirked, before pulling open the door, and disappearing into the night as he floated away from the ambient light of the suite, and 'Shadow Blend' took hold.
His smirk widened as he floated high above the island moments later. So many places to go, so many things to see.
Where to start?