Izuku was looking at his phone, trying to ignore the sheer mass of people around him. While public transport was cheaper, it added an entirely new problem. That problem was that Blacklight practically demanded that he devour someone when they were all so close to him. Also, he had to deal with the possibility that one of those he killed had known them. When he had killed those ten villains, he hadn't gotten their memories all at once. It was a slower process, so his head didn't hurt. However, it was still something that kept him up at night, even if he only needed four hours of sleep.
"Hey, are you Midoriya from the hero course?" a random civilian behind him asked. Everyone started to gasp and mutter. "Congratulations on second place! You were so cool!" the man said. "Huh!?" Izuku stammered. "Yeah, your Quirk's amazing! I've never seen anything like it!" another person commented. "He's shorter than I realized," another replied. By now, Izuku was beginning to panic. "Do your best, Hero!" they all chanted. That snapped him out of it. "I-I will!" he stammered.
"Arrrgh, it's only morning and I'm still tired…" Izuku grumbled to himself as he walked to the campus. Sure he only needed four hours of sleep but still! "Midoriya!" Izuku turned around. "Iida?!" he gasped. "Hurry up or we'll be late!" the bispecaled teen shouted. "B-but it's still a good five minutes before the first bell…" Izuku stammered. "No buts!" Iida shouted. Izuku sighed before coiling Blacklight into his legs and taking off.
When they got to their lockers, Izuku knew he had to ask about Ingenium. It was all over the news, after all. "So Iida…" he began. "If you're asking about my brother, don't worry. I apologize for needlessly worrying you."
Izuku walked into the classroom hearing Mina excitedly talk about how many people recognized her. "Yeah, same!" Kirishima shouted. "Yeah, that happened to me! It was kind of embarrassing though…" Toru said. "Isn't that normal for you?" Ojiro asked. Izuku didn't care as he sat down, very much aware of the empty seat behind him. And then Aizawa opened the door. "Good morning." he monotoned. "Good morning, sensei!" everyone shouted. "Now then, before we begin, I'd like to introduce your new classmate." With that, Shinso walked in.
"Shinso?!" Izuku shouted. "Hey," he replied. "I knew you were going to be transferred to the hero course, but I thought that you'd go to class B!" Izuku stammered. Shinso shrugged. "There was this blonde asshat who was waiting for me. He went on and on about how I must've sucked up to the teachers. Literally." It took everyone about five seconds to realize what he meant. Before they could plan on ending Nieto's existence, Aizawa spoke up.
"Now then, today is a rather important day. You'll be doing something that will define the future of your career." At this, everyone, especially Shinso, began to panic. 'A test!?' they feared. "You'll be choosing your code names today," Aizawa said. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "This is related to the pro hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. Normally, First Years don't get drafted. However, it seems like the pros think you're good enough. And on that note, here's the list of offers." Aizawa turned on a projector, and everyone saw the list. "Now, most of the time the offers are spread out, although the second place winner appears to not have any." Aizawa deadpanned. Izuku went white in the face. He didn't have any!
"Why is that? You did a great job in the Sports Festival Deku!" Uraraka stated. Aizawa shrugged. Todoroki, on the other hand, scoffed. "It's because of my dad. According to him, he threatened the other pros with lawsuits for something or other if any of them offered to take Midoriya." That got everyone's attention. "HUH!?" most of the class shouted. "Be that as it may, that's not what we're focusing on right now. Even if you didn't get any picks, you'll all be interning with pros." Aizawa huffed.
"Internships?" Izuku asked. "At USJ, you all got combat experience- and some of you got more than that and got a first-hand look at how deadly the battles can be." Everyone except Shinso turned towards the cowering Izuku. This confused Shinso greatly, but he just decided he'd have to ask after the internships.
"Moving on, you'll be receiving training directly from the pros. That is why you're choosing code names today. However, just remember that these are not permanent. You may change them whenever you want." At that, Midnight walked in. "Just remember that you'll become well known with these names, so many pros still have the names they chose as students!" She declared. "Midnight will be double-checking your names to make sure they're OK. I'm going to take a nap. Before I pass out though, remember that when you give yourself a name, you're cementing your path towards heroics." With that, the white boards were passed down. 'A hero name, huh?' Izuku thought to himself.
After around ten minutes, Midnight decided that enough time had passed. "Alright! If you're ready, please form a line and we'll go over your names." Yuga went first. "I will be the Shining Hero- 'I cannot Stop Twinkling!'" Midnight grabbed the board. "I think it would be better if you changed 'cannot' to 'can't'." Yuga agreed, and sat back down. Everyone thought it was a really weird name. "I'm next!" Mina declared. "I'll be Alien Queen!" Midnight began to protest, but Aizawa, who had woken up temporarily, interrupted her. "It's a good name." he said. Midnight tried to argue, but found that she couldn't.
Next was Tsuyu. "I've known what mine was going to be since I was a kid. I'm gonna be The Rainy Season Hero Froppy." Midnight slid to her right. "That's so cute~! I love it!" Kirishima was next. "I'll be The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!" he exclaimed. "You're paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot, aren't you?" Midnight asked. "He may have been an old hero, but I've always admired him." Izuku nodded. His father had mentioned that Crimson Riot was an excellent hero, back in the day. That brought Izuku to a distant memory…
FLASHBACK:
Hisashi Midoriya was tending to the sick 7-year old Izuku. He didn't get sick that often, but when he did he got REALLY sick. Hisashi was sitting next to him, talking about heroes. "Dad… heroes have cool names…" Izuku murmured. His father chuckled. "That's true. Why do you ask?" Izuku coughed. "I wanna have a cool one when I'm a hero…" Hisashi sighed. "Well, your Quirk is certainly unique, but it reminds me of a pre-Quirk video game series, and it's still played today. How about you name yourself after the protagonist?"
FLASHBACK END
Izuku immediately began to write the name down. Meanwhile, Jiro ran up with her name. "I'll be the Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack!" She declared. "That's good! Next!" Midnight declared. "Tentacled Hero: Tentocle." Shoji said. "It's like 'tentacle' with octopus thrown in! I like it!" Midnight declared. "Taping Hero: Cellophane!" Sero declared. "It's nice and simple! That's important!" Midnight shouted.
"Martial Arts Hero: Tail man" Ojiro stated. "Your name reflects your body! Good idea!" Midnight stated. "Sweets Hero: Sugarman!" Sato declared. "So sweet!" Midnight squeed. Stun-gun hero: Charge bolt!" Kaminari declared. "I feel tingly~" Midnight sang. "Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl!" Toru declared. "That's great!" Midnight said, allowing it.
"I do hope I do this name justice…" Momo said, showing off her hero name. "The Everything Hero: Creati!" She declared. "It's creative!" Midnight declared. Shoto was next. "Shoto." he flatly stated. "Errr, you're just using your name?" Midnight asked. Shoto nodded. Up next was Fumikage. "Jet-black Hero: Tsukuyomi." he stated. "God of the Night!" Midnight shouted out. Next was Shinso. The Controlling Hero: Puppet Master!" He stated. "Are you su-" and like that, Midnight fell prey to Shinso's Quirk. "Take five steps back." When she did, he released his Quirk. Midnight was fuming at being played like that.
Next was Koji. He was just 'Petting Hero: Anima.' "Got it!" Midnight stated. Next was Bakugou. "The Explosive Hero: K-4!" he declared. "Nice usage of your name!" Midnight decided. Next was Uraraka. "My hero name is 'Uravity." she stated. "It sounds stylish!" Midnight exclaimed. Next was Iida. "Ingenium." he stated, without any emotion. "I see. You're carrying your brother's legacy. I heard what happened. I'm so sorry." Midnight said. And then she turned to Izuku.
"Are you ready, Midoriya?" she asked. Izuku nodded and brought the board up. "The Viral Hero: Mercer!" he declared. "Why does that name sound familiar?" Midnight asked. "It's the protagonist of the Prototype series, not including the second one of the original run!"
A few years before the emergence of Quirks, the Prototype series was remade. The original Prototype 2 was considered non-canon and the first game was remastered. While it was good, the third game took the cake. It was, along with The Elder Scrolls VI, considered 'a Timeless masterpiece.' by critics, and was still played to this very day! Several sequels had come out, and they were all very well done as well. Izuku chuckled at Midnight not recognizing the name before sitting back down.
Meanwhile, in the staff room, Toshinori was with Cemetoss. "Oh? Offers for First Years are still coming." Cemetoss stated. "Oh really? Who's it for?" All Might asked. "It's for Midoriya." That caught Yagi's attention. "Oh really? Who is it?" he asked, leaning in. And then he saw the name. "W-WHA?!"
Aizawa decided to wake up at this point. "Now that everyone's decided their hero names, let's get back to internships. They will last for a week. Those who got offers will look at those lists. Those who didn't will have to choose from a list of 40 pros around the nation. They all have different specialties, though."
At this, Midnight perked up. "For example, 13 specialises in rescue missions!" Aizawa continued through the interruption. "Make sure you choose carefully." Aizawa decided to impart one more piece of information. "Turn in your choices by the weekend. So you only have two days to choose."
By lunchtime, the class was still thinking on positions. "Hey, have any of you decided where to go?" Mina asked. Shinso shrugged. "I think I'll go with the Wild Wild Pussycats. According to this, Ragdoll is interested in my Quirk's potential to keep civilians calm during a rescue. "Hey Deku have you decided…" Uraraka trailed off at the mutterfest that was her friend.
"There are only forty heroes who will take us, so after looking up their specialties and splitting them into groups…" he just went on and on. 'It's practically an art!' a significant portion of the class taught simultaneously. And then he snapped back to reality. "S-sorry… I was lost in thought…" he stammered. "You really thinking about this a lot, aren't you Midoriya?" Tsuyu asked. Izuku nodded. "I just can't pick!" Uraraka decided to speak up. "I've already decided! I'm going to be working with Gunhead agency! I need to work on fighting styles so as to broaden my horizons!" And then she saw Izuku trembling.
"Why are you shaking, Deku?" she asked. "Oh, this? It's air chairing." That caught everyone's attention. "Air chair exercises?!" Uraraka screamed. Soon everyone was talking about that. "Oy Deku, why not do your other type of air chair exercise." Bakugou stated. Izuku sighed and pushed his chair aside. One tendril came out of his back and buried itself into the ground. Everyone took a good three steps back.
After class, Izuku and Uraraka were getting ready. "Hey Deku! Do you wanna head home together?" she asked. Izuku was about to invite Iida, but then he realized that his friend had already left. He was about to respond then he opened the door and All Might was there.
"I AM HERE IN AN AWKWARD POSITION!" he shouted. "W-what are you doing here!?" Izuku stammered. "Come with me." All Might whispered. As they were walking, All Might decided to speak. "I'LL GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT, YOUNG MIDORIYA. YOU WERE OFFERED AN INTERNSHIP BY A HERO!"
"R-really!?" Izuku near-shouted. "Yes. His name is Gran Torino." All Might turned his head towards Izuku, and it was completely covered in sweat. "He taught here for a year! He was my homeroom teacher. And, he knows about One For All!" Izuku was barely able to contain the fanboyism. "Wait… someone else knows?" He asked. "Gran Torino was the sworn friend of my predecessor. He retired a long time ago, so I forgot to count him…" Izuku then noticed that All Might was shaking!
"W-was it because I wrote of you when I sent him a letter? O-or was it b-because I was teaching you i-in an inadequate way? H-he w-w-w-went so far a-as to use h-h-h-his old name for an offer… it's s-s-s-s-scary… t-t-t-t-too s-scary… STOP TREMBLING LEGS!" 'Holy cow All Might is terrified of this guy!' All Might continued. "E-e-e-e-e-ven though it's my duty to train y-you… you g-got an offer, s-so you should work on it to your heart's content…" the Symbol of Peace jerkily handed Izuku a note. 'Who the hell is this guy!?' Izuku mentally screamed. None of the memories had anything! Once again he was thankful that Blacklight filtered the information so that he only got what he needed.
"Hey, I heard you got an offer Deku! That's great!" Ochako declared. "T-thanks." Izuku muttered. "Did Iida head home already?" Uraraka asked. "I-I guess so." Izuku said. He was busy thinking. 'After the Sports Festival, I heard about what happened to Ingenium on the news. He was attacked by a serial killer who had killed 17 heroes and forced an additional 23 to permanently live in a hospital due to their injuries. Ingenium was seen as lucky, as his injures would 'only' force him to retire. The Serial Killer was known as the Hero Killer Stain. And with Iida deciding to intern in Hosu, where the Hero Killer was spotted last… is he out for revenge?"
Izuku was still wondering who this 'Gran Torino was. 'Even All Might is afraid of him… he must be incredible!' he thought to himself. Eventually, he got to an old run-down apartment. 'T-this is it!' Izuku thought as he knocked on the door. No one answered. "Hello? I'm Izuku Midoriya from UA…" he trailed off when he saw an old man in what looked like blood… until the scent of ketchup reached his nose. He just stared.
"Err… sir… why are you just lying there?" Izuku asked. The man perked up. "I'm sorry… I just spilled a bunch of sausages with ketchup…" the man said. "And who are you?" he asked. Izuku stood straight. "I'm Izuku Midoriya from UA!" he stated. "What was that?" the old man asked. "I said I'm Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku repeated, a bit louder. "Who are you?" The old man asked. 'Crap! I knew he'd be old since he's All Might's teacher… but… he has to have gone senile!' Then he sat down. "I'm hungry." By now, Izuku was physically shaking. "'Hungry?!'" he shouted. "Toshinori?" Torino asked.
Izuku sighed. 'I'll have to call All Might…' "Excuse me, but I have to make a phone call…" he said, before turning his head. And then he heard a click. "WHA?!" he shouted. The old man was rummaging through his costume! "Fire off a One For All at me." The man's voice changed. He was more serious now. "I want to know how good you are at handling it." he declared. 'So he isn't senile?' Izuku thought. "Put on this costume and fire one off at me!" Torino declared. Izuku just stared. And then Torino turned towards him. "Who are you?" he asked. Izuku facepalmed. "I'm sorry, but All Might doesn't have much time left... I can't waste time, sir." Izuku said as respectful as possible. "Well…" And suddenly Torino was literally bouncing off the walls! He was letting out a 'whooshing' sound as he went by. He ended up above the door frame above Izuku. "In that case there's even more of a reason to fire one off!" he declared.
"I watched the Sports Festival on TV. The way you threw your power around was unbearable, although I must say that your ability to regenerate was impressive." 'And your tone when you said THOSE words is way too much like All For One's to be a coincidence'. Gran continued. "He's called the Symbol of Peace and the Number One Hero, but All Might truly, and I mean truly, is terrible at teaching! Thus, I can't stand how you were using your power. Therefore, I'll need you to put on your costume and give it everything you've got!" Izuku gave a near-maniacal grin that almost made Torino kick the boy's face on instinct. It looked exactly like All For One's evil slasher smile! "I look forward to working with you!"
As Izuku opened the container for his costume, he noticed a slip of paper. "An instruction manual?" he asked. 'Dear Izuku Midoriya, due to a request from Nezu, the suit is made entirely out of organic materials. However, there are materials here that are far harder than most things on the planet! Also we changed the design. You'll look so much cooler!' He sighed. 'I wonder if every single support company is like Hatsume…' he wondered, before re-reading something. "Organic substance by instructions of the principal?" he asked. And then suddenly he had an idea. "If my costume is organic, then can I consume it?" He willed a tendril out of his back and stuck it into the costume. And sure enough, the costume disappeared in a swirl of black.
"Wait… now what?" he asked no one in particular. And then he remembered what had happened at the beach with All Might. He was able to imitate clothing! He focused on the appearance of his costume, and with another rush, he was fully costumed again! He tried to take it off, and soon found out that when he tried, there was, in fact, skin underneath. He then walked back to where Torino was.
"All right, fire it off." Torino instructed. "A-are you sure? There isn't much space in here, and if I fire off 100% by accident then you'd probably die-" Torino decided to interrupt him. "Good grief, you're a chatterbox." And then he took off. As he zoomed by, he shouted, "I'm losing my patience!" and then he kicked Izuku in the back. The tendrils instinctively sprouted, puncturing holes in Torino's boots, but the old man was too fast, but just barely. Izuku let out a choked cough and feel to his knees. "Oh come on, I didn't hit you that hard!" Torino stated. "I-it's not that… you hit where my f-feeding tendrils are…" that brought Torino up short. "'Feeding tendrils?'" he asked. "Have you ever played a video game called 'Prototype'?" Izuku asked. Torino grinned.
"It was my favorite! Why do you ask?" Izuku gulped. "M-my Quirk is pretty much a carbon copy of Blacklight. Heck, that's what I named it…" Torino paled. "Oh. OH. Well then, I guess the back is off limits… heh heh…" Izuku nodded. "First, I'm gonna go call Toshinori. Then, we're gonna get back to combat training!" He declared. "A-already!?" Izuku asked.
Toshinori Yagi was busy filing paperwork when his phone went off. "A phone call is here! A phone call is here! A phone-" he picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked. "YOU COULD'VE WARNED ME ABOUT THE BOY'S QUIRK TOSHI!" an irate Gran Torino screamed into the phone. Yagi was now holding the phone a good foot away. "I STARTED COMBAT TRAINING WITH HIM AND HIT HIM SQUARE IN THE BACK! NEXT THING I KNOW IS THAT I HAVE NEW HOLES IN MY BOOTS AND THE BOY'S ON THE GROUND WHEEZING! THEN HE TELLS ME HOW DAMN LUCKY I AM THAT MY QUIRK IS BUILT FOR SPEED!" The old man yelled. "I-I'm s-o-sorry, sensei…" Yagi muttured. "You'd better be. Otherwise, I'll pay you a visit…" With that, he hung up, before turning towards Izuku. "Now then, let's get back to it."
With that, he took off. After a few near misses, the old man landed on his microwave, crushing it. "I can't believe that the Ninth holder of One For All is such a wet blanket!" he declared. He then resumed zooming around, and hit Izuku on the side. 'He's too fast! I can't tell what his Quirk is! He said it was built for speed… wait… instead of cornering him… I should keep him moving… remember… imagine the egg not exploding in the microwave…' he thought, charging a fist. "So you're good at analysis and prediction, huh?" Torino asked. 'Smash…' Izuku thought, trying to punch the old man. Said old man dodged. "However, you're stiff." he then grabbed Izuku's face and pinned him. "I almost had you…" Izuku grumbled. "Indeed. However, there's one thing you should've recognised by now. Your admiration for All Might is holding you back. While it's true that you need to get stronger in a short period of time, but your enemies won't wait! You're overthinking One For All." With that, Torino turned away. 'If my hypothesis is correct, however… you may have all the time in the world before you face HIM'.
At the League of Villains base, Stain was talking with Shigaraki and Kurogiri. "So, you're the group that attacked the USJ…" Stain muttered. "So what are you after?" he asked. "For now, I just want to kill All Might." Tormura said. "I also want to break everything I hate." He then held up a picture of a certain green kid. "Like this brat. Sensei has an interest in him, probably because of his Quirk."
Stain scoffed. "It was foolish of me to come here. I hate people like you the most. All you're doing is throwing a tantrum. You have zero conviction." With that, Stain began to reach for his blades. Kurogiri decided to speak up. "Stain, you were brought here to help facilitate Tomura Shigaraki's growth as a villain, as he cares about nothing but destruction." Stain continued to draw his blades. "Sensei, is it all right to let this continue!?" Kurogiri asked, slightly worried. "It is fine, Kurogiri. After all, there's no point if we just tell him the answer. Tormura still needs to think about where to mature. After all, that is what it means to educate."
Meanwhile, Izuku was thinking about what Torino said. "My admiration is holding me back? What does he mean…. AHA!" He quickly pulled out his notebook. "I've been thinking of One For all and Smashes as special moves… how could I not realize it… after all, Quirks are part of your body… I need to think of One For All more evenly!" As Izuku was saying this, Torino was listening in. 'His thinking is very flexible, and his ability to come up with new ideas on the fly is interesting, to say the least. However, when I hear it from here… it sounds like a higher pitched version of All For One's voice…'
That night, Izuku was awake while he listened to Torino snore. For some reason, his snoring was literally him saying 'z' over and over. 'I wonder if he's really asleep. He was just testing me the first day…' he thought, while walking out of the building. He had already gotten the four hours of sleep that he needed. 'I need to think of One For All more evenly.' He thought. 'While I can use Blacklight just like I'm breathing- oh right, I don't have to breath- but that's besides the point. I still need to master One For All.' And then he looked up. "All right, If I just use 5% then I could jump from building to building… although I could probably just use Blacklight… this will be good practice!" 'Ok, imagine the egg not exploding…' Izuku felt One For All building in his legs, and then he released it.
Of course, this lead to him slamming into a building. 'I should've known this would happen…' Izuku mentally ground out. 'Ok, I need to cushion my arms as well, and then I should be able to leap from wall to wall… maybe I could try doing that with Blacklight as well. I can run up walls, but if I can jump off of them as well, that would be cool…' Izuku then got up and started charging again. He still hit the wall too hard and fell. 'Alright, I'll try that again.' The same result occurred.
"Good morning!" Torino declared. He was expecting Izuku to be tired, but he wasn't. "Hey sensei. I'm sorry but I got carried away in training…" Izuku stated. "I tried to put what you said into practice, but I still have a long way to go." Torino nodded. "It's to be expected that you didn't get it immediately. It's hard to get that from All Might, as he got it almost immediately. Thus I taught him differently." That caught Izuku's attention. "All Might as a student!? What was he like!?" He shouted.
Torino turned and chuckled. "It was nothing but practical training for him! I'd train him until he threw up!" Izuku started to shiver. 'That's why All Might was so afraid of you…' he thought. "I couldn't train him half-heartedly, as he was entrusted to me by a close friend, who had very recently died." Torino said. "All Might's predecessor died?" Izuku asked. "Huh?" he asked. "Delivery!" someone shouted. "Oh, I'll get it!" Izuku declared, heading for the door. 'So you haven't told him about the fate of your predecessor, Toshinori? Or the fate of every other One For All holder before her?'.
Izuku carried in a box, and then opened it. "A microwave?" he asked. "Well, I broke the old one on our first day, so I had to get a new one. And now, we're gonna eat some taiyaki!" Torino declared with a smile on his face. "Taiyaki for breakfast?" Izuku asked. "I like sweets!" Torino declared.
Izuku watched the taiyaki in the microwave. 'I still need to learn how to use One For All like I'm breathing. If I can get my usage of it to be instinctive, then I'll be on my way towards being the world's greatest hero!' "Get it while it's hot!" Torino declared. Izuku was still thinking about One For All. "Why the long face? For now, just eat a piping hot taiyaki and-" He paused to eat it, but when he teeth came down, they clanged off. "It's COLD!" he declared. "W-what! No way! I put them in the microwave on 'defrost' and-" Gran cut him off. "You stuck a huge plate in, you idiot! It wouldn't turn! Is this the first time you've used a microwave!?" he declared. "Uhh, mine at home doesn't turn…" Izuku mumbled. "I'm so-" and then his eyes got wide. "I've got it!" he declared. He then picked up the desert. "Gran Torino! The taiyaki is me!" He declared.
"Are you all right?" The aged pro asked. "N-no, that's not how I meant it…" Izuku stammered. "Up until now, I've just been 'using' One For All! I've only used it where I needed it, when I needed it, like flipping a switch! However, my reaction times got slower the more I used it! Therefore, I should just keep it on throughout my entire body!" With that, he summoned One For All while Torino watched. 'He's a fast learner.' he thought. By now, Izuku was sparking with green lightning. "Are you sure you want to use the taiyaki as a metaphor? It's kind of boring." Torino said. "I'm absolutely fine with that!" Izuku declared. "So, can you even move like that?" Torino asked. "I don't know…" Izuku ground out through gritted teeth. "Why not try?" Gran asked.