Author's note: Hey everyone, Fire Slash here and welcome to the next chapter of Ashes. First off, I want to thank everyone who read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story. I'm glad to see a lot of you are entertained by this fic :-). Secondly, the question from the last chapter still remains: who should I pair Izuku with? Should i even pair him at all? Let me know in the reviews. Finally, you'll notice Izuku is a lot more confident now. That's because he was given cosmic awareness and full access to the Phoenix Force's power (in case that wasn't clear already).

Now that I said all I wanted to, let's get to the story. Review and enjoy :-).

0000

Upon gaining the powers of the Phoenix Force, Izuku seemingly disappeared from the world; no trace of his existence being recovered after that fateful night. When Inko went to wake up her son the next day, she noticed he wasn't in bed. Immediately panicking, she wasted no time, trying to call her son to see if he perhaps left for school early. When he didn't pick up, she then went to the police station and begged them to find her precious baby. After a month of searching, Izuku was legally declared missing, something which crushed the mother. Thankfully, the police promised the woman they wouldn't give up until they find him or gain proof that he somehow perished, a promise they've kept for ten months and counting.

What they didn't know was the boy was actively avoiding them. When Izuku accepted becoming the Phoenix Force's newest host, he knew he would need to cut himself off from the life he once lived. Though he'll miss his mother, removing himself from his old life was necessary if he was to reform the world. No longer will the shackles of society bind him; he would rise and free humanity from its prison. And once he does, he'll reunite himself with his mother in a world where all was as it was meant to be.

However, for him to officially reform the world, nearly everyone living in said world needs to want the reformation to happen, otherwise the attempt would be deemed invalid. The point of the reformation was for Izuku to get everyone to admit the current method of doing things was unjust. Simply forcing a reformation to happen either via intimidation or brainwashing wouldn't prove anything.

Having realized this, the boy knew he was going to need others by his side. After all, what good was a God without their prophets? In nearly every big religion, the will of their God was spread by the prophets hand selected by the divine being. As for his prophets, they would serve as proof of the cruel nature of society. He would help them get through such hurdles and in turn, they'll be the ones convincing those who initially reject his goal to join his cause.

For the next ten months, Izuku began gathering his prophets, making sure to select the best candidates from the seven billion plus people currently living in the world. Eventually, he found the perfect batch, though he'll only be meeting two of them during the ten month period. As for the other three, he'll be waiting until the time was right to save them from their inner demons...

0000

If asked, those who knew Tooru Hagakure would describe her as a sweet, bubbly, and easygoing girl. Compared to most her age, she hardly ever seemed to get upset and had no issues bouncing back up from a failure. In addition, she was always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need, wanting to become a hero in the future. Why? Well, she had two reasons, her primary one being simply due her desire to help others.

Her other reason however would seem shallow to others, a reason she kept a secret. Her second biggest motivation for becoming a hero was because she wanted to be noticed. To outsiders, her reasoning would simply make her like most of the other heroes in existence: attention hogs. But when one realizes what her quirk is, they cannot help but understand why she wants attention. Her quirk, invisibility, makes it so that she's invisible twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Unlike everyone around her, she's never had the luxury of receiving attention. After all, how could she if no one could even see her? To the world, she was simply a pair of floating cloths. She's longed for someone to finally make direct eye contact with her, to be able to give someone a hug without them over or underestimating her height, and for the day the cute boys in her class would finally give her the time of day.

Unfortunately, all everyone saw was an invisible girl, not caring that there was more to Toru than her quirk. If she was being honest, she'd rather be quirkless than be permanently invisible. It's funny, a girl who wants to be a hero also wants to be quirkless, but in her case, at least being quirkless would allow others to see her. Heck, the last time she could even look at herself in the mirror was before she got her quirk…

'Whatever, it's not like I'll ever be visible,' the girl would always think to herself whenever she found herself being brought down by her lack of visibility. 'I just gotta make the most of what I have…'

To be honest, she expected to be invisible for the rest of her life, but that was until she met him…

It was an ordinary day and Toru had just finished school. She was her way home when she received a text message from her parents saying they wouldn't be home until late at night. Not wanting to be alone in her house, the girl decided to go to the nearby park to unwind for a bit. With the U.A's entrance exam being ten months away, Tooru has been studying nonstop, developing ways to negate her quirk's relatively passive nature. Not having any other abilities, she had to take martial arts classes, causing the amount of times she could relax to shorten significantly.

Taking a seat on a nearby bench, the invisible girl began drifting to dreamland, allowing her thoughts to flow wild. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she was soon awoken from her daydream by a male voice asking her a question.

"Sorry, but could you repeat that?" Tooru asked the boy before chuckling nervously, not having heard his question due to her tuning everything out. It was amazing she was even able to notice him.

"Sure, no problem," the boy said, flashing her a friendly smile. Taking a good look at the boy, she couldn't help but feel as if she's seen him somewhere before. Even more surprising was that she could've sworn he was making eye contact with her. "I asked if the seat next to you was taken."

"No, go ahead, you can sit down."

"Thanks." Flashing her another smile, he sat down next to her. For a while, the two middle-schoolers simply did their own thing, the boy seemingly deep in thought while Toru allowed her mind to run wild. Eventually, the boy decided to end their awkward silence.

"Alright, I was originally going to start with some small talk, but I remembered how awkward I am, so I'm just going to cut to the chase here," the boy said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I know who you are Tooru Hagakure and I know a lot about you. I know your quirk keeps you permanently invisible and that's one of your motives to become a hero. You want to be noticed."

Tooru's body immediately became rigged upon hearing this. She only just met this boy and yet he somehow knew her biggest secret. "W-what the hell? Are you a stalker?"

"No," the boy said, giving her a small smile. "I'm just someone who knows a little too much about the world he lives in. But enough about that, I need to tell you something important. Your desire to become a hero will take you far. You'll do many great things and save many people. You'll be fighting for the right reasons, and that'll make you one of the best heroes to ever exist. However, I really hate to say this, but your desire to be noticed will be largely unfulfilled. Despite the amazing work you'll do, no one will really pay attention to you. To the world, your quirk isn't flashy enough to garner attention. There will be other heroes-no, scumbags- who'll upstage you in popularity simply due to them having a more notable quirk. You're someone I know will become one of the perfect examples of what it means to be a hero so I don't want your one dream to end up unfulfilled. As such, I'm willing to help you."

After having that bombshell dropped on her, Tooru honestly didn't know whether to be proud at the fact the boy said she'll be a great hero or to be insulted that he said she'll never be noticed. The boy being a complete stranger doesn't do either side any favors. However, there was one thing he said that she really honed in on compared to the rest of his speech. "...You can help me? How?"

"Your quirk makes you permanently invisible. What if I said I could make it so that this wasn't the case? That instead of always being invisible, you could choose whether to be visible or not? Maybe I could even give you an extra power or two to help you stand out more…"

"T-that's impossible," the girl told him, not believing what she was hearing. How could he make such a bold claim without laughing? "A-are you making fun of me?"

"Trust me when I say I'm not. Also, you'd be surprised at what I can do."

"...If I go through with this, what's the catch?" She still didn't know whether to believe him, his claims were some of the boldest she's ever heard, but if he really did have the means of making her visible, she wanted to know how much it'll cost. Being visible was something she desperately wanted, and this stranger was claiming to have the ability to make her dream a reality. At the same time, she was a smart girl, she knew this boy could simply be manipulating her, preying on her insecurities. Yet, if there really was a chance she could finally be noticed, she needed to be open minded. After all, what if he was telling her the truth?

"The cost?" the boy asked, tilting his head in confusion. "I don't want anything in return. Just promise that you'll use these gifts to become the best hero you can be."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"That can't be it. You're offering me a once in a lifetime opportunity! There's no way you're handing it out for free…"

"I swear, I want nothing from you besides what I said. So, do you accept?"

"...I-I need to think about it…" Tooru admitted, still not sure whether to trust this boy or not.

"No worries. I didn't expect you to make a decision right now," the boy said before standing up. "I'll give you two days to decide but I do ask you keep our meeting a secret. Meet me here at the same bench, same time. It was nice speaking to you, but I'm pretty sure you've got other things to do, so I'll leave you be for now. Get home safe Hagakure."

Watching the boy walk away, Tooru continued to think about his offer, only to realize something important. "Hey! I never got your name!"

Turning around, the boy gave her a small smile as the sun began to set. "It's Izuku."

Not mentioning his last name, Izuku left the park, leaving Tooru to her own thoughts.

0000

Time flew by for the invisible girl as she thought over Izuku's offer. Everything about the entire situation seemed extremely suspicious. They only met and he was offering to help her overcome her greatest struggle. What's to say he's not lying? He could be trying to kidnap her…

Such rationale should've steered Tooru away from going back to the park, but something inside her told her Izuku could be trusted. The tone of voice he used and his facial expressions made him look genuine about his offer. Of course he could be acting, but her ability to detect liars and actors was powerful, and it didn't seem like he was acting. Being desperate prevented her from listening to reasoning as well.

'Ok, I'll go, but I'll be on high alert so I can disarm him if he tries something.' This thought being what she was using to justify her otherwise horrible choice, the girl made her way to the park. Much to her surprise, Izuku was right where he said he would be, sitting down on the bench they first met. 'Well, at least I can say he didn't prank me...yet.'

"Hey Hagakure," Izuku said, waving at the girl as she walked towards him. "Did you get time to think about what I said?"

"I did…" Tooru admitted, doing her best to strengthen her nerves. "And I'll probably regret my decision, but I've decided to accept your offer."

Hearing her response, Izuku couldn't help but smile. Even though he knew her answer long before she said it, hearing it come out of her mouth was relieving. His cosmic awareness allowed him to see the future, but something unexpected could've happened, causing reality to go down another path, one different from the one he saw.

"Cool, just give me a second." With the wave of his hand, Izuku summoned a rectangular shaped portal. Normally he wouldn't do so in such an open area, but he knew no one was around, using his vast telepathic powers to scope the park for nearby people and security cameras, thankfully detecting none. Giving the somewhat shocked girl a soft smile, he motioned for her to enter. "After you."

0000

Hesitant at first, Tooru entered the portal and was greeted by the sight of an orange room about the size of a small apartment. Looking around, she noticed the room was barren of any objects and furniture other than the king sized bed right smack in the middle of the place and the small work desk pressed against the wall opposite of the portal's entrance.

"Sorry if it's a bit crowded in here," Izuku bashfully told the invisible girl as he watched her check out his room. "I'm still adjusting its size."

"Uh, what is this place?"

"It's a small demiplane I made to give myself shelter," Izuku nonchalantly said, causing the girl to look at him in confusion. "A demiplane is basically a small dimension disconnected from reality."

Hearing his explanation caused Tooru s eyes to widen. Creating dimensions was certainly a powerful ability, no matter its size. "So your quirk allows you to create these 'demiplanes?'"

"Actually, I don't have a quirk," Izuku admitted. "I'm quirkless. I obtained my power through other means." Tooru opened her mouth, wanting to question what he meant, only for Izuku to continue speaking. "But enough about that. I bet you're dying to become visible again. Let me take care of that real quick."

"Wait?! What are you-" Toru tried asking as Izuku suddenly leaned forwards, closing the distance between them. With unnatural speeds, he then placed his left hand on top of her head. At first, the girl felt nothing change other than the fact Izuku was starting to creep her out. Noticing this, the girl was about to resume asking her question only to feel a sudden flash of pain in her head, as if something was going to burst. The pain didn't last long though, but once it dissipated, blindness soon took its place. Scared out of her mind, she tried moving, only for her body to not respond. It was then that she felt something rush into her head. At first, she had no idea what it was, but after a few seconds of letting it sink into her head, she realized it was knowledge. She didn't know what information her brain was storing, but she could feel herself learning. Eventually, Izuku removed his hand from her head, restoring her vision and causing the girl to stagger back a bit.

Eyeing the boy with worried eyes, Tooru wanted answers. "W-w-what did you do to Tooru

"See for yourself." Summoning a large mirror out of nowhere, Izuku placed it in between the girl and himself. Although rightfully hesitant, Tooru eventually approached the object for a better view and was shocked at what she saw. Instead of the normal sight of floating cloths she was accustomed to, she was now looking at a light skinned girl with shoulder length black hair and aqua blue eyes. Wanting to make sure she wasn't seeing things, Tooru waved her left hand at the mirror and was surprised when her reflection matched her move. Having done that, Tooru decided to do one final test. Holding her hands in front of her face, she saw actual skin and it wasn't Izuku's.

"Y-you actually did it…" the girl stated in awe, trying her best to contain the tears of joy threatening to come flowing out of her eyes. To no longer be invisible...this was the best thing to ever happen to her.

"Told you it was possible," Izuku replied, a bright smile beaming on his face. Just seeing the girl happy with what he did made him happy in return. "Now, do me a favor and try to turn invisible again."

"Huh?"

"When we made the deal, part of it was that I'd give you the ability to turn invisible and visible whenever you want. I want you to try it. Just simply concentrate on that one task and you'll be golden."

"Alright…" Taking a deep breath in, the girl began concentrating on her body, trying to turn it back to its unseeable state. It was then that she noticed what sort of information was flowing through her brain when Izuku had his hand on her head. He gave her the knowledge on how to control her abilities. With this, she had no trouble making her body unseeable before switching her visibility back on. "This is amazing!"

"That's not all I gave you." Summoning a ball, Izuku prepared to toss it at the confused girl. "Block this."

Throwing the ball lightly, Izuku watched as the girl cowered at the prospect of the ball hitting her, only for her to marvel at the clear force-field she created, preventing the ball from making contact with her. "You gave me the power to make force-fields?"

"Yeah. I did say I'd help you stand out-" Izuku began telling her, only to be interrupted by Tooru nearly tackling him into a hug, joyfully sobbing into his chest.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

"No problem," Izuku said, giving her a friendly pat on the back as she continued to ball her eyes out.

0000

After Tooru finished expressing her emotions, Izuku transported them back to the park. Realizing that it was becoming late, the two teens went their separate ways, but not without exchanging contact information upon Tooru's request. Her reasoning was because she wanted to get to know the boy better after he managed to solve her biggest insecurity. Promising her that the two could hang out in a few days and that he'll reveal everything about his powers to her then, Izuku began making his way to his next destination. Though they haven't realized it themselves, his second future prophet was waiting for him.

0000

For as long as he could remember, Hitoshi Shinso wanted to be a hero. It was what his heart desires. Despite his standoffish nature, the boy has the potential to do great things, determination flowing through his body. His primary reasoning for wanting to be a hero was just like Toru's: he simply wanted to do the right thing. His secondary reasoning on the other hand differed from the invisible quirked girl's goal: he wanted his hero identity to serve as proof, proof that anyone can be a hero no matter their quirk.

Compared to the current top heroes such as All Might and Endeavor, Hitoshi's quirk lacked the 'heroic feel' the others had. His quirk was known as brainwash, giving him the ability to control anyone who verbally responds to him for a short period of time. Despite the immense power the quirk held, he was often pushed to the side by his peers, them believing his quirk to be better suited for a villain.

Their narrow thinking pissed off Hitoshi to no end. So what if his quirk allowed him to manipulate others? It didn't make him a bad guy himself. His quirk could be used to disarm villains without having to fight them, potentially saving more lives than an all out brawl would. Sure it wouldn't be done in an 'epic' manner, but results are results, especially when it comes to the amount of people that could be saved. Sadly, society didn't seem to care for such statistics, choosing to favor those with destructive quirks over utility based ones. He hated how society viewed quirks and it was because of this hate he desires to attend U.A Academy and become a better hero than his peers. Unfortunately, he was facing a road bump known as the entrance exam. While Hitoshi was more than confident in his ability to pass the intellectual portion of U.A's exam, the physical part was giving him immense trouble. He knew the physical portion had the test takers destroying as many robots as they could. With a quirk which only affected humans, he'd be lucky to score even a single point. He honestly believed the test to be unfair in this regard. Yes, he understood heroes needed to be able to physically defend themselves, but brute strength wasn't all there was to being a hero…

"You see it too, right?"

"Hm?" It was sunset and Hitoshi was taking a quick stroll around his neighborhood, taking a break from all the studying he did. Wandering around aimlessly, the boy didn't expect to encounter Izuku near an alleyway, a stranger turned friend who would help him overcome his biggest roadblock thus far…

"The hidden corruption plaguing society. Others don't, but we do. We're the only ones who can…"

"Bye." Though he couldn't help but agree with Izuku, the boy decided to ditch him, believing Izuku to simply be another ranting lunatic. Oh how wrong he was…

"I know who you are...Hitoshi Shinso. I know it's your dream to get into U.A and how you desire to prove you can be an accomplished hero with your quirk. I also know what your quirk is and let me say, the possibilities it holds are endless."

Hitoshi stopped walking, turning his attention back towards the boy. How on Earth did he know these things about him?

"Brainwash, the ability to control people who respond to your voice… you'd be the king at navigating hostage situations. You could calm down riots, tell villains to lock themselves up, and even turn the villains against one another. Your quirk...it's amazing, but it's a shame U.A doesn't think so. Their tests are designed for those with physical power, something your quirk lacks, so even with all you can do, you'll be fighting a battle you can't win."

At this point, Hitoshi was staring at Izuku with wide eyes. This stranger knew way too much about him. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name's Izuku and I'm here to help you achieve your dream."

"Help? How the hell can you help?" Hitoshi asked, eying the boy suspiciously. Izuku was starting to scare him a bit. It didn't help the boy was seemingly immune to his quirk, Hitoshi trying to mind control him as he responded.

"As we both know, your brainwash quirk won't be enough to get you into U.A, but what if I gave you the tools needed to succeed?"

"And what kind of tools are we talking about?"

"An additional power, one with offensive and defensive capabilities…"

"I've met some weird people in my life and you have got to be the strangest by far," Hitoshi told him. "Powers can't be given, that's not how it works."

"Is it really?" Izuku asked. Right before the boy could reply, Izuku closed the distance between them and placed his hand on the other boy's face. Upon this happening, Hitoshi prepared to step away from this seemingly crazy boy, only for a flash of pain to enter his head, him going blind a second later as his brain began processing something. Izuku smiled as his plan seemed to be working. Compared with the social Toru, Hitoshi wouldn't give him the time of day if he made him an offer. No, this time he'll give his prophet the powers and take things from there. He could always remove them if needed.

Eventually, Izuku removed his hand from Hitoshi's face, watching in amusement as he took a few steps back, wondering what on Earth just happened. "What did you do to me?"

"I gave you what you needed to pass U.A's exam," Izuku replied before telekinetically moving a trash can lid into his arms. Grabbing it, he then held it out to Hitoshi. "Try moving this to you using your mind."

Hitoshi honestly wanted to bolt at the moment, whatever Izuku did scaring him, but upon looking at the lid, he began to feel his brain work, repeating the information the boy had transferred to him. Holding out his right arm, Hitoshi began to will the lid to come to him, surprised to see a purple aura envelop it before it floated into his hands.

"Telekinesis, the ability to move objects with your mind," Izuku stated as Hitoshi looked at his hands, confused at his new power. "It requires a strong mind, something you have. I thought it would balance nicely with your brainwashing quirk. Now you got something you can use to pass the exam."

"..." Hitoshi simply looked at the boy, unable to say anything. How the heck was Izuku able to give him telekinesis? Why did the boy know so much about him? In the end, he only found the strength to ask one question. "I don't know you...so why did you give me these powers? Why did you help me?"

"I did it because I believe you can become one the greatest heroes to ever exist," Izuku replied, shocking him. Hearing someone actually say he could be a hero wasn't something he was used to experiencing. "No biased test should tell you otherwise. The powers are yours to keep as long as you keep chasing your dream."

"...You never really answered my question...who the hell are you?"

"Who am I? That's a question I'll have to officially answer another time. For now, all you need to know is that I'm simply someone trying to combat the demons of society...