HaremMistress: GIRLS! GIRLS!
DevotedSlave: ?
BabyFactory: Yes?
HaremMistress: I'm in my room rn, I just had a talk with Zuku
HaremMistress: About US.
Devoted Slave: Oh?
BabyFactory: Did he agree? Can I start working on our baby?
HaremMistress: Our silly cinnamon roll still thought that we were just teasing him and weren't serious about it, ha! :D
HaremMistress: I explained that we are serious, he went super shy and blushed like crazy (I love when he does that) and said that he has to think about it!
DevotedSlave: So he didn't say no?
HaremMistress: yep
DevotedSlave: It's working, then.
HaremMistress: YEP, just a few more steps and he's in
HaremMistress: And then… then we can do things!
DevotedSlave: things… like?
HaremMistress: Well, you know. Things.
DevotedSlave: …
DevotedSlave: Excuse me for asking the question, but I really have to.
DevotedSlave: Did the two of you ACTUALLY have sex with each other?
HaremMistress: uhm
HaremMistress: define sex
DevotedSlave: …..
DevotedSlave: unbefuckinglievable
DevotedSlave: You know, I got some tidbits about your past and I'm getting serious suspicions that no one has ever gave you The Talk
DevotedSlave: Kurogiri's nice guy, but I can't picture him explaining how 'things' work from a girl's side
HaremMistress: weeeell
DevotedSlave: So I want you AND the BabyFactory in my room in 15 minutes.
DevotedSlave: I'm going to explain 'things' to you.
HaremMistress: oh okay
BabyFactory: M'kay
(***)
Izuku entered the living room in the morning, to see Tenko playing on a console (probably still, at least judging from the amount of empty energy drink cans surrounding him) and Mustard trying to inebriate himself. With soda.
It wasn't working well.
"Did you see Himiko?" He asked the gas user. Mustard shook his head. Izuku decided to give up. He had no idea where his girlfriend vanished and honestly, he wasn't sure if he was so keen on hanging out with her. Not after yesterday. He needed time to cool himself down.
She wasn't in the room when he returned to it after spending three hours talking with Mirio and then playing some online game with him. God bless Gremlin for how untraceable she made the local internet connection.
His father would have broken him out of the prison just to give him a stern talking about getting caught due to playing a videogame with the soon-to-be Symbol of Peace. Lots of people would die in the process.
Himiko wasn't there in the morning, either.
"Wonderful." Izuku sighs. "So how's your life going, Mustard?"
"Are you trying to make me into a temporary replacement for your missing girlfriend for entertainment purposes?" Mustard replies, obviously trying to be an ass about it. His parental issue makes him react with hostility to anything relationship-oriented.
"Are you asking for real or is that one of your conspiracy theories?" Mustard's eyes cloud at the worlds implying that he doesn't believe in his conspiracy theories. "Okay, okay, chill, stop looking at me like you want to murder me. Just kidding."
He pours some of the soda and drinks it alongside the breakfast (made by Kurogiri, the League's collective guardian angel). He is halfway there when his brain catches up.
"Wait, why are you here?" He asks and Mustard stares at him. "Shouldn't you be at school?"
"Fuck school, man." Mustard replies confidently. His nickname on the chatroom didn't come from nowhere. "I was a good boy for a while, so nobody will bat an eye on me not going once or twice now. Pros of having a notable hero as a parent, everyone treats you like your bones are made of glass. Besides, Kurogiri's breakfasts are awesome. Way better than what I get at home."
Kurogiri nods with acknowledgement and satisfaction. Then he returns to eyeing the bar while waiting for someone to approach him and ask about something. He is like the most stereotypical bartender from some films or games. Always there to talk with you and offer you something to drink.
"Mom's not going to look for you?" Izuku asks and he sees Mustard's face flinch in anger. But move, Izuku, very bad.
"First of all, Midnight's not my mom." Mustard replies with a badly hidden anger. "My mom's dead. Second of all, she is busy working. She is always busy working. Either as a teacher, or as a hero, or as some fucking poster girl of 'sex positivity' or whatever bullshit she talks about so often. She will certainly not notice me missing school one day, just as she didn't notice that I stood in front of her in my villain outfit. She didn't notice me even when she watched the recording of the attack and saw me use my quirk on the explodoboy. So can we talk about something else, please?"
Izuku is willing to oblige. They spend twenty minutes talking about Mustard's newest conspiracy theory (this time it's about Kurogiri being Nedzu with some weird support item letting him warp around, using the League to learn how to interact with humans). Izuku starts to suspect that Mustard's just mentally bored and so ends up twisting the reality in some particularly insane way to kill time and test his wits in the game of 'justify it and find some Evidence'.
Izuku thinks that he hoped deep enough that Midnight would recognize him just to finally have a reason to abandon his life fully. No longer bother with school. Just hang out with the League, the only place where he has friends who actually treat him right. It was, in Izuku's opinion, contradictory. Mustard hoped to free himself from never being noticed by her by being noticed by her, just in the negative way. Then again, he isn't one to judge.
Perhaps Mustard just wants to see her face twist in realization. He is a bit of a sadist when it comes to things like that.
"Izuku." Kurogiri takes advantage of silence to speak. "I know this might be unwise, considering Mustard being here, but I believe that we need to talk about my… organization."
Mustard flinches as if he just smelled something rotten. Izuku gives him a disappointed stare. Then he turns towards Unclegiri.
"What do you want to talk about?" Izuku knows it's going to be something interesting, Kurogiri wouldn't interrupt him for something not interesting.
"I've talked with Giran and some similar acquaintances." Kurogiri says from behind his bar. "They appear to be… intrigued. League has enough of a reputation for them to risk a long-term investment. They are working on figuring out where to host the Academy and how to get people in and out of it. We're probably going to do a pilot class, of about twenty students, to see how things are going to work out. Giran got me a list of various thugs, thieves and other small-time villains to potentially recruit students from. And I believe that the first class would certainly gain a lot from having you look through the list and assess their quirks and general potential."
Izuku was sold the second he heard the words 'assess their quirks'.
He spent two hours going through the files prepared by Giran, while also looking through the internet for some videos of events mentioned in the text. The list wasn't created recently, if anything Izuku suspected that it was some form of Giran-owned database of interesting people.
He didn't know that the information broker ramped up his operations that much. Maybe the gossip of the information brokers out there having their own, well-funded organization (and merely being faces for it) were true? It really didn't matter to the task at hand, but Izuku couldn't help but salivate when thinking about the amount of knowledge that would have to be possessed by such a group.
He ended up throwing out a lot of people. Some were too crazy. Others too unruly or clearly too dumb to learn anything useful. Some had other issues (like being quirkist assholes or potential police informants). In the end he narrowed the list to twenty people who seemed to have potential. In terms of quirks, but… not always.
It was a fun distraction.
He was almost done with it when he saw Himiko enter the living room. She looked like she just tried fist-fighting Stain. Just without blood. Mostly exhaustion and messed up clothes. She resembled Mindscrew, but looked slightly better.
Izuku was about to call her when she saw him. She froze midstep, went beet red, then turned back and ran out of the base's living room.
What just happened?
"Sorry boss." It was Blueberry. She looked only marginally better than Himiko. "Had a sleepover. With her and Gremlin. Stayed a bit too long." She managed to reach the bar. Kurogiri somehow had a cup of coffee at the ready. "Oh, just what I need, thank you." It's amusing to see how quickly she got used to being here.
"Do I want to ask why she reacted like that?" Izuku asks. The fact that all three apparent members of ha… his fanclub took part in said sleepover is, to say the least, suspicious.
"I had to give her The Talk." Blueberry replies with a slightly sleepy voice. "Her knowledge on what sex is was… terrifyingly incomplete. I fixed that. No need to thank me." She yawns loudly before continuing. "Give her a few days to figure out what to do with the new knowledge and she'll probably stop being incapacitated by her overactive imagination after seeing you."
Oh great, he thinks. Himiko now actually knows what sex is. So much about her thinking that cuddling under a quilt and watching films together is the peak of a relationship. So when the time comes she will want to take a step forward and then… then he isn't sure what to do about it.
Why was his adopted family messed up so much? He loves them all, but sometimes he wishes there was someone who actually worked as he should. For a change. Unfortunately he can't invite Mirio to hang out at the bar, at least not without kidnapping him. And kidnapping him regularly would just ruin his image as a soon-to-be Number One Hero.
Worst of all, he still can't find Overhaul. It's as if that man vanished on them. Heroes were stupefied as well. Did he have another warp quirk at hand? Five thousand soldiers do not disappear without a trace in a single day. And something in the I-Island attack worries him more than he'd like to admit.
He isn't used to the silence. He thinks that it's preceding a storm.
(***)
Akatani Mikumo: I don't like it.
Mirio Togata: Being terminally bad in this game does that to people.
Akatani Mikumo: Okay, so point one, it's mostly about how silent things are recently in the country, I feel like everything's going to explode tomorrow or the day after
Akatani Mikumo: and point two stop being so smug about being so good in video games you ass
Akatani Mikumo: Seriously, how, you didn't strike me as a gamer
Mirio Togata: my best friend has enough social anxiety for at least twenty people, we've been playing a lot of games together because he needs some interactions but can barely speak up when he sees people
Akatani Mikumo: oh I see, that's kinda admirable
Mirio Togata: and since i started playing video games a lot, I decided to be the best in them I can
Akatani Mikumo: … Plus Ultra?
Mirio Togata: yes!
Akatani Mikumo: Stop being this damn cool ghrrrr
Mirio Togata: …
Mirio Togata: So, noumus?
Akatani Mikumo: What?
Mirio Togata: Noumus. I want to know more.
Akatani Mikumo: why do you have to bring politics into this
Mirio Togata: it's not politics but heroics and you know it
Mirio Togata: We've been talking and playing games for like a week now
Mirio Togata: But I'm still trying to fish for information.
Akatani Mikumo: hmmm
Akatani Mikumo: Some development on your side concerning them, hm?
Mirio Togata: I can say yes or no, but by telling you something I want something in return
Akatani Mikumo: you realize that I can just, like, lie?
Mirio Togata: yes, but I also believe that this is unlikely.
Akatani Mikumo: hm
Akatani Mikumo: Fine, so let's do a question for a question
Akatani Mikumo: What do you want to know?
Mirio Togata: who is making them
Akatani Mikumo: Dunno his real name. I call him Doctor Evil. Quite a scientific genius, like Overhaul. Internet acquaintance of mine pretty much, I inherited him from someone and I'm currently trying to find out where he lives to punch him out or rat him to the heroes. He is a psycho.
Mirio Togata: Hmm that would fit what we know, thank you.
Mirio Togata: your question?
Akatani Mikumo: did you ever get to see your predecessors?
Mirio Togata: what?
Akatani Mikumo: ok so secondary question: are you in on the details of how Overhaul 'survived'
Mirio Togata: yes?
Akatani Mikumo: He is carrying a single added quirk, transferred with enough personality to overwrite Chrono completely.
Akatani Mikumo: You are carrying a quirk that formerly belonged to anywhere between five and thirty heroes
Akatani Mikumo: I refuse to believe that there is nothing left of them
Akatani Mikumo: odd dreams, thoughts that aren't yours, strange reactions to mental quirks, is your body reacting to the quirk differently than All Might's, any hallucinations or smth?
Mirio Togata: is this going to be a 'let's tilt your world upside down' talk
Akatani Mikumo: Vampire said that talking with me about quirks is dangerous. Something about me coming along and casually telling her that her quirk is actually a complex mutant one rather than a transformative one
Mirio Togata: …
Mirio Togata: yeah, I can see how that can be shocking
Mirio Togata: as for an answer
Mirio Togata: I did start having odd dreams after Hosu, but I remember only snippets of those. I think I remember seeing Nana Shimura once or twice, but I thought that it's just because I now knew her face (you showed me the pics while I was… visiting the League)
Mirio Togata: no thoughts that aren't mine
Mirio Togata: I was hit by a mental quirk during training two weeks ago, a form of mental invasion thing. The guy screamed and passed out, but doesn't remember what happened, only some faint voices (but not what it said)
Mirio Togata: All Might had full power from the start, while I'm struggling with bone-breaking and only slowly raise the max power level I can reach
Mirio Togata: no hallucinations
Akatani Mikumo: this is incredibly, incredibly fascinating
Mirio Togata: you don't say?
Akatani Mikumo: I now think that you'll be the last holder of this quirk (does it have any name?)
Mirio Togata: One for All. And why?
Akatani Mikumo: Cool name! And as for why… I believe it finally matured.
Mirio Togata: matured?
Akatani Mikumo: If my theory is correct, past generations of its users were using it in its still developing form. It was stockpiling power in preparations of something, but was also letting its users tap into said power
Akatani Mikumo: your body seems to find it hard to use One for All's power properly unlike AM's, because you are dealing with something vastly different than he did
Mirio Togata: It's not that much different in mechanics though?
Akatani Mikumo: because you barely start to explore the new avenues
Akatani Mikumo: you started having some faint dreams about past users after you put your back into it and used maximum power available during our duel in Hosu, probably pushing One for All/your body adaptation to it through some threshold
Akatani Mikumo: Those dreams should grow clearer as your body and quirk adapt to each other better (I can't with full certainty say that the long-term damage thing is still a think rn, because your quirk changed vastly and it seems to be changing you in the process)
Akatani Mikumo: also I don't think those are dreams, those are past holders of the One for All trying to communicate with you
Akatani Mikumo: you should try to confirm it, there are mental trainings and drugs to make you remember dreams better clearer
Mirio Togata: So if you're correct, I'm going to deal with anywhere between five and twenty-five voices in my head, yes?
Akatani Mikumo: heroic voices, so no body hijacking and I think that they'll stop talking if you ask them, probably?
Mirio Togata: …
Mirio Togata: Reassuring.
Akatani Mikumo: you should also ask David Shield about regular testing of your quirk factor (I think something about it was in the Overhaul's research data), and if my theory is correct, each time you use One for All in its fully matured state, it enhances and enlarges your quirk factor. In preparation.
Mirio Togata: preparation for?
Akatani Mikumo: We know that it has stockpiled strength of the past users. I'm almost certain that it also stockpiled their memories, perhaps personalities (call it a soul if you want to, because honesty it could as well be that).
Akatani Mikumo: And I'm willing to bet a lot of money that it also stockpiled their quirks.
Mirio Togata: Oh
Mirio Togata: OH
Akatani Mikumo: I wouldn't be surprised if the dreams didn't start because your quirk factor reached the size when it can safely fit first quirk out of many, but you still have some communications problem to fix and they don't want to push a quirk onto you without explanation
Akatani Mikumo: you should check that immediately!
Mirio Togata: Wait so you told me something about the noumus AND in exchange you told me a lot about my quirk?
Mirio Togata: what? how's that an exchange
Akatani Mikumo: but I like talking about quirks and yours is super cool
Mirio Togata: …
Mirio Togata: You are making it really hard for me to try to put up the righteous heroic zeal thing when I'm thinking about you.
Akatani Mikumo: awww.
Akatani Mikumo: what's your opinion about friendship bracelets
Mirio Togata: don't push it
Akatani Mikumo: :(
Mirio Togata: I'm going to do… some experiments
Akatani Mikumo: Tell me the results! [if it works, you can tell AM that I helped you and even about this convo, it might be hard to explain what happened otherwise sigh]
(***)
Mirio Togata takes some special pills from Recovery Girl (without asking what they are). Then makes some other preparations that were supposed to be helpful in remembering dreams/lucid dreaming that he found on the internet.
He doesn't exactly expect success. Words of Legion (who is a SUPERVILLAIN, stop looking forward to talking with him, Mirio!) are nice, but honestly, what are the chances of them being true?
Then he opens his eyes within the ruins of a city. The sky over it is red, and the ground itself is twisted and broken in horrifying forms. He can see some massive damages in the nearest buildings that appear to be recent.
"Is that all?" He hears a thundering voice. The blood in his veins freezes cold. There is a figure floating in the air, one wearing a black suit and familiar white hair. "I expected something more from one of my brother's descendants, Miss Shimura."
Mirio's eyes drift to where All for One's rest. He recognizes the bloodied figure standing amidst the broken concrete. She must have been thrown into the floor with enough strength for it to break around her, but she still managed to stand. It's hard to say if she fought a battle or was tortured - the blood and wounds are everywhere. Her arms are broken.
"He escaped." Nana replies. Her voice is weak, held up only by willpower of steel. "I no longer carry the quirk. You'll kill me, but Yagi will stop you."
"Words that I heard oh so many times before." All Might laughs… in a bloodcurdling way. "Well, watching you say goodbyes to your beloved student and totally-not-an-adopted-son was good entertainment, at least. One for All holders always make for a decent comic relief. There is a reason why I'm always letting them transfer the quirk before I end their existence." His arms begin to shift as he calls upon his quirks. "Now perish."
Nana Shimura makes a last, pained smile. Then she is overtaken by an explosion of black electricity, after which darkness envelops everything around Mirio.
When it parts, Mirio is in a large room filled with chairs. They are numbered - the largest number he sees is twenty-seven, but it is empty. The others aren't, but no matter how much he focuses on them, he can't say what the people on them look like. It's as if some perception-altering quirk hides them from him.
The only exception is the number twenty-six. She recognized the woman, though she carries no wounds this time. And there is a heartwarming smile on her face rather than the expression of someone who knows they will die, but refuses to be broken before that.
"Not my proudest of days, you know." Nana says while standing up from her seat and approaching Mirio. "I really thought that I could win. And I probably could. Some additional allies aside from Gran Torino and Yagi, some different plan... " She shakes his head. "No use being angry about it right now, am I right?" Her smile grows even wider.
Mirio tries to answer but discovers that he can't.
"Don't try that, kid." She says quickly. "There'll be a time when we'll be able to talk with each other, but not now. We both rushed this meeting from our sides, so… well, shortcuts, am I right?" She laughs, and Mirio decides that he missed out some internal joke.
"As you already figured it out, Legion was correct about the One for All." Nana continues. "Twenty-seven past users. Seventeen quirks. Inheriting the whole thing will take decades, but we decided to start as soon as possible. Japan seems to be a bit messy recently, so you have to be able to protect yourself properly. We didn't spend two centuries on keeping the line alive for someone to extinguish it right before the destination, right?"
He wouldn't like it either.
"So, you'll get my quirk when you wake up." Nana says before giving him a slap in the back. "It's great! You'll love it. Yagi always said that it was awesome, and if your face wasn't a copy of your dad's I'd have suspected that you are his secret love child!" She freezes and looks back at the assembly of chairs behind her. "I'M ON IT, ASSHOLE! I can finally talk with Yagi's successor, give me that one damn moment, Lariat! Or I swear to everything swearable to that I'll punch you so hard that you'll die from starvation while still in the air!" She adds while waving a fist threateningly.
She turns back to face him. He is only slightly intimidated.
"But there are two things that you need to know." She says to Lemillion. Her face, while still smiling, appears significantly more… serious than earlier. "First is the fact that Legion is All for One's son… and has inherited his quirk."
Lemillion stares at her in horror. She smacks the top of head with her first.
"Don't give me that look, kid! You ought to smile more." She says with a smirk. "One for All and All for One are two sides of the same coin. We can tell a lot about the other merely by coming into physical contact. He has only ten quirks, including the one he was born with. Eight weren't stolen by willingly given to him. We only have flashes of memories associated with their former holders after the contact, but we're almost certain that the Legion got them from terminally ill people in palliative care wards or hospitals in general. There was no resistance to the transfer process, and the people in question weren't very emotionally invested with their quirks, so I don't think that there are any minds to speak off attached to said quirks. The last quirk is an exception."
Lemillion knows which quirk she talks about before she says it.
"The last one belonged to the monster that recently returned to the world of the living." She says. Overhaul, Lemillion understands. "We got to witness a lot of Overhaul's memories when Legion used his quirks to shatter your bones. Once that happened, we voted 24:2 to let this one act of stealing a quirk slide. And the remaining two are still highly conflicted over it. Considering almost all of us died trying to stop All for On from stealing quirks, that should say a lot about Overhaul."
It does. At last to Lemillion.
"Now, One for All is a 'heroic' quirk, at least in theory." Nana continues. "I hate labels like that, way too many people with 'villainous' quirks end up villains over that. But the point is, there were times when the word 'hero' meant something else or meant nothing at all. The Twenty-Seven were all heroes by heart, but some were called 'vigilantes', 'villains', 'terrorists' and so on by the world. We have some mixed feelings about seeing someone with an All for One not being a maniacal and mass-murdering force of nature, but most of us are in a way looking forward to seeing what he does next. Yoichi especially is just giddy to watch his nephew. OH YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT YOU REVERSE BROCON!" She shouts at the invisible crowd.
"Legion is a villain, yes." She says while turning to Mirio again. "And he has to be stopped. But thus far, we've seen nothing suggesting that he should be made an absolute priority, like his father used to be. Nothing suggesting that he should be killed rather than just arrested. But we are still worried about him having that quirk, so… watch him and make sure he isn't trying to walk in his father's footsteps fully, alright? You should be way stronger than he is right now, so stopping him, if you can find him, shouldn't be that hard."
Lemillion agrees with that statement.
"The second bit is a bit more personal. I need to deliver some messages from me." Nana leans forward. "Tell Gran Torino that I thank him for saving Yagi during that battle. For helping him finish school. For helping him fight when he returned from America. For helping you figure out how to use One for All properly. And that I'm sorry that I couldn't be there with him." Her smile is still there, but it is filled with sorrow. "I'll get to meet Yagi personally sooner or later, so just tell him to better prepare some sensible explanation about that party in the US. I saw it all. From the first person perspective. And I have many questions, starting from 'What the hell, Yagi?!'"
There is a history behind those words, one that Lemillion is really interested in knowing.
"The last message is to Legion." Nana adds after a few seconds. "Though I suspect that Gran will end up having to know about it too. Tell him that I disagree with his little murderous crusade and I would have punched him in the face if I met him while being alive… but I sincerely thank him for resurrecting Gran Torino in Hosu." Lemillion isn't sure if he heard that correctly. "Neither of you noticed that, but we know that Stain killed Gran. I know that Sorahiko wouldn't have died in the first place if not for Legion attacking the city, but he still almost killed himself through quirk exhaustion to save a hero. One of his father's greatest enemies, in fact. It's probably what persuaded most of the Twenty-Seven to give the kid a chance."
"And now that we're past the depressive stuff… "Nana puts her fingers at the edges of her mouth and pushes them up. "SMILE!"
Then he wakes up. On the ceiling of his room. Explaining this is going to be a pain in the ass.
(***)
1. Mustard can't be Midnight's son due to her being too young. So... let's make him adopted son, and actually a biological nephew that she picked up after his parents died. Yes, I'm brilliant.
2. Much more Holders, though it's mostly the recent ones AND Yoichi (so the canon ones) that are important. In this universe quirks are around for close to two centuries, and so was the One for All and All for One. The former is only there because All for One considered its existence to be something to lift him out of boredom and never seriously tried to end it. Boy how much that was a mistake on his part, lol.
3. Yes, Izuku. This silence IS preceding a storm.