Talk and Tea

"Come in, Aizawa," Nezu invited, pulling the door wider and gesturing with his free paw. He gave the man a polite smile, feeling his facial muscles make their usual complaints that came with making an expression they were never meant to support. "Would you like some tea?"

"I'll pass," Aizawa stated as he closed the door, the refusal further expressing his obvious displeasure. This man was one of the few who would ever turn down his 'offer', and only when he was extremely upset.

"Well," Nezu replied. "Let me know if you change your mind, as I'm going to brew some for myself," he declared, walking over to a small space in a connecting room specifically made for the purpose, leaving the door wide open behind him. "So, Midoriya told you about One for All last night?" the principal queried politely.

"After Bakugou brought it up with him, while they were working through their bully/victim relationship and I was in hearing range." He frowned and added, "In all honesty, if I hadn't found out about this, I would've been in here later today to discuss the cause of fight, itself."

"It sounds like you have quite a bit to discuss with me. No wonder you were knocking on my wall." Of the staff who figured out his home's location, most wouldn't dare disturb him there, at the risk of being so buried beneath sudden piles of paperwork desperately needing their reviews and signatures so high that it would take them months to get through it all.

Not that Nezu was going to do that, this time. He understood why Aizawa would be upset.

"Since we're on the topic of walls, there's now a hole in the one between Bakugou's room and Kirishima's. It seems that at least one of my students are prone to PTSD related panic attacks. Actually, most of them left their dorms to make sure there wasn't a villain attack. Weren't you announcing during the press conference, that you would be doing something for them?"

Nezu felt his perfect smile slip into a more natural position.

"I did."

And while Nezu was juggling quite a few more balls than normal, what with the public outrage, the hero commission looking for somewhere to lay blame, the concerned parents considering the withdrawal of their children from the school for safety reasons and the construction of the dorms. That was not the ball to be dropping, though.

"I'd like my students' needs to be met. If you don't plan for assessments, I'll go to Hound Dog myself."

"No, I said I'd take care of it," Nezu stated and stood as the kettle began to whistle, walking over to set it on a tray and turn off the small stove as he said, "It's my responsibility." Besides, Aizawa was busy enough, anyway.

As Nezu left the tea to boil and came back, he noticed that Aizawa relaxed slightly as some of the anger left him, making him look more tired than anything. He clearly needed more sleep, although that declaration would be hypocritical, coming from Nezu right now. His own coat was thin and coarse, compared to how it had been at the beginning of the year, due to the constant stress he had been under. Sometimes, he was amazed that his staff didn't notice every time they saw him. Of course, then he remembered that humans usually don't look for those kinds of indicators when searching for signs of distress.

"Now that we've addressed the students in general," Nezu stated, "I'm sure there is a lot you want to talk about in relation to One for All."

"Yeah, I do. How about we start with what you were thinking? Placing Midoriya in my care, without telling me anything?"

"Habit."

"'Habit'?" Shota asked, voice tense. "Is that all you have to say?"

"I honestly wish I could give you a better answer," Nezu replied. "How much do you know?"

"Everything that Midoriya and All Might could tell me." He frowned and added, "Although, I'm surprised only All Might mentioned you. I would think you'd at least want to keep a closer eye on the latest owner of that Quirk."

Nezu sighed and said, "To be honest, I'm not too keen on All Might's choice." He gave up all efforts of his forced smile as he continued, "I offered a group of students who had already chosen the heroic path in life. He gave that Quirk to a boy and took the choice away during one of the most critical times in a child's time for making such decisions for their futures. Now, Midoriya is trapped in an obligation that, I fear, he was too young to understand. I've avoided the boy in part, because I don't want to take any of my frustration out on him. It wouldn't be right. So, I chose avoidance, which isn't all that difficult, considering how busy we've all been this year."

"And you just trusted All Might to handle Midoriya?"

"I trusted that he would know his Quirk and would come to me if he was having any major problems."

"I don't suppose you said that out loud to him."

"He's a UA teacher, he should know…" Nezu trailed off at the look on Aizawa's face.

All of Nezu's behavior around humans was learned mostly after he'd been liberated from the lab where he'd grown up. Because he'd long since developed his tricks for overcoming most of his hurdles in learning proper social behavior, today he could fool most of the public. It had gotten to the point where many forgot that he wasn't just a human with a 'mutation'. Still, from time to time, things slipped through, like stray food knocked through the floor of a cage and lost to the tray below.

Aizawa was one of the few people who'd quickly caught on to that fact. He also, would let Nezu know when he messed up, once they had a private moment to discuss it. This was in part because he tended to be blunt and, partially, because Nezu had expressly stated that he wanted the other to let him know.

Aizawa was giving him a look, now that said he was missing something important. "Just because someone is good at something, it doesn't mean they're qualified to teach it. As someone who is good at both and sequesters himself in an environment full of teachers, I guess it's understandable that you might forget that from time to time."

"I try to find the line between knowing I'm smarter than most humans, but not forgetting that you're generally capable enough of solving problems for yourselves. It's always possible that I miscalculated. I take it from your look that this was one of those times."

"Yes," Aizawa stated. "Considering All Might's lack of credentials for teaching, you should've, at least, checked."

"I see. Is there anything else you want to ask about the Quirk, itself?"

"I don't suppose All Might mentioned that One for All can play memories of previous users into the current one's mind?"

Nezu felt his fur momentarily stand on end. "It what…?"

"Oh, and it gets even more interesting. During the tournament, when Midoriya broke Shinsou's control, he apparently saw the previous users of One for All. All Might saw them once before, too. They had a disagreement about the level of influence the previous users had on Midoriya's escape from Brainwash. Midoriya was insistent that they were the ones to break the control, while All Might was sure that that seeing them probably just inspired him, reassuring the boy by letting him know that he's seen them, too."

"So, we have a Quirk with a mental influence on users and carries something from previous users, possibly even some level of their consciousness."

"And may still hold connections with All Might, maybe extracting that something and will probably take whatever that is from Midoriya, if transferred again." He frowned before adding, "If not sooner."

Nezu watched intently, his stillness itself relaying his own worry. "That is… concerning."

"That's putting it mildly. Midoriya might be hosting echoes of past people, a conglomerate of human consciousness or a never-ending conference of the dead led by All for One's little brother somewhere in his head. And it might be either working toward collecting something from him, or possibly has already added him to the collection." Shota grit his teeth. "It's absolutely terrifying."

Nezu heard a whistle, indicating the tea was done boiling and gestured for Aizawa to continue, as he went to prepare the tray.

"Related to that, I'm also worried about how deep the mental influence of the Quirk runs and if the influence increases with time. People are drawn toward situations where their Quirks will get expressed and all living things tend to do whatever it takes to survive. All Might is hardly the type of person who would make a decision that would harm a person or place them in danger, yet there's no hesitation at the idea of passing on a Quirk he knew would do both to but, if he were to withhold it, the Quirk would die with him."

"You're concerned that One for All conditioned All Might to its favor and will do the same to Midoriya." Nezu returned with his tray. Rather than choosing something for the whole pot, Nezu had selected a set of tea bags, hoping the gesture of giving Aizawa some choice — of so clearly allowing him a level of control — would help further calm him. The man understood better than most when he made such gestures, as when he took an interest in anything, he became the micromanager he wished to avoid being by trying to allow his staff to handle their own issues first. It was a silent invitation for Aizawa to continue to lead the conversation.

"I don't know. For all I know, there might be no self-driven intentions within One for All and the Quirk might not go beyond communication with its users, but I like to consider the worst-case scenario, just in case."

"It's a trait that's served you well up to now," Nezu stated. "If it makes you feel better, from what All Might has told me, Users always tended to choose their successors based on their character, when they had the option. Chances are, if anything of their consciousness is in the Quirk, they'll probably act with Midoriya's best interest in mind."

Aizawa didn't seem too relieved by the statement.

Nezu's whiskers twitched as he added, "Still, I'll need to find some way to set up a monitoring system. A shame we don't have any Quirk experts in our circle. I'm sure with enough research I might…"

At that, Aizawa smiled like a cat that just caught a canary, as he finally selected a bag to place in his cup. "I have someone in mind for that."

Nezu grabbed the kettle, and poured the hot water into Aizawa's cup before his own, "And who might that be?"

So, I find it odd that, as important as OFA seemed in the series, Nezu has next to no interaction with Izuku at all, let alone talking to him about the Quirk, itself. I'd think he'd at least want to keep up with Midoriya's progress more directly or find out the temperament of the current user or…something. This is the explanation I came up with that seems reasonable and fits into my story.

That being said; Hey look, a person can disagree with another's choice without being hostile to the subject of said choice and not try to force their own will on the situation. Are such concepts really so hard for a mature adult to grasp, Sir Nighteye?