Naomasa walked silently through the hospital. His expression was mostly unreadable, but anyone who knew him could see the worry in his eyes.
After a few minutes of walking, he came up to room 516. The room All Might was located.
He hesitated a bit. Naomasa was one of the very few people that was informed of All Might's defeat at the hands of the Marvels, and like everyone else who was told, he was shocked.
What made him hesitant to go inside and check on his friend, was that he didn't know how bad of a state he was in. All he was told was that All Might had lost to the Marvels, and was recovering in a private hospital room inside the hero wing.
That could mean a lot of things. His injuries could range from a few broken bones and bruises, to...something more major.
But, he steeled himself. He knew the anxiety of the unknown wouldn't resolve until he saw All Might himself.
And so after taking a breath, he entered.
When he got inside he was relieved to see that All Might was conscious. Sitting up in his bed and relatively ok...at least compared to the last time a villain sent him to the hospital. He was of course covered from head to toe in bandages and casts, as well as having a few things plugged into him.
But of course, he was still well enough to smile when he saw his friend entering the room.
"Naomasa, good to see you." All Might's voice was a bit hoarse, most likely from how much he had to struggle to breathe through the lack of air and his own blood.
"...I wish I could say the same." Naomasa put on a fake smile for his friend. "I heard...you lost."
All Might paused for a moment, his smiling falling before he turned his head to look down at his sheets. "Yes...I did."
Naomasa didn't say anything, because he knew he didn't need to. The questions he had were obvious.
With the biggest one being, how?
"They were stronger than I anticipated. Especially Aka. Faster to. I underestimated them." All Might explained. "But that wasn't the reason I lost. I was still far stronger and quicker than they were."
"Was it their numbers?" Naomasa knew that one of the most dangerous things about the Marvel's was not just their power, but their numbers as well. God knows if there were three All Mights, they'd never need to worry about a single villain ever again.
"That was part of it, but there was another factor...I didn't know all of their abilities." All Might revealed. "I managed to find Aoi by himself and I was handling him fairly easily, well...maybe easily isn't the right word to use...it wasn't a hard fight but he still put up far more a fight than most I've fought, I was about to finish him off when the other two arrived. They kept throwing me up to higher and higher altitudes until I lost the ability to breathe. But they were seemingly unaffected by the lack of oxygen."
"So you're saying they either have some sort of ability that allows them to breathe in low oxygen environments, or they just don't need to breathe." Naomasa speculated.
"Exactly." All Might nodded.
"That could prove to be trouble." Naomasa gave off a nervous sweat. While the ability to not have to breathe wasn't flashy it was definitely useful. It allowed for a person to make use of multiple different terrains like underwater, high in the sky, or in extremely hot places like volcanos. It meant they didn't have to take in any enemy gas attacks making quirks like Midnight's all but useless. And it made attacks revolving around strangulations or anything similar to it, completely useless. "Especially if they are in league with-"
"They're not." All Might cut him off. "Well, I can't say that for sure, but I'm very confident that they aren't."
"What makes you say that?" Naomasa had a pretty good idea of what it was that reassured the hero that the vigilantes weren't in league All for One, but those were just assumptions, better to hear it from the man himself.
"Firstly they made sure not to kill me." That was All Might's biggest piece of evidence. "Aoi was relentlessly attacking me while I was suffocating, but Midori stopped him and brought me to the ground so I could breathe again, and when I started deflating into his form, he stopped the other two. And they were also the ones to bring me to Recovery Girl, while also hiding my true form from the public. If they were minions of All for One, they wouldn't have done either of those things. He would never miss the opportunity to expose me or have me killed."
"True enough," Naomasa remarked.
"Also I talked to Aoi for a bit before the fight, he didn't seem to work for All for One or even know who he was. At first, I thought it could have been acting, but given the fact that they spared my life, I'm more inclined to believe it wasn't." All Might explained.
"Aoi always has been the biggest piece of evidence against them working for All for One so that makes sense," Naomasa said. "Any way you look at it if they were working for All for One as vigilantes to disrupt hero society or turn the public against heroes, it would be a good thing to gain the public's trust. Something Aoi seems to not care about in the slightest. Even Aka doesn't seem to care all too much about public approval. The only one acting in a way that would make sense if that theory was true is Midori."
"Also, none of them used the attack Aka used against Overhaul. Meaning that it's almost definitely not a teleportation ability and is most likely some form of an instant death attack." All Might theorized. "Which again adds to the evidence that they're not working for All for One."
"Right, but of course then that does beg the question, how did they get their quirks?" Naomasa asked.
Pretty much everyone knew that the Marvels' abilities weren't natural. Not only were their powers far too varied for them to only have one quirk, but it was also way too strange for all three of them to have the exact same abilities(seemingly.) Not to mention the absurd amount of power they had.
"Aoi said they weren't siblings." All Might recalled. "Making it even stranger for them to have shared abilities. There is definitely a secret behind them, but for the time being, I don't think they themselves have malicious intentions."
"That doesn't mean we don't have to take them down," Naomasa said. "Do you think you could beat them the next time around?"
"Possibly. Their strategy implies they weren't confident about their chances in a straight-up brawl. And I have a better grasp of their abilities and strength. And I know if I can separate them and fight them individually it's practically a guaranteed victory." All Might respond. "Although there is still that light attack that was used against Overhaul. It's possible that they didn't use it because they had confidence in their plan. If they're really backed into a corner,
they may use it again."
"That is the biggest issue when it comes to fighting them." Naomasa sighed. He really wished they knew more about that light attack.
"Of course it's not like I'll be fighting them anytime soon." All Might traced his fingers over his bandages. "With these injuries, I'll be out about a week. And after that I'll need to start regular patrols otherwise crime will start to rise and people will panic. It will probably be a while before I encounter them again."
"That means they'll be running around unchecked for a while." Naomasa pointed out.
"...Maybe not." All Might thought. "I think it's time...I passed on One for All."
A week and a half later, with the Marvels.
Eri was concerned.
After the fight with All Might and Izuku and Kota made up, she'd hoped for things to go back to normal.
And while things with Kota seemed to be fine, the same could not be said for Izuku.
On the surface, he still did what he normally did. Mostly watching the news, waiting for All Might to show up.
He still ate with them and talked to them and everything, but his mood had overall dropped.
At first, she just chalked it up to him being worried about All Might. Izuku had always displayed a love for him in particular, even buying a few pieces of merch with the money they had(much to Kota's chagrin). So seeing his favorite hero in such an injured state must have been stressful, to say the least.
So when she saw on the news that All Might had returned and started his patrols again, she thought that Izuku would be happier, which he was. She recalled the relieved face and bright smile he had when he saw that broadcast. However, it didn't last. Even when they had returned to doing patrols again, he still seemed bothered.
Right now, Eri and Kota were flying above the streets, watching Izuku from behind as he was flying an injured man to the hospital.
"I-I'm surprised you're still coming with us," Eri told Kota. "I thought you wouldn't."
"Well...It may be taking a while to find Muscular, but if I give up I'll never find him." Kota reasoned. "And that's unacceptable. I just got…too impatient. I'm sorry I made you worry."
"It's fine!" Eri quickly reassured him, not wanting him to feel bad on her behalf. "It's just...I'm happy."
Kota's lips twitched upwards, as he suppressed the urge to smile. "Whatever."
Eri looked at Izuku, as they reached the hospital and he brought the injured man inside. "Izuku's upset."
Kota nodded. "He's probably still upset about having to fight All Might."
There was a small hint of guilt in Kota's voice. In all honesty, he did feel bad for not only endangering his friends by being reckless, but he also forced Izuku to fight his idol.
"He's too...himself to us about it, he probably thinks we don't notice." Kota sighed. "The only way to fix this is to talk to him about it."
"Will that help?" Eri wasn't a big fan of confrontation. Which is why she had yet to ask Izuku himself about what was bothering him.
"Only one way to find out." Kota shrugged.
Just a moment later, Izuku zoomed over to them. "Alright, he's being taken care of! Let's-"
"Izuku. We know something's been bothering you." Kota said bluntly. Izuku was likely to deny it if they tried to use subtlety, so the best route was to be very direct. "Spill it."
"Wh-what!? Guys I'm-" Izuku stopped when he saw the looks on his friend's faces. Kota was not at all buying it, giving him a very unimpressed glare, while Eri also wasn't buying it, she looked more openly concerned.
Seeing no real way to deny it, Izuku slumped over and sighed. "It's just...I can't believe I hurt All Might! All Might! He's saved so many people and I had tried to choke him!"
Izuku started muttering about how terrible he felt, going on and on while Eri and Kota thought about what to do.
However before they could, Izuku came up with a solution first. "I have to apologize!"
"That's stupid," Kota said immediately. "He'd try to fight us."
"I know, but! What if, I apologized in my normal form, instead of this one!" Izuku proposed. "He won't' know it's me so he won't try to fight me! It's perfect!"
"But if he doesn't know it's you then he won't even know what you're apologizing for." Kota pointed out. "And if you're too obvious about it he might figure out who you are."
"No way! No one would think that a quickness kid is secretly Marvel Midori. And I won't be THAT obvious anyway." Izuku didn't seem like he was gonna budge on this. "Plus...I just have to! I...I'm not gonna feel better until I do. I'm sorry if it feels like I'm being selfish, I'll do it by myself but...I need to do it."
Eri and Kota looked at each other and after a few moments, they wordlessly came to a conclusion.
"You're not going alone. If something happens and you need to fight All Might, then we need to be there to help." Kota rationalized. "Don't do what I did. If your gonna do something stupid then don't do it alone."
Eri nodded. "Don't...leave us."
Izuku was taken aback by this support. He had expected Kota to want nothing to do this, and for Eri to be too shy to want to join him as well. So for both of them to give him their support so easily...it was making him tear up a bit.
"Thanks, guys." Izuku wiped away the few tears that came out of his eyes. "You're the best!"
"Tch. Whatever." Kota crossed his arms. The only reason he wasn't arguing more with this was because it was pretty much his fault, and so by doing this it wouldn't just absolve Izuku's guilt, but his own. Even if he thought it was stupid.
"Alright! The first step is to sneak into U.A.!" Izuku said.
"What!?" That took Kota off guard. "Are you insane!?"
"Don't worry! We'll just move so fast that no one can see us enter, hideaway behind some trees or something, we transform back, and we find All Might!" Izuku explained his terrible plan with a huge smile on his face like it was some kind of genius scheme.
"There are...so many problems with that plan!" Kota pointed out.
The wisdom of Solomen informed Izuku of all the holes and flaws with his plan the moment he thought it up. Chances are they would get spotted in their child forms and kicked out before they could find All Might. But it was the best chance they had. All Might wasn't hard to find but you'd be hard-pressed to keep him in one location long enough to speak to him, so just going around in their child forms hoping to find All Might and talk to him would take a long, long time. And obviously, they couldn't go to him in their champion forms because he would attack them.
So this was the best he had.
"We don't have any other options so this is the best plan we have! And even if it fails and we get found out, I can just say that I have a teleportation quirk and accidentally teleported from my house to U.A!" Izuku explained. "Then when they look away, we'll sneak off, transform, and leave!"
Kota thought about it for a minute. The best part about their secret identity was that it was easy to keep a secret. No one would believe that the Marvels were a bunch of kids, so they would pretty much have to LET people find out about who they were in order for them to figure it out. And everything else Izuku said was plausible.
"Fine." Kota sighed. "But if something goes wrong, it's your fault."
Izuku nodded, before turning to Eri. "What do you think Eri?"
"Well...I'll do it," Eri answered simply. She didn't like the idea of sneaking around a place full of people that wanted to arrest them, but she trusted Kota and Izuku. If they said it was ok, then she would do it.
"Alright! Let's do it tomorrow so we'll have all of our power in case we need it." Izuku told them. "Now, back to patrol!"
And with that Izuku sped off, with Eri and Kota following behind him.
The next day.
After a long night's rest and a somewhat decent breakfast, the trio transformed and took to the sky, intent on going with Izuku's plan to apologize to All Might.
That was until Izuku got distracted.
"Look! Look! Guys! It's the U.S.J facility!" Izuku pointed at a building below them, stopping them all so they could get a better look at it.
"And what the heck is a U.S.J.?" Kota almost regretted asking because he already knew it had to be some kind of hero-related thing for Izuku to be this interested in it.
"It's a place where U.A. trains their students! It has all sorts of cool environments and things to help teach the future heroes how to fight villains and save people!" Izuku explained. "It's so cool! I wish I could see the inside!"
Kota facepalmed. "Focus Midori! We didn't come to go sightseeing, we came so you could apologize to All Might and stop being so freaking sad to look at."
"Um...is that a student?" Eri pointed down, and both Izuku and Kota looked to see that there was indeed a student, running away from the U.S.J. at speeds only a quirk could make possible.
"I think it is...either that or a short pro," Kota commented.
"Why is he running away?" Izuku knew that hero students normally couldn't use their quirks in public, so..what was happening.
Being ever the curious one, Izuku zoomed down to investigate.
The green-clad Marvel flew right in front of the student, who appeared to be wearing what looked like a suit of armor.
The student's eyes widened under his helmet, and he slowly came to a stop, until he halted right in front of Izuku.
"A Marvel!" The student said.
"Hi there." Izuku greeted him with a friendly smile. "Whats-"
"Please! Save my classmates!" The student begged.
"Huh?" Izuku was taken aback by the sudden request.
"My classmates are under attack by a large group of villains, who appeared in the U.S.J. via a villain with a portal quirk!" The boy explained. "My classmates managed to stall the villains long enough for me to flee to get help! I was planning to go to the teachers, but I was fortunate to run into you. While I do not normally approve of vigilantes, I beg of you, please save my classmates!"
"What's going on?" Kota and Eri came down, flying slightly above the boy and looking at Izuku.
"Some U.A. students are being attacked by villains at the U.S.J!" Izuku explained to them, seeing his two partners' eyes widen. "We have to help them!"
"Ugh! Villains are so annoying! Fine, I'll kick their shit in and save some wanna-be heroes." Kota groaned angrily.
"Language!" Izuku turned to the boy. "You should go and get the teachers, we'll take care of the villains."
"Thank you." And with that the boy wasted no more time, firing up his quirk, which appeared to be engines in his legs, and speeding off towards U.A. 's main building.
The three Marvel's looked at the U.S.J. building, Izuku zoomed-in, followed by Kota and then Eri.
Little did they know the fight ahead of them would be their hardest one yet.