Chapter 6: Gifts

"That's not entirely true", Toshinori said, holding up a hand to forestall either questions or false hope. "But it's not entirely wrong either. Perhaps we should sit down and I can explain?"

Yawarakai led his son to the couch where the boy sat down heavily. His father sat down beside him, draping an arm around the boy's shoulder and gently squeezing. Toshinori sat down across from them and cleared his throat.

"I got into the general studies course, didn't I?" The boy preempted him without preamble, eyes fixed on the floor in front of him.

Toshinori faltered, "Er, yes." He shot a quick glance at Yawarakai who had a tight frown on his lips. "But that's only part of the reason I came here tonight."

"You're going to tell me that I still have a chance to get in," Hitoshi sighed, "The sports festival."

Toshinori cleared his throat, "Yes." He waited to be cut off again, but Hitoshi sagged and remained silent for the moment, "I thought I'd offer to continue training you until then. Would you be willing to continue?"

He received the barest of nods, and Yawarakai frowned, "Son, he's offering you quite a gift."

Hitoshi sighed and looked vaguely frustrated, "The odds are terrible. Outside of one class five years ago when twenty students from the incoming course were dropped the average has been one transfer every other year."

Toshinori frowned, "You seem well informed."

"UA is a public institution; I checked the admission records and cross-referenced the graduation records. It was…" Hitoshi hesitated, "it was my backup plan for Izuku if he didn't get into the hero course." He glanced at Toshinori, looking vaguely pained, "It's not that I didn't trust you, but other people…" He trailed off and looked away.

Toshinori nodded, "You've been treated unfairly because of your quirk. I can understand that." He reached into his jacket and pulled out the envelope he'd brought, "I was hoping this would help."

"My admission letter?" Shinsou sounded less than enthused.

"Yes, but also a gift." Toshinori gave the father and son a crooked grin as he handed the letter over to Yawarakai, "Inside that envelope are excerpted transcripts from the heroes who were monitoring the exam, everything they said about you during the exam."

Hitoshi's languor disappeared in an instant, his eyes snapping open, "What did they say?"

"You read it, or better yet," He glanced at Yawarakai, "You read it to him. I think you both deserve to hear it."

Yawarakai blinked a few times, turning the envelope over in his hands, "This couldn't possibly have been easy for you to get."

Toshinori shrugged, "I know some people." That didn't seem to satisfy the man, but he held his tongue, so Toshinori pushed himself up off the plush sofa, "I think I'll leave you to it then. Shinsou, I'll let you take tomorrow off, we can resume training Tuesday."

Yawarakai was silent until after Toshinori left, "So, do you want me to read it?" Hitoshi looked at him anxiously, then nodded silently. Yawarakai gave him a reassuring smile, tearing the envelope and putting the admission letter aside. The gift was a scant few pages stapled together. The names of the heroes were redacted, but there timestamps next to the comments. The gaps in time alone made it clear that only the comments pertaining to his son were there. He turned the document over; making sure it was at the start and then began to read.

The analysis was a mix of clinical and casual, heroes discussing amongst themselves, not expecting outside eyes to see it. They had someone keep an eye on him from the start, waiting to comment again until he was moving to control someone. They speculated about his son's strategy and choice of target, his reaction to the first one pointer he encountered how he snared another applicant and armed himself with a part of the destroyed robot. There were redactions within the text, probably about the boy he had controlled, and it picked up awkwardly in between sentences. There came grudging compliments about how 'he' handled the second robot, having the controlled boy disable it so he could destroy it. Then came a relaxation, almost praise when they realized Hitoshi had let the boy go, even going so far as to wish the confused boy good luck before running off to another target.

More gaps, he turned a page, Hitoshi came across someone he hadn't been able to see, referenced as a girl that he had questioned and then, presumably, released. They focused on his questioning; they noted he needed to be more careful in how he phrased things, something he knew Midoriya had mentioned several times, but also that the ability to question someone in the field like that could be a life saver. They wondered when he had released her, just as unable to see her as his son had been, but assumed he had dropped it as he had run off. They gave him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't holding her to delay her. They gave him the benefit of the doubt.

He cleared his throat, turning another page. It was remarked that he had just entered the main battle area and quickly snared another applicant, apparently for good reason, if he could read between the redacted lines. He followed the same procedure as the first robot he had destroyed, gaining another couple of points. The heroes seemed to lament that he wasn't going to pass; he wasn't earning points fast enough. But they appreciated that he wasn't ruining anyone else's chances. They weren't even begrudging that he was using his quirk.

He turned another page, the last. Hitoshi had found one of the larger robots and was going for it, using what he had learned from the invisible applicant. It cut off abruptly. He turned the pages back over. Hitoshi was silent, not looking at him, his shoulders gently shaking. "That's it." He hesitated, listening to his son sob silently, "What do you think?"

Hitoshi looked up at him, eyes shimmering with tears, a smile fixed on his lips, "Read it again dad."

"Bye mom!" Izuku shouted, pulling the door closed behind him. He looked at Hitoshi, his friend's lazy smile catching him off guard, "You didn't call back last night."

Hitoshi chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry. I got distracted." They started heading out, but Shinsou could tell Izuku's curiosity had been peaked. He would have to break the bad news eventually, "Toshinori dropped by last night. He brought my acceptance letter." Izuku's face lit up, and Hitoshi sighed wistfully, "General studies."

"What?!" Izuku stopped, startled, "But, I thought-"

"It's fine." Hitoshi cut him off, "There will be another opportunity in a few months. The sports festival, remember?"

"Yeah, but-"

He waved Izuku off, "Toshinori offered to continue training me in preparation." Izuku opened his mouth again, but he lifted the sheets of paper his father had given him in the morning and offered them to Midoriya, "More importantly he gave me that."

"What is it?" Izuku mumbled distractedly, flipping it around a few times checking he was looking at the start, "It's like a secret document from a spy film."

"Sort of." Izuku glanced at him and Hitoshi smirked, "Most people don't get to see how the teachers evaluated them." Izuku stopped dead, jaw dropping for an instant before looking back at the page, "He wanted to give me a pick me up after letting me know I didn't get in. He even suggested dad read it to me."

He may as well not have been talking. Being able to glean actual insight from heroes had thoroughly captured Izuku's interest. Hitoshi chuckled, watching his friend scan the page, then read it again before flipping to the next. He stopped in the middle and shot Hitoshi a dirty look, "Phrasing."

"I know, I know. I was panicking." He smirked, "Still, it could have been worse. I could have given her a vague order that made her take her clothes off."

Izuku twitched and slowly turned to glower at him, "I thought we agreed that never happened."

Hitoshi feigned confusion, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Izuku retained his scowl for a moment longer before his curiosity reasserted control over his annoyance and he returned to looking at the document. He finished it up quickly, frowning with far less intensity, "It sort of cuts out at the end."

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't able to score any more points, but it wouldn't have mattered." And the reason he hadn't been able to continue competing wouldn't be getting through either, while the girl that had saved him likely would.

Izuku frowned, "I just wish the test would have been able to judge you fairly…"

Hitoshi perked an eyebrow, "Come again? You got in without a quirk."

Izuku laughed nervously, simultaneously ducking and scratching the back of his head, "Haha, yeah… I guess…" He cleared his throat, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Will your dad be home after school?"

Hitoshi stared at him for a moment, "I don't think so…"

Izuku seemed to light up, "Ah, can we hang out at your place after school then?" Hitoshi shrugged, watching him warily. There was definitely something odd going on. "Sounds good," Izuku handed back the small packet, "we should really get to class though."

Toshinori's phone buzzed, his own voice announcing, "A message is here! A message is here!" He would spend most of the next few minutes getting sick of that as Izuku sent text after text. It started off with a simple message that he was going to tell Hitoshi that he got a quirk. That made Toshinori cringe, but another text rolled in seconds later, hasty misspelled words trying to clarify that he had to, that Hitoshi would find out eventually. It was like proactive hero work, get ahead of problems and you can more easily control them. The boy was very clearly worried about his response to all of this.

He almost got his first text finished when the fourth rolled in, his phone announcing it like it had the others. He would use the same trick as last time. Just because he had randomly developed a quirk at the most important moment of his life didn't mean it was One for All after all. That was a relief. Having never revealed himself as All Might to his mother or either Shinsou helped. He began to delete his message requesting the boy remain silent, but of course another message arrived, apologizing to him if he was busy, and that he saw that Toshinori was typing. He tried to text again, admittedly not one of his specialties, his fingers always seemed too large for the miniscule buttons that counted as keyboards today, when yet another message came in, asking if he was angry.

He could imagine the boy having a panic attack and breaking down in tears. He sighed. He figured he could type No in before Midoriya texted again at least.

He was wrong of course, but only because Izuku had hit send when his teacher had reached across the room and smacked the phone out of his hand.

Midoriya was anxious. That, in and of itself, was not too unusual. Of course it occurred most often when he was around Katsuki, especially during the rare occasions when Katsuki got him alone, but that clearly wasn't the case today. Hitoshi noted he had been… unusually taciturn after his performance in the exam had been mentioned, and had avoided the topic like the plague since. And then he'd pulled out his phone in the middle of class and started texting. To whom he wouldn't say, offering a guilty laugh as he dodged the question. He'd been so engrossed in the conversation that he didn't even notice the teacher was onto him until the phone was knocked out of his hand.

The teacher had looked practically disgusted, and it was only an absurdly fast move by Izuku that allowed him to turn it off rather than giving it to the teacher to be read to the entire class. The teacher had rolled his eyes and put the phone on his desk, continuing his lecture and saying that he'd mention it to the principal.

Midoriya looked stricken, slumping over his desk in defeat so palpable that Hitoshi risked sneaking his own phone over to him. Izuku had balked at the proposal, hurriedly backtracking over his obvious defeat that he feigned being chipper for the rest of class. Hitoshi had merely shrugged and pocketed the phone before the teacher saw it too.

The day dragged, and it was fraying at Hitoshi's nerves because it was fraying at Izuku's so much worse. He seemed fixated on his phone, the teacher's refusal to hand it back during their lunch period had apparently been a body blow. "Can I borrow yours? I just… need to make a call." Then he hesitated and shook his head, "Never mind. It can wait." He seemed less than certain of that, and was positively miserable throughout lunch.

It wasn't until class ended, and Izuku spent time cleaning, that the teacher returned the phone. He looked relieved and panicked all at once, placating Hitoshi by telling him he'd be right back when he instead hid somewhere for the next fifteen minutes. It was one of the weirdest days he'd spent with Izuku, maybe not the weirdest, but certainly within the top five. Izuku was drained when he returned, though not nearly as bad as he had been when he thought he had failed.

"You're sure your dad isn't home?"

"I can call him if you want." Hitoshi smiled, "Though it would be a lot easier if you could tell me what the hell is going on."

Izuku cringed, but shook his head, "Alone, okay? I need to tell you something important. Privately."

That was… worrisome. Had he not really passed? Had it been a mistake? There hadn't been time for something to happen; the message wasn't even twenty four hours old. Izuku didn't relax until they got inside and found the Shinsou residence empty. Hitoshi lead him to his room, closed the door and locked it, just in case. "Good?" He watched Izuku nod and sighed in relief, "Now talk. You've been a mess all day and it's giving me a headache."

Izuku hesitated for a moment longer, visibly steeled himself and let out a breath, "I… developed a quirk."

Hitoshi blinked owlishly, "What?"

Izuku cleared his throat, "It happened during the exam. I… I felt odd that morning, but thought I was just nervous. I was nervous, but it was more than that." He shifted, praying that Hitoshi wouldn't somehow see through his lies and omissions.

He needn't have worried. Hitoshi was staring at him, tense and wary, "You're serious?" There was a frisson there, his voice tight and his words quick, and he waited with baited breath. Midoriya laughed nervously, but nodded. "This isn't joke?" Izuku couldn't really blame his friend's disbelief, he was casting decades of common knowledge about when quirks manifested out the window. Midoriya gave a crooked smile and shook his head. "C-can I see it?"

"Sure." Izuku smiled and focused, drawing out One for All. His skin began to glow, lines forming across his arms and face. And then he let out a strangled squawk as Hitoshi lurched forward and slammed into him, pulling him into a tight hug.

It ended after only a second, Hitoshi releasing his bear hug and grabbing his shoulders instead, "You finally got a quirk." He laughed, "This is incredible! Ah man, we gotta get some notebooks! Is this even supposed to be possible? Oh man, the doctors are gonna flip out, there are going to be books written about you!"

Izuku laughed nervously. That was just about the very last thing he or All Might would want. The thought was cut off by another quick hug before he was finally released. Hitoshi almost shoved him in a rush to grab his copy of Hero Analysis for the Future journal number 13. He was already scrambling for a pencil when Izuku finally managed to gather himself up, "Hitoshi wait-"

Hitoshi held a finger back towards him, "One sec!" He yanked out a worn down mechanical pencil, holding it aloft like a prize and then sat down on his bed, quickly flipping to the bookmarked current page and beginning to hastily write preliminary information, "Alright," He looked up at Izuku, his eyes wet, "Talk."

Izuku swallowed nervously, "Hitoshi. I'm glad you're happy, but there's more I have to tell you."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I have the book." He laughed holding the book up, revealing a mostly blank page. "What does it do?" He put the book back in his lap, but then balked, glancing at his bookshelves and posters warily, "It's not fire breathing is it?"

"Actually it's a strength quirk." Izuku scratched the back of his head as Hitoshi scrambled to write, "C-can you that aside for a minute?" Hitoshi looked up, blinking, but hesitantly set the book aside, "There's still more I have to tell you. I can't really show you the quirk right now. I can manifest it, like I showed you. But I can't use it. Not yet. Not… safely."

Hitoshi had opened his mouth, but held his tongue as he listened. His exuberance faded into wariness, "What do you mean when you say you can't use it safely?"

Izuku facepalmed, "When I used my quirk… I sort of… broke some bones." He tensed, slowly removing the fingers from his eyes and peaked out. Hitoshi looked startled, eyes wide.

"But you were fine when I found you…" He trailed off, "Recovery Girl?"

Izuku nodded, but then caught himself, "Wait, how do you know about her?"

Hitoshi pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't need this. But he doubted Izuku would drop it until he knew. He huffed, "Because some idiot blew up a three pointer I was standing on during the exam."

Izuku spluttered in indignation, "B-But the contestants weren't supposed to hurt each other!"

"Don't worry about it. He's not getting into the hero course." He'd tell Izuku about his conversation with Present Mic later, the last thing he needed was his friend peppering with questions when he should be answering them instead. He let out a breath and picked up the journal, "Back to you and your quirk. What bones did you break?"

"Uh… um… my legs…" The lead on the pencil snapped and Hitoshi stared at him. Izuku forced a nervous smile, "and an arm."

"Izuku," Hitoshi said with great reserve, "what the hell?"

"It was my first time using it!" Izuku shouted defensively, "I must have overdone it. I punched out the zero pointer." Hitoshi stared at him uncomprehending, and Izuku floundered, "D-did you… see the zero pointer?"

"I had a concussion." Hitoshi answered and shrugged off Izuku's outrage, "Look, I was hurt by someone else's quirk. Your bones were broken by your quirk. We need to get you to a quirk councilor as soon as…" He blinked, trailing off before staring at his friend, "Izuku, it's been more than a week since the exam. Why are you only telling me this now?"

"W-well, after you snapped me out of it, it didn't feel like the right time? And I really only took out the zero pointer, so I really didn't think I passed." He shrugged helplessly, "Now that I've been admitted, it just… sort of occurred to me."

"Wait." Hitoshi put a hand to his brow, "They still admitted you even though you injured yourself? That, why would they-" He glanced up to see Izuku staring at him, stony faced. Hitoshi nearly choked, backtracking quickly, "We… we really need to get you to a quirk councilor. The sooner we can get your quirk working properly the better."

Dagoba beach was quiet at night, save for the lapping of waves on the beach. It was calming, which was a relief to both Midoriya and Toshinori as they watched the ocean roll in and out. "It went better than expected." Midoriya offered, after some time. He was still cradling his legs to his chest, "I wasn't sure how he was going to respond. He helped me distract mom when she started asking questions."

Toshinori nodded, "That's good. He's a good friend."

"He was surprised UA let me in." Midoriya couldn't quite hide the bitterness in his voice, "After he realized I'd injured myself using One for All, he almost asked me why they accepted me."

"He was probably just worried about you injuring yourself." Toshinori offered, "He's done a lot of research for you, even if you didn't get to see it."

Midoriya frowned, burying his head between his knees, "He could have more faith in me."

Toshinori chuckled, "I doubt that." Midoriya looked up at him and Toshinori ambled to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You should have seen how excited he was for you when he found out you passed. He ran into the room shouting it, he looked thrilled." Midoriya blinked, tears forming before he could glance away. "He was just worried about you, that's all. It's not like you didn't give him a reason, what with telling him that the first time you used your quirk it broke three of your limbs."

Silence, save for the crashing of the waves, descended. Izuku remained huddled in on himself, "All Might, can I ask why you're going to continue training him and not me?"

"I'll be your teacher soon. Once school starts, I won't be able to train you. I can't show favoritism to my students, it wouldn't be right."

"But Hitoshi-"

Toshinori gave his successor's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Isn't going to be in the hero course. He likely won't even see me unless he passes me in the halls." Izuku drew in a sharp breath as it finally caught up with him. He wasn't going to be sharing classes with Hitoshi. He might even see him at all once they arrive at school. His mouth went dry just thinking about it. Toshinori sensed it and squeezed his shoulder again, "I'm going to try to help him get in, I swear."

Izuku looked at the greatest hero in the world and couldn't stop himself from crying. "Thank you."

It felt weird stretching and preparing for another grueling training session without Izuku. Having set pace against his friend, trying to push himself beyond (PLUS ULTRA! All Might's voice, or perhaps Izuku's imitation of it, rang in his mind), he felt like he was about to measure himself without a ruler. At least he knew his stretches by rote now. Regardless of how many suicide dashes he'd have to do, he shouldn't have to worry about pulling anything.

Toshinori eased himself onto a bench, watching his student finish up, "Today you begin training for the UA Sports Festival," He grinned, "and preliminary hero training."

That perked the boy right up. He was standing at attention, "What do you mean, preliminary hero training?"

Toshinori gave a rusty chuckle, "Midoriya never told you about his morning training, did he?" His student shook his head after a moment of silence and Toshinori grinned, "Good. You see, his training was to build strength, but also character. Since you were helping him at the time I didn't require that of you, but since we're continuing on, your training will serve to better you, and prepare you to become a hero."

He waited for the boy to digest that, accepting a hesitant nod before continuing, "Heroes these days are all about showing off and capturing flashy villains. Things were different before quirks. Service is what mattered. Back then, heroes were those who helped the community, even if it was kinda boring. Your training will double as community service."

Shinsou couldn't quite keep a frown from his lips, "Uh, well… what are you going to have me do? Pick up trash?"

Toshinori laughed, coughed up blood, and then resumed laughing a few seconds later. Shinsou wondered when he had become inured to the spectacle. "No my boy, once you're ready you'll be delivering food and supplies to the elderly." His student blinked and Toshinori's smile turned just a little feral, "Now then, have you ever heard of parkour?"

The doorbell rang twice in rapid succession and Inko looked up from her curry, "That must be Hitoshi," She mused to herself and then raised her voice, "Izuku can you get the door?"

"On it mom!" Izuku was already on his way, throwing the door open and blinking at Hitoshi's rumpled form, "Are you okay?" He backed out of Hitoshi's way so his friend could stagger inside. The look that Hitoshi gave him was all the answer he received or needed. Izuku idly reached out to pull an errant stick from his friend's hair as he took off his shoes and dropped off his backpack. "Uh… there. Mom's almost done with dinner, your dad and I have been discussing what the doctor said."

Hitoshi managed to catch a second wind at that, "What did they say?"

"Well," Izuku started, slipping into his educational mode, "it's not entirely unheard of for people to develop a quirk after age four, but I may be the oldest person to ever develop one, and nobody has seen someone develop a quirk after age ten in over a decade."

"I meant about the bone thing." Hitoshi murmured, giving him a sour look, but it softened as his friend lead him to their sofa.

"Right. That." Izuku scratched the back of his head, "Well, UA sent them the footage from exam. It was-"

"Heart-stopping!" Came Inko's voice from the kitchen. Izuku cringed.

"It wasn't that bad mom…" Izuku whined.

Inko hmmphed, "You nearly fell to your death, what would you have done if that sweet girl hadn't saved you? It was almost enough for me to tell you not to go." Hitoshi's eyes widened and a myriad of questions almost rushed out of his mouth until he saw the pleading look Izuku was giving him. He frowned, cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Oh man am I tired. I just spent the past four hours making a fool of myself for Toshinori's amusement." He let out a breath and crumpled onto the waiting couch, "I spent almost an hour jumping around like a demented rabbit, then walked in a straight line on a curb for about an hour, another hour…" he fumbled for a proper word, but couldn't find any, "scurrying around on all fours like a dog. And then I spent the last hour rolling around on dirt and concrete like an idiot."

Yawarakai blinked, "Is that what he had you do during your training with Izuku? I thought you were doing strength training."

Shinsou shook his head, "It's different. He said this is focused more on agility and mobility training." He glanced at Izuku, changing the pitch of his voice to mimic Toshinori's, "You won't be able to draw attention to yourself during the sports festival if you're eliminated in the first round."

"That makes sense." Izuku said, nodding in agreement, "The first round is usually an obstacle course of some kind." He began to trail off into an all too familiar mumble when Inko called them to dinner. Hitoshi groaned, but managed to struggle back onto his feet and stagger to the kitchen table. At least Inko's cooking was worth looking forward to. He'd say she was a much better cook than his father, but he didn't want to damn her with faint praise. They collectively lapsed into silence as they enjoyed the home cooked meal, Hitoshi finishing quickly and refilling his plate.

"I don't think I've ever seen you eat that much." Inko said, looking at him in surprise, "Toshinori must be working you very hard." Hitoshi nodded noncommittally. Their workouts had never been easy, but he felt more drained than he had after strength training. She smiled at him, but he caught her eyes shifting to Izuku, "I hope it will all work out." There was more trepidation there than her well wishes warranted. His father's expression had become pinched as well and dinner fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Hitoshi bit his lip, frowning gently. The hell with it. "I got something for you." Izuku looked up from the plate he had been picking at, "It's in my bag. Be right back." He rose stiffly, his muscles still angry at him as he retrieved the package from his bag. He sat down heavily and handed the small package over, "I was planning on giving it to you on your first day at UA, but…" He trailed off; eyes focused on Izuku as he turned the package over once before tearing it open revealing a simple journal. Then he turned it over and stopped.

Inko saw her son's lip curl into a smile even as his eyes grew teary, and out of the corner of her eye she could spot Hitoshi's Cheshire cat grin. She tried to put aside her reservations, "What is it Izuku?" Her son wiped the tears away and held up Hero Analysis for the Current, volume one.

Notes: I like how most of the interactions happened in this chapter. Having Shinsou learn parkour makes sense to me (perhaps more sense than Toshinori knowing it, but I'll get to that as well) for a number of reasons that will be explained over time. FYI the running around on all fours is meant to be quadrupedal movement, which is helpful for those learning parkour. I also wanted Shinsou to do something different from Midoriya. It's not like Dagoba beach is still full to the brim with trash.

The two biggest gifts, the transcript and the journal, are things that I wanted to have an impact with. That transcript was worth more to Shinsou than getting in would have, seeing what professionals, actual pros, people he doesn't know, think of him, his quirk and how he uses it. Having a 'villain's quirk' and being told that he's using it as ethically as he could has lifted a burden from Hitoshi that he didn't know he was carrying. And that journal is the validation that Izuku wants so badly. He's worked hard to earn that quirk, and unlike canon, he has more confidence. But he's also a bit touchier when the few people he knows truly care about him come into conflict with him. They're backing him to the hilt, just not in the way he wants or expects them to, and it feels, to him, like they're betraying him.

I sort of doubt that Inko ever saw the video of the first time her son used his quirk in canon (I cannot see her agreeing to let him go if she saw him nearly fall to his death), we don't really know what happened during his quirk counseling but I wanted it in here.

I may go back and edit the last scene, I didn't get it fully edited. I was going to make references that Yawarakai drove them to the quirk councilor, but it got cut. That was why he was there for dinner, it's not something that happens every night.

Also, I swear next chapter will actually get us to UA. I promise.