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"Mr. Yagi must know some pretty interesting people to be able to get us tickets for free," Inko said as she and Izuku entered the museum.
Izuku was too distracted by his notebook to realize his mother had spoken to him so Sera decided to respond.
"Of course," the spren said, "he may not look it but he has connections to some pretty big names in the hero industry."
"Oh?" Inko responded curiously. "Anyone I would be familiar with?"
"It's a secret," Sera responded cheekily.
Inko gave the floating blue girl one of her looks to show she was not pleased about being teased and Sera immediately lost her cheeky demeanor.
The entire exchange went over Izuku's head as he focused on the parameters for today's testing. He had spent the night before researching exactly which gemstones would be on display in the exhibit. He knew that diamonds already worked as storage for herolight so he would ignore that portion and focus on the rest of the collection. He knew that it contained myriad types of gemstones as well as many variations on each type. He hoped to find out how certain aspects of each gemstone affected their effectiveness as a storage device, but he knew that his ability to run experiments was hampered by the environment he would be in.
Glancing up from his book as they entered the wing that held their destination Izuku struggled for a moment to hold in his excitement at seeing the heroes present at the exhibit. They were mostly up-and-coming heroes who were still trying to make a real name for themselves. He saw Manual a hero out of Hosu who had just opened his own agency, there was also Burnin a young sidekick who had been drafted by Endeavor's agency due to her powerful fire quirk, and finally, he could see Centipeder who was part of Nighteye's hero agency. Izuku quickly made a mental note to get autographs from the three heroes as he and his mother made their way through the exhibit, but he would have to put that off for now so that he could focus on his experiments. The tests he had planned were simple but that didn't make them easy. He would be moving from display to display and trying to infuse light into the various gems set out for the visitors to see if they started glowing as the diamonds had. He would then need to quickly pull the light back out so that people wouldn't notice the gems shining unnaturally.
Preparing for today had been very nerve-wracking for Izuku, He had been hesitant to even do this for fear that he would be punished for inappropriate quirk usage again, but Toshinori had reassured him that those laws stated that quirk usage was punishable only if it could endanger people or property, a person with a quirk that changed their hair color, for example, could use their power with impunity. Izuku had tried overloading the diamonds in the drill bit he had found to see if his quirk would pose a danger to the gems on display and found that after a certain point he just couldn't add any more herolight into them. It was like putting water into a cup of water after it was full, the excess just ran off the sides. With those findings, Toshinori had reassured him that he was in no legal danger. Izuku had also explained his plan to his mother and she had agreed to it as long as she got to come in order to supervise. Fighting away his anxiety, Izuku focused on his task and made his way to the first display which exhibited an opal on black velvet.
With regards to his power's range, Izuku had found that gravitation and reverse gravitation required direct contact with the target, while adhesion was able to be used at a very limited range. Luckily storing Light was similar to adhesion in that it could be done from a distance but the difficulty increased exponentially with greater distances. Unfortunately, with the gemstones locked behind glass cases, it would be impossible to touch them so infusing the stones from a distance was his only option. Focusing on the jewel, Izuku began pushing a thread of herolight toward it. He had filled himself with the energy just before entering the building and was holding in his excess so that he wouldn't glow, so he had plenty to work with. After pushing out enough herolight to charge the drill bit three times over, however, he stopped due to getting no reaction. Shaking his head Izuku, pulled out his notebook and recorded the results before he and his mother moved on to the next display which contained jade. Again, no reaction was felt from his attempts to store herolight, and the same happened with peridot, agate, and onyx. For a moment, Izuku feared that he wouldn't find any viable alternatives until he came to the display for topaz. Watching carefully for anyone nearby, Izuku once more pushed out a thread of herolight toward the largest gem at the center of the display. For a moment nothing happened, then the Light came into contact with the golden-yellow stone and the gem drank in the energy and started to shine. Izuku immediately cut off the stream of power and inhaled the light from the stone leaving it as it was before. He was frozen in place from the surprise of the sudden success, then his face split into a grin and he recorded the result in his notebook. Looking at the displays of all the different varieties of precious stones Izuku felt reinvigorated at the prospect of finding more options.
Over the next few hours, Izuku discovered six viable gemstones: topaz, ruby, sapphire, emerald, amethyst, and smoky quartz. As he had been discovering them he noticed several oddities about which gems worked and which gems didn't. For example, topaz came in a wide variety of colors but only the golden imperial variety of topaz would accept herolight. Similarly, ruby and sapphire were both forms of the mineral corundum which could be found in a variety of colors but only rubies and blue sapphire worked as storage. Izuku had no way of actually finding answers for these issues in his current setting so he took a few notes about the various properties of the gems from the information posted at each display and hoped to do additional research later.
"Did you find out what you needed to dear?" Inko asked when Izuku finished his notes.
"Yes," Izuku answered, "I found six more gems that can store herolight so with diamonds that makes seven. After this, I will need to do some research to see if it will be possible to get some of these affordably."
"Well, if you are done we should probably head out, the museum will be closing in a few minutes after all."
Izuku was shocked by the comment, having not been aware of the time.
"We were in here that long? I am sorry Mom."
"Oh, hush," Inko responded. "We came here for you, and I had a fun time while you did your little experiments. Sera was wonderful company."
"Yeah don't worry about it Izuku," Sera added, making herself known from his mother's shoulder. She had never sat on anyone else's shoulder before, so seeing her there was a surprise for Izuku but he was happy that his mother and she were getting along so well.
As they made their way to the exit of the wing that held the gemstone exhibit the three chatted about what they planned with the rest of their evening. They had tickets for a train back to Musutafu which would depart in about three hours so the plan was to spend some time in Tokyo itself. Their discussion was interrupted, however, by a polite, high-pitched voice.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but would you please come with me for a moment."
Izuku and Inko froze as Centipeder stepped into their path. Neither of them was sure how to respond to suddenly being approached by the hero. Finally, Inko stepped forward, shielding her son.
"What is this regarding?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
"It's regarding the fact that you two stayed much later than other patrons and that your boy here has been paying a suspicious amount of attention to the gems in this room."
Another voice appeared from behind them and Izuku felt an arm drape over his shoulder accompanied by a heat that was just shy of being painful. Where Centipeder spoke with controlled politeness the new addition had a sultry voice that was laced with smoldering malice. Looking to his left Izuku saw that the arm around his shoulder belonged to the fiery-haired heroine Burnin. When his eyes met her she gave him a smirk.
"So what do you say kid, care to share with the class?"
The two Midoriya's eyes met and Izuku could see the fear in his mother. Recognizing that he needed to say something Izuku breathed deeply centering his mind and bringing his emotions under control. His anxiety still burned in his stomach but when he spoke his voice came out evenly.
"I am here researching a new aspect of my quirk," Izuku explained. "I recently discovered that I can store the energy that I convert from calories I have eaten into gemstones." To demonstrate he pulled the broken drill bit from his pocket, which he had taken to carrying around as a good luck charm. Infusing the drill bit with herolight, Izuku caused the object to shine in its now-familiar way as a demonstration. "I learned about this exhibit and thought it would be a good way to test out if this would work with gemstones other than diamonds, which I have found to be the case in at least six other instances." He opened his book to the pages containing the information he had collected from the day's tests, showing the results of his research.
The two heroes looked from the shining object to the notebook and back as they took in his story. When he finished speaking they looked at each other for a moment then Centipeder addressed Izuku directly.
"So your quirk could be used to differentiate real gems from fake ones?" he asked.
"Yes, but only for certain types of gems. So far, I have discovered that I can store power in diamonds, emeralds, topaz, rubies, sapphires, amethyst, and smoky quartz. I don't yet know what makes those gems different from others," Izuku answered.
"Well then you can at least help us speed up the process," Burnin exclaimed before grabbing the boy's shoulders and beginning to push him away.
"W-w-wait," Inko called out as the heroine abducted her son. "What is going on?"
"Please come with me and I will explain," Centipeder said politely as he motioned for Inko to walk beside him. "One of the reasons for the hero presence in this exhibit was to protect the gems on display. In addition to that, however, the owner of the collection also has an expert gemologist on staff to inspect the gems to make sure they haven't been switched with counterfeits." While the hero was explaining the group walked through a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only" into a hallway with several offices and storage rooms.
"During the inspection yesterday," Centipeder continued, "the expert found that one of the gemstones was switched with a glass replica. We checked the camera's but the display was placed in such a way that the visitors to the museum in front of it were obscured. We rearranged everything today and will now be checking again to see if another switch was made. Your son can hopefully help us speed up the process of identifying the gems."
When Centipeder finished speaking he held the door for Inko and the two walked in to find an odd conflict taking place between Burnin and a thin pale man with a pinched face.
"How dare you bring an unqualified whelp in here to try and usurp my position." the man said in a haughty voice.
"Listen, poindexter, we aren't replacing you, we are simply trying to help streamline the process. Apparently, this kid's quirk will let him instantly check the authenticity of several of the gems that were on display." Burnin replied hotly.
"As if I would let an inexperienced child handle these precious treasures. Some of these gems have been in circulation for centuries, they are priceless artifacts and-"
"I don't have to touch them," Izuku interjected quietly, halting the stuck-up man's tirade.
"What?" the man asked incredulously.
"I said I don't need to handle them. When I infuse the energy I produce as part of my quirk into a gemstone it shines if it is the correct type. That is all I can do, I don't have your ability to judge the specific characteristics but I can tell you whether a stone is real or not." Izuku tried to sneak in a compliment hoping that stroking the man's ego would help settle things.
"Oh really?" The man challenged before turning to a briefcase in the corner. Bringing it to the conference table in the room the man opened it and laid out a sheet of black velvet then placed on it two identical-looking, clear gemstones. "Here, let's test your claims. One of these two is an authentic diamond while the other is an expertly cut piece of cubic zirconia, only an expert would be able to identify the genuine article, so prove that without touching them you can tell them apart."
Walking up to the table Izuku stretched out his hand and focused on the two side-by-side gems pushing herolight into them. Immediately the diamond began to shine while the other lay dim. Stepping back Izuku left the light in the gem as the gemologist wordlessly reached out and lifted the shining diamond with a set of jeweler's tweezers. As he held it up to his face the internal light refracted through the multifaceted surface of the cut stone causing little rainbows to shine around the room. Izuku noticed in the rainbows, that some of them had a larger blue band than normal while others had a larger yellow band, idly he filed that away for later.
"Amazing," the gemologist said absently, "how many gems can you charge at once?"
"I haven't tested that, but I suppose that as long as I have enough calories available I should have no problem charging gems en masse."
"So are you okay with us trying this out now?" Burnin asked, grabbing the attention of the gemologist once more.
"Fine," he responded sullenly when he realized the reaction he had shown to the supernaturally sparkling crystal.
As the museum employees brought in the gems from the display, Izuku approached his mother and she gave him a couple of homemade granola bars made with peanut butter and dark chocolate chips which he ate quickly and washed down with a fruit smoothie. Eventually, the group was also joined by Manual, who was briefed on the plan by the other two heroes. As the final precious stones from the exhibit were being placed on the table Izuku was getting the autographs from the three heroes in the room.
"You know we seriously considered arresting you right?" Burnin remarked as she was handed his notebook and pen.
"I know but this isn't the first time I have had something like this happen," Izuku said sheepishly.
"Oooh, a bad boy huh?" the heroine teased as she signed her name. "Bet you get all the girls."
"Nope," Sera interjected from her place on Izuku's head, "this one is about the furthest thing from a bad boy that there is."
The heroine and the spren shared a laugh at Izuku's expense, making the teen sigh in exasperation. While the museum workers had been ferrying gems into the room, Sera had introduced herself to the heroes present. Sera was usually content to stay invisible to most people but she seemed drawn to heroes in particular having introduced herself to any that Izuku had come into contact with. Ignoring the two Izuku turned to the task he had been given and surveyed the glittering array of gems.
"Are you ready?" Manual asked, his voice calm and kind in direct contrast to Burnin.
"Yes," Izuku said simply.
Stepping up to the table Izuku burned the calories in his stomach and filled his chest with herolight. He didn't bother holding in the leakage as he planned to expel all of it so he began to glow brightly, causing the heroes present to look at him in surprise.
"I didn't know he could do that," Manual said, turning to Burnin and Centipeder for an explanation.
"Neither did we," Centipeder responded.
Ignoring the byplay behind him, Izuku focused and pushed the light out toward the gems on the table. In a wave gems interspersed among the collection began to ignite like stars in a night sky. Soon the room was filled with a dazzling display of multicolored rays as gemstones glittered with internal illumination. Some of the gems were too bright to look at directly though the ones at the end of the table furthest away from Izuku were noticeably dimmer than those near him. The heroes had him move to the other side of the table and repeat the process so that all of the gems that could be infused shone with the same level of brilliance.
"Which types of gems did you say you could make shine again?" Burnin asked.
Izuku rattled off the list then added, "but this list isn't exhaustive, I just recently discovered this aspect of my quirk and today was the first time I have ever tested it in this way."
"Well as payment for your aid I can tell you that you can add garnet and heliodor to your list," the haughty voice of the gemologist came from beside the table, where the man was already beginning to inspect the different gems. Reaching out he picked up a gem that was absent of light and held it up, Each gem had been placed on a plastic bag with a label indicating the type, cut, and size of the stone in question. The information of the bag the appraiser was holding indicated that it was a garnet. "And if that is the case it means the thief we are trying to catch got a hold of this gem today. I remember authenticating it yesterday when we packed up the museum."
The heroes exploded into action beginning to speak with security about where the stone had been placed so that they could check the correct camera for evidence. As they worked, the gemologist approached Izuku and his mother.
"I feel I must apologize for my previous attitude, the entire situation of having these precious treasures pilfered has been very stressful for me. Allow me to formally introduce myself, I am Hoseki Saiban." The man finished with a polite bow.
"Thank you for your apology Mr. Hoseki," Inko replied, giving a bow in response.
"I must say," the now-named Saiban said as he stood up, "your abilities are oddly selective."
"How so?" Izuku asked, curious about the gem expert's insights
"Well, it appears that your power is almost more dependent on color rather than chemical makeup. For example, pink diamonds are chemically identical to clear diamonds, their color comes from deformations in the crystal lattice caused by extreme temperatures, yet they are dull while the clear diamonds now shine. You also have examples of corundum gems like rubies and sapphires, only the red and blue varieties shine. With similar results for beryl and quartz. It is baffling."
"Hopefully, I will be able to find a pattern one day," Izuku said as he lowered his notebook where he had been hurriedly writing down the man's words.
"Indeed," Saiban said absently as he gazed at the shining stones. "Well regardless, I must get back to my work, though you did speed up the process I still need to examine the gems and other precious stones that weren't affected by your quirk. How long will those stay lit by the way?"
Izuku thought for a moment before responding, "I honestly don't know, I haven't done any testing on that yet. I can pull the light out though so that won't be an issue"
"Well then to be safe, let's sort the glowing out from the non-glowing and you can extinguish them. We, unfortunately, can't put supernaturally glowing gems on display, it would raise too many questions and might hurt the investigation."
Under the direction of Mr. Hoseki, the gems were sorted and all of the glowing gem's bags were marked with a yellow dot just in case. When it was done Izuku pulled the light out of the gems and back into himself. The sheer number of gems meant he had to do it in two pulls exhaling light in between and letting it dissipate into the air around him. With his part done the heroes and Mr. Hoseki bid the Midoriya's farewell and Inko and Izuku hurried to the train station, arriving just in time to catch their train back to Musutafu.
"Wasn't that exciting?" Inko said as they watched the darkening landscape pass by outside their window. "You may have helped those heroes catch a real-life jewel thief."
Izuku blushed and tried to downplay what had happened, "No, they would have found out which gems were fake anyway, I just helped speed things up."
"But you did help," Inko said with a bright smile. "Over the last, what is it six months now since your quirk activated? Regardless, in that time you have grown so much and I couldn't be more proud of what you have accomplished. I know that when that UA entrance exam comes around you are going to knock everyone's socks off."
Izuku returned her smile and the mother and son shared a tender hug.
Sera hovered nearby watching the interaction with a loving smile. She felt the same way that Inko did about Izuku's progress. He had grown so much from the anxiety-ridden, awkward boy that she had been bonded to for so many years. Every moment with Izuku had become a happy memory for her, even when they disagreed and fought, because throughout them Izuku never stopped striving to be better and to help others. Though she was saddened by her inability to remember specifics about her past, she knew that her future would be a happy one as long as Izuku was in it. Unable to stand watching from the outside any longer Sera zipped in between the two humans. Inko and Izuku laughed slightly at the behavior but included the spren in their family embrace not caring that they couldn't touch her physically because in their hearts she was a Midoriya through and through.
When the family arrived home that night they had a quick meal and went straight to bed, Inko and Izuku both feeling exhausted from the travel and the surprise they had felt at being approached by the heroes. As Izuku lay down to sleep Sera floated around the room lazily. She didn't sleep and wasn't even sure if she could, but even so, she always stayed in Izuku's room until he fell asleep.
"You know," Izuku said quietly so only Sera could hear him, "sometimes I am afraid."
"Afraid of what?" Sera asked.
"I am afraid that I will wake up and everything will have been a dream. That you won't be here anymore, and I will go back to being the same person I was before that day with the slime villain, when we bonded."
"SIlly Izuku, that isn't when we bonded," Sera said, landing on the pillow next to his head. Izuku turned onto his side so that he was watching her. She saw the confusion her words caused so she explained, "That may have been the day when you said the words that strengthened our bond and made you radiant, but the bond forms before that. It formed way back when you saw me as a child back before I can even clearly remember. So if you do wake up and all the time you were bonded to me was a dream, then all that will have happened is you will be back at the beginning of your journey and you just need to start walking again. As long as you are walking forward, you will always get where you need to go."
Izuku smiled at her words and his eyes began to droop, "Thanks, Sera," he said sleepily before drifting off to sleep.
Toshinori groaned as he exited his truck. He rarely came to Takoba Municipal Beach Park in the early morning, usually leaving Izuku to work by himself in these hours, but with the end of the project approaching, he thought it would be nice to see the young man more often. They had been working to clean the beach for nine months now and when it was done Toshinori wouldn't have a good reason to see the boy anymore, at least not until he made it into UA, which was something the veteran hero had no doubts about. As those thoughts played across his mind, Toshinori stretched his arms above his head and stepped toward the beach itself. As he looked over it he was shocked to notice that it was done. His eyes widened as he scanned the unobstructed view of the rising sun. The beach was unrecognizable as the trash-laden scrapyard it had been when he saw it all those months ago. The last of the garbage had all been gathered near the foot of the stairs that lead down from the parking lot to the sand below. Turning to the pile, Toshinori was again surprised to see a shining figure standing triumphantly at the summit gazing at the rising sun.
"Midoriya," Toshinori called out, getting the young man's attention.
Izuku turned and Toshinori saw the shining youth raise a hand in greeting before leaping from the top of the tower of junk and plummeting to the ground. For a moment Toshinori panicked and prepared to catch the youth but he could tell that Izuku was in control of his fall so he let him land with a loud thump on the sand. Izuku stood easily showing that he was uninjured and Toshinori took in the young man before him. He could hardly remember the scrawny, unconfident boy that he had first met on the day of the sludge villain incident. In that boy's place stood a young man with a shining smile and a physique that resulted from long hours of hard work. The biggest change, however, was to Izuku's presence. Where before he would often crouch and shift unconsciously, always preparing for some unseen blow, he now stood tall and self-assured, an aura of calm emanating to those around him. Already Toshinori could see a shadow of the hero this young man had the potential to become as Izuku stood with the rising sun at his back.
"I have to say, young man, you are mighty impressive, you already cleared the beach. It almost makes me feel inadequate." He finished speaking with a smile to show his pride in his young friend's accomplishments.
"Don't say that," Izuku responded, "I never would have even begun this project without you, you helped clean this beach just as much as I did. Besides, there is still a big pile of trash to haul away if you haven't noticed."
The two chuckled for a moment then shared a companionable silence as they watched the sun finish rising over the now clear sands.
"So you are a month away now, what do you have planned for this time before you reach your goal?" Toshinori asked.
"I will have to continue working and growing. You gave me a lot of great notes for my workout plan and I plan to use them. I also want to start having mental prep days as well. The exam is more than just a physical trial after all." Izuku answered, then his face became a bit more serious as he continued, "but, the exam isn't my goal. I have learned that life isn't just about where you are going but about how you get there. You have to worry about the journey before the destination. The exam is just the next step I have to take so that I can continue on the path to being a hero, and being a hero is just a step on my path to my greater goal to save others. I am going to do everything I can to make sure that no matter what, I will always be working toward the next step on my journey."
"That is a mighty fine philosophy my boy," Toshinori remarked.
Izuku blushed slightly at realizing what he had said, "N-no, it-it's not a philosophy per se, it is just me trying to explain one of my ideals."
"Oh, you have ideals. Will you share them with me?" Toshinori asked curiously.
Izuku looked to Sera before speaking, and the spren nodded, giving him permission.
"It goes like this," Izuku said nervously, then he took a deep breath to calm himself and when he spoke again his voice was clear and purposeful, "Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination."
Toshinori listened intently to the words then spoke as well, "Those are good words. You have chosen a difficult but meaningful path if you plan to follow them. Since you have shared your ideal with me, allow me to share one of my own, instilled in me from my time at UA. I hope that we will share this ideal one day soon." In an instant, the skeletal form of Toshinori Yagi was replaced by the larger than life visage of All Might, and when he spoke it held the weight of the number one hero behind it. "My ideal goes thusly, and I hope it touches you as yours has touched me. Go beyond, plus ultra."
The two heroes faced each other then, one filled with heroic Light and the other a towering symbol of peace. Each internalizing the words of power that had been shared that day on the beach. Nothing else was said between them, the moment felt too sacred for it to be ruined by further conversation and eventually Izuku turned and walked away to continue his journey. All Might stayed a moment longer on the clear beach listening as the surf crashed on the land. As he stood there the thought came to his mind.
"I will always regret that Midoriya couldn't be my successor but even without this power I know he will make the future a bright one."
Special thanks to ACreativeMindAtWorkHere for being the beta reader.