The Amazing Deku

Disclaimer: I don't own Spider-Man or My Hero Academia.

Legend:

"I made this song for you" speech

'Still, I love him so much' thoughts or quotes

'I'm going to kill him' Mandalay/Black Cat's Quirk or All for One talking

"CHOCOLATE!" Symbiote/Kuri talking

Chapter 41: There is a Time for Talking and a Time for Action

September 11th, 4:23 PM…

It's a brisk yet tepid pre-Autumn day. The greenery that once lasted through summer has started to become brown. Children have already started going back to school. And on this day, Izuku Midoriya can be found standing outside in the daylight amidst others at a graveyard.

He looks down at a hole in the dirt where a coffin has been placed. It is finally done. After so long waiting and hoping for the day of his return subsequent a decade of his absence, Izuku can now accept the fact that his father will never return to him again. No matter how he'll try, he'll never be able to forget him.

"Izuku." The boy turns around to face Momo approaching him, his partner in crime also dressed in black to go along the theme. "I'm sorry you had to suffer through another funeral."

"It's okay, Momo," he tells her, taking his hand. "I'll do everything I can to accept this and move on. I mean, someone my age would lose a few people they care about right? It's only natural."

"That's not a healthy way to look at it." The two then walk away to join up with the rest of their party.

Over with Inko, she stands with Eri in a green hair whig and a band-aid to cover her horn, Mitsuki, Masaru, and Toshinori as many a mumble and murmur go off in the background. They range from questioning why All Might is there, passive-aggressively insulting Hisashi for being Dragon, and wondering how much blood money the villain left his family. It's a wonder why they're even here.

Izuku joins up with Toshinori, his face showing a much better tomorrow fragrance than before. He says, "Yagi, thank you for coming here."

"Thank you for not calling me All Might," he replies, giving the gun finger pose before chuckling. "But seriously, I wanted nothing more than to be here. You're both a part of my life now, and it's hard to imagine it now without."

"Izuku," Inko speaks, getting their attention, "Mitsuki, Masaru and I are going to take Eri home. You two have other things to do today."

Eri looks up from hiding behind Inko and goes to Izuku hugging his hand. The boy takes a knee and pats the girl's head. "I'll see you when I get back, Eri."

"Okay, Papa," she says with a heart-melting smile squeezing his hand. She then let's go and leaves with Inko and the others.

Over in the distance, Bakugo stands by an escort vehicle next to Cementoss. But from where he is, he sees Izuku and Yagi as chummy as ripped meat for sharks to eat.

"I better go too," says Momo as she looks over at where Bakugo and her teacher are. She leans down slightly to kiss Izuku on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"I'll see you too, Momo." He watches as his girlfriend leaves with Bakugo back to UA.

From what he remembers Momo telling him, the dormitory system has been made ever since all those traumatic events of the students being attacked by villains as well as being a major target for the VA. Now everywhere they wish to go, a teacher from the school has to escort them back and forth. It's an acceptable system, but what he finds weird is that no one has attempted onto Toshinori despite the world knowing he's All Might now. It's as if no one wants to fight him anymore now that he's weak.

With Izuku and Toshinori, the two sit together by a creek not far from where the funeral was being held. The two gaze out at the waterway where fish and birds flock. Soon, Izuku breaks the silence: "Yagi, I wanted to ask you about Shimura. I don't think he's the real Shigaraki."

"I don't think he is either," he replies to the spider, taking him by surprise.

"You don't?"

"Tsukauchi, me, and a majority of us at UA including Nezu don't believe that he's the villain who commanded Muscular to attack you and sent those villains to attack USJ. Sadly, we can't just let him go."

"Why not? If he's innocent then-"

"He's also our only lead to Shigaraki." The former pro tents his fingers and rests his face against them. "Back when I met him when he had Endeavor by the throat, he said something. He told me that I let Shimura die, which is something that only All for One would know. The same Nana Shimura who is Tenko Shimura's grandmother. I believe there's more to their connection than that; your grandfather despises me so it's no surprise that he would spite me by making her family suffer. But then I realized something; what if he got to Kotaro too?"

"Kotaro?"

"Kotaro Shimura, Nana's son." He sighs leaning back. "When her husband died, she put Kotaro in foster care and made us promise to never get involved with him. And until her death, I never pursued him. He now runs a multi-billion dollar company called Astro Corp."

That's when it hits him. Here, Izuku's mind starts piecing together information already known together into a truth puzzle in his brain. Flabbergasted, he says, "Astro Corp… that was the place where I got the spiders, and it was run by the guy whose son was accused as Shigaraki…"

"Exactly." Toshinori looks further into the confines of his mind. "When I delivered the spider to David, I had Tsukauchi look for the spiders at the exhibit, but we didn't find any of them. According to the staff, they were recalled after one of them escaped."

"… oops." Izuku looks aside in shame, squinting his eyes. Of course, they would hide it; they knew the spiders were poisonous, and if even one got out and melted someone by biting them that'd be a lawsuit.

"Even without the spiders, you saving Eri that day also put Astro Corp under heavy suspicions. There is definite evidence between them and the VA, but we just can't prove it. Not to mention, Kotaro Shimura had an alibi that night."

Here, the boy gives his mentor a more determined expression. He may just have the final piece to this puzzle. "If you think about it, I don't think he has one."

The adult glances at Izuku in surprise as he continues. "What if there was a villain on his side who had a Quirk that could transform?"

"By the way, you say that I feel you know something I don't."

"During the Provisional License Exams, I got attacked by a villain who had a Quirk that made her – I guess – look exactly like Momo. She had Momo's appearance, voice, and even the feel of her skin, but activated my Spider-Sense like any other enemy." He flicks his cheek where he was once slashed, the mark was gone thanks to his impressive healing. "She came specifically to attack me, and ran off after cutting my cheek, knowing that I was Spider-Man."

"She did?!" Toshinori gets up in shock, staring down the fearful spider boy. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I told Gang Orca when the exam was over. I figured he'd tell you."

"I don't… He didn't." While that's something he needs to figure out, the former Symbol of Peace forms the puzzle left in his mind and adds a piece of information the boy gave him. This explains everything now. "But, this does open the case. I'll speak to Nezu right away."

Toshinori gets up and heads off, or is about to. Seeing Izuku still sitting, he reaches down and pats his shoulder. "Thank you, Midoriya." The boy's eyes meet that unending smile the skeletal hero can deliver even in this decrepit state, and returns his own. "Thank you for being the type to believe in their friend."

He then walks away.

Sitting alone for the moment, staring down at the oval creek leading away, Izuku leans forward while taking a moment to truly breathe. With so much happening, he has only a few moments where he could sit back and take in the situation around him, and thanks to Momo he was able to get rid of the stress that comes with it.

But now, as he looks at himself in the waking water, he takes a minute to understand his reality in a way he never bothered to notice.

Around this time a year ago, he was a Quirkless nobody who had aspirations that he would never have accomplished aside from one, removing himself from the equation to give his mother a better life. A little after would find him a boy with spider powers that he would use to become a vigilante so he wouldn't let someone die because he didn't do something to stop it. Now, almost a year later, he is a hero in training and has proven everyone who told him no wrong.

Well… except for one person. Because in the end, Kacchan was right. Had he not gotten those powers he'd probably go the way of all ashamed samurai. He would have never met All Might a second time. Kuri would be experimented on horribly. Mandalay would have died trying to kill Muscular. And he would never have met Momo.

He would never have met Ochako either.

"Speaking of which…" He gets up and walks away returning to the graveyard.

After his return, the boy walks through the stones. 'I figured I would speak to her before I left. It has been a while.'

Soon, Izuku gets closer to his friend's gravestone before standing right in front of it. A sweet wind blows by him. It fills him with a sense of serenity. A dragon-filled with distraught and anger now at peace with accomplishment, the boy can only describe his life at the time as such.

"Hey there, Ochako." He takes a knee before the stone. "Well, I finally did it. I might have gotten derailed here and there, but I managed to do it." He digs into his wallet and pulls out his hero license. "I can finally be a hero."

Tears skydive into the earth. "If only you could have been there to see it. To get one yourself. So you can help your family." He wipes his face clean. "I'll be there to make up for it and become a hero you can be proud of, so maybe one day you can forgive me."

The boy puts his wallet and id away. "Then again, you probably already have. And all my dreams are just my insecurities and regrets from when I was a Quirkless loser trying to kill me. Momo said that your death wasn't my fault, and she may be right."

Stalking after these words is a powerful sigh. "It'd be nice if you could say that to me. If only for closure."

After a long moment for prayer, standing tall with hands together and head knelt, Izuku turns around. He then takes off, no longer weighed down.

He has yet to receive orders, but for the time being, he needs to prepare for whenever his first mission is. Which means, he should have his costume within reach.

Sadly, the green spider boy is unaware of the person watching him from afar. If he did, he could have seen this woman removing her mask, covering her mouth along with her face hidden within the forest of blond. Each second passes as she whimpers, staring upon the boy.

September 11th, 6:54 PM…

Within the fading twilight of the day, Izuku Midoriya can be found within the walls of UA High dressed cleanly in more casual clothing as opposed to the funeral tuxedo he was given. He reaches the support course room and knocks.

The metal doors open up, and Melissa steps out facing him with a cherry-faced smile. "Hello!"

"Melissa!" She reaches behind her and pulls out a metal suitcase.

"I knew you were coming, so I brought you this ahead of time." The blond hands over the suitcase, allowing Izuku to procure the metal case. "Your hero suit."

"You still haven't explained that," says the boy.

"Well, I can track where you are in the world through my spider-sense. That's how I knew you were coming."

"Huh… I don't feel that with you though."

"It's how I found out where you were back during the I-Expo," she adds.

At that, a thought occurs to the boy. "That reminds me… at the I-Expo, do you remember Hitomi Yatsu?"

"Briefly…" she replies, narrowing her eyes at the memory of the rude daughter of Wolfram.

"I haven't seen her since the expo, and I was a little worried. Did you-"

"No, I didn't," is her quick reply, the busty girl turning around crossing her arms under her chest. "I've never seen her since either. Sadly, I don't think she'd be on our side. Hitomi struck me as unwilling to change, just like her father. Even before he made those arms."

Izuku looks back at her with a piece of confusion in his face. "Arms?"

"Remember those metal arms that Yatsu used on you and Uncle Might?"

"Painfully…" Of course, he knows she means the tentacle arms.

"Those arms are the final product of prosthetic arm replacements. Instead of making simple arms, he built tentacles that would allow more than the body permitted. They move at neural speeds faster than 1 nanosecond that surpasses any signal the human body can emit. But, to accomplish that task, they came with a downside."

"I think I know where this is going."

"The neural interface that connects his brain to the harness and controls the arms were made by Yatsu with help from a Dr. Tsubasa."

"Tsubasa?" Izuku remembers that name. It is the name of his pediatrician, the same person who told him that he was Quirkless. Why does he have a connection to something involving mechanics? Does it have something to do with neural transmitters?

"The neural interface was sadly imperfect, and as they got closer to getting it to work he overlooked flaws that papa noticed. When he first used it, it deteriorated his mind." She shakes her head. "That may be why he ended up like that."

"Yikes…" Izuku sighs before adjusting the suitcase in his hand. "Well, I better go. School's tomorrow, and I need this on hand should I get the call."

"Of course. See you later, Deku." She gives him a wink, making the boy blush once more.

Getting his act together, Izuku leaves down the hall. With the suit, he can now dress up and leave immediately once his school day ends whenever he's pulled onto a job.

As he makes his way out the front door, he stops short in front of Bakugo standing in his way. Though surprised, he says, "Oh, Kacchan."

"Deku." The blond nuke grabs hold of his shirt's right short sleeve and drag him away.

"Eh?"

"Let's go! We're having a fucking conversation!"

From the after storm expression on his former bully's face, Izuku could tell this was serious. Normally, he could just brush him off because of his spider strength, but this feels like something that needs to be said.

Now within the gymnasium where once upon a time they practiced their super moves, Bakugo releases the spider boy and faces him. Izuku stands with anticipation watching his movement, fully expecting him to either scream his head off or attack him.

Instead, he turns around to face him with a pacified expression that he has never seen before. For the first time in probably his entire life, Bakugo the walking nuke has been defused. "You know, we've never had a chance to talk in private since I was laid up."

He must be referring to when they were at the hospital when Shigaraki showed up. "Well, that thing with Mr. Yagi happened and I don't think it was the right time for talking. And it's not like you like hanging around me."

"And yet you still end up in front of my eyes." He glares at this point. "Deku, why do you still associate with me?"

"What are you talking about-"

"Remember when I told you that your girlfriend told me you ran into Gigan? And you ran out before we could continue talking about it?"

"I did?" He thinks back to it. "Oh yeah, I did."

He grabs his shirt collar. "I treated you like garbage for so long ever since we found out your Quirkless ass could do nothing. She even reminded me of that thing I said, something a hero should never say to anyone, and I had completely forgotten about it until at that moment."

He looks defeated here. "All you have to do is say the word and I'm fucking expelled. That eye guy can even go back to Aldera and look into what I did! So why?"

Izuku's eyes roam his bully before he pushes his handoff. Speaking with the stern and confidence that he's received from the many boners his girlfriend has given him, he says, "What good would that do?"

"… huh?"

"What good would getting you expelled do for me besides reversing our situations and giving me the Schadenfreude feeling?" His eyebrows focus downward. "You're right, Katsuki; you don't deserve to be a hero for what you've done to me. So many days have gone on forever where I contemplated that swan dive. And after what All Might said to me, I accepted that option and even planned to wait until that school trip happened and my life changed. With everything that's happened, I realized I need you there with me. I need to prove to you that I can be a hero, that I wasn't a worthless person below a background extra, that you were wrong about me and anyone who was either Quirkless or had a weak Quirk."

He looks down at Bakugo's prosthetic hand. "Ever since our fight and that hand of yours was taken off, I started seeing a side of you that I could actually enjoy being around. Just like when we were younger before your powers got to your head. And I may be stupid for trying to bring that part of you back, but that's what I want. And if it's impossible, then I'll just move on with my life. I still have Momo, Mom, Eri, Mandalay, Jirou, Iida, and the other friends I've made ever since I became Spider-Man, and if she's right then I'll accept it."

"Yeah, that rich girl got you wrapped around her finger," Bakugo says with a snort. He then turns serious again and asks, "Was that the only reason?"

"That," Izuku briefly pauses, before closing his eyes to sigh, "and no one would believe me."

"Oh, bullshit! You got plenty of-"

"There is no evidence," he snaps, stopping Bakugo cold in his tracks. "You've realized your behavior. You know that you were wrong now. But if you think about it, any adult would know that just by watching. I've told on you plenty of times before I gave up, and not a single teacher did a damn thing about it!"

A bit of anger can be felt in that last second, scaring back Bakugo slight. "You bullied me along with Nobita, Tsubasa, and Gigan, but you all got away with it. Not a single adult punished you guys or did anything to help me out! In a world where no one can use their Quirks in public places or even in school you still did whatever you wanted, all because you had the highest chance of becoming a hero out of anyone else. Even if Aizawa or the others would go back and check, there'd be no adult to speak out against you."

A tick mark forms on the ash-blond teen's head. He seethes. "Are you trying to tell me that my reputation was forged? That I was groomed this invincible future Number 1 Hero better than anyone else simply because of my Quirk?!"

"That is exactly what he's saying." Both teens jump back in shock at the new voice speaking. They look over to see Aizawa standing together with Mandalay, er Shino Sosaki, out of uniform.

"Aizawa? Mandalay?"

"I told you to stop calling me that," she tells him, the boy cupping his mouth embarrassed. "Bakugo, everything Midoriya said is true, because that's exactly what we did."

"You did?"

"Sosaki and I are agents," says the erasure hero. "Agent heroes can do undercover work that a regular pro hero stuck in the spotlight is unable to, and looking into future students that we would allow into our ranks is one of them. In my report, every teacher gave you nothing but praise, while the students revealed your true nature. Strangely, not one of them mentioned you picking on a Quirkless boy or bullying in general, even though that was exactly your type of character."

"…you knew that about-"

"I don't expel students for stupid reasons. If you're as incorrigible as that Ganretsu, you'd have never set foot on this campus ever again. We let you stay to change that behavior, because beneath all that you still desire to be a hero. That is who we wanted in this school."

While Bakugo looks down with remorse and serenity, Izuku remains confused. Something doesn't add up. He approaches the hobo hero, and asks, "You said you interviewed him by asking students who know him, right? But, why was the first time we ever met in my room for that nine-question interview?"

Sousaki narrows an eye to him. "You were in his room?"

"I was sleeping," is his retort. "It was the first time we've ever met, make no mistake, because when I said they made no mention of a Quirkless boy that he bullied I meant it. It was almost as if you were non-existent."

OF course, that only means one thing; they kept him as far away from Aizawa as possible, which makes sense considering how much they don't like him. They probably even bribed the kids not to mention him. It only makes him more depressed realizing no one would miss him if he died.

"So where does that leave me now?" asks Bakugo, clearly pulling the conversation back to where it started. "You know now, so why am I still here?"

"Because I don't expel for stupid reasons," says Aizawa. "I watched you during the License Exams and looked over your reports; you knew your faults and tried to change by following the example of the one person you dislike most. That shows how much you wish to be better.

"Besides, it'd be pretty cruel for you to lose your hand and not have a chance anymore."

"That'd be a rip," mutters Izuku while looking aside. Sousaki places a hand around her mouth, choking her chuckle.

Aizawa then approaches Bakugo. "On the other hand, you have been avoiding counseling lessons for your injuries and need to participate before I can let you continue. Some issues can't go away simply by ignoring them."

"What?" A long drawn out what comes out of the walking nuke's mouth.

"A-Anyway, I have to go. School's tomorrow." Izuku lifts his suitcase over his back and walks off. He stops for a minute to look back at Bakugo. "Kacchan, I'll see you later."

"You better, Deku," he tells him before his rival leaves.

As he goes, passing through the front door of the main campus, Izuku stops when he hears footsteps following him. He spots Sousaki coming up after him. "Midoriya, hold it."

"What's wrong?"

Before he could register it, the woman has wrapped her arms around his head. His heart flutters like an ice butterfly floating through a field of snow flowers. Her flesh pressed against his face with the only barrier being a sweater not even thick enough to keep him from feeling her warmth. His head, now a tomato, turns upward to face her.

"M-Mandalay!?"

"Call me Shino… And, I'm so glad you made it in." She squeezes more before releasing, the scent of ginger leaving with her stepping back.

The boy watches as the burgundy-haired cat lady leaves campus ahead of him, a skip in her step almost in his sight.

'Why is she so happy? Maybe there's something I'm missing.'

Same Time, Tartarus…

"You know, it is the second semester of your alma mater. Instead of teaching your wonderful students, you decided to pay a visit to your murder crush."

"There is something I need to talk to you about, All for One."

Over the seas of Japan, the maximum-security prison Tartarus sits like an island turtle. Inside this fortified structure of darkness for the most heinous villains, Toshinori Yagi sits before the tempered glass in his Silver Age costume, which he cannot fit into. On the other side in an equally white room, there is All for One, Reiou Shigaraki.

A heart filled chuckle comes out from behind the glass, the villain staring face first before the former pro hero despite lacking eyes. "This place is stifling, Toshinori. If I could see I'd go insane. I can't scratch the itch on my back against my chair without guns pointing at me – so much security for little old me. It's a wonder why they just don't end my life."

"That's too good for you."

"And yet here you are, my deflated Anchor Arms enemy, trying to have a conversation with me. Don't tell me you're still trying to be a hero?"

"As if you'd want to talk about that."

"Why not? I'm trapped in this fake Impel Down with no one to have a decent conversation with. My only son has died. The only relative I have has no interest in visiting me. All I have to pass the time are memories of my youth, shows that have faded away when Quirks became the norm, and memories of what your master has stolen continue to haunt me."

Narrowing his already darkened eyes, Toshinori asks, "Who is Tomura Shigaraki?"

"Why don't you figure it out yourself? Like how I did with your pupil." His teeth whiter than the room he's chambered into, All for One laughs. "I'm pretty sure you already know."

Overhead, the security guard speaks, "All Might, you have five minutes remaining."

Sighing, Toshinori leans forward in his seat. "You spent all this time collecting Quirks, preserving that body beyond human understanding to live for the beginning of this era, controlling, exploiting and toying with people… to what end?!" Here he bites down on his teeth.

"What good would telling you my goals do you? You have no intention of understanding me, and even if you did we'd still be at odds. If anything, I always admired the demon king and wanted to be him and like my little brother you always wanted to be the hero. I reveled in the thought of being that person forever."

"Then why forge a successor?"

"Why did you?" His response is silence. "The minute you realize your limits you have no choice but to set up a successor, someone who can reach your potential and surpass them. Unlike your successor, mine is an adult already able to make his decisions – that's why it pains me to think about what will happen next."

"… next?" Toshinori watches as the man who has caused him so much suffering continues. As he does, he notices his face has started flaking, more than just dead skin, however.

"I have only so long to live. And once I'm gone, he shall gain what could have been his and become that which you have feared. Either that or Tomura will kill him. Regardless of how that works out, you have a much pressing matter at hand." The villain king chuckles in his seat. "There are a large number of shadows that are coming out to blanket the world; not just because you've retired, but because I have too. And you'll be sitting back for the rest of your feeble days watching powerlessly as the world falls apart because of your efforts.

"Or at least until Tomura or Izuku kill you." All for One gains a wider grin.

"All Might, you have two minutes left," speaks the guard.

Toshinori grips his fists tightly, shaking. "What are you saying?"

"Why don't you bring him over? We'll have a nice long chat about curses and bloodlines. Maybe then you can muster up enough strength to look at me threateningly."

A loud thud can be heard on his end. Toshinori has his hand pressed against the glass with all his remaining force. "All Might! Step away now!"

"I have enough power left in me to finish you off, demon king! I know the spiders were a failed attempt to save your body! It won't take much to snuff you out!"

"All Might, stop!"

"Shigaraki won't kill me, and neither will Midoriya!"

All for One lowers his lips covering up his teeth, still smiling. "We shall see about that."

September 17th, 3:00 PM…

Over at Jyaku High, Izuku walks through the halls carrying his backpack. Passing by a fork in the road, the boy notes a couple of seniors walking away. He sighs seeing no one he has been looking for.

He continues to walk until reaching the room where his science club would gather. He peeks in to see the others, but once again he doesn't see Hitomi Yatsu. "Where is she?" Izuku walks away while thinking over students he's lost contact with.

While walking, his phone goes off with a text. It's from Mandalay: "Deku, your first task is up." What proceeds next is a location with the name Mirko next to it.

"Mirko?!" he mutters, shocked by her words.

"Your mission will be given to you there."

Lightz: So it has come to my attention that someone is going around uploading a Spanish version of this story on Wattpad, titled El asombroso Deku. And all the chapters haven't been updated to be current. Thriexa777 even copied the author's notes where I ramble back and forth to polish my ocs. So, just wanted to let you know that. That's all though.

Lightz: Oh! And I also rewrote chapter 22 thanks to the advice of a guest. Mostly because I agreed; I didn't want to make the way Izuku got Sir Nighteye's recommendation the same way as in canon, but I had trouble coming up with a way to make it more unique. So I did that. Check them all out.

Lightz: Also, if you notice, the cover image is updated.