Following the sports festival, and after the greenette had been thoroughly chewed out by Recovery Girl for unnecessarily breaking his limbs he was sent back to his classroom, where mister Aizawa had congratulated them all on their performance and explained that they had a few days off to recover while the pro's who had been scouting talent looked over their performances.
After that, they had been dismissed and Midoriya had walked out with Uraraka, Jirou and Hagakure, Iida having already left to go see his brother. The girls has been curious cast but he'd just brushed it off, not really wanting to explain.
They'd separated at the entrance as a car was waiting for the boy, the carpool U.A. had ordered. He climbed inside, careful not to irritate his leg as he did.
The ride home was quiet as he settled back, just texting random people on the way. At one point the car stopped a little to suddenly, causing him to bang his broken leg against the seat in front of him.
What really surprised him was when it only stinged a little, instead of causing a sharp painful… well pain.
'A reward for putting your powers to incredibly good use today, both against the warlock and endeavour. This is a one time pass so don't get used to it.'
Despite himself, the greenette grinned. It faltered immediately at the next thing the Outsider said in his head.
'See you tonight, for….whatever you'd call this development.'
Something so odd the outsider couldn't explain it? That was not something the marked boy looked forward to finding out about.
A new kind of foe? A monster or a magical effect caused by the void? Maybe another marked person?
He had to be prepared for anything.
His leg fully healed by the time he got home thanks to the magical intervention by the outsider, so Midoriya threw away the cast before he walked in. There was no need to worry his mother for no reason.
He walked into his house and had been greeted by the proud yet worried cries of Inko, as she held her "Amazing baby boy" against her. Embarrasing though it was, he couldn't help but grin as he hugged her back.
They'd ate his favourite meal to celebrate how far he got and eventually he'd retired to his room, glad that most of the craziness was finally dealt with. He could count at least seven different different major things that had happened already.
He sighed as he set his head on his pillow. Time to deal with whatever the last thing was. He closed his eyes and just waited.
It took a little longer than normal for him to finally feel the cold yet now familiar embrace. It was almost comforting to be here in a way…
He expected some sarcastic comment to come from the ethereal voice of the outsider or maybe just for the god to jump right into whatever the issue was. What he didn't expect…
"Izuku? Midoriya?" A feminine voice questioned, causing him to shot his eyes open in surprise. The first thing he noticed was there was an actual roof above him, the second was that standing over him wasn't the outsider like usual but…
It was the woman from before. The one who has saved him during the match with Shinsou. Slowly he started to get up, clutching his head as he did so. "You're…All Might's mentor?"
"Nana Shimura." She introduced with an amused chuckle, offering him a hand up which he took. As he did, he realised they were in an actual room similar to his own bedroom just lacking any proper personalization, such as posters or figurines. "I always thought I'd like whoever Toshinori picked but I never expected him to pick someone so cute! It's so nice to be able to actually meet you!"
Blushing at that, the teen walked to the nearby window to inspect the outside. It was still the void. Then he remembered his last visit. "This is…that house?"
"Right, you're probably pretty confused." Shimura said, turning to the door and gesturing at him to follow. "I'm not really the right person to explain but I do know it has something to do with One for All, though I have a feeling you already guessed that."
"Yeah, that's the only part of this I can figure out." The boy nodded, seeing as it was the only link between the two. Well aside from All Might. As they walked downstairs, Midoriya felt as if his head would explode. Because there was six other people in the house.
The first one that drew his immediate attention was a bald and muscular man with googles on his head and an open jacket exposing his chest. There was nothing remarkable about him, however the boy's attention was drawn more because he was actually talking about something with the Outsider.
Before he went to interrupt and find out what in the void was going on (though technically, he realized that phrase didn't really work when he was literally in the void…), he took in the other people in the room.
There was a woman with short white hair, blue eyes, one of which had a scar running over it and a very simple blue jumpsuit who was sipping a cup of tea and talking with a boy across from her, who had short spiky brown hair and similarly colored eyes. He wore a simple windbreaker and seemed to be avoiding looking at anyone but the woman before him.
Finally, playing a weird board game Midoriya had never seen was the last two. The more interesting of the two was a woman with pink hair made of petals, that all lead to a bright pink flower on her head. He couldn't see the front of her from his position, but she seemed to exude an air of rebellion from her mere presence.
Across from her was a man with dark black hair and similarly colored eyes, whose jacket covered his mouth and hands seemed to shake with every movement he made. In fact there seemed to be bandages around his wrist, suggesting some kind of injury.
"How….how is this even possible?" Midoriya blurted out, as he looked down at the floor not realzing he'd just gained everyone's attention. "I mean I knew One for All and magic could interact in weirdwayswithhowitkeptmefrombreakingbutthisisjustbizzare! Imeaniunderstandthisisalltheprevioususersandeverythingbuthowcanthatbeandisthatatenticale-MMPGHF!"
With a flick of the Outsiders wrist, the boy was thrown out of his mumble storm meeting all their eyes. Before anyone can say anything more, the black eyed deity walked up to him.
"Ah, Izuku…You see what I mean about surprise? Or I suppose I could also call it an infestation." He said, disappearing and reappearing around the room in flurries of crystals, presumably his version of frantic pacing.
"Hey, we didn't chose to end up here asshat!" The flower headed woman called back as she turned and Midoriya saw she had the petals in a bang that cover her right eye, her left one a striking lilac color. "Isn't this your fault anyways?"
"Hmph. Rude. Still, you are not necessarily wrong. Alright, now that Izuku is here let's take this from the top." The Outsider announced as he threw out his hand, causing the wall to burst out to expose the void where shadowy versions of them all were set upon a rock like stage. 'Yeah he's definitely trying to show off…' "You're shared power, One for All seems to inherently spiritual in nature. As I have explained to you before, my dear Izuku, the souls of this world are incredibly persistent and it would seem, unknown to most of you that your power has been the safe space that has held onto your souls until now. Following the events of that one match during the sports festival, something… awakened inside that power. However, at the same time whether it be intentional or subconscious Midoriya had been channelling his magic heavily at the same time."
"…It caused them to mix…" Midoriya realized, as he crossed his arms and awkwardly took a seat beside Shimura and the black haired man. "Wait so you guys are the real…."
"Yes, sweetie, we're the real past holders." The white haired woman said with a kindly smile. "In the…well not flesh but you catch my drift!"
"Wait but then…" Midoriya felt his blood turn ice cold as he remembered everything he'd been told about souls and the void until now. "Won't this place corrupt you somehow?! Even though you guys aren't evil obviously you can't…"
"An understandable concern, however one that you need to worry about. You see, were they corrupted by the void it should have already happened by now. Yet it hasn't even started happening. The reason is actually quite simple, I think." The outsider explained, sounding almost amused by it all. "As I'm sure you have realized by now, you yourself only come as a soul Midoriya. Yet you are never corrupted due to the protection my mark offers you, seeing as their very presence here is linked to your powers I think it's only reasonable to assume it is somehow extending it's protection onto them, recongizing them as a part of you in way."
"Hey, as long as I'm not turning into one of those horror monster demon things I'm happy." The bald man shrugged. Midoriya blinked confused and went to open his mouth but was interrupted before he could even begin.
"Before you ask, Midoriya it is another side effect of what has happened here. Much like how One for All has recorded their spirits, it has also recorded their experiences as well as yours, essentially allowing them access to knowledge they technically shouldn't have."
"So…what happens now?" The black haired man beside Midoriya asked with a quirked brow. He looked young on the outside but his voice…it sounded almost ancient in a way.
"I will admit even I do not know exactly what this turn of events means. However, as there seems to be no negative effects from your presence here, and I already bothered to create this construct I have no immediate want to kick you out. In fact I find myself curious to see what will come of this development." Once he'd explained his stance, the Outsider disappeared once more in a flurry of crystals but he wouldn't reappear this time. As he started to disappear he said one last thing. "You might as well get to know each other."
With that, he was gone leaving the various One for All holders to sit in silence for a moment before Shimura finally spoke up, clapping her gloved hands together. "Alright then, we might as well make the most of this! Introducing ourselves to Midoriya would be a good start. Like you already figured out, I'm Toshinori's predecessor Nana Shimura. Honestly, I'm just glad I got to meet you at all."
As she said that she held her hand out and the boy took it unsure, wincing a bit when her grip turned out to be insanely tight. She quickly pulled away when she realized. "Ah sorry! Anyways, you like quirks right Midoriya? Mine is 'Reconstruction', I can use it to heal injuries and restore people to states they were previously in."
"That's…really cool actually, that would be really useful in a lot of rescue missions I bet!" The greenette said excitedly as a grin began to grow on his face and a happy smile graced Shimura's own.
"Oh great we got a fan boy." The petal haired woman said, yet it seemed more like light natured teasing than an actual complaint. She flipped a peace sign at him while she continues to just relax on the couch. "Miyo Ruki, fifth user of one for all at your service, nice to meetcha. My quirk is 'Plant control', see this awesome hairdo? That flower lets me control flower and vines and shit."
"Ruki, do you really need to always be so crude?" The black-haired man sighed, before he turned to the the greenette with an almost bored gaze. "I'm Tomoya Sotatsu, predecessor to Nana and successor of Miyo. You'll have to excuse my old mentors language, she never did learn how not to act like a child.
"Hey I can still whoop your ass, kiddo!"
"Ignoring that…My quirk is simply 'Retrocognition'. Think of your premonition abilities but working in reverse, allowing me to see any moment of the past I wish." He said, with something almost akin to a bow.
"Those are both super awesome quirks, especially the plant one!" Midoriya beamed as his mind raced with all the potential applications they could be used for. He then turned to the next user, the brown haired boy and his grin faltered a bit when he seemed to actively flinch away from him.
"Ah, sorry about him, he's always been a bit nervous around strangers." The bald man waved away, placing a hand on his shoulders. "He was my successor though, the kid's Eito Kenji, he can absorb any material he wants and mimic it with his body. Like if he touches a car he can turn his body to metal, bit like your hardening friend."
"Wow, that's a really amazing quirk, especially for when you must have been around…" Midoriya said, a little quieter than he was before. If Kenji was easily spooked he shouldn't be making it worse for him. Another hand came down on the shy boy's shoulder to reassure him and the marked teen looked up to see the white haired woman smiling at him again.
"I'm Aneko Saya, my quirks pretty simple but still really useful. Any liquids I consume I can store and spray out in strong jets. It's a little gross to do it through my mouth but what has to be done has to be done." She said cocking her head to the side. For some reason Midoriya swore he could picture his own mother in her place for a moment.
"She's also incredibly quick to attack so be careful around her." Sotatsu said, matter-of-factly. "I know you were looking at my hands and this isn't some injury crossed over from the real world."
"I'm sorry, ok!? You startled me!" The woman defended herself with a pout.
"Yet your immediate response to something that happens to loads of people all the time was to try to tear my hands off. Truly, a sensible reaction." The sixth holder said, sarcasm obvious in his tone. Before they could argue any further though, Midoriya realized something else.
"Wait…All Might told me I was ninth and I know why he isn't here but….Where's the first holder?" He questioned confused, looking around. He regretted asking when the room suddenly descended into a cold deafening silence. "Did…did I say something wrong?"
"N-no….it's just…" Nana sighed, as she took a seat. "I know you're probably getting really annoyed with thing being constantly kept from you and such but…this is something you really should wait for Toshinori to explain, ok?"
He wanted to groan, and a part of him felt like just demanding an answer now but he didn't. Instead he nodded quietly and accepted this was something that he was just going to have to put up with. "Then…here's a question…what exactly happened in that match?"
The users looked amongst themselves for a moment, before all eyes fell on Saya for some reason. The woman cleared her throat before she grinned nervously, clearly uncertain herself. "Well…This is just a guess mostly but….I think that what was supposed to happen was you were just supposed to see vestiges of us, as a sort of confirmation One for All had truly been integrated into you but you're magic being active at the same time ended up…for lack of a better term, super charging the whole process. I'd hazard a guess the reason we were thrown here afterwards was partially for our own safety perhaps, but either way I think it also essentially forced One for All into a more finished state than it would have been otherwise."
"Finished? What does that mean?"
"Unfortunately, Izuku, that is a quandary for another time I'm afraid. You need to return now, as you will need all the rest you can." The Outsider's voice cut in and they looked to see him standing their, not really facing them. "You will need all the energy you can get for what is coming next."
"Huh? Wait what-"
"See you soon, Izuku."
With that, the floor caved in beneath him, and the boy plummeted back into his own body. Grumbling to himself, the boy pulled his pillow to him and tried his best to go back to sleep.
Pretty hard to considering the revelation he'd just gone through though. The users of One for All.
They were back.