A/N:
Thanks to everyone who left a comment telling me you loved it! I was shocked to wake up and find so many people following this story. I hope I can make you all proud to be the first ones to like, subscribe and review.
I should have mentioned this before, but let's do this now that we're on the real first chapter. The person telling the story will use their first name, and everyone else, with a few exceptions and emphasis(es?), will be last name to fit the language. Hopefully. I'm a shameless american, please humor me and my overactive imagination. Also, horizontal lines will set the shift, but I figured I should say. Italics are a but more difficult: between flashbacks, emphasis in speech and illusions, I'll just let you all figure it out.
Enjoy...!
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Alternate Chapter Title: No one is really sure what to do with a Green-Haired Boombox
Patient
Midoriya Izuku
Given Quirk
One for All: Inherits the power stockpiled by all previous wielders of the quirk. Can be passed on through force of will. Includes eight lifetimes of tragic memories and an arch-nemesis.
Born Quirk
Soul song: Can hear the manifestation of a person's health and experiences in musical form.
The door was too big. Izuku hesitated just outside the door, staring up at where it met the ceiling. After a moment, he took a breath and shut his eyes and began listening carefully to the sound coming from inside the room.
Bakugo's storm boiled, cracking and roaring and boiling upward faster than Izuku had ever heard it. Forget frantic, the song sounded more like a charging army than a drumbeat. If Izuku was right, he was arguing with someone.
Beneath Bakugo's song was another, more… even melody. Izuku could barely even call it a melody, really. Very few sounds made up the majority of the song. What he heard was… light hearted, calm and steady. Every few moments, a deep note of disappointment broke the rhythm, only to disappear. Shortly afterward, a few high pitch notes rang out as the person tried again. He guessed it was someone single minded, probably dealing with Bakugo.
There were a few other songs coming from the classroom: a song made entirely of lightning, firing off so that each arc was a note and long steady strings of bass notes that Izuku could only compare to cables conducting and playing off every shot; a song that seemed entirely too ordinary until he listened closely and heard something like the steady pounding of feet while men stared at a bonfire; an… opera? Yes, that was definitely an opera coming from the back of the room, quiet and high-class but full of… cracks. Not breaks in the music, but hesitant moments throwing the entire song off key.
Closer to the door was a cluster of students: Shouts and fistfights and rowing beneath a storm in the sunshine overwhelmed some of the others, forcing Izuku to push through that… He paused, watching some of the beats in that loud song skip before he finally pushed through. A song made of bubblegum and electricity (not 'lightning,' but 'humming,' live wire kinds of electricity) raced and beat in a steady, constantly changing rhythm. Someone was singing quietly in the background of the others, swaying along to a slow jazz tune checked by what sounded suspiciously like a heartbeat. He listened to that for a moment, reveling in the simplicity and the depth of that song.
Near the back were a pair of odd songs. Both were nearly entirely muted. One was a simple set of beats that kept dissolving into its parts, creating little songs within the song for a few moments before they joined the main tune.
Izuku took one look at the other song and backed slowly away from the door.
"Oh, it's you!" Izuku blinked as the bubbles began popping from right beside him.
"Eeh?!" He blushed, half leaping into the air as the cute girl with the strange song appeared in the hallway. On instinct he turned his eyes to the floor and struggled to silence his quirk. "S-sorry I was in your way again wasn't I?"
"Huh? Oh, no! I wanted to say thanks! For saving my life I mean! I was worried you didn't get in because of that whole 'one point' thing, but you're here! Just like Present Mic said!"
"Ah, b-but you had to sp-speak up for me…," Izuku stammered, blushing crimson as the girl rambled. She blinked at him with wide eyes.
"How'd you…," The girl cocked her head to one side. "Are you playing music?"
Izuku froze and stared at her.
"Eh…? You… can hear that?" The girl stared at him.
"So that is you? I remember something like this from the exam. Is your quirk music-based? But…" Izuku stopped paying attention after the first few words. He leaned over, trying hard not to ignore the nice girl but…
Is that a caterpillar? Izuku felt his jaw drop a bit.
Whatever the long yellow thing inching toward them was, the girl seemed to notice that he wasn't paying attention anymore and turned.
"Huh?"
"You're late on the first day? That's irrational."
Izuku squealed at the comment, when the caterpillar turned over to reveal a face. A face that subsequently drained a juice box with a ridiculously powerful pull.
"You, you're a teacher?" The caterpillar stood up and suddenly changed into a scruffy man dressed in a ridiculously long and thin scarf over black clothes climbing out of a sleeping bag. What kind of butterfly looks like that?
"Get in the classroom. You're still being irrational."
Izuku followed him, staring at the man's back in confusion. For some reason, this man had no music. As if that weren't odd enough, he seemed to force the music around him into submission, muting everyone else's sound.
"Are you coming, curly?" The cute girl asked, eyes innocently wide.
"C-curly…?" Izuku mumbled, nodding and following her into the classroom.
Kyoka was used to white noise and hearing things people didn't want her to hear. People were always surprised by how strong her hearing actually was. It bothered her just as much as it did other people, though no one really believed that.
What Kyoka wasn't used to was suddenly hearing a bunch of strange noise coming from fucking everywhere. Someone had either heard she was coming and rigged speakers on everyone, or the school was under attack. But that didn't make sense, because no one else seemed to pick up on it. The only things she knew were that the noises were easily the weirdest things she'd ever heard (save for the unmentionable things she'd discovered about her middle school teachers) and that one boy seemed to have an actual song coming from him, if you could call that weird shit a song.
She discovered the second thing on accident, because he arrived late. Standing in the same crowd with him made her grind her teeth and distracted her enough that she didn't hear any of Aizawa's speech until blonde bastard screamed 'DIE!' and let rip an explosion that would have made most bomber villains jealous.
Glad he's on our side.
Kyoka blinked as a few sarcastic notes washed over the field. Before she could question the noise, her classmates started getting hyped about the exam and then… the music grew ominous. She glanced over at the nervous, green haired student who'd shown up late and scowled. He looked ready to have a panic attack.
"S-sensei!" Aizawa paused in the middle of saying something and glanced over at the problem student. Kyoka grinned at the obvious impatience in his face.
"What, Midoriya?"
"Um, I, I just wanted to ask, w-what if our q-quirks aren't suited for this…?"
Kyoka frowned at the question.
Even Aizawa looked a bit surprised, though he didn't bother with empathy.
"This is a hero course, Midoriya. We won't coddle you. Figure it out."
"B-but…!"
"Shut the fuck up Deku!" Green flinched.
Kyoka didn't blame him. Blondie seemed a bit…
"Hey, isn't that a bit rude?" Someone muttered under their breath. Kyoka sighed.
"Don't encourage him," Blondie growled, shoulder checking the green haired boy on his way back into the crowd, "Deku never knows when to shut up. Apparently, his quirk is the fucking same."
Green made a strangled noise and caved in on himself. Slowly, the music began to fade.
So it is him. Fuck. Who doesn't have a handle on their quirk at this point? Kyoka sighed and decided to just be thankful that the sounds were gone. Any more distractions and she'd have gone mad or tried to murder 'Deku.'
Keeping his quirk locked down was distracting. Walking around without the songs in the background was like stuffing his ears full of cotton. Distracting enough that he was slower than he should have been on the tests. Sure, he was above the physical average because of the training. That wasn't enough for All Might's successor, though.
Aizawa was looking at him too. Not much, but carefully. Once, Izuku let up on his quirk enough that he could check, and found Aizawa's song to be one of those songs. He sighed in frustration and shut his quirk off, resolving to listen some more later. The girl with the purple hair was definitely annoyed with him, Bakugo was getting more and more wound up, that cute girl kept looking at him funny and then, in the background of everything was a very angry humming sound that was giving him a very bad headache.
"Midoriya," A nudge on the shoulder checked him out of his mental rambling. Aizawa was glaring at him again, "It's your turn for the long jump."
His score was awful. Everything was awful. All Might was watching now (hiding because he was so goddamn adorable for being a fucking giant), and Izuku wanted to scream. Watching the bubble girl get infinity on the ball through made him slap himself in the face, earning a few more odd looks.
There was nothing he could do about the leak when he stepped into the circle. Nerves had him shaking. Controlling the quirk that people hadn't been able to hear until that day? Impossible. He rolled the ball through his hands, playing back the entire test in his mind.
You haven't even tried that yet. Izuku frowned at himself, then looked back at the crowd. But if you do they'll hear and they'll get mad… Aizawa sensei already looks mad, if I make it worse… Damn it, I don't have time to think about this…!
A strangled cry escaped his throat and Izuku flung his arm back. His throat and eyes stung, he'd popped his shoulder with that sudden motion and drawing on One for All made his whole arm hum as if he'd just eaten a miniature star, but he pulled on All Might's power…
Halfway through his throw the world shook with a sound like the opening of some ferocious monster's maw, devouring every song nearby and dousing the world in dissonant silence. Slowly, he stood up and stared at the ball, at his arm, then looked back towards the crowd. They all stared back, confused as to what he was doing, but he'd turned just in time to watched Aizawa reach for his scarf.
"The entrance exam was…" The words came out before Izuku could bite them back.
"Eraserhead…!" Aizawa paused, and Izuku blushed fiercely, then shut his mouth as firmly as possible.
"You were going to break your limbs again, weren't you?" Izuku frowned, then looked up at Eraserhead and flinched, "If you're just going to break yourself saving one person before needing to be saved yourself, how will you be a hero Midoriya? What kind of hero are you trying to become?"
Izuku shut his eyes tight. Even with his quirk gone, the voices in his head and the songs he'd heard over the years didn't disappear. The inside of his mind felt like a raw, gaping wound. His heart thundered in his eyes and his eyes burned. Without a quirk, without All Might's quirk, he…
Aizawa blinked.
Izuku collapsed as the music returned to the world. All the music, all at once, without warning. Eraserhead's quirk had unlocked the floodgates that Izuku had carefully controlled. Without the balance, the full force of Izuku's song tore from his chest as a hurricane of noise and emotion. The sheer force of the quirk moved Aizawa back a few steps, clutching his ears. Behind him, Izuku's classmates screamed and fell backward.
A splitting pain tore through Izuku's head. The world swayed and blurred, but it didn't stop the full force of everyone's songs echoing across the practice field, converging on him as a result of his quirk. When it became too much and his vision started to blur dangerously, Izuku stopped trying to force anything into submission. Instead he forced himself to stay awake, drifting in and out of consciousness as he sifted through the songs and found his own. He'd never heard it so loud or so… angry. Hidden deep in his song was the sound of One for All.
He'd only had One for All for a month, and he'd grown used to hearing it play within his own unique song. Taking a different quirk into his own wasn't as cut and dry as they'd imagined, he knew that. During that time, he'd guessed a few things, both about himself and about All Might. Now he was sure.
One for All wasn't just a quirk.
They're all… trapped… Izuku dug his nails into his scalp, watching as his classmates cried out. I'm hurting them…!
With the last of his strength he took hold of his song and matched One for All peak for peak. For one terrifying moment he held his breath and drew the vise tight around his heart.
Izuku's song paused for a second. Two seconds. When he gasped for breath again, the sound was gone. One for All quieted, even though it hummed angrily beneath Izuku's quirk. He spared a single glance toward the class. Eraserhead stood between Izuku and the class, staring at Izuku with the eyes of a cornered animal and his capture weapon ready.
Izuku tried to stand; to go and ask if they were alright. The world went black before his first step hit the ground.
"Let me get this straight. After you cancelled Midoriya's quirk- in interest of his safety and for no other reason at all, you say- his quirk exploded. In the aftermath, every single student in our school felt the blow, and each individual was exposed to the power of a quirk that we don't yet fully understand. Two of your students were knocked unconscious by the noise."
Toshinori squirmed in his seat. Aizawa looked about as cowed as Toshinori had ever seen him.
"That's what happened." Aizawa muttered.
"What did you say to the boy, Aizawa? Before the incident?"
"I warned him that he couldn't be a hero if he couldn't contain his power," Aizawa said.
Toshinori, for the life of him, couldn't suppress his coughing fit.
Nezu picked up on it like a hunting animal.
"Something the matter, Yagi-san?"
"I, um… have some history with the boy. He's got a… complex. We met a long time ago, when I resolved an incident in town…," Toshinori gave a quick glance towards Aizawa and a nearly unnoticeable nod from Nezu confirmed that the principal understood his misdirection, "but from what I understand, Midoriya has spent several years thinking his quirk was next to useless."
"Midoriya's quirk," Nezu tapped the file on his desk. "This explanation is remarkably short. For something as strong as we've seen this afternoon, it should be much more extensive. If I were to guess, from what you both have told me, Midoriya was doing poorly. Between the threats from the other students and his poor performance in the tests, he was on edge. When told he couldn't be a hero, he must have been dealing with a lot. I can imagine that having less than optimal control over his quirk and being in that spot could create a disturbance. But what we saw wasn't a disturbance. Midoriya is powerful. We must see to it that we guide him well, in order to maintain that power."
Toshinori sighed. Nezu was right for the most part. But neither of them understood Midoriya. Something told him that getting to the root of the problem would be difficult at best.
"I would like to be there when he wakes up, with both of you. We need a better explanation of what happened, from the victims' point of view," Nezu said.
Toshinori blinked. Something told him Nezu wasn't talking about Midoriya when he said 'victim.'
Kyoka hissed as she sat up. Light slanted through the windows, setting the room on fire and causing her to flinch when she caught a little too much light in her eyes.
"Oh, you're awake. Good," Recovery Girl. Kyoka frowned and raised a hand to her ear.
"Huh? How long was I out?"
"About three hours or so. Between your sensitive hearing and being so close to him, I'm not surprised. Even in here that sound was terribly loud." The way Recovery Girl said it made it almost sound like the most natural thing in the world.
Kyoka's eyes widened.
"That kid, what happened to him?"
Recovery Girl nodded to the other bed, and Kyoka turned.
Green looked like absolute shit.
"What happened?" Kyoka hissed. Her ears were still ringing from the explosion. Recovery Girl sighed.
"Quirk exhaustion as well as regular exhaustion and, surprisingly, malnourishment. That boy... really, I should have expected as much. He's a troublemaker, just like that other bonehead. But I can't be mad either."
Kyoka didn't ask any more.
I was dissing him pretty hard out there. Carefully, just as her mother had taught her, she played back the incident. Bakugo's shoulder checking and language. Aizawa getting fed up. Kyoka getting fed up. Everyone looking at him when he muttered. His squeaking, his frantic jittering. Signs of… things Kyoka didn't want to think about.
"Is he gonna be okay?"
Recovery Girl chuckled,"He'll be fine with some rest. I'm more worried about Aizawa than the boy…"
"Now why would you say that!"
Kyoka jumped as a rodent appeared directly behind Recovery Girl, accompanied by a skeletal man in a suit and her homeroom teacher (who, to Recovery Girl's credit, looked near dead). Recovery Girl sighed and tapped the rodent with her cane.
"I heard what happened from the students. He needs the rest, so let him sleep."
As if on cue, the boy groaned and began waking up. If anyone looked surprised or pleased with themselves, Kyoka decided it wasn't worth it to get involved. The two men and the creature took positions by the bedside and watched as Green started coming to. Kyoka, for her part, laid back down and turned over onto her side. Something told her that she wasn't supposed to hear the next bit (not that she had a choice).
"Midoriya-kun? How are you feeling?" Toshinori asked, worriedly.
"Eh… Oh, I, um… I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
Kyoka felt her heart freeze in her chest. No one had a chance to say anything before he laughed. The sound was about as broken as could be. "I'm sorry if I hurt anyone. Really. It, I've never had a problem with that before, but… it's been getting more powerful and things have been so busy with the entrance exam… I was scared you know? I didn't think about how loud it had actually gotten, or that other people would hear it, I swear…"
"Midoriya, breathe," Aizawa sighed, "We only asked how you were feeling."
"I… I'm fine. A little tired."
Recovery Girl snorted, "Tired indeed. When was the last time you slept a wink?"
Midoriya didn't answer that. No one bothered asking a second time.
"Was everyone okay?" Midoriya whispered.
"Jirou's hearing made her particularly weak against the outburst. She's been unconscious since the incident. Everyone else seems okay, though they were… rattled."
"…oh."
Kyoka blushed, wondering why they'd lied so quickly.
"What exactly happened, Midoriya?" Asked Nezu.
The bed squeaked a bit as he shifted around. Kyoka could imagine him squirming under the gaze of the teachers.
"I… I think… my quirk has been getting stronger. And I've been worried about it. I was working on keeping it down, b-but the… everyone was excited and worried, and keeping my quirk shut off entirely was harder than usual. Th-then…" The sheets ruffled, but nothing happened. For a moment, no one spoke. Midoriya seemed uncomfortable, if Kyoka had to guess.
"Then I erased your quirk," Aizawa muttered.
"Um, my quirk is usually always on. Other people hear it when I'm around unless I, um, make everyone be quiet. So, when it came back, I… I lost control. And I hurt people."
"What do you mean by your quirk always being active, Midoriya-kun?" Nezu asked.
Midoriya flinched audibly.
"Oh…! Um… well, people give off songs no matter what, even if I'm not around, but I just… I'm the only one who can hear them. But sometimes people affected by my quirk can hear the songs too. Lately people can hear them just being close by. I've been trying to keep it locked down but being here, at Yuuei… I got a little nervous."
"Will something like this happen in the future?" Aizawa asked.
"N-no! I'll get better, I promise!"
A soft chuckle came from the skeletal man in the corner. The rodent made a small appreciative noise.
"Then we'll announce that a student had a bit of trouble with their quirk and that we are working on a solution. In the meantime, Midoriya, please feel free to come to us if you'd like any help with your quirk beyond what the hero course offers." Nezu said.
"I… yes, sir…"
"Very good! In that case, we'll let Recovery Girl check you out and we'll leave you to get home. I'm sure your mother is worried by now."
"Oh… it's past the end of the entrance ceremonies isn't it…"
"Quite a bit, young Midoriya." The mouse chuckled. Kyoka frowned.
After a few more minutes, the teachers shuffled out. The skeleton stayed behind and asked how Midoriya was feeling, but Midoriya didn't want to talk. For a few minutes after the tall man left, the room was quiet. Recovery girl was making little noises as she checked Midoriya, over but...
"I'm sorry I hurt your ears, Jirou-san." Midoriya said quietly.
Kyoka's eyes shot open. Recovery Girl seemed to pause as well.
"…How'd you know I was awake?" Kyoka sat up and turned, looking at the other bed. Midoriya wasn't looking at her, or Recovery Girl. He stared straight at the bed.
"I could hear you listening." Midoriya muttered.
Kyoka frowned. Recovery Girl went back to checking Midoriya over, and then placed some gummies in his hand and told him to get some rest. They watched him shuffle out, barely standing, and Recovery Girl groaned.
"Those boys will be the death of me. That one in particular."
Kyoka looked back at the door, then reached for one of her jacks to twirl it between her fingers. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of it all.
Izuku tried but didn't get much sleep the night after the 'ceremony.' Instead, he worked over old notes and tried some meditation, but his song was too unruly to deal with. Even his usual exercises for calming down didn't even out the melody.
Classes the next day were mundane. He'd kept his quirk locked down since arriving at the school, and writing notes wasn't terrible without the songs humming at him from the board and page. Pro heroes moved in and out of the room, each one giving him a different amount of consideration. It took all his willpower not to be sick when he realized what was going on (Present Mic had definitely hesitated when he looked towards Izuku's desk). When lunchtime came, he raced out of the room for the cafeteria.
Lunchtime, over the years, had become one of Izuku's favorite times of the day. Most people didn't go out of their way to bother him while they ate lunch, and Izuku could listen to songs when he was finished without worrying about others. He did his best to hit the line early, get through and find a spot in the corner. When he was nearly through his meal, he felt the hum of someone approaching.
"You're Midoriya, right?" Izuku blinked a few times before swallowing the rice in his mouth and brushing his mouth clean. When he offered a shaky nod, the cute girl with the bubble-music offered him a weak smile. "Could I sit with you, if you don't mind?"
"Oh, um… sure?" Izuku nodded again. The girl sat down, looking nervous. With her sitting so close, Izuku didn't dare let up on his quirk. She hummed quietly across the table, completely oblivious to the sound.
"Are you alright? After yesterday, I mean." She took a few bites of the meal, eyes widening in glee as she tucked in in earnest. Izuku rolled her question around in his head for a moment before he smiled.
"Y-yeah. I just lost control for a bit. My quirk is kind of hard to handle these days."
"I was hoping to ask about that. What exactly is your quirk?" Izuku turned his eyes to his table, then offered the simple explanation that he always gave.
"Um… It's called Soul Song. I can hear the manifestation of a person's health and experiences in musical form."
The girl stopped chewing for a moment, then swallowed.
"That sounds complicated. So that music that everyone heard, those were your emotions?"
Izuku frowned.
"I… I don't remember much? When I lost control, I think that everyone's music all came out at once."
"Everyone's music?" She cocked her head to the side again.
Izuku sighed and dug a hand through his hair.
"Well, yeah. Everyone has a song. My quirk just lets me hear it and play with the volume a bit."
"So you stopped controlling the volume and it all came out at once? That's crazy." The girl nodded, "This rice is really good."
Izuku blinked.
"Um… yeah…"
"So, are you using it right now, or what?"
"Huh?" The girl took another bite of her meal.
"Are you using your quirk? I would've thought the cafeteria was a hard place to be for someone with a quirk like that."
"Oh, I, um… I turned it off."
She nodded and suddenly veered off topic, asking what he'd thought about the pro heroes being teachers.
Yuuei's afternoon program was 'hero studies.' Izuku had stared at the schedule for a while, wondering what it could entail, before he gave up. In the last few minutes before class started, he shut his eyes and focused.
Deep in his chest, his song plodded along without a care. Even with his quirk on lockdown, there was no way to fully shut off HIS song. What he focused on was deeper than that. Buried within his own song was a bit of discord.
One for All. Izuku frowned as he listened. One for All, All Might's quirk, was… impossible to understand. Most songs had their own rhythms, at most one or two (like that octopus guy) or at most, three (Izuku shuddered when he thought of that student). Songs were raw and confusing but listening to them for a while always gave him some sort of common ground. All Might's quirk felt more like crazy radio static buzzing in the background of his own quirk, adding crazy spikes of power whenever it synchronized with his body.
And this was what it felt like when he kept it turned off.
He could remember the few times he'd used it. One for All was like injecting liquid sunlight into his veins and riding a tsunami over Tokyo. All Might's song had a lot of 'natural' sounds, like sunlight and the wind in his face. Izuku wondered if that same torrent of power was there, or if it worked differently for him.
"I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" Izuku glanced up and smiled as All Might strode into the classroom. His classmates were going wild over the costume, the smile, anything about having All Might as a teacher in general. Despite keeping a strict lock on his quirk, Izuku could feel them humming with excitement.
Battle Training.
Izuku felt himself moving through a haze. He'd changed into his costume slowly, barely even jogging as he headed through the tunnel.
Battle Training… Why did it have to be…? The light blinded him as he ran out of the tunnel, and for a moment he lost himself in seeing everyone's costumes. Uraraka (he'd finally gotten her name) looked… well, she was cute. He didn't bother going any further for risk of completely losing his mind in thoughts. Most of the class looked uncomfortable with him but didn't bother saying anything. Even without listening to them, he could feel his own song become quiet in response. All Might was making a speech, something about the exercise, and Izuku was half listening.
Once you better temper your vessel, you'll be able to use that power freely! Izuku pinched his lip, tuning in to One for All's crazed hum. Uraraka nudged him when it was his turn to pick from the ball, which he was grateful for. All Might's eyes gleamed as he reached into the bucket, and Izuku decided to risk loosening control for just a moment.
All Might's song was the same as always, down to that painful groan that came from his side and the strain on his song. Izuku knew he was getting weaker with time. The ball came up A in his hand, and Izuku shut his eyes to focus.
Deep within All Might's song Izuku found what he was looking for. He stepped away, holding back tears as Uraraka bounced and congratulated him on being paired with her.
One for All… All Might only has traces of it left. Like embers… Izuku stared at the pavement, too aware of the worried hum coming from Uraraka. He thought back to his first meeting with All Might…
"…Passed on to me like an Olympic torch…" Izuku's eyes widened.
All Might thought of One for All as fire. As a torch, a duty, a flame that grew with each person carrying it.
Izuku tuned All Might's speech out. His mind slowly grabbed the pieces he'd been looking for and put them together.
All Might had One for All, but One for All was a part of his song. The two blended almost seamlessly. Izuku had only been able to find it because of the missing parts, the song humming in his chest, and a lot of stubbornness on his part.
Izuku's One for All was… chaotic. It was something beyond Soul Song, beyond Izuku. All Might's quirk was like a great, sputtering fire in a midnight blizzard. One for All hummed through Izuku like the force of a natural disaster, spinning together eight different songs with so much static that Izuku could barely make any sense of it at all.
Looking around, Izuku took a breath and loosened his death-grip on his classmates' songs.
I know I heard one that sounded like… He found it. A blonde boy with a song of cables filled with lightning was standing in the crowd, talking animatedly. Izuku listened to it for a moment before he pressed it down.
Bakugo was staring at him again. Izuku met his eye and pulled on Bakugo's storm, causing the blonde's face to twist into a sneer. When his palms popped with firecrackers, Izuku heard Bakugo's storm rumbled with thunder. For a brief moment, lightning ripped through the clouds in a controlled, white hot burst of fury.
Lightning suited Bakugo. His explosions burned, but they were always carefully controlled. Izuku had never taken the time to look at the lightning before. The thunder usually sent him running for the doors.
All Might thinks of One for All as a fire… A torch, something he passed on… but it sounds more like Lightning.
One for All hummed through him like Kaminari's song hummed, with all the contained power of Bakugo's lightning eight times over. Calling it a natural disaster wasn't far off, considering what the users were capable of.
Before he had a chance to think about the quirk more, All Might called his team. Izuku met Bakugo's eyes.
It took all his concentration not to flinch before Bakugo's hate.
"Midoriya, are you okay?" Izuku glanced over at Uraraka, then back down to his hands. He'd been wringing them enough that his arms hurt.
"I, um… I'll be fine…"
"You and that Bakugo, you know one another, right?" Izuku chewed his lip.
"Y-yeah… We've known each other since we were kids. He'll know about my quirk."
"Is he the reason you're scared?" Izuku wasn't sure why he was talking. Something about her eyes, he guessed. Uraraka looked so innocent and curious.
"He… Bakugo is amazing." He choked out. "Quirk, strength, intelligence, he's… A really tough opponent."
Uraraka hummed.
"I guess with a quirk as powerful as yours, you'd be natural rivals huh?" Izuku froze.
"Huh?" Uraraka blinked, staring as if the answer was obvious.
"Your quirk. It hit the entire school yesterday, and you said that was an accident, right? With a quirk like that it's no surprise he thinks of you like a rival." Uraraka's eyes widened. "A fated battle between men…!"
Izuku didn't think he was supposed to hear that last part.
"I'm not… Bakugo and I aren't rivals… I can't even hold a candle to him." Izuku muttered. Uraraka frowned.
"Have you ever tried?"
"I…" Izuku stopped.
He had tried. Back when he only had one quirk, he'd tried a lot.
"I mean, anyone who can beat down that Zero-Pointer is pretty strong right?" Uraraka elbowed him, smiling gently.
"INDOOR ANTI-PERSONNEL BATTLE TRAINING START!"
Izuku focused on breathing as they snuck in through the window. The entire place was corners, but it wasn't hard to navigate. It had only taken a few minutes to go over the layout. When they were inside, he dragged Ochako into a room and took a deep breath.
"Uraraka-san… Kacchan is coming for me. He'll try to fight me." Uraraka blinked. Izuku kept talking. "Iida is on the top floor, in the middle. Probably, he'll be ready for you… he's doing his best for this exercise, so be prepared. For now, you should follow a little bit behind me and wait till I lead Kacchan away."
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to fight him. Then she toughened up and nodded quietly. Izuku swallowed. With her faith in him…
He would do everything in his power to win. There was no other choice.
She followed quietly, trailing a full hall behind him and peeking around the corners. When he was a fair distance away, Izuku took another breath and let his quirk reach out to the music, instead of letting up on the volume. It took more effort than he would have liked, but the result was immediate. Each song hummed to life in the building, giving him an idea of where Bakugo and Iida were and making him all too aware of the gentle pop in Uraraka's song.
He paused in the middle of the corridor as Bakugo approached the corner ahead of him. Part of him wanted to dash forward and try an ambush, but…
"Deku." Bakugo hissed. An explosion popped in his hand menacingly while the storm-song began to churn with the force of a hurricane.
When was the last time Bakugo had been this furious? Izuku couldn't remember.
Why had he volunteered for this…?
A bubble popped by his ear, and Izuku grind his teeth.
"Ka-Kacchan…" He stammered. Bakugo sneered.
"How'd you do it, huh? Training behind my back? Were you just pretending all along?"
"…huh?" Izuku took a step back as Bakugo advanced.
"Your quirk is supposed to be useless." He growled. Slowly the storm rose and began to scream. Izuku frowned and stopped backing away. Bakugo stopped advancing. The storm hadn't broken yet.
"I… I was always trying to figure it out… I never gave up, Kacchan…" He managed. Behind him, Uraraka's song hummed with anger and reassurance. Izuku felt a few of the bubbles pop and release more bubbles, as if her emotions were boiling over. Determination held her frozen at the corner behind him. Not determination to save him: determination to win, and to trust him.
Izuku lowered his stance into something vaguely hero-like (if only he could stop shaking).
"I… I'm not going to be afraid of you, Kacchan… I'm going to be a hero…!"
"You spout all that crap… even if you're shaking like a leaf, you fucking nerd…" Bakugo grinned ferally. "You piss me off!"
Izuku felt the storm break. Bakugo's rage poured through his song with all the force of a churning ocean, ready to beat anyone 'beneath him' into submission.
Izuku saw the move coming from a mile away, grabbed Bakugo by the shoulder and flipped him. For a long moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. Bakugo fought to stand, staring up at Izuku in disbelief, and Izuku stared back.
"I'll kill you…!" Bakugo seethed. Izuku darted to the right, straight down the hallway.
Your turn Uraraka-san… Please, please don't waste this chance! Izuku slid around the corner and booked it. Uraraka took her chance and ascended. He let go of her song and focused on Bakugo, who was screaming something.
Really, Explosion was a little too well rounded. Watching Bakugo chase him by rocketing around on explosions was terrifying. Corners helped, but not nearly enough. Ducking beneath Bakugo as he rocketed around one corner earned him an enraged squawk but Bakugo still caught up. A high note caught his ear, giving him just enough time to spin and catch the kick on his guard, then pull the capture tape around Bakugo's ankle.
Now… Bakugo twisted, forcing Izuku to retreat and destroying the tape in one fell swoop. There's that one… But I almost had him…
"What the fuck… Was it fun, laughing at me this whole time you little SHIT?!" Bakugo roared. A kick swept by Izuku's head, followed by a grab with Bakugo's left. Every time, Izuku managed to slip out with just enough to spare. Slowly, his song was matching the crazed beat that Bakugo was setting for their battle. The songs faded to the back of his mind, twisting into a duet of music that warred rather than harmonized.
The storm howled and beat down relentlessly. A single figure stood beneath, facing the thunder and the wind. Slowly his feet sank into the earth, and it was all he could do to fight against the wrath of the storm. He could feel the will to fight wane with each gale and each inch of clothing left open to the stinging rain, and each time it seemed he would fail, a scene played out behind his eyes. A memory of snow, of children laughing as they played along the bank of the river and of the morning sunshine through the trees. The warmth of a scarf, a coat and a hug. Sunlight in bubbles of laughter.
When the boy beneath the storm retreated, albeit slowly, it hurt. When he thought of finally turning and running, that maybe he'd bought her enough time, a hand settled on his shoulder. No one else stood beneath the storm, but he felt it as he felt the sunshine on a bright spring day. The wind of the storm was hot and angry. For a moment, he felt the cool breeze against smiling cheeks, and he could see a clear sky stretching over his city. A laugh tore itself from his chest, despite the rage of the hurricane, and he was filled with sunshine, with candlelight on the beach and the joy of holding a child, with bubbles of spring sunshine and laughter. Each song came together at his back, holding him up against the force of the torrential downpour.
He screamed defiance at the storm. For years, he'd watched silently as the storm marched onward, always confident that it could destroy him any time it wanted. Once, he'd thrown his life away to try and keep the storm alive.
Izuku admired the storm. He knew every inch of the storm, all the times it was sad and the times it was confused, each time it grew in strength and each time it was under the weather. He'd run from the thunder, been burned by the lightning and soaked in the rage and confusion. Every single day, Izuku faced the storm, whether he wanted to or not.
Overhead, the storm howled defiance. Behind him, a chorus of voices rose and encouraged him.
Beneath the storm, Izuku stood and screamed.
He ducked beneath the right hook and swung for 'Kacchan's' face.
Izuku's fist slammed into Katsuki's face like a bucket of ice water.
For a moment, Izuku wasn't Deku. Deku ran away and cried and took his beatings like a good little extra. Katsuki had caught a few glimpses of this new person over the years, when 'Deku' tried fighting back. Sometimes he'd dodge and swing wildly, but he'd gotten lucky too often. He dodged too well, swung at just the right times.
Katsuki seethed when he thought about it. He didn't like not knowing. Deku was supposed to be worthless, but there was something beneath that. Something hiding behind that 'useless, quiet nerd' persona that Deku gave off. No one else noticed how Deku watched people. They were blind to the things Deku wrote in those stupid notebooks. Everyone ignored the nerd and wrote him off, never quite noticing that something hiding deep in Deku's brain.
But the thought of Deku landing a hit on HIM…?
A chime interrupted Katsuki's daily Deku drubbing. He couldn't stop himself from grinning like a maniac.
Bakugo began to grin, raising the gauntlet that had chimed. Izuku could already guess what they did. Bakugo's expression confirmed the worst of his fears. He knew he should've been afraid, but instead he smiled. Echoes of All Might sang over his shoulder, and One for All hummed in his chest in anticipation.
Izuku watched as Bakugo reached for the trigger and leapt to the side, all too aware of All Might's voice in his ear and Bakugo's response in the hallway before fire engulfed him. The blast roared off to his right and shredded his costume, leaving him mask-less and missing a sleeve. Before the smoke cleared he reached for his earpiece.
"Uraraka, what's the situation…?"
"Midoriya, what happened…!? Um, he found me, I'm sorry! But I can't get to him."
"Where are you?"
"The top floor, near the pillars by the window! Ah!" The com went dead as Iida began speaking again. Izuku blinked the smoke from his eyes and coughed. Bakugo came stalking through the aftermath of his attack, still grinning.
If he wasn't tuned to Bakugo's song, he'd have been convinced that the other boy had snapped.
"Still ignoring me, eh? What, am I not good enough to fight you, Deku?!" Bakugo frowned and spat at his earpiece. Several notes of displeasure ran through his song before he rocketed towards Izuku in a massive leap.
Izuku took a step and threw himself through Bakugo's smokescreen, narrowly avoiding the attack from behind. Bakugo barked in surprise and darted forward. When his left swung, Izuku flipped over his back and grabbed Bakugo by the shirt, hauling him forward and throwing him bodily across the room.
Bakugo was shaking with rage as he stood up. Izuku stared him down, waiting.
"What the fuck… YOURE NOTHING!" Bakugo roared. "You've been holding back for so long, looking down on me… I CAN'T STAND YOU AND YOUR BULLSHIT!"
"I was never holding back…" Izuku said quietly. Bakugo trembled, slowly adjusting his weight for his attack. Their song was as quiet as the eye of a storm for a moment. "But I never stopped dreaming of the day when I finally beat you, either."
Bakugo yelled and closed in with an explosion.
The storm closed in like a wild beast, intent to make up the moment of silence by condensing into a single, massive surge of wind, rain and thunder.
Still, that roar was nothing compared to what it was truly capable of and Izuku felt the chains digging into the song as if he'd ever been in any danger in the first place. No one else could feel know that above the storm was an aria unlike anything they'd ever heard before, so powerful and resolute that no song could hope to match it.
Izuku watched in slow motion as Bakugo leapt forward, all too aware of what was coming. He ground his teeth and moved to meet the attack.
Songs filled him, and even the storm fell away. Bakugo's fury and despair drummed onward, desperate for the victory he'd imagined. Uraraka's song scratched with each defeat she suffered, and Iida's song had twisted into a farce of a villain's song. Izuku wanted to laugh and show them what he'd heard. None of them, not even All Might, knew the song of a real villain. As if in response, Iida and Uraraka's songs held their breath. For a moment, 'Deku and Kacchan' sang alone.
One for All howled, and for a moment the world went white.
A cough scraped the inside of his throat, wracking his body with pain. His arm was numb for the moment, but it was all he could do to stay standing. Bakugo stared at him with wide eyes. For the first time in years, Izuku heard Bakugo's storm fail and dissipate, replaced by long, somber notes of despair.
"I… Couldn't use it like this…" Izuku choked out. Bakugo flinched. "But… If it's you… Then I can't afford… to keep… losing…"
All Might called the match, and the world went black.
After getting chewed out by Recovery Girl (seriously why were old ladies so scary), Izuku stumbled back to class. He opened the door and shuffled towards his desk, pausing when the red headed boy, who's song sounded something like a team of oarsmen, strode over and caught him.
"Hey, Midoriya! That was a hell of a fight you guys had! I couldn't hear what you were saying but you were really going at it!" Izuku forced a smile and held up his good hand.
What… is going on…
"Eh, thanks…"
"Midoriya, your arm…!" He glanced over and Uraraka and saw real concern on her face.
"Oh, I… apparently I'm low on stamina and she couldn't heal it entirely." She nodded, not looking entirely convinced he was okay. Suddenly there was another one, a pretty girl with pink and horns and a song that hummed dangerously like an insect's wings.
"Midoriya! Nice dodging during the fight!"
"Eh?!" Izuku backed up a touch in the face of her grin and the way she was bouncing. Slowly each of them called out a compliment on his fight, or at least a wish that he get well. For a moment, he was dumbstruck. Then he noticed what was missing from the room.
"Um, where did…?" Uraraka noticed him looking and answered. Izuku nodded and darted towards the door.
"Kacchan!" Bakugo froze and turned to face him, face neutral. Izuku could hear the storm brewing again, but there was no rage. Dry winds blew, rasping over the strings.
"Eh…?" Izuku opened his mouth… and suddenly he had nothing to say. His mouth opened and closed for a moment, but he couldn't find the words. The songs were like that. "Say whatever you came down here to say, Deku."
"I can't!" Izuku frowned. "I… I can't explain it. Not like that."
"For all that time you spend writing in those shitty notebooks you're awful with words."
"I can show you." Izuku's eyes widened at his own words. He hadn't really known what he was trying to do, tracking down Bakugo, but it wasn't…
Bakugo scowled at him.
"You mean with your quirk." Izuku nodded. Bakugo's growl deepened, then turned into a hiss. "What the fuck! What kind of weirdo uses his quirk to explain shit, Deku?"
Izuku didn't bother answering. He reached out with his quirk instead, carefully pulling on Bakugo's song and projecting his own. When Bakugo stopped growling, Izuku shut his eyes and remembered the song from the fight.
As the last notes of the song died, Bakugo turned to him and glared.
"What the hell is that supposed to explain, huh? What am I supposed to do with your stupid music?!" Izuku watched Bakugo quietly. "What the hell am I supposed to do when I can't beat you? How about that ice-kid, half and half?! I'm supposed to be number one, but…! Why are you always, always getting in my way?! Why doesn't anyone else know!"
"You look down on everyone too much, Kacchan." Izuku sighed. "I…"
"DON'T!" Bakugo spat. "Just… Don't. I don't need you to tell me what I'm fucking feeling. I don't need your help, DEKU. I'll figure it out, on my own, and I'll make sure you all know I'm the best. Don't dare think this is the end!"
Izuku smiled. Bakugo scowled, but he didn't storm off. He waved his hand, as if swatting a fly, and he trudged towards the gate.
All Might was just a few minutes too late. Izuku chuckled when the giant was shrugged off.
He's right. This is only the beginning, isn't it?
End Note:
Because a few people had trouble with this, Kyoka's second pov is from her hearing only. Some of the words used are because she isn't looking at the confrontation, but listening in.
Hope you enjoyed chapter two! This one was a bit crazy huh? Fights are going to be pretty trippy from now on.
Also: I hope you all paid attention to the bit about the class's songs. Comment and tell me who you think scared Izuku off. I'll let you know if you're right, because no one has guessed it so far =D
