Izuku woke up groggily from his slumber, surprisingly feeling good. He cracked open his eyes, and slowly took in his surroundings as his eyes adjusted to the pure whiteness of the room. He became confused as to why he was in a hospital, until the memories of the previous night and early morning flowed back like a dam breaking, and he rushed off the bed. He remembered everything, from leaving his mother, to seeing Erasure Head, to that villain trying to kill him-
'She had killed me, she cut my head clean off' Izuku remembered; 'But how did I survive? It can't be my quirk, I don't have one. Maybe that was her power?'
Izuku remembered her emerging from a disguise that resembled his mother perfectly, so her quirk wasn't what kept hi-
His mother.
Oh no, if she had escaped, then what condition was she in? The last thing I remember was Erasure Head telling me she was alive, but what happened to her exactly?' Izuku kept thinking about his mother, and eventually going back to how he survived. He hadn't even realised the two adults in the room at the doorway before they sat down next to him, and the man placed a hand on his shoulder.
Izuku stopped his mind, flinched at the contact, and looked at who the hand belonged to, to meet the eyes of one tall, tired looking Erasure Head.
"How ya feelin, kid?" The pro asked, thankful to see he was awake.
"I've been better, I think. I don't know how I'm supposed to compare 'OK' to how I should be feeling, or more like how I shouldn't even be able to feel anything."
Aizawa removed his hand form the kids shoulder, and pulled up a seat next to the bed, and spoke up;
"That's why she's here." He gestured to the older lady behind him. "This is recovery Girl, U.A.'s best doctor, maybe even Japan's." He smiled at the joke, but it faded just as quickly as it came when a cane hit him over the head.
"Nice to meet you, Izuku Midoriya. I understand recent events may make you feel uneasy or scared, but based off of Aizawa's information, you shouldn't be alive." She grumbled.
Izuku stared at the short woman, unable to talk. Many questions ran through his mind; Erasure Head's name was Aizawa? Why was he alive? What about his mom?
"I'm not too sure either. Nothing adds up, and it isn't my quirk, that's for certain."
Recovery Girl was slightly taken aback by the kids response, so she pushed to find out why he was so sure it wasn't his quirk.
"Why do you say that? Maybe there's a hid-"
"I'm sure." Izuku cut her off;
"Because I'm quirkless"
( . . . )
"Bullshit"
"Shota! What'd I say about watching your language?!" Recovery Girl hit him once again with her cane, and Aizawa flinched. Not at the attack, but that she had used his first name.
"I know how it sounds, but for my diagnosis, I was tested by Doctor Quirk himself. I can't have one." Izuku said sadly, taking his eyes off of the two, and returning his gaze to his hands on his lap.
"Actually, that's only half correct." A new voice intervened, gaining the attention of all three of them.
"Good morning, Erasure Head, Recovery girl, Midoriya." He bowed in recognition to all three.
"My name is Nagano Nobuo, I was the leading doctor who presided over Izuku's examination after his entry into the hospital."
The three each bowed to him, though Izuku's was a more awkward motion, due to being in the hospital bed, and Aizawa spoke up first.
"Nice to meet you, and thanks for that. What did you mean when you said Izuku was only half correct?" Aizawa asked, trying to get the missing pieces to this puzzle.
"Meaning that yes, he was in fact diagnosed by Doctor Quirk 4 years ago, but he was wrong in the sense that he couldn't have a quirk." Nagano explained, and fished out Izuku's test results.
"What do you mean, I'm wrong? Doctor Quirk has never been wrong!" Izuku stated to the doctor, not believing this news.
"To the public, yes. But to medical records, Doctor Quirk had been wrong only 3 times before you, although they were villains records. Each one of them had a quirk he either couldn't explain or identify. However, they obviously had powers, so was just deemed a fluke in the hero's tests. And, seeing as how it had only happened 3 times, over countless others, that information is often swept under the rug." Nagano finished, and laid out the test results onto Izuku's lap, showing him the tests done just the night before.
"..." Izuku was speechless. He read over the results over and over again, slowly soaking up the news given to him.
"So... That means..." Aizawa and Izuku both asked, and looked up to the doctor.
"Yes, it does." The doctor sat next to Izuku on his bed, and flipped the page on the clipboard, revealing a quirk exam results page.
"Izuku Midoriya, you are, in fact, in possession of a quirk."
He looked down at the paper, and the specifics in which way his power worked. In bold letters at the top of the page gave him the name of his quirk.
'Blood Regen' - The user can recover from any physical injury, however large. If a limb is lost, he has a short time limit to reattach it, and it will heal back. The user still has some control over any detached limbs if it occurs within the time limit.
Izuku stared at the description of his quirk, and the name. It sounded disgusting, and definitely not a flashy quirk like the ones he imagined all those years ago. He didn't even notice the tears beginning to fall until he felt a squeeze on his shoulder, and saw Aizawa handing him a napkin. He moved his body past the hero's arm, and brought him into a hug.
'It doesn't matter what it's called or how it's described,' Izuku thought happily as the tears didn't stop.
"Woah, kid.. What's wrong? You okay?" Shota asked worriedly, but still couldn't find it in him to break the hug.
"I have a quirk." The kid responded, and kept repeating into the shoulder of the hero.
Aizawa smiled, figuring it out. 'This kid's gone how many years thinking he was quirkless, and is finally shown his power. I can't imagine what he's thinking, but he must be happy.'
He saw Recovery Girl's soft smile to his side, and he definitely wanted to let go of the kid, but decided against it. The kid needed it right now.
He was definitely going to need it after he heard about his mother, too. But this was a happy moment for the boy. He could hear the news when he was ready.
'Besides..' Aizawa thought as he held the boy tight. 'This isn't so bad..'
It took a while to calm Izuku down, and even longer to keep Izuku from.. testing.. the extent of his newfound power. But that could all wait, and Izuku knew why. He wanted to avoid hearing any bad news, so he didn't want to bring up the condition of his mother, but his worried side took over, and he took the step forward.
"My mom, is she alive?" He asked, fear evident in his voice.
"Aizawa stopped his conversation with both medical professionals, and gestured for the doctor to explain.
"Midoriya, your mother is still alive. But as for her current condition, it'd probably be best to show you, and make it easier to explain." Nagano stated, getting up from his spot on the bed and moving to the door, Recovery Girl in tow. He looked back at the two, and saw how scared Izuku was starting to become.
"Aizawa, meet us in room 213. Take your time, and make sure Midoriya is feeling okay before you come." With that, the doctors took their leave, and left the hero and child alone.
Aizawa looked back over at the boy, and could see the fear the doctor had seen starting to spread across his complexion. He sighed, and turned to get the boys attention.
"Midoriya. I'll be there right next to you the whole time. If the doctors are either going too fast, or confusing you, you can tell me, and he'll wait for you. I know what you're feeling right now, but I promise you, you're going to want to hear what the doctor says. She'll come back to you, I know she will." Aizawa said softly to the child, making sure he understood that he was here to help.
Izuku looked up at the pro, and saw a small smile on his face, and felt relieved to have someone to talk to. He began to blush slightly as he asked his next request;
"Can I hold your hand?" Izuku asked sheepishly to the pro.
Aizawa stared at the boy, with a little shock, but that shock was replaced by a hint of pride as he felt he had gained more trust with the child.
"Alright, sure thing." He reached out, waiting for the boy to take it.
Izuku clasped it tight, and hopped out of bed. Aizawa led him to the hallway, and they proceeded to room 213.
It was a short walk, but it took longer to enter the room, because Aizawa had to calm down the kid again. Once Izuku felt confident, they entered the room, and saw numerous machines running around his mother's bed, with tubes running into her arms, her neck, and two tubes running into a small hole in her chest. Izuku ran and dragged the hero with him to her bedside and simply stared at her for a few moments, then looked to the doctor to hear the explanation.
"She has had multiple cuts along her arms, legs, and one across her cheek, and took a knife to the chest. Whether it was luck, chance, intentional, or the villain had missed, the blade did not puncture the heart." Nagano explained, waiting for the kid to accept the information.
Izuku nodded, and Nagano continued;
"She suffered from extreme blood loss, and an infection to her blood stream. Having a knife blade rest or your heart for as long as it did for her will do that, and surgery took 5 hours until she was deemed stable."
"So, she's going to be okay? Or is there something else?"
Aizawa was surprised with how calm the boy was acting. His own mother lied unconscious with bandages and machines attached, and she was healing from a knife wound that had almost entered her heart. But he already knew the news, and so he prepared for any reaction from the boy when he heard it.
"She's.. In a coma. The time length in which she will remain in this state is uncertain, but currently, she's not in any fatal danger."
"Currently?"
"... The state in her heart is.. Not as good as we had hoped. Her coma is being induced by the small internal blood leak from her heart. With her little energy, we can't ask Recovery Girl to heal it, and until she awakens, we won't be able to stop it. Only slow it down." Nagano said, preparing the last of the information.
"Slowing what down.." Izuku already knew once he said those words. The doctor sighed, and looked down, explaining the rest of the problem.
"Her body is currently in a loop. She needs to wake up to gain back her energy to heal the wound, but the wound itself is what's causing the coma. We could perform surgery, but tampering with the heart isn't a power anyone has. It's too dangerous for tools to do it, so Recovery Girls quirk is all we got. The biggest problem is her body will slowly lose more blood, until there won't be any more to sustain her vital organs to keep her alive. Once again, she isn't in danger now. But if she doesn't wake up, she won't survive."
Aizawa felt a tight grip and heard an audible gasp from Izuku as he took in the last of the news. He knew he had already gone through so much, and he felt genuinely happy for the boy when he found out about his quirk. Now, he felt bad to take that happiness away with the news that his mother was on a fatal course that couldn't be changed.
He looked down at the boy and brought him into a hug, consoling him for the news. When he pulled him out, he didn't look scared. He had red eyes, and there were tears. Those eyes would probably look like that a lot, but Aizawa noticed something beyond the sad eyes.
He saw a small ember in his eyes. The sparks of determination were igniting.
'Mom will wake up, she's gonna make it. She stood up to that villain to protect me;
Now that I have a quirk, I'll become a hero to protect her.'
"You Failed" A booming dark man stated, staring at the girl.
"I got rid of the mommy~"
The girl in question got slammed into the ground by an invisible force, forcing her to kneel to the Shadow.
"The mother was to be used as leverage to get to the boy. Yet you were almost beat by her." The shadows that were pinning the girl to the ground began to slither to her neck, and emphasized that the figure would not hesitate to squeeze.
"I was not informed that she had gone to UA in the past, nor that she could defend herself with a weak quirk like that." The girl explained angrily.
"So you admit you were not prepared, correct?" The shadow questioned.
"I was. But I was also not given enough info to carry out the mission successfully."
The shadows grip squeezed at the remark.
"True, our spies will need some, motivation, to acquire more precise information from this point forward. And you've taken some of the blame, which is a positive step. Your training will begin again, and as punishment for your failure, you will not be allowed on another mission until I deem you fit to carry it out without interruption. Are. We. Clear?" The shadow squeezed just a little bit harder with each word, getting the point across.
"Yes, Sensei." The girl gurgled out from her submissive position.
The shadow released the girl, and she stood up to stretch her back from being uncomfortably forced to kneel.
"But y'know, the mission wasn't a complete failure~" With that remark, she pranced out of the office, back to who knows where.
The Shadow got a little agitated at her remark, but had to agree with her. He heard a knock at the door, and opened it to see his right hand man enter, carrying a glass case.
"She wasn't kidding. His head would've been a sight to see, but we'll have to work with what we got." He said as he placed the case on the Boss's desk. The boss retook his spot kneeling against said desk, in between his follower and the newly placed display. The follower began to take his leave, before he was halted by a question;
"How long, and how many will we be able to make with just this specimen?" He asked, quite intrigued by what they were hoping to uncover.
"If we had the head, we could move out in a month, maybe two. The test subject seems to regenerate the lost blood, even without a heart. It will take some time to merge the separated quirk with the others, but it will make a wonderful batch. I'd guess a few years, however, until preparations for your return are complete."
"I've lived long enough to be patient with everything, and I trust that you will no doubt succeed. Take as long as you need, and let me know if we need more test subjects. The world has no short supply of the necessary powers for your plans, Uragiri." The shadow stated, proud at his doctor. This was the same man who had helped discover the necessary powers to keep his Master alive, thus gaining him the position of his Right Hand Man. And in return, He granted him the same abilities, to live long enough to complete his experiments.
"Generous as always, Master. I will make sure everything is perfect for when the name All For One becomes etched in the heart of all the world." Uragiri told his master with pride, and departed the office.
All For One stared with gratitude at the doors which the man had left through, remembering the time he had first encountered him. He shook his head out of memory lane, and spoke to himself;
"Now then.." he turned around, and leaned down to get a better look at the glass case, and the specimen inside.
"Let us see exactly what demons your body will unleash, Izuku Midoriya..."
His maniac grin returned from below where his eyes should have been, and looked on at the case.
The case that preserved a severed left arm.
-:- 7. New Opportunities, and a New Project! -:-