"What should we do?"
"Not sure. I mean..." Mom turned to me. Looked at me for a long moment, and then she asked, "Kyoka? What do you want to do?"
I thought about it for a minute. I've spent all my life in our little house in the suburbs. Aside from one or two hotel room trips, I've never lived away from home. Leaving it all behind, moving in to UA's campus, after everything that had happened? Part of me wanted to turn it down and get a nice long, quiet rest.
But on the other hand, I thought about my classmates, and our friendships. I thought about living right on-campus, close enough to walk and having places to study - getting tutored by Momoyao all the time, whenever I needed it...being able to go and ask my teachers a question whenever I had one, instead of trying to catch them at lunchtime...Hanging out with my friends every day after school, not having to get on a train if I wanted to join up with them...
Living in the same place with Yaomomo...
I tried not to let my heartbeat get too fast. I bet if my jack had been plugged in then it'd have sent a pretty big pulse through the room.
I looked up at Mom and Dad and tried to smile. "I think I wanna do it. If it's ok with you guys."
"Of course!" said Mom, though there was some sadness behind her "of course". Dad grinned and said, "You'll be living under All Might's supervision! That awesome dude, after that fight, man...I can't even imagine how great a hero you'll be with that dude teaching you!"
I rolled my eyes a bit. I mean, not that I didn't agree with dad and all, but as usual he was being super over-the-top about things.
"Try not to talk like that in front of him," said Mom, reading through the rest of the letter. "It says the teachers will be coming to talk the move over with us, in two days."
"Wha? All Might'll be in our house!?" gasped Dad. I was also thinking, I bet Eraserhead sensei will be here too...I mean, All Might's a cool teacher and awesome hero and all...but I can't help but feel like Aizawa-sensei's been there for us just as much, and the other teachers too...
Of course, people didn't really know Aizawa-sensei that well, that was the way he liked it. HIs Press conference appearance had been met by responses of many people trying to remember who exactly he was and what kind of hero work he did. I couldn't be too resentful about that, because like I said, that was the way he liked it. But still.
I'd kinda like to be that sorta hero, honestly...not getting all that publicity junk, just doing good work, saving people. I'm not really interested in being super famous. Though technically I already am.
Dad was still talking about All Might. "Don't worry dear, I'll be super cool in front of them! I won't embarass Kyoka or nothing."
"Yeah, sure," I grinned. I hate to admit it, but dad's so good at embarassing me I'm pretty much used to it by now. He tried to get defensive and all, of course, cause he'd rather be a 'cool dad'. Anyway, him and Mom got to talking about how we'd pack stuff up and what I should take, and I let my mind wander away again.
I wonder if my other friends' parents will let them come? After everything, and all...
As soon as I could, I called Yaomomo.
"Did you get the news in the mail?"
"Yes, indeed. Uchimura brought it to us this morning. Mother's been talking about it with Father."
"Do you think they'll let you go?"
"I'd imagine they will..." She didn't sound too excited.
"Are you gonna come?"
"Of course, if they agree. I suppose we'll be living together then...in a 'dorm room'."
She said the words like she'd never heard of them before. Like it was the second time she'd said them.
"Yeah, you know...a bunch of little bedrooms that share the same living room."
"I see, so - not like our lodge, then?"
"Nah, nah. We'll have our own spaces. Some of them share bathrooms, but -"
"Share bathrooms?!" she gasped. "Probably not here," I said quickly.
"Ah. Well, it will perhaps be good for our learning...we'll come to be better as pro heroes and students, after all."
"Yeah, it'll be convenient. Maybe it'll be fun, all of us living together."
"Indeed...I rather like the idea of living with you, actually."
I went pretty red. "M-m-me too."
"Do you think your parents will permit it?"
"Yeah. They're pretty into the idea, especially cause of All Might. Cause of that battle and alll."
I hesitated, then checked with my headphone jack. My folks weren't listening, too busy practicing for the concert on Saturday.
"What was that like? Up close?"
She was quiet for a minute. Then she said, "Godlike."
"Huh? Really?"
"We only saw them fight for a few minutes, All Might and that villain, but it was a bit like being next to a hurricane. It was rather hard to believe anyone could have that kind of power. Nothing I've been near has ever compared...Even some of our classmates, like Todoroki..."
She paused, then seemed to be thinking about something. Then she spoke.
"Jirou, have you ever noticed that Midoriya's power is very much like All Might sensei's?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, of course. Why?"
"All Might's power up close reminded me of his, you see. The few times I've seen him use it...he used it against my team in the Cavalry battle, to break Todoroki's defense. It has the same force."
"So what're you saying, that Midoriya and All Might are related or something?"
"No, I don't think they're related. I can't imagine All Might abandoning a child of his own, or that Midoriya, who is such a huge fan of his, would not have told everyone already."
"They it's just a coincidence," I pointed out. "There are lots of similar quirks."
"I have a theory," she murmured.
"About Midoriya and All Might? What?"
"Did you hear that Miss Ragdoll completely lost the ability to use her power? They spoke about it as though the Villain who All Might fought had "taken" it away. As if he had the ability to remove quirks. All Might's quirk has seemed to vanish as well.
"How do you know that?"
"It was on the news. It's not just that he was too injured. He absolutely cannot use his quirk anymore. They also spoke about the NOomu - and I remember about hte one that chased me - that they possessed multiple quirks, that they were a combination of more than one. In fact, they seem to believe that the villain All Might fought can remove powers and also - grant them to other people "
"Honestly, I don't see where you're going with this. What does that have to do with All Might and Midoriya? You saying he stole All Might's power? Doesn't make sense - if he had All Might wouldn't have been able to beat him. Or that he gave Midoriya his power? I mean, Midoriya's a pretty great guy, no way he'd take a power from a supervillain."
"I merely bring it up to illustrate that somehow it seems, it's possibel to - to give quirks to other people. I've been wondering if perhaps - you remember what All Might said after Kamino? That it was 'your turn'?"
"Of course."
"What if he somehow gave his quirk to Midoriya?"
I sat there kinda stunned.
"That seems like a bit of a leap."
"I know it is. It might be mad. But it would explain a lot of things about - about Midoriya's quirk that don't make sense. Particularly the way it seems to break his body, as if he's new to using it and it has yet to become compatible with his body."
"Maybe," I said, but I wasn't really sure.
"Well, it's a theory," she said, as if shaking it off. "Anyway, good luck with Aizawa sensei and All Might."
"You too."