"He'll live." Shuzenji said, tired, "But we can't be too sure about his mental state when he wakes up."
"I don't understand." Kayama said, clearly distressed over something, but masked with a calm sense of authority and curiosity, "Most normal people would have died with that kind of electricity... and fire... and bleeding out so much... that vile villain crushed all his ribs! His left lung was ripped apart! His stomach was ruptured and the knife was that close to hitting his heart!" She pinched her fingers together, showing just how close.
"Those were just the worst ones. We managed to heal his electric burns, and his nerves were almost fried. Without the help of those two, I wouldn't be able to fix him up. Do you have any idea how many times we lost him? And he somehow just kept coming back. It's a miracle he's alive. He has a lot of new scars, but the amount he has doesn't hold a flame to the amount he currently has."
"Are you very, very sure he's quirkless? Because this amount of pain tolerance in a child, i don't care if he was a former vigilante or anything, is not normal! It's not even normal for an adult pro hero, let alone a child."
Aizawa nodded grimly, "Even if he wasn't... that drug he got in the USJ would have made him quirkless anyway."
He felt so useless. He couldn't do anything while he was watching Hisashi bruise Midoriya up. Could he have done something more? The announcer's room was specifically made in case Yamada got excited and yelled too much, so there was no way he could have punched his way out.
Could he have tried to hack the security system to get out of the room they were trapped in?
Probably.
What did he do instead?
Watched from above as Hisashi, that pathetic excuse for a human being, fried his student.
Because of that, Midoriya almost died.
Midoriya didn't have enough energy to Shuzenji to use her quirk on him, but Nezu had pulled a few strings and had gotten two quirk users to help them out. One had to ability to enhance another's quirk through physical contact, and the other had the power to give energy to another person. With the extra energy boost and Shuzenji's temporarily enhanced healing abilities, they had managed to stabilise Midoriya.
"Quirks are genetic mutations. They usually get stronger and stronger every new generation. But those aren't the only things about the human body that has changed over two hundred years. We're also changing physically. And while these changes might not be as flashy, powerful or obvious as quirks, they're still there. Quirks are more like a specific branching out of mutations, linked to the quirk factor. There is a reason why Aizawa is able to easily throw people into the air with his capture weapon, or for Stain to be able to jump and move so quickly even though their quirks are completely unrelated to the other parts of their body. It's like an upgrade. You add a powerful new part, but you also need smaller, minor supporting parts to link the older parts to the new ones."
Aizawa stared at Nezu, who continued, "The boy may not have a quirk, but I think he may have gotten some other characteristics from his parents. His father is a fire breather, and is naturally more fire resistant than regular people. Izuku must have inherited that trait from him, and by extension, a mild electricity resistance as well, since good heat insulators are also good electrical insulators. His mother has minor telekesis quirk, so perhaps this allows him to be stronger than other people mentally. These kinds of mutations are still a theory, but when you look at it a certain way, it makes sense. It's survival of the fittest, and the body most adapted to handle a quirk wins."
"The Nomu was made up more that one person, right?" Yamada asked.
Yagi nodded, "According to Tsukauchi, they ran tests. They found multiple quirks in it. Several strength quirks, a few speed ones, an injection quirk, a few regeneration and healing quirks, and a shock absorbing quirk."
"You think it's connected to Flash Fire... or Tempest, in any way?" Kayama asked, "His quirk was fire breath, wasn't it. Since when was he able to control fire, make electricity or teleport stuff?"
"It probably is. There are too many similarities." Nezu nodded, "The Nomu had way too many quirks stuffed into it. That's why it became a mindless monster. They managed to identify at least ten quirks, most of them being the strength and regeneration quirks, as well as the shock absorbing quirks, belonging to people who were alive and had disappeared, by DNA tests. The only reason that Tempest probably hasn't become a Nomu is that his body probably accepted the pyrokinetic quirk easily, since his birth quirk was also fire based. Electricity creates heat, so that also made it easier for him to accept, and the teleportation one didn't affect his body much. All of the Nomu's quirks affect the body in some way, and throwing them all in together wasn't good for the original body. It probably mutated way too fast and the brain couldn't keep up, resulting in this mindless monster."
Nezu looked at Yagi, who nodded.
This was the work of All for One.
There were twenty four angry students in both the hero courses, and one from the Support Course.
Hisashi had already been bundled up and sent to Tartarus, and the remaining villains were also rounded up by the pro heroes and sent to jail.
But the entire incident left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.
Four days of letting teenaged anger spew in silence did no one any good.
They were expecting the media to flame up against UA, for letting villains break in during the sports day and for letting a student get hurt.
Not this kind of crap.
"They treated Izuku like he was a completely different person once they found out he was quirkless!" Jiro spat.
"Look here! This stupid interview. 'There is no way that Midoriya Izuku could be Uzuki. If he had some kind of quirk, then maybe it would be plausible, especially if it were special or powerful. If you asked me, and told me that the vigilante was a teenager, I'd believe it. Teenagers make bad choices and sometimes they need an outlet for their frustration. Tell me we were dependent on a quirkless person this entire time, I'd say you were joking.' That's just dumb!" Kaminari was sparking out of agitation.
"It's not manly at all to pick on him! Izuku saved our lives! But he's just getting hate for it!" Kirishima grumbled.
They had seen how people were picked on for having weak or useless quirks.
They hadn't seen how the world viewed the quirkless. They expected there to be some hate against Midoriya for his quirkless. They didn't expect this kind of vile slander against the poor kid.
"They're treating him like he's some kind of inferior species!" Uraraka cried out, "Deku didn't even do anything wrong! Just... why..." She gasped. "How could they be so cruel!?"
"This is crap! 'The hero course student's must be getting weaker if they're losing to a quirkless child, of all things.' This is getting ridiculous!" Sero hissed.
"This one is flaming Cementoss-sensei!" Yaoyorozu growled, "Said his quirk was probably weak if Izuku could break it so easily! That isn't even his fault! He can control cement, but he can't change to properties of it. If it was easily breakable initially, he couldn't do anything to strengthen it even if he tried!"
"You know, so many people were apologising to me on the train! Saying that a quirkless person had taken first place!" Shoji's mouth on his tentacle spat.
"I read some new sites about the incident! They just mentioned that a quirkless person had slightly weakened that horrible excuse for a human, and they gave all the credit to Midnight and All Might! The entire article was practically praising Midnight and All Might and slandering Izuku, saying he had gotten in the hero's way! Izuku practically gave them that chance to beat that villain in!" Sato growled.
"Did you see this dumb article?" Ashido angrily asked, pointing to her phone, "They praised UA. Praised! For using a quirkless kid as fodder against that horrible guy!"
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL DID YOU SAY, PINKY!?" Bakugou roared.
"Here!" Ashido harshly pressed her finger against her phone screen, nearly breaking it in anger, "This guy said 'UA was really smart to let the quirkless kid fight and wear down Tempest. After all, quirkless people don't have the power to do anything, so it's better if they were hurt instead of all the other potential heroes.' Izuku is a hero, screw these people!"
Since entering the classroom, Shinsou remained silent. He hadn't said a single word ever since he left the stadium. He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry so badly. But the tears refused to fall. Midoriya wouldn't want him to cry over him. Who cared about that?! What if he was injured so badly they couldn't save him? What if he was paralysed for life!? What if -
Shinsou stared at his hands. No matter how hard he scrubbed, how much soap he used, how he scratched at the skin on his hand and arms, he could still see blood on them. Izu's blood. They weren't visible. Phantom stains. He could still see the red bloody patches on his arms as Recovery Girl ordered him to bring Izu into the infirmary and -
Shinsou let out a huge groan and smacked his forehead into the table, earning him sympathetic looks from the entire class. He didn't want to think anymore. Thinking just hurts.
Iida sat on his seat in silence the entire time. After they finally managed to evacuate everyone from the stadium, Iida had gotten a call from his family in Hosu, and he had rushed off to visit his brother in the hospital. He was guilty that he had rushed off for his brother, but he didn't even stick around like the others to check on Midoriya's condition.
Iida Tensei was lucky.
Very lucky.
Unlike all the other heroes that Stain had encountered, he was left alive.
And mostly untouched. He had a nasty scar on his forearm, and his arm was broken, but that was about it. He wouldn't be patrolling for the next few weeks to let his arm heal, but considering that he could still be a hero, that was huge.
But Ingenium's miraculous survival with his encounter with the Hero Killer had been completely overshadowed by the events of the Sports Festival.
Every single news channel, every single news site, every newspaper, all they did was slander Midoriya Izuku.
Saying that he probably cheated to get into UA. Saying that he should give his place up in the Hero Course for other students who could do much better than him. Saying that he couldn't be Uzuki because there was no way one of the most well known vigilante's was a quirkless, powerless child.
Iida wanted to cry for Midoriya.
He had done nothing wrong. The only thing Midoriya truly wanted was to help people. He purposely hid the fact he was quirkless because he knew the media and the rest of the world would hold it against him.
There were laws against quirk discrimination.
But what could the police do when every single person agreed that Midoriya had no place in their world? Arrest everyone? What could they do when even themselves were prejudiced against the quirkless, even if they weren't vocal about it.
Midoriya mentioned that the quirk usage laws didn't apply to him since he was quirkless.
Did the quirk discrimination laws also not apply to him?
They even used his own words against him.
"Since he doesn't even have a quirk to discriminate against."
The community already had something against the quirkless. They just never said it. They never had a reason to. The quirkless had always remained in the shadows, not daring to speak up or act up due to sheer peer pressure.
Midoriya winning the Sports Festival should have shut them up. He proved that quirks weren't everything in this world.
Instead, it just made things worse.
People were hating that he didn't have powers, that he was of an inferior species, and yet he held his head high as he surpassed everyone, that he was practically spitting in their face, saying he was better when he clearly wasn't anywhere near them.
They didn't care that Midoriya was forced into a corner as a kid. They didn't care that he had a lot more experience that the other kids from UA, experience combined with knowledge that allowed him to find unique ways to counter quirks, which was why he placed first. They just didn't like the idea that a quirkless person was better than them.
And now they had a reason to be vocal about their views.
Almost all the UA teachers that were in the spotlight were trying to defend Midoriya, but the media just played it off as the teachers doing their jobs to support the students and didn't really take it to heart.
There was a very similar situation in 1-B.
"You know how many people told me to stay away from him!?" Kendo clenched her fists in anger, "They said that even though quirklessness wasn't a disease, I should stay away from him, just in case I 'catch it'!"
"That's ridiculous!" Tokage hissed. She may not have been as close to the battle as the four 1-B students who made it to the top sixteen, but she liked Midoriya. He understood that she had been careless and had made a mistake, and didn't hold it against her. Not many people would do that.
"What's wrong with those people!?" Tetsutetsu growled, "They didn't even care that he was so manly to risk his life for us! They just see him as some useless person who shouldn't exist!"
Monoma just sat in his seat quietly.
He didn't know what to feel.
He thought he had it bad when he was a kid.
He didn't really know how bad Midoriya had it.
Did he have to live, suffering under all the slander and abuse from society, for his entire life? Even considering that he was Uzuki, he must have known internally that once everyone found his secret, they would reject him. No amount of saving lives would be able to bring him back to even a status of a normal person.
Life wasn't fair, he had thought.
Now, he truly realised how unfair the world was.
"I expect you to all to listen closely to what I have to say." Kan said.
They had agreed to tell 1-B. They also were a part of the hero course. They deserved to know what truly happened.
1-A already accepted Midoriya for who he was. They didn't need to tell them anything else.
They knew not all of 1-B would.
Most of them, especially if they hadn't faced Midoriya directly in the second round, or witnessed the reckless, selfless way that Midoriya threw himself at Hisashi, they would definitely still have some prejudice against him.
"I know some of you may still think lowly of Midoriya."
Most of 1-B refused to make eye contact with their teacher.
"I suppose that you have all heard about the mass kidnapping incident, where many people were rescued. The media had said that Midnight and I had gotten captured on purpose in order to leak information out to rescue them." Kan spoke gravely.
Everyone nodded. What did this have to do with Midoriya?
"Midoriya had been leaking information to us about this entire thing. He stole information, infiltrated places, and risked his life, as Uzuki, and gave us tons of information that saved us months of information searching."
Shishida raised his hand, "Sir, he could have wanted something in return."
Kan nodded, "He did. He wanted us to be safe. That was all he asked for."
The class remained silent as they contemplated their teacher's words.
"Aizawa-sensei... how's Izuku?"
"Yeah! Is he okay!?"
"How badly hurt is he!?"
"Aizawa-sensei - "
"All of you quiet down." Aizawa said, his quirk flaring. Everyone immediately quietened down.
"Izuku is fine. We managed to call in a few favours, and he's stable now."
The quiet, if we didn't managed to do that in time, he would have died, remained unspoken. It didn't have to be said.
"You guys can visit him in the infirmary later during lunch. However, I suggest you eat something before you head there, as you would need energy for your hero lessons later and I would prefer if we only have one student's health to worry about at a time." Aizawa stated.
Everyone looked at Aizawa, their eyes gleaming.
Everything was burning.
Midoriya could feel the flames licking his hands. He could feel the electricity running through his veins. But they didn't hurt.
He saw a group of people amidst the flames
He recognised Shinsou's fluffy hair, Ojiro's tail, Shoji's unique tentacles, Bakugou's still sparking hands, Yaoyorozu's half created water extinguisher, Sero's tape dispensing elbows, and Tokoyami's feathers as Dark Shadow writhed on the ground in pain.
He could make out Uraraka's hair style, Jiro's earphone jacks, the sheer amount of smoke making Hagakure's figure visible for once under her uniform.
He noticed Asui's tongue, Iida's spluttering engines, Aoyoma's signature belt, Kirishima's hardened arm, a pile of burning vines, Mineta's sticky orbs, Todoroki half burning and half freezing and Monoma reaching out for Todoroki to copy his quirk.
He saw Kaminari sparking, Tetsutetsu's metal leg, Kendo's oversized hand, Tokage lying prone on the ground, Koda and Sato trying to defend the others, and Hatsume trying to build something to extinguish the fire but it kept short circuiting.
He wanted to yell at them. He wanted to tell them to move.
He couldn't speak. He couldn't move.
He could only watch as his friends died one by one, burning alive.
He screamed.
Midoriya jolted awake.
Where was he? That didn't matter.
Where were his friends?!
He didn't care that there was a heart monitor connected to him under his shirt, or an oxygen mask off his face, or an IV in his arm. He ripped them all off.
He didn't care that there were bandages all over him. As long as they didn't hinder his movement.
There was a man next to him. He had a grey scarf and donned a black jumpsuit and glowing red eyes.
He trying to stop me from getting out -
Midoriya lashed out, nailing the man right in the face as he leapt over him, racing out the door.
Shit.
Aizawa was woken up by screaming.
His eyes snapped open and he activated his quirk on instinct, alert for any threat.
He didn't expect to see Midoriya sitting up, clawing at his throat as he screamed his lungs out, before ripping out every single machine connected to him.
Aizawa stood up. Midoriya was still injured. His major injuries were healed, but he was still in a rather bad shape.
"Izuku! Lie down - "
He earned a fist to the face.
Aizawa blinked, slightly dazed from the hit, and before he realised what had happened, Midoriya had already run out.
Shit.
He wasn't healthy enough to be running like that!
Aizawa dialled the group chat. He hated things like group chats, Yamada was always making jokes in them, but this time he didn't care.
"Izuku just ran out of the infirmary."
"TOSHI!? SHO-KUN?! KACCHAN?! DENKI!? TSU!?"
Midoriya's voice rang out as he ran through the hallways. He ignored the pain in his muscles, screaming at him to not move.
"YAOYOROZU?! JIRO!? URARAKA!? OJIRO!? SERO!?"
He looked into every room he came across.
"KIRISHIMA?! SHOJI? KODA!? SATO!? HAGAKURE!?"
Everyone just jumped out of the way as the quirkless student raced past.
"IIDA!? TOKOYAMI!? ASHIDO!? HATSUME!? AOYOMA!?"
He was too panicked to use honorifics.
"SHIOZAKI!? MONOMA?! KENDO-SAN!? TETSUTETSU!? MINETA-KUN!?"
Where were they?
He rounded a corner, and raced into the first room he saw.
"Hi." Kendo said, as she, Shiozaki and Tokage walked past the tables 1-A usually used as Monoma and Tetsutetsu came up behind them.
They were greeted with a chorus of "hi"s.
Kirishima gave them a huge grin, but it was so obvious it was fake, "Aizawa-sensei said we could visit Izuku in the infirmary! But we would have to eat first so we don't pass out in hero class later!"
Kendo mutely nodded, "Yeah. We originally wanted to ask if we could visit him since Vlad King-sensei didn't say anything about his condition, except that he was stable."
"Oh yeah. Jiro sent out the announcement on the ISP group chat, but I supposed you haven't checked your phone, have you, Tokage?" Yaoyorozu pointed out.
Tokage shook her head, and grimaced, "I forgot to charge it last night. It's dead now."
Kaminari raised his hand, "I can charge it!"
"Hi! Can I join you guys!?" Hatsume yelled as she raced towards them.
"Cheer up, Shinsou. You've been distracted all day," Uraraka pat the purple haired teen's back, "Aizawa-sensei said he's fine."
Shinsou clenched his fists tightly as he gazed blankly at the table, "I... I just keep seeing it... I can't - "
He was interrupted when he heard a loud, familiar voice ring out.
"TOSHI!? SHO-KUN?! KACCHAN?! DENKI!? TSU!?"
The entire cafeteria fell silent.
"YAOYOROZU?! JIRO!? URARAKA!? OJIRO!? SERO!?"
Shinsou's eyes widened as he recognised the voice.
"KIRISHIMA?! SHOJI? KODA!? SATO!? HAGAKURE!?"
The voice got louder.
"IIDA!? TOKOYAMI!? ASHIDO!? HATSUME!? AOYOMA!?"
Some of the class had gotten out of their seats, and were standing up to look at the cafeteria entrance.
"SHIOZAKI!? MONOMA?! KENDO-SAN!? TETSUTETSU!? MINETA-KUN!?"
They watched as a green haired figure raced into the room, wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt and shorts. His emerald green eyes darted across the room, before finally settling on the bewildered 1-A, some 1-B and the Support course students.
Midoriya's face immediately changed from something panicked to relief.
Shinsou got out of his seat.
"TOSHI!" Midoriya bounded towards him, slamming into Shinsou as he wrapped his arms around the taller boy. Shinsou staggered, but Midoriya was still way to ridiculously light and he couldn't hurt anyone by accidentally barrelling into them.
He looked up as he clung to Shinsou, taking in the shocked and confused faces of the remaining twenty five students as they blinked, trying to process who was here.
"YOU GUYS ARE ALL OKAY!" Midoriya broke into a smile.
"Deku! You almost died!" Uraraka wailed on the spot, Ashido clinging onto her arm and crying as well.
"DEKU YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I SWEAR IF YOU FUCKING DIE ANOTHER TIME I WILL FUCKING FIND YOU AND EXPLODE YOU!" Bakugou roared as Kirishima and Sero struggled to hold him back.
Kaminari and Hagakure were giving Midoriya very weird side hugs, as they were hugging both Shinsou and Midoriya since the green haired boy was currently clinging to Shinsou. Todoroki was standing next to them, carefully running his fingers along the bandages on Midoriya's arms. Yaoyorozu was checking Midoriya for a fever, jus in case, and Jiro had wrapped an earphone jack around his finger. The rest of the 1-A students had crowded around Midoriya, trying to have some sort of contact with him as Sato, Koda and Shoji surrounded the group protectively.
Dark Shadow was crying happy tears.
Midoriya grinned at them all from his spot in the middle of the cuddle fest, "I was so worried! I'm glad you guys are okay."
"STOP FUCKING DYING YOU DEKU!"
"I normally won't agree with Mr Explodey of all people, but yeah." Monoma said, "You're a nice person, Izuku. Worry about yourself more."
"Wow. That's the first nice thing you said about someone in Class 1-A. Good job!" Kendo snickered.
"Take care of yourself! I think I've have had enough of you bleeding out for a lifetime." Shinsou muttered.
"As class president, I will ask that you please treat yourself with more respect!" Iida said in an authoritative tone.
They were alive. They were all alive, and fine.
Surrounded by all his friends, Midoriya gave a soft smile, before finally giving in to his exhaustion and drifted to sleep.
Shoji, Yaoyorozu and Shinsou were taking Midoriya back to the infirmary with Aizawa (he was alerted by Lunch Rush). Kendo ripped her phone out of her pocket, and gave it to Ashido, "ISP. I'm in."
Tetsutetsu did the same, nodding his head vigorously, "It's so manly to care about friends! Add me!"
"I know right! Everything about Izuku is manly!" Kirishima laughed as he took Tetsutetsu's phone.
"I apologise. I would like to join as well... but I have left my mobile device in the classroom." Shiozaki apologized.
"Tch." Monoma clicked his tongue. "Kendo can add us later."
"ME TOO! ADD ME!" Hatsume shrieked as she jumped right into Uraraka's face
Everyone was talking about Midoriya and him being quirkless. All of them were careful not to mention anything too bad (Class 1-A had two people with super hearing), but one comment rang out from a corner, catching their attention.
"I thought he was dead?"
Bakugou immediately jumped out of his seat, Kirishima and Sero barely managing to do the same in time as the explosive boy roared, "DIE! HOW DARE YOU!"
Mineta was guilty.
Unlike his classmates, he hadn't cared that much if Midoriya was killed or not.
But seeing Midoriya's expression, seeing him so relieved to see him alive even though he was the the one beating beated black blue, Mineta couldn't help but question himself.
He knew he was a pervert.
But he owed Midoriya his life. He saved them at the USJ, defended them from the other students, fought Tempest to protect them.
Why didn't he care?
Where had he gone wrong?
"Alright, All Might. What is this all about?" Aizawa tiredly asked.
"How much do you know about my quirk" Yagi asked.
"It's some strengthening quirk with a time limit, right?" Kayama asked.
"Why are you asking?" Yamada wondered.
Yagi sighed. He had locked himself in a private room with Aizawa, Kayama, and Yamada, and Nezu had been kind enough to disable the security cameras and microphones. However, he still looked around cautiously.
"My quirk is... unique. It's a strength stockpiling quirk that has been passed down to me, called One for All."
The three teachers took it surprisingly well. Or they didn't really seem to care that there was a quirk that wasn't genetic.
"So... why are you telling us this?" Kayama raised an eyebrow.
"I want to give it to Young Izuku."
Aizawa just stared at Yagi like he had grown a second head. "What?"
Yamada and Kemuri were equally lost.
"You guys know him the best, so I thought it would be best to ask you guys first. You already saw it at the USJ, Aizawa-kun. I have a time limit, and it's only shortening. One of the reasons I came here was to find a successor for it. Nezu allowed me to join not only to keep my... condition... a secret, but also to allow me to find the successor I need."
"And... you deem Izuku fit?" Yamada was still trying to process this entire thing.
"He has the drive and the determination to do good in this world. He has the spirit of a true hero. He's tenacious and would do anything to achieve his goals. I feel... that he's worthy to be my successor."
Aizawa grit his teeth, "Assuming this is a stockpiling quirk that can be passed down, I'm going to assume it's passed down for a reason, and I won't pry, but Izuku doesn't need another burden like that."
He glared at Yagi, "The media already hates him for being quirkless. What do you think will happen when he suddenly reappears with a quirk?"
Yagi sighed, "But wouldn't that help him to fit in? He'll be like everyone else and - "
Aizawa was close to losing his temper, "Look. All Might. You weren't there when he woke up in the hospital. Everyone told him that he couldn't be a hero because he was quirkless. And if I recall, one of the reasons you wanted to help Izuku was because you yourself told him he couldn't be a hero. What you just said cemented it."
He huffed, "We're not his parents. We can't make the choice for him. If he wants to accept the quirk, then I have nothing to say. But if you dare pressure him, or force him into taking on your burden, I won't forgive you. He already has enough on his plate. He doesn't need the pressure of fighting off some century old enemy or whatever your 'role' is."
Aizawa sighed. "If you want to talk to Izuku about it, tell one of us. You might not mean it, but speaking to the Number One hero would stress anyone out, and I don't want him to make a choice he might regret later."
He turned around and grabbed the door handle, before he suddenly paused.
"Tell me, All Might," He spoke softly, "Why didn't you interfere earlier? You could have saved him, prevented him from getting hurt, if you had just attacked Tempest the second he attacked."
Yagi looked down guiltily, "I... wanted to. But I could tell how Young Izuku felt towards him... it.. didn't feel right if I didn't let him take a shot at the person that destroyed his childhood. And when it got too bad... they were too close to each other for me to land an attack that wouldn't injure Young Izuku as well."
Aizawa turned around, and glared Yagi, "You almost let him die... because of emotions!? Emotions are irrational. I can understand the kids being influenced by them because they don't have enough experience with the real world, but not from you of all people."
Shuzenji kissed Midoriya one last time on the forehead, and Midoriya sinked down into the bed, exhausted. He had woken up from his little running spree, and Shuzenji healed up the rest of Midoriya's injuries. His body was still aching, and Midoriya just wanted to close his eyes and maybe sleep.
Yamada mutedly handed over a glass of water, that Midoriya weakly took and drank.
"So... why are you all here?" Midoriya asked, eyeing the four extra pro heroes in the infirmary, "Also, All Might-sensei, um.. deflate or something? There's no need to waste your hero form when we all know your other form."
Yagi gulped, promptly changing back to his smaller form in a puff of white smoke.
"Young Izuku.. " Yagi bit his lip, "I think you're worthy of getting my quirk."
Midoriya looked at Yagi tiredly, "Stop joking around. You can't give people quirks."
"Mine is... unique."
"Look. Even if you could give me your quirk, I don't want it. The media is probably saying pretty bad stuff about me, aren't they?" Midoriya asked forlornly.
Yamada and Kayama looked away from the boy guiltily. He knew. He didn't know how bad.
"I tried to be a hero. Not just because I wanted to help people, but in a way, to tell people that 'hey! I can be a hero too!' If I accepted... it would be like accepting defeat. That yes, I can't amount to anything without a quirk. It's selfish of me, really... but... I want to prove them wrong...I.." He looked like he wanted to cry, and his voice sounded strained, "I want to prove that I'm not useless even though I don't have a quirk."
The entire room fell silent.
Midoriya closed his eyes, but then they snapped open.
If All Might can give other people his quirk... does that mean ...
He asked, "Wait. Is there anyone with a quirk that can take or give quirks?"
"Why?" Kayama asked.
"The Nomu... it had more than one quirk. And Tempest.. he has a fire breathing quirk. There's no way he should be able to use electricity as well... he also said he had a new benefactor... I'm assuming they're connected and the person that made the Nomu also gave Tempest his other powers." Midoriya sighed. He hoped he was wrong. A quirk like that... what kind of monstrosities could they create!?
Yagi slumped into a chair, and said, "I will be truthful with you. Yes. There is. Nezu has the same speculations as you. In short, there is a man with that power, and I'm supposed to stop him. I fought him once, and got an injury that cut down my time in my hero form immensely. That's why I'm trying to find a successor."
Midoriya sucked in a breath, before saying, "I hope you find a good one."
Some people were asking me if Midoriya did have an innate quirk or something.
My reasoning (and head cannons) are that human genetics are complicated.
Seriously. We study genetics and chromosomes and this in school and I'm confused. Very confused.