Hello again, and welcome to another chapter! :D Work has been kicking my ass and made me realize that if I keep a focus on all my stories at once, it will take ages before I get something out. So, I'm focusing on one at a time. This also gives me time to actually plan out what I want to do with each story. Currently, they are just here because I got the idea for them and didn't want to forget them.
But other than that, I hope you enjoy this chapter :D
Deku was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed alone in the gym set aside for students who wanted to train their quirks with and create new techniques, also known as Gym Gamma. It was set aside for his use in training his younger counterpart, but only for today, so he needed to make the most out of it before the rest of the hero course trained as well.
"How do you think he will do?" A voice asked to the left of Deku.
"It's me we are talking about. I might have been stupid when I first got One For All, but as soon as I knock some sense into him... myself? Whatever. He will develop as quickly as I did." Deku answered. Turning to look at the person who asked the question.
The person standing next to Deku was Nana Shimura, the Seventh wielder of One For All.
"Do the others still not want to even say hello?" Deku asked, even though he knew the answer. The other vestiges of One For All never really wanted to interact with anyone but him, even if it was a younger version of him.
"Nah, they are still as hard-headed as they normally are," Nana said with a laugh. "Toshi is just as weird. I thought he would like to depart with some gems of wisdom to his younger self."
Deku simply shook his head. The death of All Might from his time was something Deku knew was coming. All Might's injury finally caught up to him and there was nothing that could be done. He slept a couple of years after All For One and Shigaraki were defeated. But that simply meant the part of him that was with One For All was now fully conscious and talk to him as well as the other vestiges. To everyone in Deku's time, All Might had died the greatest hero of his time. But to Deku, he was still there.
"No matter, I can sense them coming. You should probably take a seat back unless we drag mini-me into One For All." Deku said. Nana simply gave a nod and disappeared in wisps of smoke.
Just as Deku said, the doors to Gym Gamma opened up. Izuku was the first one who stepped inside, eyes wide as can be, with a look of wonder. Coming in after Izuku was All Might in his skinny form. And the last, who came in was Aizawa with Nezu riding in his scarf. Aizawa looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here, while Nezu looked like he was enjoying every moment.
"Good, you arrived on time," Deku said as he stood up. "I didn't know Aizawa was supposed to be here Nezu, change of plans?"
"Not really, Aizawa volunteered to come and supervise. He apparently doesn't trust young Izuku with himself and All Might to not hurt himself with his quirk." The way Nezu explained the situation was gleeful, maybe too gleeful in the way he threw one of his own staff under the bus and exposed his reason for being here before he could defend himself.
"I see, well there is a chance he could hurt himself if I don't knock the idiocy out of him in time." Deku mused with a hand on his chin. And there really was. "But I'm normally pretty good at knocking the stubbornness out of people, so the only way he should be hurt is from exhaustion," Deku explained.
Izuku was sweating. Both his older self and Principal Nezu were talking like he wasn't there and was way too nonchalant about how he could be hurt. Izuku's anxious thoughts were interrupted by his older counterpart clapping his hands together.
"Now Mini-Me come over here and stand in front of me," Deku instructed, with the most deceptive smile gracing his face. "We need to have an important talk before we do any form of training."
Doing as instructed, Izuku stood in front of his older counterpart. And for the first time since this whole situation started, Izuku got a good look at his older self.
Deku held himself with a confidence that simply radiating and filling the room with his presence. His smile did the same, spreading a feeling of safety.
"If you are done muttering Mini-Me, we can get started with this conversation," Deku said with a laugh. Causing Izuku to blush and stutter in embarrassment.
"Now, sadly, we must put the joking aside and start the serious talk," Deku said, his tone shifting from his normal cheerful tone to one filled with seriousness. His smile falling to make room for a face that showed no emotion.
"I have a simple question for you Izuku, and as soon as you can answer that question, the training will start for real."
The weight of Deku's word pressed down on his younger counterpart, filling him with anxiety. But despite his anxiety, Izuku gave a resolute nod. He was ready. Deku couldn't help but quirk his lips up a bit. It was nice seeing the determination he had become famous for showing itself in his younger self.
"What is One For All?"
The question left Izuku stumped. The answer was simple. One For All was the culminated power of every user passed down through the generations to protect people and fight against tyranny and All For One. Was there something his older counterpart knew about One For All that All Might and he didn't know?
"I know the question sounds simple, and from you muttering you are close." Deku said, making Izuku stop his muttering.
"Let me give you a demonstration."
Without another word, Deku exploded with power. The ground underneath him shattering, throwing both his younger counterpart back, and making Aizawa and All Might stumble. When they got their footing back and got a look at Deku, they were shocked. He had started floating at the spot where he was standing. From his knuckles, black tendrils were wrapped around his forearms, just loose enough that they could strike at a moment's notice. Smoke was rising from his shoulders. There was a shimmer around him, almost as if he was vibrating. It didn't help that an oppressive force was pressing down on everyone present.
"Think Izuku!" Even Deku's voice was filled with power. And drew attention to his younger counterpart, who had been thrown by the explosion that started everything.
Worry filled All Might, but when he looked upon his young protege, there was nothing but wonder and determination showing on his face. He didn't even look affected by the force bearing down on everyone.
Izuku simply looked at his older self, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. His thoughts were flying faster than normal. But they were interrupted by his older self asking another question.
"Think back Izuku! What is the most important thing a hero needs before anything else! What was it All Might himself said we had that made him realize we were going to become the next bearer of One For All!"
With his last words, something clicked inside Izuku. He stood up tall in front of this figure of power, no fear, no hesitation, and yelled out his answer.
"WILL!"
And just like that, the oppressive force that had filled Gym Gamma disappeared. Deku landed on the ground again, the thud sounding louder since there was no other sound to be heard in the gym.
When everyone looked at Deku, they could see a giant smile almost splitting his face in two.
"Exactly! Exactly Izuku! Will! Will is the number one thing you need to be the greatest hero! It's what All Might saw in us when we first met him!" Deku was making his way over to his younger self.
"One For All is the heroic spirit. The heroic will that's been passed down from wielder to wielder. It responds to the will of the bearer, but also to the will of every previous user! Their will is still a part of One For All, so to master One For All you need to show them that your will is the greatest and that you know what you are doing." Deku stood right in front of his younger self and took a knee, so he was face to face with him.
"We have that will. All Might saw it, and after a long time, I see it in us as well. All you have to do is exercise that will and take control."
The way Izuku squared his shoulders, set his face to show only his determination, and gave a single resolute nod left All Might in awe. All Might knew he had made the right choice on the day he made young Midoriya his successor. But now there was no doubt in his mind. He didn't even need to look at the older Midoriya to know it, he just needed to look at the way Izuku started carrying himself at his moment and he knew he would be great, no, not great, the greatest.
Deku's smile turned predatory. "Now show me that will!" As he finished speaking, the lightning that had surrounded him came back, but not in an explosion. And to everyone's shock, the same lightning appeared on the younger Midoriya. His smile turning to one of excitement. And with a blur of movement, they both disappeared. Other than the two blurs and the sound of impacts and the ground around the gym exploding into rubble there was no evidence of the two Midoriya's
Aizawa was left speechless. Even with principal Nezu in his scarf cackling like a mad scientist, Aizawa didn't know what he should make of this situation.
A speech? A speech about will was all it took for the problem child that was Izuku Midoriya to get his quirk under control? It couldn't be that simple, could it? If it was that simple, how come the problem child didn't figure it out before?
"What just happened?" Aizawa asked, his tone still deadpan, but confusion could still be heard in the question.
Nezu slowly got his laughing under control. "I think something finally clicked in the younger Midoriya."
Aizawa simply shook his head. "I caught that, but their conversation was just about their quirk. How could that help get problem child control?"
"It wasn't the conversation itself. It was what happened between the two that helped." It was All Might that answered.
"I didn't think about it at the start, but I felt something while he was talking, like a connection between the three of us, but I don't think I was supposed to be a part of it, the embers of One For All I have left simply connected me to them." The tone All Might was speaking with was like someone who just saw the world for the first time. It was filled with wonder.
"He used the connection between all the wielders of One For All to show him things, make him understand things about the quirk even I didn't know. And now that young Midoriya has caught a glimpse of the true potential of One For All hold, he has set himself to surpass it."
Aizawa just gave All Might a look, "That makes no sense, but I will take it for now since it seems like they are doing good." Aizawa turned to look at the two blurs but realized he could only just make out their blurs. "did they get faster?"
It was Nezu that answered. "Indeed, they did. The speed at which young Midoriya is improving is simply unthinkable. The older Mr. Midoriya is holding himself at just above his younger counterpart's skill level, and forces him to improve, or else he loses this spar. Simply amazing."
The spar went on for another hour, and the spectators were just observing this impromptu spar between the two Izuku's with awe. Sadly, it had to end with the younger of the two Izuku stumbled in a step and found himself lying in the middle of Gym Gamma, completely exhausted, his older self appearing at his side within the same second.
"You did amazing for a spar on this level," Deku said, sitting down next to his younger counterpart. "I would be surprised if I didn't already know how insane our growth rate actually is." Deku smiled down at his younger counterpart but saw he had fallen asleep and was snoozing away, a content smile on his face.
Deku turned to the spectators who were looking wide-eyed at the both of them. "He's just sleeping, used too much of his energy, so his body went into sleep mode."
Deku looked around the gym to see what kind of state he and the Mini-Me had left it in. He cringed. Almost every inch of the floor walls and ceilings had cracks in them. Not enough to bring the building down in any sort of way, but enough to make him feel sorry. Cementoss put in a lot of work to make sure Gym Gamma was useable, and piling more work on him always made Deku feel bad.
"Please tell Cementoss I'm sorry about the damage? I'm going to take Mini-Me home so he can sleep in a comfortable bed. Then I'm heading out on patrol, which reminds me. Nezu? Did you get me registered?"
He got the answer by a card being thrown at him. How Nezu threw a card when all he had was paws Deku still didn't know.
"Of course, I did. It wasn't that hard to get you some fake files and get you a legit hero license," Nezu said, almost sounding smug.
"Thanks, Nezu. Just out of curiosity, did you go with my suggestion?" Deku asked.
"Oh yes, it was a brilliant idea, so why not go with it? Inko Midoriya now officially has a brother. I take it you are telling her about it when you drop off your younger counterpart?" Nezu asked.
"Of course, could keep nothing from her, and her knowing just helps to sell the story," Deku explained. "Plus, the only ones who will question my mom are Mitsuki, Masaru, and Katsuki, and they won't get any answers before I know they can be trusted fully."
Deku knew Inko trusted Mitsuki. They were the closest of friends, but it was more about security. The fewer people that knew, the less chance of information leaking.
"I'll see you later, Nezu, for more planning," Deku said, picking up his younger self, and in a blur, he was gone.
"You never get used to seeing how fast he actually moves," Nezu said in a whisper. "Well! Now you two most likely have jobs to do, so chop chop, let's go," Nezu said while patting Aizawa on his head to get him to move.
Aizawa grumbled but complied while All Might was snickering at the situation.
"Don't you laugh, I've still to see an actual teaching plan from you All Might, and I want it on my desk before the end of the day."
Nezu's tone made All Might shiver. He had faced down some of the foulest villains in history. But Nezu still scared him.
At the speed Deku was moving at, he would arrive at the Midoriya household in less than a minute. Sadly, a couple of incidents slowed him down. You know, a couple of robberies, a car chase, the classic cat stuck in a tree. He took care of them as fast as he could, with no one seeing him since he didn't want to linger and introduce himself right now. The time for his 'official debut' was for another time. But through it all, his younger counterpart never so much as stirred, well he did stir, but not as a sign of waking up. Instead, he tried to get more comfortable.
Standing in front of the door, Deku was about to knock on the door when he remembered he technically live here. Just to be safe, he knocked.
Only a minute went by before he could hear the shuffling of footsteps approaching the door. When the door opened Inko Midoriya wasn't ready to be looking at a chest instead of a face, but then again, she wasn't the tallest of individuals, but she was still surprised that when she looked up, it was the older version of her son.
"Oh, right that wasn't a dream…" Inko muttered
Deku laughed "Hello to you too mom."
Inko shook her head and noticed the older version of her son was holding the younger version. Her maternal instincts kicking in, "What happened? Is he okay? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
Inko's fussing was interrupted by Deku laughing again. "No, don't worry, he just went into sleep mode after using too much energy," Deku gave his mother a calming smile. "I just wanted to get him home so he could sleep in his bed instead of the hard floor of the gym"
Inko calmed down a little. At least her baby boy wasn't hurt. They both walked in silence as Deku carried his younger counterpart to his room. He couldn't help but flinch at all the All Might Merch that was in pristine condition. He really needed to explain to his younger counterpart that every inch of a room didn't need to be covered in merch.
"You really should have told us no when it came to all this merch," Deku said while putting his younger self onto his bead, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them both.
Inko flinched, guilt welling up inside her and she recalled the reason she indulged her boy when it came to everything All Might.
"Don't blame yourself, yes you did something that hurt us, but in the end, you just wanted to protect us. You don't need to explain it to me. Explain it to Izuku. He will understand, we are mature enough to know." Deku gave his mother an understanding smile. He had already gone through this talk with his mother.
"There is something I need to talk with you about." Deku's tone grew serious, not enough to scare his mother, but enough to get the importance across to her. Which, from the stiffening and widening of Inko's eyes, he did. "Let's sit down for this conversation. It will be easier to explain when we don't have to be quiet. " Inko nodded and led the older version of her son to the living room.
"I'll just get straight to the point, Nezu and I was planning how to explain my existence for when I inevitably get spotted doing hero work, and we came up with the solution for me to pose as your brother." Deku explained "I know it was forward of me to just go along with the plan, but it was the best we could come up with on short notice. The background is that our parents saw I had a strong quirk and sent me to a family friend overseas to learn control and become a hero, I came back when I heard Izuku was showing signs of being a late bloomer and I wanted to be there for the family I didn't really know."
Inko just stared at the older version of her son. It hadn't been that long since they talked, and they had already come up with a plan?
"I know it's sudden, and I'm sorry we didn't get you in on the pla- "
"No no! It's all right! I just needed a second to take everything in." Inko cut Deku off. "Everything is just going fast, and I needed a second. I'm okay with you saying you are my brother. We don't really have any family left to say otherwise, so it should be okay." Inko gave Deku a proud smile. And why shouldn't she? Her boy had grown up to be so strong. "I just wish you would have consulted with me about this cover story. I might have been able to help"
Deku gave his mother a radiant smile. Glad she wasn't as hard to convince of all these things. Then again, his younger counterpart hadn't been hurt as he had in his time. Inko was harder to convince of things when it came to his hero career. But she was just worried about him like any mother would be when their child got extremely hurt and got hunted by some of the worst villains of their time when he was only 15 years old.
Shaking his head, Deku stood up from the couch he was sitting on. "Sadly, I can't stay for long. I want to get some patrolling in before I head back to UA." Deku said, making his way towards the door. Inko got confused. Deku was wearing normal training clothes.
"Don't you need a costume to do hero work? Are you going back to UA then starting your patrol?" Inko asked, worried her son had forgotten his hero costume when he left to drop off his younger counterpart.
Deku was halfway out the door when Inko finished her frantic questions. He turned to look at his mother, who was going to pose as his sister as long as he was here. "I'm never really without a costume. The one I have on me just makes me look like a villain instead of a hero." And without another word, Black Whip sprang forth from his knuckles and spread through his whole body, covering every inch of him in a skintight layer of black material infused with one for all, looking like a dark version of his normal hero costume. Where his face should be, only a pair of glowing green eyes could be seen, somehow showing way more emotion than should be possible.
"Even so, that hasn't stopped me from doing my hero work before." Deku's voice was distorted, masking his voice, but it didn't take away from the reassurance you felt when he spoke. And for the second time today, Deku blurred and disappeared from the open door, closing it with the winds of his departure.
Inko was shocked at the speed her son moved at. But let a proud grace her face. She couldn't wait to see how far her two sons were going to go in this world.
Deku was sitting on the edge of one building in the middle of the precinct, where Danger Sense would have the best radius for picking up trouble. He had spent the last hour patrolling the city properly. There were some incidents with people being scared of him because of Black Whip being quite scary looking when being used as a costume. And wasn't that something amazing he found out? Normally Black Whip was only that, a whip. But since it became a part of One For All, it could be changed according to the will of the wielder, like all the other quirks that have become a part of One For All. While some of them were hard to change, like Smoke Screen. There were still some things you could do with it.
Deku's watch was interrupted by Danger Sense flaring, warning him of an incoming attack.
Deku dropped down from the ledge, using Black Whip to grab onto the ledge and jumping back up to see who had the balls to attack him.
And what a surprise that was. The hero who attacked him was a woman with an athletic build with muscular arms and legs. She had dark skin and red eyes that burned with excitement. But the most defining feature of her was the two rabbit ears she had instead of her normal ears. The Rabbit Hero: Mirko was attacking him.
"I knew I recognized you! You're that vigilante that I was trying to catch last week!" Mirko yelled, her voice filled with the same excitement her red eyes were burning with.
"Is that reason to attack me?" Deku deadpanned, his voice still distorted by the Black Whip: Full Cowl.
"Of course it is! You're breaking the law and it is my job to take you in!" She yelled. "You have avoided me so far, but now I have you with nowhere to run!"
Deku sighed. In his time when he was climbing the ladder of pro heroes, Mirko was still a top hero after being injured in the war. And even after getting injured, her demeanor didn't change. She still wanted to work alone, still itched to fight strong opponents, to prove herself.
And that is why Deku knew there would be a fight between him and Mirko, no matter what he said. And even if he could pin her down. As long as it wasn't in a straight fight, Mirko would continue to come after him, and even if it was in a straight fight, she would still come after him until she won.
Deku didn't have time for a prolonged fight with Mirko, so when Danger Sense told him Mirko was already attacking, Deku infused 20% of One For All into Black Whip and simply grabbed her ankle, threw her into the ground, and pinned her down.
All of it happened in less than a second.
Mirko was blinked in surprise. She wasn't hurt, but she could move. What happened?
"Are you ready for a civilized talk?" The voice of the Vigilante spoke from above her. Mirko tried to move and get a look at him. But that was when she realized she was pinned down by him.
"I really don't have time to fight you right now." He said, moving around so Mirko was on her back and could look at him. But the only thing she saw was a hero license. When she looked past it, she could see he had dropped his face covering, and the picture matched the face.
"There was a holdup with getting my license since I have been out of the country for most of my time as a hero, and I didn't want to fight a fellow hero," Deku said. Finally, letting go completely of Mirko and dragging her to her feet.
She simply looked at him dumbly. How the fuck did he put her down so easily. She was one of the strongest heroes, for god' sake!
"So, I'm just going to continue my patrol now," Deku said, and with nothing more than a blur, he was gone, leaving Mirko even more confused.
But there was one thing she knew. She needed to visit UA because that's the only thing she recognized on the hero license he showed her. And if that was right, he worked there now. And Mirko wasn't about to let that punk walk away when he didn't fight her seriously!
Well Hello! Another chapter done :D Hope you guys enjoyed it. And I will see you next time :D