Magic: The Gathering of Heroes - Anonymous567, whod99 (2024)

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter Text

No one is born equal. That was a thing Izuku Midoriya had learnt at a young age.

"L-leave him alone, Kacchan!" Four-year-old Izuku stutters out fearfully through his clattering teeth, tears barely held back as he fights his body to stop shaking in fear.

His best friend, or former in this case, laughs at the pitiful sight in front of him, and the rest of his followers do the same.

"Really? And you think you can stand up to me without a quirk? " Bakugou finds the very notion of asking ridiculous. He slams his fist against his palm, erupting a small explosion that made Izuku take a step back in fear. His healed burns from previous assaults suddenly flared up again at the sight.

"K-kacchan, please!" he pleads, nervously glancing back. The kid his age that he had been defending had taken the opportunity to run away. It was just him now, with a target painted on him instead.

There was no one else in this playground beside them. He doubted anyone could hear him call for help. He tried to stand his ground, but the closer they got to him, the weaker his knees felt, so he did the only thing he could.

"Help me! Over here! " He shouts and directs it behind the trio, and they glance back quickly, the two lackeys with fear in their eyes, and Bakugou only looking annoyed that he will possibly be interrupted as he shows Deku his place.

But they turn to find an empty playground, with no one passing by. Bakugou scowls and turns back to punish Izuku for this trick, but instead of seeing Izuku standing there shaking, he sees his back turned to him as he runs away as fast as he can.

"Oi, Deku! Come back here! " Bakugou screams as he runs, chasing the greenette as he sets off explosions on his arms.

All Izuku could do was run from his former friend. A friend who once swore that they would be heroes together, albeit with Izuku as his sidekick, but still the only friend that Izuku had now turned into a bully. All because of how he was born.

Quirkless, lacking a special power that makes him unique in the world, might as well be synonymous with the word cripple with how the word is used.

He curses himself for that. If only he had been born with a quirk, maybe he wouldn’t be treated this way. If only he had a quirk, maybe he wouldn’t have lost the only friend he had. If only he had a quirk, he wouldn’t have to run.

He approached a familiar road and did some quick thinking. If he took a shortcut, he could make it back home quickly, forcing Bakugou to call off the chase. Then he won’t have to explain to his mother about the new burns across his body.

Hearing the explosions behind him getting closer, Izuku increased his pace as best he could, but as luck would have it, his foot was caught in the curb, tripping and sending him flailing on the road.

Ignoring the scrapes on his arms, he tries to get up but cries in pain when he tries to apply pressure to his leg, looking to see his foot bent in another direction.

"Aw, what’s the matter?" Bakugou asks mockingly as he flashes his quirk for intimidation. "Just one fall and you’re already crying?” And you still want to be a hero without a quirk? What a joke.

He and his lackeys laughed as Izuku gripped his injured leg with tears. Bakugou was right; he was a joke. Heroes didn’t run at the first sight of trouble. Heroes don’t cry when they get scratched up. They stand their ground against villains and always save those in trouble. All he could do was run away.

All those emotions within him, the loneliness, helplessness, fear and anger piled up. Anger at Bakugou, but mostly at himself for being weak. If not, he wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. Within him, he feels something burning.

But then he was snapped back to reality by a loud honk, turning to see a truck speeding down the road honking for him to get off the road. It takes him a second to realise it's moving too quickly to brake and stop, and it's too close for Izuku to limp away.Time seems to slow as Izuku sees the anger in Bakugou switch to fear and his eyes widen with the realisation of what would happen, but even if he were to help, he would be too slow.

In his mind, Izuku can think of no way he could make it out; despair and pure panic engulf him. The emotions in him spiked and that burning sensation amplified.

No one was born equal, if only he knew to what extent he was right. For every million lifeforms born in the vast, infinite, and ever-expanding multiverse, one is born with a special spark within them. Dull, faded, and weak. But if circ*mstances are willing, that dull spark may be ignited and set ablaze.

Everyone in the area became blinded by an explosion of blue light as the truck driver swerved from the sudden blindness and into a nearby building. It was fortunate to be unoccupied, and the ambulance arrived quickly for the driver. But despite their efforts and the police combing the area, none could find any signs of a four-year-old Quirkless child.

Izuku Midoriya had vanished without a trace.

***

"Mom!" he cries, no longer trying to stop the tears from flowing. The pain, the fear, the confusion about where he was, was all too much for the young boy. The pungent stench of rotten eggs was eye-watering as he glanced around, trying to make sense of his environment. In one moment, he was on the road about to be struck by a truck when, in a flash of blue light, he disappeared.

"Somebody help me!" He cries as loud as he can before finally sniffing, about to wipe the tears from his eyes when he realises they’re all muddy. He was in some sort of swamp, something he had only seen in pictures in books before, surrounded by mangrove trees and drenched in mud. He winces at the sight. His mother was going to have trouble cleaning it out when he got home.

He doesn’t even know where he is right now. It was night, but when he was on the road it was in the afternoon. The moon is his only source of light, piercing through thick clouds in the sky.

Was he even in Musutafu? Japan, even? Could this be the work of a quirk? Could it have been him?

Excitement sparks within him at the thought. He had done research in the desperate hope there could be some way for a quirkless person like him to get a quirk, but all he found were just scams and urban myths. Could it be that in his anxiety, he awoke his quirk to save him?

A snap of a branch alerts him to the fact that he may not be alone. He spins around quickly and pales at the sight of an enormous wolf standing on bipedal legs, barely reaching its knees.

"Could it be a villain?" he thinks to himself in dread. Compared to this thing, being burnt by Bakugou’s quirk paled. The wolf creature growls as it gets on all fours and slowly makes its way over to Izuku.

"P-please... I just want to go home, "he begs the villain/monster/creature who seems to ignore his pleas. Then it breaks into a sprint and Izuku tries to push himself up to run, but in his fear he had momentarily forgotten about his injured leg, screaming in pain as he tried to stand on it.

Fear greater than he had ever felt before surged through his body as he screamed, the wolf creature pouncing on him with jaws wide open.

Once again, the spark within him responded to his urge to run, to leave the plane for somewhere else, and it did so. An explosion of blue sparks occurs, and the werewolf slams face-first into the mud, scowling as it sniffs for its prey but finds it has disappeared, much to its confusion.

***

He was dead. That was the only explanation for this. The truck must have struck him and he died. He had heard that people who did bad stuff would go to a bad place, but it was worse than he thought. His tears froze the second he was there. The blood coursing through him slowed from the cold. He could barely see or breathe. Moving an inch was a humongous effort.

The bright side was that he could no longer feel the pain in his leg. He can barely feel anything at this point. He prays to anyone who could possibly be listening. Someone, please help him. He begs for a hero, anyone to find him and save him.

He collapses, barely half a minute after entering this frozen landscape, the snow already building up and threatening to engulf him. But out of the corner of his eye, he sees something. Through his near-frozen eyes and the harsh blizzard, he saw what could possibly be movement.

Logically, he should be wary, but logic goes out the window when one’s survival is on the line. He was mustering all the strength he had left when he raised a hand in desperation and spoke as loud as his near frozen throat could allow.

"Help…me…"

Seconds passed and the only change was that the snow finally rose to cover half his face, and soon his entire body would be frozen. But still, he holds up his hand, desperate for someone to see and find him.

Then his head was completely engulfed, and he had all but lost hope. His arm goes limp but he is held up by the snow. He can barely think and breathe.

"Please..." he mutters to no one in particular, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Then all of a sudden, it was all washed away. The snow, the cold, and the darkness vanished in a flash of bright light. He was now wet and cold, but less so than moments before, and was suddenly feeling warm again, like in the afternoon sun.

"By Oketra, I knew I had heard something!" A baritone voice declared as Izuku felt himself getting picked up. Despite the warmth, the cold and the stress had taken their toll on his energy and he was feeling exhausted. With all the strength he has left, he opens his eyes to gaze at his saviour.

His first sight was that of an armoured chest. The person who saved him was a man with black hair and light brown skin. A look of concern was evident across his face as he placed a glowing hand on Izuku, who felt warmer by the second, and miraculously he felt his leg moving back into correct formation, fixing it with no pain. He was safe now; he knew it in his heart.

"Best to keep your eyes open, child," he says soothingly. "What’s your name?"

"I... zuku..."He mumbles tired, but surprisingly not as much as before. Was it this man’s quirk?

"Are you... a hero?" he asks as the man cradles him and lifts him up from the ground.

"Some call me that, yes." The man admits, and soon Izuku's vision was filled with a burst of light and a golden storm, "Call me Gideon."

*10 Years Later*

"Gideon, what would you think of my actions?" Izuku mused to himself in thought as he lay across the deck of the Mana Rig in a pool of his own blood. He smiles ruefully, ‘You’d probably have called me an idiot and knocked me over the head, even though you’d have done the same.’

With a wave of his hand, he draws the red mana in the area and focuses it into a wave of fire, incinerating a bunch of Phyrexian. To say it had been a terrible day was an understatement.

At the Battle of the Mana Rig, he fought with the Planeswalkers and the Coalition against the Phyrexians, and despite all their enemy’s efforts, despite the compleation of the Weatherlight, despite their saboteurs, they had earned themselves a reprieve from the army.

But just when they thought they were saved. just when the Yavimayan elves arrived, just when the Phyrexian army was retreating. Their sleeper agent awoke.

Izuku had been in another area reinforcing the soldiers of the Coalition, but he saw it. He saw a trusted friend revealed as the sleeper agent. He saw Ajani bury his axe into Karn and then grip Jaya’s neck. He saw her fight with her last breath and cover him in flames. He saw the thing that wore the skin of his friend throw the body of the woman he considered to be a second mother off the edge of the Mana Rig, dead before she touched the ground.

It all happened so fast, in just a few seconds, that his mind struggled to process what had happened, leaving him open to the Phyrexian stabbing him in the back. At the same time, it was happening that the Praetor of the Phyrexian army, by the name of Sheodred, had made a counterattack, pushing the Mana Rig between herself and a mountain.

Hordes of Phyrexians dropped from the mountains, and once again the Mana Rig was a battlefield. Benalish, Keldons, Yavimayan elves, goblins, humans, and viashino fought with all their might. Izuku himself was lying in a pool of his own blood, having no time to heal himself amidst the battle, throwing off spells that incinerated entire squads of enemies.

Then he hears it. Ominous ticking from the rig’s central structure Someone had activated the self-destruct mechanism, he realised with a laugh. Denying the enemy the rig even if they are losing.

Portals open up across the rig, likely Jodah’s work, sucking up allied soldiers and those too stunned to realise they were pushed in by their allies.

Except for him, he had been too far from a portal to be sucked in. A handful of soldiers tried dragging him to one, but there were too many Phyrexians. He was priming white mana for a healing spell, but faced with the chance of being overwhelmed, he used it to send the soldiers through the portal. That was how he got the second stab wound and the third.

That’s how he ended up here, lying against a railing on the edge of the Mana Rig, slinging fire and lightning at any Phyrexian that dares get close. Moments later, the portals begin to close as he sees the last soldiers leap into their nearest portals in fighting retreat, the one next to him closing shut.

He was too injured to drag himself to it, and even if he could, it left the possibility of Phyrexians following through it and killing many soldiers before they could be stopped. So he grits his teeth and fires out another lightning bolt, determined to hold the line.

The portals finally closed and he could see a red planar bridge open out of the corner of his eyes, and Sheoldred dragged Karn through it, taking him to god knows where. Another friend lost, to his dismay.

Izuku assumes the order to retreat was given to the Phyrexians by the way they were rushing past and ignoring him. They are likely trying to get as many of their troops away as possible to avoid wasting too many. He was fine with it. He could use some rest.

The mechanism ticks down and he feels his eyes getting heavy, no longer able to focus enough to cast a spell. Was this how he was going to die? He supposes that as far as dying moments go, it wasn’t bad.

He struggled to stay conscious as memories flashed through his mind. Simpler times chess with Jace, training with Gideon and the rest of Gatewatch. Jaya, Terferi, Kaya, everyone. Even memories of Liliana before her betrayal. Ajani before his compleation. He wonders just when the Phyrexians got their hands on him, what pain he had to endure. He entertains himself with images of Sheoldred paying for all the pain she has caused.

And then he sees a woman in his memories. This confused him for a moment, as he did not recognise her. But then he makes the connection when he sees the matching green hair. His mother

He had tried his best, but he could never truly remember her face. He curses himself for that, his failure to remember his mother, his failure to find his way home. But here, in his dying breath, he could see her face as clearly as day.

He sees their small apartment. He sees her bending down to his level to wipe dirt from his face. Yes, he remembers this. He had just come home from the playground and she was admonishing him for getting himself dirty. Her voice, that once eluded him, was as clear as day, as was the concerned look on her face.

He tries to hold on to the memory as long as possible, wanting it to be the last thing he sees. He hears the sound of the self-destruct finally activating, engulfing the entire Mana Rig and the horde of Phyrexians in fire, as the force of the blast launches him off the edge of the Rig.

He was fine with this, he thought to himself as he clung to the memory as he fell, oblivious to the blue sparks that were engulfing him before the flames and heat of the explosion could reach him.

Once again, Izuku Midoriya disappears without a trace.

Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Homecoming

Chapter Text

Hisahi groans as the alarm rings, fumbling for its off switch half awake. This was what he got for sleeping at 6AM, he supposes, but it was his boss's fault. Suddenly, calling about a project due in a month and then saying they needed it done in a few days for some bullsh*t reason. On the bright side, he finally finished it last night, and he did have some accumulated days off. Maybe he should spend some. Get out of the country with his wife, take their minds off things.

He glances at the alarm clock and curses. It was already late in the afternoon, but thank goodness it was a Saturday. He spun around, expecting to be greeted by the sight of his wife, but found her missing from the bed. It was a good thing, actually.

Ever since their son died, she had been a mess. Rarely did she have the will to get out of bed, eat, or do anything without her pestering. It took years before she was able to get out of bed, albeit late in the afternoon, get dressed without help, or even eat a meal.

Usually he’d be awake to find her in bed, most of the time sleeping or lying there numb, sometimes sobbing softly. Seeing her get out of bed before him was a good sign, a sign she was getting better and better day by day.

He understands why she’d be like that. It was his son as well, and when he first heard the news, it wasn’t like he was any better. Denial, denying that his son was missing, denying that his son was possibly dead, and lashing out at anyone who dared to suggest it, whether it was friends, coworkers, police, or even Pro Heroes.He’d shut himself in his lab an ocean away from his home, using everything he had; resources from his job, favours accumulated, just to find some way to track down his boy and then shut down like her once it became increasingly clear how futile it was.

It was only after a phone call from his wife that he realised he wasn’t the only one suffering. He finally realised how selfish he had been. He packed up, quit his job, and returned home on the same day to care for her.

It was a rough ten years, and he doesn’t think anything will ever be the same. The scars from their loss may never fully heal and fade, but they’ll manage.

He gets dressed. Perhaps later, they can go out for dinner if Inko feels up for it. The restaurant they used to frequent before

Suddenly, in the midst of buttoning up his shirt, he sees a flash of blue light coming from the cracks of his door and then a loud thud and his wife screaming in shock and fear. Thinking the worst, he dashes out as quickly as possible and heads to the kitchen where he heard the ruckus.

"Inko!" he yells in worry as he sees his wife back up from something behind the kitchen counter, her hands covering her mouth in shock.

He put himself in front of her out of caution as he looked at what she was seeing. A boy, a teenager to be exact, in burnt clothes and lying in a pool of his own blood was on their kitchen floor.

"What the hell just happened?" he asks, confused.

"He-he just appeared; oh God, he needs help." Inko mutters in shock before snapping out of it, moving past Hisashi and grabbing a towel, "We need to help!"

"Inko, wait! We don’t know what-" he says, trying to be cautious. For all they knew, it could have been a villain fleeing the law and escaping to their apartment.He'd heard stories like that before. Perhaps he had a quirk that could harm them even if unintentionally; after all, making those with dangerous quirks safe was one of the most common reasons for designing civilian-grade support items.

But he sees how pitiful the child in front of him was, how hurt he was, and unable to stand idly by, he moves to grab his phone.

"Hello? I need an ambulance. There’s someone in my apartment; he’s bleeding and looks like he’s been stabbed. "

He continues to give details like his apartment’s address, whether the person was still breathing, and answers whatever questions the operator had. As he did this, his wife worked hard tending to the boy’s wounds as best she could, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

To her relief, she could feel the boy breathing, so he was still alive. She suddenly hears a choking sound emit from the boy as he raises a hand, making it evident he was conscious.

"Please hold still." She tries to sound soothing to calm the boy, "You’ve been hurt, but the ambulance will be here soon. Just stay away! "

She cuts off as she looks into the boy’s now open eyes. His face was covered in a thick layer of soot, covering up most of his features, leaving the eyes as the only thing identifiable. Her jaw slackens and nearly equals the pressure she was applying to the wounds, unable to stop her choked sobs.

"What’s wrong?" Hisashi asks, concerned, having just finished the call, "The ambulance will be here in five minutes, we just..."

"Dear, look! Look at his eyes!" Inko says through her sobs that Hisashi did so. They were hazy and unfocused, and while he wasn't a doctor, they appeared to be signs of a concussion; he'd probably have to call an ambulance when they arrived.

But then Hisashi’s eyes widened in recognition. He had seen these eyes before, every time he looked into his wife’s eyes. He’s seen it in a baby he held once nearly 15 years ago. He has seen those eyes in a child in a picture at his desk that he sees every day.

"...our son." Hisashi says, with stunned realisation, "It’s our son."

***

A blinding, vast whiteness was all he saw. Was this the afterlife? He had never put much thought into it, never really wondered what was beyond death. Sometimes he spent a few moments pondering, especially during and after the War of the Spark, but it usually led to existential dread, leading to him trying to forget about it.

If this was the afterlife, then it was... peaceful. It was quiet, like he felt he could rest forever. Then the illusion shattered.

"He’s loosing blood-!"

A sharp pain fills his body. He was still alive. He was certain of it.His vision was a blur of white, but he could now see movement; bodies hovering over him talking in muffled voices.

"...anemia. We need a transfusion…"

"...type O. Get 4 units of…"

Where was he? Was he still in Dominaria? On Shiv? He does not feel the near overwhelming source of red mana emanating from the continent, so he must surely be elsewhere. His blood runs cold. What if the Phyrexians capture him? What if they seek to complete him now, like they did with Arjani and so many others?

"...eartrate spiking!"

He won’t let that happen. He won’t!

The white mana he gathered revitalised him and, coating a hand in mana to enhance his strength, he lashes out, gripping the nearest creature.

"You won't take-!" He begins to cast a spell but stops as his vision clears. Instead of some Phyrexian creature, he was gripping a man in blue overalls and head coverings that left only his eyes visible. A quick glance around reveals people dressed in similar clothing looking at him in distress.

"Wh... where am I?" He speaks in the Agrivian dialect to test the waters.

"What’s he saying?" One of the people asked in what sounded like Common Kamigawan. Was he in Kamigawa? In his dying breath, did he planeswalk here to save himself subconsciously? He had always taken the plane because it reminded him of home.It helped that they both used very similar language.

"We should call security," another one whispers, thinking he was being unheard.

"Please... calm down." The man whose throat he was gripping was saying, "We just want to help."

Izuku quickly released his grip, ashamed of harming an innocent, and went to apologise.

"I..." I’m sorry, I just reacted. " He weakly defends as he glances everywhere. He appears to be in some sort of room, lying on a strange looking bed of sorts with black cushions. As he tries to sit up, he grimaces and looks down, realising there is a needle and tube in his chest.It appeared that was the source of the stabbing pain and he had healed himself mid-surgery.

The person he nearly strangled put up his hands appeasingly as he approached, "We were trying to help you. Stitch up your wounds. Do you remember what happened? "

Izuku cringes as memories flare of the Battle of the Mana Rig. He distracts himself by pulling out the needle and thread, wincing in pain as he does so.

"Vividly." Izuku mutters as he hands the items to the stunned man.

Those were three stab wounds." He mutters in awe, "Both your lungs had been punctured; your intestines and stomach shredded; severe blood loss; ribs broken; there were burns."

"Yeah, I can feel it." Izuku winces as he feels his bones ache. The first spell only healed a majority of his wounds, so he casts another one quickly, placing a glowing white hand on his body, letting the white mana seep into his bones and organs.

The man in blue, presumably a healer, says as he looks at Izuku’s flesh where only faded scars remain, "You must have a powerful healing quirk of sorts. But I didn’t see it in your file. "

You could hear a pin drop from the moment he finished. Izuku freezes like he has been struck by a spell. He slowly turns his head to an unsure doctor who looks at him oddly, wondering what it was he said that caused such a reaction.

That word he used, quirk, he had only ever heard it used in one place before. But it can’t be...

Can it?

"This... where am I? Is this Kamigawa? " Izuku asks slowly and shakily, his mind and heart racing a hundred miles per hour, and hope fills his chest.

"What is it?" "No, you’re in Musutafu, Japan." He answers confused before turning concerned, "Is something wrong? "Are you hurt?"

He asks the boy, who now had tears leaking from his eyes like a faucet, barely choking back sobs. He ignores the doctors trying to check him for any wounds or whatever they were doing. To him at the moment, nothing mattered but the two words he spoke.

Musutafu, Japan.

He was home.

***

Naomasa immediately departed for the hospital once he received the call. Part of him still couldn’t believe it, that after 10 years, the Midoriyas’ missing child would show up out of the blue. He had been the detective assigned to their case all those years ago before it went cold.

It was eventually declared that Izuku Midoriya was a late bloomer whose quirk awakened during a time of intense fear in order to protect himself, some kind of teleporting ability. It was also declared that he may have killed himself using his quirk.

Cases like that are sadly not uncommon. Every now and then, children can be born with an extraordinary quirk that their bodies may not have been prepared for, such as being too strong or lacking enough control. In this case, it was the latter. It was assumed that Izuku Midoriya warped somewhere and was killed, leaving his body missing. The cause of death could have been anything, perhaps drowning in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, starving in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, or heatstroke in the Sahara Desert, depending on how strong the teleporting Quirk was.

He checks into the hospital and quickly finds Hisashi waiting for him, his back facing him and fidgeting with an unlit cigarette in his fingers.

"You know you can’t smoke in here." Hisashi returns a startled look before pocketing the cigarette.

"Just nerves, detective." Hisashi says, as they shake hands, "Thanks for coming so soon."

"It’s the least I can do." Naomasa says, "Has there been any updates? Did the blood test get any results? "

Hisashi shook his head, "They’re still checking, but Inko insists that it’s really him. He has her eyes, and I’d know them anywhere. That boy lying on that bed right now could very well be my son. "

"But you doubt it?" Naomasa asks, noticing that his friend’s mood was quite the opposite of what one would have expected when hearing his long-lost son returned. He was stoic, composed, and restrained, but Naomasa could see small cracks in his facade.

"We have had dozens of false alarms in the past. And what about his quirk?It’s supposed to be some sort of teleportation, right? But the doctors said they saw him heal himself with some sort of healing quirk. " Hisashi reminds us, "It could just be that his quirk is more complicated than that, or a dozen other possibilities. I want to believe it’s him. I really do. But if he isn't... if this is just one big mistake... I don’t think either Inko or I can handle it. We need to be sure. I need it to be absolutely sure. Not 90% or 95%, I want to be 100% sure. "

Naomasa nods in understanding, as Hisashi pulls out a notepad from his pockets.

"Here," he says as he hands it over, "I took the liberty of preparing while you were on your way, some questions and answers that only he would know."

Naomasa took it but felt the urge to remind Hisashi that if the child really was Izuku, then there was a chance he may barely remember anything. Disappearing for ten years when one was four years old would be detrimental to one’s memory.

"I’ll make sure of it." he assures and heads to the room where they are keeping ‘Izuku Midoriya’, the door having been only a few feet away. He knocks politely before entering once given permission. In front of him was a young teen dressed in hospital garments lying on a bed, his eyes mostly staring blankly ahead as if in thought.

"Hello," he says slowly."My name is Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, and-"

"Are they done yet?" The boy interrupts abruptly, "I apologise for my rudeness, but I’ve been waiting here for hours. They said they'd take my blood for testing and then I could see my parents. "

The boy sounds stressed but it also seemed like he was attempting to restrain himself to sound polite. Naomasa is surprised. If Izuku had been isolated for the past ten years, then behaviour such as that might not have been possible. He’d have expected to be somewhat feral if he was honest.

He also remembered that he had parents. He supposes that was a good thing.

"We just need to make absolutely sure." Naomasa replied diplomatically as he gestured to a seat, "May I?"

Izuku nods as Naomasa pulls up the chair next to his bed and sits down, pulling out a notepad and pen as he does so.

"I’ll be asking you some questions now, if that’s fine with you."

Izuku nods again, "Yes, of course. Ask all you need. "

Naomasa decides to start straight to the point, preparing his quirk as he does so.

"Are you Izuku Midoriya?"

"Yes, I am."

Truth. That was what Naomasa felt with his quirk. Of course, it could be that he believes himself to be Izuku Midoriya or something. After all, his quirk wasn't foolproof; it only aided in the investigation, not solved the problems right away.

"Do you remember the details of your disappearance?" Naomasa asks the first question on the list Hisashi gave him. Izuku thinks for a moment before he responds.

"I was... running from someone. What was his name? Kac-something? katan? Kacchan? Yeah, that’s it. " Izuku says, in recognition, "I broke my leg when I tripped, and then there was a truck. The next thing I knew, I was gone.

Truth. The notes had said that the boy that witnessed the incident, Katsuki Bakugou, was acquainted with Izuku and even had the nickname ‘Kacchan’. It was certainly something you couldn’t find by looking up in a newspaper.

He continues through the list. It was mostly basic trivia on things only Izuku would have known. He asked about his favourite food.

"Katsudon."

What kind of games would he play with his mother as a child?

"There wasn’t really a name for it." "I'd put on an All Might onesie, she'd run and hide, calling for help," Izuku says wistfully. It was hide and seek with a mix of tag.

and his parents' names.

"My mother, her name was Inko Midoriya." He answers confidently but then falters, "My father... I’m sorry, but I just can’t remember. I don’t think I even know what he looks like. "

He says this with a large trace of guilt in his voice, his body shuddering slightly. To Naomasa, it was reasonable. Unfortunately, from what he knew, Hisashi was not present much after Izuku was born. He had a job overseas and it left him little time to visit, so it made sense that Izuku would be more familiar with his mother than with his father. He cringes at the thought of having to break the news to Hisashi.

"Is that all, Detective Naomasa?" Izuku interrupts Naomasa’s thoughts with irritation barely hidden, "I apologise, but I’ve been stuck here for hours. I have not seen my parents in ten years. I wish to see them. Failing that, I wish for them to be brought here to see me. Is that possible?"

There was no other explanation, the results from the blood test would only be a formality by now. His quirk didn’t lie, and from all the questions that Naomasa asked him, knowledge that only Izuku Midoriya or his close family would know, this was most definitely him.

“It really is you.” he mutters stunned as he slumps back into his chair, "Where have you been this whole time?"

Izuku doesn’t face him as he answers, gazing off in the distance through the window next to him.

"I got lost."

Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Complications

Chapter Text

Izuku watches the detective leave. The whole event was odd, to say the least. Not the questions, he understood the reason for them perfectly. He would be suspicious as well if someone went missing for ten years and then returned out of nowhere.

What was odd was the detective, he had sensed it when he entered the room. A source of white mana within him activated in the form of a spell. Given the context, it was likely some type that assisted in questioning, perhaps a lie-detecting one.

Heck, he can sense it all across the hospital. He assumed it was just background mana at first, but there was too much variety in such a place. That was when he stretched out his senses and focused, realising the sources of mana were coming directly from the people. The patients, the doctors, and visitors. They all had mana in them, ranging from the smallest drop to the entire body, and it was all different colours and combinations.

It didn’t make a lot of sense to him. You cast spells by drawing from the background mana of the area, but this was different. as if the bodies were generating their own form of mana. He felt his curiosity grow as theories sprang up in his mind. What effects do they have on quirks? Or rather, what is their relationship with Quirks? Was what he was seeing Quirks? He couldn’t wait to get this back to Jace and...

And then he remembers what has happened in the past few hours. It felt like days, but he knew that it had only been just hours after the Battle of the Mana Rig. Memories start flooding his mind; the boiling heat of being on the continent of Shiv; the smell of sulphur in the air from the sheer number of volcanoes. He could hear the chittering of Phyrexian lifeforms, the biomechanical monstrosities edging closer as he sent them back with fire and lightning, and the pungent smell of burnt flesh and melted metal. The smell of blood, most of all; his blood, the blood of Coalition soldiers.

Sweat drops across his face as he begins to find it hard to breathe. He throws the blanket off in an attempt to get the weight off his chest, suffocating him. The monitor, which was attached to him by a wire to his wrist, beeped rapidly as it sensed his accelerating heartbeat.

He needs to get out, he needs to breathe!

The doors all but slammed open, and Izuku welcomed the distraction. Anything to get his mind off things. He turns to face what he assumes to be a doctor or a nurse, but then his mind goes blank at the sight.

He knows that face, although it has aged over the years and is now older. Her skin was paler than he had remembered and she was looking at him with eyes full of worry, concern, and tears. She was thinner as well, almost unhealthily, and her leg appeared to be wobbling, threatening to collapse.

"Izuku..." she says in recognition as she chokes back a sob.

"Mom..." he mutters in shock before clambering out of his bed. His magic healed him, but it doesn’t cure exhaustion, and he was tired after everything, but seeing his mother gave him a burst of energy.

She approaches as well as they meet halfway, hugging each other as tight as possible, as if scared that the other would vanish without a trace.

“Oh Izuku, you’re alive. After all this time... you really are alive!" She cries as she brushes her hand against his hair. “It’s you... It’s really you! I knew as soon as I saw your eyes, but...You’re home. You’re finally home. "

I’m sorry. I tried to come home! I really did! " Izuku interrupts whatever she has to say. For ten years, he had been preparing himself for this exact moment; the moment he would see his mother again and put into words how sorry he was for leaving, for not finding his way home sooner, for everything.

But all that came out was blabbering and choking on his own tears. At that moment, he wasn’t Izuku Midoriya, Planeswalker, mage and member of Gatewatch, but Izuku Midoriya, a boy who found his mother at long last.

"It’s true..."

Izuku hears a male voice from behind his mother. He wipes his tears with a sleeve before looking up to find a man with black hair and freckles standing at the door with a myriad of emotions simultaneously expressed on his face. Regret, pain, sadness, joy, and others.

"I..." I’m sorry." He apologises to the stranger, "Who are you?"

***

"...the f*ck?" Katsuki Bakugou mutters in shock at the words that left his mother’s mouth.

He had come back from a workout to see her blabbering something on her phone. Not caring enough to listen in, he moves to his room to finish up his homework.

What a waste of time, he thought. But it was a necessary waste of time if he was to get to UA. They won’t accept any run-of-the-mill student, and he definitely wasn’t one. But before he could step into his room, his mom called for him.

"What is it now, you hag?" he screams from the staircase.

"It’s Inko." Mitsuki says, not bothering to scold her son for using that tone on her, something that surprised both him and Masura, who was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper.

"She just called and... they found him. They found her son! They found Izuku! "

Masaru nearly dropped his newspaper in surprise at the news, looking at his wife in shock and disbelief.

"What?" he says in surprise, "But he’s been missing for ten years!"

"I know! It's a miracle!" she exclaims as she looks at her son, who was wearing a strange expression on his face. His eyes twitched and his jaw opened and closed as if he was having trouble processing the news that he was given.

"...the f*ck?" He swears, "What the hell do you mean?! Deku’s dead! He has been for years! There’s no f*cking way! "

Ten years ago, he could remember that moment as clearly as day. They had been playing when Deku was dumb enough to run into the streets, where a truck nearly hit him, but then the bastard used his quirk to disappear. And since then he’s never seen him again, what other explanation could there be besides that Deku died?

And now they were telling him that by some f*cking miracle he shows up after ten years.

"Well, it’s true." Mitsuki snaps back, confused about why her son was acting angrier than usual. "Now listen, Inko’s invited us to dinner with them to celebrate. We’ll be heading out by 6 PM. I want you to be on your best behaviour…”

Her words fell upon deaf ears as events replayed in Katsuki Bakugou’s mind; the truck speeding down the road; Izuku lying on the street like a deer in headlights; and those damn blue sparks.

***

It was a quiet ride on their way home.

Home. That word left a strange taste in Izuku’s mouth. Where was his home, truly? He followed Gideon wherever he went in his early days as a planeswalker, excluding his brief stays in both Strixhaven Lorehold College and Keral Keep, of course, and it wasn't until the formation of Gatewatch that he thought he had found something that could be classified as a home.

He recalls the feeling of safety and familiarity that their headquarters in Ravnica brought. Compared to this small house, he feels like a stranger in even stranger lands. Sure, that was territory that comes with being a Planeswalker, but shouldn’t he feel at least some sort of familiarity with his native plane?

"Here we are, Izuku," his mother says as she opens the door and lets him in. "Welcome home."

“...It’s smaller than I remembered." Izuku says, after an awkward pause, not knowing what else to say. How could you tell your parents that the home they raised you in didn’t feel like one?

"It’s probably because you were smaller at that time." Inko says with a smile, "Your room is just as we left it. Do you remember where it is?"

Izuku struggles with whether to lie and say he does, or admit he barely remembers what the house’s interior looks like. Fortunately, his father steps in and saves him from answering.

“I’ll go with him. Is it fine if we leave cooking dinner to you?"

Inko nods, "Of course. I'd better hurry, they’ll be here in a few hours."

"They?" Izuku asks as Inko leaves for the kitchen.

"The Bakugous." Hisashi answers as they step inside the living room, "You don’t remember them?"

Izuku looks away in shame as Hisashi laughs a bit.

“Well, on the bright side, I’m not the only one.” He jokes, "Come on, let’s get to your room."

He was smiling now, but Izuku could still sense the lingering pain hidden behind it. He remembered how devastated he was when Izuku admitted he didn't know who he was. The man looked as if he had been slammed in the guts by a warhammer.

"It’s fine, really." Hisashi gives his son a sad smile and says, "I... suppose I wasn’t present that much like Inko was. That was my own fault. I put work ahead of my family and that’s what I got."

"I’m sure it was important work." Izuku hurriedly says, in an attempt at damage control.

Hisashi scoffs, "Well, if you consider inventing and selling Support Items overseas important."

"Support Items?" Izuku asks, unfamiliar with the word. Were they artefacts of sorts?

Hisashi looks at him in surprise before realising, "Ah, right. I suppose you didn’t get to learn about them when you... Anyways, they’re these items people use to control or enhance their Quirks. I can show you, if you like, bring you to my workplace and show you how things work behind the scenes. I know you loved Pro Heroes when you were younger.”

There was a hint of desperation in his voice. A desire to bond with the son he had almost lost, a son he had never seen for ten years and never got the chance to see grow up. And to be honest, Izuku felt the same. He had fond memories of his mother and would like the same with the man who was his father.

"I’d like that." Izuku responds with a slight smile, to which Hisashi returns. Finally, they stop by a door with a sign hanging on it with the words "Izuku" plastered on it.

"Here we are," his father says, motioning to the door. "Take your time; I'll see if your mother needs anything. Please let us know if there’s anything you need."

Izuku nods his thanks to his father as he stares at the entrance to his room. Taking a breath, he grasps the doorknob and twists it open. He has vague memories of this place; posters and figurines were all over it if he remembers right.

Sure enough, the first sight he was greeted by upon entry were the many faces of All Might in the form of dozens of items he had purchased as a child. He looks around for one piece in particular, finding it neatly packed on his desk.

A deck of cards containing images of various heroes, all limited edition if he was remembering right. A collection of 60 cards, but only 59 laid on the desk, not having a single speck of dust on them. It was clear that his parents had maintained this room to the best of their ability, but it looked as if it had been frozen in time.

He unbuttons a satchel he had with him, one of the only things that survived the explosion and his planeswalking to Earth. His clothes had been burnt and cut open for surgery, and now he wore a white shirt with a pair of shorts. Thankfully, the hospital staff didn’t take a look inside, and neither of his parents asked any questions so far. That was good. Answering them would be difficult as of now.

He pulls out a single trading card, warped and worn with age, bent, chipped, and scratched despite his best efforts to maintain it. A silver All Might trading card that was the rarest in his collection and the only one he had on him on the day of his Ignition.

***

"And he’s so strong that if he punches the air hard enough he can make a big tornado and put out big fires!"

Izuku exclaims as he shows his mentor the card he had with him. Gideon chuckles at his childish enthusiasm.

"He sounds like a strong man."

"He is." Izuku exclaims, "He’s the strongest hero in the world."

"Your world." Gideon reminds, "There are always bigger fish in the multiverse, Midoriya."

Izuku shook his head, "Nope. I bet that even out here he’s the strongest. "

“I’d like to meet this ‘All Might’ someday. Perhaps when we find your home plane, you can take me to meet him.” Gideon says, "A world with heroes at every street corner? it sounds like a wondrous place."

Izuku nods excitedly, "Yeah, you’ll love it there! I can’t wait for my mom and dad to meet you! And Kacchan! I can’t wait to show everyone all you’ve taught me, Jura-sensei! "

The older planeswalker playfully slaps him over the head and says, "For the last time Midoriya, just call me Gideon."

“Alright then, Gideon Jura, I promise that when I get back home I’ll take you to see All Might. And my parents."

Izuku holds out his pinkie finger, which Gideon wraps with his own pinkie.

"And I promise that I’ll help you find your way home, Izuku Midoriya."

***

"Gideon...Thank you, old friend. " he whispers to the card as he sets it down.

He takes time to gaze around his room, letting the details sink into his mind, knowing that this may be the last time he sees it. He knows that despite it all, he has to leave. Even if this was the first time in ten years that he had come to his home country, he has to leave soon.

He can’t abandon his friends back in Dominaria. The Phyrexians were still invading Dominaria and his friends were risking their lives to defend the plane. Some of them even died. His heart twists as he remembers Jaya being thrown off the Mana Rig, Karn being kidnapped, and dozens of soldiers dying. Just the memories alone causes his heart to race and his breathing to hitch, requiring several breaths to be taken to calm down.

He can’t let that be in vain. Somewhere in Dominaria, his friends were rallying the survivors, planning a counterattack. Perhaps the rest of Gatewatch had even arrived by now. Jace would know what to do. Heck, he’s probably halfway through coming up with a plan already. He can’t just sit back and let others fight and die in his place.

He swore an oath that he would keep watch. He will keep that oath.

But after seeing his parents' reaction, he feels conflicted about his decision. Leaving abruptly, without notice or warning, just after they’ve reunited, would shatter them. Even if he won’t be around to see it, just the thought of his parents suffering more because of him hurts.

He can always explain to them, show them the scope of the multiverse and his responsibilities, but he knows that they will ask him to stay. And he knows that when his mother inevitably begs him not to leave, he won’t have the strength to leave.

Or he could simply have them not remember him. A proper mindwipe spell can remove all traces of him from their minds. He looks down at his hands as wisps of blue mana gather around them.

While they were sleeping, he could sneak in and remove memories of him. He’ll empty his room of any traces of him, all the merchandise and such, and turn it into a simple guest room. Remove him so completely in such a manner that he’ll only be recognised as déjà vu. No one would ever know but him. That was the least painful path he could think of.

Knocks on the door interrupt his thoughts as he quickly ceases the gathering of mana lest he be caught.

"Dear?" his mother asks, "The Bakugou's have already arrived."Is everything alright? "

Already? How long had he been dwelling on his thoughts? Although that did explain why his legs were suddenly aching.

"I-I’m fine," he stutters as he calms himself, "I... suppose I should go see them?"

"I’m sure Katsuki would love to see you again." Inko says through the door, "I don’t know if you remember, but he was there when you disappeared. I’m sure he’d want to see you. "

Katsuki? Ah, she meant Kacchan. He remembers a blonde child with him that day. He remembers hostility and anger from him as well.

He can’t leave now, obviously. He needs time to plan and, to be honest with himself, part of him still doesn’t want to leave. Part of him fears that if he leaves now, he’ll never find his way back to Earth ever again.

But his responsibilities, his oath, his desire to see his friends in Gatewatch…

Just one night. One last dinner with his family. One night of normality. It couldn’t hurt, could it?

***

“Oh Izuku! It’s so good to see you again!"

The blonde woman exclaims as she hugs him, to which Izuku awkwardly accepts.

“Oh, I’m sure you can’t remember me. I’m Mitsuki Bakugou.” She introduces herself after releasing Izuku, "I was friends with your mom and dad back in college."

"It’s great to see you again, Mitsuki." Inko says as she shakes her hand, "How’s Katsuki? Is he with you? "

"Of course he is, he wouldn’t miss this chance to meet his long lost friend." She turns back to the door where her husband and son just entered, "Oi! Brat! Come greet them! "

"Don’t tell me what to do!" He yells back before taking on a softer tone for Inko and bowing slightly. "Hi Auntie."

A slightly gruffer tone with Hisashi, "Uncle."

"Brat," he responded gruffly as well. Apparently, his father did not like Katsuki very much.

Then Katsuki's gaze shifts to Izuku, and a soft growl escapes his throat, "Deku..."

Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Izuku extended a hand, thinking it was the polite thing to do in this scenario.

"It’s nice to see you again, Kacchan."

Instead of shaking it, Katsuki growls and glares at it like he just offered a hand covered in spit, and Mitsuki looks about to slap Katsuki for refusing. Attempting to defuse and salvage the situation, Katsuki's father stepped in and shook it in his place.

"It's wonderful to see you again," he says quickly, "My name is Masaru Bakugou."

"Pleased to meet you." Izuku says, grateful for the man’s intervention.

Dinner came soon after, and Inko had prepared a small feast of meat, vegetables, and fish in the few hours.

"This is a wonderful meal, Inko." As Mitsuki ate, Mitsuki complimented, "I’m glad you’re starting to cook again. I’d heard from Hisashi that you haven’t touched the kitchen in years. "

"Well, we’re celebrating my son's return to us, aren’t we? I figured that it deserves something better than cheap takeaway. "

Izuku tries not to squirm in guilt, knowing that his return wasn’t a permanent thing. He attempts to distract himself by focusing on the food his mother made. At the same time, he glances up to find Katsuki, who was sitting opposite of him, glaring as they ate.

If it was normal, he would plainly ask what his problem was. But he glanced at how his parents appeared to be having a good time, and decided that it wasn’t a good time to start a fight, intentionally or unintentionally.

“-do you think, Izuku?"

"Huh?" Izuku snaps his head up to look at Mitsuku.

“I was asking when you think you’ll be getting back to school. You’ve been gone for ten years. You probably didn’t have a formal education between that time. "

"Uh... right." Izuku says as he avoids her eyes. He actually does. A full year at Strixhaven Lorehold College, to be exact. where he studied military science, history, and more. He suppresses the slight urge to mention that if he had stayed for another few years, he’d likely have majored in Hoplology.

It’s a bit too early to talk about school, isn't it?" Inko saves Izuku from coming up with an excuse, "He just got back, afterall."

"Perhaps some homeschooling at first." Hisashi pipes in as he eats, "It would do a lot of good to catch him up on the basics first."

…Again, he resists the urge to point out that he studied at Arcavios's best magic institution. He doesn’t consider himself to be an arrogant person, but he still had some pride after all. Pride that was being hammered away by the adults discussing his apparent lack of formal education.

“Izuku was a smart boy even back then. I’m sure he’ll catch up soon.” Mitsuki says as she rubs her elbow at her son, "Hell, maybe he could end up in UA with the brat."

UA?, Izuku thinks to himself, unfamiliar with the term. Katsuki slams his hands on the table, enraged, the pent-up rage exploding like a volcano, before he could ponder further or ask a question.

"Like hell! As if sh*tty Deku can-!"

"Katsuki!" Mitsuki interrupted with a smack to the head before standing up and bowing to them, "I am so sorry for my son’s behaviour."

"Well, hopefully he changes once he gets into UA." Hisashi growls at him, "If they even let someone like him in."

"You want to start something, you old-!"

"Brats like you need to learn their manners!"

"Everyone!" Izuku raises his voice, silencing the fight between Katsuki and Hisashi before it can begin. He was going to let it resolve by itself when he saw the distressed look on his mother’s face. His voice, slightly enhanced with mana, came as a surprise, even to Katsuki, who silenced himself. Once everyone sat down, he spoke.

"I’m sure Kacchan had a rough day, father. There’s no need to aggravate him even more. " Izuku said with all the diplomatic experience he had amassed from his travels. He looked as if he was going to speak out again, but his mother stared him down and reluctantly closed his mouth. Both Masaru and Inko nod their heads in thanks for stopping the argument before it could escalate.

Izuku puts on his most calming smile and says, "This is supposed to be a celebration. My mother was kind enough to prepare this meal. We shouldn’t be having arguments over a fine meal like this.

"He’s right." Hisashi admits before sitting back down with a glare at Katsuki, "It’s supposed to be a happy occasion after all. Let’s not spoil it, brat. "

"Father." Izuku says, who rolls his eyes and continues eating. Thankfully, Mitsuki had the same idea and glared at her son, staring him down and forcing him to continue eating.

The rest of the meal was quiet at least, with occasional chatter from the calmer heads at the table. But not once did Izuku feel Katsuki’s hostile glare leave him.

***

Izuku sighs as he leans against the house’s second-floor balcony. There was a small garden there with a variety of pots and plants. He was no druid or master of green mana, but he spent enough time with Nissa to realise they were well kept.

With dinner over, the adults have taken to chatting with each other in the living room. Taking this opportunity, he decided to slip away to somewhere to think. Not in his room. Honestly, having all the merchandise of All Might staring at him with their blank plastic smiles was a bit disturbing. His younger self did have an obsession with and bad taste in room decorations.

This place was good. Open air with the night sky and fresh plants. He was slightly disappointed to look up and see no stars tonight. Just a blank, dark, cloudy sky. It actually reminds him of the polluted sky of Ravnica, full of industrial smog. Familiar and comforting in a strange way.

In his hands was a notebook, one of the few that were in his room, with the word ‘Hero Analysis for the Future #1’ scribbled on it with messy handwriting. It was only mostly completed before his spark ignited, leaving a handful of blank pages at the back.

Reaching into the minds of his parents and the Bakugous was not an option. It was just cruel, too prone to failure. Mindwiping wasn’t an exact science and removing decades of memories was out of the question, especially for many people. Questions would be asked, and if somehow there was a quirk out there that could restore memories...

It was too risky. He won’t subject his parents to that.

A note was the only option he could afford. But how does one put it into words that he’s leaving again without saying goodbye, will likely die in a war and be buried literal universes away?

He frustratedly scratches out a page with a pen he summons with his magic. In the midst of this, he hears footsteps echoing behind him, and he quickly shuts his notebook before turning back to see his father.

"Oh, I thought you were in your room." Hisashi says awkwardly, as Izuku notices a small packet in his hands. It took him a moment to recognise them as some sort of cigarette.

"You smoke?" Izuku asks as Hisashi withdrew a cigarette already in his mouth, replacing it in the packet before closing it, but still keeping the packet in his hands.

"Only when I'm stressed and the situation allows it." Hisashi sighs as he walks up to and joins him in leaning across the balcony. "So... probably not the welcome party you expected."

"There was certainly more shouting than I expected." Izuku attempted to joke.

There was silence between them as father and son both racked their minds for something to talk about.

"You seem to dislike Kacchan." Izuku asks the first thing in his mind, his memories flashing to how gruff his father sounded when conversing with the blonde teen.

"What gave it away?" Hisashi snorts as he fidgets with the carton of cigarettes. "How would you act around someone responsible for what you thought was your child’s death?"

"So why did you invite them?"

"Because your mother insisted. She's too good for this world, honestly," Hisashi sighs, both annoyed and fondly, “Too forgiving. ‘He's just a child,’ she'd say, ‘He had no idea what he was doing’. He’d lured my son to his death, that’s what he did.”

"But I didn’t die." Izuku assures his father, "And I’m here now."

But not for long, he doesn’t say.

Hisashi sighs with what sounds like bitterness in his tone, "You were gone for ten years. What else were we to think?" He turns to face Izuku with barely disguised hurt, "So why didn’t you come back? You were alive and obviously stayed somewhere. At least somewhere civilised enough to get clothes and a satchel."

Feeling a pang of guilt in his chest, Izuku sighs. He’d hoped he'd remain unquestioning of it, but it appears not. Izuku was silent for a moment before speaking up, his voice full of regret, "I tried. I really did. The moment I ended up in that frozen hell, I never stopped looking for a way back. "

"Frozen? Where on Earth were you?" Hisashi asks in shock and fear, as Izuku curses himself for slipping.

He pauses in his thoughts. Realising he couldn’t hide it after his slip up, but also couldn’t tell the full truth, he opts for half of it.

"It was terrifying." Izuku begins, "But beautiful at the same time. Horrors around every corner, but there was also wonders and awe-inspiring sights. I don’t think I can truly describe where I’ve been in only a few words, or even if you give me a day. "

"That doesn’t really sound comforting." Hisashi admits desperately wishing he could smoke but restraining himself as he doesn’t wish to set a bad example for his son, "I think you don’t really want to tell me what happened."

Izuku shook his head, "No. Not now. "

To his surprise, his father placed a hand on his shoulder. And to his shame, he feels the instinctive urge to recoil as if it were a stranger’s touch.

His father realises this and withdraws his touch. “It's fine. I was going to say, you don’t need to tell us. You’re here. You’re back. And we’re not going to lose you again. That’s enough. "

Again, guilt stabs him like a blade, taking all he had to smile in his father’s face and pretend like nothing was going to happen. Then the next day, he’ll awaken to find his son missing again, the only difference this time being a note to explain.

Unaware of his son’s plight, Hisashi decides he should leave his son be. Give him space and time to adjust.

"You should join us soon." Hisashi suggests, "I think we still have ice cream in the fridge. I'm not sure if you had them where you went. "

"...Maybe." Izuku said softly as his father left. Before he could get out of sight, Izuku realises that this may be the last chance he's got.

"Dad!" he yells, getting him to freeze. It was the first time he had used that word and not ‘father’, ever since he arrived.

His father stopped, startled and surprised, before looking back to his son, who had a conflicted look on his face.

"You know I love you, right? You and mom. " Izuku asks almost desperately, "I’d never leave if I had the choice, and I’d give up everything to return even just one day sooner. I swear. "

Hisashi was surprised but smiled, "That's... comforting to know. I believe you, son. "

He leaves soon after, leaving Izuku alone on the balcony. He breathes heavily. Just saying that took all he had. He wishes to see his mother one more time, but at this point he fears that "one more time" will repeat until forever. If he doesn’t leave now, he doubts he has the strength to do so.

In the notepad, he leaves a simple note, hastily scribbled while he still had the strength. A simple promise

"Mother, Father,

I’m gone again for now. I left unfinished business back where I came from. This is not forever. I will return. Please, wait for me.’

Izuku slams it shut and places it on a nearby empty pot. They’ll find it sooner or later, and he hopes that one day they may forgive him for the pain he has caused them. He hopes that he will be alive to regret this.

He feels the familiar feeling of his spark igniting within him. energy coursing through his body in milliseconds, enough to pierce the barrier between planes and safely transport him through the aether between them. In his mind, he guides his spark to take him to his friends.

To Dominaria.

But just as the blue sparks were about to engulf him and throw him into the realm, something happened.

His eyes widened as he was launched backwards into his house, through the hallway and into a wall, creating a loud thud. He lies there in shock, hearing the noises from downstairs as his family rushes to find the source of the noise.

He paid them no attention, but instead looked at the position where he was standing. Pots and plants lay scattered as if a small explosion went off. Somehow, when he attempted to fling himself to Dominaria, he hit something, and that something flung him back.

Something was stopping him from planeswalking.

"What the f-?"

Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Oaths and Vows

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

It has been two days since his failed attempt at Planeswalking. After assuring his worried parents that it was just a Quirk malfunction caused by recent stress and by no means was he leaving (again lying right in their faces), they calmed down quite a bit. But it leaves him alone with dozens of questions running through his head per second.

Why did his Planeswalking fail? Was there some sort of phenomenon on Earth that prevented it? Was it linked to the reason he had such difficulty returning home during the ten years? Was there an artefact of sorts out there? The thought of something like the Immortal Sun on the plane imprisoning the next Nicol Bolas was a frightening one that sent shivers down his spine.

After hours spent theorising and experimenting he soon discovered that if he tries to reach out to the wider multiverse, he couldn’t. As if a shroud was encompassing the entire plane keeping it hidden from sight from outsiders, as well as preventing those within from looking outwards. A specialised prison plane perhaps? Designed by an eccentric Planeswalker before the Mending? Did it have something to do with the mana he was sensing within the humans of the plane?

He tries meditating on it, probing at the veil between planes and the Aether. As long as he made no actual attempts to cross through it, there is no backlash on the level of the small explosion. Instead, it felt more like being probed back, a minor headache after a dozen repeated attempts, but nothing serious.

It answers his question on ‘what’, but it leaves ‘who’, ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ unanswered.

“Izuku, are you alright?”

He nearly leaps out of his seat, startled by his mother interrupting his thoughts.

“You’ve been staring and mumbling at your breakfast this whole time.” she informs, looking worried, “Is there something wrong with it? Do you want something else?”

Izuku hurriedly shook his head, afraid he had accidentally offended his mother, “No, mom. It’s just…I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Inko asks carefully. She and Hisashi had talked about Izuku in their room the day he arrived, and he had mentioned how Izuku wasn’t ready to talk about how he spent the past ten years. She barely slept afterwards, worrying about what her poor son experienced in those times.

“You shouldn’t worry about me too much, mom. Muttering and staring off is just a bad habit of mine.”

That was true at least. Despite the efforts of some members of Gatewatch, mostly Chandra, he’s never been able to kick the habit. He remembers the number of times she’d flick her fingers at the back of his head, or maybe set off a few sparks under his feet, in order to snap him out of it.

It definitely would explain why he felt that meals were too quiet the past few days. He was missing the Gatewatch already. The banter between Chandra and him, discussing theory with Jace and Teferi, and…

And Ajani…

He finds himself thinking sometimes, why Ajani and not him? Ajani, a strong warrior and mage, could slay entire squads of enemies with his axe in one hand while banishing another with a helix of lightning. Why had the Phyrexians not gone for Ajani and not him, the weakest of the bunch? Why did he still live while someone he cared for, and looked up to, now exists as a cold cadaver used as a puppet?

Why Ajani, and not him?

“I’m fine, mother.” Izuku insists, surprised by how easy lying to his parents was becoming. Shame had become an emotion he was most intimate with these days.

His mother looked unconvinced but didn’t press further.

To see a loyal, kind, friend twisted into a pawn for their enemy. He hopes against hope that there’s a cure out there in the vast, endless multiverse. Somewhere out there could be a cure for compleation. But could there truly be a cure for being reformed into a machine and having your soul torn out?

Worst comes to worst, a quick, clean death. But knowing Ajani’s strength it won’t be either clean or quick. It may be a selfish wish, but he hopes at least the rest of Gatewatch and him won’t be the ones to do it.

“Izuku, are you really alright?” his mother asked once more, looking more concerned and worried.

Izuku opened his mouth to respond again but was interrupted by his father who just entered the dining room,

“Perhaps he’s just stressed? Honestly, the past few days have been so to all of us.” he says, “Which is why I’m suggesting something, how about a trip to the mall?”

This catches the attention of both Izuku and Inko.

“The mall?” They both ask for different reasons.

“Are you sure about that, dear?” Inko asks, “I thought you had to go to work?”

“It’s fine, I called my boss yesterday. I should get the week off.” he places an assuring hand on her shoulder, “I’m not going to waste this second chance.”

Izuku smiles at the sight of her mother looking touched by his father’s actions. But still, one question rings in his mind.

“But, what exactly is a mall?”

“...”

“...”

“On second thought, yeah, going to the mall seems to be the right idea.”

***

“So…this is some sort of market?” Izuku asks. It was impressive in its own way, he supposed, definitely cleaner than the markets he’s been to, and the fact it was indoors. There was also a slight chill in the air, likely artificially generated as it contrasted to the hot air on the outside.

“Kind of.” Hisashi says as he gestures everywhere, “Besides, we need to get you new clothes as well, stock up on groceries, and we should get you a phone as well.”

“A phone?” Izuku asks confusedly as his father looks at him baffled before sighing and patting him on the back.

“Right, we’re gonna have to work on that.” he mutters when all of sudden a sharp repetitive ringing was heard. Izuku flinches and searches the area for the source when he realises the source was from his father’s pocket, who pulled out a flat rectangular device.

“Is something wrong?” Inko asks as Hisashi looks at the device frustratedly.

“One moment.” he says as he steps a distance away before placing the device to his ear and speaking to it. It must be some sort of communication device, Izuku realises.

He doesn’t know what the conversation was about, but he could tell the general direction. His father looked stunned and then frustrated and angry, yelling something that he couldn’t decipher before glaring at the device as if attempting to set it on fire, before pocketing it.

“Everything alright, father?” Izuku asks as he returned.

“Just fine, just peachy.” Hisashi says contrary to his expression. He sighs before looking at Inko, “I’m sorry, but that was my boss. He’s called me in for something. Apparently some dumba-” he stops mid-swear at Inko’s glare, “-I mean, idiot, messed up one of our projects. Since I’m practically the only one who knows how to fix it, I’ve been called in. It shouldn’t take long hopefully, just half an hour at most.”

Izuku nods, he’s familiar when duty calls and forces you to answer. He supposes he’ll accompany his mother until-

“Why don’t you go with him, Izuku?” Inko suddenly suggests surprising the two of them, “It would be good. Hisashi, you said you wanted to show Izuku around your workplace, right?”

“Well, yes but-” Hisashi says but was interrupted by Inko.

“It’s fine, I can handle a few groceries by myself.” she assures and nudges Izuku towards his father, “You should also spend time with your father. I’ll be fine by myself, really.”

She gives them an assuring smile as the two look at each other unsure before shrugging and going along with it. After all, she was insisting.

She had seen the look her husband had in the hospital, when Izuku bluntly asked for his identity, not recognising his own father. He puts on a solid facade sure, but at night she swore she could hear some weeping from him when he thought she was asleep.

He needed time with Izuku, all of them needed time together. But she can wait, right now she believes her husband needs the time more.

***

“So, this is where I work.” Hisashi admits somewhat reluctantly gesturing to a large shop with a glowing sign spelling out; ‘Helix Tech’

“It looks impressive.” Izuku says slightly unsure as he has no idea the scale of shops in the plane and what is considered impressive or not, “You must have an important job here?”

Hisashi sighs, emitting a small puff of smoke from his mouth, “Kinda. I’m in charge of the commissions. Sometimes we receive customers with Quirks that don’t fit the standard, so I help manufacture them.”

“It sounds like a good job.” Izuku says as they walk into the shop. He passes through multiple items stocked on shelves, ranging from what appear to be simple attires and household equipment.

“Thing is, we don’t get many commissions.” Hisashi explains as he gestures to the stocked shelves, “Most of the standard stuff works just fine, and if people want personal support items they go to the big brand types like Detnerat. So really I just spend most of my time pointing out to customers what they need and getting yelled at for not giving them discounts. Just your average retail life.”

He explains sounding a tad bit bitter and resigned. Remembering a detail his father mentioned, Izuku asked another question,

“You said you had a job overseas. Was it like this?”

“As I said, it was developing Support Items for Pro Heroes.” his father says as he sighs, remembering his old job fondly, “It was a big company, I got my own office and lab.”

‘And now he is basically a minor employee, when he was once a renowned artifi- engineer.’ Izuku thinks to himself with guilt, ‘Because of me.’

Noticing the guilt on his face, Hisashi hurriedly says, “But hey, that doesn’t matter. Because I was away I wasn’t able to see you often. I’d take any job if it means I can both support you and your mom, and stay close at the same time.”

It didn’t really make him feel better, his father was a bad liar. But he was also a good man.

Before their conversation could continue, a man from the counter calls out,

“Midoriya! There you are! Stop yapping about with the customers and get over here.”

“This is my son.” Hisashi corrects annoyance to the man who Izuku assumes to be some co-worker or even boss, “What happened? I told you all not to touch anything?”

“Just standard double-checks then it all fell apart.” the person says in a rough manner, “Get to work already.”

Hisashi struggles to calm himself as Izuku notices smoke emerging from his nostrils before he takes a deep breath to calm himself, turning to Izuku, “I’m going to get to work now, do you mind waiting here? It should only take a moment or two.”

Izuku nods and watches his father go behind the counter and into the shop’s backroom leaving him alone. The shop was almost empty save for him and a handful of others, but he ignored them as he strolled across the store glancing at equipment.

He glanced at the shirts he saw earlier and read their label, hoping the kanji of Japanese was similar enough to Common Kamigawan. Unless he was wrong, the shirts were supposedly flammable only to temperatures above 900°C. He supposes it would be useful if someone lost control of their fire Quirk, preventing them from burning their clothes, or were unable to turn off their Quirk. Some other clothes offered resistance to being damaged by piercing or slashing, resealing damage, or stretching to accommodate large-sized individuals.

They weren’t fairly impressive, but then again they were for civilian uses. He wonders how different Support Items used for Pro Heroes differ. Just as he was thinking his attention diverges to a set of goggles placed near the counter.

They were labelled to be flash-resistant goggles of sorts but really they just looked to be normal welding goggles. Picking up one to inspect them, they reminded him of the type of goggles some pyromancers like Jaya and Chandra would wear.

He slides them on and gaze into a nearby mirror to see how he looks with them. He hums to himself approvingly, they were not bad. He thinks he would like them.

Suddenly he noticed someone walk up to the counter behind him thanks to the mirror. A girl with purple hair and a strange pattern streaked across it. Was that natural? It doesn't seemed like any hair dye he's seen.

The strangest part were her ears, some sort of thin cords made of flesh trailing beneath her earlobe with small spikes at the end of them. Fashion statement? Mutation? Could they be used as weapons of-

“Hey, Goggles.” she snaps as she turns to face him, “I can hear you, ya know?”

…Now he understood why Chandra was always insistent on stopping his stuttering. He turns around and takes off the goggles to face her. She was wearing a shirt with the words ‘Deep Dope’ plastered over it and a black jacket made of some leather material. She was also holding what looks like a pair of metallic earmuffs.

“Sorry, did I say that out loud?” Izuku asks apologetically.

The girl points her ear-things at him, lending more credence to the theory of being some sort of mutation, perhaps it had something to do with her Quirk?

“Just loud enough for me to hear with my Quirk.” she grumbles irritatedly before gesturing to the empty counter, “Is the shop closed or something?”

“No, they’re currently resolving an issue somewhere in the back.” Izuku responds as he gestures to the backdoor, “Some sort of equipment failure I heard.”

“Great, fantastic.” she mutters frustrated before pinching the bridge of her nose, “How long until they’re back?”

Izuku shrugs unsure, “Well I think they said they’ll be back in a moment or two…which was five minutes ago.”

“Damn, I was hoping to hurry this up.” she says to herself, “Of all the days, it just had to break down...”

Izuku glances at the metallic earmuffs she was holding, “I take it that you came to have that repaired?”

“Yeah obviously.” she waves the device in her hands frustrated, “They broke last night meaning I couldn’t get a wink of sleep.”

That certainly explained her attitude.

“You can’t switch off your Quirk?” he asks, curious about her Quirk knowing that it was some sort of enhanced hearing with some physical mutation. Frankly, he wanted to study more of all Quirks, and wanted to find their relationship with magic and mana, but he has yet to find a library nearby. He knows that the amount of mana in a body likely relates to the strength of a Quirk, his father had a small fire-breathing Quirk and he had a noticeable amount of red mana gathered around his throat, and his mother had hints of blue mana around her hands.

“No, I can’t just switch it off.” she answers annoyed as if she heard that question a number of times, “If I could, would I be here trying to get this damn thing fixed?!”

Izuku raises his hands placatingly as he backs up. In hindsight that was probably a dumb question to ask, but his curiosity got the better of him. The girl sighs and takes another deep breath to calm down,

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” she apologises, “I was just hoping to have this finished quickly, rush home to take a nap, then squeeze in some training.”

“It’s fine, I understand that.” Izuku assures before realising what she said at the end, “If you don’t mind me asking, training for what?”

“Entrance exam for UA.” she grumbles, “It’s in three weeks, been trying to cram as much as I can for it.”

There it was again, the same name he had heard during the dinner with the Bakugou family, the same school Kacchan was apparently applying for. Ever hungry for knowledge and sympathetic to the girl’s plight, he extends an open hand towards her.

“Maybe I can help fix it?” he offers to which she looks at him in surprise, “I believe I’m fairly good with machines.”

He was quite familiar with the inner workings of multiple artefact and artefact creatures across the multiverse. One has to have in-depth knowledge of them in order to summon them to battle after all. He had to study how to take them apart, put them back together, what each component does and so on. He was confident he could handle a simple civilian-use sound blocking device.

The girl however was reluctant, “You’re kidding. What if you break something, then I’ll have to pay even more for repairs.”

An excellent point to which he counters,

“My father works here, I was actually waiting for him to finish up with his business here before you arrived.” he says gesturing to the backdoor, “If I happen to break it, and I won’t, I can persuade him to offer his services for free or at least a significant discount.”

One of the perks of being mentored by a man who was once the Living Guildpact was lessons in diplomacy, persuasion and such, from the very best. He can see the gears spinning in her head as she weighs the pros and cons, now he just needs to deliver the final touch.

“And what do you want in return?” she asks, suspicious of a stranger's goodwill.

“Just someone to talk to, to pass the time.” he says with a shrug, “I get to satiate my boredom, you get your item fixed for free right now.”

That and some answers to questions he had in mind. If he outright asks things that may be common knowledge, it would quickly paint him as an even stranger person or drive her away leaving his questions unanswered.

Again she weighs the pros and cons of the offer, but once she realises the benefits far outweigh the costs, she would likely agree. True to his predictions she offers up her ear muff-like device,

“These are custom for me. Don’t break them.” she warns as he takes them off her hands and inspects them, finding there to be screws and seams on the device, as well as some sort of hole in the interior, some sort of port perhaps for the girl’s ear mutations?

A simple wave of his hand engulfs the device with blue mana as it levitates in the air and unscrews, taking it apart carefully piece by piece to the girl’s alarm.

“What are you doing?!” she whisper-shouts at him as she spun her head around as if worried they might get caught. But for what? As far as he knew they weren’t committing anything noteworthy.

“I’m…fixing your device?” Izuku responds confused, wondering what the fuss was about.

“With your Quirk? Are you even allowed to do that?” she asks in fear with panic in her eyes.

…It seems there was some sort of cultural taboo against that? Or was it a written law? Evidently, it was something he was not supposed to do but he can’t stop now.

“If it gets it done as quickly, do you care?” he asks carefully to test the waters.

She seems hesitant before looking around one more time and leaning against the counter, “Fine, but if we get caught it’ll be your ass.”

Izuku nods as he studies the internal components carefully as he disassembles them with his telekinesis. As he does so he asks his questions,

“So, you mentioned something about UA. You plan to study in that institution?”

“Shouldn’t you be focusing?” the girl asks in a whisper hoping that doing so will raise less attention to them.

“I work better like this, besides, if I recall we made a deal where we would chat in return for my service.” he reminds as he inspects what appeared to be a mechanism connected to a wire that was dislodged, “Did you happen to drop this device recently?”

“Well, it was in my bag a week ago when I accidentally dropped it.” she recalls, “And as for your question. Well, obviously I do. In the Hero Course specifically.”

Hero Course? So the institution provides training and education for one to become Pro Heroes at such an age? It does make sense to get as much training in as early as possible for a dangerous job.

“It’s a dangerous job. You’re brave for wanting to be one.” he compliments as he identifies the damage. It appears that what looks to be a sound dampener wasn’t connected properly, and the drop caused a few cracks across the systems. Nothing a quick spell won’t fix as he gathered some white mana. Not difficult as they were in a city.

The girl twirls her elongated earlobes bashfully, “It’s not a big deal, really.”

“And you are stressed because of the school’s entrance exam?” he asks once more as he surgically applied the spell to repair and furnish the components.

“Yeah, I am.” she sighs exhausted, the stress and lack of sleep finally catching up, “How can I not? There’ll be thousands of other applicants besides me! Who knows how good they are, or how strong their Quirks are, or how smart they are? And I’m just… me.”

Izuku pauses for a slight second as he hears that. It was a familiar sentiment he shared. It was not often but there were moments he felt inadequate, where he felt the least of the Gatewatch, the kid hanging on to them like a parasite. Only strong because they spared a moment of their time to teach him what they knew.

“I… understand that.” he says honestly, “Feeling you’re weak and inadequate, fearing that you would fail to match up.”

“You? Weak?” she asks disbelievingly as she gestures to the display of magic he was performing, “Doesn’t look like it.”

“Yes I am.” he confirms, “I had to learn how to get where I am now from people far stronger than I am. And I’ve yet to surpass them.”

He smiles wistfully at the thought of Gatewatch before turning back to the girl, “But back to UA. It’s not the only institute with a Hero Course is it?”

He does his best to make it sound rhetorical and the girl sighs, “Jeez, you’re starting to sound like my parents. Of course, I know there are others, but this is UA we’re talking about! They churned out heroes like All Might and Endeavour! If you get in and graduate you’re basically guaranteed to make it big in the hero business!”

Hero business…that was something he was hearing a lot of these days. The word itself seems very contradictory. Being a hero was being selfless, sacrificing one’s self for the sake of others, and having the ability to run but choosing to stay. Being a hero is an inherently selfless thing, and turning it into a business contradicts it.

“I just want to make my parents proud.” she says but from the volume and tone, it was likely she unintentionally spoke it out loud.

“Pardon?”

The girl debates with herself if she should answer him, she had not meant to say that out loud. The lack of sleep must have been affecting her worse than she thought. Perhaps that was also why she decided to answer,

“My folks, well they always thought I’d be a musician like them. And so did I for a while, but times changed, and one day I told them I wanted to be a hero. I thought I’d have to argue and fight but they accepted it, and told me they were proud of me no matter what I choose. Now I feel that if I get into anything less than UA, I’m letting them down.”

“...your parents sound like wonderful people.” Izuku says after a moment as he reassembled the device, “You’ve done all you can do to prepare? Trained and studied? And you’ll complete the exam to the best of your abilities?”

“Of course, I will.”

“Then there is nothing to fear, is there? Whether you fail or pass you will enter UA with all the preparations you can muster, knowing you have done your absolute best to pass their exam.”

“...So you’re basically saying everything I’m doing doesn’t matter and I should just accept that?” she asks slightly ticked off.

“What? No, I-!” Izuku reacts flustered suddenly afraid he had offended the girl, “I just mean that you shouldn’t be afraid to fail. Even if you do fail, as long as your will remains, you will become a hero one day. It may not be from UA, but at the end of the day, you will be doing the same job, saving people who need saving. Isn’t that all that matters in the end?”

This seems to put the girl in thought, “Well I want to be a hero to bring happiness to others. Like my parents do as musicians.”

“And do you need UA to accomplish that?”

“If you put it that way, I don’t think so.” she says with an exhale as if a weight lifted off her back, “But I’m still going to try anyway.”

“I didn’t say you shouldn’t. You might get knocked down, but you can always backtrack and find another route to your goals.” It was a sentiment he was familiar with all his life. Countless efforts to locate Earth and return home, countless efforts failed, but he never stopped. He took steps back, reevaluated, and tried another way.

“Has anyone ever told you that you sound old-fashioned?” she asks after a moment, “Like someone trying to sound like an old wise mentor?”

Izuku’s jaw dropped in incredulous, “I gave you advice and that’s all you got from it?”

The girl laughs for the first time, “Hey, don’t get me wrong. I needed that. Five stars would receive a motivational speech again, but you really do sound like you’re going for that.”

Izuku pouts, sure he was trying to sound like Gideon but he didn’t think he was really intending to sound like that, “I wasn’t trying to sound like an old man.”

“Whatever you say, gramps.” she chuckles. At least she was happy, or at least less stressed than before, but Izuku still pouts and waves the device in his hand, dangling it on his finger.

“Well shame I’m so old, it might slip.” he retorts, pretending to almost drop it.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” she says with no trace of being apologetic, still he hands it over, “Hey, it even looks brand new.”

“I took the opportunity of refurbishing it while I fixed it.” he explains, “Does it work now?”

“Hold on, let me try.” she says as her earlobes stretch and plug themselves into the earmuff’s interior before sliding them on, “Holy sh*t, yeah it does. Can barely hear a thing. Try saying something.”

“I’m a dimensional travelling wizard who went missing ten years ago and just returned home after nearly being blown to shred while fighting an army of biomechanical monstrosities.” he says bluntly to her face with a blank expression.

She nods obliviously as she takes off her earmuffs, “It works great, couldn’t hear a word. That’s a sweet Quirk you got there. That telekinesis or something?”

Izuku shrugs and wipes the excess blue mana trace from his hands, brushing off mists of blue, “Or something. Telekinesis and repairing items are amongst those talents.”

“Still, it’s pretty cool.” she admits, “Are you planning to be a hero as well? Or go into the Support industry?”

Now it was Izuku’s turn to sigh as he leaned against the counter, “Well…to be honest, I’m not really sure.”

Not even sure that he’ll stay that long. Long enough to graduate from school. Can he live a simple life knowing that his friends were fighting for their life while he sits in a classroom?

“You don’t know what you want?” she asks and he shrugs.

“Everything’s been moving so fast ever since I came back.” he replies absentmindedly, his thoughts half there and half elsewhere, “Everything’s just…confusing. Up is down. Left is right. And I’m just trudging along with barely any idea where I’m going.”

“Came back? You went on a trip or something?”

“Or something,” he says with a sigh, not giving anything else. Realising she wasn’t going to get an answer about that she focused on the issue,

“Well, yeah growing up can be a rush.” she misinterpreted what Izuku was saying, “Honestly they should’ve given us more time. I mean, Hero Courses should be a college thing or something not high school. But it's what it is. What do you want?”

“I guess…that I want to be a hero. All my life, it’s what I always wanted.” he says with a shrug, his mind going back to the members of Gatewatch, specifically the moment the founding members swore their oaths to guard the Multiverse. Four heroes, each swearing their own oaths to protect life across the infinite Multiverse. They tried to talk him down from joining, he was a child after all, but he eventually did swear his own oath.

“Until I find my way home, I will keep watch.”

“So what’s the problem?” the girl prods, “You seem to have it figured out.”

“...my parents.” he answered, “Every day I look at them, I can tell they’re worried and concerned. I worry that if I told them that I wanted to be a hero…” if he tells them that he wants to leave and fight in a multi-planar war, “I worry about how they’d react. And I know that if I tell them what I want, they’ll beg me not to. And I know that I won’t be able to argue with them.”

Silence reigned between them and for a moment Izuku thinks that's where the conversation will end before the girl spoke up,

“Well, sorry for being blunt, but I think it’s bullsh*t.” She says, “If you think being a hero will make you happy, just tell them.”

“And what if they try to stop me?” Izuku asks frustrated, “I don’t want to see them upset. They’re good people.”

“If they’re as good as you say, then they’ll accept and support you.”

“But-”

“You think I wasn’t terrified when I went to my parents and told them I wanted to be a hero instead of a musician? I was pissing myself and ready for them to start begging me to change my mind. They didn’t and I’m glad they supported me, but if they hadn’t I’d still have fought tooth and nail to convince them. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love them, but it didn’t feel right throwing away my dream just because they think it would’ve been too dangerous, or that I couldn’t handle it.”

“...So go straight to the point and damn the consequences?” he summarises, “It’s certainly a blunt way to tell them.”

She shrugs apologetically, “Sorry, it’s just the way I am.”

“No, it’s fine.” Izuku quickly assures her, “I appreciate the bluntness actually, it was refreshing. You definitely gave me something to think about…”

He trails off as he realises he never caught her name, nor did he introduce himself. He extends a hand to her,

“I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

She shakes his offered hand, “Kyoka Jirou.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Jirou.” he says with a smile.

“Likewise.”

Now there was silence between the two as they both wondered what to say to each other, with Jirou making the first move.

“So…what are you gonna do now?” she asks curiously as Izuku rubs his chin in thought.

“I think I’ll talk to my parents.” he decides, “They deserve to know, and at least I’ll get it off my chest.”

“Good luck.” she says sympathetically, “Best not to beat around the bust and just get to the point.”

“Your advice is appreciated.”

“Yeah, no sweat, I owed you one for fixing this up.” she says as she waves her earmuffs, “Do you think you’ll be going for UA?”

“Perhaps.” Izuku shrugs, “It sounds like a fantastic place if they trained someone like All Might. I think I’d learn much from that.”

“Cool, maybe we’d even get into the same class.” she smiles before it turns slightly bashful, “And, maybe we should exchange numbers.”

“Pardon?” Izuku asks, looking at her oddly, never having heard such a phrase before.

“Don’t make it weird.” she says pointing her ear jacks at him, “It was a good talk, and I’d actually like to get to know you more.”

“Yes, but…what numbers?” he asks, genuinely confused, surprising her, “Is that some code? Password?”

“Waitaminute, do you even have a phone?” she asks incredulously.

“Well not yet, but my father’s taking me to get one later.” Izuku says, confused by her reaction, “Is something wrong?”

Jirou still looks at him like he was insane, blinking repeatedly before holding out a hand, “Do you have a pen, then? Something to write with?”

“Uh, sure. Give me a moment.” he says, borrowing bits of mana from the surroundings to create a fountain pen and handing it to her.

“Huh, neat trick.” she says admiring the pen, “Now your hand please.”

Izuku hands his hand to her and she began to write on his palm, a sequence of ten digits.

“What’s this for?” he asks as she hands back the pen to which he dispelled, “Some password of sorts?”

“You’re a smart guy, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” she says laughing at his guess before stepping away, “Sorry to cut this short, but I better head home now. Gotta cram as much training as I can. See you, Midoriya.”

“Good luck with your training.” he says, “Fate be willing, we may meet again in UA. I look forward to learning with you.”

She leaves with a wave and a smile, leaving Izuku to stare at the strange code of numbers written on his palm. Something he’ll have to ask his father about, he supposes.

As if on cue, the backdoor opens up with Hisashi storming away with a stream of curses from his lips,

“-sucking son of a bi-!” he cuts himself off at the sight of his son before coughing into a fist, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Everything alright?” Izuku asks his father.

“Everything’s peachy.” Hisashi grumbles as he glares at the door, “Sorry for the wait, but those idiots just can’t help but mess everything up. I swear if you put those idiots in the general vicinity of a nuclear power plant, you’ll end up with a meltdown in less than a minute.”

“Sounds like you should fire them.” Izuku suggests. If they were as incompetent as his father claimed, what was the point of keeping them around?

“Afraid I don’t have the power for that.” he grumbles, “They’re the boss’ cousins.”

Ah, nepotism. A tale as old as the multiverse itself. That certainly explains it.

“Anyways, you found something you like?” Hisashi asks, pointing to the goggles around his neck.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Izuku nods as he toys with them, his father smiling and patting his back.

“Well let’s go meet your mother, I’m sure she’s almost done by now.”

“Shouldn’t we be paying for this?” Izuku asks as they left and his father scoffs.

“Hell no! f*ck this place, f*ck my boss.” his father whispers to him, “Now come on, your old man’s gonna teach you how to shoplift from this place.”

Shoplifting with a father, truly there was no better bonding activity.

***

“I’m so glad to hear you had a good time.” Inko says as she dug into dinner. There was no grand feast this time, instead, they took the liberty of ordering from outside and dining at home, take-away, they called it.

“I like those goggles, they look nice on you.” his mother compliments, “You bought it from Hisashi’s workplace?”

“Yes. Bought it.” Hisashi says awkwardly, “Definitely. For a cheap price. Very cheap.”

“Yes, agreed.” Izuku says with the same amount of awkwardness, “Practically stole it.”

His father kicked him from under the table warningly. Inko glances at the two’s antics before shrugging it off,

“So how’s your new phone, Izuku?” Inko asks to change the subject.

Izuku shrugs, “It’s an interesting device. I look forward to using it.”

“Just let us know if you need any help with it.”

Izuku smirks, he’s piloted thopters, and used a variety of complex magical artefacts in his adventures. He was sure he could figure out how a thin piece of metal is used to communicate with others. Still, he has trouble deciphering the code Jirou gave him earlier.

Which reminds him…

He looks at both his parents enjoying their dinner, they both appear to be in a good mood. If he should do it, might as well now.

“Mother, father.” he says slowly, getting their attention, “Remember a few days ago, there was talk about returning to school.”

Inko immediately looks worried, “You’ve been back for only three days, Izuku. Should you really be rushing to go to school?”

“Your mother’s right, son.” Hisashi says, “Perhaps we can go for homeschool for the moment? I can look around for a tutor to help. There’s no real need for you to join a school right off the bat.”

“A particular school actually.” Izuku carefully says as if threading on a lightmine field, “I…have interest in joining UA.”

You could hear a pin drop from the silence.

“You…mean the General Education Course, right?” Inko asks hopefully, desperately. It pains Izuku to press on but he did,

“No. The Hero Course.” he says quietly.

She gasps but Izuku takes advantage of the shock to state his claims, or else he might not have the chance later.

“I can only guess what you might have to say.” he quickly states to his parents in a neutral voice, “That it’s dangerous, or that I am not ready, or a myriad of other things. But let’s make this clear, I want to be a hero.”

“B-but why?” his mother asks, “This is so sudden, did someone put you up to this?”

Izuku shook his head, “No, this has been something on my mind ever since I was young. As for why?”

He steels himself, for this requires telling them inklings of the truth. The truth of what he has been doing for the past ten years, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

“Where I went…I saw things you couldn’t believe. Monsters that even to this day I struggle to understand.” he shudders at the memory of the first time he saw an Eldrazi, the defence of Sea Gate and other battles, “But I saw people, the greatest heroes I’ve ever known, stand against them. They took me in, trained me, and taught me to protect myself. And I also saw some of them die.”

He winces at the last part, seeing his mother’s expression of fear, worry and panic at the information she was receiving. His father had put on a neutral face the whole time, and so far he had issues deciphering it.

“I want to get stronger, that’s why I want to join UA. I want to be strong enough to protect those I care about, stop them from dying, I want to stop being so useless!”

The last part was filled with pent-up frustration he has felt in the past days, requiring him to take a moment to calm down. His mother was near hysteric,

“Izuku, you don’t have to do that. We’re safe here, there’s plenty of heroes to protect us.” his mother protests and Izuku bites his lip.

‘You’re not the only ones I want to protect.’ he wishes to say, ‘And there’s so many out there, so many things worse. If the Phyrexians spread, if they found Earth…’

Before he could say anything his father spoke up at last,

“Izuku.” he says softly, “Is this really what you want?”

He nods, “More than anything. All I’ve ever wanted is to save people. I have the ability to do so, to squander that is to make a mockery of everything I’ve been taught. To spit on the graves of those that taught me.”

They were both silent, both stunned by the conviction in his voice. In Inko’s mind, she always saw him as her sweet little boy, even when he returned a decade older, but now all she saw was still her son but all grown up. She has to stop treating him like he was the fragile boy that cried because he learnt that he was Quirkless.

“Will it make you happy?” she asks after a moment of silence, surprising Izuku. He was stunned before nodding,

“Yes.”

Both Inko and Hisashi share a silent conversation with each other, staring into each other’s eyes before turning back to Izuku.

“If you really think that being a hero is what you want. Then your father and I will support you.”

Izuku was honestly surprised, his jaw dropping, he had expected both his parents to put up more of a fight but they seemed so…accepting of it.

“Truly?” he asks surprised, his mother reaching across the table to grasp his hand.

“You're our son, Izuku. All we ever want is for you to be safe, healthy and happy. Being a hero is dangerous, but if you believe it’ll make you happy? If that is your dream? We won’t stand in your way, and we’ll help however we can.” she says as she wraps her hands around her son’s.

“Besides,” Hisashi says, “I remember I was in the same spot with my own parents. Told them I wanted to be in the Support Department, but they kept complaining about how I was gonna waste my Quirk by doing that, those absolute pricks.” he chuckles to himself before placing a hand on his son’s shoulders, “I’m not gonna be like them. If being a hero is what you want, I’ll support you all the way.

“Mom…dad…” he couldn't help the tears running down his eyes as words failed him. He doesn’t deserve them, he truly didn’t.

At that moment he made a vow for when the inevitable comes and he finds his way to the frontlines against the Phyrexians once more, he will come back, no matter what. He will get stronger to do that, so that not even the entire Phyrexian army, their praetors, or even the multiverse itself, will stop him from coming back.

***

“What do you mean we lost her?!” a man in a leather jacket screeches in fear. They were hidden behind an alley, an agreed rendezvous point in case there was trouble. And this was very much a big problem.

“I mean that we lost her!” the person getting shouted at retorted, “Lost her in the f*cking train station!”

“The train station?!” the first man shouts in fear at the ramifications, “Do you know what this means?!”

“J-just calm down.” the other man says with panicked breathing, “We can work with this. There’s a buncha camera on the trains, if we get to some security guard we can-”

“You can do what?”

A third voice was heard from the end of the alley.

The two men froze in fear as the third approached, dressed with a mask resembling a plague doctor from mediaeval times, and a dark olive bomber jacket, his golden eyes piercing through their souls. What was most terrifying to the two men was that he was removing the pair of surgeon gloves he always wore.

“B-b-boss…” the first man babbles in fear as he instinctively takes a step back, “Please, we’re almost there. We can find her, just-!”

He doesn’t get another word out before the third man places his bare hands on his face, and in a split second, the first man was transformed into a red stain against the wall, with pieces of him splattering on the second man who could do nothing but stare in horror.

“Find the security footage.” the third man says as he puts back on the glove, “Find which station she fled to, and then I will kill you.”

The third man walks away without receiving a response. Filled with terror and despair, knowing that he was dead either way, the second man draws a knife and screams as he lunges at the exposed back,

“Damn you, Overhaul!”

He never took more than two steps before being turned to a matching stain on the wall. Sighing, Overhaul pulls out a phone and dials a number.

“Chronostasis? I require a cleanup crew for two at my position. Afterwards, I want you to task a crew with what men you can spare, get them to comb the train footage, find where she fled and track her down…No, no need for the Eight to get involved, yet. Not with those heroes breathing down on our necks.” he orders with frustration evident in his voice, nearly crushing the burner phone in his hands. After the call is finished he uses his Quirk on it once more, scattering its remains everywhere.

What cursed luck he was having today, first he came back to base to find that the child had fled once more. Not uncommon sadly, but always manageable. She would be tracked down, the slacking caretaker punished, and everything returned to normal. But this? This was the furthest she’s ever gotten, this was the closest she got to ruining his plans.

Perhaps once she returns he should do the same thing he did to the old man. It was not as if she needed to be conscious to supply him with material for the experiments.

He just needs more time with his experiments, once he eradicates this sickness that plagues society, the Yakuza can rise once more and the boss can wake up to see just how wrong he was, once he sees how the Yakuza returned to their glory days.

Somewhere on a train, the travellers take note of a small girl curled up in the corner, shuddering from either cold or fear. Some look at her with pity but make no move to help her, and some do their best to ignore the sight, all sharing the same thoughts that a Hero will solve the problem. It wasn’t their job to help her, after all, they were just civilians.

“Now arriving at Tatooin Station.”, an artificial voice rings out across the train as it slows to a stop, the doors sliding open.

The girl suddenly springs up at the sight, running through it as fast as possible. Again, while many were disturbed or stunned at the sight of a young unkempt girl stumbling through the crowd was concerning, they still believe that a Hero will be there soon to bring her to safety, why should they waste time doing their job for them?

‘Someone...someone help…’ she thinks to herself as she blindly runs, ‘Please…I can’t… someone help me…’

Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Trials and Tribulations

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

“Come on…come on!” Izuku mutters to himself, the young boy taking deep breaths to steady himself, channeling the red mana to form a spell, launching a stream of fire towards three targets that split mid-flight and incinerating them all to ashes.

“Yes!” he cheers in celebration, “Finally!”

“So that’s the source of the ruckus.”

Izuku nearly leaps in surprise, as an old woman chuckles at his antics behind him,

“Jaya-! I mean, Mother Luti!” he bows immediately, ''I'm so sorry for my disturbance. I didn't mean to wake you.”

She waves away his apologies, “It’s not a problem, I woke up long before that. How’s your practice?”

“I think I’m doing well.” Izuku says as he looks back at his handiwork proud, “I can feel it. Thanks to your teachings, I’m definitely getting stronger.”

“Really? In that case… why couldn’t you save them?”

The scene suddenly shifts as Izuku blinks. Suddenly, he was no longer in the Keral Keep, surrounded by corpses of Coalition soldiers.

“W-what the hell?!” he shouts in confusion and fear before realising. He quickly turns around and just in time to see a compleated Ajani snap Jaya’s neck before throwing her off the Mana Rig.

“No…No!” He shouts and attempts to move but once again he feels a metal blade pierce his chest once, then twice, then a third time, falling onto the floor with the other corpses.

“Please…not again…” he could only whisper as phantom pains fill his body. The nightmare didn’t stop there, as he tried to stand but the arms of the corpses latched on to him with vicious grips, pulling him down.

“Why couldn’t you save us?” a disembodied voice echoes, “Why?!”

***

He wakes up screaming, cold and drenched in sweat, gasping for breath as he clutches his chest as phantom pain flares across his body. His physical wounds may have healed, but there were some problems that not even magic couldn’t help with.

The nightmares started a while after he returned, now they were getting more frequent. He was fortunate enough to prepare and placed an enchantment around his room to silence any noise after the first nightmare.

He glances at the clock, roughly six in the morning. Of all days it had to be on the day of the Entrance Exam.

His father had done a wonderful job catching him up with the education standard of Earth. Honestly he had little issue with subjects regarding language, science and mathematics. The first was a byproduct of his Planeswalker nature, learning language is as easy as learning to ride a bicycle. For mathematics, it was a multiversal language that all knew, for all civilisations at one point figured out 1+1=2, it was just the symbols and units that needed translating to Earth’s standard, but it was only a minor issue. Science was a headache, basic biology and physics he had handled, but chemistry was quite a mess as there were different elements all across the multiverse and he struggled since chemical formulas or even entire elements he was familiar with did not exist at all. That leads to a confusing chat with his father that they collectively decide to ignore and move on.

History was basically binge watching multiple documentaries that may or may not be historically accurate.

Still his father was impressed with his progress, claiming his grasp on language and mathematics were near college level. That was good, at least he has the written portion of the exam handled. The practical on the other hand…

What would the practical exam for becoming a Professional Hero involve? Combat ability? Rescue? An obstacle course? He supposes that he’ll have to wait and see.

He has done all he can to prepare, but there was still plenty of time even if he ate breakfast and caught a train to UA’s campus.

He supposed that he’ll spare some time to visit them, in any case.

***

It was not as grand as he would have liked. He would have created a grand statue, or a beautiful plaque, something eye-catching to let the world know about her but it would have gathered attention and people would ask questions.

Instead a simple mark on a tree, in a park near his house. Their names etched into the barks and flowers placed at the base. He didn’t know what kind they’d like, to his regret, so he settled with white chrysanthemums, a local breed of flowers. According to this ‘Internet’ thing, they symbolise mourning.

The writing on the bark reads, Jaya Ballard and Ajani Goldmane.

“Hey Jaya…Ajani…it’s me again.” he says after a moment, sitting down in front of it. The park was empty meaning he was free to talk without looking like a crazy person.

“Today’s the day.” he mutters as he forces a smile, “Feels a bit like I’m back at Strixhaven, trying to get in. They’ll be testing us today, shouldn’t be worse than what you and the rest of Gatewatch put me through.”

There was awkward silence again as Izuku sighs, “I realise also, that technically my oath is fulfilled. Both of you weren’t really there for that I guess, neither of you met us yet. But after the defence of Sea Gate, I swore with the rest to protect the Multiverse. I swore that until I found my way home, I would keep watch.”

He raises his right hand, glowing with a swirl of white, red and blue mana as he did so.

“So I’m swearing a new one. I’m not going to just stop because I’m safe at home. Our friends are still in danger, Dominaria is still in danger, and until I find my way back I’ll keep getting stronger, and if this plane finds itself in danger I won’t sit idly by either.” he says determinedly with a shaky voice as he swore his new oath, “I swear, that until the last star burns out, until my body breathes its last breath, that I will keep watch until the end of my days. I’ll never stop fighting, for you, for my family, for all lives across the multiverse.”

The display of mana fades away. Having said what he wanted to say he bids farewell. Even though the afterlife for them may be literal universes away, he still found that his small act brought some form of comfort. Not completely, but still made things easier.

“Goodbye, my friends.” he whispers to the tree as he places a hand against it, “And again…I’m sorry.”

***

Izuku hates taking the train, something he realises soon. Too cramped like the Mana Rig, full of people soldiers chatting, eager to return once the battle was over, and smelt of sweat, blood and fire.

He smacks himself in the head, hoping it would jolt the thoughts away. It was even spreading to his waking moments now, memories of the battle. Using a handkerchief he wipes the sweat from his forehead, wishing that the ride will end soon so he could get out.

Thankfully it did so, and he was the first off, hoping that fresh air and open space would clear his mind. According to the directions he received, it was a short walk to UA campus now, enough to get his head straight.

Or so he thought.

The sound of familiar flapping of wings nearly trips him as he spun around frantically searching for the source, belonging to birds standing on power lines above.

Habits, he supposed. Birds were often compleated during the Phyrexian invasion, used as spies. Any feathered creature in the distance could be an enemy spy reporting your location and activities, and there were very many of them in Dominaria.

He barely restrains the urge to shoot lightning at them, just in case. Reminding himself that the Phyrexians weren’t here, they were not on Earth, before continuing his walk.

He was not being watched by a Phyrexian spy.

He was not being followed, stalked by an assassin.

The fact that the bird hasn’t stopped staring at him was just a coincidence, Not!.

He was nearly at the campus but as if the Multiverse was conspiring against him, he finds a large crowd at the entrance as dozens of students pass through the entrance for their test, making quite a ruckus.

He just needs to get this over with, just need to finish the exam. He walks and weaves through the crowd, their chattering not helping his nerves at all. He just needs focus, he just needs to breathe.

“Excuse me.” a student bumps into him sending him stumbling forward where he was bumped into again.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Coming through.”

“Move it.”

It was a large crowd and he couldn't stop bumping into someone, it was like being trampled and swarmed by Phyrexians.

It was getting hard to breathe, the noise was almost nauseating as he was shoved around. The urge to unleash a massive spell to silence everyone was almost overwhelming, damn the consequences. He stops walking for a moment, trying to breathe but the suffocating feeling would not leave him. Was he starting to hyperventilate? It certainly felt like it.

Then something touches him on the shoulder, an enemy prepared to strike him, a hand. He jumps and would have fallen over if the same hand did not grab his arm, stopping him from falling.

“Hey, you alright?” a familiar purple haired girl exclaims, “Wait, Midoriya?!”

“Jirou?” Izuku wheezes out mid gasp for air. It was a surprise to see the girl, after their encounter at the mall they’ve only communicated through brief text over the past three weeks. He had not expect to meet her again like this.

“Jeez, you look pale as a ghost.” she remarks before her Quirk picks up his ragged breathing and accelerated heart rate, “What’s going on?”

“I…can’t breathe…” he gasps out clutching his chest. His breaths were getting shorter and his head was getting lighter. Recognising the seriousness of the situation, Jirou pulls Izuku’s arm over her shoulder and leads him out of the campus. Only when there was some distance between them and the crowd at the main gate did she set him down against the walls.

“Hey, is this better? Do you need a bag to breathe into or something?” she asks in concern as Izuku’s breathing becomes slower as he gasps down large gulps of air.

“Better…”, the noise was still present but not as overwhelming as it was, and there was more room. More manageable than before. He nods before turning to her in confusion, “I did not expect to meet you at the entrance.”

“Neither did I. It’s one helluva coincidence.” she admits before looking serious, “What happened back there, it looked like you were having a panic attack?”

“A panic attack?” Izuku mutters thinking back to his struggle breathing, “...I suppose I was.”

He slowly exhales as he returns his breathing to normal. As he does this, Jirou looks at him with concern.

“What do you think triggered it?” she asks, and Izuku thinks for a second.

“The crowd, I think, was like that in the train as well. Too… loud, cramped, everyone kept bumping into me.” he sighs, “I’m sorry, it’s a stupid reason to freak out.”

Jirou pauses for a moment, staring at him in disbelief, before stabbing her earjacks at his head.

“Ow!” he exclaims in shock and pain at the sudden attack as he looks up at her in annoyance, “What the hell was that for?!”

“You’re an idiot for thinking that.” she says ignoring his earlier question as she kneels down and sits next to him against the wall, “So if something like that is stupid, that must mean I’m stupid?”

“What?” Izuku exclaims in surprise, wondering how she suddenly decided that he insulted her, when he realises, “You mean…”

She taps her ear jacks, “Being born with these doesn’t mean I was automatically used to it. It was pretty normal until I was four, then the enhanced hearing kicked in. Suddenly I could hear the heartbeat of everyone in my class, the cars honking from miles away, the electricity running through the building, and everything else. I had my fair share of similar experiences.”

“Oh.” Izuku says dumbly as he connects the dots, “I didn’t mean to offend. This is all new. I’ve never felt this way before.”

He is confused. He was no stranger to violence, blood or death. So why was he suddenly feeling like this? Why the nightmares and terror?

“Well, I’m not an expert or anything but I think you should go see someone.” she suggests, “Just someone to talk about all this.”

Someone to talk to? Someone to talk about the horrors he’s seen in the Second Phyrexian Invasion? About how he nearly died to a biomechanical monstrosity part of an interplanar expanding empire that is looking to compleat the entire multiverse and forcibly turn them into their own image of perfection?

“I’ll take that under consideration.” he mutters half-heartedly.

Jirou only nods as they both sit against the wall in silence. Then they both remember the reason they were here in the first place.

“The exam.” he facepalms in frustration, “I almost-! We’re not going to be late are we?”

A brief look at her phone and Jirou shook her head, “Nope, we still got some time. We can head to the exam halls on time if we go now.”

“Again, I’m sorry for the-” Izuku apologies but was interrupted by Jirou stabbing her earjacks again. This time he sees it coming and catches it annoyed, “What now?”

“Don’t apologise for needing help.” she says as Izuku releases his grip and she retracts her earjacks, “You’re only human Midoriya.”

“Nevertheless, we have an exam to pass.” he reminds as he stands up, glancing at the giant structure that was the UA main building.

Now that he was fully registering it with a clear mind he was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps it was unfair to compare it with Strixhaven, but he was honestly expecting bigger. Maybe a few floating spires and giant towers. Instead of a structure of marble, elegantly constructed, it was a building made in the shape of a bulky letter H, made almost entirely of glass. Simple but not truly impressive. Still he feels something of a chill down his spine, like some sort of strong presence was within the building? Perhaps it was just that the place was a strong source of mana? Something to investigate later, he supposes.

“You sure you’re up for this?” Jirou asks as she stood up with him, “I hear the practical exam is all about fighting. You’re not worried about having an attack in the middle of that?”

“Quite the contrary. If it is fighting then I look forward to it.” he assures with a hint of a smile, “A good fight can be therapeutic, a cathartic release even. Help me take my mind off things.”

“If you’re sure.” Jirou shrugs, “Which Exam Hall you’re heading to? Mine’s B.”

“A for me. Why?” Izuku asks.

“Eh, I was thinking I’d walk you to the Exam Hall. Don’t want you collapsing all of a sudden.” she says half jokingly, lightly bumping into his shoulder, “I don’t mind. It’ll be cutting it close but I got time.”

“I’ll be fine. Truly.” he says genuinely touched by her offer, “You focus on your exam, and when we pass I’ll look forward to studying with you.”

“If we pass.” Jirou reminds and Izuku scoffs.

“If someone like you fails to get in, maybe this school’s not as it's cracked up to be.”

This got a reaction from her as she glanced away embarrassed, a slight reddish hue on her cheeks, “Come on, what for?”

He looks at her incredulous, “You were the only one who helped me out of the who knows how many at the entrance. I’d say that speaks a lot about your character and theirs.”

She blushes, “If they weren’t distracted I’m sure a lot more would’ve helped. Or someone would’ve come along if I wasn’t there.”

“Perhaps. But it was you.” he points out as he leaves, “Best of luck.”

***

The Exam Halls for the written test weren’t so bad. The tables were spaced out to prevent students from copying others and it was all conducted in silence. The exam itself was not challenging per se, but it did cover a wide range of topics. Answering the questions felt like a joke, and he had been tempted to ask the exam’s invigilator if he had received the wrong sheet if he did not see the other students had similar sheets. Apparently they gave you five potential answers for each question, and you have to highlight the respective circle for each question.

None of the questions had been related to heroism as he expected. No complex questions about morality, tactics one would use in a combat scenario, or such. It all felt…standardised or something.

The only thing that did surprise him was an essay portion at the back. It had no marks for it and was completely optional, with the question being, ‘Why do you wish to become a Pro Hero?’. It didn’t hinder him much, writing a short essay before finishing up the paper and double checking his answer.

With the ring of a bell, he placed his pencil down and waited for his paper to be collected. His confusion on his face must have been mistaken for being dismayed because the invigilator, a man with slender limbs and mouth that seemed to split across his face wearing a large pair of glasses with blank eyes behind them, offered words of comfort,

“Chin up kid, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to make up for your scores in the practical.” he says as he continues to collect the other papers, his legs making metal clicking noises with every step. To Izuku's surprise he sees him exit the Exam Hall and joins what appears to be multiple exact duplicates of himself carrying similar stacks of papers from other Exam Halls. Some sort of cloning?

He shrugs it off, having seen stranger things after all, and moves to the hall he had been instructed to. He walks quickly so as to avoid getting caught in a crowd again, managing to make it and find a seat. As he did so he scanned the area around him, no signs of Jirou, unfortunately, but he did spot Kacchan a couple dozen seats away from him. Wonderful.

He keeps his head low to avoid getting noticed. Now wasn’t the time for confrontation with him. As he does so, a blonde haired man who appears to have used an obscene amount of gel to get his hair to how it is, steps up to the stage wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket and what appears to be a speaker around his neck,

“WELCOME TO TODAY’S LIVE PERFORMANCE!” he shouts in a deafeningly loud tone, “EVERYONE SAY ‘HEY’!”

An awkward silence fills the room. Izuku on the other hand focused on the man’s speaker-artefact around his neck, it obviously meant to amplify his voice but was it because of his Quirk? Did it help control and direct it? If so, how? He wonders if a similar device could be made for Jirou? She mentioned she could transmit her heartbeat through her earjacks so-

“WELL THAT’S COOL, MY EXAMINEE LISTENERS!” he shouts undaunted by the silence he received, “NAME’S PRESENT MIC AND I’M HERE TO PRESENT THE GUIDELINES TO YOUR PRACTICAL! ARE YOU READY?!!”

Present Mic? He’s heard that name before, over the radio his father listens to. He admits some of the topics discussed over said radio show were intriguing, such as daily lives of Pro Heroes and struggles they experience in the industry, and he had many inspirational sayings in each broadcast.

“THIS IS HOW THE TEST WILL GO, LISTENERS!” he says as he clicks a button on a remote and a stream of light displays an image on the blank screen, “IT’S A TEN MINUTE SCUFFLE IN A MOCK CITY. YOU’RE ALLOWED TO BRING WHATEVER YOU WANT, JUST BE AT YOUR ASSIGNED LOCATION WHEN IT STARTS, ‘KAY?”

So it’ll be urban warfare then? Not his first choice in combat arenas but he’ll have to improvise he supposes. Sometimes you don’t get to choose where fights begin after all.

“EACH SITE’S FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH THREE TYPES OF FAUX VILLAINS!” Present Mic shouts as the image on the screen changes to the outline of three strange creatures each with numbers on them from 1 to 3, “USE WHATEVER TRICK YOU GOT UP YOUR SLEEVES TO TAKE AS MANY OF THEM DOWN TO EARN POINTS, LISTENERS. OF COURSE PLAYING THE ANTI-HERO AND FIGHTING OTHER EXAMINEES FOR POINTS IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN!”

That made sense, so they were fighting artefact creatures of a sort? Good for him that besides being good at fixing and putting together artefacts, he was skilled in their dismantling as well. Izuku refers to the handout he had picked up on the way here. Sure enough there were a list of four artefact creatures matching the description of Present Mic.

Wait, four?

Before he could ask, someone did so for him.

“May I ask a question?” a voice speaks out clearly from the crowd of applicants. Izuku turns his head to see a tall, bespectacled boy with blue hair standing up and raising his hand, “There appear to be no fewer than four varieties of faux villains on this handout! Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming of Japan’s top hero institution! And you, with the curly hair!”

Izuku nearly jumps at the boy suddenly shouting at him, “You’ve been muttering this whole time, and distracting all of us! Is this some sort of game to you? Then if so please leave immediately.”

…Okay he’s starting to understand why Chandra’s always trying to stop his mutterings. But still, was it really that much of a distraction?

And to make it even worse, Kacchan turned his head to his direction and his eyes widened in shock and then anger. Wonderful, simply wonderful.

Luckily for him Present Mic decided to deescalate the situation,

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, EXAMINEE 7111, NICE CATCH.” he says as he clicks the remote again displaying the outline of a robot that looks like a brick, “THIS LITTLE GUY’S CALLED THE ZERO-POINTER. YOU GUESSED IT, IT GIVES YOU A WHOPPING NUMBER OF ZERO POINTS FOR ITS DESTRUCTION. THERE’S ONLY ONE ON EACH SITE, IT’S WHOLE DEAL IS TO CAUSE TROUBLE AND SLOW YOU DOWN. I RECOMMEND MY LISTENERS TO JUST CARRY ON AND IGNORE IT IF YOU CAN.”

That…seemed suspicious. Having an obstacle such as that made sense but only one of it in each site? It felt like a strange call, unless it was stronger than expected. He’ll have to be wary if he comes across such an artefact creature. He hopes he can study their construction afterwards, the collector instinct in him would very much enjoy adding them to his arsenal if possible.

“NOW THAT’S ALL FROM ME, FOLKS.” Present Mic declares, “WITH THAT SAID, LET’S END IT WITH A FAVOURITE QUOTE OF MINE, FROM GOOD OL’ NAPOLEON BONAPARTE; ‘TRUE HEROISM IS BEING SUPERIOR TO THE ILLS OF LIFE’. PLUS ULTRA EVERYONE, BREAK A LEG.”

***

Perhaps he had underestimated UA, that was the first thought Izuku had when he saw the test site. Pretty impressive, being able to construct and maintain entire city-sized areas, that must take a lot of funding. Still not as impressive as Strixhaven, but he’ll give them points for that at least.

The bus drops them off after a mercifully short ride, it was quite cramped and noisy. Thankfully another attack didn’t occur like in the entrance, thank the multiverse for small mercies.

All around him aspirants of all manners assembled, most with no more equipment than the clothes on their backs, with some carrying one or two devices likely Support Items for their Quirks. As for him, he wore a light green tracksuit his father bought for him, but he was far from unprepared.

Like all places in the Multiverse there was mana flowing through the area. He can feel the fiery passion and power of red mana with a dash of white flowing through the testing ground. It would be more than enough to suffice for his needs.

But then he recoils, his concentration snapping for a moment. The mana in the air…it was stronger than he anticipated? Like that feeling from back in the gate. It was like comparing a match to a flaming brazier, not a steady stream of mana but more intense.

He assumed it was just strong background mana but now with his senses reaching out, it simply wasn’t that. It was more concentrated like that, like it was inhabiting something, like how he saw Quirks as. Sources of mana contained within a body, but this one was bloated with mana, leaking it like a broken faucet and barely contained.

His eyes wander around to identify the source and it lands on a bespectacled girl with flowing blonde hair tied into a ponytail, like many others she wore a simple tracksuit and was busying herself with preparations. Tinkering with some sort of gauntlet that adorns both her hands, and a matching mechanical boots on her feet.

Should he approach her? The logical side of him insists that he focuses on his own preparations, but his burning curiosity got the better of him. His hunger for knowledge needs to be sated. Why was she so different? Where did that amount of mana come from? Questions and questions flood his mind as he takes steps towards her before feeling a hand grasp his shoulders from behind.

“Why are you here? Hoping to interf-?!” the boy was halfway through his accusations when Izuku instinctively launched his elbow backwards at a presumed threat. Thankfully it was not as strong as it could be, and not even infused with mana, so it wouldn’t even leave a bruise but it’ll still hurt.

“You-?! What was that for, you brute?” the boy exclaims in pain as he rubs his face.

Izuku was immediately apologetic, “I’m sorry, I really am. But you shouldn’t surprise people like that.”

“Or perhaps it was intentional.” The boy scoffs, “I wonder if you’re truly serious about coming to UA. Everyone here is preparing to do their best and I see you are about to interrupt one of the examinees. Are you planning to sabotage our efforts perhaps?”

That got a negative reaction from Izuku, who clenches his fist as the crowd starts whispering to each other about him. But still he can’t bring himself to retort for it was an accusation with reason behind it, after all was he not about to interrupt someone else’s preparations to satiate his curiosity?

He sighs, his curiosity would have to wait. Until after the exam perhaps, or maybe when they meet again in school. Glancing back at the girl, who’s attention has shifted to him along with many others, he has a feeling that someone with that power in her would most definitely earn a spot in the academy.

“AND…BEGIN!”

A familiar deafening voice rings across the area as everyone glances up to a watchtower where Present Mic stood,

“WHAT’RE YOU STANDING THERE GAPING AROUND FOR, THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE! THE DIE IS CAST!”

It was simultaneous, everyone began moving at once, dashing forward as fast as their bodies or Quirks would allow. He sees the blue haired boy immediately grow pipes from his calves that propel him forward, he sees that blonde girl from earlier charge her legs up with energy and take a giant leap forward. Truly it was a shame there was no time to fully analyse them.

He channels the red mana from the area into his legs before dashing forward, thunder and red lightning following in his wake as he weaves between the numerous examinees to get ahead of them.

He passes by the same blonde girl he saw who appeared to be charging up for another leap as he runs by, surprising her as he overtakes her. The spell only lasted for an instant but it was enough to get him a head start. Now where could he find some faux villains?

AS if on cue, an artefact creature rolls out in front of him from an alley. It seemed to operate on wheels, making it fast and agile but the armour looks thin meaning it sacrifices armour for speed. It swings its arm towards him, pointing a strange multi-barreled device at him. Probably a projectile launcher of some sorts, in which case he won’t give it an opportunity to open fire.

With a flick of his hand, a helix of lightning shoots out, twin streaks of red and white swirling together and striking the One-Pointer. It immediately explodes from the spell, turning to a pile of molten slag.

“Dang it.” the blonde girl curses at the sight of lost points before leaping in another direction to search for more points. Shame, he’d love to see her in action but this was no time for that. It was a combat trial, he has to put his all into it.

He dashes forward with another spell to expedite his movement. Sure he could use a number of spells to scry the area but they cost blue mana, which this area lacks in abundance. Best to save it for when he really needs it, he’ll have to search for his opponents the old fashioned way.

Speak of the devil, and he’s already run into three more. Three One-Pointers, two Two-Pointers and a single Three-Pointer. The bigger of the three artefact creatures detected him first and fired a cluster of projectiles that streak towards him.

He smiles as he guides the white mana to form a shield in front of him. At the very least the next ten minutes will be anything but boring.

***

Far away in the main campus, the faculty members gather around dozens of screens, each displaying every exam site where the practical tests were taking place. A skeletal looking man in a stripped yellow suit and blue tie walks up with a pant,

“You’re late.” grumbles a man in dark clothes and a white scarf bundled around his neck, “Tardiness is unbecoming of you, Mr Symbol of Peace.”

“I apologise for that, but duty calls you know.” he chuckles nervously, “Nevertheless, I am here now. Has the test already started?”

“Do not fear, Yagi.” a bipedal creature says from his seat as he sips a cup of tea, “The trials have just begun. You barely missed anything. Come, take a seat, would you be requiring any refreshments?”

“No thank you, Principal Nedzu.” Toshinor Yagi declined as his eyes turned to the screens. It was strange seeing it from this angle, back when he was younger and attended UA he was down in the sites smashing robots with his bare hands, now he was going to be one of the faculty members judging who gets to attend UA.

His eyes travelled across the number of screens looking through the potential students one by one, but mostly he was searching for one particular examinee.

His successor was out there somewhere, Melissa Shield. He spots her in midst of battle and smiles proudly at the sight of her destroying a robot with a low-yield smash. Normally even with the training he had given her to build up her muscles, the backlash from One for All beyond 5% would strain muscles and bone, even shatter it if she went beyond her limit.

Fortunately she was able to find a way to circumvent that, designing gauntlets and boots that allow her to safely handle One for All’s backlash beyond her limits. Support Item technology has definitely come a long way from his days. It was definitely a crutch, but a necessary one until she learns to control larger amounts of One for All.

“We never told them how many villains there are, or where they are placed. Such a wide battlefield and limited amount of time.” Nedzu muses out loud as he takes another sip, “Truly, it brings out the best in them.”

He gestures to a number of examinees across the screens, “There are those who can assess information in an instant, intelligence gatherers. Those who’ll never be late for a party, mobility experts. Those who can cope with any situation, decision makers. And there are natural born warriors.”

The last screen displayed a blonde boy with explosions detonating across his arms.

“Impressive, he uses his explosions to draw the faux villains towards him and wipe them out. Simple and efficient.” one of the teachers comments, Toshinori recognises him as Snipe, “But his attitude towards collateral damage seems to be lacking.”

“Well, it’ll be our duty to drill that habit into him if he gets in.” a woman with a whip in her hand points out, the R-Rated Hero: Midnight also known as Nemuri Kayama, “That is our job after all, to shape them into heroes.”

“Any of our examinees catch your eye so far, All Might?” Nedzu asks. Toshinori searches the screens once more, it wouldn’t be fair to have Melissa be his focus for the entire test. His job would revolve around teaching an entire class after all, it was best to find others as well. His eyes land on a screen displaying a boy with green hair, eyes widening slightly at the sight.

He threw twin streaks of lightning that curl into a helix, destroying robots with a single shot each, even the Three-Pointers which were made to be tankier than the rest. One Three-Pointer fired from the roof of a nearby building, a cluster of missiles that would create concussive blasts strong enough to knock your average person off their feet without much harm.

He rolls out of the way, raising a white energy shield as he does so to protect himself against the shockwaves, but Toshinori realises he rolled in front of a One-Pointer that was bringing an arm down on him.

He winces in anticipation of an injury, but the boy points a hand at the robot without looking, covering it with a blue aura before flinging it at a cluster of faux villains, before shooting a red bolt at the thrown robot, exploding it and turning it into an improvised shrapnel bomb, destroying them all in one go. As for the Three-Pointer on the roof it prepares for another salvo, but then the boy disappears in a blur of red lightning, suddenly covering the distance in a near instant and appearing behind the robot, delivering a blow with a fist covered in white energy.

It all happened so fast, no hesitation in his movements, and the speed he displayed at the end was so fast that if they weren’t veteran Pro Heroes, they may not have kept track of it.

It was an excellent display of a combination of skill, speed, decision making and power. It was impressive. And to Toshinori Yagi, it was unnerving.

He thought at first that the kid had some sort of lightning-based Quirk. Not uncommon, and quite a high demand Quirk as they had functions for them outside of Pro Hero work. But then he displayed the ability to create some sort of energy shield, telekinesis, an explosive projectile, super-speed and some sort of strength enhancement.

It couldn’t be…could it?

“Well I’ll be damned. Those were some neat moves weren’t they?” Snipe comments, “15 Points in five seconds. He lured all those robots in one spot, and used that One-Pointer as a grenade to wipe them out.”

“Thinking on the fly like that, does the kid have some experience or something?” Vlad King asked, astonished as the boy continued dashing, leaving a streak of lightning, “And he’s still going. Very nice.”

“The boy…” Toshinori says as he keeps the shudder hidden, “What’s his Quirk?”

“Let’s bring his file up.” Nedzu says as he clicks on a remote, displaying the boy’s information on a screen, “Ah here we are, Izuku Midoirya, age 15, his Quirk is called ‘Three Colours’. According to the description it allows him to use different abilities depending on their colour. Red is offensive focused and allows him to use elements such as fire, lightning and ice to deal damage, as well as enhance his physical abilities. Blue allows for telekinesis and according to the file it grants him the ability to ‘scry for information’. Curious on what that means. As for white, it grants defensive abilities as well as enhancements and healing. Quite a variable Quirk he has there.”

His voice was neutral as he says that, recognising the implications as he shared a glance towards Toshinori. Having all that power from one Quirk? It was very rare for people to be born with multiple abilities in one Quirk.

Then they hear Snipe snap his fingers, “Hang on a minute, I heard that name before. Wasn’t there a kid with that name, who went missing ten years ago or something. Was all over the news, a kid with a teleporting Quirk almost hit by a truck and went missing.”

“The files make no note of a teleporting Quirk.” Nedzu notices with a frown, “And he displayed no such ability yet.”

“Maybe they just share the same name then?” Snipe suggests with a shrug, “Or maybe his teleportation is one of his skills, and he just hasn’t used it yet.”

“Possibly. What do you think, All Might?” Nedzu asks as he looks towards the Symbol of Peace, whose mind was going a hundred miles per hour as he grasps his weak spot as phantom pains flare across it.

“Disappearing for ten years….then coming back with new abilities?” he thinks to himself in worry, “It’s a coincidence. Has to be. It can’t be… I killed him, watched his body get cremated myself.”

“It’s likely just that.” Toshinori says more to himself, “Born with a particularly variable Quirk. And skilled in using it, it appears.”

As he says this a boy with spiky red hair gets blasted directly by a concussive missile, fortunately he appears to have a hardening Quirk of sorts that absorbed most of the damage but was still sent flying and dazed by the attack.

Izuku Midoriya notices this, and dashes toward once more throwing up another shield to block the following missile, before firing another twin bolt of lightning at the Three-Pointer, destroying it.

“And a heroic spirit as well.” Midnight notes approvingly, “That’s at least 5 Rescue Points.”

“Agreed.” Nedzu says as he adds the respective score, “And speaking of which, it seems to be about time for that. ”

The other teacher nods as a button is pressed, but Toshinori’s eyes never left the screen. His gaze focused on the green haired boy.

***

“Up you get.” Izuku says as he offers a hand to the fallen boy, “The fight’s not yet over.”

“Thanks.” the redhead grunts as he accepts and pulls himself up, “Damn, there goes my Three-Points.”

Normally complaining about a rescue would say a lot about someone, but this was a test after all, and he did steal his points technically. But after his time spent in real combat, he doesn’t pause to consider when saving someone in need of help. Still he feels guilty enough to provide some recompense.

“Here then, my apologies for stealing your points.” Izuku says as he casts a red spell on him, sending adrenaline coursing through his body. The effect was immediate as the boy’s eyes sharpened.

“Holy hell, now that’s a rush.” he says excitedly before charging at the nearest robots he can see, “Thanks for the assist!”

“Goodluck.'' His reply fell on deaf ears as the boy turned to stone and started smashing into robots like a rockslide. Shrugging he decides to carry on to look for more points before the earth starts shaking.

“What now?” he mutters to himself before searching for the source, his eyes widening as he finds it.

A titanic artefact creature that was the size of a large building, crawls from below the ground as it smashes any building that was nearby. It had a blocky head and sat on gigantic tracks the size of a house each, with four-fingered hands that crush buildings like cardboard.

“Oh.” he mutters, “So that’s the Zero-Pointer.”

So this was why Present Mic recommended them to avoid this one. It was gigantic and while it wasn’t invincible (he thinks), it would take considerable effort and time to do so for your average person while awarding zero points.

He has no reason to go after it and shrugs, prepared to move on, before he hears something.

“Oww…”

A barely audible moan of pain, that he almost never picked up. He spun around and found a girl with brown hair near the Zero-Pointer, a piece of rubble crushing her leg.

This was just a test correct? There was no possible way she would be seriously hurt. It was an accidental injury and surely the exam would halt, or at least an invigilator would be sent to the area to resolve the issue and rescue the girl. That was what the logical side of his mind told him

The Zero Pointer doesn’t stop or notice, slowly rolling forward oblivious to the soul trapped in front of its threads.

And then he blinks, and for a short moment he wasn’t at the testing site. He wasn’t even in UA, Musutafu, or Japan. He was back in Dominaria, on the continent of Shiv on the Mana Rig. Sheoldred was approaching an incapacitated Karn, taking him forcefully and vanishing through a Planar Gate.

He blinks twice and he was back in the testing site. He did not see Sheoldred, he saw the Zero Pointer. He did not see Karn, battered and beaten, but the brown haired girl with rubble crushing her leg as she desperately tried to move.

The logical side of his brain told him there was no danger, that if he went on his way to continue scraping up points there would be nothing wrong with that. And as usual, he ignores his logical side and goes the opposite direction it suggested.

***

“Hold on, Snipe.” Nedzu orders as the hero was about to slam the emergency shut down for the Zero Pointer, his eyes on two particular individuals charging towards it, “Let’s see how this goes.”

“Principal, that girl’s about to be crushed!” Snipe protests but his respect for the principal being the only reason he has not slammed the button yet

“Those two are intervening already.” Nedzu explains, “This is the reason for the Zero Pointer after all. Let us see how these two plan to act.”

Meanwhile Toshinori watches his successor with anticipation, thinking to himself,

“That’s it Melissa! When there is nothing to be gained, rising to the challenge anyways is the mark of a true hero!”

***

Time magic was something Izuku was familiar with. Being a teammate and student with one of the Multiverse’s greatest users of time magic allows one to pick up a few tricks. There was a time that Teferi Akosa slowed the sunset of an entire plane, and you don’t need to be a mage or scientist to realise how much power and skill that took. If he was here he could likely have held the Zero Pointer indefinitely while having time to chat over tea and maybe play a round or two of Clans & Legions.

He was not Teferi Akosa.

“f*ck!” an uncharacteristic swear was emitted from Izuku’s mouth as he felt the strain of impeding the momentum of the Zero Pointer, slowing down the time relative to the area around the robot.

He had thought about calling the number of spells he has in his arsenal to destroy it. But they either caused too much collateral damage to destroy instantly or would take too long to destroy before the girl is crushed. Thus his only option was to stall it.

“What?” the girl exclaims in surprise as she looks back, stunned that someone came to save her.

“Hello!” Izuku grunts out as he struggles to maintain the spell over such a large target. The other times he did use the spell were on humanoid sized or some pieces of falling rubble, not an entire artefact creature the size of a skyscraper, “I recommend you remove yourself from the area for your own safety, don’t you agree?”

He asks, trying to sound polite through gritted teeth, and maybe letting a bit of sarcasm slip in. The girl looks in stunned silence at the display of power before he urges her again,

“Now, please?!” he says as his focus momentarily slips and the Zero Pointer’s arm that had been swinging down moved by an inch. The girl, recognising the urgency of his tone, snaps out of it and presses her finger against the rubble on her feet, causing it to float enough to pull her leg out. She tries to stand but then falls again with a cry of pain.

Of course. Her leg was broken. Stupid him for not considering that. But now she was free it meant he doesn’t have to hold this thing in place anymore. With a grunt he releases the spell, there should be a short delay before the Zero Pointer resumes its normal speed.

With a flick of his hand he casts two spells, one to immediately heal her leg. He couldn’t gauge how much damage had been done so he basically eyeballed the spell to heal a basic fracture, he’d have to check later if it healed wrongly, the second spell targeted the road underneath her, causing it to roll backwards like a treadmill and send her flying backwards.

“Run!” he orders as he turns back to the Zero Pointer just as the spell dissipates and it returns to its normal time, with Izuku now taking the brown haired girl’s place in front of it. But now there was no one to be caught in the crossfire, he can destroy it without fear.

A small orb of fire forms in his hand, drawing in the red mana in the background and slowly but steadily growing in size.

But then he fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

“Damn it.” he curses in exhaustion. He hadn’t been monitoring his stamina, casting spells was not an effortless activity, and he had been doing so non-stop for the entire exam. He had been so busy venting his frustration into the robots that he failed to notice his own exhaustion until too late.

He tries to push himself up as the Zero Pointer crawls ever closer. What a terrible display, how careless of him. He can feel that somewhere in their respective afterlives, Gideon and Jaya were facepalming at his reckless tactic. He deserves it.

And then he felt it. That same overwhelming power from before. Turning back he only catches a glimpse of the blonde girl before she launches herself upwards, towards the head of the giant artefact creature.

“What…” he mutters in surprise as he felt the shock from such a feat. Waves of air and excess mana rushed past him nearly knocking him down as his gaze follows her as she becomes a speck in the sky, reaching to the face of the giant Zero Pointer and reeling her fist back for a blow. The shockwave from the punch was so strong he could feel it even when he was on the ground, the wind blowing his hair back.

It was a monumental display of power. It was intimidating. It was overkill. It was terrifyingly beautiful, like an exploding star for the lack of better words. It was also the most improper handling of mana he has ever seen in his life. He could feel mana leaking and wasting off her as she performed the feat. Instead of a faucet opening like normal to release a controlled amount of water, it was as if it suddenly snapped off and released an uncontrollable stream of high pressure water.

“...the hell.” he finishes in shock as he sees the girl float in the air for a moment, carried by the momentum of her jump. Then she stalls and gravity takes over as she plunges down. He immediately recognises that something was wrong, her body was limp and he swore her arm was bent in an unnatural angle.

His first instinct was to cast a similar spell to slow her down, but the mana required was too much, he doesn’t have enough blue mana gathered to slow her down. Perhaps grab her but it won’t be enough to stop her from plummeting.

“Hey! You, with the curly hair!”

He snaps his head back to the girl running towards him, evidently she did not heed his demand for her to run.

“My Quirk can save her! I need to touch her first!”

She says, holding out her hand. He instantly recalls the sight of her lifting the rubble off her legs with just a touch. He couldn’t hesitate as he knows it will waste valuable time so he instead calculates the trajectory needed, the angle to throw the brown haired girl. He may not have enough mana to stop her fall at near terminal velocity, but he can launch the girl to intercept the other.

Using his telekinesis, he grabs the girl and flings her, taking her by surprise but his aim was true and she hits her dead on, her hand slapping across the blonde’s face as the brown haired girl uses her own Quirk on herself as well.

They both fell but their momentum was slowed to a halt just a few feet above the rough concrete road. Izuku breathes a sigh of relief, that had been a close call.

“AND…TIME’S UP EVERYBODY!”

Present Mic announced through the mock city as remaining robots halted and deactivated on the spot, and examinees looked around in both relief and panic at the news. Izuku meanwhile steadies himself to make his way towards the girls.

“Are you al-?” he asks the brown haired girl first but then recoils when she nearly vomits on his shoes. After she gives a shaky thumbs up and continues emptying her stomach he focuses on the blonde girl instead.

Worse than he thought, the left gauntlet she had was missing, probably broken from the force of her blows. Her arm was a mess of bruises, an ugly shade of purple and red, bent in unnatural angles. Not the worst wound he has seen but still unpleasant.

“Just…one more point…” he hears her whisper. Even in her state she was still concerned with the exam? Talk about improper priorities.

“The exam is over.” he explains calmly as he kneels over her, “Your arm, can you still feel it? Are there any other wounds on your body?”

“It’s…over? Damn…” she grunts as she tries to sit up only to cry in pain before lying back down, “My legs…”

Izuku looks down and sees the mechanical boots she was wearing sparking from damage received. Not completely blown off but definitely not functional. Not wasting time he casts a small spell, with barely any blue mana, to remove them. There was no visible injury so it may be a small fracture. This only adds to the headache he was getting, but he preserves.

“f*ck!” she cries out but this time in another language which he figures was called ‘English’ according to his father, “My arm…”

“Everything will be alright.” he responds in the same language having learnt it between the three weeks he spent preparing for the entrance exam. He hopes that this will calm the girl down as he places a glowing white hand on her damaged arm, “All will be well.”

She gasps in surprise as suddenly the pain was replaced by a warm feeling, like sitting next to a cosy campfire in a cold winter.

“I apologise but the most I can do is deal with the pain. I have no energy to spare to treat your wounds.” he apologises. Just dulling the pain makes him want to faint but he has a duty to perform, so he keeps himself conscious, scolding himself for carelessly overtaxing himself so early in the exam.

“I’ll take it from here, sonny.” an elderly voice came from behind him. Looking back he sees a diminutive old woman in a white coat and a walking stick in the shape of a syringe, “You’ve all worked hard, have some candy.”

She says as she hands some sweets to the other examinees as she approaches Izuku and the two girls. The blonde appeared to be close to fainting, and the brown haired girl was already fainted.

“What seems to be the problem?” she asks.

“Three fractured limbs from the blonde. Left arm and both legs. Suspected hairline fracture for the legs but as you can see her arm has the worst of it, every bone completely shattered.” Izuku reports clearly, “As for the other patient, possibly just passed from exhaustion. I suggest a check on her right leg, it was fractured during the exam but I healed it, but the bone may have healed improperly in my rush.”

“Goodness, that certainly is an issue.” she muses, “I’ll have to take a look at her later, but first this one.”

She presses her lips against the blonde’s broken arm, and a green aura encompasses her body. Izuku barely reacts as he has seen a number of healing magic in his life, instead kept applying the spell to dull the pain until the green glow fades.

“Do you still feel pain?” he asks the girl as he slowly lifts his hand away from her. The girl shakes her head tiredly as her eyes closed.

“Is something wrong?” Izuku asks the elderly woman urgently as she chuckles.

“No need to worry, dearie. My Quirk merely uses her own energy to repair her wounds.” she explains, “Now, I’ll have stretchers brought here soon to bring them to my office. They’ll receive a proper check up there. Are you injured, perhaps?”

Izuku shook his head, “Just tired, doctor.”

“Doctor? Most people call me Recovery Girl nowadays, not a lot call me doctor. They seem to forget the fact that I’ve gone through medical school.” She chuckles, “Speaking of which. Do you happen to have medical training? You seemed to recognise the damage quickly.”

“Yes, I had medic training.” Izuku nods as he thinks back to the number of times he had to heal others in the War of the Spark and Second Phyrexian Invasion.

“It’s good to see children like you taking hero business seriously.” She compliments, “So many nowadays only think of saving people with brawn.”

Before Izuku could answer the doctor, Recovery Girl she calls herself, waves some small robotic creatures over carrying stretchers.

“There they are. Help me carry them, dear.” she asks and Izuku nods, carefully lifting up the blonde and placing her onto a stretcher.

“They’ll be okay now?” Izuku asks as he does the same for the brown haired girl, laying her on the second stretcher.

“A good night's rest would do them wonders, but other than that I believe they’ll be fine.” Recover Girl answers as the drones carry their patients away, “Now, is there anyone else with injuries? Line up please, don’t push.”

Izuku glances towards the retreating drones and their patients, at the blonde girl. The power she displayed, it was as if her body could not control the power and it overloaded. But according to his research the bodies are usually strong enough to contain their respective Quirks. And the way she threw the attack, so much energy was released but there was also plenty wasted. Like she was wielding a brand new weapon she had no experience with.

Curiouser and curiouser.

***

“And she blew up her limbs?” Jirou asks in surprise over the phone.

“Yes, isn’t that strange?” Izuku asks as he pulls himself up on a pull-up rack his father had constructed for him, the phone lying next to him on a desk and on speaker mode, “I thought bodies evolve to keep them safe from their own Quirks?”

“Well, that’s how it usually goes. Usually when you get your Quirk it’s rough the first couple years but then your body gets used to it. You know what mine was like, how was yours?”

“I almost got eaten by a wolf and froze to death.” Izuku answers without hesitation as he performs another rep.

“...What, you were in Siberia or something?” Jirou asks befuddled, “What the hell happened?”

“A long series of unfortunate events.” Izuku replies with an exhale, “45.”

“Are you busy or something?” Jirou asks, “What are you doing?”

“Working out.” Izuku grunts, “Helps clear my mind, especially after the exam.”

“You’re worried? What happened to you telling me not to worry, that it doesn’t matter if you pass or not?”

“It’s not the results.” Izuku clarifies, “It’s my performance. I was reckless, I got too absorbed into combat. Didn’t care about anything else. 46”

“Well, it was pretty intense. Nobody can blame you for getting tunnel vision.”

“I do. 47” Izuku grunts in annoyance with himself, “I should’ve been better. I overtaxed myself, tiring out too quickly. If that had been a real combat scenario I could have caused the death of two others and myself. 48.”

“But you didn’t, that’s all that matters.” Jirou assures, “Besides, we’re all going to UA to train to be heroes. You’ll get better.”

But he should’ve been better, he thinks to himself. He wasn’t some fresh meat sent to combat, he had seen literal wars and fought in them. He should be acting controlled, not lashing out like a berserker craving violence.

“Enough about me.” he says, “How was your exam? Did all go well?”

“More or less. The written wasn’t that bad, thank god. The practical went slightly better, got myself a couple dozen points when the Zero Pointer showed up. Luckily no one was hurt badly, everyone just ran away once it popped its head out. Not as exciting as your area.”

“Boring can be good.” Izuku says as he finishes his set with a sigh before dropping, “And 50. It was wonderful talking with you again. Goodnight, Jirou.”

“Goodnight, Goggles. Take care of yourself.”

The call ends and Izuku pockets his phone. It was a real convenience for a device such as that to exist, instant and cheap communication that can be mass produced. He wonders how Dominaria or Ravnica would change if he brought back devices like the phone?

That was something for the Izzet Guild to work out, he supposes. He checks the time first before walking out of his room, greeted by the sight of his parents in the living room watching some television.

“Oh Izuku. Are you hungry already?” Inko asks, “Dinner won’t be ready in a while, but I’m sure I can whip up a snack.”

“It’s fine mom.” he assures before remembering something, “Although, I do have a question. Has Kacchan showed up around the area? Possibly after I came back from the exams?”

“That punk?” Hisashi scoffs as he cracks open a can of soda, “Eh he did show up some time ago. While you were napping. Kept yapping and yapping about something I didn’t care enough to interpret, but I chased him away.”

***

“The f*ck do you want now, you brat?!” Hisashi yells from the balcony where he was in the middle of watering the new plants that replace the ones that were damaged from Izuku’s Quirk accident, “Bite off the leash your mom put on you? Looking to get your ass kicked?”

“f*ck off you sh*tty old man!” Katsuki yells from the streets, “I’d ask you to come down and say that to my face but I ain’t here to kick some failure’s ass, I’m here for Deku! Where is he?!”

“Oh you want to know where he is? Tell you what, go to the nearest pharmacist, ask for something called viagra, and use it to go f*ck yourself!” Hisashi yells back leaning against the balcony, “Now get your ass out here right now, don’t make me come down there!”

“f*ck you, you wanna go you old sh*t?!” Katsuki retorts as he activates his Quirk, “I’ll kick your ass!”

“f*ck you! You think I won’t throw hands at a kid?” Hisashi challenges as he spits out some fire, “I don’t give a f*ck, I’ll chop you to bits and use you as fertiliser for these plants!”

“I’ll kill your first you-!”

“Oi!” a neighbour shouts from his own balcony, “Shut the f*ck up!”

“f*ck off/We’re in the middle of something here, dumbass!” Both of them shouted at the same time before they went back at each other’s throats.

“Tell Deku that I’ll be back and he better have the balls to come down and talk instead of letting his failure of a dad to do it for him.”

“Eat sh*t you little turd!” Hisashi calls out as Katsuki leaves, “That’s right, keep walking. Motherf*cker!”

He ends it by tossing the watering can at the boy, missing its mark by a lot, and Katsuki flips off the older man as he leaves.

“Asshole.” Hisashi mutters to himself before returning to water the plants as he realised what he just did, “Ah sh*t.”

***

“...Dear, do I need to sign you up for anger management?” Inko asks after a pause and Hisashi shrugs.

“What? The kid needs a good kick in the ass if you ask me.” Hisashi shrugs as he takes a sip from his soda.

“Is he always that angry?” Izuku asks, “I only remember bits of him, but he can’t have always been this angry.”

Hisashi scoffs, “Who knows? As far as I can remember the brat’s always been like this. Tried talking Mitsuki into sending him into some shrink to get his issues sorted out but you can probably guess how that ended?”

“A copious amount of unneeded swearing from Kacchan?” Izuku guesses.

“You guessed it?” Hisashi snaps his fingers, “But you get the idea. Anyways, what did you want?”

“Just to let you know I’m going for a jog now.” Izuku says, “I’ll be gone for about thirty minutes.”

“Alright, just remember to keep your phone with you.” Inko says and Izuku nods.

“And the tracking devices.” Hisashi reminds, “All five of them.”

Izuku rolls his eyes a bit at that. After his return his father had insisted on keeping five tracking devices on him. Two on his shoes, two for each pocket and one that was his phone’s cover.

“I have them all.” he assures before leaving the house, “I’ll be going now. Mom, make sure father doesn’t get thrown in jail for assaulting Kacchan if he comes by again.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him on a short leash.” Inko assures placing a hand on her husband’s shoulder.

“Just like how I like it.” Hisashi responds flirtatiously as Izuku hastily leaves before he witnesses any images that would scar him worse than any Eldrazi would.

***

A rapid beeping sound alerts him that thirty minutes were up. He stops on the sidewalk and performs some stretches. The workout wasn’t as long as he’d like but it will suffice. He has to work on building up his stamina if he wants to get stronger.

His father’s news worried him somewhat. It appeared that Kacchan was holding a grudge against him for some reason, and likely wanted to settle it with violence. At some point he’ll have to meet with Kacchan and hope they can settle whatever dispute they had diplomatically. If not, then in his father’s words: ‘Give him a good kick in the ass’

As he prepares to head home he suddenly receives a text from his mother,

“Dear, I’m so sorry to bother but we’ve run out of cooking oil. Do you mind getting some from the local convenience store?”

There were locations attached and he noticed that it wasn’t that far away. Shrugging, he sends an affirmative before jogging to the location. He made it to the location in a few minutes and paid for the item by using his phone. It was surprising how similar the method was to modern Kamigawan credit chips.

By the time he leaves the store the sun has begun to set and darkness would soon come, but he still decides to not hurry, take in the sights and familiarise himself with his hometown. At least that was what he had intended to do when he suddenly felt something crash into his leg.

He looks down in surprise at the sight of a young child knocked on her back after slamming into his leg. It appeared that she ran from a dark alley into him while he wasn’t paying attention. Something he’ll have to rectify in the future.

“I’m sorry for that, child.” he bends down and offers a hand, “It’s getting late out here, where are your-?”

“Please…help…” she mutters softly and Izuku pauses at the desperation in her voice. At that he takes a closer look and widens his eyes at her terrible state. Her clothes were torn and filthy as if unwashed for weeks, she looked malnourished and he could see fatigue and a bit of delirium in her teary red eyes.

“...Who did this to you?” he asks with all the calm he could muster as he inches a hand close to her but then was interrupted,

“Eri? There you are! I’ve been worried sick.”

He looks up to find a man with black hair and a trimmed beard approaching, dressed in a jacket and long trousers. He appears to be a civilian but Izuku felt suspicious and readies himself,

“Who are you?” he asks, trying to keep his voice neutral.

“I’m her father.” the man explains, sounding concerned, “I’m so sorry about my daughter, she always gets carried away playing.”

“Those are bandages on her.” Izuku notices. Filthy bandages that look like they haven’t been changed in a while, “And she looks tired, like she’s haven’t eaten in weeks.”

“Yeah, well, she got lost playing. I was so worried you have no idea.” the man stumbles with his words as he hastily attempts to explain himself, “Come now Eri, you don’t want to bother this nice boy anymore do you?”

He says the word ‘bothered’ through gritted teeth and Eri flinches before looking between the two. After a moment's pause she gets on her feet to slowly walk towards the man but is stopped when Izuku grabs her arm, his eyes never leaving the man.

“I don’t mind being bothered, sir.” he says again with a neutral tone, “The girl seems injured, why don’t I call an ambulance?”

The man’s friendly demeanour switches off and he sighs deeply before reaching into his jacket’s pocket,

“Dumb kid.” he mutters as he quickly drew out something but Izuku drew first and casted a spell. In a flash of blue light the knife drawn by the man went flying out of his hand but before he could do anything else, Izuku summoned a whip made of white mana to restrain the man.

“Damn it!” he says as Izuku forces him on his knees with a pull of the whip, “You have no idea who you’re messing with boy.”

“Then inform me.” Izuku demands sparing a moment to glance at the girl who has backed to a wall in the alley looking at the situation in a panic. He hates that she looks at him terrified but he has to deal with this situation first.

He turns his attention back to his prisoner, “I sincerely doubt that you are her father so tell me everything. If I had to guess she’s been on the run from you for quite some time. How many more are looking for her?”

The prisoner retorts by spitting at his shoes and laughing, “What you’ve seen in many spy movies, kid? Think I’ll crack because you have me tied up? You won’t even get my name. And when I get out of here I’ll find you and your family, teach you a lesson myself.”

“...Now why did you have to say that?” Izuku says softly but his voice has a coldness in it, this man just threatened his family and that removed most restraints he had. He steps closer to the man and places his free hand on the man’s face, emitting a blue glow from his palm in the process.

“What the hell are you doing?!” he demands, a small part of him terrified of whatever Quirk the child in front of him had.

“If you will not answer willingly, I’ll get what I want directly from the source.” Izuku says as the effects of the mind reading spell took place, “Now let’s start with your name.”

Chapter 6: Chapter 5: Innocence Lost

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

The man screams as Izuku finally releases his grip on his face, the blue glow fading. He has what he needs.

“Wha…what did you do to me?” the man asks groggily.

“I got what I needed from you, Egawa Masato.” he spits the name out with venom causing the man to flinch, “Yakuza thug. Pretty new, I wanted this to be your chance to impress your boss. Overhaul, was it?”

He wasn’t as great a mind-mage as Jace is, but he can still read minds reliably to a degree. Anything greater than a few months started becoming foggy and jumbled, but in this scenario he had enough information.

The girl was being chased by an organisation called the Shie Hassaikai. Old school criminal family, from what he sees in the memories. Now currently involved in the Trigger trade, a drug that enhances the performance of Quirks (something he makes a note of to research later). They were led by a man named Overhaul, with lieutenants being two others named Chronostasis and Mimic. There were also elites just below them called the Eight Bullets. The man has only heard second-hand information about their abilities, and while they may prove inaccurate, Izuku notes them down still just in case.

They were using this girl for some purposes. Whatever it was, the man in front of him didn't know, he had only joined days before the girl had escaped. But he doesn’t have to know the details to know that it was something bad, judging by the girl’s appearance, who preferred to run for three weeks, starving and exhausted, rather than return.

He doesn’t know what sickens him more, the man in front of him willing to throw this girl back to her captors for money, the Shie Hassaikai for whatever they’ve done to the girl, or the fact that this girl likely wandered through public streets for three weeks and nobody stopped to help her.

“You…you read my mind, you son of a-!” he cried, outraged by the invasion of his privacy before Izuku shot a white spell at him, literally removing his mouth and silencing him.

“You have no right to be outraged, not with what you planned to do.” he spits at him. With that dealt with he turns his attention back to the girl who never moved an inch from her spot, glancing around with fear in her eyes as if she was deciding whether to run or not.

He raises his hand placatingly, “It’s fine, I’m not here to hurt you-”

“I don’t want to go back.” she cries, “I don’t want to go back!”

Her eyes were hazy, unfocused, she wasn’t all there in the head. Sadly, it doesn’t surprise Izuku in the slightest. Being on the run for weeks, having no one to trust during that time, all while being no older than a toddler?

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Izuku assures as he tries to take a step closer with one hand stretched out. Unfortunately the girl did not see the gesture as comforting.

In her exhausted mind she doesn’t see a boy with green haired offering a hand, but a grown man in a bird-like mask and a green bomber jacket reaching out with his hand.

“...No…please…” she begs as she closes her eyes and shields herself. Izuku just stood hesitant, he had no idea how to approach this situation at all. The most experience he had was approaching injured and panicking civilians to heal them, but even then they would quickly recognise him as friend and not foe.

Then sparks began flying, strange energy emitted from her horn and Izuku instinctively backed up.

“I don’t want…go back…please…” she starts hyperventilating as the energy begins coating her entire body in a thick aura. Izuku nearly drops his jaw when he recognizes the feeling of siad aura. Temporal magic.

Was it this girl’s Quirk? The ability to manipulate time itself? If so, it was a powerful one. But that wasn’t his concern right now, it was how pained the girl looks. He didn’t bother thinking what would happen if it goes wrong, what was in his mind was helping the girl right now.

He coats himself in a basic anti-magic spell, praying it works well against Quirks as it does with magic, before leaping forward and wrapping his arms around the girl in a hug. While the spell was powerful it was unrefined, just releasing energy with no technique, meaning it took little effort to disperse.

“Everything will be fine now.” he assures recalling words from his old idol before his Ignition, “You don’t have to be scared anymore. I am here.”

The girl, Eri, was surprised and fearful of the gesture, expecting pain to come from it. But it didn’t, only a warm sense of an unfamiliar, almost alien feeling. Safety, comfort, warmth. Instantly the image of Chisaki disappears and she sees who is truly there. And then panic sets in as she realises what she’s doing.

“No! Get away!” she tries to warn, “You’re going to get hurt.”

“No I won’t, trust me.” he assures never letting go of the girl, despite how inside he was terrified at the power she was emanating. If he falters his magic and fails to counter even for a second, he doesn’t know what the Quirk would do to him.

He held on as the energy dissipated and Eri watched in surprise. She could not remember the details, but she remembered once when someone touched her while her Quirk was activated, remembering how all that was left was a pile of clothes. Remembering how a woman was screaming at her, calling her a monster.

Then her eyes became heavier as she struggled to keep them open. She was tired but she tried to keep awake. Sleeping the past weeks has meant that people would come and find her, take her back to Chisaki.

“Please…don’t let me…go back.” she mutters weakly, close to passing out.

“You won’t, I promise.” Izuku says soothingly as he brushes her hair with his hand, “Rest now. I will keep watch.”

She doesn’t know why, but those words brought a warm sense of safety to her as her eyes closed. She knew at the moment she was safe.

He sets her down on his lap, using it as a pillow, and holds a glowing white hand above her, searching her for any immediate injuries. None as far as he could see, only exhaustion and hunger, things his magic cannot counter. He would report this to the police, then get an ambulance for the girl.

Pulling out his phone he dials the number of Detective Naomasa. His father had given him the number to add to his list of emergency contacts, and this seems to fit the category of an emergency.

“Hello, Detective?” Izuku greets professionally, “I apologise for calling so late this evening but there’s an issue I believe requires your profession. No, no, my parents and I are alright. I was out running an errand when I came across this girl, between the ages of 5 to 6, running from a criminal. Yes, again I’m fine, but the girl isn’t. She seems to have passed out from exhaustion and hunger. I need an ambulance to transport her to the nearest hospital. Yes, and someone to detain the criminal, I have him incapacitated. Thank you and goodbye.”

He hangs up the call and turns back to see the criminal attempting to crawl away, still tied up by white wires. This man had seen his face, if he somehow gets out of prison or reports back to his superiors then not just the girl, but his family will be endangered. But he can’t execute a defeated foe on his knees despite how vile he was. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

“How bothersome.” he mutters to himself as he raises his hand again, glowing blue.

***

“I finished talking with Masato.” Naomasa tells Izuku who sat on a chair next to a hospital bed where the girl, Eri as the man had called, lay unconscious with an IV unit attached to her wrist feeding her nutrients she has been missing, “He won’t admit a thing, but my Quirk says otherwise. We’ll be sure to look and see if any security cameras caught him chasing her.”

“That’s good.” Izuku mutters non-committedly, his eyes never leaving the girl.

“That’s another thing I want to talk to you about.” Naomasa says sternly, “Did you use your Quirk on him? We tried interrogating him and the only true thing he said all night was that he doesn’t remember what happened after he chased her into the alley. She doesn’t remember fighting with anyone.”

“He did receive an injury to the head.” Izuku shrugs not even looking at him, “Perhaps that was the cause of his memory loss.”

A half-truth, Naomasa detected with his Quirk. He frowns at that,

“There were no signs of physical injuries on him. I’m aware you went missing for ten years and have only been back for a short period of time, and had a stressful time in the UA entrance exam, therefore I’m cutting you some slack.” Naomasa sighs annoyed, “You can’t use your Quirk in public-”

“Even to save a life?” Izuku snaps suddenly turning to face the detective, “If I had not intervened, the girl might have been taken and never rescued. While I thank you for responding to my call quickly and arranging all this, if you are here to lecture me, save it.”

Izuku exhales before resuming in a neutral tone, “I apologise, Detective. I understand the law, but I do not regret my decision.”

“I didn’t say it was the wrong thing to do. I’m just warning you to be careful next time.” Naomasa sighs before pulling out his notepad, “And wanted to ask some questions as well. The man is obviously a Yakuza judging by the tattoos, but I wonder if you heard anything from the perp that indicates any Yakuza group in particular?”

“The Shie Hassaikai.” Izuku responds immediately, “Eight Precepts of Death. They were keeping this girl in their main base performing who knows what acts on her. I heard it from the man himself.”

Another half-truth but Naomasa writes that down anyways. The thought of criminals doing terrible things to a young girl sickens him. Any crimes involving children disgusts and angers him. What was more concerning was that he recognises the name he was given.

“Shie Hassaikai? I’ve heard of them before.” Naomasa mutters to himself, “Old school gangsters. A branch of the Yakuza that’s been getting involved in the Trigger trade recently.”

“What actions will be taken against them?” Izuku asks.

“Sadly the information you gave us isn’t exactly solid, damning proof. There’s a reason why Quirks that read minds or tell when people are lying aren’t admissible in court. We try to use this to go after them, their lawyers will tear us to shreds.” Naomasa explains, disappointed, “But I know a Pro Hero who’s currently assisting on a case against them, I’ll be sure to send this info to him. Maybe he’ll find use of them.”

“And the girl? What will happen to her?” Izuku gestures to her, “Has there been any attempts to find her family?”

“That’s another issue we’re having.” Naomasa says grimly, “We combed for a match through the official record and came up with zero matches. Officially, this girl doesn’t exist.”

Neither of them likes the implications of that, even with Izuku’s lack of knowledge on his plane he could tell that meant something bad.

“So either her records were destroyed or she wasn’t registered in the first place?” Izuku asks, concerned, “Those don’t spell well for her parents. Either they intentionally allowed this, or those scum didn’t give them a choice. And if the latter…they could be killed to silence them. Either way it indicates that the Shie Hassaikai put a lot of effort into keeping this girl hidden. She’s no ordinary kidnapped victim, but the question is what does a criminal organisation want with this girl specifically?”

“That’s something to ask when we nail them.” Naomasa nods, surprised to see a teenager talk about things like that with clear understanding. For a moment he forgot he wasn’t talking to a fellow officer, but a child, “As for what we can do? Our best bet is to send her to an orphanage or foster family to take care of them.”

“This will guarantee her safety?”

“There will be officers and Pro Heroes constantly monitoring her.” Naomasa assures, “Until the Shie Hassaikai is taken care of, she’ll be under constant watch.”

“Good. That’s good.” Izuku breathes a sigh of relief before leaning back on the chair, “I would like to stay here if that’s fine. I wish to be here when she wakes up.”

“You don’t have to do that. The doctors will do everything they can to-” Naomasa starts, but is interrupted midway.

“Nevertheless, I swore that I would.” Izuku says firmly, “So I would like to stay until she awakes.”

He says in a tone indicating he wasn’t going to argue. Naomasa pauses at the look in his eyes. They remind him of a certain hero, the conviction behind them.

“Not even in UA yet and already playing the hero, huh?” Naomasa sighs in defeat, “I’ll be sure to inform your parents of your decision. I’m sure they’re on the way now.”

“Right.” Izuku mutters, having almost forgotten, “This is going to be difficult to explain.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Naomasa assures before leaving, “Give a holler once she wakes, I have to check in and see how the interrogation is going. See if we've gotten the guy to crack yet.”

Izuku nods as the detective leaves before resuming his vigil, sitting next to the girl, tapping his fingers against the arms of the chair as he waits. There was a chance she may not awake soon, and may even sleep through a full day. Considering what she went through, he couldn’t blame her. It would be logical for him to leave her in the care of the doctors, but he swore he would keep watch, and so he will.

His stomach growls, interrupting his thoughts. He had almost forgotten that he had not had dinner yet. He supposes he should at least grab a snack from that ‘vending machine’ device he saw earlier. The products taste of artificial junk but they should at least dull his hunger by a bit. Or perhaps he could conjure up a snack with his magic?

But just as he was about to stand up the girl shifted and Izuku froze before sitting down. Was she awakening this quickly?

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” she whispers as she tosses and turns in her sleep.

Nightmares, he realises. His first instinct was to wake her up from whatever bad dreams that trouble her but he hesitates. She would need as much rest as possible, and who knows if she can continue sleeping after waking up.

Instead he held her hand, which was full of scars. They were hidden by the filthy bandages before she was brought to the hospital. He softly holds it as he softly casts a spell, covering it with a blue glow as he reaches into her mind. He almost retches the moment he did so, he can’t see anything specific, some shadowy figure reaching out, immense pain and darkness. But the emotions associated with them…the fear she was feeling…

Just what did they do to this poor girl?

Questions for later, he casts another spell and the images disperse. He wasn’t that skilled of a mind mage to craft pleasant dreams, but emptiness was surely better than nightmares and pain, right?

The girl stops shifting in her sleep and soon her breathing returns to normal. Sighing in relief he moves to detach his hand from hers but feels the grip tighten around him, the girl must be clinging on subconsciously.

He relents and shifts his chair so he could sit more comfortably while holding her hand. Might as well get comfortable, he supposes.

***

She could only shudder in fear as Chisaki approached, peeling off his gloves,

“You ran away. Again.” he growls as he raises his hands, “You know what happens next.”

“I’m sorry…” she whimpers as she cowers desperately hiding herself to avoid the pain she knows will come, “I’m sorry…”

But before he could touch her, everything vanished. The room they were in was gone, Chisaki was gone, like the entire world just vanished. In that moment she felt something warm in her hands, holding on to her. She wasn’t sure what it was, she had never felt anything like it before, it was… kind.

Then the feeling seems to withdraw and in a panic she desperately latches onto it. Desperate to keep that feeling of warmth and safety.

“Don’t go!” she cries as she holds on.

***

“Don’t go…”

Izuku blinks in surprise as she grips harder and begins to stir. The girl clutches his hand in a vice grip like it was a lifeline and then blinks before slowly opening her eyes. Her first reaction is to freeze as she looks around the hospital room, then begins trembling. Seeing her fear, Izuku immediately spoke up,

“Are you alright, child?” Izuku asks in concern as the girl looks at him in shock as if she had just been alerted to his presence.

“It…it wasn’t a dream?” she asks no one in particular, fearfully as if she would wake up any moment. Izuku gives a look of pity before affirming,

“Yes child, it wasn’t a dream.” he says soothingly with a kind smile, “I am glad to see you’re awake.”

Eri looks stunned by his words, as if terrified to believe him, and then she gasps in remembrance.

“It’s you.” she whispers softly as the events replayed in her mind.

Izuku nods, “My name is Izuku Midoriya. And your name is Eri, correct?”

He asks to be sure. She slowly nods as Izuku continues,

“You don’t have to worry anymore, Eri.” he assures, “You’re safe here. That man won’t be able to get to you.”

This does little to assure her fears, “It’s…not just him. He..he’ll find me. He always does.”

“Who? Overhaul?” he asks using the name of the Shai Hissaikai’s leader which causes her to flinch in fear. No, that was an understatement, it looked like she was near hyperventilating at the name.

“I always run, but he keeps finding me.” she gasps out as she hugs herself, “I…he’ll find me, and when he does…”

Izuku curses at himself for his lack of tact. This was exactly why Jace handled the talking, or Chandra, or literally anyone else in Gatewatch! Words failed him at the moment so he did what came naturally, and wrapped both his arms around her to comfort the poor girl.

“He won’t do anything to you, Eri.” he whispers to the girl softly, “Because I am here. And as long as I am, I swear that I’ll protect you.”

Eri chokes up from the gesture, the warm and unfamiliar feeling of safety and kindness was near overwhelming,

“...he’ll hurt you too.” she mutters, “I don’t want-”

“He won’t.” he says as he brushes her hair, “Trust me Eri.”

He stayed in that position for a while before suddenly a loud rumbling was heard. Two actually. From Eri and his own stomach.

He chuckles as he separates from the embarrassed Eri, “Well, I suppose we’re both hungry then. Why don’t I grab us something to eat?”

He moves to leave but then Eri grips his hand again, a terrified look across her face, “Wait! Don’t go!”

She cries before looking shocked at her own outburst before wincing, preparing for the worst. To be punished for raising her voice. But Izuku only gently pats her on the head,

“Eri, it’s fine. I’m just going to get some food.” he says kindly but she still doesn’t let go.

“But…what if they come and find me?” she asks barely above a whisper. The fear in her eyes was evident and Izuku bites his lip before sighing,

“...Very well then. I will stay.” he sits down. But they still had the hunger issue so he decided to amend that. Waving his hands, he summons two pieces of hardtack using his magic. He was no master of creating food, those were actually far different than summoning creatures or artefacts, so the best he could do was simple, tasteless food that still filled the stomach.

He hands one piece to Eri who took it gratefully but then started biting into it before Izuku could warn her.

“It’s hard…” she mutters as she rubs her jaw.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you.” Izuku apologises and casts a minor spell to dull her pain, “Here, let me help with that.”

He takes the piece of hardtack from her and softens it with some water he created with magic, before snapping them into smaller pieces for her to consume. He then hands her a smaller portion which she inserts into her mouth carefully this time.

“It’s tasteless, I know.” Izuku says as she starts chewing, “It’s the only food I know how to make, unfortunately.”

“No, it’s good.” she quickly says after she swallows before holding out her hand meekly, “Can I have more?”

Izuku suppresses the urge to hug her another time and hands her another piece of softened hardtack. She seemed to have no issue consuming it after the first bit, all but scarfing down the following portions handed to her. She must be starving, or have lived off on food of worse quality. He vows to introduce her to some of his mom’s cooking when they get out, and give her a real delicious meal.

***

“Is he alright? Did someone hurt him? Because if so I swear to god-!” Hisashi growls as he storms into the hospital with Inko as Naomasa tries to stop him.

“Your son is fine, for the fifth time!” Naomasa exclaims annoyed, “Now please calm down, I don’t want to see you get arrested again.”

“Calm? Oh I am f*cking calm, see how calm I am!” Hisashi shouts before a nurse and his wife shushes at him. Still fuming but at least trying to be quiet, he hisses at Naomasa,

“What happened? All I heard was that my son is at the hospital.”

“Yes, because you hung up and rushed over before I could explain!” Naomasa sighs annoyed, “He’s perfectly fine. He just came across a kid and brought her to the hospital. He’s fine.”

“Oh.” Hisashi mutters sheepishly before Inko speaks up.

“What do you mean, he found a kid?” she asks for clarification.

“He was out when he ran into a girl about 5 to 6 years old, being chased by a Yakuza gang member. He was fortunately able to incapacitate him and save the girl, which he then proceeded to call me and brought her here.”

Inko immediately focused on the Yakuza part, “My son is fighting Yakuza?!”

“No, no. Just a thug. It’s fortunate that somehow, the thug can’t remember who attacked him.” Naomasa assures before going stern, “That said, this isn’t saying he can act as he pleases. He’s been giving a warning on using his Quirk in public.”

“But there are no charges?” Hisashi asks to make sure.

“None. Some put up a fight and wanted to find him, but I convinced them to just tone it down to a warning.” Naomasa explains before sighing, “Anyways, your son’s been staying by the kid’s side ever since they got here. I’ll bring you to him now.”

They walked for a while down the hallway of the hospital before approaching a door to one of the rooms.

“He should be inside.” Naomasa says as he softly opens the door to not surprise the occupants. As they enter they look in surprise as they see Izuku creating blue shapes and patterns in some sort of small fireworks display as a girl on the bed watches with awe.

And the look on Izuku’s face surprised them as well. For the past weeks he has been back. Izuku's expressions were mostly neutral with tired smiles, but here he was smiling full on and enjoying himself.

Then the moment was interrupted when the girl noticed their presence and her breath hitched in fear. Izuku quickly took notice and spun around before realising who was there,

“Mother, father!” he exclaims in surprise before removing the display, “My apologies, I did not hear you come in.”

“It’s fine, Izuku. We’re just glad to see you’re alright.” Inko says as she approaches them, “And who’s this little sweetheart?”

The girl grasps onto Izuku’s arm as Inko approaches, trying to hide herself behind him.

“Eri, it’s fine. These are my parents.” Izuku assures kindly as the girl looks to Izuku confused, “Mother, father, meet Eri.”

“Hello.” Hisashi waves awkwardly from behind as Inko takes a step back to give the girl space.

“H-hello.” She greets shyly, still clinging onto Izuku’s arm like a lifeline.

“It’s great to see you’re up and about, young lady.” Naomasa says, “I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”

Eri looks at Izuku unsure who gave her a nod to go on,

“It’s fine, he’s a good guy.” he assures her, “He just wants to help you, like me.”

“A-alright.” she hesitantly agrees.

“Excellent.” Naomasa says before turning to Inko and Hisashi, “Do you all mind leaving, please? I don’t think you would want to listen to this stuff.”

“It’s fine, you go do your job Detective.” Hisashis nods before gesturing to Izuku, “Come on, we can go now, son.”

“I…think I would prefer it if I stayed, if you don’t mind.” Izuku says as he gestures to Eri, “I don’t want to cause any unnecessary stress.”

Naomasa looks between the two before noticing how tightly Eri was clinging onto Izuku’s arm before sighing, “If she’s fine with it, I suppose so.”

“We’ll just wait outside then.” Inko says as Izuku gives them both a thankful nod as they leave. Once the door shut behind them Naomasa began the questions.

“First, about the Shai Hissaikai. Do you know why they kidnapped you?”

Eri looks confused and unsure at the word, “...kidnapped?”

“It means taking you somewhere you didn’t want to go.” Izuku helpfully supplies, “The place you ran away from, did they take you there?”

“...I don’t know.” Eri says avoiding eye contact, “All I can remember is living underground.”

“Underground?” Naomasa asks as he puts this down in the notebook, “So the Shai Hissaikai headquarters have an underground facility?”

She shrugs unsure as Naomasa went on to the next question, “How about your parents then? Do you know any way we can contact or identify them?”

She shook her head sadly, “No, he said they didn’t want me anymore…that my curse hurt them…”

Eri subconsciously rubs her horn as she says this. Izuku suddenly had a bad feeling on what happened to her parents, if what Overhaul was saying wasn’t a complete utter lie. He remembers the sparks she had created, a wild chronomancy spell, and he imagines what would happen if an unprepared, worried parent rushes to comfort their child during that.

“Would ‘he’ be Overhaul?” Naomasa asks, “Do you know why they kept you? What happened while you were living there?”

The question caused Eri to shudder, “The doctor…Chisaki…he…”

She chokes up, unable to get a response out as Izuku comforts her, “It’s fine Eri. You don’t have to continue anymore.”

“It’s evident that they were hurting her, Detective.” Izuku answers for her as he nudges at the scars on her arms, “Those are surgical, precise. They weren’t abusing her for the hell of it, they did it for a purpose.”

So some sort of experiment perhaps? Harvesting something? It made both Izuku and Naomasa want to vomit but the latter jots it down anyways. Anything they can get was another nail they will use to nail down Overhaul and the Shai Hissaikai. It won’t erase all the things they did to the girl, but hopefully she would sleep better with her captors behind bars after this.

“I think that would be enough questions, detective. She doesn't appear to want to answer more.” Izuku suggests and Naomasa nods,

“It’s fine, thank you for your help, Eri.” he says to the young girl, “You were very brave for this. You don’t have to worry, because I promise these men won’t get away with this.”

She doesn’t respond, content with latching onto Izuku who looks to Naomasa,

“So what happens now?” he asks, “She has nowhere to go.”

“Since she has no parents or guardian, she’ll have to stay here until we find a place for her in a foster home or orphanage.”

“...Is that the best option?” Izuku asks after a moment of thought.

“Pardon.”

“I just mean, she’ll be spending a lot of time alone in a hospital until then.” Izuku points out, “She shouldn’t be alone during all this.”

“So what do you suggest?” Naomasa asks, wondering what he was going for.

“My house has more than enough room.” Izuku points out, “And I swore that I would take care of her. Why not let her stay at my place?”

“You’re serious?” Naomasa asks, “It can happen, but it’s up to your parents. Then again I can already guess their answer. You’re more like them than you probably realised.”

He stands up and begins heading out, “I’ll break the news to your parents and get the paperwork started. Have a goodnight, Izuku.”

“Does…does that mean…?” She doesn’t finish her sentence, not daring to hope, but Izuku smiles assuringly in response.

“You’ll be living with us Eri.” he affirms, “I promised to take care of you, and I will.”

Their moment was interrupted when the tearful, joyous, confused and very loud voice of his mother rang out through the hospital,

“MY BABY IS ADOPTING A LITTLE GIRL?!”

***

After stopping the miniature flood his mother was generating with her tears, and apologising to the hospital for the ruckus, the travel home was a quiet one. Through the car ride Eri sat on Izuku’s lap as she kept looking out of the window in awe as she saw the bright lights of the city at night.

“Pretty…” she mutters under her breath and Izuku chuckles.

“It is, isn’t it?” Izuku says as he pats her head, “Tell you what, when things settle down we can take you around the city.”

Without being chased by criminals, he doesn’t say. But Eri is too distracted by the sights to notice. Soon they arrived home and Izuku helps Eri step down from the car to her new home,

“Welcome home, Eri.” Izuku says as he guides her inside. The little girl looks around her new home with awe and curiosity. It was so different from her room. The room had felt cold, like it wasn’t real. But here it felt warm and cosy.

“I’m….really going to live here?” she asks looking up to Izuku unsure.

“Yes, you are.” Izuku nods before glancing back to his parents, “Thank you for doing this.”

“It’s the right thing to do.” Hisashi says with a smile, “Besides, it’ll be good to have someone here to keep your mom company once you go to UA.”

“Right, how about I go get dinner ready now.” Inko says as she leaves for the kitchen.

“You’re going to love it, Eri.” Izuku tells the young girl, “She cooks some of the best meals I’ve ever tasted.”

And he was right, when presented with the bowl of rice and assorted dishes, Eri looks at the food with a drool slightly leaking out of her mouth. After making doubly sure she was allowed to eat, she scarfed down the food with such ferocity that Izuku was reminded of starving dogs.

“You might want to slow down, Eri.” Inko warns, “You don’t want to choke.”

She flinches thinking she was being reprimanded before seeing the concerned look in Inko’s eyes.

“The food is going nowhere, you can eat as much as you want.” she assures her kindly, “Just be sure to chew before you swallow, or you’ll choke.”

“Besides, you want to save some room for dessert.” Hisashi adds, “We have some fruits for later if you want. Bananas, oranges, apples-”

“Apples?” she suddenly perks up, drooling once more. She recalled the rare times they were served to her, a few slices. Small comfort that helped to take the mind off her situation.

She continued eating at a slower rate to avoid choking, but her excitement for the fruit was visible for all to see. True enough, she happily accepted the apple given to her after dinner was over. Izuku was also pleasantly surprised to see the ghost of a smile form on her mouth.

When time came for sleep, it was decided for her to sleep in Izuku’s room with him both because the guest room had been converted to a sort of workshop for Hisashi that would take too long to clear out, and also because it was clear she was uncomfortable staying away from her saviour.

“Well, we can’t have her sleep in that.” Hisashi points out gesturing to the clothes she had been wearing. They were worn and filthy which wouldn’t be comfortable to sleep in, but they don’t have any clothes for her.

“Hold on, we still have some of Izuku’s old clothes. She’s around your size when you were…that age.” Inko says before rushing off, “I’ll go find them.”

She came back soon with an All Might-themed shirt, one Izuku recognises. It belonged to him when he was young, before he had disappeared. It really was weird seeing how small he had been back then.

After giving Eri a quick shower and change of clothes, Inko came out with Eri from the bathroom dressed in fresh clothes.

“Aw, look at her. She’s just the cutest isn’t she.” Hisashi says as snaps photos with his phone. Izuku had to agree it was an adorable sight.

Once both his parents were finished fawning over her cuteness, Izuku guided her to his room with a bedroll under his arm for himself. He can’t have Eri sleep on the cold hard flood. He can handle sleeping on hard surfaces, and it would actually be preferable. Being back in a soft bed felt weird, like he could sink and suffocate at any moment.

“Izuku? Who is that?” she asks, pointing to a corner of his room where he had packed up and placed all the merchandise his younger self had collected as he found it eerie to have posters and figurines of All Might stare at him from all angles while he slept.

“Oh, that’s All Might.” Izuku explains with a shrug, “He’s this world’s Number 1 Pro Hero. It basically means he goes around and saves people, and is very good at it.”

He cringes at the lame way he explained that. But honestly even if he respects the man, he’s somewhat of a sceptic for the whole Symbol of Peace he’s instilled. Placing all your hopes of safety into the hands of one man seemed risky, even the greatest could fall after all.

He quickly shrugs off the memories before they could flood his mind, as Eri glances up to him.

“A hero… Like you?” she asks innocently.

“That’s kind of you to think so, Eri.” Izuku chuckles as he pats her head before looking towards the only piece of All Might merchandise on his table, a single aged trading card, “But I’m not a hero. There are so many others that deserve to be called that, but I don’t think I’m one of them.”

Seeing his sad smile, Eri instantly tried to make him feel better.

“B-but you saved me. So you’re my hero!” she argues.

Izuku looks at her with a soft smile as he pats her head, “Well if you say so. But really, that’s not important. What’s important is that you get some sleep soon.”

He switches off the light switch but then Eri yelps and clings to his leg. Of course she would be scared of the dark, what was he thinking?

“Right, sorry about that.” Izuku apologises as he snaps his fingers creating a floating orb of light. Not bright enough to light the room fully, but a dim one so that they weren’t in complete darkness, “Better.”

She nods before Izuku gently picks her up and sets her on his bed before placing a blanket over her, “Sleep well, Eri. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

He then unrolled and placed his bedroll next to the bed before laying on it. But it soon became clear that sleep will not visit him anytime soon as memories briefly flash through his mind whenever he closes his eyes, leaving him shuffling within his bedroll.

“Izu…you can’t sleep too?” Eri whispers from his bed, surprising him as he had thought she had slept some time ago.

“...No, I suppose not. You as well?”

He saw her shake her head in the dimly lit light spell. He ponders on what to do and wonders if he should use a sleep spell but decides against it as it could damage a mind if used too often. Instead he wanders back to early sleepless nights, back when he was a freshly Ignited Planeswalker travelling with Gideon. The warrior would tell tales to distract his mind and eventually he would sleep at last.

“Do you wish for me to tell you a story?” he suggests and Eri thinks before nodding. Izuku thinks of what to tell her, perhaps something from personal experience would be easier? Images of four familiar figures fill his head, standing defiantly against monstrous beings that defied logic, filled his mind as he decided on a story to tell.

“Once upon a time,” he began, “There were three creatures known as Eldrazi, creatures that ravaged and consumed entire worlds. Before long, three powerful mages, Planeswalkers they were called, worked together and imprisoned them on a single world, to trap them and make them dormant. It worked for a few thousand years before they awoke once more.”

He went on to detail about how they awoke and created vast brood armies that threatened to overwhelm the entire world of Zendikar, the world the Eldrazi were trapped on. He described with great vigour on how five other Planeswalker gathered. A blue mage whose power over mind was unparalleled, a redheaded pyromancer, an elf druid that was native to Zendikar, and last but not least an invincible noble warrior accompanied by a young child. And with the help of merfolk, were able to repel the hordes at Seagate, before the Planeswalker swore an oath to stand with each other against the Eldrazi and all threats to life.

Lost in his own story and excitement, he never noticed that Eri fell asleep at some time. He was a bit saddened but doesn’t blame her as he was also feeling tired himself, suppressing a yawn. He must have been talking for an hour or so.

He snaps his fingers again to turn off the dim lights before closing his eyes again. This time, no bad memories or nightmares visited him. Only dreams of brighter days and better times.

Chapter 7: Chapter 6: New Beginnings

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

The lock clicks as Toshinori relocks it after his entry. He tried knocking and calling, but it appeared that young Melissa got too lost in her own work again. The studio apartment she rented had been refitted with power tools, machinery and computers, practically transforming it into a workshop. He finds her sleeping, slumped over the table again with a couple tools in hand. He chuckles, with memories of seeing her father in the same position filling his mind.

“Young Melissa, it is unhealthy to sleep like that.” He admonishes, shaking her awake.

She snaps awake and nearly stumbles out of her chair before realising who woke her up. It was still a sight to get used to, her hero in his skeletal looking form.

“Uncle Might?” she exclaims in surprise, “What are you doing here?”

“Why am I here?” he chuckles, “I’m here to celebrate your acceptance into UA of course. And to explain myself. You probably heard from my message that I was going to teach at UA?”

“Yeah, it was a surprise.” she nods, “I nearly fell out of my seat when I heard that. Is it because of One for All?”

“Well, to be honest, my position in UA was discussed far before I decided you would be my successor.” he confesses, and Melissa looks surprised before looking down.

“Yeah…I guess that makes sense. Where else would you go to but the world’s greatest hero school.” she admits it was perfectly logical, because she would’ve done the same in his position to guarantee the best possible person to receive One for All, “Do you…have second thoughts?”

She asks worriedly before Toshinori laughs off her concerns, “Of course not. I don’t regret choosing you one moment, besides the Quirk is yours now. I can’t exactly ask you to hand it back like some old hat I lent you.”

“Thanks Uncle Might.” she smiles at the praise before looking sour, “But, really? The past week I’ve been wondering if I’m really cut out for this. Even with your power I barely got in, if it weren’t for those rescue points I wouldn’t have. And plenty of others got much more points than I did.”

“Nonsense, Melissa.” he admonishes as he chops her head lightly, snapping her out of her funk, “You got in because of your own will and determination. Who was it that designed the equipment allowing you to use 5% of OFA reliably? You. And who was it that leaped to rescue those two? You! The spirit of a hero burns brightly in you, you only need to have a little faith in yourself.”

“You’re right.” she smiles as she rubs the spot that Toshinori smacks on her head, “I will. But if you don’t mind, since you’re here, I have a question.”

“Hm? Go ahead, I’ll do my best to answer.”

“That boy who scored the Number 1 spot in the exam. What was his Quirk?” She asks as Toshinori’s smile fell, “It’s been bugging me all week. That girl, Ochako Uraraka, had some sort of touch-based Quirk that affects weight. And I saw that Ida kid has engines on his legs that lets him run fast. But I couldn’t figure out just what that guy’s Quirk is. Do you have any ideas? He’s going to be a student after all.”

She may be studying to be a hero but she was a scientist first. And the boy’s Quirk made little sense, some sort of superspeed, being able to heal, some sort of telekinesis and she even saw what appeared to be a fireball forming before he almost collapsed from exhaustion. They just didn’t add up, where was their common element?

“It was like he had multiple Quirks.” she mutters before seeing the look at her mentor’s face, “Is something wrong, Uncle Might?”

“It’s…nothing. I’m fine, Melissa.” He put on a smile immediately but she saw through it.

“Uncle Might, we promised no more secrets didn’t we?”

She recalls as Toshinori sighs. He supposes this is what he gets for choosing a successor close to him, she’ll see through most of his lies like they weren’t even there. After that incident involving I-Island where he had run out of time and was caught by Melissa, after explaining about how he was crippled by a villain attack, after seeing her courage in action during the incident and deciding to make her his successor, she made him swear that he’ll be honest from now on.

“Remember the fight I mentioned? The one five years ago that crippled my ability to be a hero?” he asks as he rubs his weak spot, “I can’t tell you all the details but the villain I fought, he had multiple Quirks as well.”

Melissa’s eyes widened in shock as he continued, “For years he ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist with his Quirk. The ability to take Quirks, not only that, but to give Quirks as well. Many of his most loyal and powerful followers would benefit from such a boon, obtaining a second or third Quirk.”

Melissa widens her eyes at the implication, “So you mean that guy-?!”

“I’m not sure about that.” he quickly interrupts her, not wanting to even entertain the thought, “I saw the bastard’s corpse get cremated myself. Burnt it to ash and then I personally threw them into the nearest volcano just to make sure. He is gone. I’m sure of that.”

She baulks at that, the idea of All Might killing a villain just seemed unreal. But then she thinks about how strong the villain must have been to do so much damage to him, and realised he may not have had a choice.

“But then, why are you so scared if this villain’s dead?” she asks.

“Because this kid, Izuku Midoirya, went missing ten years ago. Reports said he had a teleportation Quirk of sorts. Now he showed up nearly a month ago, with completely different abilities and joined the UA Entrance Exam.” he explains, “I could be wrong. This wouldn’t be the first time I saw a variable Quirk and instantly thought of him. But he had a large empire, and his reach was far. He may have a handful of agents out there looking for revenge that I have somehow missed.”

Melissa pales at the implications, “So…you’re saying that a villain could be attending UA?”

Instead of nodding, Toshinori just sighs, “I truly do not know. It could be that this is just the paranoia of an old man. This could just be completely unrelated. I hope I’m wrong but if I’m right, then we could be looking at an insidious undercover agent.”

***

“Look at you.” Inko says proudly to her son in his UA uniform, “You look so cool, Izuku. Don’t you think so, Eri.”

The little girl shyly nods her head. But he notices that she looks sad and worried as well, so Izuku chuckles and kneels down to her eye level, patting her head.

“Hey Eri, don’t worry. I’ll just be gone for a few hours.” he assures with a smile as he notices the puzzle box in her arms, “And look at that, you almost solved that? You’re a smart girl, Eri.”

It was a puzzle box gifted to him by Terferi a few years back on his birthday. It was a good exercise for his mind, and as he recently discovered, a wonderful toy for kids to keep their minds occupied. It’s been taking her days and she’s made little progress but she was enjoying the process of trying to solve it. Besides someone her age making progress on that puzzle box was astounding in his opinion.

“Maybe when I come back I can help you finish if you're still not done? Perhaps over some candy apples?”

She brightens up at the mention of that, “You promise?”

Izuku smiles and offers his pinky, “Yep. Pinky promise.”

She wraps her own pinky finger around his as they shook on it, with Inko squealing as she snaps photos with her phone.

“I’m sorry, but this is all just too cute.” She says, “Don’t mind this old lady, just carry on.”

Izuku laughs before turning to Eri, “Take care of my mother while I’m gone, won’t you? I’ll be back before you know it.”

He says his goodbyes one last time before he begins his journey to the train station. It was cramped like before but he does his best to bear with the situation, pulling out his phone and checking it to take his mind off things. To his delight he sees a message from Kyoka Jirou.

“Almost at the station. Hby?”

When they discovered they were dropping off at the same station closest to UA they collaborated to meet up there and walk the rest of the way. He quickly types his own response,

“To Kyoka Jirou,

I will be arriving in an estimate of 15 minutes, I hope to see you there soon.

From Izuku Midoriya.”

She sent a reply soon afterwards, “You know you don’t have to write like that everytime. You’re not writing a letter or anything.”

“Sorry. Old habits die hard.” he types back without the formalities this time. Sure he was used to writing formally in letters, but wasn’t it more polite and respectful that way?

“You sure you’re not an old man in some teen’s body or something?”

They continued bantering for a while before the train screeches to a halt and he gets off, searching the station for a familiar purple haired girl.

“Yo, Midoriya! Over here.” she waves from a few metres away and he heads towards her. Same with him, she was dressed in UA’s school uniform with a blazer and tie but with a skirt instead of pants.

She greets him with a smile before looking at something and stifling a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he asks confusedly before she points at the crumpled mess that was his tie.

“What is that?” she asks while laughing, “It looks like a kid tried tying your tie.”

“In fact, a kid did.” he says with no trace of humour, “Out of all the attempts including my parents, this was the best result. On the bright side I now know over a dozen ways I can strangle someone with a tie and make it look like an accident.”

Jirou chuckles at that before waving him over, “Come on, let me give it a try.”

He shrugs and relents, allowing her to approach where she untangled the mess that was his tie before neatly looping it and tying into a knot. While they were doing this Izuku couldn’t help but feel flustered at the lack of distance between them.

“That’ll do.” she declares as he moves back to look at her handiwork and indeed it was much better than it was before.

“Thank you.” he smiles gratefully as he inspects his now neat tie, “It looks like you keep coming to my rescue, Jirou.”

“It’s kinda funny if you think about it.” Jirou snickers, “You got the top scores in the practical but somehow you can strangle yourself with a tie.”

“Yes, I’m glad my suffering amuses you.” he rolls his eyes, “But I wouldn’t have gotten the top score if it wasn’t for Rescue Points existing.”

“Bullsh*t, if we’re going by Villain Points alone, you would’ve still scored pretty high.” she says giving his arm a slight punch, “And you were still going on about how much you hated your performance. What the hell man?”

“It’s true, it was a sloppy performance.” he argues as he rubs the spot she hit on his arm, “If I had carefully regulated myself I would have scored at least a dozen more points. And I wouldn’t have required that girl to save me.”

As they exit the train station they catch a glimpse of the UA building towering above nearby buildings and houses.

“Are you excited for it?” he asks, nudging his friend, “Or nervous perhaps?”

“Of course I am. I barely got in with a couple dozen Villain Points and a few Rescue Points! Hell, I’m wondering if it’s too late to drop out and join some other hero school. I hear Shiketsu is still an option.”

He chuckles, “Well if it makes you feel better I’m nervous as well. I haven’t been to school since I was 11 years old.”

She looks at him in surprise, “You haven’t been to school since you were ten?! Jeez, everyday I learn something new about you. You were homeschooled?”

“Something like that.” he shrugs. If you could call being taught by some of the greatest Planeswalkers to roam the multiverse ‘homeschooling’, then sure, “This will be the first real class I’ve attended in a real school. I can only hope I don’t embarrass myself.”

“That makes two of us.” she mutters glancing back at UA before jokingly asking “Is it too late to change our minds?”

“I’m afraid so, Jirou.” he nods his head before straightening himself, “Well, in any case, we shouldn’t be late on our first day. Onwards, I suppose.”

They walked through the gates of UA once more but this time they were heading deeper into campus, through the halls with giant doors. Probably to accommodate for gigantic individuals, Izuku assumes.

As they near the door labelled 1-A, Izuku can’t help but feel somewhat excited. He had fond memories of Strixhaven, working with fellow students on research, exploring ruins for artefacts and whatnot. He was confident that the experience in UA would be pleasant if it was anything like Strixhaven, full of professional students that-

“Remove your feet from the desk immediately!” a familiar voice declares, “Such action dishonours our seniors who came to UA before us, as well as the craftsman of this desk!”

“Like I care about that you f*cking extra!” an even more familiar voice retorts.

It was Katsuki and the blue-haired teen from the exam. Once again he was reminded just how much the multiverse hates him.

“You good? You just stopped all of a sudden.” Jirou asks from behind him as suddenly the two in front of him, as well as the rest of the class, notice their presence.

And here he was, hoping for a normal first day.

“Deku…” the blonde growls as he glares at him.

“Kacchan.” he greets neutrally with a nod of his head. It appears he was still sour after their encounter some time ago.

***

“Deku…”

Izuku turns as spots the familiar blonde approaching him. He had been out for a short jog and didn’t expect to run into him.

“Ah, Kacchan. How are you doing? I’m in middle of jogging but you’re welcome to join-”

“I heard from my mom you got into UA.” he snarls, interrupting him, “How the hell did you do it?”

Izuku looks at him confused before shrugging, “Well I merely-”

“And not just that!” he interrupts him once again, “But you got a higher score than I did?!”

“...I merely did the same trials you did and scored enough points.” Izuku finishes his sentence before he can be interrupted again, “And technically you got more Villain Points than I did, you got 77 and I got 50. If it wasn’t for the 45 Rescue Points you would’ve scored 2nd place while I-”

“Stop looking down on me, you damn nerd!” Bakugou interrupts again and rushes at Izuku, slamming him against the walls of a nearby house.

It was an easily telegraphed move that he could have avoided in a number of ways, but for the sake of de-escalation Izuku takes it calmly as he was pressed against the wall with a hand grasping at the collar of his clothes.

“Kacchan…Bakugou…” he says slowly and calmly, “Let’s talk this out. What’s the issue here?”

“The issue?! The f*cking issue is that I don’t f*cking buy it!” Bakugou screams as he slams a fist next to Izuku’s head with a small explosion but it doesn't seem to faze the green haired boy, which angers Bakugou even more.

“You’ve been gone for years! Ten f*cking years! And now you come back somehow good enough to get into UA? Somehow you got more points than I did?! I call f*cking bullsh*t! You cheated somehow!”

So that was the source of the issue? He believed he cheated?

“Well if you believe so, you can bring that up with the faculty of UA.” Izuku calmly suggests, “I’m sure they’ll be able to provide ample evidence as to why I did not-”

“And there it is!” he snarls, “Acting all damn conceited, thinking you’re better.”

“...What?” Izuku asks, just plain dumbfounded, “I’m just trying to be diplomatic about this.”

“Shut up!” he yells as he punches Izuku in the stomach causing him to cough and wheeze, “Here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re going to UA and dropping out right now!”

Izuku looks at Bakugou right in the eye with increasing annoyance and frustration, “I let you have that one. Don’t try that again.”

He warns as he moves to pry Bakugou’s hand from his collar. Bakugou scoffs and goes for another blow but then faster than he could react, Izuku decks him across the face with a mana-infused punch causing him to crumple on the floor.

“Let us be clear on this, Bakugou.” Izuku says as he straightens his clothes, “I am not dropping out of UA for the foreseeable future. Maybe one day you will have your wish, when circ*mstances force me to withdraw, but as of now you’ll have to tolerate my presence. Are we clear on that?”

After an awkward pause, he doesn’t get a response so Izuku bends down and nudges him, “Did you hear me? I said- Oh, you’re unconscious. Apologies, I didn't mean to strike that hard. Let me just…”

He picks up the unconscious boy effortlessly before glancing around, “Now where do you live exactly?”

***

“You know those guys or something? They look pissed.” Jirou asks as the blonde and blue haired teen stares at Izuku.

“Yeah, I punched them both in the face.” Izuku whispers to her, “But the blue haired one was an accident, really.”

“Well, let's hope he believes that.” Jirou says as the blue haired boy approaches them. Standing upright and marching towards the two.

“Greetings, my name is Tenya Iida.” he says as he bows towards him, taking Izuku and Jirou by surprise.

“Er… Hello. My name is Izuku Midoriya.” he says as he bows back.

“Midoriya, isn’t he the guy who scored the top score?” one of the students with blonde hair and a black lightning bolt pattern, asks.

“Yeah, that dude’s manly as hell. Saved my butt during the exam too.” a familiar redhead answers the blonde.

Muttering broke out amongst the class as Bakugou’s glare somehow grew more intense but Iida ignored it all.

“Midoriya, you saw the true nature of the exam didn’t you?” he asks.

“I did what now?” Izuku asks before realising, “Wait, you meant the Rescue Points?”

“Yes, you realise it earlier than any of us. That is why you went back to save that girl, correct? As much as I hate to admit it, despite your attitude, you are the superior candidate.”

Izuku frowns at that, in fact he could say that he feels somewhat offended if someone would think of it that way. That he went to save people for a few extra points.

“No, I simply went back because it looked like she was in danger. There’s nothing complex about what.” he insists, “I only knew about the Rescue Points by the time I got my acceptance letter.”

“Truly?” Iida asks before bowing again, somehow even deeper this time, “Then I apologise for assuming so! You have the heart of a hero Midoriya, I truly apologise for assuming the worst of you after you struck me.”

“Yeah, I didn’t get to apologise for that did I?” he asks before doing so, “I’m sorry for that but you surprised me. I don’t do well with surprises.”

“Gah! Then I apologise once more!” he says bowing for a third time, his forehead all but touching the floor.

“C-can you stop?” Izuku asks, seriously concerned for the guy, “It’s not a problem, truly. We all make mistakes. Raise your head!”

“Speak for yourself.” Jirou says over his shoulder, “I kinda want to see if he can bow even lower.”

Before he can do anything, another familiar voice comes from behind them,

“Hey, it’s you! I recognise that curly hair anywhere.”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” he mutters before turning to find yet another familiar figure, two in fact. A girl with short brown hair and behind her was a bespectacled girl with flowing blonde hair.

“Did you punch them in the face too?” Jirou whispers to him.

“No, they’re the ones I saved in the exam, remember?” he whispers back before turning back to the two girls, “Yes, it’s me. Forgive me, but I didn’t really get to know your names unfortunately.”

“Oh, I’m Ochako Uraraka, and this is Melissa Shield.” She says excitedly as she pulls the blonde girl over who seemed to be staring at Izuku in surprise, “I ran into her in the entrance, and it turns out we were in the same class. And it’s the same for you as well? This has gotta be fate!”

Yeah, the blonde girl does look familiar, except her hair wasn’t in a ponytail like during the Entrance Exam. Sure enough, a quick sense of her mana revealed the same overwhelming presence. Across the multiverse you can mistake one thing for another, but there was no mistaking anything like that signature of mana broiling inside her body.

“Dude, is everything alright?” Jirou asks, snapping him out of his thoughts. It appeared that he had instinctively took a step back again, but he quickly recovers and bows to Melissa,

“It’s great to see you again, Shield. I’d like to apologise for forcing you to intervene and rescue me during the Entrance Exam. Had I not been so reckless I would not have been in that situation in the first place, and you would not have to injure yourself.”

Melissa immediately waves her hands in a panic, “What? No, no, I only got injured because I couldn’t regulate my Quirk.”

She speaks in fluent Japanese but has an accent that reminds Izuku of Ravnican. Jirou seems to notice that as well,

“Wait, that name doesn’t sound Japanese. You’re a Westerner?” she asks and Melissa nods.

“Yes, I’m American actually.” she confirms, “Well, technically I was born in America but I grew up on I-Island.”

“I-Island? You mean that floating island full of scientists and inventors?” Jirou asks in surprise. Izuku perks in curiosity as that sounded much like the plane of Kaladesh, the home plane for Chandra, which was similarly full of inventors.

“So a transfer student!” Iida says as he joins in on the conversation, “A pleasure to meet you Melissa Shield, I look forward to studying with you.”

Actually, they were socialising right now weren’t they? This was the perfect time to ask the questions he had on his mind about this girl’s Quirk.

“If you’re here to socialise, then get out.”

Everyone nearly jumped when a figure appeared behind the group at the entrance.

Jirou was one of the most surprised since she had enhanced hearing, but somehow she was unable to pick up on the man before he announced himself. As the class just stares in confusion, Izuku immediately puts himself in front of Jirou in case this stranger means any harm.

“Who are you?” he asks immediately, readying a number of spells to protect or to restrain the man despite him appearing as a non-threat.

“At least one of you got enough sense.” the man in a yellow sleeping bag grumbles as he sucks up a juice pouch in an instant before getting up. He had messy unkempt hair and dressed in black, loose fitting clothes with a strange scarf around his neck, “Name’s Shota Aizawa. I’ll be your homeroom teacher. Pleased to meet you.”

“Homeroom teacher?” Izuku mutters as he searches his memories. He does recall seeing that name in the schedule given to him by UA. Immediately he ceases any spell casting and relaxes as Aizawa addresses the rest of the class that was starting to quiet down.

“It took you all eight seconds to quiet down. Time’s a precious commodity in Pro Hero work, I expect better from all of you.”

Before anyone could respond to that he grabs something from within his sleeping bag and tosses it toward the closest person, being Izuku. He catches it before realising it was some sort of clothes.

“I want everyone in their gym uniforms now, we’re heading out to the ground.” Aizawa announces before he pulls out more clothes from his bag and throws them to each student, “You’re already wasting time dawdling like this, get to it.”

The students immediately start heading out to the changing rooms the moment they catch their gym uniforms but Izuku suddenly realises something.

“Wait, there’s twenty of us. How did you fit all these inside while sleeping in it?”

“You learn some tricks there and there.” Aizawa waves him off, “Now stop wasting time.”

***

“First day and we’re already thrown into class? Guess that’s UA for ya.” the spiky redhead says as they arrive in the locker room, “What do you think of that guy, Aizawa was it?”

“Hm?” Izuku looks at the boy before realising he was being addressed, “Well he appears stern and serious. Good qualities for an instructor. But he does look a bit…like a vagrant.”

“Midoriya! Comparing the faculty of UA like such would be a grave insult to them!” Iida cries out before coughing into his fist, “That said, he does look rather…unkempt.”

“By the way, my name's Eijirou Kirishima.” he says as he changes out of his school uniform, “It’s great seeing you again after the Entrance Exam.”

“Same to you. Glad to see that you made it.” Izuk responds as he takes off his blazer and shirt. Truth be told he all but forgot about Eijirou after the exam but the redhead doesn’t need to know that.

“Damn, those are some manly scars you got there!” Kirishima exclaims as most of the boys in the changing room turn to look at what he was talking about. Three jagged scars were seen on Izuku’s back and chest, like he was stabbed clean through. Not only that but there were a couple of other minor and older looking scars through his body including some that looked like his ribs were broken.

Izuku’s mood immediately soured as he put on the gym uniform quickly, “There’s nothing manly about them, Kirishima.”

“But it means you got through plenty of rough fights, right?” he asks, confused in Izuku's suddenly sour mood, “Aren’t you somewhat proud of them.”

“Not all fights are ‘manly’ as you call them.” he says grimly before hurriedly leaving.

***

“Gideon, how easy it is to play the protector when you think yourself untouchable. How wrong you are.”

The talon of Nicol Bolas punches through Gideon’s magical barrier like a knife through tissue paper as he screams in agony.

“Stop!” a young voice cried out, “Leave him alone!”

Sparks of lightning flew out, not even leaving so much as soot marks on the dragon’s scales as he scoffs.

“Again with this? If fire can't work, just throw lightning, right?” A single flick of his tail sends a twelve year old Izuku Midoriya flying, landing on his back but the shield that surrounds his body flickers on the verge of breaking. All around him, members of the Gatewatch lied in similarly defeated states.

“And this must be the child, Izuku. Last and most definitely least.” he snorts, “Already at the age where children think they’re invincible. Let this be a learning experience.”

Izuku barely brought his arms up in a pitiful attempt to shield himself before the tail slams on him again, shattering his ribcage as he blacks out from the pain.

***

“Midoriya, you alright man?” Jirou asks as they gather in the training grounds, “Your hearts racing.”

“I’m fine, Jirou.” he exhales, sounding exhausted. Jirou frowns, not buying it but relenting and letting it off for now.

“Good, everyone’s here at last.” Aizawa says with a clipboard under his arm, “No time to waste, let’s get started with the briefing first. All of you have done standard gym tests correct? Soft-ball throwing, standing long jump, 50-metre dash and whatnot, but without your Quirks.”

Not everyone, Izuku thinks. He definitely hasn’t been through any of that stuff. Unless morning PT counted, back when Gideon…

He shakes his head to rid the memories before they can assail him.

Aizawa carries on, “Our ever reliable Department of Education still insists on prohibiting Quirks when calculating the average of these records. Irrational if I say so myself.”

Izuku agrees on that. Since Quirks count as natural born abilities, it’ll definitely be more rational, as Aizawa described it, to calculate with Quirks as well. Knowing your true limits is an important thing if one wishes to improve themselves.

Suddenly Aizawa pulls out a softball and chucks it at Izuku who catches it.

“Midoriya, you got the top score didn’t you? How far could you throw in middle school.”

“I- Well…” Izuku stammers not having expected to be asked such a question, “I didn’t actually attend middle school. So I never did any of this before.”

He says somewhat embarrassed as some of his classmates look at him with a mixture of plain confusion and shock. Jirou, who already knew this, gives him a sympathetic look as Bakugou scoffs loudly.

Aizawa just sigh and waves it off, “Whatever. Get in that circle over there and use your Quirk to launch that ball as far as you can. Anything goes as long as you remain within the circle.”

Izuku obeys and walks within the circle, staring at the softball in his hands as he ponders his move before raising his hand with the palm pointing downwards, emanating a stream of colourless mana. Nicol Bolas had been right on one thing, it definitely had been a learning experience.

“What do you think he’s going to do?” Ochako whispers as she nudges Jirou who looks surprised at being addressed.

“Well, I don’t really know.” she shrugs. Honestly she doesn’t even know what his Quirk really is besides that it was very variable, “Maybe throw it with some telekinesis?”

Bakugou scoffs at that, “His sh*tty Quirk ain’t telekinesis. It’s teleporting.”

“What, that can’t be it.” Ochako says confused, “I’m pretty sure it was telekinesis. He used it to throw me at you, ain't that right Melissa?”

She asks the blonde girl who snaps out of her thoughts, “Well, yes. I do recall seeing that. But I also saw him throw lightning and move at super speeds.”

“Perhaps it’s a particularly flexible Quirk that allows him to do all these things?” Iida suggests before turning to Jirou, “You appear close to him, what do you think?”

Jirou, embarrassed at suddenly being the centre of attention, simply shrugs.

“I don’t know, his Quirk just does plenty of weird stuff. We’ll have to wait and see what he’s going to do.”

As she says that, Izuku finished with his preparations as he gathered enough mana to begin summoning an artefact. Everyone’s eyes begin widening at the sight, especially the tall girl with a black ponytail, as Izuku summons what appears to be a scaled-down flak cannon with a wider and shorter barrel that was barely within the circle he stood inside of.

With a flick of his hand the ball flew from his palm with a blue aura as it was loaded inside the cannon. Izuku spares a glance back and looks directly at Jirou,

“You might want to cover your ears for this.”

With that warning she hastily rolls up her ear jacks and clasps her arms over them in her best effort to muffle the incoming sound, backing up as far as she could. Many of the other classmates did the same as Izuku used his telekinesis to manipulate the strange cannon into aiming at just the right angle before engulfing his hands in flames and snapping his flaming fingers.

A loud roar erupts as the cannon fires its projectile leaving a blazing red trail, faster than most eyes could keep track of. Unfazed by this, Aizawa pulls out a measuring device that calculates how far it was before showing it to the rest of the class.

“It’s important to know our limits, that’s the first rational step you will all take to becoming Pro Heroes.”

20,000 metres.

“Holy sh*t!” the blonde student with the thunderbolt mark on his hair exclaimed.

“That was manly as hell!” Kirishima erupts into a cheer, “So we can use our Quirks however we want? Man, the hero course is really awesome!”

“...Awesome, you say?” Aizawa asks frostily as the atmosphere shifts, “Is that how you view it.”

“W-well, I mean…” he starts to say before Aizawa interrupts him.

“Do you expect this all to be fun and games?” he asks the crowd of students almost scathingly, “Then tell me, do you think natural disasters are fun too? Are villain attacks ecstatic? Do you expect to spend your time chatting with friends? Hanging out after classes at some fast food joint? Well let me break this illusion of yours right now. You aren’t normal students, studying for college to find some job in the civilian sector. You are here to study in the Heroics Course. For the next three years we will be working you to the bones, putting you through the wringer. You will learn how to go beyond your limits, the true meaning of our school’s motto; Plus Ultra. You aren’t here to play heroes, you are here to be heroes. I expect all of you to act as such. I will not waste any time if you think otherwise, am I clear?”

Izuku believes he’ll like this teacher. While he lacks a professional appearance it’s clear that he more than makes up for it. He stands to attention and gives a clear, “Yes, sir.”

The rest of the class mimics him with variable degrees of enthusiasm.

“Right, Midoriya, disassemble that cannon so the next person can get on with their test. Bakugou, you’re up next.”

Izuku nods and with a flick of his hands, returns the Mana Cannon he summoned to the Aether, disintegrating it into a shower of grey mist as he returns to the group.

“That was awesome!” Ochako exclaims, “How did you make a cannon?”

“I would actually like to know as well.” the tall girl with a black ponytail approaches them, “Your Quirk, is it some sort that allows the creation of objects?”

Izuku shrugs, “Not exactly, it definitely is one of my skills but I can do other things besides creating objects.”

Before he could continue, he reflexively reaches out and grabs one of Jirou’s earjacks before it could strike him,

“What did I- Ow!” he cries as Jirou used her other ear jack to hit him, “What was that for?”

“For not finding a quieter way to do that.” Jirou complains as she rubs her ears, “You should know how sensitive these are, jerk.”

Izuku winces, “Yes, that did seem inconsiderate of me. Do they still hurt?”

“What do you think, of course they do. They’re still ringing.”

“Here, let me help with that.” he says as he reaches out with glowing white hands and touches her ears, surprising everyone.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jirou protests with a blush but then feels the pain dull and the ringing fade.

“Just something to deal with the pain.” he says, “Is that better now?”

“Y-yeah, I guess so.” she answers meekly, still sporting a blush from how close Izuku was and how he was touching her ears. The worried look in his eyes didn’t help, the way he looked concerned for her. She hopes he can’t hear how fast her heart was beating.

“So telekinesis, creation and healing?” the black ponytail girl asked in surprise, “What exactly does your Quirk do?”

“It does things. Lots of things” he answers vaguely before he spots Bakugou preparing his throw. Then he instantly presses his palms against Jirou’s ears to block the incoming sound.

“Everyone, brace yourselves.” he quickly warns as they confusedly cover their ears.

“Wha-?” Jirou asks before Bakugou releases a large explosion from his palms, the ball launching with a smoky trail as it flies over the distance.

705.2 metres, the readings on Aizawa’s device announced. The ever present look of rage on Bakugou’s face seemed to intensify,

“That can’t be it! Give me another shot!” he demands to Aizawa, “I didn’t put my back into it!”

“You only get one chance. If you didn’t put your back into it, that’s your own fault.” Aizawa responded as he waved him off, “Now back in line.”

But Bakugou wasn’t giving up that easily, “This ain’t f*cking fair, I-!”

“Life isn’t fair. The most anyone ever gets is one shot and you wasted yours.” Aizawa cuts him off with a glare, “Now unless you want detention for disrupting the class, get back in line.”

Growling, he storms back to the crowd while glaring at Izuku all the while. The green haired Planeswalker didn’t pay him much mind as he released Jirou’s ears.

“Sorry about that, it happened fast so I didn’t have time to think.” he apologises to a blushing Jirou.

“I-it’s fine.” she stammers out as she pushes Izuku off her hurriedly, before trying to change the subject and hide her blush, “Hopefully that’s the last explosion today.”

The black ponytail girl then coughed into her fist, “Well, actually I plan to pull a similar move like Midoriya did for my part in the test. Just forewarning you.”

Jirou rolls her eyes, “Great. I’m probably getting tinnitus by the end of the week.”

But Izuku latches on to what the girl just said, “Wait, does that mean that-?”

“Yes.” she nods as she held out her hands and pink sparks emitted as she created a set of headphones, “My name is Momo Yaoyorozu, my Quirk is Creation. Like the name suggests, it allows me to create items. Here.”

She offers the item to Jirou, “In case there’s any more explosions. I take it your Quirk gives you enhanced hearing of sorts?”

“Great, thanks.” Jirou nods as she accepts the headphones gratefully.

“So you two have the same Quirks?” Ochako looks between Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, “Are you related or something?”

“I’m certain we are not.” they both say at the same time surprising each other, as Ochako chuckles.

“Yeah, you two even sound like rich kids.”

“No, he sounds more like an old man.” Jirou teases, “He texts like he’s writing a letter, signing every message.”

Ochako snickers at that, “Really?”

“Haha.” Izuku sarcastically laughs, “It’s simply more formal and polite that way. I can’t be the only one who does that.”

“He is right, such a format is definitely preferable.” Iida says, “I do the same as well.”

Izuku smiles vindicated but Jirou and Ochako just laugh even more, even Yaoyorozu seemed to be snickering at that.

“Yeah, laugh it up.” he rolls his eyes before turning to Yaoyorozu, “I’d like to know more about your abilities actually. Perhaps after these trials?”

Yaoyorozu nods, “And I’d like to know more about yours as well. I wish you all goodluck.”

*50-metre Dash*

“Don’t even think of beating me, Deku.” Bakugou growled as they stepped to the starting line, “You won’t be able to cheat your way through this test this time.”

“Whatever you say, Kacchan.” Izuku sighs as he gets into a sprinting position. It was probably beneficial if he just tunes out the yapping blonde as most of what comes out of his mouth were either threats or a stream of expletives.

A small golem emits a loud bang signalling the start and Bakugou propels himself forward. But before he was halfway there, a streak of red lightning sped past him with a thundering crackle as Izuku skids to a halt a few metres ahead of the finishing line.

Bakugou: 4.13 seconds

Izuku Midoriya: 1.05 seconds

“Superspeed as well?” one of the students, a boy with strange elbows, exclaim, “Now that’s kinda unfair. What else can he do?”

“Hey, Iida, do you think you’re that fast?” Ochako nudges the tall boy with her elbow.

“I believe I could match that speed if I have time to shift into third gear.” Iida says. Izuku was very fast, possibly more so than his elder brother, but if they were able to use Recipro Burst then he has no doubt they could outspeed him. From what he could recall in the Entrance Exam, Midoriya appeared to be only able to travel with his speed in short bursts.

*Grip Strength*

Izuku eyes the strange device in his grip. So apparently he just has to grab it as hard as possible and it’ll measure his strength output? He has no clever tricks for this so he’ll have to rely on sole brute strength in this case.

He mutters as he casts a spell, dragging his free hand across the arm holding the device. Red runes and marks appeared as he felt his strength increase. Not satisfied with that he used his telekinesis in conjecture to maximise it.

He looks down at the result of 798 kg. Nodding at the satisfactory results he takes a look around to see how everyone else was doing. Yaoyorozu appeared to have made a vice to do the exercise in her stead, which Aizawa allowed. Ochako and Iida didn’t have appropriate Quirks that enhanced their results and Jirou was using her earjacks along with her hand for her test.

One of the strongest seems to be a boy with mutant Quirk, wearing a cloth to cover his lower half of his face. He seemed to have multiple arms that were gripping the device at the same time to grant a result of 540kg.

Mutant Quirks. They weren’t odd to see as he had befriended creatures of different species with wilder appearances. But here they were not different species really, they were all humans. And what's more some Mutant Quirks appear to mimic modern devices like how Iida’s Quirk mimicked engines of cars, and Jirou’s earjacks. How does one naturally evolve a biology that resembles artificially made devices?

“Damn it…”

He looks over his shoulders to see Melissa with her hand glowing with power as she grips the device. He actually braced himself for a powerful blast of power to emit from her hand but to his surprise it fades quickly as the results show 135kg. It was higher than average but compared to the display of power she showed in the Entrance Exam, it was disappointing.

It was the same with previous results, decent but not as good as they could be. He knew she could do better but for some reason she was holding herself back. Was it because she would risk harming herself if she used too much? But surely this could not be her upper limit if she spent her whole life with this Quirk.

It was quite a paradox. Strong but weak. Old but new. The mana that dwells within her felt ancient, not millennia long, but definitely older than one would think. It did not fit the image of a struggling teenager he now sees.

“You got a very good taste.” a voice interrupts his thoughts as he spins around to see the blonde with a lightning bolt hair pattern looking over his shoulder, “Looks a little bookish for my taste but damn she has curves in the right places.”

“Pardon?” he asks surprised before realising what the boy was implying and cringes, “For your information, I am not eying her up. I am merely curious about her capabilities.”

“Really?” the boy asks in disbelief, “She’s a pretty hot foreign student and you’re not interested in that?”

Izuku sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “No. I admit she’s aesthetically pleasing but I’m only observing her for purely an academic interest. Now is there anything I can help you with, or do you simply wish to discuss how attracted you are to the female form?”

“...Jeez, that actually makes me sound like a creep. Wait, am I one?” he mutters to himself before continuing, “Actually yeah, I wanted to ask you about that whole lightning dash thing you did. How does that work?”

“Hm? Well it’s a sp- I mean, move, called Expedite. It basically allows me to move at high speeds in short bursts. Why do you ask?”

“Well, it has things to do with my Quirk.” he shows a hand sparking with yellow electricity, “Hard to do anything physically impressive when all you can do is throw lightning around. Wanted to know if you got any tips to share with a fellow electric Quirk user.”

Izuku instantly brightens up. Now this was something he enjoys, exchanging theories and practical application of magic, or in this case Quirks.

“Well, what exactly does your Quirk do?” he asks as he pulls out his trusty leather-bound journal from apparently nowhere. The boy looks stunned at that before continuing,

“Well my Quirk’s called Electrification. Basically it lets me generate electricity but I can’t really control or direct it.”

“Wait a minute.” Izuku stops him incredulously, “You channel electricity through your body? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Well, I guess so.” he shrugs, “My body’s pretty used to it but whenever I use too much my brain gets friends and I kinda short-circuit myself.”

Izuku’s jaw slightly drops, “So you basically give yourself brain damage everytime you go overboard?”

“I mean, not really.” he shrugs, “First time I went overboard my parents took me to the doctors, they said it doesn’t really do any permanent damage to my brain so I guess I’m fine.”

“That’s very fortunate.” Izuku says with relief, “But why not just channel it out of your body?”

To demonstrate he holds out his hand and creates a small orb crackling with red lightning. Comparing the two, the boy’s yellow lightning seemed to course through his hand like a glove while Izuku’s lightning gathered in a controlled but chaotic orb.

“Jeez, don’t think I can do that.” Kaminari says disappointedly, “Sorry, guess our Quirks aren’t as similar as I thought.”

“Don’t apologise, there’s nothing wrong with learning.” Izuku assures as he dissipates the orb, “But anyways, you came for advice, I’m not sure how since we use different methods to channel our power. But if you’re channelling electricity through your body, perhaps you can use them to stimulate your muscles. They won’t exactly give superhuman strength but it should provide some little improvements.”

“Really?” he asks surprised as he ponders that, “That’s a thing? But my body’s kinda used to electric shocks so will that even work?”

“Perhaps not.” Izuku shrugs, “But if you wish I can assist with research of your abilities. Open new avenues and ways to utilise your Quirk.”

“For real?” he asks delightedly, “Yeah, that’d be a great help if you really don’t mind.”

“Yeah, I’m always up for learning new things.”

“Yeah I knew you were a cool guy the moment I laid eyes on you.” the boy says as he wraps an arm around Izuku’s shoulder. Sure the boy was initially annoying but he can respect the genuine desire to improve himself, “But there’s also another thing you can help with.”

“Hm?”

The boy subtly nudges towards Melissa, “You seem to know her. Mind if you introduce me?”

Izuku rolls his eyes at that but doesn’t say no, “I’d need a name first unless you’d like me to introduce you as a stranger.”

“Denki Kaminari.” he eagerly introduces as he offers his free hand to which Izuku shook.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

***

The rest of the trials were relatively uneventful. For the standing long jump he covered himself in blue mana that launched him through the sky, hovering for a few seconds before falling back down.

For the endurance tests like the distance run, sit ups, seated toe-touch and repeated side steps, there weren't really any spells that could help him with that so he performed it all using his base abilities. It wasn’t that bad, people like Iida had higher stamina than him but he was sure he got above average score for them.

Honestly watching Yaoyorozu create a myriad of items to make those exercises easier made it feel unfair. But who was he to judge? He literally created a cannon to launch the softball. So did she actually, except it was a smaller handheld cannon with not as great of a range. Perhaps her creation abilities were limited in some way?

“Time for your results.” Aizawa announces as a small golem on threads projected a display of blue light, “These are the total aggregate of your results, if we compare them individually we’ll be here until graduation.”

Izuku looked up and was pleasantly surprised to find himself in first place. Besides him Momo looked somewhat disappointed when she found she was second place but wasn’t really that bothered by it. Third place belonged to a boy named Shoto Todoroki, which Izuku realises was the cryomancer boy whose head looks split in half between white and red, and fourth place was Katsuki Bakugou, with Tenya Iida taking fifth place.

Besides that he skims through the results for other familiar faces. Ochako got twelfth place and looked relieved that it wasn’t any lower, with Melissa getting sixth but judging from her face she was disappointed with her position.

He looked at the very end and saw Kaminari and Jirou at 18th and 19th respectively. Both look equally crestfallen with their results. The one at 20th was someone called Toru Hagurake but he doesn’t know who that was.

“This…what the f*ck is this?”

Izuku turns to see Bakugou shuddering at the sight of the scores. If he had to guess it appears that Bakugou wasn’t taking the fact he scored fourth place instead of first very well.

“What are you talking about, bro?” Kirishima asks, “You got fourth place, that’s manly as hell! You should be proud.”

But he pays the spiky redhead no heed as his head snaps towards the source of his rage, towards Izuku.

He raises a hand warningly, “Bakugou…let’s not-”

But before he could finish the blonde launches towards him with his explosion,

“You f*cking cheater!! You did something, didn't you?!”

“Again with this?” Izuku groans as he readies a blast of blue mana to counteract Bakugou’s Quirk when suddenly he feels a pulse, and the roar of explosions silenced at the same time the blue mana he was gathering scattered like dust in the wind.

“What the-?” Bakugou looks at his hand confused before a white scarf launches out and wraps around him.

“Attacking a classmate isn’t very heroic, Bakugou.” Aizawa says sternly, his hair floating as red pupils stare at them, “I don’t care what this is about, but Midoriya didn’t cheat. He used his Quirk just like all of you. So shut it and stay in line.”

“You…you can erase Quirks?” Izuku mutters surprised. Seeing as how his own spell was countered at the same time as Bakugou’s explosions, it was a powerful one. He tries to gather some mana to test how strong it was but it slipped through his grasp like flour through a sieve. A very powerful ability for someone so unassuming. Goes to show that looks aren’t everything.

Aizawa cancels it and rubs his eyes, “Damn brats, gonna give me a dry eye from all this.

He mutters and shuts off the display, “If that’s all we're going to finish this up. Melissa Shield and Shoto Todorki. Step forward please.”

Both glance at each other confused but do so, stepping towards Aizawa as he stares at them both.

“Out of everyone in this class, you two performed the worst. If I had permission from the Principal, I would’ve expelled you two without hesitation.” he bluntly informs stunning the two, even the stoic looking Todoroki widened his eyes slightly at that and Melissa looks like she’s panicking.

“B-but why?” she asks befuddled, “He scored third place and I got sixth! Why is that a failure?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?” Aizawa asks, annoyed as he facepalms, “It’s very simple. I have no use for students who aren’t bothering to give their all.” he says pointing at Todoroki before pointing at Melissa, “And neither do I have use for students that are so strong she’s useless, or too weak to be of any use.”

“I-” she tried to say but was cut off.

“There are no excuses in this line of work. You either succeed or you don’t.” he growls, “If you don’t push yourselves you’ll never save anyone. What will you say to the families of someone you failed to save? That the reason they have to attend a funeral is because you couldn’t even use your full power to save them?”

Todoroki just looks at Aizawa without emotion but judging from how he was tightening his hand into a fist, his words had an effect on him. With Melissa it was easier to tell as she looked down in shame.

“And that goes for the rest of you.” he points at the rest of the students who most froze in shock, “I’m disappointed in the performance of a lot of you. In my opinion the Entrance Exam doesn’t do a good enough job to weed out the best and if I had my way more than half of you would be out by the end of the day. But I can’t, so I’ll work with what I have for now. You all have a long way to go before I can call you Hero Course students, let alone Pro Heroes.”

The class was silent as they let his words sink in. If Izuku had to describe it all in a few words, it was cold logic. But there was a slight bias in it as well. Like a past experience was influencing his thoughts and actions.

Aizawa sighs and waves them off, “You’re all dismissed. Head back to your classroom, the rest of the period’s free.”

He walks off without so much as a goodbye, disappearing around a corner of the school.

***

“A bit cruel, don’t you think so?” A familiar loud voice asks as Aizawa sighs.

“All Might.” he greets gruffly, “What are you doing here?”

“Why I’m simply taking a look at my future students of course. As a teacher it should be my duty to get to know the capabilities of them, isn’t it? That girl, Melissa Shield, she’s got potential don’t you think?”

“Just Shield?” Aizawa raises a brow as All Might stammers a response, “A little early to start picking favourites isn’t it? But if you want the test results just now, I’ll send them later then.”

He moves to walk away before All Might stops him, “Come on, Aizawa. Don’t you think you were being a bit too harsh on them? They’re just children.”

“Complaining about my teaching methods?” Aizawa rolls his eyes, “It’s exactly because they’re children they need this. They shouldn’t be caring about fame or money or whatever that comes with being a Pro Hero. They shouldn’t think of the job as fun or exciting. The sooner their delusions are broken, the more effective heroes they will be. Everyone should know that it’s not fun and games.”

Aizawa says eying the injured spot All Might was hiding. The large hero sighs as his wide smile drops slightly,

“Yes, that is true. But it doesn’t change the fact they’re still children. They have three years before they hit the roads as true blooded Pro Heroes. Let them have fun while they still can. You don’t want your students to graduate hating you, do you?”

“Just as I thought. From our teaching philosophies alone, we won’t be getting along.” Aizawa sighs as he walks off, “Whether they hate me or not. As long as they’re alive to do so, I might sleep a little bit easier.”

***

“So much for a fun first day, am I right?” a pink skinned girl asks as they return to their classrooms in their school uniforms, “Who would’ve known our homeroom teacher would’ve been such a sour guy. That guy looks like he saw someone kicked his dog in front of him or something.”

“You got that right.” Kirishima agrees, “And what was that all about how we’re not even Hero Course students yet? We all passed the Entrance Exam didn’t we?”

“I think he’s not being literal when he says that.” Izuku pipes in, “It likely means he doesn’t respect or recognise any of us yet, and will not until we prove ourselves.”

“Yeah, I get that. I also get we're still kids and all but did he have to be such a dick about it?” Kirishima complains.

“Language, Kirishima!” Iida admonishes as he chops his arms in his direction, “We should not disrespect our teacher’s style of teaching, it is unbecoming of us as students. Let us instead sit in silence and wait for our next teacher.”

The pink skinned girl blew a raspberry at that, “Boooring. We got like 25 minutes before the next class! Let’s all get to know each other or something. We’re gonna be spending the next three years together after all.”

“That…is actually a wonderful use of our time.” Iida admits surprised by the good idea, “Very well, let us organise and begin from an alpha-”

“I’ll go first.” she interrupts as she vaults over her desk and onto the front of the classroom in a display of acrobatics, “Name’s Mina Ashido, everybody! Glad to meetcha, my Quirk’s called Acid and my hobbies are dancing and partying. Favourite foods are natto and okra. Hope to get along with you all.”

The rest continue at a somewhat random pace as Izuku sighs and leans back against his seat. As far as first days go, it was definitely not like Strixhaven. Not even an orientation or anything. But he can’t argue with his homeroom teacher’s desire for results first and foremost. He can respect that.

The students were also another thing. Sure his fellow students in Lorehold were older and a bit more mature. Perhaps it was unfair to judge it by comparing it to Lorehold as this was high school, something he had never attended before. He wonders if feeling like an alien in this class was normal. They talk about how exciting being heroes would be, being unable to wait for training and fighting. It feels like he was griping, but he feels like that was a naive way of looking at things. Was this how Aizawa felt too?

He wonders if they’ll think the same after facing a beast such as Nicol Bolas. Or facing the Phyrexians head on.

His attention shifts to the front when it is Melissa’s turn to introduce herself.

“Hello, as some of you might know, my name is Melissa Shield. I’m a transfer student from I-Island and my Quirk is called Superpower. And actually I’ll be attending a sort of hybrid course for the duration of my stay. Half the week I’ll spend the Support Course and the other in the Hero Course.”

He quickly raises a hand not wanting to waste this opportunity to finally have some questions answered, “Actually I have a question on your Quirk. You displayed significant amounts of power during the Entrance Exam, and yet I failed to notice any similar display in the most recent Quirk Apprehension Test.”

“Yeah, he’s right.” Ochako nods her head, “You punched the head of that Zero Pointer!”

“That was her?”

“Really? She doesn’t look that strong.”

There were murmurs around the class as most who weren’t there to see it was impressed by such a feat, causing Melissa to blush.

“W-well the thing is, my Quirk’s a bit too strong for my body. So whenever I go beyond my limit my bones get damaged.” she explains rubbing her arm, “But I’m getting a hang of it. I can use 5% of my power more or less reliably now.”

“That was just 5%?” Kaminari whistles, “Damn, I’d hate to get hit by 100%.”

“Yeah, you would. It’s what I used against the Zero Pointer.”

“But why do you get injured?” Izuku asks as he notes it down in his journal, “From what I hear, bodies are born to be resistant against the Quirk. Wouldn’t your body be resistant to getting damaged?”

Now Melissa seems nervous and reluctant to answer, “Oh, that…The thing is…I only got my Quirk a few days before the Entrance Exam. Before that I was misdiagnosed as Quirkless. So yeah, that’s why.”

The entire class went silent at that, in awe of what they just heard.

“So you passed the Entrance Exam with a Quirk you only got some time ago?” Ochako asks, “That’s so cool Melissa!”

“Indeed!” Iida agreed, “Now I understand why you were wearing Support Items during the Entrance Exam, you were still adjusting to your Quirk.”

“That is very admirable.” Momo nods in respect.

“Bitch just got lucky.” Bakugou mutters under his breath but no one pays him and heed.

Everyone else seemed to be impressed by that feat as Melissa smiles bashfully from the praise. But Izuku jots it down and can't help but find discrepancies in her story.

“Wait, I-Island’s full of scientists and inventors is that right?” he looks around for confirmation and Yaoyorozu nods.

“Yes, it’s a mobile artificial island constructed to house some of the world’s greatest minds and keep their inventions and families safe from harm or exploitation.” she explains.

“So how did you get misdiagnosed there? Wouldn’t their medical technology be very advanced?”

“Well they say I’m just a very late bloomer.” she quickly answers. Too quickly, as if rehearsed.

“And then a few days after you got your Quirk you decide to go overseas and study in Japan?” he asks confused, “Is there no Hero Course in I-Island? It seems odd to travel a large distance when there are closer options”

“Well no actually. And UA is actually one of the few schools in the world that has a hybrid course between Support and Hero Course.” she explained quickly again, “Besides I have been wanting to become a Hero ever since I was a kid. But when I was diagnosed Quirkless I decided it would be better for me to follow my dad’s footsteps and become a Support Engineer. But once I found I had a Quirk, I decided to take my chance.”

There it was again. Quick and clean answer that felt rehearsed. It made some sort of sense but it didn’t really alleviate his doubts.

“And how did your Quirk get that strong in a few days?” He asks once more, “That much power doesn’t come from nowhere. You don’t go from zero to a hundred in a few days, do you?”

You don’t get that much power in one day unless there’s some sort of source. Like Chandra drawing mana directly from all the leylines of Zendikar to wipe out the Eldrazi. Or a multitude of other examples. To build up that much power takes years of accumulation, not an instant or something.

“Well…I guess Quirks are weird like that?” she shrugs but there was a nervous hitch in her voice this time, “A lot of Quirks disobey laws of physics regularly.”

“...That is in no way a satisfactory answer.” he deadpans.

“Well how about you then?” Melissa asks, turning the question back to him, “Can you explain how your Quirk works then?”

“Me?” Izuku asks. Suddenly the thought of speaking in front of the class terrifies him. There was a reason he was never the public speaker of Gatewatch, “Surely there’s someone else to go first, I can wait last.”

“Just get it over with.” Jirou says, “If I have to do that, so do you.”

“Wait, you already went?” Izuku asks, confused. Did he really spaced out that long?

Unfortunately that was possibly the wrong thing to say as Jirou’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, weren’t you paying attention?” she asks, crossing her arms, “You were really attentive during Shield’s turn.”

“Er…well…” he stammers. There didn’t appear to be any good answers to give her, was there?

“I’m sorry?” he tries but she just pouts in response, “It’s nothing really, I just space out a lot.”

“Oh but you were asking so many questions when Shield’s turn came.” she rolls her eyes.

“...Will free lunch at a venue of your choosing earn your forgiveness?” he asks hopefully.

She hums in thought, tapping her fingers on her arm, “It’ll be a start. And I have eyes on some CDs actually.”

“Your wish is my command.” he says with relief. She was smiling when she said that so it was probably a good thing.

“Alright, alright, enough flirting.” Mina cuts in, “You can kiss and make up with your girlfriend later, it’s your turn!”

“She is/He’s not my girl/boyfriend!” they both exclaim at the same time both sporting blushes at their cheeks.

“Ooh.” Mina looks between the two curiously and entertained before realising the time left, “And we only got a couple minutes left until our next class. Hop to it!”

“Well…I guess I have no choice.” he mumbles as he took Melissa’s place in front of the class before waving awkwardly, “Uh, hello, my name’s Izuku Midoriya. My favourite food is katsudon and my hobbies include research, training and meditating. But I’m sure you all probably have a lot more questions about my Quirk.”

“Yeah, what is it exactly?” Kaminari asks, “Like we saw super speed and strength and you even made a cannon like Yaoyorozu.”

He sighs, that was to be expected. But there was no going back, and he can’t risk getting caught lying so his best bet was to be as honest as possible.

“Well, my Quirk is something I took to calling Three Colours. Technically four but these three are the primary ones. Red, blue, and white. They all have different functions. Red is what I go for when I want to deal damage directly and quickly with elements such as fire, ice, or lightning.”

He demonstrates by showing the three elements, emitting sparks, then flames and coating his hand in a layer of ice before shattering it. This seems to catch the attention of Todoroki who was suddenly paying deeper attention,

“Or I can even enhance the physical abilities of myself or others.” he says as red runes covered his other hand which he then used to easily lift the teacher’s desk over his head before setting it down, “As for blue, it’s a little more varied and less physical.”

He coats his arms in blue, “If red is my offence, then blue is my support. I use it for information gathering, telekinesis, slowing down enemies or even disabling Quirks.”

“Wait a minute, you can do that?” Kirishima asks, “Like how Aizawa did?”

Izuku shook his head, “No, from what I saw he turns it off before you can use it. Mine is a bit more… It’ll be easier to demonstrate. Can I volunteer? Preferably an Emitter Quirk or sorts?”

“Oui, I would like to offer myself up for that.” a blonde boy with a strange accent and belt says as he got up, “My Quirk is Naval Laser which allows me to shoot a laser. Would that suffice?”

Izuku nods, it was a bit weird for a location but who was he to judge?

“Yeah, step right there will you?”

“Midoriya, this seems highly irresponsible.” Iida protests, “What if you get injured?”

“I’ll be fine.” he assures as he readies a counterspell. Hopefully it works like it did with Eri or it would be very embarrassing.

After the strange blonde strikes an even stranger pose and fired off a laser, Izuku blasts it with the counterspell, neutralising it midair with a blue wave.

“As you can see, the blast intercepts the Quirk and erases it.” he explains as the laser blonde went back to his seat and sat down, “I don’t really prevent it from being used in the first place, I just counter them.”

“It’s fascinating. This gives you a lot of options during combat.” Yaoyorozu remarks, “And what did you mean by information gathering?”

“Well primarily I can use that for scrying or mind reading.”

“You can read minds?” half the class ask in shock as he rushes to calm them down,

“Yes but it’s difficult. I’d first have to be in constant contact with the individual.” he says, “And it’s only reliable for recent memories such as days ago or even weeks.”

“Jeez, it’s like you’re a broken video game character.” Kaminari complains, “And we’re only halfway done?”

“No, next up is white. It’s the defensive option out of the three.” he demonstrates by coating himself in a white aura, “It enables me to protect myself from harm by using shields. Or as some of you have seen, even heal if harmed.”

“So it’s a lot like my Hardening Quirk. How strong is it?” Kirishima asks curiously.

“Very strong. You’re welcome to test it out.” Izuku offers before someone immediately throws a book at him that bounces off his shields, “Hey!”

“What? You f*cking asked for it.” Bakugou growls as Izuku sighs before returning to his presentation.

“But how about your creation? Which colour is it?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“Short answer? None. It’s colourless.” he says as he gathers the colourless mana in his hand to form a small orb of grey mist, “And technically I’m not creating a completely new object. I am simply creating a copy of it, based on my own memories and knowledge.”

“My Quirk requires me to have knowledge of the item as well. I have to memorise the chemical composition and structure of said item. Is that similar for you as well?”

“Correct but not necessarily. Let’s imagine a scenario where I create a sword. If I do so by just imagining a sword I will get one but it’ll be terribly fragile and break before it can even cut something.”

To demonstrate he created a bronze sword and slashed it against his hand despite the cries of shock from the class. It shattered like glass against a brick wall and they sigh in relief.

“But if I do what you suggest? Focus on its composition and structure? Focus on what makes a sword a sword? Then I’ll get a battle ready blade fit for cutting down enemies.”

With that done he throws the ruined hilt away, making it vanish into grey mist.

“Even then it’s not a true sword. Just a copy of one, even if well made. But even then-”

“But there is no rule that says an imitation cannot defeat the original?” Kamanari quickly and excitedly throws in and Izuku nods.

“Yes, that’s a way of looking at it.” He agrees as he hears someone muttering about how he stole that quote from some anime. Whatever that was.

“I hope that satisfies you all. And I thank you for listening.” Izuku finishes with a bow.

“Damn, that’s such an awesome Quirk!” Kirishima says, “You’re definitely Pro Hero material with that.”

“Yeah…almost like you have four Quirks instead of one.” Melissa says with a tone he can’t place.

“Damn you hit the genetic jackpot with that.” Kaminari moans, “And all I got was some electric Quirk that fries my own brain if I use it too much.”

“It’s not that impressive, really.” he says honestly. Compared to the mages and Planeswalkers he’s met, some on truly monstrous levels, he was quite middle-tier, “I only got this strong because I had a lot of help. It took me a lot of training from some of the strongest people I know to get this far, and I’m still miles away from getting on their level. We’re all here to get stronger right? I still have miles to go before I can really call myself a hero.”

There was some polite clapping after that as he returned to his seat. Honestly, public speaking wasn’t as bad as he thought. Then again he had been mostly focusing on familiar faces throughout his presentation. Like Kaminari, Ochako, Iida, Jirou…

Jirou…she seemed pretty impressed didn’t she? Then again most of the class was, why was he focusing on her?

He shakes his head as he thinks about his first day so far. It was… good, to be honest. It was weird at times and he may disagree with some of his classmate’s viewpoints but it wasn’t necessarily bad. They were good people, and he thinks they’ll be fun to hang around. Certainly better than his Lorehold days.

Those were spent burying himself in work, searching for artefacts or scrolls that can even give him a hint on how to get back home. Every spare second he had was devoted to research. And honestly, he wished he had gotten to know some of his classmates a little better. Get to know them more than just their names that he could barely remember. One more regret he supposes.

Looking around at the classroom, where his classmates were already talking with each other and forming friend groups, he can’t help but wonder if it could be different this time? He knows it’s all temporary, but who knows? He could experience what its like to have friends his age for once.

Chapter 8: Chapter 7: Battle Trials

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

Classes were not much different from Strixhaven, he supposed. Across the multiverse, one thing that remains mostly the same is how schools work. There is always a timetable where you complete a certain amount of classes a day, with a break time right in the middle for lunch. And it always has a lecturer in front of the class explaining and asking questions. A multiversal constant, one can call it.

It was the second day of his time in UA, and he had to say that the familiarity was comforting. It was actually enjoyable to be in a class again, learning things. And his favourite lesson so far has got to be Modern Hero Art History.

Their lecturer was a woman called Nemuri Kayama, also known as Midnight. Her dress attire was a bit… unprofessional. The skintight suit that left little to imagination made him uncomfortable but had the opposite effect on quite a few of his fellow male students.

But he can’t deny she was enthusiastic about her teachings. The lesson primarily focused on public perception of Pro Heroes, how costumes and behaviour of them changed and evolved through the ages from the Age of Vigilantes to the modern Golden Age of Heroes. How laws and regulations evolved, and what events shaped them.

History had been one of his favourite subjects in Lorehold college so he enjoyed her lessons very much, asking questions often about things he didn’t understand. One of the events that was associated with the reason why Quirk Laws were so harsh was the Monaco Incident.

Events were still unclear and debated to this day, but it was commonly believed that some sort of Quirk went wild that wiped the entire city off the map that to this day remains unpopulated. Strange mist built up and remained over the ruined city that left it impossible to see through as it disrupted any technology nearby, and any living being sent in would go missing and presumed dead from exposure to whatever was inside what is now labelled the ‘Monaco Dead Zone’.

It was a terrifying event that scarred most of the continent of Europe to this day which houses some of the strictest laws of Quirk regulation in the world, leading to fewer Pro Heroes on average compared to other countries.

“This is the best school ever.” Kaminari says to Izuku, who was reading the history textbook and jotting down notes. They were in-between classes right now and waiting for the next one, “Did you see Midnight? And she’s allowed to teach in that costume? Aw man, why can’t all our teachers be hot babes like her? I’m sure we could focus more if that happens.”

“Really?” Izuku asks sceptically, as he shuts the textbook, “Tell me, what date was it when the Rhode Island New State Statute legalised?”

“Easy.” Kaminari claims, before giving the right answer which surprises Izuku.

“I stand corrected.” Izuku admits, “Perhaps you will benefit from such a change, but still I think she should be dressed appropriately.”

“Really? This again- AH!” he shouts in pain, as Jirou stabs an ear jack at Kaminari’s head.

“You should quit perving on our teacher, that’s what you should do.” she admonishes.

“Just enjoying the view. If she’s gonna dress like that and flaunt, who can blame me for-” Jirou raises both ear jacks again as Kaminari raises his hands in surrender, “Okay, okay! I’ll stop!”

“Good.” she huffs before turning to Izuku, “So I guess you love history, don’t you?”

“Yes, it’s a fascinating topic.” he nods, “Studying the past helps us understand how they affect modern lives within this Hero Society. It’s interesting how choices made decades ago can have profound effects. Take a look at the Meta Liberation Army, for example. Because of their attempted coup, instead of garnering support for Quirks to be freely used, both the government and public doubled down on restrictions. Did they know this would happen when they made their choice? How different would it be if such events never occurred, how different would society be? And if you look at-”

He rambles enthusiastically before Jirou attempts to stab him with her jacks to snap him out of it, but he grabs it midair.

“Nice try.” he smiles before releasing, “But point taken.”

“Sorry but we all know you would’ve spent the entire day rambling if you were allowed to continue.” Jirou says as she withdraws her earjacks, “I mean, I get enthusiastic about stuff, but this takes enthusiasm to a whole new level.”

“Yes, yes, you made your point.” Izuku says with a sigh, “Old habits die hard, unfortunately.”

Two days in and he’s already made friends with mainly these two. On the other side of the class was what Kaminari had begun calling the ‘Shield Squad’ consisting of Melissa Shield, Ochako Uraraka and Tenya Iida. He respects Iida for his serious demeanour but he was sure even the strictest lawmage would get tired of him quickly. Conversations with Uraraka were polite and friendly but didn't lead anywhere, and while he did try to remain friendly with Melissa she kept giving him odd looks.

Perhaps it was because he’s constantly asking questions about her Quirk? Both Kaminari and Jirou unanimously agreed that could be the case.

“I’m just saying, her Quirk feels weird.” he defends himself, “Power always comes from somewhere. Kaminari, your body evolved to generate higher amounts of electric energy than a normal human but it wasn’t this strong when you were born right?”

“Well no.” Kaminari admits, “When I first got it, I was barely on a joy buzzer’s level. And before I started training for UA, which was about a few years ago, I was way weaker without training. About a quarter million volts before I could short circuit but now I can do a million before shorting out.”

“Exactly.” Izuku points out, “Now compare that with the power needed to destroy the Zero Pointer. Her Quirk awoken a week ago and in that time it developed that much power, that quickly? It would mean that if it were to continue she may have enough to wreck a city by time she graduates. But the strange thing is that I can’t see it growing.”

“Say what now?” Jirou asks, confused as Izuku taps his eyes.

“It’s hard to describe, but one of my skills allows me to sense the amount of power in people. If her Quirk grows that quick, then she theoretically should have doubled in time between now and the Entrance Exam. But it remains the same, like her Quirk instantly grew to its peak already within a week.” he describes, “Logically, that doesn’t add up.”

“That seems like a real invasion of privacy.” Jirou says, pointing her ear jacks at him threateningly, “I think you’re just overreacting, Quirks are just weird like that. No reason to wreck your brain thinking otherwise.”

“Yeah, it’s making you sound like a conspiracy theorist.” Kaminari agrees, “Not everything’s some grand mystery. sh*t just happens. She’s just born with some crazy Quirk, that's all.”

“I didn’t say everything’s a grand mystery, just her Quirk.” he grumbles insistently but relents, “But very well, it’s clear I cannot convince you otherwise. But mark my words, there’s something off about her Quirk.”

He turns around and glances at her. Melissa Shield, the daughter of David Shield whom the world considers to be one of the greatest scientists who had a Quirk that affects his fingers, which was unrelated to the strength enhancement she has. Not even her deceased mother had a similar Quirk to her. He had found that much with a quick search in this thing called the ‘Google search engine’. And according to his research, having a Quirk that deviates that much was a rarity already, having one on her level had the rarity almost cubed. He cannot simply excuse it under “Quirks are just weird”.

It wasn’t mainly out of curiosity for his investigation. Quirks and magic as he knows are very much intertwined. He can replicate Kaminari’s Quirk with a few spark spells, and so on. Could he somehow replicate the power that Melissa has? The images of that power turned against the Phyrexians were enticing. How effective would such power be against Sheoldred and the other Praetors of the New Phyrexians? How effective would it be if taught to a number of other Planeswalkers, used in unison?

He grabs another earjack before it could pierce him,

“You’re muttering again. Was that in English?” she asks, “Didn’t know you were fluent.”

One thing he learnt about Jirou was that her Quirk was strong enough to hear even the slightest whisper, so he’s made it a habit to think in Common Ravnican in case he accidentally mutters, which was quite similar to how English sounded. Perhaps he’ll have to switch it up with another language soon just in case they learn enough from the English lessons to understand him?

“Yeah, I picked it up a while back.” he nods, “To me languages are pretty to learn so I have no trouble picking them up.”

“Really? Can you teach me a few phrases?” Kaminari asks excitedly.

“I didn’t know you had an interest in languages.” Izuku admits to being impressed.

“Oh no, it’s just that Shield’s American.” he subtly gestures to her, “Just thought that maybe learning it could impress her and- Damn it!”

“Down boy.” Jirou chides as she slaps him over the head with her ear jacks like a whip.

“And maybe teach me how to block that? You seem to have got that down.” Kaminari mutters as he rubs his sore head.

Izuku chuckles at the memory of the number of times Chandra chucks utensils or firebolts at him, “Practice. Lots of it.”

“Speaking of practice, our next lesson is gonna be Heroics.” Kaminari says excitedly, “Finally! We’re getting some action! Did you hear that All Might’s gonna be teaching the class?”

“It has to be a rumour right?” Jirou asks but there's a hint of excitement in her voice, “But can you imagine learning from All Might? We’re definitely gonna hit it big as Pros if he’s the one teaching us.”

“Learning from the world’s strongest Pro Hero would be beneficial.” Izuku agreed, although more calmly.

“Beneficial? This is All Might we’re talking about, I wouldn't’ be surprised we become Top 10 material!” Kaminari exclaims, “Where’s your excitement man?”

“Awaiting something exciting, I suppose.” he shrugs, “Is it that big of a deal?”

“A big deal?” Kaminari asks befuddled, “Come on, everyone at some point of their lives had All Might as their favourite hero. Sure, now I’m a bit stuck between Edgeshot and Miriko since they’re both just so cool, but once upon a time he was top of my list. What about you guys?”

“Yeah I used to have an All Might phase when I was like five.” Jirou agreed, “Bought t-shirts and toys. But now it’s definitely Ryukyu. She’s just badass, and humble as well.”

They both look at Izuku, waiting for his reply as he thinks. Perhaps he can be honest this time? Not the whole truth, but pieces of it.

“Well…there was Gideon for me. He wasn’t a Pro Hero, but he was still the greatest man I’ve ever known.” he remembers fondly with a smile, “Brave and compassionate to a fault, he never stopped trying to help others no matter what. He saved me when I was young, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Besides that he trained me, showed me a few tricks. I wouldn’t be who I am now without him.”

“Ah, so a personal hero?” Kaminari looks surprised, “Hard to find someone nowadays who doesn’t have a Pro as their favourite, but that’s still valid. The guy sounds like a badass if you learnt from him. Don’t suppose he’s open for another student.”

Izuku’s smile falls at the moment, “...He died two years ago.”

Jirou and Kaminari became quiet at that.

“Oh…sh*t.” Kaminari mutters before apologising, “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.”

“It’s fine. Truly.” Izuku assures softly but there was a hitch in his tone that someone caught.

“Are you sure?” Jirou asks.

Izuku pauses before answering, “I won’t pretend it still doesn’t hurt. At the very least, I’ve accepted he is dead. And there’s nothing that can be done about that. I’ve grieved and mourned, and I should move on.”

Gideon had not been the only person to die. The War of the Spark left many dead on both sides, and lots were caught in the crossfire. But the multiverse still grew, and worlds kept spinning. It doesn’t pause, you can’t spend forever laying down. Eventually you’ll have to stand up and move on.

Jirou surprises him by touching his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“It’s fine to still feel sad, you know?” she asks, “You lost someone that you were close to.”

“Yeah man.” Kaminari says with uncharacteristic somberness, “If you wanna talk about it-”

“I’ll be fine.” he assures with a smile, genuinely touched, “Thank you. But really, I will be.”

Before they could continue, Iida began shouting.

“Everyone, back to your seats. The teacher should be here at any moment now.”

They both went back to their seats as everyone prepared for their lesson, but there were still many whispers amongst the class about the rumours of their heroics teacher which will soon be proven true or false. And then a boisterous laugh could be heard, one familiar to everyone, even Izuku.

“I am here!…Straight through the door like normal!”

The world’s greatest Pro Hero. The strongest man on the Plane. An old idol of his from long before his Ignition. All Might.

“It really is All Might!” Kirishima exclaims in excitement, “He really is gonna be teaching us!”

“Damn, that’s the Silver Age costume? Can’t go wrong with the classics I suppose.”

The class chatters and despite his adherence to the rules, even Iida was awestruck at the sight of the Number 1 Pro Hero.

To Izuku it all felt strange, almost nostalgic, when he saw All Might. There definitely was an aura about him, one that radiates strength and safety. Just standing in his presence alone, Izuku knows why this man is lauded as the strongest Pro Hero by the entire world.

He reaches out with his senses again, to see what kind of Quirk this man possesses. What mana courses through his veins? And then his jaw drops, he blinks rapidly before not so subtly spinning to look at Melissa before back at All Might, and then again to make sure he didn’t see anything wrong.

They were both the same?

If he had been blind and deaf, he could easily mistake the two for each other just by the mana signatures alone. It wasn’t similar, they were complete perfect copies of one another.

This was certainly more complicated than he initially thought.

***

The children seemed to be reacting positively, that was great! He had been worried that the Silver Age suit would make him look weird and old fashioned but they seem to have a taste for the classics. Great first impression, achieved.

He pats himself on the back mentally, before dramatically marching forward. He makes sure to look at his class to memorise their faces, and sees they all share similar looks of awe and excitement. Especially Melissa who looked downright giddy.

Except for one, the green haired enigma of a boy he had first seen in the Entrance Exam.

Izuku Midoriya.

He looked passive at first, calm and neutral. Nothing odd about that, but then suddenly his eyes widened as if some form of recognition. Perhaps a delayed response? But then he looks back and towards Melissa before glancing back at him, repeatedly. The class easily missed that as they were focused on him, but he didn’t.

He feels a bit of cold sweat remembering what his successor had told him.

***

“I don’t think he believes me. He just keeps asking questions and looking at me like I’m suspicious.” she explains but he laughed it off.

“Oh, an admirer at school already?” he asks as she blushes, laughing before he answers seriously, “But in his defence, the backstory we came up with had some coincidences in them. Perhaps he’s just a naturally suspicious person?”

“And what if he’s…you know.” she asks with a whisper and his smile drops.

“Melissa, I told you to leave that to me.” he sighs, “Like I said, it could simply be just my paranoia. I don’t want to tear into a student’s personal history just because I had a gut feeling.”

***

And now he was looking at the two of them, as if recognises something. Could it be possible that he knew about One for All? If so does that mean he truly…

He shakes his head, he has a class to teach first and foremost.

“Welcome to Foundational Hero Studies.” he announces as he marches to the desk, “For this class we’ll be building up your foundation in heroic skills that you will use for when you graduate. Better pay attention, because lots of credit is on the line. Sorry to disappoint any bookworms, but today we’ll be jumping right into the practical side of things with…” he pauses dramatically before pulling out a flashcard with the words printed on it, “Battle Trials! And for that, you’ll need these!”

He clicks on a remote and the walls open up to reveal several cases, each labelled with numbers, except for one which was large enough to take up an entire shelf. Melissa’s prototype battlesuit, which unfortunately was not compact enough to be stored in a standard costume case.

“Get changed and we’ll be ready to go. Everyone gathers at Ground Beta! The garb you bring into the battlefield is vitally important, boys and girls.”

***

Jirou was starting to feel a bit under-dressed for this. All around her, the other girls of Class 1-A were putting on their cool costumes while all she got were literal clothes from her closet with some support gear. She thought that saving her costume budget by going for a minimalist design, only spending on support gear, was the best choice. Now she was thinking if she should’ve added a bit more flair.

She wonders what Midoriya would think of her costume?

She almost slaps herself. Where did that come from? Who cares what he thinks? As long as she likes her own costume, that’s what matters doesn’t it? She planned for the punk rock vibe but what if he just thinks she was being lazy?

“Hey, Jirou. Are you alright?”

She spins to find Melissa standing in literal f*cking power armour. And was that a sledgehammer in her hands?! That felt a slight bit overkill considering they were still students in their first hero class. It was like everyone was playing the same game, but she was paying to win while the rest were free to play.

“Wha-? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she asks, confused.

“Well, you’ve been looking distracted ever since you put on your costume.” Melissa explains, “Are you nervous? I guess I am too, since it’s All Might who’s gonna be teaching us.”

“..Yeah, that’s it.” she says hurriedly, “But quick question, what do you think of my costume? It’s not bad or anything, right?”

Melissa pauses to analyse her, “Hmm, going for the minimalist punk rock look? I think it’s a good design. Simple, cheap and practical but has a recognisable style to it. Good things when coming up with your first costume. It also means you can spend more on Support Items. Why do you ask?”

Before Jirou could respond, Mina interrupts.

“Could it be because you wanna look nice for your boyfriend?” the pink girl teases as Jirou blushes.

“I already told you, we’re not like that!” she shouts back which did nothing to deter Mina.

“Oh, but you’re blushing. Does that mean you want it to be like that?” she teases even further as Jirou feels her face get hotter. She was about to slap her with her earjacks when Yaoyorozu got their attention.

“That’s enough. If we’re done we should head to Ground Beta immediately without wasting time.” she says as she steps out of the changing room dressed more like a swimsuit model than a hero costume, “We are wasting time as it is.”

“Whoa, Yaoyorozu, is that your hero costume?!” Jirou asks in surprise as she blushes in embarrassment at how much skin the girl was showing.

“Where’s the rest of it?” Melissa asks in similar disbelief, “That doesn’t look the most practical.”

“There’s actually a practical option for this. My Quirk creates items from my body, so any clothes I wear would be torn apart when I create items.” Yaoyorozu explains.

“But…there’s fabric that can reseal itself if torn.” Melissa points out confused, “Why not use that instead? Or just add zippers?”

Yaoyorozu shook her head, “In case I make any complicated machinery it may snag and tear off some fabric and jam itself. I do not wish to risk that occurring so I figured this was most practical.”

“I mean, I guess that’ll work.” Melissa says unconvinced, “Until you fight a villain in the middle of winter, or in heavy rain, or some other extreme temperatures.”

As Melissa went on about the impracticalities of wearing less clothing than a swimsuit into battle, Jirou looks at all the other girls who step out of the changing rooms. One thing they all had in common was that besides Melissa, they all wore skin tight clothing. Why was it always skin tight clothing?

She can’t help but wonder if this was the type of thing Midoriya likes before slapping herself. She needs to get her head in the game, surely no one else was thinking sh*t like her. They would be focusing on the upcoming trials.

***

He wonders if Jirou would like his costume. Kaminari said something about a ‘cool fantasy-steampunk vibe’ but he really doesn’t know what that meant. Was it a compliment? Some cultural thing? Some obscure media reference? He’d have to ask later.

He wore a simple white trench coat with black edges, and a green sash tied around his waist. A half-plated cuirass made of lightweight metal hung across his chest along with two shoulder pads. After the Phyrexians…he realised he should not be so dependent on his mana shield. Sure armour may fail against anything that could easily punch through his shield, but an extra layer of protection never hurts.

He wore a pair of red leather boots that was purchased from a surplus store that his father recommended, on his hands were leather bracers wrapped with cloth bindings and fingerless gloves.Those were mostly based on his old equipment back in the Gatewatch. But the most modern equipment from the local plane was the respirator he wore. He believes it would be useful in situations where poison gas would be used, or to help him breathe underwater without the use of magic. There were also the goggles he wore, purchased from his father’s workplace where he first met Jirou.

Overall the costume was made with spare material his father had on hand, retained from his old days overseas and from his current workplace. It was made by the two of them over the weekend, hunched over blueprints and discussing designs, with the occasional input from Eri about the colour scheme.

It was not the most cutting edge by this world’s standards, nor was it made from magical material drawn from all over the multiverse, but he would not trade it for anything else. The soul, the passion his father had put into designing it with him, was not something that could be replaced.

And then there were the goggles. It remained the same but there were slight modifications. Some carvings on the goggle’s frame, in a language that no one in this plane would recognise. His father had asked what they symbolised, he had excused it by saying it was for purely aesthetic purposes but in reality they were names.

Gideon Jura.

Jaya Ballard.

Arjani Goldmane.

Three of his closest friends were lost. He rubs his fingers against the engravings before putting them on. He will honour them, he swore to himself. Their teachings should live on through him, and he’ll use all he has learnt to become better, to save as many as he can.

“Midoriya!” Iida calls out, “You’re going to be late.”

“I’m coming.” he replies before slipping on the goggles and following his classmates out and onto Ground Beta where All Might was waiting for them.

“There you are. And looking the part.” he smiles, “They say clothes make the hero. From now on you are all heroes!”

“Hero Course…the freaking best, man.” Kaminari whispers to him as he stares at the girls. Izuku on the other hand frowns at the sight disapprovingly, most of them seemed impractical. Ochako wore heels that could make her trip and break an ankle in fights, and the skintight suit was another issue. What was with Pro Heroes and their obsession with having suits be skin tight? Perhaps it was easier to move? There should be a balance between protection and ease of movement, surely.

The frog girl, Tsuyu, had a skintight suit as well but judging from her aquatic nature it was more probably suited for operations on water, and less so on dry land. Perhaps she should possess two suits, one to use on land far from water, and one for water based operations.

Hagurake, the invisible girl…well he can’t really see her suit besides the glove and boots so he can’t judge. But why make an entire costume invisible if she was going to ignore the boots and gloves? Aesthetics?

Mina looks more like she was prepared for a night out than for combat. And Yaoyorozu. By the multiverse what was she wearing? Why that much skin? He had to face palm and pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Come on, surely there’s gotta be a red blooded male in there somewhere.” Kaminari says in disbelief at Izuku’s annoyance.

“I admit, their costumes are-”

“Aesthetically pleasing?” Kaminari rolls his eyes, “Dude, you can just say sexy or something.”

“Sexy?” Izuku tested the word and immediately felt filthy, “They look nice but I fail to see practical function for most of them. At least Melissa has the right idea, with the amount of armour on.”

Besides him, only Melissa and Iida seemed to possess some form of armour. He definitely approves of their choices. He may even talk with Iida about how he maintained his mobility while in full body armour, and whether he should switch to it as well. Kaminari’s costume was practical as well but could use some more protection. Now where was Jirou?

He sees her in the back of the crowd. Her costume seemed very similar to Kaminari’s, in that she went for minimalist design and some sort of modified boots as a support item. She even added some sort of markings under her eyes that look like red upside down triangles. Another costume he approves of, not needlessly skintight, practical and she looks good as well.

“Hey guys.” Jirou says as she approaches them, smiling as she sees Izuku, “Hey, return of the goggles. Haven’t seen those in a while. Are they the same pair.”

“Yep. The exact ones.” Izuku answers as he slipped them off, hanging them on his neck to look at her clearly, “You look really nice.”

She smiles at that compliment, “Thanks…I think you look really nice too.”

He hopes he wasn’t blushing when she said that but her smile definitely made his heart flutter, “I’m glad you think so. Kaminari said something about it being a steampunk-fantasy aesthetic?”

“I mean, it does.” Kamainari says waving at him, “Look at him, he’s like some steampunk scientist wizard or something.”

“The white does make it look like a lab coat.” Jirou agrees, “Love the green sash and silver armour. Wouldn’t that be a bit heavy?”

“I rather sacrifice mobility and flexibility instead of protection.” he shrugs as he taps the armoured plate, “And thanks, I’ll pass your compliments to Eri. She’s the one that helped decide on the colour scheme.’

“Eri?” They both ask and instantly Izuku feels something, almost like a sort of pride, that urges him to start showing off, whipping out his wallet.

“Yep, here.” he opens his wallet where photos of him and Eri reside, “See the girl with the horn? That’s her.”

“Aw, she’s so cute.” Kaminari coos at the sight, “Look at that little horn.”

“Wait, who is she exactly? Your sister?” Jirou asks. Judging from the photo, this girl was very close to Izuku by the way they were hugging.

Izuku only shrugs as he puts back his wallet, “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. My family recently took her in. It’s a long story.”

“Alright everyone, pay attention now.” All Mights calls out, “Today’s lesson will be an indoor battle trial! You all seen news reports of villains taken down in the open, heck I’d even wager some of you have seen villain defeats in person. But statistically most of the job takes place indoors. Black market deals, kidnapping, raids and more. Any villain with brain cells would operate in the shadows.”

That made sense actually. They were technically the law mages of this plane, not soldiers fighting in pitched battles or open fields of battle. It also means most of his spells would be limited in cramped quarters if they wish to limit collateral damage.

“For this test you’ll be divided into a two-on-two battle.” All Might continues, “You’ll be separated into the Hero team and Villain team.”

“Sir?” Tsuyu raises her hand, “What about our foundational training? This sounds rather advanced, ribbit.”

“This is your foundational training. And relax, shouldn’t be that hard, just imagine it like your Entrance Exam except you aren’t fighting robots this time. And you’ll be in a building instead of an open city.”

“...So nothing like the Entrance Exam?”

Immediately everyone started asking questions,

“How do we determine the victor?”

“Can’t I just blow them all away?”

“If we’re separating into different groups what would be the best way to do so?”

“Doesn’t this cape look fabulous?”

“Alright, alright, calm down. My Quirk’s not super hearing.” All Might then whips out a tiny sheet of paper before beginning to read out of it, “For this scenario we’ll have the Villains guard a nuclear bomb. The objectives of the Hero team will be to reach and diffuse the bomb before time runs out and the bomb detonates, or to defeat the Villain team. If they do so they win but if the time runs out or the Hero team is defeated, the Villain team wins. Everyone got that? Any questions?”

“Yes, I do.” Izuku raises a hand, “If the Villain’s goal is to detonate this bomb what’s stopping them from doing so the second they see a hero? This is likely a suicide mission since they’ll be within the range of the bomb when it detonates, so why are they waiting? And how will the heroes diffuse the bomb in the first place?”

“It’s just a simple exercise for your first Heroics class, Young Midoriya. No need for all those little details, what matters is your combat ability.” All Might answers with a chuckle, “Now let’s all pick a team by drawing lots.”

“Lots? Is that wise, sir?” Iida asks this time, “That doesn’t sound like an effective method of choosing teammates.”

“In war you fight with the soldiers you have, not the ones you wish to have.” Izuku recites a quote he’s heard from commanders before. It was a common one through the multiverse from the Boros Legion of Ravnica to the Coalition of Dominaria, “Sometimes you won’t have enough time to assemble a crack task force made of the best, so you have to work with whoever can respond in time and adapt quickly.”

“I see, this tests our ability to cooperate and adapt to situations!” Iida immediately bows, “I apologise for interrupting!”

“Yes, that is correct, Young Midoriya.” All Might nods but deep down he felt it a bit odd that the first thing the boy’s mind went to was soldiers and war. Perhaps an enthusiast about historical battles and military, but then he hears something in his tone. Familiarity and recognition, as if he experienced that before. Very curious.

“Now let us begin! Draw lots and find your partners everyone, we’re burning daylight!”

The class lines up to take their lots and check each other for matching letters. After a moment was taken to find his partner, he smiles in delight at who he has gotten.

“Pleasure to work with you, Jirou.” he smiles at her, “It appears this time, I’ll be fighting with the partner I wished to have.”

“Really? You weren’t hoping for some of the power houses?” she asks as she looks at Todoroki in a team with Shoji, and Momo in a team with Bakugou. Besides them, Kaminari was in a team with Uraraka, and Iida with Melissa.

“I’d rather pick someone I know and trust, over pure firepower.” he answers honestly as he offers a hand, “I pity any fool that gets in our way.”

“Got that right.” she shook his hand, “We’re gonna mess them up real badly.”

“And for our first team, we have…These guys!” All Might pauses for dramatic effect before whipping out two balls with the letters indicating it was Team A against Team D.

Izuku Midoriya and Kyoka Jirou VS Melissa Shield and Tenya Iida.

He looks over to the two armoured individuals with a smile. Since conversations and questions led to little progress understanding her Quirk, it appears that he will now be able to find answers via practical means.

***

“So, this is the bomb we’re suppose to defend?” Jirou asks as she knocks against the fake bomb, “Gotta give it to UA, they certainly know how to live up to expectations. How do you think we should do this?”

“Hm…” Izuku think as he rubs his chin “We have the advantage since they don’t know where the bomb is, so they’ll likely have to search for it. Even if they were somehow able to guess where it is exactly, they still have to travel to the top floor to get to it. That will be our advantage.”

He snaps his fingers and a small blue wire construct of the entire building materialises in front of him as he highlights pathways and chokepoints, “As you can see there are many passages they can use to get to our location, and these three are the quickest routes.”

He highlights them in red, “Our best bet is to deny them passage by laying traps across them and several other chokepoints. This won’t stop them but they should buy time and make them act slower and careful.”

“Traps? I don’t think we have any.” Jirou points out before remembering, “Unless you can do that with your Quirk?”

He nods, “Yes. I’ll place several ice traps along the hallways. This will trap them for a few seconds only but it’ll be enough to slow them down.”

“So just place a lot of traps and slow them down by a lot? That’s our plan?”

“The first phase. Afterwards, we’ll take up sniping positions in this room.” He highlights a room in the middle floor of the building, “We’ll fire upon them on entry and hopefully that could drive them into traps or even take one of them down. But if they are capable, and I have no doubt they are, combat will be inevitable. When they split up to throw off our fire, we have to as well. You’ll take up position at this location, which will allow you to intercept Iida with ease.”

“Wait, why do I get Iida?” she asks as Izuku looks at her oddly.

“Do you instead wish to fight against Melissa?”

Jirou instantly imagines Melissa in her full power armour and sledgehammer chasing after her and shudders. She does not want to be on the receiving end of a girl with super strength and power armour swinging a hammer at her.

“Point taken. But still, Iida’s freaking fast. I’m not sure how I can intercept him.” She recalls having seen Iida’s performance during the Quirk Apprehension Tests. Then she blushes when Izuku kneels down and reaches for her feet, “Hey, what are you doing?”

“Evening the odds, your boots please?” he asks as Jirou holds out her leg which he then begins inscribing red runes on with his finger.

“These will increase your speed to help you catch up with him.” Izuku explains as he performs the enchantment, “Merely click your heels to activate them.”

“Like Dorothy and her red shoes?” Jirou jokes only to receive a confused glance from Izuku, “Y-you know, from the Wizard of Oz?”

“...I don’t get the reference.” Izuku admits before standing up, “Now we have about seven minutes left to set up traps and our backup plan. Any questions?”

“Well, I wanted to ask how do you expect to snipe them in the middle of a building. But now I also want to know about this backup plan of yours.”

“The sniping will require your assistance. As for the backup?” Izuku summons two pieces of chalk for both hands before handing one to Jirou, “Go to a random room, far from where we place our bomb. Afterwards listen closely to what I say over the comms, and follow all my instructions. If all fails, this would be our last resort.”

***

“Let’s see.” Melissa mutters as she taps a button on her helmet giving her clear vision of the inside, “The bomb is still on the top floor, they made no attempts to move it, but they seem to have gathered in the middle floor for some reason. Be on your guard, they may attempt to ambush us there.”

“Amazing. And you said you made this yourself? And it’s only a prototype” Iida asks, amazed, “You are extremely talented, Shield.”

“Please, call me Melissa.” she insists, “And yeah, with time the finalised version will be more streamlined and flexible. For now it feels like I’m wearing a tank.”

“No doubt its protective capabilities would come in handy against our foes. How should we deal with them if we encounter them?”

Melissa thinks for a moment, “The biggest threat seems to be Midoriya. With abilities as varied as his, we can’t predict what he’ll do. And with Jirou’s enhanced hearing we can’t sneak in. Our best bet will be to rush and punch through whatever defence they have in plan. With your speed and the fact we have the location already, we can make a beeline towards it and hopefully win without a fight.”

“I’d take care not to underestimate Midoriya.” he warns, “I made that mistake in the Entrance Exam.”

She nods, “You’re right. But so far it seems like the best plan. Hit them hard and hopefully fast enough. Any arguments?”

“None at all, it’s a sound plan considering we are on a time limit.” he agrees, “I hope I will not let you down.”

“Hero Team, you are clear to engage. Good luck.” All Might’s voice rang through the comms as both Melissa and Iida pockets the maps they were given.

“That’s all the time we have, let’s be sure to win this.” Melissa says as she grips the sledgehammer in her hands, “Let’s go.”

They hurriedly enter but the moment they step in was the moment a beam of light pierces through the walls and slams into her chest, knocking her back a few steps.

“Melissa!” Iida cries in surprise and offers a hand to help before getting hit by a beam himself. His armour wasn’t as strong as Melissa’s so he was knocked into a wall as a result.

“Damn it! Get behind me!” Melissa orders as she raises a hand as she pours One for All into her power suit, converting its raw power to energy and creating an energy shield emitting from the palm of her hand.

The beams hit and dissipate harmlessly against the shield as she looked over at her teammate who was recovering.

“This must be Midoriya’s Quirk.” she realises, “Can you stand?”

“Yes, it just knocked me off my feet.” Iida grunts as he gets up, “Can your shield last?”

“Not for long.” she shook her head, “We have to split up, his fire rate isn’t that fast. He’ll have a hard time focusing on us, and you might be too fast for him to hit.”

“Understood.” he nods and they wait until he fires again before they split, “Now!”

He goes as fast as his Quirk allows, running through the halls and taking the quickest route he can remember. True enough the laser beams couldn’t hit him at this speed, as shots went wide. But before he can get far he steps on some strange markings on the floor, which suddenly glowed blue and engulfed him in a sheet of ice.

***

“Whoa! So that’s what they were doing?” Kirishima looks in surprise, “I thought those were just graffiti or something.”

“I knew they were traps of sorts. Midoriya does not seem the type to do things without reason.” Yaoyorozu pipes in, “This puts the Hero team in an even worse disadvantage. With both traps and a sniper, their pace will be slowed to a crawl. Ingenious.”

“But that’s not manly at all.” Kirishima complains.

“Even All Might has to use ambushes when he has to.” Yaoyorozu explains patiently, “And it appears Midoriya cares more about whether victory is achieved, then what methods are used.”

“Yes, well said Yaoyorozu.” All Might compliments, “Besides, they are playing the role of villains. Do not expect villains to fight fair, they will use every dirty trick they have to slow or even beat you.”

“If he was strong, he should just fight them head on.” Bakugou scoffs, “Hiding’s for cowards.

“Well they look comfortable staying where they are.” Mina chuckles as she points to the screen showing both Izuku and Jirou. The former has his arms pointed over her shoulders as Jirou pointed his hand in the right direction while her two earjacks were plugged into the wall.

She uses her hearing to locate Melissa and Iida before pointing Izuku’s hand for him and telling him when to fire. It was ingenious but it left no distance between the two.

“Lucky son of a gun.” Kaminari whines, hoping he may end up in a similar position with his partner when his turn comes.

“Come on, Melissa.” Ochako cheers for her friend, “You can do this!”

“This is a wonderful display of how teamwork and Quirk combinations can turn the tide.” All Might explains, “With the two of their abilities combined they create an attack that the Heroes cannot hide from.”

‘I’m sorry Melissa but I cannot be biassed here.’ All Might thinks as he turns back to the screen, ‘I must judge you impartially and harshly like all my other students.’

“Hey look! She’s trying something!” Kaminari points at Melissa who drops her shield and brings her sledgehammer to smash the ceiling before leaping through the hole to the next floor, “She’s going straight for them.”

“And Iida’s broken free.” Yaoyorozu points to a screen where Iida struggled and broke out of his icy prison, “If the villains are not careful, Iida could go straight for the bomb and win. They now have to split up and deal with each of them.”

***

“She’s on the second floor now, wait now she’s on the third.” Jirou informs concerned, “She’s bypassed a lot of your traps, and Iida’s headed straight for the bomb, it looks like he knows where it is.”

“We can ask how later.” Izuku says as he detaches from Jirou with a slight blush. Having that much contact with her was a bit flustering for him, he could feel his heart pounding from how close they were. He hopes she was too focused on their enemies to have heard that.

“For now, begin Plan B. I’ll see you when we win this.” he pats her on the shoulder as they both leave just they hear metallic footsteps getting louder and heading straight for them, “Best to hurry now.”

“Right.” Jirou clicks her heels but didn’t feel any changes before taking a careful step that launches her straight to the wall, causing Izuku to wince at the sight, “f*ck! I’m good, I’m good, just not used to superspeed.”

“Well, they say the best time to learn is under pressure.” Izuku shrugs as he summons a glowing red spear made of a crackling lightning bolt, “So now’s the best time. Goodluck.”

Jirou nods and runs along with her new superspeed, only slamming into three more walls before getting used to it. Izuku focuses ahead of him as Melissa appears around the corner,

“Hey.” she greets as she readies her sledgehammer, “So those lasers were you, right?”

“Sunlance, actually.” he corrects as he holds the spear in front of him, “But yes, they were mine. I hope they didn’t hurt you too badly.”

“Scorched my armour more than anything.” She says, indicating the part where she was struck that was a bit blackened, “I suppose since I’m the Hero team I should give you a chance to surrender?”

It was half playful banter and half genuine suggestion, Izuku just smiled confidently before preparing himself, “And as the Villain, my role is to fight to the bitter end unfortunately. So take your best shot.”

“Fine, don’t blame me if you get hurt then.” Melissa charges right at him with her hammer prepared to strike. Izuku dashes forward as well and slides underneath the blow before striking with his lightning spear at her back, sending her stumbling forward.

He leaps backward to avoid another swing before throwing the lightning spear at her, releasing its contained energy and blasting her back, kicking up dust and debris to cloud her vision. She instantly turns on her thermal vision again and widens her eyes at seeing a large build up of heat before raising her shield just in time to block another spear, one made of fire this time that detonates into a fiery explosion upon impact.

“Nice shield. But it’s not your Quirk?” Izuku asks as he puts on his respirator to keep him from breathing in the dust and smoke, “Your Support Item, then? It uses the power you generate as some power source?”

“You figured that out quick.” Melissa admits before dropping the shield and charging her boots with 10% of her power, leaping forward at a near blinding speed. At such a cramped hallway there was little chance to avoid such an attack.

Izuku suddenly turns blue with ethereal energy, phasing out of reality for a moment, and allowing Melissa to rocket through him like he wasn’t even there. She blinks in surprise before she skids to a stop as Izuku returns to normal.

“I’m a bit of an engineer myself.” he responds casually as Melissa strikes again with her hammer, but he moves to the side and avoids it as well as the following strikes. She swings her hammer with blows that were clearly telegraphed allowing him to dodge with ease just by taking careful steps backwards, sidestepping a thrust before delivering three mana-empowered kicks to her midsection in rapid succession.

“You’re using a weapon because you lack combat skills in hand to hand?” he asks as he observes how little damage he’s done to her armour, “It’s reasonable, but you seem to lack skills with that as well. The handle’s too long for battle in cramped corridors, and when you swing you take too much time and it makes your attack predictable.”

“You’re giving me advice? In the middle of our fight?” Melissa asks somewhat insulted he wasn’t taking this seriously.

Izuku only shrugs, “We’re here to learn aren’t we? That is the purpose for this battle trial. And something you should learn is that brute forcing this isn’t going to work.”

“...You’re right.” She admits surprising him as she raises her hammer before slamming it down, “Thanks for the advice.”

Izuku braces himself as the ground below them collapses and he barely lands on his feet on the second floor. Melissa in her tank-like armour with fancy shock absorbing boots land with ease as she doesn’t hesitate before throwing her hammer like a projectile.

He deflects it with a mana shield wrapping around him, and she rushes to throw a punch at him. Again her form was sloppy and untrained, relying more on brute force to carry her. He swerves his head to avoid the blow and blocks the following, retaliating with counter attacks any time he could. The neck, knees, shoulder, places where there were gaps in her armour or important for movement, hoping to damage some mechanisms to slow her down but nothing seemed to be working.

“A good distraction but you failed when you attempted to capitalise on it.” he criticises as he ducks beneath a wildhaymaker and raises his arms to block an armoured knee.

“5%...” she mutters to herself as she channels her Quirk once again to throw faster and stronger strikes. Izuku’s eye then glows blue as she strikes at what she thought was an opening in his defence, smiling when she finally hits him.

“What?” she mutters as her fist went straight through his head like it wasn’t there. For a moment she thinks it to be an illusion before a red fist slams into her helmet and knocks her back. She takes another look and realises he was still there, just blurry now like a mirage, or she was seeing double.

“Your Support Items and brute force can only carry you so far.” he says in an echoing voice as he gets into a fighting stance, “There’s only so much you can make up for experience and skill. Something you both lack.”

She growls and starts increasing her power once more, “10%...”

She starts becoming more of a blur as she lunges forward with speed and power that Izuku was forced to augment his physical abilities with red mana to fight on even terms. He was a bit frightened that even from glancing blows he could feel the strain on his shields. And this was only 10%.

“It works the other way as well.” she yells back as she reels her arm back for a punch, “There’s only so much skill and experience can do against overwhelming force.”

She throws another haymaker that Izuku blocks with both his hands, creating a small shockwave from the impact as she just keeps increasing her output.

“15%.” she grunts as she exerts more power and her power armour could be heard whirring as it stresses to catch up. Izuku feels himself getting pushed back from the punch, apparently even with magic the maximum he can match her was around 15%.

She pushes him back, creating distance between them as she points her left arm at him.

“Air Cannon!” she shouts to her suit’s AI which starts shifting the left gauntlet to form a cannon around it. Focusing about 35% of OFA she punches forward with her left hand as the cannon compresses the air pressure into a projectile towards Izuku.

Izuku widens his eyes as he shoots a wave of blue mana that countered the air bullet but just barely, dissipating it into a cloud of blue sparks that washed over him.

They both take a moment to breathe as Izuku couldn’t help but smile. It was definitely an exciting fight, more so than the Entrance Exam against robots. Or perhaps that was just the adrenaline talking.

“You have a lot of tricks in that suit.” he comments as he returns to a stance.

“Yeah.” she says, similarly taking a breath as the cannon retracted, “You too. It’s a fancy Quirk you have, like you got more than one.”

“Like you said. Quirks are weird.” he says as he looks down and realise he was standing on the throne sledgehammer before kicking it back to Melissa, flicking his wrist and summoning a steel shortsword and pointing it at her, “Now how about we kick things up a notch.”

***

Tenya Iida was freezing cold, as he jogs down the hallway while being careful not to step on any more traps. Laying those ice traps and shooting lasers was playing very dirty, but he admits it has been very effective in slowing down him and Melissa. He was now on the last floor but it took a lot of time as he had to find passages without the strange markings. He was sure there were no more as he gets closer to the room with the bomb, it appears there was a limited number of traps Izuku could put down within his preparation time, focusing it on the entrance and lower floors.

It was apparent that after the second attempt that they were not touch-activated but by motion as he stepped over one but was still frozen in a flash of blue light. He’d have to see the Support Department about getting some heaters in his costume after this, or perhaps some thicker bodysuit at least.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he spots a black blur speeding at him. Years of being born with enhanced speed has sharpened his perception and reaction allowing him to leap backwards as the blur skids to a stop.

“J-J-Jirou?” he asks through clattering teeth as he tries to warm himself, “Y-you possess enhanced speed as well?”

“You…can thank Midoriya…for that…” she answers, sounding dazed as she shakes her head, “No idea how you speedsters do this everyday. And you sound like you’re freezing by the way.”

“Y-yes, but y-your f-f-foul traps shall not triumph over me, villain!” Iida strikes heroic pose as he shudders, “My blood pumps in anticipation of our fight, and already it is warming me-”

Jirou doesn’t wait for him to finish monologuing as she inserts her jacks into her boots and blasted him with a sonic blast, knocking him back.

“Well that was-” she was about to say before she saw a white blur shot towards her, taking a step back. Luckily she had forgotten to deactivate the speed enhancement and so it launched her backward, saving her from Iida who had sought to wrap her with the capture tape.

“You will not be able to stop me, villain!” Iida declares as he runs up the hallway she was protecting but then she slams into him, “Unhand me!”

“I will as soon as you hold still!” she says as she clung onto his back with an arm around his neck as he frantically zipped around to throw her off. She tries to use her own capture tape but Iida wouldn’t allow her to.

Launching himself straight into the ceiling with his Quirk, slamming her into the wall before angling his fall so he lands on top of her.

“f*ck…” she groans, winded from the two heavy blows.

“I’m sorry Jirou, but like you have shown, I cannot play fair.” Iida apologises as he starts running, “Don’t worry, I’ll win this quick so you can receive medical attention fast.”

But again a sonic blast hits him before he got far.

“Sorry but I can’t let you do that.” Jirou asks through gritted teeth as she kept blasting at Iida, pushing herself back onto her feet, “I’m going to be a hero, and that means not about to just give up because things go remotely difficult.”

“I…admire your resolve.” Iida grunts as he is pinned to the wall from the continuous sonic blasts, “I will have to match it with my own. I was hoping to save this trick for later, but you forced my hand. Recipro Burst!”

Jirou could only blink before an armoured boot rockets straight for her torso, sending her flying backwards and into a wall as she loses her lunch.

“I truly am sorry for that Jirou.” he apologises as he wraps his capture tape around her as All might announce her capture over the comms, “But I also do not wish to lose.”

“Same…” she grunts back as she taps her comms, “Plan C, Midoriya! Plan C!”

Iida doesn’t know what that was but he was wary of whatever plan they had left. He hurriedly walks somewhat shakily towards the room where the bomb was. Between the damage Jirou has done to him, exhaustion from being frozen and his engines shorting out from Recipro Burst, he wanted to collapse but he pressed on anyways, determined to win.

Just as he enters the room his eyes widen at the sight, blinking to make sure he wasn’t seeing anything wrong before hurriedly reporting what he saw to his teammate.

***

Dangerous. That was the only word she could use to describe Izuku. He was a monster in combat, blocking and parrying and dodging her blows despite them being augmented with 15% of One for All, the level she could reliably control and fight with in her power armour. Any more and it would have been too fast or strong for her armour to handle.

And still he was holding his own. Redirecting blow after blow, what could have been devastating direct hits becoming strikes that glance off his blade and energy shield. And whenever he did strike he went for the areas where her armour was weakest.

The joints, her knees and neck. The last part frightened her the most when the blade thrusted forward to strike her neck. Sure she saw the edge had been blunted, and she knew her throat was protected, but Midoriya didn’t hesitate before going for it. Carrying a cold, impassive look on his face as he struck without mercy.

In their fight she had only managed a direct strike once, knocking him into a wall. He merely got back up and told her, “That’s the last time you get a hit on me.”

That was when he tore off her armour. She went for a follow up strike but again he parries it and uses his free hand to slam a glowing blue palm on her. And in that instant, every piece of metal, every bolt, screw and piece of tech dismantled itself and flew off, including her hammer, as she was sent flying backwards.

“What?!” she exclaims in shock as she pats herself, shocked at the sight of her hard work literally turned to scrap, leaving her only in a plain white shirt and pants she wore underneath the armour, “You could have done that this entire time.”

Izuku shrugs, “I didn’t want to destroy your armour, it looked expensive and hard to repair. But after you managed to hit me, you forced my hand.”

He rubs the spot she struck him, “I felt that through my shields. So will you give up, hero? Or will you fight to the end?”

He even throws away his sword, as if doing so would make it a fairer fight, getting into a fighting stance.

“Kyoka Jirou is eliminated!”

They hear All Might announce through their comms and Melissa smiles at the concerned look Izuku had. They have a chance after all, she just needs to buy Iida time.

Izuku taps on his comms as if he’s hearing something before sighing and looking at Melissa.

“If you believe that will secure your victory, I’m sorry to disappoint.” he says before clapping his hands and chanting something. It was a language she had never heard before and instantly she tenses up but nothing happened, no flash of colours or anything.

“What did you do?” she asks as she charges a fist with 5% of One for All before Iida speaks through the comms.

“Melissa! The bomb is gone! I do not know how, but it’s not where you said it was!”

“What?” she asks stunned before turning to Izuku, “What did you do? I know it was there!”

“You’ll have to find out later.” he says as he beckons her to approach. With little choice she charges forward, she had to give Iida enough time to search for the bomb. They moved it somehow but it shouldn’t be far.

She throws a punch but he easily sidesteps it and flips her over his shoulder, landing on her back in pain. She tries to get up but Izuku slams a foot on her chest, pinning her down.

“The sands of time are running out.” he informs, “It is very unlikely Iida can find the bomb in time. But if you can beat me now you can secure your victory.”

She tries pushing off his feet but he glows with a red aura signifying he was using his Quirk to enhance his strength. 5% of One for All just wasn’t enough to push him off.

“Can you not go any further without your armour?” he asks as she struggles, “If I was a true villain I could simply crush your ribs. Is there nothing you can do?”

“I…” she tries to pour more power hoping to get at least to 10% but then she yells as her muscles start tearing from the strain and Izuku’s leg barely moves. And then they hear All Might’s voice ring,

“Time’s up! The Villain Team wins.”

***

“And they have returned! And with no injuries?” All Might asks as the four return to the observation room with noticeable changes. First Melissa was holding her helmet with it being the only piece of the armour remaining in full condition, then Iida was shuddering as he wrapped a blanket around him which was provided by Midoriya, who was also carrying a blushing Jirou in his arms bridal style.

“None, I’m pretty sure I just finished healing her cracked ribs.” Midoriya informs.

“Then you can let go of me now.” she says as Izuku nods and sets her down on her feet, “Damn, still feels like I got hit by a car.”

“I can do something for the pain if you’d like.” he holds out a glowing hand but Jirou rejects it.

“I-it’s fine, I’ll just power through it. A little pain should be nothing to a hero-in-training, right?” she hurriedly declines not wanting to give Mina any more ideas or teasing material. She already looked giddy the moment they entered the observation room with her in Midoriya’s arms.

“Alright then. Iida, are you good?” he asks the tall boy who nods.

“Yes! My ears are still ringing but I should recover soon!” he says slightly louder than usual.

“Alright, if it keeps ringing let me know, and I’ll take another look.” Izuku says before turning to Melissa at last, “And I don't think there’s any injuries for you.”

“Huh?” she asks, snapping out of her thoughts, “I mean, yeah, I’m fine.”

“Well I’m sure Recovery Girl will be glad that someone’s taking the burden off her shoulders.” All Might says with a chuckle, “It looks like this class has its own doctor to handle injuries.”

“I just have some basic medic training.” Izuku brushes off the praise, “I can mend bones, cuts and bruises, and concussions, but that’s all. I’m no doctor.”

“It is important for a hero to master such vital skills like first aid. With that aside, I suppose now we should get to deciding who was the MVP in our first match. Can anyone guess who?” All Might asks the crowd of students with one hand raising up quickly.

“Yes, I believe it would be Midoriya, sir.” Yaoyorozu answers.

“Correct!” All Might gives a thumbs up, “Can you explain why?”

“Simple. It was because of his planning ability. The traps he set, taking fire from a concealed position and forcing the two to split, as well as the last minute bomb swap was all because of him.”

“Bomb swap?” Melissa asks.

“Here, take a look at this, Young Shield and Iida.” All Might says as he clicks a remote and rewind footage on the screen. It shows Izuku and Jirou during the preparation phase where they were in separate rooms but were drawing strange circles on the floor with chalk.

The scene fast forwards to when Iida defeated Jirou and went to capture the bomb which stood on top of the drawn circle before vanishing in a blink of light.

“As you can see, in that moment the bomb went from the fifth floor to the first floor of the building.” All Might explains, “No doubt a skill of Young Midoriya’s?”

Izuku nods, “It’s called a Teleportation Circle. It allows me to teleport anything inside a circle to another matching one. It works best in short distances, but the further the circles are from each other the longer it’ll take for teleportation to occur.”

Yaoyorozu nods, “And without it, no doubt the Villain Team would have lost. Most of what happened during the trial only happened because of Midoriya, to which I believe he deserves the place of MVP. Melissa caused a lot of collateral damage with her Quirk during her fight, Iida rushed in blindly without considering that traps could be set ahead and despite her best efforts Jirou was beaten quickly by Iida.”

“There were still a lot of things that could have gone wrong.” Izuku points out, “If Jirou hadn’t adapted to the new speed I gave her, she would never have intercepted Iida on time. I failed to consider what would happen if she didn’t, which could have led to Iida capturing the bomb before I could have teleported it. Besides, if they both had decided to stick together and rush to fight us head on, Jirou could have been defeated, forcing me to fight two on one. I wouldn’t have been able to defeat the two without levelling the building we were in.”

He quickly turns to the purple haired girl and raises a hand, “I mean no offence by that, but he did defeat you rather quickly.”

“None taken.” Jirou waves off the apology unbothered as she rubs her ribs, “I don’t know what getting hit by a car’s like, but this is definitely comparable to that. And I don’t like my odds against Melissa in her armour.”

“Wait, you could have levelled the building?” Kirishima asks in awe as Izuku shrugged.

“Yes. Cramped quarters are not the best place for me to fight since it limits my abilities.” Izuku nods, “If we were out in the open, I would've been able to use more devastating abilities.”

‘So he wasn’t even fighting at his best?’ Melissa thinks in shock as she glances at her helmet. After all that, he was barely even trying?

“If both of us were allowed to go all out, and Melissa uses her full power, then a fight between the two of us would go either way.” Izuku continues, “But really what comes down in a real battle is skill and experience. I just so happened to have more than Melissa. That’s not bragging, it’s a plain fact that I’ve been in real fights before and she hasn’t.”

All Might nods, “It’s as you say. Experience matters most in fights. Don’t look so down, Young Shield, this is why you’re here in UA and why we’re conducting this exercise. To allow all of you to gain experience.”

“You’re right.” Melissa nods before giving a determined look towards Izuku, “I’ll get stronger, and I won’t be losing next time.”

Izuku smiles at her, “In that case, I look forward to our rematch.”

“I’m glad to see such sportsmanship in my class.” All Might says proudly, “But with that out of the way, let us move onto the next match!”

***

Izuku watches the following matches with rapt attention, jotting down anything he finds interesting, specifically to the number of fascinating Quirks he sees. Some minor attention was paid to those like Sato, Tsuyu, Shoji or Sero, Mutation Quirks would be unusable for him. Perhaps those who master Green mana like the Simic Combine, with their mastery of biomancy, would be able to but unfortunately he wasn’t skilled in their arts.

He paid more attention towards those he theorised that he could be able to replicate such as Ayoma’s naval laser, or Urararaka’s strange telekinetic-like powers, and Kaminari’s electric field. One of the most alarming Quirks he saw was one belonging to Fumikage Tokoyami where he summons a sort of Shadow Elemental.

He saw it during the Quirk Apprehension Test but it seemed smaller. In the dimly lit halls of the simulated building it was almost bestial in appearance and he could’ve sworn he saw Tokoyami struggle to rein in the shadowy beast.

It was somewhat of a personal bias but he instantly felt wary of the boy. He has not had much good experience with those of black mana. He could never get into the right mindset to make use of it, and those who used it usually meant selfish, parasitic and dangerous individuals. Undead and other wretched creatures. There were very few he can immediately recall having good relations with, such as the vampire Sorin Markov and Liliana, but with how things went with the latter…

***

He was there when it happened. The moment Gideon Jura, one of the greatest men he ever knew, his father in all but blood, burned in black fire. The only thing left of him was his charred armour that clattered as it fell to the ground.

And the one standing next to it was Liliana. The necromancer he once thought of as a friend, as family. He saw Gideon touch her shoulder before he was engulfed in flames. She was the source of all this.

He hears Nissa say something but he doesn’t pay attention, he can feel the heat of Chandra’s flames as she prepares to burn Liliana alive for what he’s done, and he was about to join her, before the voice of Jace interrupts them in their minds, shouting something but he doesn’t care.

Chandra stops but he doesn’t. He had to be restrained by Nissa and Ajani as he tried to reach her, lightning crackling from his arms as he tried to reach towards Liliana and make her pay. His mind clouded with rage, his vision blurred with tears as he screams his throat sore,

“I’ll kill you!” he remembers screeching at her, “I’ll kill you!”

***

Even after it was revealed that actually Gideon sacrificed himself to save Liliana from death for breaching her contract and betraying Bolas, they left on very bad terms. Although he now knows the full story of how she was forced into the dragon’s service and risked her life to betray him, he still sees Gideon burning to death, and the devastation the War of the Spark had on Ravnica. The countless dead.

Last he heard she took up a teaching position in Strixhaven. Perhaps when he returns, after the Phyrexian Invasion is over, he could make peace? His recent near-death experience has reminded him that life was far too short to spend on grudges. He decides one day he was going to visit her and apologise for all he’s said to her, about wishing her dead instead of Gideon and so many other hurtful things.

“Hello there, Midoriya.” Yaoyorozu greets from behind, startling him out of his thoughts, “What are you writing about?”

“Yaoyorozu.” he greets politely, “I’m just taking note of our classmates Quirks. Analysing skills and abilities are a habit of mine.”

“Truly? In that case what have you found so far?” she asks curiously.

“Well it appears that almost none of our classmates have any combat ability besides throwing their Quirks at something.” he grumbles as if disappointed, “But besides that it’s just brawling if you can even call it that. Everyone here depends on their Quirk too much in a fight.”

“It is just their first day of Heroics class.” she reminds, “You can’t expect them to all be master fighters or anything.”

“No, I suppose not.” he sighs, “Perhaps I just had too high expectations.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where did you train before this?” Yaoyorozu asks, “You appeared quite talented with a spear and sword in your battle. You planned very quickly and acted with zero hesitation.”

Izuku for the first time looks nervous, “Well, I had some teachers. They taught me practically everything I know but there wasn’t any school you would know of.”

“Ah, so some private tutors of sorts?” Yaoyorozu asks, “It is the same for me. My parents hired the finest tutors available to teach me how to fight so I can maximise my Quirk by using weapons. But as of now I’m still limited to staff-based weaponry like bo-staffs or a spear.”

“Those are good choices.” he nods in approval, “Simple weapons like such are easiest to train with and their styles are almost interchangeable with one another.”

“And you said you’ve been in fights before? You mentioned having practical experiences.”

Izuku was about to a answer when Kirishiman pipes in to their conversation,

“Sorry, but I wanna hear that as well. Does it have anything to do with those scars?”

“Scars?” Yaoyorozu raises a brow questioningly and Jirou who had been listening widens her eyes. She didn’t know Izuku had any scars, he certainly hasn’t mentioned them. Izuku just sends a slight glare towards Kirishima,

“I don’t think the rest of the country heard you, why not scream it louder?” Izuku asks, sounding very annoyed.

The redhead tries to stammer out an apology as Mina cuts in.

“Sorry, he lets his mouth run sometimes on topics he thinks is manly.” she says with an apologetic smile.

Izuku sighs and facepalms before answering, “To answer your question, yes I’ve been in… quite a few fights. And I mean this with all due respect, but it’s certainly none of your business.”

He massages his ribs as phantom pains flared once more, which certainly didn’t help his mood. Recognising he was no longer in the mood for conversation Yaoyorozu merely thanked him for his time and they both resumed looking at their classmates' performance.

Unbeknownst to him, a few were paying rapt attention for their own reasons. Jirou listened in out of concern for her friend, and Bakugou who was close by listened before scoffing in disbelief. The nerd was probably making sh*t up to get attention, he just won because somehow that Shield girl was even weaker than him. If he had fought someone actually strong like himself, he bets that he wouldn’t last a second before he resumed crying like his younger self does whenever remotely threatened.

All Might was wondering just what kind of fights he went through, what kind of teachers taught him. He hears from Snipe that the boy went missing for ten years, and true enough he dug up some old articles confirming it was Izuku Midoriya who disappeared and returned after ten years.

The way he strategized, moved and fought reminded him of a veteran Pro. Striking without hesitation, instantly going for weakspots in Melissa’s armour. He saw his blade go for her armoured throat in the battle but the boy doesn’t even flinch from making a move like that, perhaps he knew that her armour would protect her or that he was confident in his healing abilities to fix her, but seeing a student that cold in combat frightened him.

He remembers theorising he was an agent of All for One, perhaps one looking for revenge for his dead master. He imagines a lost child found and taken in by that monster, possibly taking his Quirk and giving him new ones as some twisted form of trade or compensation. He imagines the child put through brutal training and brainwashing to become a soldier and assassin for his underground empire, sent against any who would threaten his rule.

He knows this because this was a common tactic that All for One would use to gain followers. Some of his most powerful agents he fought and defeated gave the exact same story before they would be found dead in their cells, usually suicide out of devotion to their master.

He looks back subtly to see Midoriya jotting down in his notebook, barely audibly muttering about how useful the Quirks he saw were. It sends chills down his spine as he remembers his final confrontation with All for One, lovingly detailing the specifics of the Quirks he had stolen and was using against him like a proud collector showing off his collection.

He tells himself it was just his paranoia talking. But the coincidences were… disconcerting. If this child truly was an agent of All for One then he hopes that maybe, just maybe, his stay in UA could change him. Perhaps persuade him away from his path of misguided vengeance and become a true hero.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focuses on the event in front of him. Kaminari Denki and Ochako Uraraka had just been declared victors against Tsuyu Asui and Fumikage Tokoyami. It was a close call and Kaminari was incapacitated by his own Quirk but a success, still.

“Alright up next we got Team F vs Team G!” he announces to the class, “Momo Yaoyorozu and Katsuki Bakugou, your team will be playing the villains against the heroes, Shoto Todorki and Mezo Shoji.”

Bakugou grins. Finally a fight that would be worth his time, and bonus points was that he’s playing the Villain team. He’s gonna finish this faster than Deku did and show him exactly how outclassed he was. He turns to face Izuku with a confident look.

“Just watch Deku. Maybe you’ll learn something from this.” he taunts as he moves, not bothering to wait for his teammate.

***

Well, he definitely learnt something from that “fight”, if you could even call it that. It all started going wrong from the very beginning with Yaoyorozu and Bakugou debating about something on-screen.

They couldn’t hear it but he assumes it went something amongst the lines of Yaoyorozu trying to get Bakugou to cooperate, but being the glory hound he is, Bakugou storms off on his own leaving Yaoyorozu to prepare by herself.

She does a good job as far as he could see. Her ability to construct items, while similar to his, was limited by the amount of fat she has in her body. He has a theory on how this works, perhaps her body actually absorbs the background mana and converts it to colourless mana to create items, and the fat is used as both fuel and binding agent of sorts to hold it together permanently. Just a theory for now.

Back to her performance, she sets up a number of simple traps that would launch the capture tape they were given at enemies, tripwires and alarms and so on. But they would never come into play because the moment the match started, Todoroki stepped up to the building and instantly froze it.

All of the traps were covered in a sheet of ice, rendering them useless as both Bakugou and Yaoyorozu were frozen as well. If he recalls, Bakugou’s Quirk generates explosions through sweat so the ice could be interfering with his abilities.

As for Momo she was frozen and despite her breaking free by creating large items from her body to break the ice, she was again frozen without much effort allowing for the Hero Team to capture the bomb.

He learnt how not to conduct a defence operation. He also learns how strong Shoto Todoroki is. Being able to flash freeze in an instant without killing the defenders was not something to scoff at.

“Could you have done something like that?” Kaminari asks as they pack up their bags. That was the last class for the day and we are now preparing to return home.

Izuku shrugs, “Freezing over a building is easy, doing it in such a way to not kill the defenders? That takes precision. Besides, cryomancy is an art I’m not a master at. When it comes to ice I’m a novice.”

“Ah, so you’re more into lightning and fire?” he asks, “Kinda weird, cause I’d peg you for an ice guy. WIth how you’re always so calm and cool headed. Kinda like Todoroki.”

“I don’t think they’re similar like that.” Jirou throws in her two cents as she slung her bag over her shoulder, “Like, Midoriya’s just calm and focused. But Todoroki? He just feels… cold. Literally and figuratively.”

Izuku nods in agreement. When he went to congratulate the boy for his victory all he responded with was a cold glare before asking him to get out of his way. He was apathetic the most times he saw him, but there was underlying cold rage beneath him. Focused and determined, but for what he cannot tell.

“Hey, dude.” Kaminari shakes his shoulder as he gestures to Ochako and Melissa, chatting as they prepare to leave, “Think I should shoot my shot. What do you think?”

“Already? You’ve only known them for less than two days.” Izuku points out as Kaminari shrugs.

“Might as well, am I right?” he asks, “Just go out and have lunch, see what happens.”

Izuku has to admire his courage, he supposes, “Very well. Fortune favours the bold, I suppose.”

“Thanks, man.” he gives Izuku a quick fistbump before approaching the two girls, “Hey, Shield, you heading out? I know a good ramen place nearby.”

“Wanna bet how long before he gets rejected?” Jirou whispers jokingly.

“Have faith in our friend, Jirou.” Izuku says before looking at the scene unveiling before him.

“And he just got rejected.” Jirou says unsurprisingly, “Apparently she’s heading to the Support Department.”

“Scheduling conflicts. Perhaps he still has a chance.” Izuku shrugs before seeing a disappointed Kaminari recover almost instantly and turning to Ochako, “You have to give it to him, he recovers quickly.”

“Now if only he can put that determination into focusing on his classes that don't involve Midnight.” she snarks, “And also, what’re you doing after this?”

“Hm?” he looks confused at the question before she clarifies,

“It’s just, we've known each other for more than a month now and we’ve never hung out since.” she explains before playfully punching his arm, “Besides, you still owe me a free meal if I recall”

“Ah, I suppose I do.” he nods before looking disappointed, “But my apologies, not today unfortunately. I have an urgent task lined up for today that I can’t miss out on. Perhaps tomorrow, I will definitely be free then.”

“Oh.” Jirou says looking disappointed as well but quickly recovering, “It’s fine. Raincheck on that idea. But what’s this task about?”

“Just a personal project of mine that’s been on-going for quite a while now.” he answers somewhat vaguely. As he says this he notices that Bakugou was leaving as well, a strange look on his face, a mix of rage and downcast.

He would have left him alone but a quick glance and he realises nobody was accompanying him. He’s made not even an acquaintance since the first day while everyone had left or was leaving in at least a pair. Bakugou was all alone.

Perhaps it was an obligation to someone who was once a friend, or perhaps it was sympathy as he himself would hate being alone, but he followed the boy just as he was leaving through the main entrance.

“The f*ck do you want, Deku?” the blonde grumbles without looking backwards.

“Merely checking on a classmate of mine, who appears to be distressed.” Izuku answers as he steps closer to Bakugou, “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s f*cking wrong?!” he snaps as he turns to face Izuku with an angered look, “Everything’s wrong! That’s what’s wrong!”

“...I don’t follow.” Izuku says stumped before thinking further on the issue, “You are talking about your defeat against Todoroki? It was an admittedly one-sided duel but you were at a disadvantage. You lacked knowledge of his capabilities, and your Quirk does not fare well against cold. There is no shame in loss, only-”

“Shut up!” he screams and to Izuku’s surprise, tears start dripping from his eyes, “I don’t need your f*cking pity! I’m suppose to be the f*cking strongest but that half-and-half bastard completely demolished me! And you!”

“Me?” Izuku points at himself confused on what he has to do with things.

“You sh*tty nerd…just when the hell did you get like this? I know you. You’re a f*cking crybaby that cried at the first sign of trouble! Whenever I flash my Quirk at you, you’d go running to mommy!” he snarls on the verge of a breakdown, “And now…How did you, useless Deku, win but I lost?! That’s now how things work!”

So that was the source of all his anger and grief? Was it really that simple? That childish? Izuku sighs before responding,

“It’s been ten years, Kacchan.” he says tiredly, “I’ve changed. If you believe I’ve spent all that time idle, living an idyllic and sedentary life, then you are an even bigger fool than I thought.”

Bakugou was about to snap back but Izuku didn't let him.

“I became stronger because I knew I was weak, so I trained, I learned from the greatest people I knew, absorbed knowledge and skills from every source available, never ceasing. But you? I can only guess, but I can assume you were content with your strength with no one to challenge you, making you complacent.”

“The f*ck are you going on about?!” Bakugou screams but Izuku remains patient.

“What I’m ‘going on about’, is that you were a big fish in a small pond. And now you’ve just been placed in a bigger pond, no longer are you uncontested but you are even surpassed by others. You are not the weakest, but you certainly aren’t the strongest anymore.” Izuku explains, “If you want to get stronger, accept your weaknesses. Strive to overcome them. Learn from your defeat today so you can turn it into a victory one day.”

“Oh get off your high horse.” he growls as he wipes his eyes, “I don’t need bullsh*t rhetoric or preaching from you. I don’t need some pity party. I know I might not be the strongest anymore but it sure as hell ain’t gonna stay that way! You enjoy your win today, but I’ll be better. No one's gonna beat me ever again! I’m going to be the Number 1 Hero, all of you extras can try all you want to take my place, I’ll just throw you back down in the dirt!”

He screams loudly that Izuku was sure those still in the building could hear it. He wasn’t sure if his words had any effect on Bakugou except for reinvigorating his spirit. Time will only tell if he changes out or not, but Izuku wouldn’t bet any money on it.

He checked the sun which was almost starting to set. He spent enough time with this delay, he has to hurry now or he may not have time left to prepare.

***

The place he had found was isolated and far enough that no one would accidentally stumble across it. That was if they could even get past the illusionary runes he set up, if anyone enters they’ll be treated with the sight of an empty cargo container.

He had found this place almost a week after his return to this plane. It was in an abandoned warehouse that was no longer used, it was far enough from his home that his parents won’t somehow accidentally stumble upon it.

With a snap of his finger, the illusory runes deactivated and the cargo container’s contents were revealed. Books, clippings and papers decorate it with topics regarding the various myths and religions of the world with a particular interest in Norse mythology, specifically information of the Bifrost and Yggdrasil. He knows that to this world they’re just myths and stories, but who knows if they have any grain of truth to them. He’s met the occasional god in his travels before, so perhaps he can find this plane’s gods to get answers or even somehow contact its Worldsoul.

Alongside were a number of strange events such as the Tunguska Event and various other unexplained scenarios. Just research into any potential leads that could lead to unveiling the mystery surrounding this plane.

His stay was enjoyable, and he cherishes the connections he’s made. He enjoys the sense of normality that going to UA made him feel. It was refreshing to be with people around his age, but he knows that it was all temporary. Sooner or later he’ll have to go back, he cannot stay forever. Ever since he found this place he had been researching ways to pierce the shroud that is keeping him contained on this plane. Or to track down its source and deactivate whatever arcane artefact or ritual that was powering it.

He grabs a spare journal from the table he placed in his makeshift study, before consulting it and approaching his latest experiment. Painted in the centre of the warehouse was a large arcane circle, where it had connected it to the leylines of the world, channelling its power through the circle.

“Trial #27 continues making some progress. Might make a breakthrough before dinner.” he mutters to himself as he puts on a pair of goggles to shield his eyes from the intense light that was caused by crackling energy within the circle, “Once more into the breach.”

Chapter 9: Chapter 8: Fog of War

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

Kyoka Jirou hums to herself softly as she strums her acoustic guitar, laying on her bed. Her homework for the day was completed, and she was bored out of her mind with nothing else to do. She glances at her phone lying beside her, and thinks about texting someone before scrolling through her list of contacts.

Maybe… Kaminari? The guy was an idiot and a bit of a perv, but they have pretty similar taste in music. Chatting with another rocker would be neat, but she can probably guess midway through the conversation he’ll probably ask her to introduce him to some girls or something. Pass.

And suddenly, she realises that technically Kaminari was the only friend she made in UA so far. Midoriya didn’t count since they met a month before getting into UA. And really, everyone else was acquaintances at best.

…sh*t, she hoped this wasn’t going to turn out like middle school again. Back then she never had any friends besides acquaintances. Turns out that being anti-social and very blunt were not good combinations for making friends. Didn’t help her reputation when she got into a fight with a few bullies who were mocking her for her Quirk. Thank goodness UA seemed to skip that part on her record when they sent their offer.

There was Midoriya, she supposed. They texted and called each other a bunch of times, and their talks were mostly pleasant. He was a great conversationalist, even if he had next to no idea about any topics related to music he would listen attentively, ask questions and actually pay attention. He just enjoyed learning new things and it was endearing.

But he was busy, he said so himself. She doesn’t want to disturb him if it was something very important. Then she remembers how he declined her offer to hang out and remembers feeling her disappointment.

She screams into her pillow. What was up with her lately? She was never one to ask people to hang out. Sure it was different, Midoriya was one of the first genuine friends she made in a while. He was a cool dude, not overbearing or loud, not too distant or silent, just the right amount of presence. And he was confident, looking like he always had a plan for everything, and the way he fussed over her when she was injured…

She slaps herself before her thoughts could go any further. This was probably just the first day jitters speaking. Well… second day jitters, technically. Huh, that actually sounds like a song name that would fit something she’s been working on.

She pulls out a thin notebook hidden in the back of a bookshelf. It was something she put together, a bunch of song ideas that would never see the light of day. Just something to keep her mind busy, a hobby of sorts. She put that down under ‘Potential Song Names’ in case she forgets. Flipping through the pages to check her progress and where she left off before grabbing her guitar and a pen.

At least she has something to keep her entertained for the rest of the day.

***

That certainly hadn’t been there yesterday. Jirou groans at the sight of what looks like a horde of reporters and cameramen outside of UA’s gate. Just being in the general area was already giving her quite a headache from the noise but she has to power through it to get to class.

“Sorry, coming through.” She apologises half-heartedly, as she tries to shove her way through the crowd of reporters who were making it as difficult as possible by swarming and asking her questions with their cameras snapping at near point blank.

“Are you a student of All Might?”

“What is All Might like in class?”

“Would you say the Symbol of Peace is an effective educator?”

She barrels through with gritted teeth, covering her ears to muffle the noise. In the middle of this horde of reporters and flashing cameras it sounded like firecrackers going off. Just when she was going to snap and lose her temper, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Normally she would shake it off but it felt familiar, and then the voice that came with it definitely wasn’t one she would mistake for another.

“Back off, can’t you see you’re making her uncomfortable?” Midoriya snaps at them as he guides her through the crowd, lightly shoving away reporters and ignoring their flurry of questions. His arm was wrapping around her head to help muffle the noise as they moved through the gate where Aizawa greeted them with a sigh.

“Get to class, I’ll deal with this mess.” he grumbles and waves them off before stepping towards the crowd.

“Better now?” Izuku asks as he withdraws his arm from around her ears, “I apologise for surprising you like that, but you looked distressed.”

“Yeah I’m fine now. Sometimes enhanced hearing can be a pain.” she grumbled as she rubs her ears. She glances up at the green haired boy and looks surprised at how dishevelled he looks, black eye bags and somehow his hair was even more unkempt than usual, and his tie as always was a mess.

“Jeez, what happened to you?” she asks concerned, “You looked like you barely slept a wink.”

“I look worse than I feel.” he grumbles as he rubs his eyes, “As for what happened, failed experiment. Leave it at that.”

She frowns, Midoriya was appearing to be more irritated than usual. He seems to notice her frown and sighs,

“I’m sorry, that was rude.” he apologises, “I’m just irritated because I was hoping for a breakthrough this time.”

“Well, if this is some science experiment, why not ask Shield?” Jirou asks, “She’s a smart gal, built that power armour by herself.”

Midoriya just laughs bitterly, “If she could help me I would’ve already asked her. But no, this falls outside her field of science.”

“What are you working on anyways?” she asks out of curiosity.

“It’s a secret.” he answers plainly before they enter their classroom where everyone was in the midst of chatting with each other. Mina seems to notice them first and squeals at something.

Both of them were confused for a moment before realising. Izuku had earlier wrapped his arm around her ears before releasing but he never removed his arm from around her shoulder. He quickly took it off with a blush on his face as he looked away embarrassed, with Jirou doing the same.

“Not a word.” she points threateningly at Mina before finding her seat, “Again, we’re just friends.”

“I didn’t say anything.” the pink-skinned girl says with a snicker.

“We all know what you were thinking.” she growls as she sets her bag down.

“Come on.” Hagurake says as she joins the conversation, “You both walk into class together with his arm wrapped around you. And you keep saying you’re ‘just friends’?”

“...Were you trying to make air quotes?” Jirou asks, unsure since the girl’s hands were invisible.

At that moment Iida called for everyone to return to their seats and quiet down before Aizawa came in as they greeted and bowed to him.

“Hope you’re all rested from yesterday's trials.” he says as he drops a stack of papers on his desk, “I took the liberty of looking at your marks for your trials.”

He glances at Melissa, “Shield, I’m already saying this twice. Learn to use your Quirk properly, the moment you lost your Support Items you became a liability. If you keep the mindset of ‘I can’t adjust to my Quirk, so I have no choice’ you’ll never make it far.”

“Yes, sir.” Melissa nods determined to improve herself.

“As for you Jirou,” he says to said girl who looks surprised, “You need to improve your combat abilities, your enemies aren’t going to just stand there and take your hits.”

She winces at the memory of her quick defeat. He had a point, maybe she should head to the Support Department to get some gear upgrades, and learn to throw a few punches.

“Iida, you should watch where you step next time. In real fights that could very well have been a landmine and you’d be either dead or crippled.” he tells the teen who immediately bowed and thanked him for his advice like the kiss ass he was, “Lastly, Midoriya. Don’t play with your food next time. If you could have disabled an enemy from the beginning, best to use it quickly. Besides that I still see you’re not using your full power.”

“With all due respect sir, it was a spar. We both would have learnt nothing if I instantly took her down.” Midoriya reminds as Melissa looks annoyed at getting reminded about that, “Besides, I wasn’t exactly looking to kill them or destroy the entire building. If I fought all out I would’ve caught everyone in the crossfire, including Jirou.”

“Then you better figure that out quickly.” Aizawa retorts, “You need to improve how power you can use without collateral. Otherwise villains could take advantage of the fact you don’t fight your best in cramped areas. Like All Might said, a majority of villain attacks happen indoors.”

“Understood, sir.” he nods and jots that down in that leather notebook he always carries around.

“Now with that out of the way, let’s get on with homeroom notices.” Aizawa grumbles, “This might come as a surprise to all of you but…”

She hopes this wasn’t some pop quiz or anything, and judging from the accelerating heartbeat of some of the class they were having similar thoughts.

“...you’re gonna have to vote on a class president.”

“That’s so mundane!” more than half the class screeches in surprise with one of the exceptions being Midoriya who raised a hand.

“Apologies sir, but what exactly does that mean? Is that something to do with politics?” he asks, confused but Aizawa simply ignores him and zips up his sleeping bag with himself inside.

“Ask your classmates.” he grumbles as he nestles up against the wall and closes his eyes, “And I don’t care how you do it, just get me the results by the end of homeroom.”

Before he even dozed off the entire class broke into anarchy with almost everyone declaring their intent to become Class President.

“This is madness.” Midoriya mutters as he glances around at the chaos.

“This is politics.” Kaminari shrugs.

“What even is a Class President?” Midoriya asks once again.

“Eh, it’s exactly as it sounds.” he answers nonchalantly, “Everyone in the class votes for one person to be the Class President. Afterwards they’re basically in charge, making sure the class’ happy, safe and getting their work done on time.”

“...So a glorified babysitter for a class full of teenagers?” Midoriya asks, still unsure as Kaminari shrugs again. They continued observing the chaos before Iida took charge,

“Enough!” he demands and silences the class, “This is a task laden with responsibility where you must carry and pull everyone’s weight. It is not some position you can simply claim just because you like it! It is a holy office that requires great esteem and trust of those around you. The only true and worthy leader will emerge from a democratic choice reflecting the will of the people.”

Everyone blinks in surprise at the conviction behind his words, he really seemed to be dedicated to the democratic process of things.

“Isn’t it too early for most of us to trust each other?” Tsuyu asks and Kirishima agrees.

“Yeah, won’t everyone just vote for themselves?”

“Exactly! So the person with the most votes meant they earned their classmates' trust in such a short amount of time making them a viable choice, isn’t that right?” Iida points out.

It was then decided and a box was provided by Yaoyorozu to place the ballots. Jirou hums and thinks about who she should vote for. She was tempted to vote for herself but someone antisocial like her wouldn’t probably be a good Class President so she looked for other choices. Iida was definitely too stiff to be class president, too rigid, but who else could suffice? Kaminari was definitely not presidential material.

There was Momo Yaoyorozu, she seemed like a smart gal with her comments during the Battle Trials and she was pretty skilled with using her Quirk with what she saw. Being able to create objects just by memorising their chemical structure took a lot of brains. But she wasn’t sure if just brains were enough for being president.

Then there was a certain green haired boy who seemed to have quickly made his decision and submitted his vote; Jirou thinks he would make a good choice. He quickly took charge in the Battle Trials and came up with a plan in an instant. He was a great listener, confident, patient and just the right amount of professionalism, not overbearing like Iida was.

Making her decision, she writes his name down on a slip of paper before submitting it. And once everyone was finished, it was Yaoyorozu and Iida who made the final count before writing them down on the blackboard with two names at the top.

Izuku Midoriya: 4

Tenya Iida: 3

“You gotta be sh*tting me!” Bakugou rages as he slams his desk hard, “Who’re the dumbasses that voted for sh*tty Deku?!”

“Guess we know who you didn’t vote for.” Sero snarks as Jirou keeps her head down in case the angry blonde pomeranian suspects her. Last thing she needed was a migraine this early in the morning. And judging from the whistling coming from Kaminari he must have voted for him as well. But then who was the third and fourth vote? Midoriya didn’t seem like the kinda guy to vote for himself.

The green haired boy looks surprised and uncertain at that, “Are you sure there hasn’t been a mistake?”

“None. We have counted it three times and you possess the highest number of votes.” Iida nods, “I look forward to working with you as your Vice-President, Midoriya.”

“Well, not exactly a bad choice.” Sero shrugs.

“Yeah, he was pretty badass in the Battle Trials.” Kirishima agrees, “He’ll make a kickass Class President.”

The President and Vice-President stood in front of the class and Midoriya clears his throat before speaking,

“Well, I certainly did not expect to get elected.” Midoriya admits, “I’ve played some roles before but a leader was never one of them. But I won’t back down from this challenge, I won’t let down those of you who put their faith in me. I’ll strive to perform to the best of my abilities.”

***

“So, Class Prez.” Kaminari greets as he slides into the seat next to Izuku in the cafeteria, “How’s it feel to be elected?”

“Honestly? Unnerving.” Izuku sighs as he digs into his katsudon, “I’ve never led anyone for anything before so I don’t have any experience to draw from.”

“What are you talking about? You led us pretty well in the Battle Trials.” Jirou remembers as she ate her meal.

“That was just strategizing and executing a plan.” he argues, “Anyone can come with a plan, being a leader isn’t just about being smart, or strong. It’s about inspiring followers to reach new heights, to go ‘Plus Ultra’ as the school says. I’m not sure I have that figured out yet.”

“Nonetheless, quick decision making and strategic mind are still both great aspects of a leader.'' A familiar voice came from behind Izuku who spun to see Iida approaching the table with Yaoyorozu following him.

“It was the reason you had my vote.” Yaoyorozu says, “Your performance in the Battle Trials showed the traits of an effective leader, like Iida said.”

“So you were two of my votes then?” Izuku asks before glancing towards Kaminari and Jirou, “And you two were the rest, I assume?”

The two nod as Iida and Yaoyorozu sit down.

“So if all of us voted for you, who would you vote for then?” Jirou asks out of curiosity.

“Him actually.” Izuku nudges at Iida with an elbow, “The class seems to be quite chaotic, if someone were to take charge I would have liked it to be someone with law and order in mind, to balance it out.”

Iida looks touched at that, “So you were one of my votes then? Truly, I am touched by the faith you have in me. I’ll strive to work hard as your Vice-President!”

“What’re you doing here anyways?” he asks as they haven’t really eaten lunch together before, so it was odd.

“I merely believe it would be best for the President and Vice-President to familiarise themselves with each other so we can serve our class to the best of our abilities.” Iida says.

“And I followed because I wanted to see what you two had in mind for our class.” Yaoyorozu answered, “Now that you have become President, what do you suppose you’ll do first?”

Izuku ponders for a moment. What would a leader do in a situation like this? Jace was practically the leader of Gatewatch but it was more about getting all the different personalities and individuals to work together and pointed at a common goal.

Besides that everyone else pretty much did their own thing. Honestly after that most of them went their own ways after Gideon’s memorial service, Chandra went on a heroics spree and he remained in sparse contact with her but he hears that she adventured with Ajani and reconciled with her mother, Nissa went back to Zendikar to continued her roles as the plane’s protector, Kaya went hunting for those aligned with Bolas that escaped after the War as part of her redemption, Terfiri went with Karn to discuss about Phyrexians and the Mirran Resistance fighting them, and as for him?

He lived in Jace’s house in Ravnica much after the war, helping to stabilise the plane after the devastation and helping with any local problems no matter how small. One of the ways of coping after his mentor and father figure’s death. Besides that he joined Jace on his journey to Zendikar to search for the Lithoform Core. Other than that it took quite a long time before Gatewatch mostly reunited before their adventure to Innestread. The months without Gatewatch had been rough on him.

“Midoriya?” Yaoyorozu asks again and he realises he had spaced off once more.

“Sorry.” he apologises before thinking once more, “Well, as my duty as class president it would be to make sure my classmates are safe…Perhaps we can begin a program where we can discuss practicalities of our current hero uniforms and how to upgrade them. For example, we should find a way to modify Yaoyorozu’s uniform so that it will allow her to use her Quirk without showing that much skin, providing better protection.”

“Well, the recent battle with Todoroki has been food for thought.” she admits, embarrassed, “I could probably do with something that doesn’t leave me too exposed to extreme temperatures, like Melissa suggests.”

“An excellent suggestion!” Iida applauds, “Taking initiative to improve upon ourselves without our teachers pushing us!”

“Wait, does that mean no more skin-tight costumes?” Kaminari asks, “No more cleavage? No more skimpy costumes?”

“My costume is not ‘skimpy’!” Yaoyorozu protests with a blush, “I just…it was practical at least on paper when I came up with it.”

“I’m afraid so, Kaminari.” Izuku nods as he eats, “They don’t provide much protection. I’m thinking of at least some lightweight form of armour. Some half-plate perhaps or a cuirass. Or perhaps boiled leather at the very least.”

“...Can I take back my vote?” he asks sullenly before Jirou smacks him with her earjacks, “Ow! Class President, Jirou is bullying me again!”

“I’ll stop once you get your mind out of the gutter.” Jirou shoots back as she stabs him again as he tries swatting the earjacks. Izuku just looks amused at the scene as Iida attempts to stop the two from fighting. Meanwhile Yaoyorozu continued with her discussion,

“Perhaps you could switch to Kevlar if you are so concerned with practicality.” she suggests, “It’s five times stronger than steel, afterall.”

Kevlar, an organic fibre native to this plane that he has heard off before. He would’ve attempted to try making some armour from it but his father had scarce resources to work with.

“I would actually like to keep my costume as close to its original design as possible but I suppose it could have some use. I’ll look into it.” he nods his head as he jots the idea down mentally for later.

He doesn’t know what Yaoyorozu was about to say because at that moment, an ear piercing alarm rang. Jirou was the first to react, almost falling over, screaming in pain as she covered her ears to little effect.

“Jirou!” Izuku sprang to action and leapt over the table as he created a copy of the earphones she wore.

“SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BROKEN! ALL STUDENTS EVACUATE IN AN ORDERLY PROCEDURE!”

An automated voice rang out as everyone began panicking and fleeing as fast as possible, contrary to the automated voice’s orders.

“Level 3?! What the hell is going on?!” Kaminari asks as he covers his ears to shield himself from the alarm.

“It’s when someone has infiltrated the building!” Iida responds with a chop of his hands, “Did you not view the recorded student orientation that Aizawa sent to us on our student emails?”

“...We have student emails?” Kaminari asks.

Izuku ignores them both as he holds Jirou’s head in his arms and helps her slip on the earphones.

“f*ck…thanks, Midoriya.” she says with a pained grunt as Izuku looks around to analyse the situation. The students were reacting in a panic and all but trampling each other as they rushed to safety. Glancing outside the window he expected to see some dangerous horde of villains attacking but his jaw drops,

“Are those reporters from earlier?” he asks no one in particular, more out of frustration, “Iida, Momo, I want the two of you to let everyone know it’s just reporters. Get everyone to calm down and return to their classes just in case.”

He says as he storms towards the window, his pupils glowing blue. He had seen the gate of UA, multiple feet of thick steel. If it’s destroyed it means something with overwhelming force, something he cannot allow on these school grounds, the same place where his friends were. He will not allow harm to be brought upon his classmates, even if the chance was miniscule he had to be sure.

These reporters were threats, or at the very least a threat could use the chaos they were causing to sneak in and do whatever they please. He will deal with them as he would any threat, and remove them.

“I’ll deal with our intruders.”

He flickers blue before vanishing like a ghost, phasing through the wall and placing himself in front of the school’s main entrance.

“Enough!” he shouts as he flickers into existence in front of the crowd of reporters surprising them, “You are trespassing on the campus. Leave. Now.”

He says in a clear tone that indicates no negotiation, enhancing it with mana to make sure everyone heard him clearly. All it did was get the reporters to pause for a moment before shouting erupts again and they attempted to push through him to get to the main entrance.

“Who do you think you are, brat?”

“We’ve been waiting for two days straight!”

“Give us All Might! He’s in there right?!”

“One comment! Just one comment!”

He grits his teeth as he feels anger building within him. If they will not listen to his first and only warning, then so be it. Removal by force it was.

He stomps with a foot infused with red mana, spreading it within the earth and cracking it, creating a seismic shockwave that blasted back the reporters.

“I warned you all.” he says coldly before shaping the earth with geomancy to force all the reporters back through the broken gate before snapping his fingers and creating a stone wall to block the hole.

With that dealt with he sighs as he hears footsteps behind him.

“Real impressive, little listener.” Present Mic whistles at the sight, “Damn, I always wanted to do something like that to the media.”

“Quiet, Mic.” Aizawa grumbles before looking at Izuku right in the eye, “And what do you think you’re doing?”

“Resolving the issue.” Izuku answers as he gestures to the makeshift stone wall he used to seal the gate, “They were trespassing, meaning they were potential threats. I dealt with them as such.”

Aizawa sighs and facepalms, “I don’t get paid enough for this. You know you technically just assaulted them with your Quirk, which a lot would consider unlawful. The media’s gonna eat us up for this. I can see the headlines, ‘UA encourages students to attack civilians with Quirks’.”

“I apologise if that will cause issues, but I only saw potential threats to my classmates and reacted to remove them. After all, my duty as class president is to keep my class safe, is it not?” he asks Aizawa rhetorically, never breaking eye contact.

“You didn’t do the wrong thing, but you sure as hell made a large mess that needs cleaning up.” Aizawa sighs again before waving him off, “Get back to class and make sure your classmates are alright, I’ll take care of this mess.”

Izuku nods and bows before taking his leave.

“Huh, would’ve thought you’d threaten to expel him.” Present Mic says once he was out of earshot, “Getting soft, Eraser?”

Aizawa scoffs, “Trust me, if I was allowed I would’ve done worse to the media. What they did was borderline villainous. Still, the kid could learn some restraint at least. He should learn that cleaning up messes isn't as fun as starting them.”

Before the two can do anything, Aizawa hears his radio blare and picks it up.

“Yeah?”

“Ah, Aizawa.” Principal Nedzu says from the other hand of the radio, “I was watching from my office. Your student performed quite the spectacle.”

“He was justified, for all we know there could’ve been a villain amongst them.” Aizawa says, sounding defensive.

“Oh I have no argument he did the right thing. Always a delight seeing those vultures get what's coming to them.” Nedzu cackles from the other end, “I’d like to meet him if you don’t mind.”

“Sir?” Aizawa asks confused, “If he’s not in trouble-”

“Oh relax, Eraserhead. Just a friendly chat between the student and principal.” the rat chuckles, “Would you kindly send him up to my office once classes ends?”

He says in a tone indicating it wasn’t a suggestion, but an order. Aizawa immediately felt concern for the boy, nothing was just ‘a friendly chat’ with the principal.

***

“Are you sure this is wise, Nedzu?” Toshinori asks in his deflated, skinny form.

“Why not?” Nedzu asks as he pours two cups of tea, “We both have questions, so instead of beating around the bush too much why not get answers directly from the source?”

“And what if he is?” Toshinori asks, “If he truly is an agent seeking revenge, and the time comes we arrest him, how do we break the news to his classmates? From what I’ve seen and heard he’s made a considerable amount of friends in his brief time in UA.”

Nedzu sighs, “Quietly concealing things would be more trouble than it’s worth. I suppose the blunt truth will have to suffice. But this is if our theory is proven right. So far the evidence we have is circ*mstantial, and I very much hope that this promising student of ours proves we are just being paranoid. It would be a shame to lose someone as talented as him.”

A knock on the door interrupts them as the door opens to reveal Izuku Midoriya.

“Sir, you asked to see me?” he asks politely as he stands to attention, arms clasped around his back and standing straight, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything, sir.

Nedzu nods and beckons him, “Ah yes I did, please come in. And don’t worry, we were just finishing up.”

Toshinori glanced between the two before taking his leave, “Yes, we were. Please be sure to let me know how it goes, Principal Nedzu.”

He is moved by Izuku who seems to be staring at him with curiosity and a hint of suspicion behind his impassive face. It was…concerning, as if he recognises him. If he recognises that All Might and Toshinori Yagi were the same this could present a lot of issues, but Nedzu keeps a smile on his face as he beckons the green haired child to sit.

“Sit, have a drink. I insist.” Nedzu says as he sips his own cup of tea, “I suppose you are aware of why I called you here, Midoriya?”

Izuku nods as he inspects the cup of tea in his hands, “I suppose it’s about my actions to the reporters? May I remind you they were trespassing on private property which by the law would make them criminals?”

Nedzu laughs, “Oh yes, that was quite a delightful performance. And rest assured I have no problems with how you did things, always refreshing to see a student take initiative. But still, as we speak quite a few are questioning UA about your behaviour, because no matter the reason a student still attacked civilians with his Quirks.”

He intentionally used the word Quirks instead of singular Quirk to gauge the boy’s reaction. There didn’t appear to be any, either he didn’t catch that or he did and was hiding it. The boy simply continued looking neutral as he blows on the hot tea to cool it down before sipping it,

“They were willing to destroy school property to get inside, meaning at least one of them had a Quirk strong enough to do so. That was clearly hostile intent so I retaliated as such.” Izuku says and for the first time Nedzu hears a change in his tone, almost sounding angry, “I couldn’t allow any hostiles within the school grounds, within reach of my classmates, so I did my duty as class president to keep them safe.”

“Taking your duties a bit too seriously?” Nedzu asks as he takes another sip, “Unlawful use of Quirks against civilians usually results in expulsion from Hero Courses, are you aware of that?”

“With all due respect sir, if you are going to punish me do not beat around the bush.” Izuku says, sounding almost irritated, “I took action against a potential threat to the safety of my friends and classmates, and I have no regrets doing so.”

“Would you allow yourself to be expelled? Have a black mark on your record?” Nedzu asks curiously, “It would mean a lot of trouble getting enrolled into another school with a Hero Course.”

“If I got expelled keeping my friends and class safe from a potential threat? Without question.” he nods with steel in his voice.

Nedzu smiles genuinely at that, “Respectable. But rest assured that will not happen. Rest assured what the reporters did was clearly villainous and appropriate legal action will be taken against them.”

Midoriya raises a brow at that looking confused, “So why have you called me here?”

“To be honest, a simple chat between student and principal.” Nedzu says as he opens a drawer and pulls out a small stack of paper, “To satisfy my curiosity, really.”

He places the papers on his desk and push it towards Midoriya who picks them up and sees a newspaper page on the top of the stack,

“Teleporting Child Gone Missing”

“You have been missing for ten years, I’m merely curious as to what you have been up to in those times.” Nedzu says as he takes another sip, “You evidently have not remained idle. I have seen recordings of your Battle Trial and the Entrance Exam, one does not get on your skill level without training and experience.”

“...Do you dig up the past of all your students, sir?” Midoriya asks with a slight edge to his tone indicating his suspicion and caution, “Or is it just me?”

“Only those that catch my interest, Midoriya.” Nedzu says, “A boy went missing for ten years and comes back with skills like yours? Quite curious don’t you agree?”

The boy shrugs as he taps the cup in his hand, “I suppose that does bring up a lot of questions. Very well, you were kind enough to provide refreshments and it will be a shame to waste them. If it will satisfy your curiosity, ask away and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”

“Excellent.” Nedzu says he had expected the boy to put up a fight to retain his secrets, but it doesn’t seem so, “If I may ask, where did you end up after your teleportation?”

“Some place cold, in the middle of a blizzard. The moment I arrived I was almost instantly buried in snow.” he answers simply, “I almost froze to death were it not for the arrival and intervention of a great man.”

Snow? Somewhere near North or South perhaps. Alaska? Russia? Perhaps even the North and South Pole? All for One’s grip stretched very far even if he remained mostly in Japan. What was concerning was this ‘great man’ that saved Midoriya.

“A great man?”

“Yes.” The boy smiles for the first time since his arrival and Nedzu detects a tone close to reverence in his voice, “The greatest man I’ve ever met, and my mentor. He taught me how to control my powers. Sent me to a place, a school, to further hone my skills. I owe him my life and more than I could ever possibly repay.”

“This mentor of yours, did he have a name?”

“He told me to call him Gideon. But if you’re asking for his birth name it wasn’t that, still Gideon was what everyone called him.”

Nedzu nods impassively at that, deep in thought, before asking, “And why did he not send you home? Surely you must have explained you had a family waiting for you? Wondering and worrying where you are.”

And just like that the boy’s mood soured, “He tried his best, but returning was not as simple as you think it was.”

“Is that what he told you?” Nedzu asks. Perhaps this ‘Gideon’ wasn’t as benevolent as he sounded. Perhaps he wanted to make use of Midoriya for his Quirk. Such cases were not uncommon, and an extremely rare Quirk like Midoriya’s would mean many would want to have that in their pockets.

Midoriya narrows his eyes, “I don’t like what you’re implying, sir. We did all we could, but returning home wasn’t as simple as hopping on some vehicle for a few hours of travel.”

Very defensive of his mentor it seems.

“If it isn’t simple then please, enlighten me.” Nedzu insists.

The boy was tense now, “With all due respects, sir. I’d like to keep that information for myself. We all have our secrets don’t we?”

Midoriya asks rhetorically as his eyes glanced backwards where Toshinori has left. So the boy knows, somehow he was able to discern the relation between All Might and Toshinori Yagi. And was now taking advantage of that? Nedzu would have applauded such cut-throat behaviour had it been any other circ*mstances. But just what was he hiding? What possible reason could there be for being unable to return home for ten years?

“Of course, Midoriya.” Nedzu nods, not letting his smile fall, “But continuing, I would like to know which institute this ‘Gideon’ sent you. Perhaps it is one I’m familiar with?”

Midoriya almost smirks at that as he hides it behind a sip from his cup, “It went by the name Strixhaven. I very much doubt you’d heard of it, but you are welcome to surprise me.”

Nedzu wracks his mind searching through his memory for that name but to his annoyance he comes up blank. It could be a false name to throw him off, a red herring, but something tells him otherwise.

“I do not know of any official institution that goes by that name.” Nedzu concedes, “Is it located somewhere perhaps in the West? The United Kingdom perhaps?”

He recalls All Might busting a training facility in the UK that All for One used for valuable underlings a few years before his climactic battle with the villain. Midoriya just shrugs at that and continues sipping his tea. Nedzu doesn’t like it but he has to admit some difficulty reading the boy. Whoever taught him to hide his feelings like this taught him well.

“And they taught you how to fight?”

“Among other things.” Midoriya nods, “But my stay was brief, for barely a year. My mentor came calling with a favour to help track down an old friend of his. I followed him and it was where I had my first taste in combat.”

“He dragged a child to combat?” Nedzu asks, “That was quite irresponsible.”

“Unknowingly.” Midoriya defends, “He tried sending me back as soon as possible but I stuck by him. I owed him my life, so despite his protests I stood by him and we would meet others like him. We banded together, fought together and I learned from them. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”

“And who did you fight exactly? Villains?”

Midoriya sighs as if in exhaustion, “Villains…That would be understating but still an apt description. Before you ask, no, you wouldn’t have heard of them.”

“I see.” Nedzu hums, “The way you described them, it almost sounds as if they were vigilantes. Are you saying you were a vigilante, Izuku Midoriya?”

“Can one be a vigilante if the land he fought in had no such law?” Midoriya asks before looking down at an empty cup, “And what else? I spent…I spent almost five years with them before I found my way home. Possibly the best five years of my life.”

He says with a soft smile before looking up to face Nedzu, “Those were how I spent the past ten years. I hope your curiosity is satisfied, sir.”

“Quite a tale you’ve told me, Midoriya. It does fill in the large gap.” Nedzu nods, “But I still find myself with questions. You neglected to mention the specifics of how you returned exactly, and just why it took ten years. And the identities of your other compatriots.”

“With all due respect, Principal Nedzu. Not even my own family knows that yet, so forgive me if I’m reluctant to share it with you. You ask for me to explain what happened between the ten years and I have, I hope you will be satisfied with that.” Midoriya says as he sets the empty cup down on the table, “It has been a pleasant talk, but if you would excuse me? I had plans to visit the Support Department after class.”

“Very well, I’ve kept you for long enough. Thank you for your time Midoriya, and satisfying my curiosity. Have a good day.”

Midoriya gets up to leave before he remembers something and reaches for his bag, “Ah yes, before I forget. I wanted to hand this to you.”

He pulls out a small stack of paper binded together and hands it to Nedzu.

“For me? What is it?” Nedzu asks genuinely curious as he flips through it.

“Merely suggestions. The alarm for UA nearly incapacitated one of my classmates, Kyoka Jirou, because of its volume. I would recommend toning it down for anyone with enhanced sensory Quirks, and use a combination of sound and visual to alert people instead, by having lights turn red for example. You’ll find a multitude of suggestions within that binder.” Midoriya explains, “And a recommendation for weekly drills. The students nearly trampled themselves during their evacuation effort; some regular drills may help keep them calm during events of a real emergency and prevent injuries.”

“I see.” Nedzu nods as he reads his suggestions, “I’ll be sure to look through these, you have my thanks for this Midoriya. Your class chose well for the Class President.”

“Thank you, sir.” Midoriya bows, “But I also have one more question, if you don’t mind.”

Nedzu motions for him to go on and Izuku turned serious and concerned,

“The alarm. It mentioned a Level 3 security breach which indicated someone breaching the main building.” Izuku slowly says, “But when I intercepted the reporters, they were only halfway through the courtyard and in the midst of making a mad dash to the entrance of the building. Why is that so?”

It was Nedzu’s turn to be serious, “I see…so you’ve caught that as well. We searched our security cameras but we found no traces of anyone within the main building. Nothing was missing as well. It could just be a system error.”

“And what about the cause for the gate’s destruction?” Izuku presses, “Has the person been caught?”

“...No. Footage shows an unidentified male approaching the gate and destroying it with a single touch before making his leave.” Nedzu confesses, “I recommend you to leave the situation to us, your teachers. We are Pro Heroes as well, and you can rest assured we will get to the bottom of this.”

“...Very well, sir.” Midoriya says after a pause and bowing once more, “I’ll be taking my leave now.”

***

Toshinori tries to press his ear against the door to try and get a glimpse of what they were conversing about. But to his disappointment it was quite soundproof so he was unable to. But then the door unlocks and he quickly moves away and attempts to look as if he had been busy scrolling through his phone instead of attempting to listen in.

Midoriya exits and looks at him with a confused glance before shrugging it off and walking away. There was also that inquisitive gleam in his eyes when he glanced at him, one that made him nervous, as if it was able to see through the facade.

He enters the room as quickly as possible to find Nedzu pondering, his hands clasping together under his chin.

“Well?” he asks as he shuts the door behind him, “What did you find? Is he truly-?”

“An agent of All for One seeking revenge?” Nedzu finishes for him, “...I do not believe he is one.”

“You don’t think so?” Toshinori asks, flabbergasted. It was always a yes or no when it comes to Nedzu, through the years they knew each other, the number of times he wasn’t completely sure could be counted on two hands.

“He gave no concrete answer, most of what he told me were half-truths or he refused to elaborate or explain himself. And reading him was a bit of a challenge, so calm, only letting his mask crack a few times.” Nedzu says with a cackle, “I’m almost looking forward to figuring out this strange puzzle before me. But as for whether he has any involvement with that villain? It is unlikely.”

“So… he’s just a normal student then?” Toshinori asks with some hope before Nedzu shakes his head.

“Definitely not ordinary, that much I can say. If we can take what he says as face value, he may have been raised and trained as a vigilante of sorts, in somewhere where the laws were either lenient or non-existent.” Nedzu explains what Midoriya told him, “That would explain his combat prowess, but despite what he says about his ‘mentors’ I find it hard to believe that ‘Gideon’ had completely pure intentions with the child, afterall he was kept away from his family for ten years. Perhaps he saw potential in the boy’s Quirk and wanted to wield it to his own ends. And furthermore they joined up with more vigilantes to form a group of sorts, and evidently fought together for sometime, but then one day Midoriya left for some reason or the other.”

“Perhaps he wised up to their intentions?” Toshinori suggests, “Maybe they did something he doesn’t agree with morally, and couldn’t stand with them any more.”

Nedzu shook his head, “Unlikely, he spoke of them with reverence and he talked about how his time spent with them were the best years of his life.”

“Could he have been brainwashed perhaps? Toshinori asks, concerned and slightly enraged. The thought of one of his students having been taken advantage of boils his blood.

“It remains to be seen. Like I said, this is just a theory, with what information Midoriya gave us. It was difficult to get a read on him, for all we know he could have been lying.”

“I find it difficult to believe someone can lie that well to your face, Principal Nedzu.” Toshinori says as Nedzu chuckles.

“Not lying exactly, omitting several details with a pinch of half-truths to be accurate. As a result it’s hard to separate facts and falsehoods from his story.” Nedzu says, “We have a puzzle before us but the pieces we were given are incomplete and we aren’t sure if they’re the right pieces as well.”

“So, we either have a brainwashed agent of All for One seeking revenge, or we have a vigilante trained from childhood.” Toshinori recounts with a sigh, “And here I thought the biggest trouble I’d have with students would be convincing them to pay attention in class. What do we do with him then?”

“For now? We continue to do some digging but do nothing directly towards him. We’ll keep a close eye on him but I doubt he’ll be in any trouble.” Nedzu says as he shows the stack of paper Midoriya gave him, “He seemed very serious about the safety of his classmates. Now that I could tell he was being completely honest about it, either that or he’s a very good actor.”

***

Izuku walks out of the office passing by the skeletal form of who he assumes to be All Might. The similarities were just too much, both had roughly the same hair and with a quick check he found their mana signatures match, so unless there were three people running around with the same Quirk then the skeletal man was All Might.

Probably took some sort of other form to avoid getting noticed for whatever reason. He doesn’t blame him, if the reporters were what he has to deal with every passing second he would choose to disguise himself as well.

But back on topic, it was clear that the reporters were some sort of diversionary tactic. An infiltrator had entered the school during the breach but why? If nothing was stolen, then it ruled out theft. If no one was injured or killed, that ruled out assassinations. What in the world could there be in a school that would be worth breaking into? It wasn’t like it was Strixhaven where there could be ancient artefacts or scrolls, mastercrafted artworks or secrets that would justify risking breaking into.

Sending a message then? To let UA know their power? But if so, where was the perpetrator’s signature? Was it the act of a singular daredevil or part of the plan of an organisation seeking to undermine UA for whatever reason?

So many questions, not enough answers. But one thing was certain.

The perpetrator was able to destroy the gate with a single touch, as Nedzu described. And he managed to escape without detection. It was likely another attempt would be made, and he fears that instead of swarms of reporters, it could very well be regiments of hardened killers, or hordes of monstrosities.

His mind instantly shows him visions of Eldrazi storming UA and massacring the students as teachers desperately fought back. He sees hordes of Eternals through the hallways with a dragon toppling the main building, melting glass and steel with its breath. Finally the image of Phyrexians completing his classmates, turning them against each other.

He struggles to breath as he leaned against the wall for support. He won’t let anything like that happen. Never again.

No matter the threat he will protect his class. He played the role of student, but now he’ll play the role as defender and for that he requires armaments.

The route to the Support Course was short but by the time he arrived he had already decided on plans and sketched out mental blueprints for constructing it, and a list of materials he’ll need. Just as he was about to open the door, years of reflexes honed by combat and being housemates with a pyromancer had him leap away from the door just as an explosion knocked it off by the hinges.

“Hatsume!” yelled a familiar voice, “What the hell was that?”

“Shield?” Izuku asks in surprise as he dispels the smoke with a spell, seeing Melissa Shield dressed in overalls and covered in soot stumbling out of the workshop in a daze.

“Midoriya?” she looks in surprise as she removes the goggles that shielded her eyes, “What are you doing here?”

“I came because I am in need of services provided by the Support Course.” he says as he glances over her, “What happened? It looks like a bomb went off.”

Before Melissa could answer, another voice interrupts, “Just a little something I call ‘progress’!”

A girl with pink dreadlocks appeared from behind Shield with a pair of strange goggles over her head and eyes that looked like they had crosshairs on her pupils.

“Progress?!” Melissa asks incredulously as she turns around angrily, “You nearly blew up the entire workshop for the tenth time today!”

“Come on, Shield. You should know there’s no progress without setbacks!” The girl, Hatsume as Melissa had called her, shrugs off her complaints and goes back to her workbench where a flaming wreck of some device laid, “We all learn something new from failure. Case in point, I learnt that this baby can only overclock at 109% before breaking down. Don’t worry little guy, momma’s gonna get you all fixed up.”

Melissa seems to be wrestling with whether or not to commit manslaughter from sheer frustration. Aiming to keep his classmate out of jail, he decides to interrupt.

“So…what exactly happened?” he asks the blonde engineer who sighs.

“Izuku Midoriya, meet Mei Hatsume.” she gestures to the pink haired girl currently working on repairing her wrecked device, “She’s my classmate in Class 1H, that’s the Support part of my hybrid course. And that explosion? Let’s just say she goes overboard with testing her inventions.”

“Hey, better for it to go wrong in testing than in the field, am I right?” Hatsume asks rhetorically as she puts out the flame with a small fire extinguisher.

“The difference is that you intentionally, and explosively, overclock your devices!” Melissa snaps back irritated, “You’re a living workplace hazard!”

“I leave for the bathroom, for five minutes.” came another voice from behind Izuku who finds a slouching shirtless man with some sort of oversized helmet who sighs at the sight before him, “Hatsume?”

“Hatsume.” Melissa nods.

“For the love of…” the man rests a hand on his helmet before sighing again, “At this rate I think we’ll have to seal off her entire working area, build a wall around it.”

“Please do.” Melissa begs, exhausted, “I’ve been with her for barely three days and I feel I’m at my breaking point.”

“Oh! That’s a great idea!” Hatsume says enthusiastically, “Less distractions when I’m working on my babies.”

The man sighs before turning to Izuku, “Sorry for all that, I don’t recognise you from the Support Course so I’m guessing you’re from the Hero Course. Here for some Support Items or upgrades?”

“Yes, and you must be Higari Maijima, Power Loader.” Izuku bows, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Izuku Midoriya.”

“He’s my classmate in the Hero Course actually.” Melissa says, “And our class president.”

“Really? In that case, glad to meet you.” Majima says, “So what’re you here for exactly?”

“I’m here for a weapon actually.” Izuku explains, “Something that I believe will help me make use of my Quirk more effectively and precisely during combat.”

“Well I’m sure we can think something up.” Melissa says as she pulls out a notebook, “If you can give some details on your Quirk-”

“Actually, I'd rather do it myself.” he says, surprising the two of them and Hatsume who stopped working on her device to listen, “I was thinking I could borrow some equipment and material to construct it myself.”

“Really?” Majima asks, curious, “Not a lot of Pro Heroes or students make their own gear. Here I thought Melissa was going to be the only one, but shows what I know. It’s great to see kids like you taking an interest in their gear.”

He gestures to a collection of empty workbenches, “Pick a workbench, is there any specific equipment or materials you need?”

“I need metal, anything works as long as it’s strong but lightweight. As for equipment, do you happen to have a forge?”

***

“Here we are.” Majima says as he pulls a sheet of plastic off a furnace of unfamiliar design, “We don’t really have much use of it, so it’s been lying in storage for who knows how long.”

“I can tell.” Izuku says as he kneels to get a closer look and places a hand on it, “Look at you, fallen into disuse like this. Left to linger and rust. I hope you have enough for one last creation at least.”

“Are you…talking to a furnace?” Majima asks, incredulous.

“I believe that tools should be given the proper respect they deserve.” Izuku shrugs as he snapped his finger and lit its interior with fire, “It’ll serve its purpose.”

“I’m surprised it still works.” Majima admits, “I don’t really remember a time I’ve ever seen it put to use. And as for materials I got a few slabs of titanium from our fabricators, I hope it’ll suffice.”

He hands the bars to Izuku who tested their weight before nodding, “They’ll do. Many thanks, sir.”

Using telekinesis, he guides the metal to the furnace.

“I hope you don’t mind if I stay, I’m curious about what you’re cooking up.” Majima says, “Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone make a Support Item like a blacksmith before.”

“Very well.” Izuku nods as he sets up the rest of the equipment by summoning with his magic. An anvil and a pair of goggles to shield his eyes. Once that was done he snapped his fingers again and the flames intensified, burning bright blue as the titanium bars started glowing orange instantly, Majima had to take a step back from the sheer heat the furnace was emitting but Izuku was protected by a layer of mana that shielded him.

He waits for the metal to melt before once more using telekinesis to whisk the molten metal from the furnace, hovering it in front of him in an orb before waving his hands and shaping the metal to form a long, thin pole with a sharp head.

The metal starts to cool already but he sets the molten spear, contained within a telekinetic field, down on the anvil before raising a hand and manifesting a hammer of pure red mana before slamming it down hard. Occasionally between strikes he would return the spear to the furnace to heat the metal, making it more malleable, before striking once more.

Each blow sends a shockwave that was felt through the room, both Melissa and Hatsume pausing from their respective work to glance at the commotion.

Izuku pays them no heed as with each blow he infuses into the spear red mana before the hammer shatters from the last impact. Undeterred he creates another one, made of white mana this time, before bringing it down once more, repeating the process.

Each blow shapes the spear in ways it shouldn’t have, but was made possible through magic. Each blow infuses what he expects of the weapon. Something to be used to defend others, to protect first and foremost. To strike at anyone who would see harm be brought to innocents.

With the last blow he raises his empty hand to his mouth before biting down hard, drawing blood and letting a drop fall on the still glowing hot spear. It fizzles as the spear pulses with red and white energy, now it will recognise and act only in accordance to its wielder.

Once that was done he grabbed it with glowing blue hands, cooling the metal, until it shined with a silver sheen. The spear was six feet tall with a diameter of two inches, made completely out of titanium. The tip of it was slender and triangular but with two circular holes in its centres, each glowing with red and white mana he had infused within it. He gives it one more look before nodding in approval, it will do nicely.

“That’s…certainly new.” Majima says after taking a moment to get over his surprise, “So you used your Quirk to assist in making it, thereby cutting the time required by a significant amount. It’s impressive, may I?”

He held his hands out and Izuku moved to hand it over when a pink blur rushed by and snatched it from his hands.

“That was so cool!” Hatsume says as she looks it over with gleaming eyes, “You used your Quirk to help make it? What’s it to do, it can’t possibly be just a normal spear can it?”

“I just infused it with energy generated by my Quirk.” Izuku explains as he snatches it back before she could poke her eyes out, “This would allow me to manipulate it and channel my skills in a more precise manner without sacrificing firepower.”

He taps the butt of the spear on the floor before it shrinks into the size of a baton, further surprising everyone. As he tests its weight, Hatsume grabs him by both his shoulders.

“You. Me. Partners!” she demands with a hungry and fiery look in her eyes, “Can you imagine the sorta babies we’ll make together? My designs and your Quirk? We’d make the best babies the world’s ever seen!”

“Pardon?!” Izuku asks flabbergasted with a flush on his cheeks, “Are you suggesting-”

“She means her inventions.” Melissa interrupts and stops his mind before it ventures somewhere else, “But…how does that work?! You just hit it with some glowing hammer and now it can shrink?”

“Along with a multitude of other things.” Izuku says as he flicks the baton and it enlarges to full size with the tip of the spear glowing with red flames, “Like I said, it will also allow me to channel my abilities more precisely. Not my best work but I wanted it done by today so I can use it as soon as possible.”

He shrinks it again before handing it to Majima, “Can I have this assigned to me by tomorrow? If I recall, we have training exercises then and I’d like to get used to it as soon as possible.”

“Uh, sure.” he holds it pointed away from his face just in case, “How does it work? It’s like you somehow reduce its mass but that shouldn’t be possible.”

“I used my Quirk to make it, and well… Quirks are weird, aren’t they.” he shrugs as he glances at Melissa, using the same words she used to try and satisfy his questions on how her Quirk worked.

The blonde engineer looks annoyed, “But that’s not a satisfactory answer!”

“Yes, annoying isn’t it?” Izuku says, unable to hide a slight grin as Majima struggles to think of how to fill out the paperwork for his new weapon and Hatsume goes on listing ideas of ‘babies’ they could make together.

***

“It’s marvellous, don’t you think?”

A short, bald man with a bushy moustache muses as he gazes at a creature within a large cylindrical glass vat full of viscous green liquid. Inside was a massive beast with a bird-like head and exposed brain, charcoal black skin with surgical scars running through its body, and four separate arms each strong enough to crush an armoured truck like paper mache. It was glorious.

“I suppose so, if one is fond of monstrosities.” came a disgusted voice from behind him.

“Oh come now, Chisaki. Surely a part of you must feel pride for your part in creating this.” The doctor says, “A biologically engineered being that can rival one of the strongest beings in the world.”

“A means to an end. Now for my payment as promised.” Chisaki demands to hold out his hand while being flanked by two of his lieutenants, Chronostasis and Mimic.

The doctor nods and brings out a briefcase before opening revealing jars of organic material, “The material you asked for, as promised.”

Chisaki takes one of the jars out to inspect before nodding and putting it back, “Now if you don’t mind we’ll be leaving now. Our business is concluded.”

“Are you sure I cannot convince you to stay?” the doctor asks, “A Quirk as versatile as yours and your medical knowledge, you’ll make an excellent partner. We can always use someone like you and the Shie Hassakai in our League of Villains. With the raid on your headquarters a few days ago by the Pro Heroes, I’m sure you are eager for revenge against them, no?”

Chisakai scoffs, “I have no intention of playing villains and heroes. Our goal is much grander than that. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get out of the disgusting lab of yours as quickly as possible.”

“Very well, such a shame.” the doctor says as he snaps his fingers, “Kurogiri can you please show them out?”

In the corner a man made entirely of black mist nods as he steps forward and creates a gateway of black mist for them to exit through.

“Once again, I must thank you for your assistance and the donation of your underlings’ Quirks. They will be put into good use.”

“I’d say it was a pleasure. But it wasn’t.” Chisaki mutters before he leaves and the warp gate closes behind them.

Chapter 10: Chapter 9: USJ Part One

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

“You’ve gotten better.” Izuku remarks proudly as he sees Eri slide in another piece of the puzzle box correctly.

“Really?” Eri looks unsure, “I don’t think I’m getting any better.”

“Nonsense. You know it took me a few days when I first got it before I made progress like this, but you’re solving it faster than I did.” he smiles as he pats her head affectionately, “You might be more talented than I am.”

It was true, this puzzle box gifted to him was meant to test one’s affinity to blue mana and was nearly unsolvable without at least some affinity, even then it took him almost a week to complete. For Eri, to progress this much shows she had potential, and he immediately began thinking how strong she would be if given proper training in chronomancy. He would love to introduce her to Teferi if they get the chance.

“Perhaps you need a few tips to finish it off?” Izuku offers, but Eri shook her head determinedly, wanting to finish it herself. He smiles at the focused look she had as she worked on the puzzle box harder, it was honestly adorable but a quick glance at the clock reveals it to be almost twelve.

“Unfortunately it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” Izuku says as he plucks the puzzle box from her hands with telekinesis, “It’s getting late, Eri.”

The child pouts but relents as Izuku picks her up and carries her over to the new bunk bed in his room. Sure there was now a guest room for Eri to sleep in but after the first few nights of her sneaking back into his room, his father decided to turn his bed into a bunk bed for her.

“Can you tell me another story?” she pleads as Izuku tucks her in.

“Of course.” he was always eager to tell tales of the exploits of Gatewatch or their individual adventures, “What do you want to hear about this time? Last we left off the dragon was defeated, the knight was buried in his homelands and each of the members of Gatewatch set off on their own paths. The blue mage? The pyromancer?”

“What about the child?” Eri asks him as he suddenly frowned, “You always have something good to say about everyone but the child. Did he do anything cool?”

“I…” Izuku stumbles with his words, “He didn’t do anything truly interesting, nothing of note compared to the others. Why do you want to hear of him?”

“Well, I just think he’s my favourite.” Eri says, surprising him.

“...Why is that?” Izuku asks, genuinely confused. He did nothing of note, wasn’t as strong as Gideon or Ajani, nor as smart as Jace or Terferi, didn’t possess the firepower of Chandra and could not access green or black mana like Nissa and Liliana. He was never their equal, he was the sidekick at best and a load at worst times.

“I just like how cool he is.” Eri says, “Remember how everyone went away after the big bad dragon beat them? And the child ended up in…”

She struggles to pronounce the words so Izuku assisted, “Gobakhan?

He suppresses a shudder at the memory. After his defeat against Bolas, he has Planeswalked away. He was scared out of his mind and just wanted to go anywhere and ended up in the desert where sandstorms of diamond particles nearly flayed him alive. He had to crawl his way to safety with broken ribs, and used what magic he could muster to keep himself alive long enough to throw himself into a cave for shelter where he applied what little healing magic he could before passing out.

Had it not been for the timely arrival of a caravan passing by that brought him to the town of Oasis he would have likely died there. The healers wanted him to rest for at least a week after they found him near death, broken ribs, heavy blood loss, starving and thirsty but he would have none of it, dragging himself out of bed to planeswalk back to try and find his friends.

He eventually regrouped with the Gatewatch in Dominaria where they had defeated another one of the demons Liliana made a pact with as well as obtaining the legendary Blackblade. All that done while he was lying on his back, useless.

“He didn’t do anything impressive.” Izuku says somewhat bitterly, “While everyone else was doing something he was too weak and injured. By the time he got back the rest of his friends were preparing to fight the dragon once again in Ravnica at the War of the Sparks. And even then what did he do?”

“You said he helped save people, didn't he?” Eri reminds, “He fought those zombies-”

“Eternals. And so did everyone else, he wasn’t special.” Izuku says grimly. If only she knew the not watered-down version, how many civilians he had failed to save. For every five he saved there was almost always one he reached too late, such was the nature of the War of the Sparks.

“I think he was brave.” Eri says with some enthusiasm, “Everyone's way stronger than him but he keeps following them even when he thought it was scary. No matter how bad it gets he keeps getting back up and trying harder. I think that’s very cool of him.”

“Anyone can be brave.” Izuku mutters, “What did I… he did that mattered?”

“He still saved people, right? Even if it wasn’t as many as others, he still saved them.” she places a hand over his and looks him in the eye, “I think it matters to them.”

“...” Izuku was silent, he had heard the same sentiment from others. That he did the best he could to the best of his abilities and that mattered. They should tell that to the graves of those he failed to save. But hearing it from Eri just felt…different.

“Thanks for saying that.” he pats her head before putting on a smile, “So… a story with the child? How about an adventure where he accompanied the blue mage to Zendikar to help the elf druid?”

***

Eri’s words never left him, constantly there at the back in his mind. For a second he was concerned that she may think that his stories were not just stories. That girl was smart for her age, even for one practically self-taught. From what she said, the Shie Hassaikai kept her in a room full of toys and books, while she ignored the former she used the latter more often and learnt basics as a result.

It was impressive but his blood boiled at the thought of the criminals. Sure, he read how most of them were arrested but their higher ups seemed to have evaded capture which had him very much concerned. Still their resources were all but crippled so he can expect them to not last long. But just in case he set up magical alarms to alert him as well as an emergency teleportation circle to his room just in case. After all, cornered and desperate animals were the most dangerous.

“Can you believe what they’re saying about you?” Jirou asks, enraged, interrupting his thoughts as she reads out loud an article on her phone, “Student assaults reporters with his Quirk. Is UA advocating for future heroes to use Quirks violently against civilians? What the sh*t is this?!”

They were in the midst of transporting to their latest training location via bus, supposedly where they will hone their skills in rescue training.

“They conveniently leave out the literal trespassing reporters.” Kaminari grumbles as he looks over her shoulder at the article, “Can you believe some of these comments?”

Kaminari snatched Jirou’s phone and showed it to Izuku before getting jabbed in the skull with her earjacks in retaliation. Izuku caught the phone from his hands and skimmed through the comments.

‘UA training villains now?’

‘What kind of restraint are they teaching kids? If that’s how Pro Heroes are gonna behave in future, society’s screwed.’

‘Are they gonna sue UA for this?’

Dozens of comments of similar sentiment were found and Izuku honestly felt only annoyed before handing the phone back to Jirou.

“Don’t take them to heart, they’re just idiots looking for attention.” Jirou says.

“I agree.” Iida says having recovered from his earlier funk about his inability to organise the bus seating positions, “The reporters clearly had ill intent after breaking down the UA gate and trespassing despite several warnings.”

“I would’ve just blasted them all to hell.” Bakugou scoffs and Izuku frowns in response.

“While what they did was unlawful there was no need to do anything than to force them out without harm. ‘Blasting them all to hell’ as you so eloquently put it, is unnecessary violence.”

“You always were a f*cking puss*.” he says and Izuku rolls his eyes at the childish insult intending to let it slide but his friends didn’t.

“Bakugou, that is no way to address a classmate and your Class President!” Iida rebukes and chops his arm in his direction.

“Eat a bag of dicks.” Bakugou flips him off, “I never even voted for sh*tty Deku anyways. He ain’t my president!”

“What’s with calling him Deku anyways?” Jirou asks, getting annoyed by the blonde, “You obviously know his name, so what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s exactly what it means!” the blonde snaps, “Just a sh*tty useless Deku, that’s all he is.”

“Useless?” she scoffs, “Remind me who lost their battle trial without being able to fight back.”

Bakugou growls and turns to look directly at Izuku instead, “And which one of us ran away for ten f*cking years?”

You could hear a pin drop afterwards as Izuku slowly turned to face the angry blonde,

“Bakugou…choose your next words with care.” He says slowly, almost threateningly but Bakugou fails to heed this warning.

“What’s he talking about?” Kirishima asks, confused at his sudden shift in mood. But before he could reply Bakugou did so for him.

“Look it up sh*tty hair, this little sh*t ran away from home for ten years and-“

“You should cease speaking of events you have no idea about. Mind your tongue.” Izuku warns, his temper reaching its breaking point but the blonde seems intent on trying to make him snap.

“What? Don’t want everyone to know about the coward you are?” He taunts and Izuku clenches his fist until his knuckles turn white.

“Bakugou this is getting too far.” Yaoyorozu pipes in at the sight of their class president’s barely contained anger, “If this topic is making him uncomfortable you should cease at once.”

“I agree!” Iida chops his hands in his direction, “Whatever this topic is, if Midoriya wishes for it to not be discussed, his privacy should be respected!”

“Yeah that’s a dick move dude.” Kaminari jumps in to defend his friend but Bakugou just snorts dismissively, having said what he wanted to say although some of the class were now glaring at him.

“What the hell was that asshole going on about?” Jirou asks and Izuku sighs. He had hoped that it wouldn’t get out but who was he kidding, anyone could have found out if they’d search his name on the Internet.

“It has to do with how I first awakened my…Quirk.” He stops himself from saying Spark just in time, “I teleported myself far away but circ*mstances ensured I was not able to return home until quite recently, a month before the Entrance Exam. Leave it at that. Please.”

There was no point lying to someone like Jirou with her enhanced hearing, she’d see right through him and it’ll raise suspicion if he lied. It works and Jirou nods in understanding, not wishing to upset her friend anymore.

But it still doesn’t change the fact that now everyone is likely wrapping around the fact he had been missing for ten years, wondering what has happened to make him react in such a way. Even Aizawa who he saw was content with letting them solve their own issue was glancing at him with curiosity and perhaps some slight concern from the bus’ rear mirror.

There was now an awkward silence but fortunately Yaoyorozu decided on a change in topic to distract from the earlier incident.

“So Midoriya, it appears you have a new support item.” she quickly notices the strange baton strap to his waist inside his green sash. Izuku nods, grateful for the distraction and pulls it out to show her and the rest of the class.

“Yes, something to help me focus my skills and abilities, make them more precise which will definitely help in close quarters combat like we had in the battle trials.” he says as he extends the baton to its full size as a spear nearly skewering the ceiling of the bus and surprising everyone.

“Holy crap!” Kirishima nearly jumps at the sudden appearance of the spear, “Where did that come from?”

“Just one of its functions.” Izuku explains as he shrinks it again to demonstrate, “Make carrying it easier.”

“Fascinating, that is very advanced miniaturisation technology.” Yaoyorzu looks admiringly, “I hear they’ve only recently been in production, and even then they’re a limited amount because of how expensive it is. Which Support Company created it?”

“Oh, I made it myself.” he admits with casualty that surprises her again, “With my Quirk.”

“Your Quirk’s pretty strange, Midoriya.” Tsuyu says from beside him, “There doesn’t seem to be anything you can’t do.”

“Well, as a certain person once said, Quirks are just weird aren’t they?” he asks almost sarcastically as he glanced at Melissa who rolled her eyes, “Isn’t that a satisfactory answer by itself?”

“You’re still going on about that?” Melissa asks dryly, “My Quirk’s just a very strong enhancement type, and yours… yours is practically magic!”

Izuku bites his lip to contain a comment on how right she was.

“Well, he’s kind of right.” she croaks, “It’s kinda weird you got that strong of a Quirk within a few weeks of awakening it. And you know, it kind of reminds me of All Might’s, only he doesn't use Support Items or injure himself when using it.”

“W-well, they’re both just similar Quirks.” Melissa says almost nervously, “Come on, there’s like thousands of strength enhancing Quirks out there.”

This seems to trip up Melissa as she begins stuttering out excuses as Izuku observes her reaction carefully. Defensive, evasive, and nervous as if she was hiding something.

“True, but when I compare the two of you it looks like an almost 100% match.” Izuku says as sweat starts appearing on Melissa’s forehead, “It’s like they’re the exact same Quirk.”

If she had been drinking something he was sure she would have spat it out in surprise judging by the look on her face. So there was some kind of connection between her Quirk and All Might’s. Since Quirks were hereditary perhaps a secret daughter of sorts?

“Quit chatting, we’re almost there.” Aizawa orders from the driver seat of the bus.

The class silences or at least quiets down to a level that Aizawa does not care to complain about, before they arrive at their destination a few minutes later. They step off the bus one by one to be greeted by the sight of a large dome-like structure. But on the inside it was much more impressive than it first appears.

Six areas in this dome building were visible from the entrance, each containing a different environment. One was full of collapsed buildings, another had a large lake with what appears to be a boat in the middle, a mountain area and two smaller domes each with the symbols of fire and water on each of them indicating their environment.

“Holy sh*t!” Kaminari exclaims, “Is this like the Universal Studios of Japan or something?

“Universal what?” Izuku asks, confused at his remark but still slightly impressed at the sight before him. Looking back he was slightly eating his words about how UA didn’t seem that impressive. Sure they lacked the flair of Strixhaven but you can’t deny UA was definitely well-funded to create multiple artificial cities and structures like this.

“...You know, I gotta agree with Jirou. Sometimes it feels like talking to an outdated old man.”

“Welcome, I’m glad to see you’re all here.” a voice came from a figure dressed in a thick white suit of sorts with a black dome-shaped helmet and large white eyes. The suit hid their appearance and muffled her voice slightly but it was distinctively feminine.

“Floods, landslides, fires and more.” she continues, “This is a practical training area I designed to stimulate all kinds of disasters and accidents. The Unforeseen Simulation Joint.”

“It’s 13!” Uraraka exclaims with glee as she nudges Melissa, “She’s the Space Hero! She’s always doing great work in relief efforts! This is so cool, I’ve always been a big fan of hers!”

13 and Aizawa seemed to be discussing something in hushed whispers and Izuku sees the Space Hero raise three fingers before Aizawa looks annoyed. Well, more annoyed than usual.

“Alright there’s been a change of plans.” Aizawa announces, “All Might won’t be able to be with us today, but lessons will still carry on like attended.”

He won’t be attending? That was odd. What could possibly inconvenience the world’s strongest Pro Hero to an extent that would delay him? He instantly felt worried about the possibilities, perhaps facing a strong villain that hospitalised him. No, not possible, they likely would have heard of it on the news. So what was it?

“Before we begin, just one thing…Or two…Or three…Maybe four?” 13 counts on her fingers before shaking her head, “Nevermind. Most of you should be aware of my Quirk, Blackhole. Everything and anything will be sucked in my vortex and turned to dust.”

That…is quite a powerful Quirk. Very terrifying honestly. If everything and anything gets destroyed this woman in front of them was quite literally a weapon of mass destruction. Still, he imagines deploying a spell like that in the middle of a Phyrexian swarm.

“Yeah, and you use your Quirk to safely remove wreckage and save people from disasters.” Uraraku says excitedly.

“Yes. But it is also a Quirk that can very easily kill.” she says seriously instantly dampening the joyous mood of the class, “And it is no way different from any of the Quirks here. In this superhuman society of ours, Quirks are strictly regulated and requirements for their lawful use are strictly enforced. During Aizawa’s test you learnt your Quirks potential, and in All Might’s battle trials you all learned the danger of brandishing such power against each other. And with this lesson I hope you will all learn to use your Quirks for the sake of human life. Your Quirks don’t exist to hurt others, but to save them and I hope you all leave having fully understood this.”

It was a good speech. From the tone of her voice Izuku knows that 13 really believes what she was saying and his respect for her rose. Too many with great power that can be used for destruction often choose chaos, but she was using her power not to fight but to save instead. The amount of training she must have done to precisely remove only objects using her Quirk must be astronomical. He claps once she is done with her speech and many follow him.

“Bravo! Bravo!” Iida applauds the loudest having been touched by her speech. Aizawa looked to be about to say something but then Izuku sensed something in the air, a sudden shift in the area. Something that sent chills down his spine. He reaches for his spear and brings it to full length.

“Midoriya?” Iida asks, seeing his sudden action, “What are you-?”

He points the tip of the spear below the massive staircase that led to the USJ’s entrance, at a small speck of black mist near the fountain that was in the centre of the facility. Aizawa notices it as well and his hand goes for his scarf in anticipation.

“I don’t suppose that’s part of the lesson?” Izuku asks even if he knows the answer in his gut was a no, but he wanted to make sure.

“Definitely not.” Aizawa says as he grabs his goggles and puts them on just as the black speck enlarges to form a large wall of black mist where almost immediately other humans began walking out. Dozens of men and women began storming out behind a figure wrapped in hands, but most frighteningly of all was a particular creature standing at nine foot tall with four arms, charcoal black skin and red scars across its muscular body, a birdlike head with an exposed brain. It was a monstrosity.

“Everyone, prepare yourself!” Izuku declares urgently, “Those are enemies!”

“What? You mean like robots from the exam?” Kirishima asks, still in disbelief at the sight.

“No.” Aizawa answers, “Those are real villains.”

Instantly the class erupts in a panic. Some froze up, some were slower to react, some were shouting in fear, but fortunately some were remaining and thinking clearly.

“Sensei, what about the intruder alarms?” Yaoyorozu asks 13, “Why aren’t they activating?”

“They must have a Quirk that is disrupting the signals, meaning we are unable to call for help.” Todoroki analyses calmly.

“Iida, get everyone back on the bus and back to campus.” Izuku orders with his eyes never leaving the mass group of villains below, “I’ll stay with Aizawa and hold them off. We have the high ground, if we can-”

“Not an option.” Aizawa interrupts stepping in front of him, “All of you are evacuating immediately. I’ll stay and hold them back.”

“Against an army like that?” Izuku asks incredulously, “You’re just one man, not even-!”

He stops himself before he could say Planeswalker. It was just a simple fact that one ordinary man, even with an ability like his that would give him an advantage, would last long against that small horde. And the feeling he was getting from the large villain…

“Not strong enough? A Pro always needs more than one trick up their sleeves, I’ll have them handled.” Aizawa says misinterpreting his words, “We don’t know if they’re attacking the campus as well, you need to keep your classmates safe if outside isn’t secure. That’s an order!”

Izuku grits his teeth but knows he can’t waste time arguing, “I’ll get them to the bus and then I’m coming back. Be careful of the villain with the exposed brain, I get a sense it may be the most dangerous out of all of them.”

He taps him lightly with the blunt side of his speartip, channelling a white enchantment to shield him.

“Something to protect you. You’ll need it.” He says before turning back to his class and marching forward while using a commanding voice he hears Gideon use before to rally soldiers, “Everyone rally on me, we’re falling back to the bus and to the main campus.”

Thankfully they weren’t panicking that much and they followed his orders as calmly as they could, but then a mass of black mist appeared before them. Izuku gags at the overwhelming stench of black mana coming from this thing. It was like a Shadow Elemental but more, there was almost something…human about it deep inside.

“Greetings, we-” it said but Izuku doesn’t let him finish, thrusting his spear out immediately and blasting a streak of red lightning at the creature without hesitation. Unfortunately the bolt disappears inside of him before appearing again from the mist, directed at Izuku this time who was struck by his own attack. Luckily his shields held but he was sent stumbling backwards into the arms of his classmates.

“How rude.” the creature says unaffected by his attack, “Just what are schools teaching you children nowadays?”

Izuku readies his spear in front of him, analysing the creature for potential weaknesses. It was foggy so maybe they can try blasting it away with wind? Or perhaps another counterspell? It seemed like the best option as far as he could see.

“Everyone, just stay where you are.” he warns as he keeps a hand behind him that was visibly glowing blue with mana, keeping it hidden from the sight of the villain and letting his class know he had a plan to calm them down. He can’t have anyone interfering and risk interrupting the spell.

“I suppose it would only be polite to introduce ourselves.” The mist creature says, “Forgive our intrusion but we came here to this institution, this bastion of heroics, for one purpose only. And that is to kill the Symbol of Peace, All Might.”

Many of the students tensed at the claim but Izuku kept calm and waited for the counterspell to finish charging up. If he can bring down the mist it might reveal a softer target underneath to be attacked. The mist creature continues monologuing, talking about how unexpected it was that All Might wasn’t here giving him more time to charge. Once it was done he swung his arm and shot a blue wave towards the mist creature.

The same time Bakugou and Kirishima leapt forwards with arms swinging, putting their bodies between the mist creature and the counterspell.

“No!” Izuku exclaims as the spell travelled just a bit slower than the two, slamming into their backs and deactivating both their Quirks to their surprise.

The mist creature saw that and ceased his talking, choosing to instead blast a wave of black mist at them. Izuku couldn’t do another counterspell that quickly so he slams his spear to the ground in an attempt to create a barrier but the mist was too quick, overwhelming and washing over him before he could finish.

“Begone.” The creature says, as Izuku feels himself carried away by the mist, “Writhe in torment until you breathe your last.”

***

“Damn it!” he curses as he lands on his feet. If only he had reacted faster, if only he had seen the two charge in, this could have been avoided. How many of his classmates were swept up in it? Glancing around he finds himself alone in some sort of city on fire. Just where were they?

“Well, well, well.” a confident voice rang out snapping him out of his thoughts, “What do we have here?”

A swarm of villains come out between the alleys or hang from the edge of windows of flaming buildings. It was immediately apparent that they each possess a Quirk that allows them to fight with an advantage in flames as he sees flaming limbs and weapons, or smoking features, or rocky looking skin.

“Only one for us to play with?” another laughs, “Guess we’ll have to take turns.”

“Who are you?” he demands, not at all feeling threatened by the dozens surrounding him, “Where is my class?”

They cackle once more, “Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself? But if you’re so worried, don’t worry. That mist guy scattered them all over this place where the rest of us are having fun with them as we speak. You’ll see them again, don't worry…In the afterlife at least.”

“...What did you say?” Izuku asks darkly as the words of the villain fully register. Images flash within his mind, Gideon, Jaya, Ajani all of their faces flash through his mind and he grip his spear tight until his knuckles turn white.

Someone tries striking from behind but he doesn’t flinch, tapping the floor with his spear the ground crackles with red flaming chains sprang from the earth and wraps around the assailant. Whatever fire resistance he was born with thanks to his Quirk were not enough as the chains seared his flesh before slamming him into the nearest building.

The group of villains were surprised to see one of their own taken down so easily and brutally by a child who didn’t even flinch as he burnt the man. And then they all take a step back, their natural instincts reacting as they sense killing intent emanating from the boy, who glares at them with flaming red pupils.

He speaks no words, his rage was nearly overwhelming him but he was still able to think clearly, sharpening and directing his anger through his staff as he slams again on the road under him, cracking it with red energy as flames began erupting from the cracks that now spread into a wide circle around him.

“W-what are you all standing around for?! Kill him!” a man in a skull gasmask and flaming hands shout out, likely the leader. This galvanised them all to charge and overwhelm him before he could strike back. A sound strategy but they made one critical error.

They had thrown a pyromancer who had trained in the Keral Keep in an area completely full of fire. The fire sings out to him as he draws their energy and gives them form, shaping them with his rage.

“What the hell?!” one of them cried as something came from the red cracks in the road grabbing his leg. Creatures of flames and molten rock stars leaping from the cracks, elementals of all shapes and sizes formed by the fire surrounding them and given shape to serve his will. They cackle madly and excitedly like imps before throwing themselves at the villains, throwing flaming fists or stabbing with daggers of fire and swarm his foes.

Each of them were roughly as strong as an average human, even though the villains may be stronger with their Quirks and had terrain advantage so did the elementals. One may fall to a villain but two more would leap on, as long as Izuku kept creating them, and with this humongous supply of red mana he could. The only challenge was maintaining them with his concentration, and the further they go the harder it is to maintain them.

With barely any movement he had taken down a dozen of these villains. There were more remaining but they were on the roof of the burning buildings, slinging down fire, rock and other projectiles at him. He barely flinches as he mentally orders the fire elementals to leap in front of him, intercepting the shots and sacrificing themselves to defend him.

He raises his spear, thrusting it to the sky and dark clouds gather above catching the villain's attention for a moment before he slams the spear again on the ground as red lightning rained from above, thunder crackling as the villains scream in pain.

In the span of a minute ever since he arrived, more than thirty villains laid in defeat. They weren’t dead, he held back just enough to make sure of it, but he had no doubts they wished they were after all their burns.

He had the remaining elementals round them all up in a line, restraining the few still conscious as he marched towards them.

“B…bastard…” he growls somewhat dazed as the fire elementals force him to his knees, “Nobody told us we were gonna fight a mons-”

He interrupts the villain’s complaint by reaching out and grabbing his neck, lifting him to eye level.

“You’re going to tell me everything.” he orders but the villain spits some blood at his face instead.

“Eat sh*t and die.” he curses defiantly, “I ain’t saying anything.”

“You mistake it for a request.” he says as he stabs the spear into the ground to free his hand before drawing what little blue mana he could into it and touching the villain’s forehead, “You are telling me what I want to know. Whether you like it or not.”

***

‘Damn it!’ Aizawa curses mentally as he fights the horde of villains. He saw that mist villain warp behind and did something to his students judging by the shouting he’s heard but he can’t take the time to find out with all the villains attacking.

He dodges a fist and wraps the assailant with his capture weapon before using him as a flail against the other villains before slamming him on the ground unconscious. The silver lining was how pathetic these villains were, even an ambush specialist like him that focuses on stealthy takedowns was more than enough to fight them hand-to-hand. The villains were now cautious around him, circling in worry as they hesitate to attack thinking their Quirks would be erased before getting taken down quickly. All but the two villains standing in the back.

Near the fountain was one covered in hands and another with bulging muscles and four arms. He gets a chill down his spine when glancing at the bird villain, it just felt…unnatural. Both of them will definitely be problems, likely above the fodder that he was taking down.

“After all our preparations for the raid, the final boss didn’t even show?” the villain with the hands says as he scratches his neck, “How annoying. Maybe killing some of the kids will draw them out?”

“Like hell I’d let you do that!” Aizawa exclaims as he breaks through the ring of villains surrounding him and makes a dash to the hands villain, erasing his Quirk and throwing a piece of his capture weapon at him but to his surprise it was caught with ease. Definitely above the fodder, it was a feat that would’ve taken good reflexes.

“23 seconds…22 seconds…” the villain mutters barely audibly as he charges forward with impressive speed.

Aizawa grunts and charges to meet the villain, slamming an elbow to his guts that would’ve knocked the wind out of him if it weren’t caught by the villain in time.

“So you’re the boss aren’t you?” Aizawa asks in the middle of their struggle.

“We keep jumping around so it’s hard to tell, but there are moments where your hair falls over your eyes. It’s intervals are getting shorter and shorter, and if I’m right it’s whenever you spend an action point to erase a Quirk and attack. If so…” the villain says, not answering his question and smiling behind the hand on his face as Aizawa’s hair fell just as he was forced to blink, cancelling his Quirk, “Checkmate, Erase-?”

He trails off confused as they both see a layer of white energy glowing between his hand and Aizawa’s elbow.

Aizawa immediately remembered when Midoriya had tapped him with his spear and he glowed white for a moment but didn’t have time to ask what it was for. Now it was evidently some sort of shield protecting against the villain’s Quirk, obviously a touch-based one. Not wasting this chance he slams his head against the villain’s, the shield rippling across his face but leaving him unharmed as the villain reeled back in surprise from the blow.

“What?” the villain could only exclaim in surprise and while he was stunned Aizawa twisted his arm and brought it into an armlock, tying both the villain’s arms together with his capture weapon.

‘A touch based Quirk, he definitely expected it to do something bad to me. If Midoriya hadn’t done what he did…’ Aizawa didn't want to know what would happen so he reactivated his Quirk after a quick blink.

“You got tricks up your sleeve, Eraserhead.” the villain grunts almost respectfully, “But you got one thing wrong. This isn’t a boss fight, it’s a raid and I’m the DPS. And a raid’s never complete without a good tank.”

In a flash he sees a black blur before turning around to see a black fist get brought down, slamming his head against the concrete floor. He hears a shattering sound, whatever shield Midoriya made gave away from the impact. It likely saved his head from being turned to mush against the pavement but he was still pinned down with one of his arms in the grapes of the bird villain.

“Your Quirk is to erase another Quirk. Pretty great debuff, and great for an assassin class like you. But those aren’t good against tanks like our bio-engineered Noumu.” the hand villain says as he disintegrates his capture tape with his Quirk, “You’re pretty cool, Eraserhead. But against a foe like this, you might as well be Quirkless.”

Aizawa grunts and tries to activate his Quirk by glancing at the black arm, the villain likely had some sort of enhancement Quirk but if he can-

“ARGH!!” he screams in pain as the villain snaps his arm like a twig. He knew he erased his Quirk but he felt no change. The hand villain mentioned ‘bio-engineered’... could it be that this power, almost on All Might’s level, was just his base?

The Noumu raises his head to smash it in and he braces himself for his grizzly death, hoping that at the very least his students will get out safely when suddenly, a voice rings out loudly across the area.

“STOP!”

***

Izuku rushes out with all the speed he could muster, blowing apart the sealed doors of the Conflagration Zone before rushing out with red lightning trailing behind him. His first thought was to regroup with Aizawa before planning their next step when he sees the sight before him, his teacher pinned by that monstrosity with the villain wrapped in hands standing over him.

He coats himself with blue mana to conceal his presence and footsteps before stepping behind the hands villain, which from his interrogation revealed his name to be Tomura Shigaraki, and shrinks his spear to a shorter handle to turn it into a make-shift dagger before placing it across his throat.

“STOP!” he demands startling the villain who realises the sharp edge pointing at his throat the bird-headed monstrosity realises this as well and roars, preparing to make a move when Izuku shouts, “There’s likely enough of a brain in you to realise what happens to him if you move. Stay where you are.”

He threatens coldly and the beasts snarl but relents and growls at him with hateful animalistic eyes. Whatever that thing was, it was no human that was for sure but it had an almost animalistic intelligence behind his eyes.

“Oh, what’s this? A hero student threatening to kill?” Shigaraki mocks as he slowly brings his hands up to touch the blade, “Just what are they teaching in school nowadays?”

Izuku presses the blade deeper against the skin, breaking it and drawing a drop of blood, “Did I say you can make a move?”

“Do you really have it in you to take a life?” The villain chuckles but Izuku remains firm.

“You won’t be my first.” he says coldly, “But you…threatening my class? With the intent to kill them?! You’ll certainly be my first kill that I won’t regret.”

His declaration surprises both the villain and his teacher, Shigaraki smiling as he twists his head just enough for their eyes to meet,

“Those eyes…you really have killed before.” he smiles behind his macabre mask, “What’s a kid like you doing in a school for heroes?”

He asks sounding almost impressed before chuckling, but Izuku ignored him and glanced at his teacher who still had his head held by one of the Noumu’s four arms, “Sensei, how bad are your injuries?”

“Broken arm but that’s about it.” he grunts in pain, “Your shield took the punch but it broke immediately after. This thing’s almost as strong as All Might, and that’s just its base strength.”

So it wasn’t a lie. He searched the villain’s memories and one of them was Shigaraki proudly proclaiming how his monstrosity could take on All Might physically without a Quirk, now he confirms he wasn’t exaggerating to gather followers but it still left the question what type of Quirk it had.

“That’s because it’s been bioengineered to take him down.” Shigaraki chuckles despite the blade pressed against his neck, “What do you think will happen if I ask it to kill Eraserhead? How much do you think will be left?”

It looked about to do so but Izuku quickly reminded the villain of his position, “I’ll tear your throat out before that happens. Your league across the USJ, call them off now!”

“Seems like a stalemate.” Shigaraki says, “I tell Noumu to kill your teacher, you'll kill me. But if you kill me there’s nothing stopping my League or Noumu.”

“Midoriya…forget about me.” Aizawa orders, “You need to run now!”

Izuku grimaces as his eyes look between the Noumu and his teacher before back at Shigaraki. But there is one thing the villain doesn’t know about, if he can read his mind and discern Noumu's capabilities and weaknesses…

“Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing-?” Shigaraki asks as Izuku uses his free hand to grab the back of his head, glowing with blue mana as he plunges into his mind. He doesn’t consider the possibility of it being the wrong move.

This mind was…broken, that was the only way to describe it. Buried behind this shattered mind, a sea of rage that bursts at the seams that nearly overwhelms him. Images flash through his mind in a jumbled order, disintegrated corpses, faces of strangers, screaming and begging, pain and so many more coming straight at him in a chaotic and unorganised fashion as he unintentionally lowers his spearhead dagger by an inch.

“Midoriya!” Aizawa shouts in warning as Shigaraki notices this and swings a hand backwards to his face but he recovers in time and slashes at the hand with the blade covered with a red mana field. It sliced through the hand like a hot knife through butter, sending the severed limb flying but cauterising the wound as a side effect from the heat.

The villain takes a second to realise what has happened before screaming in agony for his Noumu to intervene, Izuku doesn’t waste any time and extends his spear to full length before thrusting it forward for the throat this time.

The Noumu sees this and immediately it’s pre-programmed instincts overtakes to prioritise the safety of Shigaraki, dropping Aizawa like a sack of potatoes and leaping forward to take the blow.

Izuku widens his eyes as he sees the blade deflect off a sheet of crystals. The Noumu now encased with a layer of thick crystals brought down a fist that he barely deflected with a white magic barrier that shattered upon impact but it didn’t relent and threw another punch immediately afterwards that sent him flying backwards, stunned.

He slams into the ground, cracking it and realising his mana shield has been brought down more than half from that single punch. It was almost like taking a hit from Nicol Bolas!

The monster roars and charges at him, but he gets back on his feet and dashes forwards to meet it instead. It throws a punch but he draws on blue mana, phasing through the monster before spinning backwards and throwing a spell that slows down time relative to it, freezing it temporarily.

It would only be slowed down for a few moments so he wastes no time and slams his spear down, channelling the local mana and filtering it to its colourless form as he chants a spell.

He hears Shigaraki scream in pain and rage as he used his remaining hand to lunge at him, but Aizawa uses his unbroken arm to throw his capture weapon and ensnare the limb before he could be touched,

“Hands off my student.” his teacher growls before engaging the villain to keep him off Izuku’s back. He gives a grateful nod before returning his concentration to his spell, focusing his mind on blueprints and material components as the grey mist solidifies into components and gears that slot themself together at a rapid pace.

The time spell wears off at that moment, just as the last construct was created and three large metal golems slide their shields together, interlocking into a towering shield wall.

“Unit alpha-6 locking into position.” The lead automaton utters in a mechanical tone as they march towards to meet the Noumu’s charge, barely able to hold together to resist a single blow before pushing back with their combined strength to surround it.

With the Noumu occupied he turns his attention to Shigaraki in the midst of a duel with Aizawa. Seeing his creature swarmed by the sentries, he broke off to lunge at Izuku who responded by swinging his spear creating white chains that flew at him, pinning him to the ground as he ranted like a madman about how he was cheating in some sort of game, not that he paid much attention to him, instead turning to his teacher.

“Are you alright?” he asks as Aizawa approaches.

“I’ll live, what about the Noumu?” he asks, turning to the three machines that were swarming the creature with interlocking shields, “What are you doing?”

“Yes, they should buy us-” Izuku was about to say when he was interrupted when one of the machines was sent flying in his direction which he deflected with his spear, as it was flung to the side broken before disappearing into grey mist, followed by the other two which were destroyed in a similar fashion.

“...Buy us no time at all.” Izuku mutters in worry as the beast roars and charges once more. He grabs Aizawa before he can react and they both phase through the charge once more but just as they phase back the Noumu swung back with two of its arms.

With little time to react he pushed away Aizawa with a blue telekinetic blast before raising his spear to create a barrier between them but the two combined blows shattered it with ease, knocking him back stunned and using a third arm to grab him by the throat.

The creature then opens its mouth to inhale and Izuku gasps as he feels his body feel heavier and his eyelids struggle to keep themselves open. The creature was absorbing his energy?

There was little time to theorise so instead he jams his spear right down its open mouth as it glowed red, firing a bolt of lightning down its throat as it roars in pain before slamming him down, shattering his shields as he loses his spear from the impact.

He had underestimated this beast badly. He tried reaching for the spear but it was just out of his reach and the stamina draining effect of the Noumu made him struggle to focus and cast a spell. Was he going to die?

He grits his teeth at the thought. No, he wasn’t going to die to a monster like this. He survived Nicol Bolas, the Phyrexians, the Eldrazi, the vampires of Innestread and so much more. He was not dying to this abomination.

His hand glows blue as he touches the arm around his throat as he tries exerting his will over the monster.

“Get off…” he commands through gritted teeth as he struggles from the lack of air, “Get off…GET OFF!”

Behind the crystal armour the Noumu’s dull lifeless eyes glowed blue as its programmed mind was overridden by the spell, forcing it to obey. He was no mindmage on Jace’s level so he quickly rolls over to grab the spear, charging it with what red mana he could and thrusting it at the stunned Noumu.

An explosion emits from the tip of the spear, launching the Noumu backwards but it quickly recovers and dashes towards him once more. Bolts of lightning were shot, and streams of flame, and he stabs the spear to the earth and turned it to molten rocks before flinging it at the Noumu but it barreled through all of them without care, barely held back by another white barrier before it shattered it again, and the second one, and the third.

This creature was just too fast. Any spell he could quickly cast was easily shrugged aside while it possessed that crystal armour but if he were to try to cast stronger spells it would take too much time and allow it to pounce on him like so. He would drain himself quickly if the Noumu kept forcing him on the defensive but he couldn't find an opening, each blow shattered a barrier with ease and it had four arms throwing off punches almost too fast for him to react to.

“Get away from him!” a familiar voice shouts followed by a familiar overwhelming presence, “SMASH!”

A blur comes streaking from their side as the Noumu turns its attention to this new threat before raising a single arm, uncovering the crystal layer and revealing its black skin underneath as it caught Melissa’s arm creating a shockwave.

The power sent him stumbling back, as well as Aizawa and a chained up Shigaraki but to their shock the Noumu stood unfazed from the blow. That power that destroyed a Zero Pointer with no effort had no effect on this monster.

“What…?” Melissa mutters in shock at her attack’s lack of effect when suddenly the remaining crystal armour of the Noumu fell off.

Aizawa’s Quirk, he realises as he rushes to take advantage of the now exposed Noumu. The speartip glows with golden white light as he stabs forward, creating dozens of copies of a similar spear that pierces the Noumu’s flesh with ease forcing it to release Melissa.

“Get back, now!” He orders he chants for another spell, this time the spear glowing red with blazing flames as his eyes match their intensity. Melissa saw this and leapt backwards as he raised his spear to the air, creating a spiral of flames before directing it at the Noumu still pinned by the dozens of golden spears washing it with a great tornado of flames.

He leaps away back to where Melissa and Aizawa stood, else he will be caught in the blast as well. The creature was engulfed by an explosion of flames that left a flaming and smoking crater, radiating heat intense enough to be felt dozens of feet away.

“Holy sh*t!” Melissa exclaims in her native tongue as she shields her face from the heat, “So that’s you not holding back?”

“Something like that.” he pants as the rapid erection of shields begin taking its toll on him, “Is everyone unharmed?”

“I should be asking you two that!” Aizawa scolds as he glares between the two, “Both of you! What were you thinking charging in like that?! Midoriya, that was reckless and irresponsible to engage that villain! And Shield, if that villain didn’t lower it’s armour I wouldn’t have erased it’s Quirk! Where did you even come from?!”

Melissa baulks at the intensity of her teacher, “I-I came from the Shipwreck Zone with Tsuyu and Sero, we escaped from some villains and I told them to get back to the entrance but then I saw you two fighting that villain! My body just moved on its own.”

“And I owe you for that.” Izuku says as he pants, resting against his spear, “If you didn’t-”

A roar interrupts them as Izuku groans in annoyance, turning back to face the smoking crater from which the creature was crawling away from, most of its body scorched and burned off but they see muscle fibres quickly stitching themselves back together as black skin regrew with crystal armour encasing it once more before standing at it’s full height and roaring.

“It’s…it healed itself.” Melissa mutters in shock and horror at the sight before it, “Crystal armour and super healing? It has multiple Quirks?!”

“From the looks of it.” Aizawa grabs his captured weapon once more, “And it’s on All Might’s level of power. Damn it, as long as the crystals are protecting it I can’t erase its Quirk!”

“And on top of that it's immune to blunt force trauma. All that combined andI can see why they’re so confident they can take on All Might.” Izuku recalls seeing its flesh ripple from Melissa’s punch, “But it needs to bring down its armour to do so. Melissa, can you use your full power again?”

“I-Well, my gauntlets can go three each.” Melissa answers, “But I used one for my left gauntlet, so I can do it five more times before they both break.”

“Good.” he says as he turns to face the Noumu, “You bring down the armour and let Aizawa erase its Quirks, leave everything else to me. We can’t let it run around doing as it wishes so we have to take it down now. Understood?”

Aizawa looks at him like he was insane for suggesting it but he growls and readies himself, “This is a terrible idea. But I doubt that thing’s going to let you two go even if you run.”

“That means you’d have about five chances to take it down.” Melissa says as she raises her fist, “Can you do that?”

He nods, “I just need the right openings. I’ll be depending on the two of you to do that.”

Izuku ignites his spear in flames as he gets into a stance. These villains come to their school bringing promise of torture and death? Not under his watch, not while he has sworn an oath to protect everyone, and he’ll do whatever it takes to see it fulfilled.

Over their cold, dead carcasses if necessary.

Chapter 11: Chapter 10: USJ Part 2

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

“Damn it, I really went overboard today.” Toshinori mutters to himself, as he lies on the couch in the faculty’s office. He had just arrived after resolving a third incident of the day, but doing so had drained him of quite a lot of his time and energy, now he guesses he could only maintain about ten minutes for the rest of the day.

“But still, even if it’s just for ten minutes, I could at least be there by the end of the class.” he says to himself, as he checks his phone once more. He had sent a message to 13 earlier to inform her about his inability to make it to class and he considers calling her once more to inform her about his plans, but debates with himself whether or not he should as they would be likely in the middle of class by now. Best not to disturb them.

A knock on the door surprises him as he spins around to find the principal standing at the doorway,

“Ah, Principal Nedzu, your fur is looking neat as always.” Toshinori greets with a smile as Nedzu enters, “What brings you here?”

“Why I’m merely checking on you.” Nedzu says as he shows a tablet with the latest news of his deeds, “Solving three separate cases across the city is quite astounding, but I must imagine it drained quite a lot of your already dimming time limit?”

Toshinori sighs, “It’s true, ever since I granted Melissa One for All I can feel myself slowly losing my strength each day. But it doesn’t mean I should ignore villains.”

“Of course not. But I do recommend that you start placing a little trust in your fellow Pro Heroes across the city, you’re not the only one capable of fighting villains after all.” Nedzu reminds as he pours himself a cup of tea, “Even so, I do recommend that you focus on your career in education. But whether you choose to listen to this advice of mine is up to you.”

“You’re right, part of my new duties is making sure these kids grow up to be excellent Pro Heroes.” Toshinori agreed, “In which case, I believe I should meet with them near the end of the class to evaluate their progress, and perhaps some advice, if I can give any.”

“A good idea, Toshinori.” Nedzu nods before tapping on his tablet once more, “Still, while you are here should we discuss our investigations into our mysterious student.”

“Midoriya?” Toshinori asks. The chat between the student and the principal had given them more questions than answers, and they still couldn’t decipher whether or not he had any former allegiance to All for One, “What did you find?”

“Our little chat has left us with more questions than answers. What is this ‘Strixhaven’ he mentioned? Who is ‘Gideon’? Where exactly did he stay the last ten years?” Nedzu said as he took a sip from his cup, “Let’s start with Strixhaven. We know of course this is where Midoriya claimed to learn some of his combat ability. I tried looking into any institute with that name in the past ten years, but to my dismay, I failed to find anything.”

“Perhaps he was lying to throw us off?” Toshinori suggests but Nedzu shook his head.

“No, I could tell that was the truth. He looked extremely confident that I would not know of such a place.” Nedzu explains, “I will continue to look into it, as it would be concerning if there is some secret organisation training children like Midoriya. I doubt anything good would come out of an organisation like that.”

That was concerning. An organisation like that would definitely sound like something All for One would have in his pocket. After all, he had brought down a number of training facilities the villain owned which turned children brought from the streets into loyal, fanatical grunts. He had seen the condition of children rescued from them, bruised, bleeding and broken. To think that Midoriya may have suffered at their hands…

“And we still have yet to discern if he truly has any connection to All for One.” Nedzu admits with some difficulty.

“What other explanation could there be?” Toshinori asks frustrated, “His Quirk, his training, how he keeps the past ten years a secret, it feels like too much of a coincidence. Sure, he may not be seeking revenge, but it’s more than likely he has some past associations with the villain.”

“Yes, I also believe his Quirk is too varied to be just a single one.” Nedzu nods in agreement, “If we both subscribe to the theory that this ‘Gideon’ and the group he allies with were potentially under the thumbs of All for One, perhaps they did something heinous that Midoriya decides to abandon them. Perhaps involving a child.”

“What are you talking about?” Toshinori asks, confused, before Nedzu shows him the tablet’s contents.

“I decided to look into the Midoriya family to see if anything can shed some light on our investigations. One of them stood out, a young girl by the name of Eri.” Nedzu explains, “Can you look and tell me what you think is odd?”

Toshinori takes a look at the contents and furrows his brows. Usually it was David, Nighteye or Naomasa who he entrusted with this parts of the job, so it took a few seconds of scratching his head before he realises,

“These records…they don’t exist any longer than a few days ago?” he asks in surprise.

“Yes, the adopted youngest child of the Midoriya family officially doesn’t exist before then.” Nedzu says, “And any information we have on Izuku Midoriya’s return is very clouded as his parents made very sure to keep it away from the media. But I have a theory, perhaps this girl was being trained like he was and unable to bear seeing her undergo the same treatment he rescues her and took her back home, taking the time to create a new identity to hide her from anyone tracking them down.”

“That makes some sense.” Toshinori nods, “He’s shown to care very much about his classmates, very protective of them from what I gather. So it seems he may be an agent of All for One, but instead of revenge he’s merely looking to get away from some sort of remnant of his organisation?”

“One of the many dozens of theories I have, but yes.”

“I wish he wasn’t so vague and deflective.” Toshinori laments with a sigh, “I’m beginning to wonder if we should bring Nighteye into this. If there’s an organisation suspected to have connections with All for One, he should know as well.”

“Let’s keep him in the dark for now. After all, we don’t even know the full story.” Nedzu reminds. It’s been a while since he had encountered a puzzle that has him stumped like this. Honestly if there wasn’t a possible connection to what is possibly a global threat he would be excited.

Their tea was interrupted when all of a sudden the doors were broken down and they both flinched in preparation for an attack but their eyes widened at sight of Tenya Iida, panting and sweating as he leaned on the doorframe.

***

If Melissa could describe the scene in front of her in one word, it would be overkill.

She had threw another punch at that damned villain, and like predicted he drops his crystal armour to allow Aizawa to erase its Quirks. And then Midoriya…

The Noumu charged undeterred by the loss of its Quirks but Midoriya waves his hand at it summoning dozens of spectral blue arms, reaching out from the ground and latch onto the Noumu and actually managing to restrain it for some seconds. It struggles for a few moments, occasionally ripping off a spectral arm only for two more to take its place, but even then it was barely restrained.

He proceeds to slam his spear to the ground as it glows red, firing off a trio of flaming orbs that streak towards the pinned villain like a cluster of missiles. The Noumu barely frees one of its arms to block the shots as they pierce the large muscular arm, setting it ablaze and into ashes, leaving only a stump in its place.

It roars before finally breaking free, leaping towards the three of them, but Midoriya barely flinched as he raised his free hand, glowing blue as the smoke from the explosion flew towards the Noumu, snaring it with tendrils of smoke before flinging it upwards into the sky before a black cloud forms in an instant above them, with a large bolt of red lightning striking down on the Noumu.

It was almost terrifying to see her classmate tear into this villain like he was doing. There was no hesitation in his movements, just like back in the Battle Trials only this time there was no confident calm he displayed but cold, calculating fury.

“Midoriya! I can’t keep my eyes open for much longer!” Aizawa warns and the green haired boy grits his teeth before throwing his spear into the air, duplicating itself into dozens and dozens of white copies that flew down with such speed as to pierce the Noumu and keep it pinned before Midoriya fell back to where she and Aizawa was.

Aizawa was soon forced to blink, and in that split second, the armour flashes back into existence, shielding it from the effects of his Quirk as it pries the spears from its body. Underneath it’s crystal shell it was likely repairing its body at high speeds but she notices the two arms that Midoriya burnt or blown off were growing back at a slower pace.

“It’s down two arms, next we go for the legs, and then the head.” Midoriya notifies them. It was almost disturbing seeing how uncaring he was with how much damage he was going to the villain, in fact she may even gamble and say that Midoriya wanted to kill this villain. There was more than normal rage in his eyes, like he saw the Noumu as something vile, something that deserves nothing less than absolute annihilation. It sends chills down her spine in all honesty.

She launches forward once more, reeling her arm back for another full powered punch and hearing the machinery whirr and metal strain but pushes on anyways determined to take down the villain. But just as she reaches, a familiar wall of black mist appears in front of her.

***

To say that things were not going as planned was an understatement. First of all, All Might was not at the USJ as promised by their information. It was initially no issue, it meant that they could use the time until he gets there to wipe out the students and teachers that could likely back him up.

He had certainly not expected the children to fight back as hard as they did, with one of them even managing to escape! He had to report back to Shigaraki, as even with the Noumu’s upgrades there was a low chance of victory if all the teachers of UA and All Might arrive at the same time.

That was where he saw the Noumu, on its knees with glowing spears skewered through its body with a blonde student rushing towards it. He immediately warped her away just in case to give Noumu time to recover, but unfortunately, he didn’t have time to focus so the warp gate could only go a few metres away, sending her blow right back at her allies.

“Shigaraki!” Kurogiri cries out as he carefully warps him away from the strange chains tying him up, “Are you alright?”

“Do I f*cking look alright?!” he screams in pain as he grasps the stump where was his left hand once stood, “That… f*cking cheater! There wasn’t supposed to be some surprise mini-boss or something!”

Kurogiri glances at the limp hand that laid a few metres away and grimaces, “Fear not, Shigaraki. We’ll get the doctor to put it back on. But we have to retreat now, one of the students managed to escape. We have to go before the Pro Heroes arrive.”

“No… not yet…” Shigaraki growls as he points his remaining hand at the dust cloud. Kurogiri had attempted to use the blonde student’s own attack against them but it appear all three of them were unharmed. Looking closely he realises one of the three was the green haired boy from the entrance, with a look in his eyes that spelt a lust for blood. Their blood.

“That cheater, he’s got more than one Quirk…” he growls as their eyes met, “Only sensei can do that, it doesn’t make sense! And he’s ruining our raid, Noumu won’t be able to fight All Might thanks to him…I’m not leaving without his corpse!”

Kurogiri glances back at the boy in concern, “The Noumu is designed to fight and even kill All Might, are you saying that he’s capable of overwhelming it?”

“He’s got support.” Shigaraki growls as he scratches his neck with his remaining hand in frustration, breaking his skin, “Eraserhead…if we take him out he can’t bring down Noumu’s armour. And that girl… the one who thinks she’s All Might, throwing punches while shouting ‘Smash’ like he does… Kill her as well, so Noumu won’t have to bring down its armour to absorb her punches. The boy’s their main DPS, if his support falls there’s no way he can stand up to Noumu. There’s three of us against three of them, and we have Noumu on our side. Besides, if we kill them, it’ll break All Might’s pride at the very least.”

“...Very well.” Kurogiri reluctantly obeys as he gets into position. While he believes they’ve done enough, crippling one of their teachers and scattering their students to various villain populated zones, he supposes adding at least one death would cripple UA’s reputation even further.

***

“Midoriya? Aizawa-sensei?” Melissa cries in concern as the dust parted to reveal the both unharmed.

“We’re fine.” Izuku says as he phases back to reality with Aizawa as he glances to the creature made of black mist, “It looks like Kurogiri is finally here.”

He had read the minds of the villains in the Conflagration Zone, this villain by name of Kurogiri was their only method of transport out of here. He hopes that perhaps they may flee now with their League in tow but it appears they all intend to keep fighting.

“How do you know his name?” Melissa asks with a tone he couldn’t place, but before he could answer, the Noumu charges and interrupts them. He slams his spear to the ground once more, shattering the earth and making the monster stumble midcharge. This slows it down enough for chains, both white and blue to pull it back just enough to slow it down.

His spear glows as a blade of red energy grows from its tip, making it resemble a large glaive, before bringing it down, but the Noumu blocks it with a crystalised arm just as Melissa goes for a blow to the guts, forcing it to decrystallize the area to absorb the blow.

Aizawa took advantage of the opening once more and erased the Quirks it had, and the crystal armour fell allowing for the glowing hot blade to cut through its flesh into the bone.

But suddenly, a black rift appears in front of Aizawa who barely leapt back in time to avoid a hand clawing at his face. The villains may be blocking his sight but as long as he didn’t blink the effects of his Quirk will remain until he does.

“Take down the support, and the rest of the party falls.” Shigaraki growls, as he made crazed swipes at the Pro Hero which were sloppy but made dangerous thanks to the near inhuman speed he had.

Izuku curses at the sudden alteration before snapping back to attention as the Noumu throws a punch at Melissa that he barely deflects with a shield. It shifts its attention back to him and swung the arm his spear was latched into hoping to smash him into the pavement.

A snap of his fingers and he phases out midswing as the Noumu’s fist smash into the earth as he appears above the monster. Stabbing his spear downwards aiming for the head but it moved the last moment, so he only managed to skewer its neck.

“Get back to Aizawa!” he screams from the back of the Noumu as it tries grasping for him, “Keep the one with hands away from him! His Quirk is to destroy whatever he touches, so be careful!”

“What about you?!” she cries out just as the Noumu leaps up, taking him along for the ride as it angled itself so it would fall while landing on him. But he managed to phase away on time just as they landed.

“I’ll be fine! Just go!” he orders, as Melissa nods and runs off to assist her teacher. The Noumu gets back up almost instantly and Izuku chains it down with more magic. The constant spells were taking their toll as he feels his breathing get more and more ragged, he needed to end this quick.

The Noumu roars but with the spear runned through its throat it sounded more like a wet gurgle, choking on its blood as it kneels and performed a great leap above, aiming it’s back at the ceiling. Seeing it’s intentions Izuku phased through it’s body as it leaps watching as it rockets to the ceiling, smashing into it and despite the distance he could still feel it’s bloodlusted glare as it launches itself back like a projectile.

In his mind he calculates the Noumu’s speed and trajectory, gathering the mana from the nearby sources of water before guiding it in front of him, moulding it into the shape of a creature.

Before the Noumu was halfway there, a thunderclap was heard as a wyvern with blue scales and red wings intercepted it, snapping it between its jaws and claws midair. One of the many creatures he had encountered in his studies and journeys.

The wyvern slams the Noumu into the ground as fast as it could, but it barely lasts a few seconds as a black fist punches through its skull clean through like it was a piece of paper. The Noumu tosses away the fading carcass as it rushes for Izuku again.

He blitzes forward in a flash of lightning, sliding underneath an arm thrown at where his head would have been, before his spear wraps itself in a blade made of red and white mana, slashing at its side as he slid past, nearly severing it in two.

The Noumu falls on its knees, the muscles holding its body up sliced to bits and working quickly to piece itself back together. Izuku was going to take advantage of the situation but suddenly he senses something above, and trusting his instinct, leaps backwards as a pile of rubble falls where he last stood.

Above him multiple black rifts tear across the sky and rubble as he narrowly avoids or swats them away with his spear. Stabbing forward repeatedly and blasting each piece to dust before they can touch him, creating a cloud of dust that obscured his vision. Just as the last piece was destroyed he sees a shadow behind the dust and raises his spear to create a barrier to block.

The Noumu’s fist shatters the barrier and strikes, snapping his spear in two and launching him backwards.

“D-damn it.” Izuku curses, as he pushes himself back up, the dust now clearing and he sees the mist creature, Kurogiri, hovering in the air.

“I must admit, to go toe to toe with our Anti-Symbol of Peace shows that you both have a powerful Quirk and extreme skill.” he analyses from his position above, “Our Noumu has to save its energy for the main course, so pardon me as I assist him in wiping you out.”

More and more rifts appear in the air emerging from Kurogiri, “Your facility’s Collapse Zone is home to quite some nice rubble, would you like to see them?”

“Oh lock me sideways.” he mutters to himself, as he dodges more and more rubble thrown at him as the Noumu began charging, swatting any rubble that so happened to be in his way. He leaps backwards and fires some white chains from the spear in an attempt to slow down the Noumu but a warp rift appears in front of them and the chains disappear into the darkness.

“Son of a-!” he yells, as he phases through a fist before leaping to great highs with assistance from blue mana towards Kurogiri. If he can take out the weaker of the two first he could stall Noumu, buying enough time until he gathers enough mana to wipe it off the face of the plane, or for reinforcements from UA to arrive.

But he hesitates for a second. If he was the villain’s only way out won’t taking away their option to retreat force them to fight even harder, potentially even maiming or killing one of his classmates?

The second was long enough and a warp rift appears in front of Kurogiri before something shoots out of it, slicing away at his mana shield and knocking him out of his trajectory before it was blasted away with a gust of wind.

“Water?!” Izuku realises, at the feeling of his clothes being drenched.

“Exactly. Simple physics I’m sure you’d learn in school.” Kurogiri explains as he sets up a number of portals across the area pointed at him, “Your facility’s Shipwreck Zone is meant to mimic an ocean, and it has quite the depth.”

A dozen streams of high pressure water shoot at him with enough force to sever a man in half. He barely blocks them with barriers or blast portals away with wind, keeping himself afloat with blue mana.

Then a large portal appears in front of him and a wave of fire washes over him but before it could even touch him he absorbs it into his spear, making it glow red with power. It was weaponizing the zones, turning what were meant to be safe methods of learning rescue techniques into weapons against those that sought to learn. There was irony in that.

He narrowly avoids another three high pressure blade of water, waiting for the right moment to strike at Kuorigiri. Then he sees an opening and dashes through the air, spear aiming for the exposed bits of metal armour behind his neck. If he was made of mist, then why wear armour? It meant there must be something worth protecting behind it.

But before his spear could scratch it, sheets of crystals deflects the attack as an arm reaches out from the mass of mist that made up Kurogiri, and grabs his spear. Despite the strength of the metal it was easily snapped like a twig.

Kurogiri enlarged the portal allowing the Noumu to fly through directly at him. With no time to change his direction Izuku could only raise as much mana he could into a frontal barrier to block the blow. But the Noumu shatters it with ease and slamming into the already weakened shield of mana enwrapping his body.

The blow shatters the shield and sent him flying backwards, and Kurogiri used this opportunity to focus the high pressure water blades at him. Despite being stunned from the blow he saw the portal open in front of him.

His reflexes save him from the worst of the blow, if it had been a direct hit he had no doubt it would have pierced through his skull. But the shot does graze him, slashing at his right eye.

Pain was all he felt then. Agonising pain, worse than any he’s ever felt in his life. A white hot pain on the right side of his face like it was on fire. Being on fire may actually be preferable.

His focus breaks and his flight spell stops keeping himself afloat, plummeting from the skies and slamming onto the ground like a bag of rocks. Something breaks when he lands.

He tastes blood as he coughs, trying to get his lungs to remember how to breathe. Broken ribs and choking on his own blood? That was too familiar for his taste. Almost immediately his vision blurs, finding it difficult to decipher whether he was in the USJ or in Amonkhet, he can’t tell if he was lying on broken concrete or stone bricks.

He hears shouting, most certainly either Aizawa or Melissa, but his concussed mind keeps hearing those of Gatewatch, Jace, Nissa, Chandra, Liliana and Gideon…

…Gideon…

The monster looms over him and for a moment its visage was replaced with a golden dragon. The pain dulls, his mind racing at a hundred thoughts a second and sharpens as the creature raises a foot and stomp with all the force it could muster.

***

“That punch…shouting smash as you do it…you’re an All Might fan aren’t you.” Shigaraki asks as he caught her gauntlet with his remaining hand, “It pisses me off.”

Melissa’s eyes widen at the sight of her gauntlet disintegrating as Shigaraki moved to place his other hand, momentarily forgotten it was now a stump. Melissa quickly kicks him away with her armoured boot before backing up to inspect the damage.

The whole thing was rusted to the state of being unusable and she quickly activates the emergency disengagement to let the broken piece of armour fall to the ground, crumbling into a mound of rusted metal. That was just from a single touch…

Shigaraki charges again but a familiar scarf wraps around his wrist, “This again?!”

Aizawa pulls Shigaraki towards him before delivering a powerful kick to the face, launching him backwards before pulling in for another blow.

“Get your hands off my student.” he growls as he swings him and and to the ground, smashing against the concrete.

Even fighting with one arm broken, Aizawa was still able to take down a villain like that. And Midoriya was also fighting a villain that was supposed to take down All Might. Look at her, she was his successor, shouldn’t she be doing something more?

Sudden;y she notices a shadow coming from above and glances up, her eyes widening at the sight as she rushes to a distracted Aizawa, slamming into him just as a piece of rubble was about to fall on him.

“Look out!” she cries out as the sky began raining rubble of broken buildings, likely from the USJ’s Collapse Zone. She aims an arm at the skies, pouring it full of One for All before shouting just like her Uncle Might.

“TEXAS SMASH!” The resulting force of the blow blasts away most of the pieces and the mist portal. She breathes a sigh of relief before they both hear something fall and crack. They turn around at the source as their eyes widen with both horror and disbelief.

“Looks like the Noumu’s done.” Shigaraki cackles at what he saw, untangling himself from Aizawa’s capture weapon, “About time.”

Lying in front of them was the body of Midroiya, the ground beneath him cracked from his impact and a puddle of blood from his head. She pales at the sight, her heart racing as Aizawa moved to cover the sight with his body.

“Don’t look.” he says as calmly as he could through gritted teeth, “Don’t think about it, not now. We’re not out of the woods.”

Shigaraki just shrugs carefree, “It’s a shame, I would’ve liked to capture him alive for Sensei but I suppose his corpse will do just fine. This is what you get for sending children to fight, Eraserhead. Don’t be so surprise if they bite the dust.”

“You’ll pay for that.” Aizawa growls in anger as memories flash through his eyes. Of Oboro, how he died against a similarly gigantic villain with his head crushed. How was he going to explain to his parents that he let their child die under his watch?

“You…you bastard.” she may not have been close with Midoriya, even downright suspicious of him, but he didn’t deserve to die. Not from trying to protect them. She clenches her fist in anger and throws it at the villain in front of her.

“Noumu.” he calls out confident that his minion would leap to take the blow in time but to his shock the Noumu doesn’t move from his spot. This moment's hesitation cost him as he hesitates before leaping back and raising his hand to catch the blow, momentarily forgetting his Quirk had been erased by Eraserhead.

“SMASH!” the punch wasn’t as strong as it was on full power, yet Shigaraki could feel every bone in his arm fracture, and his jaw nearly dislocated as the back of his own hand smashes into his face.

Shigaraki was sent flying and landed in a roll as he screamed for Kurogiri and a warp rift appeared, wrapping around him and warping him to safety before Aizawa’s capture weapon or Melissa’s fist could touch him.

“Where the hell is Noumu? What is it doing?!” Shigaraki asks after some distance was put between them.

“It’s… just standing there.” Kurogiri responded similarly confused as all eyes turned back to the villain in question. The dust cloud it kicked up has cleared and beneath its feet laid a surprisingly still intact green haired student.

***

“...Thank you, Gideon.” he whispers as the Noumu’s feet struggle against the impermeable barrier between them. Gideon’s signature ability, creating borderline invincible barriers. It was lucky that he didn’t misjudge the timing, and he knows he can only maintain it for a split second so he quickly casts the second spell.

White chains emerge from the earth below them and wrap themselves around the Noumu’s arms and legs, pinning them down. It roars and snaps its teeth down in an attempt to maul his head but he glares back defiantly with his remaining eye as he vanishes in a flash of blue, away from the Noumu with a glowing white hand on the gash, patching the wound as best he can.

The pain was barely contained, he’s likely concussed from the impact, who knows how many bones was broken, and he was having trouble breathing, a sharp pain through his lungs whenever he inhales. But he can’t collapse now. He needs to kill this creature in an instant but how? His spear was broken, and he can’t make a big enough incineration spell quick enough. His mind scrolls through all of the different spells and creatures, something that can be done fast enough to kill this bastard before he passes out.

…There was one. But it was a gamble. If it fails that would be his last spell ever. The chances of failure to cast the spell was high, and the consequences if he failed… it wouldn’t be just him that will pay the price but possibly everyone in his class.

His thoughts were interrupted as a wave of ice washes over the Noumu, completely encasing it in a miniature glacier. With hope in his eye he spun to see a familiar figure dressed in white, half encased in a sheet of ice.

“Midoriya, what happened to your eye?” Todoroki exclaims in surprise. Izuku could not have timed this better if he had tried,

“Todoroki! Your flames! You have to use them!” He informs his classmate as urgently as possible, “As much fire as you can! It’s the only way to beat it!”

The boy takes a moment to look surprise at the request before looking at him coldly.

“I’m not using my right side.” he simply says and Izuku was actually stunned by the blunt refusal of aid as Todoroki turns his attention back to the glacier, “Besides, that was their Anti-Symbol of Peace right? I heard it from one of the villains. Doesn’t seem like much of a-”

The glacier explodes and both students raise their own barriers to block the shrapnel of ice. He turns to the fire and ice user with a frustrated glare, “If you won’t use your fire then at least hold it back for as long as possible! Buy me time!”

Without waiting for a response, Izuku kneeled down and slammed both palms on the ground, the area around him glowing lightly with grey mist circling around him. Confused by the sight, Todoroki nevertheless obeyed and kept pouring wave after wave of ice at the Noumu, who shattered each attempt to restrain him with ease as it steadily gained traction and moves faster, closer and closer to the two.

Meanwhile Izuku pictures the blade in his mind. Pictured the black steel, that stench of evil and wrongness that permeated the air when he saw it. A sword of darkness, forged in the blood of hundreds of slaves and the blacksmith’s own son. A weapon of evil that was reforged and wielded by the purest warrior he has ever known.

The Blackblade emerged hilt first as he grabs it before drawing it from the mist like it was a sheathe. It has slain mortals, undead, and elder dragons before breaking against the scales of Nicol Bolas. But this creature, this Noumu, was no Nicol Bolas.

He breaks into a sprint towards the Noumu, a crystal fist speeding for his head as he raises the Blackblade to meet it, powering himself with as many enhancement spells as possible. The two of them met in a clash and Izuku skids to a stop a few feet behind the Noumu, the two of them stood still, unmoving.

In his hands the Blackblade crumbled, as he was unable to maintain its form for any longer. The legendary blade vanished back into the Aether as the damage Izuku received through he course of the battle finally took effect, collapsing on a knee.

Shigaraki smirked under the hand wrapped around his face. Finally that troublesome mini-boss had been taken out, and with his body relatively intact, he was sure that Sensei will praise him for such a find. But then his eyes widened as the Noumu stumbled as well.

“What…” he mutters in shock as all of a sudden the Noumu’s arm slides right off, having been cut clean through despite the thick layer of crystals and Shock Absorption Quirk, the Noumu lost a third arm. It was just a cut so it should’ve regenerated instantly but it didn’t, the wound continued bleeding and the crystal armour that protected it faded away.

But that wasn’t possible, did Eraserhead do something to Noumu’s Quirk? But that was impossible, Super Regeneration shouldn’t be affected by it! That wasn’t possible!

“That…cheater! This isn’t possible! Noumu isn’t supposed to fall to some damn miniboss! It was supposed to kill All Might! That’s why we we took on that sidequest with the Yakuza to level it up!” Shigaraki screeches as he scratches his neck harder, practically flaying at it, “This isn’t possible!”

“Shigaraki…” Kurogiri says placatingly but equally concerned with what he just witnessed, “We must flee now.”

“But our minions, they’re awaking! We can still do this!” Shigaraki points out to the rousing villains strewn across the USJ having been knocked out earlier by Aizawa.

“Our soldiers are no match even for the students, and our Noumu is dead. Even if All Might shows up now, we lost the element of surprise and have next to no chance. We. Must. Retreat.”

Shigaraki snarls at that but relents to his advice, turning to face Melissa and Aizawa as Kurogiri wraps his mist around him to prepare for long distance warping.

“Next time…the next time I’ll really kill you…you damned All Might copycat. You and that damned mini-boss.”

“Like hell we’d let you go after all this!” Melissa shouts in rage but was held back by Aizawa.

“Calm down.” he orders. If they were leaving it’s a good thing, after seeing the mist villain in action he realises they can’t risk another engagement. Not when they were all worn out and Midoriya in critical condition.

“They… they just left us?” a villain groggily asks as he awakes.

“Damn it! Those f*cking cowards!” another yells, “They left us for the pigs!”

“Look, that hero and those students are f*cking worn out from fighting. If we can take them hostage…” a villain suggests.

Todoroki took a position to defend Midoriya’s unconscious body, ready to unleash ice on anyone that gets close but that would not be needed. From the entrance of the USJ, something large smashes through the tall hydraulically locked gates and a familiar booming voice, filled with barely contained rage echoes through the USJ.

“Have no fear students, you are safe now.” All Might says, “For I am here!”

***

“Aizawa, Melissa, are you alright?” Toshinori says after he swiftly defeats the remaining villains in less than a few seconds. All around the USJ, defeating each villain that still stood with one punch. The number was suprsingly little and he feels pride that his students have come this far in only such a short time.

He returns to the centre of the USJ where he had saw his colleague. Aizawa looks worse for wear, his arm was broken and laying limply against his body and he had to be supported by Melissa to walk who looked to have part of her armour rusted off.

“Forget about it, Midoriya needs urgent care now!” Aizawa says, pointing with his unbroken arm. He follows the direction he pointed at and his eyes widened at the sight in shock. Endeavour’s son, Shoto was kneeling next to an unconscious Midoriya looking in worry and concern. His heart sinks further at the sight of the boy, blood staining his white coat, the armour he wore dented, and one half of his face caked in dried blood missing an entire eye. All this happened while he was with Nedzu, discussing what they thought was the boy’s true intentions in their school. A sense of guilt emanates within him as he carefully picks up the boy, cradling him in his arms.

Then all of a sudden, the boy gasps and reaches out with a shaky hand, coughing out blood.

“Midoriya?” he says in alarm, “Be still, young man. You’re too injured to move.”

“...Safe?” he coughs out and Toshinori nods.

“You’re safe now, Young Midoriya. The villains are gone.” he assures but Midoriya shook his head.

“No…they…safe?” he asks again and Toshinori understood what he meant. Even at the state he was in he was more concerned with the safety of his classmates? To think that he once considered the boy to be an agent of that terrible man, lying in wait for an evil plan.

“They are.” he nods, “Stay awake, I’ll have you sent to Recovery Girl in no time.”

He leaps with all the power One for All could offer, to get the boy to Recovery Girl as quickly as he can. If he dies because he was too late, then he would never be able to forgive himself.

***

“Tomura, you return far earlier than expected.”

A voice from a static television says as Shigaraki fell out of Kurogiri’s warp gate, his remaining hand clutching over his stump as the adrenaline starts to fade and the pain returns. He screams in anger as he began to take his rage out on his surroundings, throwing bar stools and breaking glasses on the tables.

Kurogiri sighs at the tantrum but quickly goes searching for the medkit behind the bar to supply his charge with morphine for the pain. As this goes on the voice behind the television went silent at the sight of Shigaraki with one less hand than he started with.

“What happened, Shigaraki? Where’s your hand? The Noumu?” the voice asks calmly after Shigaraki pauses his tantrum for a moment, “Take a moment to catch your breath before recounting what has happened.”

Shigaraki pants before turning to the screen, “He killed the Noumu, that damned cheater!”

“The Noumu dead?” another voice from the screen asks in shock, “That should be impossible! With the upgrades thanks to Overhaul it should have been a guaranteed victory. He should have been able to restrain All Might and use Energy Suck, making Noumu stronger while All Might gets weaker! And Crystallize! Even if any of the students there had an energy based Quirk that ignored Shock Absorption, Crystallize would have defended Noumu! Working with Kurogiri there is no conceivable way All Might would have won!”

“That’s just f*cking it…” Shigaraki growls as Kurogiri administers the morphine to his stump, “Noumu didn’t even get the chance to f*cking fight All Might. He lost to some damn surprise mini-boss!”

“...What?” the doctor could only ask, stunned by what he just said, “Are you telling me that Noumu lost to a student?!”

“Doctor, calm yourself.” the first voice says, “How did Noumu lose?”

“It was a stalemate at first.” Kurogiri cuts in to give his report as Shigaraki stews, “From what I saw the Noumu and the child fought to a standstill before I interfered. He had a strange Quirk, lightning and fire, yet being able to phase and summon blades of energy at the same time.”

“It was like you, Sensei.” Shigaraki says, “That brat…I think he has a Quirk like yours.”

You could hear a pin drop as both voices became silent almost for a full minute before he says in a suddenly neutral tone, “Continue your report.”

“The boy was soon overwhelmed when I joined the fight and assisted Noumu. I managed to shoot a high pressured shot of water that cut his eye out, and he fell to what I had thought was his death. But he survived, and while the Noumu was held back by a boy with an ice Quirk, he created a strange black sword that killed the Noumu.”

“He killed the Noumu…with a sword?” the doctor asks, incredulous, “His Super Regeneration should’ve fixed a wound from a blade in seconds!”

“But it didn’t!” Shigaraki snaps, “That brat sliced through Noumu’s crystal armour like it was nothing! And it didn’t heal from that, like the sword applied some sort of debuff or something!”

“So the sword was able to somehow negate the Noumu’s Quirks…” Sensei mutters out loud, “Fascinating, very fascinating. And who was this boy exactly?”

“We do not know, but he had green hair.” Kurogiri explains, “I apologise for our failings, master.”

“Do not fret, Kurogiri.” the voice assures like a kindly old man would wave off a child’s mistake, “Neither should you, Shigaraki. The results were disappointing but I believe this would be a perfect introduction for the League. The crippling of a UA student, breaching their impenetrable defences, will cause quite a ruckus amongst the populace. Rest, visit the doctor when you can to do something about your loss of a hand. But I believe when time comes for retaliation, you will be ready.”

“I will, Sensei.” Shigaraki says with bloodlust, “The next time I see that brat, I’ll kill him myself. Him and that All Might-wannabe.”

“All Might-wannabe?” he mutters, curious, “Tell me more about this, All Might-wannabe.”

Chapter 12: USJ: Aftermath

Chapter by Anonymous567

Chapter Text

This had not been how she had expected her first week in UA to go. Looking back, the worst she had expected was some pop quiz or a difficult assignment, maybe a minor case of tinnitus from a certain explosive blonde. She’d probably take all that over what had just happened, when villains invaded their school.

At first, things weren’t terrible, the villains were surprisingly weak–around the level of UA’s training bots during the Entrance Exam–but there were still plenty of them and unlike the robots, these guys had the intention to literally kill them. Thankfully, Yaoyorozu was able to come up with a plan using Kaminari’s Quirk to save the day, only for a villain to pop up from underground and grabbed a burnt out Kaminari by the throat, holding him hostage.

If it hadn’t been for All Might showing up, defeating the villain faster than their eyes could track, she wasn’t sure what they could have done to save him. She sees him getting a checkup from a medic that had arrived with the police, who were now rounding up the rest of the class and the villains. The thought about one of her friends could have died chills her out, even if she doesn’t show it.

She glances around, just to find Aizawa talking with one of the officers, a detective from what she heard, and Iida was organising the class and doing a headcount. Wouldn’t that be Midoriya’s job as the Class President?

Jirou glances around somewhat concerned. She knows Midoriya was strong as hell, probably the strongest next to Todoroki and Shield, so if all he had to fight were the same villains, then he should’ve gotten out without a scratch.

Her concern grows when she doesn’t spot the familiar mop of green hair, and interrupts Iida in the middle of his headcount.

“Hey, wait a minute, there’s someone missing. Where’s Midoriya?” she asks worriedly, as the rest of the class seem to recognise that they were missing him. The only ones weren't Shield and Todoroki, since the latter was grimacing and the former looked sick. And this did not bode well.

Aizawa, having finished his conversation with the detective, stepped up with his arm wrapped in a sling, “Midoriya… he has been injured during a fight with one of the leaders of the villains that attacked.”

There were gasps and murmurs of shock amongst the class at hearing that, and Jirou was no different.

“How… how bad is it?” Kaminari asks, having recovered from his brain going haywire.

Aizawa sighs, “I’ve received a report from Recovery Girl that All Might delivered him to her on time, so his condition is stable for now.”

Arrived on time? Condition is stable? That wasn’t something you use to describe a minor injury, just what kind of sh*t did Midoriya go through?!

“Aizawa-sensei, what does that mean?” Yaoyorozu asks, similarly concerned.

“...He took on two of the villains, the mist one and the bird-headed one, and he got hurt badly.” Aizawa says after a moment of hesitation, “He’s currently unconscious from his wounds.”

Hearing Aizawa hesitating made her instantly fearful of what kind of condition Midoriya was in, and how much wasn’t their teacher telling them in order to prevent panic? She was also furious at the villains, vowing if any of them show their faces again, she’ll use her Quirk on them until their organs start liquefying.

“It was against that bird-looking villain.” Melissa adds on looking downcast, “He fought it and the mist villain, Kurogiri, at the same time. He… killed one of the villains as well.”

As she says this, her enhanced hearing picks up something, and glances over to the USJ entrance where they were wheeling away a particularly large bodybag of sorts. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who that was for.

The class went silent at that, and she doesn’t blame them. They were here to train and become Pro Heroes, so obviously killing wasn’t supposed to be something they were doing. But she also understands that, if the villains was as strong as they were saying, he didn’t have a choice.

“All of you will be returned to your class as soon as possible.” Aizawa continues, “We’ve alerted your parents on the situation and you will be sent home as soon as they arrive, under escort.”

The class murmurs amongst each other, as the police and their teachers began guiding them back to their class, but her mind kept focusing on the fact that one of her friends was badly injured, terribly judging by how Aizawa described it. She almost missed Aizawa pulling Kaminari aside, asking for a talk with him in the teacher’s office just as five more bodybags leaving the USJ.

***

“So, he’s alright?” Toshinori asks Recovery Girl, as she steps out of the improvised surgery room set up in the nurse’s office. The older heroine merely sighs in exhaustion before nodding.

“Yes, he’s out of danger. I’ve already sent a report to Aizawa as well.” she says, “The condition of that poor boy… It’s a miracle that he’s even alive. I did what I could to fix his bones and patch his lungs, cleaning up the internal bleeding was troublesome but manageable, blood transfusion was no problem as UA has a steady supply of all blood types, but unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about his eye. It’s gone for good.”

“My god…” Toshinori mumbles upon hearing the news. Even amongst Pro Heroes injuries on that scale were very rare. To think that one of his students, not even passed a full week of school, suffered all that…

“Is he awake?” he asks, wanting to at the very least apologise for his failure both as a teacher and a hero.

“I’m afraid not.” Recovery Girl shook her head, “Poor boy is beyond exhausted, it’s why I couldn’t use my Quirk to heal all of his wounds. He’ll be unconscious for quite a while. I believe he’ll be awake once he gets enough rest.”

That was good to hear, but Toshinori was still worried about the fact the boy was now blind in one eye. That would certainly affect his ability to be a Pro Hero, if he even decides to continue pursuing the career after what has happened. After a traumatic incident such as this, he wouldn’t blame the young man if he decides to drop out of the Hero Course.

“And there’s something that concerns me.” Recovery Girl says, snapping him out of his thoughts, “I know you and Nedzu have suspicions on this boy, about whether he’s involved with him. I did as well, so after I finished stabilising the boy, I checked his body, as well for signs of multiple Quirk factors. I found none”

Toshinori’s eyes widen in surprise before sighing in relief with a smile, at least that was one worry off his mind, “Truly? That’s a relief to hear. I’m glad it was just us being paranoid, and-”

“No, you misunderstood.” Recovery Girl interrupts, “I don’t think there are any Quirk Factors at all in this boy.”

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that follows, as Toshinori’s mind registers what Recovery Girl just said.

“No… Quirk factor at all? But that’s impossible, he certainly had a Quirk!” he exclaims confused, before becoming worried, “Do you think maybe the fight just now had any effect?”

“Oh yes, he probably had his Quirk factor literally punched out of him.” Recovery Girl says sarcastically, “Of course not, there would have been signs if he lost a Quirk. We both saw cases from victims of you know who. But this is different, biologically this boy is Quirkless.”

“Are you telling me that all he’s done, throwing fire and lightning, telekinesis, and who knows what else, he’s done that Quirkless?!” he asks in disbelief, “There has to be something, Quirks bend the laws of reality, perhaps there is just a very well hidden Quirk factor? Misdiagnosis occur sometimes.”

“They’re not as common as you think, with how advanced medical technology has become.” Recovery Girl shook her head, “There’s no possible way for a misdiagnosis. I triple checked the results, and despite how much it goes against reason, Izuku Midoriya is Quirkless.”

Toshinori was stunned silent as he processed this new information, glancing at the door behind which was the room where Midoriya lay unconscious.

“Izuku Midoriya… just who are you?”

Before they can further discuss this they hear rapid footsteps approaching from behind, surprised to see Melissa following Kyoka Jirou who was walking as fast as she could.

“Excuse me, Recovery Girl?” Jirou asks as she rushes towards the older woman, nearly shoving Toshinori aside, “I heard from Aizawa-sensei, but what happened to Midoriya? How bad is it?”

“Calm down young lady.” Recovery Girl says, “He was injured but now his condition is stable. But do be quiet, he’s currently unconscious and recovering from his wounds, you don’t want to wake your friend up do you?”

“He’s a strong boy, I’m sure he’ll be able to pull through.” Toshinori assures her, as Jirou spun to look at him with a confused look, before he remembers he’s not in his buff All Might form, so he probably looks like a stranger to her.

“Sorry, but who are you?” she asks confused before Melissa, who had been following Jirou, hurriedly introducing him.

“This is Toshinori Yagi. He’s my guardian while I’m staying in Japan. And he’s also All Might’s personal assistant.”

“All Might’s assistant?” Jirou asks, before looking angered, “Then do you mind explaining where the hell he was?!”

“Jirou-!” Melissa tries to calm down her classmate, but she wasn’t having it.

“We could’ve died. Some of us nearly did.” Jirou says with restrained anger, “He’s our teacher, he should’ve been there to protect us! If he had been another minute too late…”

She doesn’t finish, but they all know what could have happened. If he was late for another minute, Denki Kaminari could have been killed by the villain taking him hostage, Izuku Midroiya could have bled out and died from his injuries, and a myriad of dozen other things.

“You are right.” Toshinori says as he bows, surprising Melissa, “That old fool was too careless, and as a result all of you nearly died. I can only offer my sincerest apologies on his behalf, and my assurance that I will have a talk with him to make sure he prioritises his job as an educator first.”

“Yeah, you do that.” Jirou mutters as her frustration subsides, before turning to Recovery Girl, “Can I see him? I just want to make sure he’s alright.”

“Of course, dear. But please keep quiet when you do so.” Recovery Girl nods and opens the door for her, “I’ll be waiting outside, call if there are any complications.”

Jirou nods, and leaves the room, leaving Toshinori alone in the hall with Melissa.

“She’s just frustrated after the attack.” Melissa says as she places a comforting hand on his shoulder, “It’s not your fault.”

“Nevertheless, she is correct,” Toshinori sighs, “I couldn’t help myself but interfere at every little crime, despite the fact multiple Pro Heroes were already on scene, which led to me burning out my time limit before I could even get to class. If I had arrived earlier, none of this would have happened, and Midoriya wouldn’t be lying on that bed on the brink of death.”

“But you’re the Symbol of Peace, no one blames you for doing your job.” Melissa protests.

“And my job is also to teach and protect all of you, to which I have failed.” Toshinori says solemnly, “What I said to Jirou weren’t empty promises, I swear from now on I will prioritise all my students first and foremost. The next time the villains come marching in, I will be there.”

Melissa stares at him, before wrapping him in a hug, “The only ones to blame are the villains Uncle Might. And you did protect us at the end, don’t forget that.”

“You’re too kind, Melissa.” Toshinori smiles, as he returns the hug before they separate, “Now we should probably call your father, he should know what has happened.”

“You’re right, but I also came here to let you know.” Melissa stops him, “That thing, that Noumu, it was just like Midoriya. It had multiple Quirks!”

“What?!” Toshinori asks stunned.

“It had four arms, some sort of Quirk that creates crystal armour, shock absorption and regeneration!” Melissa lists off one by one, “There was no mistaking it. That Noumu thing had multiple Quirks.. And…and I might be wrong here, but I think Midoriya knew them. He called them out by name, but I don’t think he should because I swear I never heard them introduce themselves.”

There was concern and a tinge of fear visible on her features, “You… don’t think they’re connected do you?”

“...I don’t know, Melissa, I truly do not know.” Toshinori answers, almost exhausted, “Just when we think we have the answers, two more questions take their place. But for now, we’ll deal with that later. Your father would want to hear from us, let’s go give him a call.”

***

She steps into the room tentatively, and her jaw drops at the sight before her. Midoriya was laying on a hospital bed, his chest wrapped in bandages and the right half of his face. Connected to his mouth was a breathing tube. It was a horrifying state and she can understand why Aizawa was reluctant to tell them anything, why Melissa looked sick at the mention of Midoriya. If this was him after being patched up she’d hate to see what he looked like before.

She can hear his deflated and hastily repaired lungs filling with air from assistance with machines, how uneven his breathing was, and the heartbeat monitor beeping at a constant rate. She never really liked hospitals, being able to hear what’s going on was not a good thing.

She picks up a chair and sat it next to Midoriya unsurely. She came to see how her friend was doing and now she was here she couldn’t bring herself to leave, wanting to stay until he awoke to let her know he’ll be fine.

Melissa had told her how he had thrown himself to fight the villain, Noumu it was called, supposedly someone strong enough to take down All Might himself. And Midoriya thought it was a great idea to take the guy head on.

“You damn idiot… Why’d you have to jump in?” she mutters with a sigh.

Suddenly she hears both Midoriya’s heart and the heartbeat monitor accelerate and begins worrying when Midoriya’s arms start reaching for the tube in his mouth frantically trying to pull it off as she tries and stops him. She wasn’t an expert but pulling out something like that was probably a bad idea.

“Midoriya?! Can you hear me? Calm down!” she shouts hoping he could hear her but whatever state he was in he apparently couldn’t as he continued struggling in her grasps. Turning to the door she shouts for the older heroine outside, “Recovery Girl! It’s Midoriya, something's going on!”

As she says this blue sparks start emerging from Midoriya’s skin, encompassing him as she held his wrists to stop him from doing whatever it was he was trying to do. Before she could wonder what the hell was going on, an explosion erupts, launching her backwards into the wall.

***

His throat burns as he tastes plastic in his mouth, any attempt at breathing causes him to choke at whatever was stuffed down there. He opens his eyes but was met by blinding light, if this was the afterlife then it was a terrible one. Pain was overwhelming, a burning feeling in his lungs and face as he moves his arms, scrambling for his throat to identify the source.

He fears the worst. Capture by the villains? Some sort of experimentation? He feels a pair of arms try stopping him. He needs to get out, he needs to get away!

His Spark instinctively flares and he feels the familiar sensation of Planeswalking before the more recently discovered sensation of being stopped, as an explosion of energy erupts from him and he feels himself thrown off something, a bed likely, as he scrambles for the thing in his throat. He grasps a sort of tube before tearing it off rapidly, burning at his throat and possibly causing something to bleed as he coughs and spits, nearly vomiting from the removal of the tube as his pupils readjust to the light. His eyes widen at the sight of a familiar figure before him.

“Jirou!” he cries in alarm, at the sight of her against the wall having been launched backward by his explosion. She groans and rubs the back of her head as he immediately tries to stand and assist but falls back down, with a pained grunt from his body aching.

“Midoriya?” she says with shock and concern, as she quickly got up and approached him, kneeling down unsure, “Are you alright? What happened?”

“I didn’t mean to…” he mutters, as he looks around the damaged room, “Where am I?”

“You’re in the nurse’s office in UA.” a voice came from the room’s entrance, and he spun to see a familiar old woman with a strange cane, “Are you finished destroying my equipment and possibly reopening wounds I just patched up?”

“Er…” Izuku trails off, as he glances around at the very likely expensive medical equipment he just wrecked, wincing at the sound of one of them falling over and shattering, “My bad?”

He was soon relocated to another room and placed on a cot, where Recovery Girl was giving him a full body check. It appears UA had multiple medical facilities on site enough for a small hospital which made sense since disastrous accidents can sometimes happen when dealing with magic, or in this case Quirks.

“You’re lucky you didn’t reopen any injuries with your little incident.” she lightly scolds, as she finishes checking his throat, “Your stitches are still holding up thankfully. Now what on Earth caused you to use your Quirk like that?”

“I… I thought I was with…” he cuts himself off before he can say anything. These ‘painkillers’ that he was given seemed to be clouding his mind as a side effect of sorts, so he quickly changed the subject, “The class, the villain attack, what’s happened?”

He asks with his tone somewhat trembling, “How many…”

“Everyone’s fine, Midoriya.” Jirou assures from a chair next to his cot, “The rest of the class is safe. Half the class is already heading back home, Iida’s with the other half insisting on making sure everyone gets home safe before he does.”

“Nobody’s badly hurt besides you.” Recovery Girl agreed as she puts aside her equipment, “13 had her back flayed by her own Quirk but I was able to heal her without issue, and Aizawa’s arm is still broken. I tried to convince him to let me take a look but that stubborn man insists it’s not important.”

“Nobody died?” Izuku asks half in disbelief and relief, “Truly? That’s- Argh!” He grunts in pain as the right side of his face flare up and he reaches to touch it on reflex, before finding bandages in its place. Jirou winces as Recovery Girl looked sombre,

“I did all I could, but unfortunately your eye was unsalvageable. I’m sorry.” she says apologetically as Izuku processed that.

The adrenaline from the fight kept him from thinking about his injury, all he cared was that the bleeding stopped and he continued the battle. But now with enough time to process it?

“I… see.” he mutters, “That is acceptable.”

Sure an eye reduced his peripheral sight but that in exchange for all twenty of his classmates and his two teachers? That was a trade he would repeat if given the chance again.

“...Acceptable?” Jirou asks after a pause, “What the hell does that mean?”

“I-?” Izuku was about to say something before he was interrupted by a suddenly furious Kyoka Jirou. He has faced Eldrazi broodlings, Phyrexian monstrosities and undead of all varieties yet this girl was making him wish he was fighting them instead.

“You just lost a goddamn eye! That is not f*cking acceptable!” she shouts looking ready to jab his remaining eye with her earjacks if he wasn’t so injured, “I almost thought you were dead the moment I saw you! Frankly I’m surprised you’re even goddamn conscious! You almost f*cking died and that’s acceptable?!”

“Of course it is!” Izuku retorts after finding his voice, “It’s just one person instead of twenty one! If I was given the same choice you can bet I’d make the same damn choice all over again!”

“So it’d be fine if Aizawa nearly died or lost an eye? 13? Or one of our classmates?” she asks with tears of frustration starting to come from her eyes.

“Of course not!”

“So stop thinking like that! You got hurt and it’s not something that’s fine or ‘acceptable’! You nearly f*ckign died! How would you think that would’ve affected your family, or your friends or m-!”

She trails off but looks close to tears and Izuku’s heart breaks at the sight.

“I don’t want to see you like this anymore, you hear me?” she says as she wipes her eyes with her sleeve.

“I’ll try.” Izuku says as his hand reaches for hers in an attempt at comfort, “I can’t promise but you have my word that I’ll try.”

This calms her down significantly and as her hand tightens around his, he can’t help but notice how warm it felt.

“If you two are finished…” Recovery Girl says after clearing her throat, reminding the two of her presence, “I’ll send a message to the rest of the staff you are finally awake. You should know we’ve already alerted your family, so they’ll likely be arriving soon to fetch you.”

“My family?” Izuku asks, before suddenly feeling dread as he sees Jirou flinch likely from suddenly hearing something extremely loud. Come to think of it, he can just barely hear a muffled shout from outside the door, “Oh no.”

The door was suddenly smashed down as Recovery Girl grumbled about the repair bills as two adults with enough tears to cause a flood barge into the room.

“Izuku!!!” they both cry out, as they rush to his side, with Jirou barely backing away in time to avoid being trampled on.

***

“Where is he? Where is my son?!”

Aizawa sighs to himself as he sees a man in dark hair looking almost the spitting image of Izuku Midoriya but without the freckles and with an attitude that would match Katsuki Bakugou’s. Following and holding him back by his shirt was a clearly distressed woman with green hair. These were Izuku’s parents, one of the first families of Class 1-A to arrive and pick their child up.

He needed to take responsibility for his failures, so he steels himself and approaches UA’s gate to greet them.

“Hello, my name is Shota Aizawa.” he bows his head, “I’m the Homeroom Teacher for Class 1-A and I-”

“You’re their teacher?!” Hisashi Midoriya scowls, “So you mind explaining why the f*ck I had a call informing me my son almost died?!”

“Dear please, calm down. This isn’t helping anyone.” Inko protests as she pulled at his sleeve but he remained full of anger.

“Calm down?! Our son almost got killed!” he shouts as he jabs a finger at Aizawa’s chest, “And you! You’re a f*cking Pro Hero! Why the hell is my son dying but you got off with only a broken arm?!”

He takes it all stoically. He’s heard similar sentiment through his career as a Pro Hero. Dealing with grieving family members was expected so he lets the man rage at him until he calms down enough for a rational conversation.

It came surprisingly soon as he notices a pair of arms wrap around Hisashi’s leg, a white haired girl with a strange horn on her forehead hugging his leg tightly.

“Mr Hisashi, please stop shouting.” the girl pleads, “He did his best.”

That was enough for Hisashi’s rage to simmer down and he relents.

“Your son saved me.” Aizawa says as he bows once more, “I would’ve been injured far worse if it wasn't for him, maybe even dead. From the bottom of my heart, I apologise for not being able to prevent your son’s injuries, and we at UA vow that such an incident will never occur again under our watch.”

Hisashi became silent at that, but Aizawa doesn’t miss the anger and frustration still in his eyes, but for now he was likely more concerned with seeing his son and so silenced himself to not prolong a pointless argument.

“...So he saved you too?” the girl asks softly, probably not meaning to say it outloud but it piqued his curiosity.

“Too?”

The girl looks flustered but rolls up her sleeve a bit nervously, showing a myriad of scars that made him instantly concerned. Just what did this girl went through, and what did Izuku Midoriya have to save her from.

“We kinda match.” she says with a nervous smile as she gestures to his arm in a cast.

“Hmph. I suppose so.” Aizawa says neutrally, not wanting to admit how adorable she was, before offering his unbroken hand, “Let’s go see Izuku now shall we?”

***

“Oh, my baby, what have they done to you?” Inko sobs as she stops herself from hugging her son lest she reopens an injury, her hand hovering next to the right side of his face.

“Mother, I am fine.” he assures as he reaches for her hand, trying to give her a smile, “I am alive, that’s what matters.”

“Oh my god, your eye.” his father mutters in shock before turning to Recovery Girl, “Is there any way to fix it?”

“Unfortunately not, my Quirk isn’t a miracle, it merely accelerates the healing process. I cannot regrow organs from nothing.” the elderly heroine shook her head.

“And the villains that did this?” Hisashi asks with a growl as smoke came from his nose and edge of his mouth, “I swear to god if I get my hands on them…No, you know what? When we get back I’m making a flamethrower, a plasma one! So if any villain tries to go after my son again I’ll set their fu-!”

“Izuku!” a voice came from behind and Hisashi stops mid-curse to realise their youngest member of the family had just entered the room with Aizawa in tow.

Eri exclaims in surprise at the sight of her caretaker. She hides a gasp at the sight of the bandaged wrapping around the right side of his head and most of his entire body.

“You’re hurt…” she says close to crying as she tiptoes to reach his hand. Izuku brushes her hair in comfort as he gives her a smile,

“It’s not a problem, Eri. Trust me, the pain has already faded.” he assures with a smile not telling her that he’d likely be convulsing in pain if it weren’t for the painkillers he was on, “So there’s no need to cry.”

“Miss Inko and Mr Hisashi said you fought villains. Did they do this?”

“...Yeah, they did.” Izuku says after a moment of hesitation and she immediately gets worried.

“Are they going to come back? Are they going to hurt you again?!” she asks, almost panicking, but Izuku puts on a smile.

“They won’t, they ran with their tails tucked between their legs.” izuku says as she pats her head, “And if they do come, I’ve already learnt their tricks so I’ll have an easier time winning against them.”

He says with a smirk full of confidence he wasn’t feeling. True he has learnt from their attack, but so would the villains. And if the Noumu truly was a created monstrosity, then it was more than likely this League possessed the means to make more. But Eri doesn’t need to worry about this, neither do his parents.

“So the ones that did this, they got away?” Hisashi asks angry as Aizawa stepped into the room.

“Unfortunately, yes. Nearly all the villains were captured but the two ringleaders that did this got away.” Aizawa says before looking to Izuku, “Glad to see you awake, kid.”

“Glad to see you’re alright, Aizawa-sensei.” Izuku says with genuine relief, “And the class is truly fine, right?”

“...More or less.” Aizawa says but quickly changes the subject, “Now that you’re awake there’s something we need to talk about with your parents.”

“What is it?” Izuku asks.

“Firstly, we need to talk about what happened to the Noumu.” he says as he glances down at Eri, “I don’t think the kid would need to be here for this.”

Izuku nods in agreement. There was no need to disturb Eri with the details of what happened in the USJ, so he glances towards Jirou.

“I’m sorry to bother you with this Jirou but do you mind taking Eri outside for the duration of this discussion?” he politely asks her as his parents look at her in surprise, apparently just noticing her presence.

“Uh, are you sure?” Jirou asks uncertainly, “I’m not exactly good with kids.”

“I trust you’ll be able to handle it. I expect this to be short anyways.” Izuku says before glancing down at Eri, “Do you mind staying outside with my friend for a moment?”

“What?” Eri asks, sounding fearful, “B-But…”

“Eri.” he places a hand on her shoulder placatingly, “Don’t worry, I’ll be with you shortly. This is Kyoka Jirou, she’s a close friend of mine and she’s studying to be a hero as well.”

“...Like you?” she asks with slightly less fear and he nods. Reluctantly she accepts a hand offered by Jirou who guides her out of the room before closing the door behind them. Once they were gone Aizawa turned his attention back to Izuku,

“I’m not sure if you know about this, but the villain you fought, the Noumu?” Aizawa asks, as if he would need to. There was little chance he could forget such a creature, its strength put it high on the list of strongest creatures he’s ever faced, “It’s dead. Whatever you did with that sword of yours killed it.”

“It’s dead?” Izuku widens his eyes in surprise. He had expected his mimicry of the Blackblade to grievously injure it at best with a slim chance for a lethal blow. Afterall copying such a legendary, dark weapon was a task by itself, nevermind wielding it.

He leans back and sighs in relief, “Thank all the gods for that.”

To say Aizawa was surprised was an understatement, despite his best attempts to hide it he could not fully conceal his shock to hear one of his students so easily shrug off the fact they killed someone, especially not after the last one.

His parents however did not hide their shock as well, and they look somewhat horrified at that.

“But he did it in self-defence.” Hisashi defends his son, quickly recomposing himself, “Those villains must’ve been out to kill him.”

“We’re aware of that.” Aizawa nods, “There will be no legal repercussions, those villains came to our school declaring their intention to murder and torture. No sane court would try to put him on trial with the circ*mstances. But it still raises some concerns with the rest of the faculty and I, about whether you still want to become a Pro Hero after today.”

“What are you talking about?” Izuku asks confused on why they would have to ask that.

“Midoriya, what you’ve just been through today is more than what most of your average Pro Hero went through in a lifetime of their career.” Aizawa explains, “You lost an eye, you were beaten to near death, that isn’t something you just shrug off. We all understand if you choose to withdraw.”

There was a hopeful glint in his parents eyes when they hear this. They wait patiently for his response as he process his teacher’s offer, but that was unnecessary.

“I’m sorry, sir. But that just isn’t an option.” he shook his head at that, “I came to this school to get stronger, so I can protect others. I will not run just because I got injured. I cannot withdraw, not while knowing that I can save lives with my abilities.”

“It’s a respectful sentiment, but that isn’t your choice isn’t it.” Aizawa says as he glances to his parents, “It’s theirs.”

They both look back to his parents who were looking to each other, as if having a silent conversation before Hisashi looks to face his son,

“Is this still what you want?”

“It has never changed and it never will.”

“In that case…we’ll continue supporting you.” his mother says with some reluctance, “I still remember when you were a little boy, when we first found that you were Quirkless, do you remember what you asked me?”

“If I could be a hero.” Izuku nods as his mother wrap her hands around his.

“I’ve let you down then, I should have told you that you could be a hero.” she says tearfully, “I’m not going to let you down again. If being a hero is what you want, then go ahead. I’ll never stop being scared for your safety, but I won’t stop you.”

“You’ve never let me down, mom.” Izuku insists, “You and dad…you’re more than I’ve ever deserved.”

Aizawa sighs as if expecting the answer, “Probably didn’t have to ask. But I had to make sure. If that’s really what you want then you better know what you have to expect. Because after what you’ve done, there’s no telling what the public perception is going to be.”

“Public perception?” Izuku asks, confused by what he was saying.

“No matter what happens, there’s the court of public opinion and we all know how much the media loves their drama. We’ll try to keep it as best hidden as we can, but anyone with proper knowledge on how the Noumu died and a solid process of elimination will eventually find out despite our best efforts. The public doesn’t take kindly to having Pro Heroes that kill protecting them. It doesn’t help that after your stunt with the media yesterday, they’re already suspecting you.”

“...Can you give me names? Just some?” Hisashi asks politely with bared teeth, “I just want to have a chat with some of these reporters.”

“Pick a random newspaper, they’re all talking about it.” Aizawa scoffs, “The point I’m making is that if you really want a career in the industry, you’re gonna have to work for it because this is going to make things harder than it should be.”

“As long as I can continue training and learning to save others, let them say what they please.” Izuku says dismissively, “I don’t think anything else matters to me.”

“We’ll see if you can keep that mindset after graduation. For now, get as much rest as you can. You all will be having the week off starting tomorrow, make the most of it.” Aizawa says as he stood up to leave before Izuku stops him.

“Wait, sir. I still have something to inform you about. Something regarding the USJ.” Izuku reminds and Aizawa stops and turns back to face him, “When we were in the standoff with Shigaraki and his Noumu, before I cut his hand off, I tried to read his mind.”

“You what?” Aizawa asks surprised before realising the implications.

“It was honestly a mess, possibly one of the most unstable minds I had the displeasure of reading.” Izuku shudders at remembering the backlash from doing so, “A madman with no conscience. But if even a scrap of what I saw can be a clue…”

“I’ll get the rest of the faculty.” Aizawa says, “You can tell us all at once what you saw. They’re probably going to discuss the incident anyway.”

***

Kyoka stood outside the room doing her best not to listen in to the conversation, which took some effort with her super hearing automatically picking things up. So she distracts herself, glancing down at the nervous child next to her who was occasionally taking nervous glances at her.

What the hell was she thinking doing this? Hell, what was Midoriya thinking by giving his sister for her to take care of? SHe should probably start a conversation before it gets even more awkward.

“So…you have any favourite songs?”

The girl, Eri, glances up at her confused and she mentally facepalms at her lame attempt at conversation.

“...I don’t know.” Eri says softly after a moment of thinking before looking worried, “Am I supposed to?”

Now the young girl was looking scared like she was about to be scolded and Jirou felt like kicking herself before hurrying to assure the girl, “What? No, no, it’s fine you don’t need one or anything.”

And like that silence once again reigned before mercifully Eri decides to try a hand in conversing.

“You…are you a hero like Izuku?”

Welcoming the interruption of the awkward silence Kyoka answers her, “Yeah, or more accurately I’m training to be a hero. He and I are still students after all.”

Eri puffs her cheeks at that, “He’s already a hero.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Kyoka says, “But why do you think that?”

Eri starts to look a bit nervous before answering, “He…he saved me from a bad person.”

As she says this her hand moves to grab her wrist and Kyoka spots a scar under her sleeve. She didn’t need any further explanations to know what she was getting at. Judging from how she looks nothing alike to the Midoriya family from what she’s seen, she was probably adopted. It sounded like Izuku rescued her from some abusive parents or something which sounds absolutely like something he would do.

“Yeah, that sounds like him.” she says fondly, “You know your brother fought a villain to save a classmate and a teacher of ours today?”

“Was it the villain that hurt him?” she asks sounding scared.

“Well, yeah, but I hear he was fighting two by himself.” Kyoka says as Eri looks with awe as she recounts what she heard from Melissa, “It took two villains to hurt him and they still ran away like a bunch of crybabies when he beat them.”

“That’s because he’s the strongest!” Eri exclaims, “He’s even fought a dragon before!”

“A dragon?” Kyoka asks half amused, she never thought Izuku to be the storyteller type, “Sounds dangerous.”

“He tells me stories at night before bed.” Eri explains, “I don’t think he wants me to know, but there’s always a character in his stories that I think is him.”

“Really?” Kyoka asks, “I’d like to hear that from him.”

“I don’t think I was suppose to say that.” Eri winces as she puts a finger to her lips, “Don’t tell him I told you, please?”

“Alright, I won’t. Pinky promise.” Kyoka extend her pinky to the young girl who locks her own pinky with it.

Just as they finish this the door behind them unlocks as they hear a small debate.

“Young man, I insist-!” Recovery Girl protests.

“As I said before, I am fine and I would like to have this done as quickly as possible.” Izuku says as he steps out, wearing nothing but the pants that he wore for his hero costume and bandages wrapping around his chest tightly. Even in his current state she couldn’t help but stare a bit at his chest before blushing and covering her eyes with her hands.

“Dude! Where are your clothes?”

“They had to be cut off for surgery.” Izuku explains as he suddenly sees Eri leaping at him, barely catching her on time with a barely audible wheeze of pain.

“Izuku!” the young girl cries out as she buries her face into his shoulder, “You’re alright now!”

Izuku forces out a laugh trying to ignore his shoulder and ribs screaming in pain as Eri hugs her with a near death grip, “Of course I am, Eri. I told you, it’s going to take more than a few villains to take me down. I hope you enjoyed your time with Jirou?”

“Yeah, she’s nice. I like her.” Eri says as Izuku looked relieved.

“That’s wonderful to hear.” he says as he turns to Jirou who was still averting her gaze, “I apologise for spriging that on you. My thanks for handling it as you did.”

“I-it’s fine, she’s a sweet kid.” Jirou says before sparing a few glances at him, “Are you going to put anything on? You can summon swords and cannons but not a t-shirt?”

“Well, I’m currently not doubling over in pain thanks to my abilities, so I’d rather keep it that way and not spend any more energy than I should.” Izuku says with a shrug before his eyes widen in surprise as she took off her leather jacket.

“Here.” she says as she hands it to him, “Just something to cover yourself up.”

“I- Thanks, I suppose.” he says as he takes the offered jacket in his free hand not used to carry Eri, “I’ll return this to you when I’m finished talking with the faculty.”

“But I thought we were going home.” Eri says confused as Izuku looks at her with some regret.

“Yes, I’m sorry child but you must wait for a few more moments.” He says as he cradles her with one arm, “Do not worry, once I am done we will return home with haste. Can you wait just a few moments more for me?”

“...Okay.” Eri says glumly, “Can we get candy apples after this?”

“Of course, child. All the candy apples you wish for…within reason of course.”

It was weirdly adorable, seeing Izuku act like this with the young girl. It almost made him look fatherly or something.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it then.” she says interrupting their moment, “My parents should be arriving about now to pick me up. I’ll see you when we’re back in school?”

“But what about your jacket?” izuku asks but she waves off his concerns.

“Keep it, I got a bunch of spares back home.” she says not telling that was in fact her favourite jacket, waving as she leaves, “Good luck with what you’re doing. And get better soon, Midoriya.”

“...Bye.” Izuku mutters unsure as he stares at the jacket in his hands.

***

To say that seeing Midoriya up and walking this soon was a surprise would be an understatement. He had expected a few days of rest and recuperation but here he was, marching to the front of the faculty room in front of him and the rest of the teachers, looking determined. But he appeared wearing a jacket that he was sure belonged to Kyoka Jirou.

He wishes he could get up and apologise right away but unfortunately he couldn’t. He was currently out of his muscular All Might form, and he couldn’t expose himself.

What surprises him even further was when he walks up to Naomasa and shook his hand. If the detective was disturbed by the sight of the boy’s missing eye he didn’t show it, “Good to see you again, detective.”

“Glad to see you up and about, you gave us all a fright.” Naomasa says, sounding like he was familiar with him, “Your old man most of all. I’m pretty sure he broke several dozen driving laws and regulations on the way here.”

Those two knew each other? Toshinori wondered how on earth that was possible, because he had no recollection of Naomasa making any mentions of Izuku Midoriya.

“I’m thankful that you all are willing to hear me out.” Midoriya says as he addresses everyone in the room, “I’m not sure what I’ve seen will be useful, but hopefully these small pieces I glimpse can allow us to see even a portion of the bigger picture.”

“We welcome any information you can offer, Midoriya. No matter how little.” Nedzu says from his seat across the table, “But before we continue, I must express our sincerest apologies with our failure to prevent your injuries in the USJ.”

As the principal says this he stands from his seat and bows his head but Izuku waves it off,

“Raise your head, Principal Nedzu. There was nothing you could have done, all we can do is learn from what happened and become stronger for it.” Izuku says dismissing the apology.

It was concerning honestly, the way the boy dismissed his injury as if it was something beneath notice, not important to be brought up, despite the fact he was permanently blind in one eye for the rest of his life.

“That is a mature perspective to have, Midoriya.” Nedzu says before sitting back down, “Now, before we start I’m sure you have yet to meet. THis is Toshinori Yagi, he is All Might’s personal assistant and standing in for him for the duration of this meeting.

“Yes, during our battle in the USJ I was able to get a glimpse into the mind of one of the two orchestrators, a man by the name of Tomura Shigaraki.”

“I was not aware mind reading was one of your abilities, Midoriya.” Nedzu notes but they could all sense the unspoken accusation. Suddenly Toshinori felt tense around the boy. If he could read minds, has he done the same to them without them knowing?

“Yes, by remaining in physical contact with a person, I can read their minds with accuracy of a few months. Anything further gets blurry and unreliable.” Midoriya answers, “Besides, there was a character limit in the Quirk registry. Not enough to jot down every single detail about my abilities.”

He swore he heard Aizawa grumble about something being irrational.

“Then I don’t suppose your mind reading trick can give us an exact address or something?” Snipe asks half-seriously.

Midoriya shook his head, “Unfortunately not. Reading minds are hard enough, and doing so with a madman? I was lucky to get only a few glimpses.”

“Right, because that would’ve made our jobs too easy.” Snipe sighs, “So whatcha got, kid?”

Midoriya proceeds to snap his fingers and a wave of blue engulfs the room, surprising them all as everything darkens before the room shifts into what appears to be the inside of a bar.

Aizawa tenses when he saw a familiar figure of black mist now dressed in a white suit making him appear to be some bartender of sorts, cleaning a glass with Tomura Shigaraki sitting and drinking.

“This is an artificial reconstruction.” Midoriya explains, “Using all the scraps I managed to gather, this appears to be something of a headquarters for this ‘League of Villains’.”

“So we’re looking for an old bar of sorts?” Naomasa asks as he jots it down in his notebook, “Perhaps there’s an address written down somewhere in the room? Or we can track shipments of alcohol?”

“I doubt this Shigaraki is one to care about exactly where it comes from.” Nedzu muses, “And it's likely they have a supplier that we can’t trace. Perhaps there is a memory where Shigaraki leaves this bar? We can use the surroundings to triangulate his position.”

“Unfortunately not.” Midoriya shook his head, “From what I’ve seen they don’t leave the bar normally. Any and all exits or returns are done through Kurogiri’s abilities. And we have no idea of the maximum range of his abilities; tracking him would be borderline impossible. But that’s not why I’m showing you this, listen closely.”

He snaps his finger once more and soon they start hearing voices, like it was a video that was playing.

“Should you be drinking this much, Tomura?” Kurogiri asks, as he cleans the glass, “You need to be at the top of your game if you wish to defeat All Might.”

“This is the day before their attack on USJ?” Toshinori asks, speaking up for the first time since Midoriya entered the room, and the student nods.

“That is correct sir, please keep watching.” Midoriya instructs as they continue in silence.

“Please, with the upgrades Noumu got it’s a guaranteed win.” Shigaraki chuckles confidently as the rest of the staff glares at him, “Noumu’s practically overleveled for this encounter. In fact, why stop at All Might and his class? I think it can practically solo all of UA. Can you imagine how society will react to that?”

“Bastard.” Midnight mutters under her breath at hearing that, and Toshinori shares her sentiment. Hearing they not only planned to kill him, but everyone in UA? They were lucky he arrived too late to do anything to them.

“Now, now, Tomura. You musn’t become overconfident.” an unknown voice spoke through some sort of voice modulator says and all eyes turn to a television hanging on one wall with a screen showing static, “Our good doctor has informed us that even with the upgrades courtesy of the yakuza, it would be ill recommended for the Noumu to take on the entire school with its three classes of hero students and faculty of seasoned veteran Pro Heroes. Keep to your objective only, do not wander on any side quests no matter how beneficial they could be. Am I understood?”

The memory immediately pauses with another snap of his fingers as Midoriya addresses them once more, “And afterwards the rest is history.”

“So this Shigaraki wasn’t the leader.” Aizawa says, “Makes sense considering how childish he was acting.”

“Whoever this person was, it made two things obvious.” Izuku continues, “They must have access to considerable resources. They spoke of their monstrosity, their Noumu, as bioengineered. And I doubt your average thug would have access to resources or the mind needed to conjure up such a thing.”

“He’s right.” Snipe nods in agreement before glancing to Toshinori, “Whoever’s in charge has the brains and the resources to put this little operation together, and a major grudge against All Might enough to do this. Got any ideas?”

“Well, I’ll see if I can come up with a list. There are many that could fit the criteria after all.” Toshinori said as he glanced at the principal. They both already have a major suspicion who it could be, despite the impossibilities.

“There’s something that can help narrow down the search, if you pay attention to what he says near the end.” Midoriya points out.

Nedzu nods, “Whoever these League of Villains are, they have dealings with at least a yakuza group. Something to help enhance this Noumu of theirs?”

“Or maybe even have a direct hand in its construction.” Midoriya says, “We all heard they had a doctor of sorts that created the Noumu, we can guess whoever plays a big role in this League of Villains. If we find this yakuza group…”

“We’ll find the League of Villain.” Midnight finishes with a smirk, “Clever boy.”

“We’ll look into any yakuza groups that could do such a thing.” Naomasa says, “Shouldn’t be a long list since the yakuza are a shell of their former self.”

“And I believe we already know the said group.” Midoriya says, surprising all of them once more, “Detective, do you recall the incident a few weeks ago?”

Naomasa initially looks confused but then a flash of recognition appears on his face, “You don’t mean…”

“It’s an educated guess at best.” Midoriya admits, “It may be a coincidence, but two of the Quirks I saw the Noumu possess include creating crystals as well as the absorption of stamina. Sounds familiar?”

“Those certainly match the descriptions of two of them.” Naomasa admits, “But are you implying that-?”

“Sorry for interrupting.” Midnight raises her hand, “But what exactly are you two talking about?”

“Some time ago, right after the Entrance Exam actually, I ran into a thug affiliated with a yakuza group by the name of Shie Hassaikai during which I read his mind.” Midoriya explains.

“So that’s how you knew who he was working for!” Naomasa exclaims and Midoriya looks somewhat sheepish.

“Yes, yes, all in the past. But the point is that from what I recall there are eight key members in this group of yours, two of which share the similar, or perhaps even the exact same Quirk that the Noumu possessed.”

Various looks were on the teachers faces, ranging from disbelief to confusion while Nedzu remained stoic and he tried his best to make him not look like he was sweating nervously.

“I do not know how Quirks work exactly, what kind of science it must involve, but could it be possible that somehow Quirks be taken from another person and implemented into someone else?” Izuku asks as all eyes but Toshinori and Naomasa turned to Nedzu.

The rodent principal calmly takes a sip of his tea before answering, “There are many theories and early experiments during the beginning of the Age of Quirks to attempt such a thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if with the right Quirk, amount of determination and resources, someone made it into a possibility.”

Nedzu stands up, “I thank you for bringing this information to us, Izuku Midoriya. You will make a fine hero when you graduate, but for now perhaps you would like to take a week off. I’m sure you would want to spend time with your family and recover. If there is nothing else, I wish you a speedy recovery and a good day.”

Izuku looks prepared to leave but hesitates as if remembering something, “Actually, I believe there is something else. Although I do not know whether it would be useful or not, or whether I heard the name correctly.”

“A name?” Naomasa asks, “Perhaps its their leaders? Or at least another member?”

“Possibly.” Izuku shrugs, “It was buried, I’m not sure how to describe it accurately, but amongst all those memories, all his rage and anger there was a name buried deep inside.”

“And what is this name?” Nedzu asks.

“Does the name Shimura mean anything to you?”