Chapter Eight:

Izuku rose on the day of the Sports Festival refreshed and well-rested. He hadn't had any more dreams about the Shigaraki brothers' past lately. Given how unpleasant those visions tended to be and how uneasy he felt about the invasion of privacy, that was probably for the best.

In the dining room, Inko set a plate of waffles on the table. "You need to be well-fed to face off against the competition today."

"Thanks, Mom." Izuku poured syrup over his first bite. "Delicious."

Inko smiled at him. "I'm glad."

Izuku liked that his mother's smiles had returned. For a while, after the DNA test argument, the atmosphere in their apartment had been stilted. Inko had jumped at any stray noise and sometimes cried late at night when she thought her son wasn't listening. A small part of Izuku still felt angry that his mother had refused him any answers about his father. But he'd rather let the subject drop than risk causing her such misery again.

"I'm going to make you proud today," Izuku told his mother. "I promise."

All Might opened the car door to let Hisashi and Yoichi out. "Are we ready for the Sports Festival?" His grin spread from ear to ear.

"I'm ready!" Yoichi bounced up and down. He'd put on his favorite T-shirt for the occasion—the Superman shirt he'd been wearing when dragged through time. All Might had sent it to a tailor to repair the holes.

"It's a bunch of children fighting, but it may be moderately entertaining," Hisashi said.

Yoichi rolled his eyes. It was just like his big brother to put on a show of being disinterested. In reality, Hisashi loved quirks and he was going to love to see a bunch of people with powerful ones battle it out.

Equally importantly, both of them were excited to get a day off school. Yoichi's tutor was super-nice and she'd taught him all kinds of interesting stuff about the modern era. But Yoichi still preferred no school as a matter of principle. Besides, Yoichi would be back home in time for his martial arts tutor in the evening, and that was the most important thing to him.

"Can I help you carry that?" All Might asked, pointing at the cloth bundle in Yoichi's hands.

Yoichi willingly handed it over. "I made a banner with Izuku's name on it to root him on."

All Might grinned. "I'll let you in on a secret. I'm rooting on Izuku to win too, but I can't do so openly since I'm a teacher. You'll have to cheer loud enough for both of us."

Yoichi nodded, impressed with this solemn responsibility. He nudged Hisashi. "Big brother will cheer too."

"How plebian." Hisashi sighed. "I suppose since he's my relative, I'm obligated to offer my support."

Just look at him, convinced using big words would make him sound smarter. Yoichi had caught Hisashi up late last night planning something for the Sports Festival. He assumed it was to cheer Izuku on. He knew his older brother liked the boy a lot, more than his pride would allow him to admit.

As they headed toward the school gate, they spotted Izuku, Ochaco, and Tenya walking together. Yoichi waved. "Izuku! I'm cheering for you to win! Come see my banner."

All Might helped unfurl the cloth. Izuku examined Yoichi's hand-drawn rabbits and balloons. "You did all this for me? Thank you."

"I used a whole tube of glitter," Yoichi said proudly.

"I'm still picking it out of his hair." Hisashi grabbed another sparkle from a white lock.

Izuku bent down and whispered to Yoichi, "Have you been having any strange dreams lately? Dreams about me or my past?"

Yoichi considered. He'd dreamt about his other self, but not Izuku. "No, nothing like that. Why do you ask?"

A flash of strain showed on Izuku's face. "Something that seems to have stopped now. Don't worry about it."

Meanwhile, Ochaco and Hisashi whispered together. Yoichi turned just in time to hear Ochaco say, "I've sent your cut of the money to your usual account."

Yoichi frowned. Just what was his brother up to this time? He'd better not have gotten this nice girl involved in something shady.

"Why, thank you. You've been an excellent business partner," Hisashi said. "I love the new earrings."

"Thank you." Ochaco giggled and touched the diamonds in her ears. "It's so strange for me to be able to afford something like this. I almost didn't get them, but my mother insisted I deserved something after our recent big boost in business. I'm going to be on live television at the festival, and I wanted to show off a little."

"The color looks stunning on you," Hisashi said.

Tenya said, "I have no intention of being rude, but I must leave to meet up with my brother. It will be my pleasure to introduce all of you to him at the first opportunity." A smile spread across the boy's face. "I'm so pleased he was able to get time off work to attend."

After Tenya had left, Hisashi nudged Ochaco. "That was me, by the way."

She blinked. "Pardon?"

"I arranged for Tensei Iida to get time off work. You told me that your friend was disappointed because neither his parents nor his brother could attend the Sports Festival. The parents proved too difficult, but I was able to close down Tensei's hero agency for the day by putting a virus in their main computer." Hisashi puffed out his chest in a way Yoichi knew meant he was hoping for praise.

Inwardly, Yoichi groaned. His brother was being weird again. He'd be lucky if he didn't creep the older girl out.

As expected, Ochaco looked slightly perturbed. But she only said, "You didn't need to go to so much trouble just because I made an idle comment."

"It's my pleasure to fulfill all your wishes. I'm just a wonderful person that way." Hisashi puffed up even more.

It wasn't like his big brother to go to so much trouble for a mere business partner. As Ochaco departed, Hisashi stared after her. Yoichi observed with dawning comprehension.

All Might seated both children at the stands before someone in an official uniform called him away. He left the brothers with ample drinks and snacks after making them promise to stay in their seats.

As soon as they were alone, Yoichi turned to his brother. "You like Ochaco, don't you? Like in the gross way."

"Like is too mediocre a word," Hisashi said loftily. "I'm considering her as a future wife candidate."

Yoichi rolled his eyes and made gagging noises.

"I wouldn't expect a child like you to understand." Hisashi ruffled his brother's hair.

Yoichi dodged. "She's way too old for you."

"Foolish little brother, an age gap of three years is nothing in the long run." Hisashi sighed dreamily. "Her top priorities are money and family, the two most important things in life. Our future children will be monopoly-playing champions. She's perfect!"

"I highly doubt someone so perfect would be interested in short, egoistical little trolls. Especially not after I tell her all your embarrassing childhood stories."

"Why, you—" Hisashi put his little brother in a headlock.

Yoichi knew it was deserved and considered it totally worth it. Big brother had his first crush—it was his duty as a younger sibling to tease him about it. Someone had to keep Hisashi's ego at manageable levels.

Then the festival began.

Yoichi cheered like a madman as Izuku took first place in the race. The cavalry battle had him hopping up and down at the edge of his seat. He waved his banner with all his strength.

When Hisashi mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom and slipped away, Yoichi barely noticed.

As Izuku's match against the purple-haired boy began, Yoichi bit his nails. Why was Izuku walking out of the ring on his own? It must be the boy's quirk, right? Hisashi always understood quirks. Maybe he could explain it. Yoichi looked around, but his brother hadn't returned. How odd.

A flash of green light ran down Izuku's hand. Yoichi gasped. He saw the shadowy outline of seven figures around Izuku. For a brief moment, he met green eyes exactly like his own. Then the ghosts were gone.

What did that even mean? His ghost might be haunting Izuku? The older Yoichi said he was living inside a quirk. Did Izuku have that quirk? Yoichi desperately wanted to talk to Hisashi about this. Where was his big brother?

Izuku wasn't exactly sure how he'd ended up cornered by Shouto Todoroki after the cavalry battle.

With a serious expression on his face, Shouto asked, "Are those two white-haired boys your brothers?"

Izuku bit his lip. With the physical resemblance, denying everything probably wouldn't work. "There's a certain relationship between us, but it's classified."

"I knew it," Shouto said. "All three of you are All Might's love children."

Izuku gaped. "E-excuse me? No! It's not like that at all! All Might is adopting the brothers."

"That's his cover story," Shouto said. "It wouldn't look too good if the number one hero had several unacknowledged children he hadn't been paying child support on." His frown deepened. "I would have thought he'd learn to wear a wrapper after the first love child. Three? That's just carelessness."

"It's seriously not like that," Izuku said, desperate to save All Might's reputation. "Surely you know our teacher isn't that kind of person."

Shouto's brow furrowed. "But it seems improbable for anyone to have three accidents. I've got it! Do you think All Might's quirk breaks condoms?"

"No, I keep telling you—" The quirk analysis part of Izuku's brain took over. "Theoretically, it could. By common knowledge, it's harder to maintain control over your quirk while in the throes of passion, so many people take safeguards, but with a quirk as powerful as All Might's, what rubber could possibly be strong enough? Oh, dear." As the current holder of One for All, this situation was a matter of important if not immediate concern to Izuku.

Shouto nodded. "I can somewhat forgive him the first time, but by the second love child, he should have realized the problem. It's difficult to see All Might as an eugenics-obsessed bastard like my dad. Hmm. Do you think maybe a villainous organization or the Hero Public Safety Commission stole the DNA of the number one hero? No wonder both brothers show signs of child abuse. Clearly now All Might has found his long-lost children and taken them under his protection."

So convincing was this story that Izuku found himself nodding along. Then he remembered that the Shigaraki brothers came from the dawn of the age of quirks, before All Might had even been born, and his own father was unfortunately a deadbeat whose mere name made his mother cry. "Uh, Shouto, none of the three of us are All Might's children. I know some information about the brothers' past that I'm not at liberty to share, but I'm extremely certain I've met their real father." If dreams counted as a meeting.

Shouto stared at him. "Leaving aside All Might, your resemblance to Hisashi in particular is far too strong to be coincidental."

"We're probably distantly related. My mother wouldn't let me take a DNA test."

"She wouldn't? Why not?"

"Err, she wouldn't say."

Shouto asked, "What if your mother is a time-traveler? That's why All Might hasn't realized that you're his son yet. Oh, and Hisashi could be your own son from the future."

Desperate for a distraction from a theory starting to cut a little too close to home, Izuku asked, "What was that you said about your father being obsessed with eugenics?"

Needless to say, Izuku got a great deal more than he bargained for with that question.

Before Izuku had even recovered from having Shouto Todoroki's entire tragic backstory dumped on him, he heard a child's laugh.

"That makes your match with him a gimmee, doesn't it?" Hisashi leaned against the wall. "He's not going to use half his power. It will be an easy win."

Izuku frowned. His head still swirled with concern for his classmate. "But I don't want an easy win. I want to fight against Shouto fair and square."

"How naïve." Hisashi sighed. It sounded especially pretentious coming from a child. "I can tell you've never had to fight for your life."

"That's not exactly true, I nearly died at U.S.J.—" Izuku cut himself off. "You have had to fight for your life, haven't you?" He remembered his dream of Hisashi and Yoichi living on the streets. Especially given the time period they'd been from, no doubt they'd seen a lot of danger. "I'm sorry. No child should go through that."

"It made me stronger." Hisashi sounded irritated. "I'm not here to unburden my dark past on you like your classmate. I'm here to help you win. I came up with a strategy for all your fights until you face Katsuki in the finals."

"What makes you so sure it will be me and Kacchan in the finals?" Izuku asked.

"Because I arranged it that way." A small smile curved on Hisashi's lips. "Just like how I got Tensei to attend the Sports Festival. I made sure the matches would be ordered so that you'd face Ochaco in the semifinals and Katsuki in the finals. That's assuming that Katsuki makes it to the last match, of course, but he's the favorite and I have high hopes that he won't disappoint me."

Izuku would later very much regret not asking Hisashi why he wanted Katsuki to make it to the finals. But in that moment, he was too distracted by the first part. "What do you mean you arranged the matches?"

"Ochaco was originally going to face Katsuki in the first round, but that would have been much too soon. I'll let you and Ochaco face each other in the semifinals, in a fair match. I like you both, so I'll ensure whichever of you advances to the finals will win first place." Hisashi smiled secretively. "Let's just say U.A. could keep their computers more secure. I won't tell you anymore—I want you to keep your hands clean."

Izuku rubbed his head. "Whatever you've done, you shouldn't have done it."

"Absolutely nothing anyone could trace back to me." Hisashi face looked more innocent than his words, like a child hoping for praise. "I had an elaborate strategy for you to use against Shouto Todoroki, but you won't need it. Just taunt him a few times about how proud his father must be, and he'll lose it. If you're at a disadvantage, tell him his mom took a bad turn in the hospital, then sucker-punch him. He's definitely dense enough to believe it."

Izuku groaned. "I'm not doing that."

"Why? It's not cheating. I heard the purple-haired boy trash-talking opponents."

"I don't care if it's against the rules or not, that would be wrong." Izuku took a deep breath and modulated his tone to address a child. "This isn't a life or death battle. I'm not fighting for my survival. I don't need to sink to such depths."

Hisashi regarded him with a difficult to read expression. Eventually, he said, "I suppose you don't need any particular tricks against an opponent only using half his power. You can just pulverize him the normal way. Still, the softness of yours could get you in trouble someday."

"I'm a hero. I don't mind getting into trouble if I can help someone else." Izuku smiled.

Hisashi tsked his tongue. "I'll go see if Ochaco is more interested in my advice. If she listens to me, then she'll win. Perhaps that will teach you a lesson, too." He walked away.

No matter how earnest he sounded, it was difficult to take an eleven-year-old seriously. Furthermore, Izuku was still distracted trying to think of how he could help Shouto.

These excuses did nothing to assuage Izuku's many later regrets.

As Hisashi sat down, Yoichi asked, "Where were you?"

"I was off helping some people out." Hisashi smirked.

That look on his big brother's face was suspicious and Yoichi was about to say so, but he was interrupted by a cough.

"Take a sip." Hisashi held up a soda bottle.

Yoichi drank. "I'm fine. See, no blood."

"You haven't been coughing as much lately."

Yoichi beamed. "That new medicine the doctor put me on has really helped. At my last visit, she even said if I kept improving at this rate, I could stop taking any medication at all."

Hisashi looked at his feet. "I should have told the truth about your so-called illness sooner." His voice became softer. "I truly thought that if your lungs had been damaged by the poison, there was nothing anyone could do."

Yoichi could have called bullshit and pointed out that an illness being manmade didn't make it untreatable. But his older brother looked so miserable, he declined to twist the knife. "We couldn't have afforded medical care until we got yanked through time. And you came clean shortly after that. It's all good now."

Hisashi's smile returned. "Yes, it is."

They were both distracted as Izuku's match with Shouto Todoroki began.

Yoichi waved his banner and cheered for Izuku with all his might, but his favorite still lost in the end. He rubbed a small tear from his eyes. "That was an amazing match."

"What was Izuku doing?" Hisashi clutched his hair. "It's one thing not to prod his opponent's weakness. But I'm pretty sure he was baiting Shouto Todoroki to use his fire side! What kind of fool helps his enemy win?"

"He wanted a fair fight," Yoichi said. "That was very cool."

Hisashi rolled his eyes to the heavens. "I'm surrounded by idiots." He leaned forward in his seat. "Is it Ochaco's turn yet? At least she read all my strategies. She even called me a genius!"

"Are you sure she wasn't just patronizing you, big brother? Would a hero student take someone who never graduated from elementary school seriously?"

"Foolish little brother, I might have missed my elementary school graduation due to homelessness but I did all the work to graduate. Furthermore, Ochaco isn't like that. She knows talent when she sees it." Hisashi's gaze became dreamy.

Yoichi mimed barfing again. "Gross." Although he liked Ochaco, he needed to fulfill his sworn duty as a younger sibling to mock his brother's first crush relentlessly. He searched his mind for more creative material. "Did her quirk make your heart fly out of your chest? Maybe you lost your brain too, because there's no chance she's into short little dwarves with premature white hair."

Hisashi mussed up his little brother's hair. "What color is your hair?"

"The youthful color of snow." Yoichi play-tussled with his brother. They both stopped as the next match began.

Ochaco Uraraka faced off against Fumikage Tokoyami. Dark Shadow rose off his body and shot forward.

Hisashi murmured, "It's not the best match-up for her, since she doesn't have a flame-related power. I was hoping Tokoyami would lose to Iida last round."

Ochaco dodged sideways, avoiding the first attack. Dark Shadow turned, rushing after her.

But Ochaco didn't retreat. Instead, she leapt forward and grabbed Dark Shadow with both her arms.

He spun around, trying to throw her off. Buffeted by wind, she kept crawling forward.

Hisashi muttered, "I didn't think she'd be able to use her quirk just by grabbing his shadow, but the real point is to—ah-ha!"

Fumikage drew Dark Shadow back into himself, sending Ochaco falling to the ground.

She landed on one hand and delivered a kick to his chin from below. He reeled backward.

Roaring, Dark Shadow rose up again. A massive fist bore down on Ochaco.

"Come on, come on," Hisashi muttered, his knee bouncing. Yoichi was too entranced to even cheer.

Ochaco tried to dodge between the claws. But a glancing blow ripped her jacket off her back and sent her falling. Dirt and rocks flew up in the air.

Hisashi leapt to his feet, screaming, "You've got him now! All you have to do is stand up!"

Yoichi wondered what on earth his brother was talking about. From where he was sitting, it looked like Ochaco was getting one-sidedly beaten.

Ochaco rose up from the rubble. Her hair stood on end as she floated. She must have used her quirk on herself. The dust in the air obscured Fumikage from seeing her. He probably thought he'd already won.

Until Ochaco dropped from the sky and planted both of her feet on his face.

Fumikage reeled backwards. Dark Shadow slapped Ochaco sideways.

Ochaco nearly flew out of bounds, but she grabbed the ground with both hands. Her teeth ground and her nails bled as she stopped herself.

At the same time, under control of Ochaco's quirk, part of the ground yanked out from under her opponent's feet. Fumikage slipped and fell. That was when Yoichi realized she'd been luring her opponent to the edge of the ring.

Fumikage's hair landed outside the line.

Midnight brought down her whip, shouting, "Out of bounds!"

Into his microphone, Yamada effusively praised the most creative use of a quirk he'd seen all day.

"Just look at her kick ass!" Hisashi rubbed his hands together. "Oh, yeah, I'm putting a ring on that as soon as possible. How long do you think we'd need to wait? Is eighteen and twenty-one socially acceptable or still too young?"

Yoichi gagged. "I won't let you sleep in my bed any longer if you catch girl cooties, big brother."

"Cooties, that sounds like something your immature and underdeveloped brain would say."

"At least I'm mature enough to realize that by the time she's in her twenties, she'll probably already be dating someone else."

Hisashi raised an eyebrow. "You'll find I'm rather skilled at getting rid of competition."

Yoichi only wished he didn't believe it.

"Can I join you?" Izuku smiled from the aisle. "I brought snacks." He held up a bag of chips and several soda bottles. "All Might was called away for an emergency, and it's taking longer than he thought it would. He sends his apologies and hopes he can get back by the ceremony. In the meantime, he asked me to keep you company."

To babysit them, more like, but Yoichi appreciated the diplomacy. "Of course. Sit down." He patted the seat next to him.

Hisashi raised his nose in the air. "I'm currently not speaking to you after you ignored my wonderful advice."

Izuku twisted a lock of his hair. "I didn't mean to ignore you. I simply had something more important than winning."

Hisashi rolled his eyes. "Why was coddling the feelings of a complete stranger more important than—?"

Yoichi interrupted, "Big brother, for someone who wasn't talking to Izuku, you sure are saying a lot."

Hisashi grumbled and slouched down in his seat. As he took a soda bottle from his little brother, he glared.

Yoichi wished his brother would understand that he'd silenced him for his own good. Despite Izuku's words, he clearly felt bad about dropping out of the competition. Chastising him would only make him feel worse. Sometimes Hisashi was very preceptive about other people's feelings, but other times he'd become so convinced he was right that he didn't see anything else.

Trying to change the subject, Yoichi turned to Izuku. "I'm glad you're looking so much better than when they carried you off the field. Did Recovery Girl heal you?"

Izuku scratched a small bandage on his cheek. "Yes, she said she was impressed with how I only broke one bone this time. But…I didn't do anything differently. I wish I could say I have better control of my quirk now. But I don't know why sometimes I break a bone when I use it and sometimes I don't. I would swear that something changed when that old lady used her enhancement quirk on me back at the grocery store where we first met. That was the first time I didn't break a bone, after all. But she made it sound like it was supposed to be a one-time boost."

Yoichi suggested, "Can your ability store energy?"

Izuku straightened. "It can! I wonder if that's connected?"

"Mmmm," Hisashi groaned. His face was purpling with effort to keep silent instead of joining in on his favorite hobby, quirk analysis. It was hilarious to watch.

Over the loudspeaker, Yamada announced the beginning of the match between Katsuki Bakugo and Shouto Todoroki.

"Who do you think will win?" Yoichi asked, eating a chip.

Izuku pondered. "It should be an even match. Both their powers favor large-scale destruction."

"It will be Bakugo." As expected, Hisashi couldn't resist talking any longer. "The other boy doesn't stand a real chance as long as he's only using half his quirk. I arranged for those two to fight in the semifinals for a reason. I need to eliminate Todoroki. Even with my strategies, Ochaco isn't ready to face him. Not yet, anyway." He smiled smugly.

"But you're betting on her to beat Kacchan? I'm rooting her on, too," Izuku said.

"You could say I'm quite certain of it." Hisashi's smile widened.

Yoichi felt uneasy. There was something in the air that he couldn't quite put his finger on. With fake cheer, he said, "Let's all cheer for Ochaco."

"I do not merely cheer." Hisashi crunched a chip with extra emphasis. "I know she has this competition in the bag."

"Well, it seems you were right about Kacchan winning the semifinals," Izuku said, observing Midnight call the match below.

Yoichi shifted in his seat. He had such a bad feeling. When his brother got this smug, he was always up to something.

On the stage, the final match of the Sports Festival began.

Ochaco charged forward at Katsuki, only to be blasted away. Getting up and wiping the dirt off her face, she charged again.

Around the audience came murmurs like "Poor girl" and "Why doesn't she just give up?" as Ochaco continued to be pummeled.

Irritated, Yoichi cheered even harder. "Go Ochaco!"

"That's my girl! Pulverize him!" Hisashi shouted. His confidence hadn't wavered at all.

Izuku nibbled on a chip as he watched intensely. "Oh, is that her strategy? Interesting."

"For the record, she thought of that tactic herself," Hisashi took another chip. "As expected of someone capable of catching my interest."

Yoichi wasn't sure what they were talking about, but his older brother would mock him if he had to ask. He stared more intently. That debris floating overhead—oh!

Sure enough, Ochaco put her fingers together and brought the rocks down on her opponent.

Katsuki raised his arm, about to blast the sky clear.

"Too bad, looks like she couldn't do it on her own. No matter." Hisashi hummed a jaunty little tune. "It's showtime."

The TV floating overhead, currently showing the match, flickered and changed. A computerized voice shouted, "We've interrupted this match with an important broadcast on Katsuki Bakugo's middle school history. This so-called hero relentlessly bullied a quirkless boy to the point of sending him to the hospital."

Katsuki's attack faltered. The debris came falling down on him, knocking him to the ground.

The entire stadium was a buzz of chatter. Yamada shouted, "Our broadcast has been hijacked! We're attempting to regain control."

The screen kept showing more images. Pictures of a younger Izuku with bruises and even a broken arm. A hospital report. Copies of Inko Midoriya's repeated complaints. Private emails from teachers at Aldera Middle School where they mocked her behind her back for having a quirkless son. Most damning of all, a video clip played of Katsuki telling Izuku to go kill himself.

But Yoichi wasn't looking or listening. He stared at Izuku's face, watching as it filled with horror.

Big brother, what have you done?

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: Hisashi Uses Emotional Manipulation! It's Super Effective!

Ochaco: I appreciate you wanting to help me with battle strategies, but I've decided to do this on my own. I want to see how far I can get without help.

Hisashi: You think I'm too young and stupid to be useful. (He wipes a tear from his eye.) I understand, there's no need to lie to spare my feelings. (Cue dramatic sniffling as if holding back tears.) It's just, I spent weeks working on these ideas, and you won't even look at them.

Ochaco: Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that! Here, let me see your notebook. I'll read all your ideas right now.

Hisashi: Hook, line and sinker!

#

Omake: The Fallout from the Shouto Conversation

Izuku: All Might, this is awkward but I need to know. Does One for All break condoms?

All Might: I wouldn't know, I've never worn one.

Izuku: OH MY GOD, SHOUTO WAS RIGHT, YOU'RE AN IRRESPONSIBLE MANWHORE.

All Might: I'm a sex-repulsed asexual and a virgin.

They stare at each other awkwardly.

All Might: I'm afraid I'm not the best person to answer questions about sex. Why don't you direct your condom inquiry at Aizawa?

Izuku: What a wonderful idea.

Aizawa: Don't even think about it. I'm not getting paid nearly enough.

#

Omake: Izuku Did Still Get to Talk to Endeavor Later

Endeavor: You'll be a good rival for my son—

Hisashi: (Shouldering him aside to reach Izuku first.) Excuse me, the important characters are having a conversation. All minor characters can wait over there until I'm done.

Author's Note: Better writers than me have already redone the Sports Festival. In fact, even I've done the Sports Festival before in Clone Blues. So I largely glossed over it except for the new bits. Assume that it otherwise went like canon.

Since Tensei was attending the Sports Festival, he never got paralyzed by Stain. But don't worry, Stain will still be appearing soon.

Ochaco bears a fair bit of resemblance to Inko in personality, and Hisashi has a type. That said, he is indeed far too young for her and this is a gen fic. Besides, I like Ochaco too much to inflict Hisashi on her. Zero romance will happen in this story. The baby villain with his first puppy crush will be strictly played for laughs.

Also, Ochaco's quirk makes absolutely no sense in canon. When she made Izuku weightless at the Entrance Exam, he should have just gone splat on the pavement unless she also stopped his velocity. And if she can stop velocity, then there's so much more she should be able to do, like flight or at least super jumps. It's odd none of the teachers at U.A. have noticed. Hisashi is the perfect person to help her figure out how her quirk works!

Yoichi's theory was correct: the quirk-enhancing power Izuku absorbed in chapter one was supposed to be temporary, but One for All stockpiled it and leveled up permanently as a result. This is also why Izuku has been getting dreams from One for All early. It will have some other side effects later.

As usual, Hisashi thinks he's protecting the people he cares about with what he did at the end, but he hasn't taken their wishes into account. Izuku doesn't want this one bit.