Chapter 53:

AN: This website removes some of my formatting as I submit it. If you would like to read the story with line breaks between shifts in POV, it is cross posted on AO3 with the correct formatting. I have tried to fix the issue here, but nothing I have done has made a difference.

The thing that people never really understood about being quirkless in a world that centered itself entirely around quirks was the subtle ways that people tended to display their disregard. When Kaminari Koharu had been born there was a larger number of quirkless children than there were today, but that number was by no means the majority. She had only known one other quirkless student in her school, a fact that her classmates decided she needed to be reminded of constantly as if she would forget for even a moment that she was quirkless if they didn't. Koharu had dealt with the pitying looks, the pointed comments, the lowered expectations entirely alone. That was fine with her. She didn't need people telling her how hard life would be without a quirk. Funnily enough, she had learned that on her own.

People, it seemed, had forgotten that for the vast majority of human history quirks had not existed. They had gotten along just fine then, and Koharu wasn't disappointed that she couldn't spit lava or cling to walls like a spider or whatever else. If people wanted to underestimate her that was their problem. Super powers or not, they were only human whether they acknowledged that about themselves or not. Koharu would trade not having a quirk to being self-aware any day, and that wasn't even touching on the arrogance that seemed directly proportional to the perceived power of their quirk.

Whether this man was like that as well, Koharu couldn't be sure, but she knew that she couldn't take his declaration at face value. Yuuei was a prestigious school, and Denki had never mentioned a teacher who seemed one gentle shove away from death's door. That definitely would have been a thing her child would have mentioned, if only because he knew that she would want to help if she could. So Koharu did the only thing she could when dealing with an unknown threat claiming to be a friend. She leaned against the door facing, blocking his entrance into her home and said the two words that would determine the way their entire interaction would go.

"Prove it."

"I-What?" It was clear the man hadn't expected that, his expression shifting into one of complete shock before another coughing fit had him leaning over. Koharu watched him with calculating eyes. If he wasn't lying, then she would get him a cold class of water. She couldn't imagine coughing up blood left a very pleasant taste in his mouth. If he was lying, well, that would be the least of his troubles. She may be an old woman now, but she had dealt with enough idiots thinking they could take advantage of her because she didn't have a quirk that she was sure he wouldn't be a problem. She had promised herself her days of punching people in the face had ended when she graduated high school, but there were always exceptions to every rule. Even the self-imposed ones. Maybe especially the self-imposed ones.

"Prove it," Koharu repeated. "You want me to believe that you are a staff member, then I'm going to need to see some kind of identification."

If he refused, Koharu could slam the door in his face. It might not hold him off for long, if he was truly determined to break in depending on his quirk, it would give her a little more time to prepare.

The man did not refuse though. At least not out right. He rubbed at the back of his neck, his expression sheepish. "There might be a slight problem with that," he claimed, looking around the empty hallway. "I promise I can give you an explanation, but I would prefer to do it in private, if you don't mind."

"And I prefer not to let strangers in my home without knowing exactly who they are after my grandson was nearly killed by villains. If you don't mind."

Yagi Toshinori, or whoever he really was grimaced, before his expression became one of grudging determination. "I should have waited," he said, shaking his head. "I need you to keep this a secret, Kaminari Koharu. It is extremely important that you do not react to what I'm about to say."

That did nothing to assuage her concerns, but she nodded knowing it was better to indulge him for the moment. He knew who she was, after all. She needed to know how. The man leaned closer, and Koharu forced herself not to lean back in response. He mumbled something so quietly that she couldn't make out the words even though he only stood a foot away from her.

"What?"

The man sighed, then mumbled again a little louder.

"I still can't understand you. I need you to speak up."

"I said my name is Yagi Toshinori, but I might know me as All Might!" It was the loudest whisper shout Koharu had ever hear. She flinched at the volume before the words even registered, but when they did she couldn't help but stare. This man, who had coughed up enough blood in their single conversation to surely justify a trip to the nearest hospital, claimed to be All Might.

Koharu didn't laugh. She had been laughed at enough to know not to underestimate someone as an instinctive reaction, but her eyes narrowed, taking in his appearance with more careful attention. His hair was blonde like All Might's she could imagine it standing up like the hero's signature hair style. His eyes were the same burning blue, and he did have an air of confidence around him that Koharu had seen in pro heroes before. It wasn't enough to confirm his story though. All of that could be faked with enough time and effort.

"Prove it," Koharu repeated. "I've seen All Might, you know. Everyone has. And you look very different. Which means you are either trying to sell the worse lie I have ever heard, or there's more to you than meets the eye. All I want to see is the evidence. Something to confirm your story other than words. So, I will say it one more time, and one more time only. Prove. It."

Yagi looked from one end of the hallway to the other, and then before Koharu could fully process what she was seeing All Might stood before her. He shrugged, a little embarrassed, rubbing at the back of his neck again. "Hi?"

Koharu stared at him for a moment before pushing the door open fully and stepping inside. "I think you better come in."

Endeavor's go to method for problem solving had always been to force himself through the issue, but that wouldn't work for Todoroki for a variety of reasons. Not the least of them being the fact that he would rather fail out of Yuuei than do anything his father would approve of. Todoroki hated making decisions, and this was probably one of the worst positions he had ever been forced into. Talk to the counselor and risk it backfiring on him. Don't talk to the counselor and it would definitely backfire on him.

Two options equally risky, so Todoroki took his brother's advice and chose door number three. He faked an illness. The message he left on the counselor's voicemail had sounded awkward as he recorded it, but there was nothing to be done but continue on as he had practiced and hoped that he wasn't called on his lie. At worst, he figured that he could always claim that he needed the extra time to come to terms with what he had experienced. Todoroki hadn't been anywhere near the true fighting, but it seemed like the kind of line a counselor would expect from a supposedly traumatized child. It didn't matter that Todoroki had tried to tell her that he was fine. She hadn't believed him.

Todoroki had expected to have the two extra days to figure out a strategy, but then Nedzu's announcement had come. Yuuei was no longer going to require approval from their counselors before allowing them back to class. Apparently, it had been determined that the original guidelines had not "allowed students to come to terms with their experiences in their own time without the added pressure of returning to the classroom."

He didn't really understand everything in the message, but the important thing was that he could go back to class, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him, whether he talked about the attack or not. It was only one step short of not having to attend the stupid meetings at all, but he was more confident that he would be able to get out of them now. His dad hadn't pressed the issue when he had to go to the sessions in order to stay at Yuuei, but now that the rules had changed Todoroki couldn't imagine that it would be long before Endeavor complained about the amount of training time wasted.

Todoroki knew he wasn't good at lying. It would only have been a matter of time before he messed something up, and now he had the time and focus to devote to preparing for the Sports Festival. There had been no new update about the festival being postponed which was enough for Todoroki to assume that it would be held as usual. With all that had happened, he had been worried that it would be canceled, and he couldn't let that happen. Too much was riding on the outcome of the festival for him to feel comfortable with it being postponed, especially if he wanted to end up with anyone other than his father.

Endeavor expected Todoroki to choose him at the end of it saw no reason to tell him otherwise yet. If Endeavor was suspicious then he would actively tell other heroes not to choose him, and Todoroki couldn't afford that. Not yet. Not until he had proven himself. There weren't many people who would be willing to go against his father's wishes if Endeavor decided to make them known.

One problem solved, another one there to take its place. It was fine. Todoroki would take a problem that required action over head games any day. Winning the Sports Festival was something he could do. He couldn't make people listen to him if they didn't want to. That was a lesson he had learned a long time ago. People saw what they wanted to see, didn't hear what they didn't want to know. When he won the Sports Festival he would do it with only half his quirk, the only half of it that mattered, and there wouldn't be anything anyone could do about it.

Problem evidently solved, Todoroki pushed the upcoming conversations aside. Nothing she did could hurt him now, and he had more important things to worry about.

Shoji Mezo. Koda Koji. Sero Hanta.

Recovery Girl had spread their files across her desk, a decision weighing heavily on her shoulders. The hospital had cleared all three of the students who had been affected by Thirteen's quirk to return to school, but it was her responsibility to determine the details of their course load. They had been fortunate that Thirteen had realized what was happening almost immediately, but there had been a brief second between the horrified realization and their reaction.

It could have been a lot worse, Recovery Girl told herself. The students' injuries would leave no lasting damage, but there was no way for her to judge the mental trauma that such an event would cause. All three were still meeting with their counselors, and she had spoken to each of them personally. It shouldn't have been surprising to her that all of them wanted to return to school, but somehow she still found herself shocked at their resilience. A school like Yuuei attracted a certain type of person, after all, and people who decided early on that they wanted to be heroes weren't ones to give up in the face of adversity.

Still, despite their claims at being okay, Recovery Girl did not think it wise to throw them back into school as though nothing had happened. Measures would have to be taken to help the entirety of 1-A recover from their experiences, but special accommodations would have to be made for those who had been injured in the fight.

Her official recommendation had been to excuse 1-A from participation in the Sports Festival. It was too soon for the students to be put in a potentially dangerous situation again, no matter how safe it was supposed to be made by the staff on hand. She had seen the planned challenges for the first and second round, and while she had seen the importance of their messages when Nedzu had presented the plan to the staff at the end of the previous year, now she thought that it would be all too relevant for 1-A had experienced. She didn't want any of them to be forced to be reminded of what they had gone through, and that wasn't even considering the fact that the last event would require them to use their quirks against their classmates.

Her recommendation had largely been ignored, but she had several vocal supporters in her corner. She wouldn't give up that fight just yet. She had time. Recovery Girl tapped her finger against the closest folder, thinking. Sometimes Nedzu forgot that while he was the principal there were somethings that fell outside his authority. It might be time for her to give him a reminder.

Aizawa felt the most aware he had in…Well. He wasn't exactly sure how long it had been. Several days maybe. He still couldn't open his eyes, but he could feel the bandages wrapped around his head. The thought came easily to him this time, so they must have lowered the dose of drugs they were giving him. His instinct was to try to sit up, but a voice that sounded oddly like his protégé's urged him to wait. Aizawa would never let Izuku know he was his inner voice of reason, but it worked to get him not to push himself just yet.

He thought he had been in pain before, but without the haze of medications clouding his thoughts, he realized that it was much worse than he had thought. He had been in a hospital before though, and he knew what to do. He could feel the call button next to his bed even if he couldn't feel it, but he didn't press it. He needed a moment to sort through what had happened.

The memories of USJ didn't hit him as hard this time as he could piece together more than the disconnected moments from the last time he remembered being conscious, but his mind still rushed to panic mode before he could squash it with the cold hard facts of logic. The sound of the beeping machines in his room ticked faster, but Aizawa breathed deeply, focusing on the feeling of the bandages against his skin and the hum of the monitors until that instinctual fear had diminished enough for him to throw it in a box in the back of his mind to be dealt with on a day far in the future. Panicking accomplished nothing. Logic, that was what he needed, because he would rather have some understanding of how bad the news would be before the called the doctors in. He couldn't afford another panic attack, but he knew the likelihood of him avoiding one wasn't good. Better to puzzle out as much of it as he could beforehand.

He had been rescued, which meant that other staff members must have arrived. Given how badly he had been injured and how sure he was that the monster would have killed him if given the chance, Aizawa was going to assume that they must have arrived shortly after he blacked out. What he could have missed in those moments though was impossible to guess, especially which his students. Izuku in particular, because the last thing he really remembers seeing was the stupid, reckless idiot staring at him from across the facility. His panic spiked again, but he shoved it down before it could overwhelm him. Logic. Facts. He couldn't worry about things he had no confirmation of. Not yet at least.

Okay, next. Hizashi wasn't here, and while Aizawa was disappointed that he couldn't just ask his friend what had happened without doctors poking at him and monitoring his reactions, he knew that was a good sign. If Hizashi wasn't here that meant he was with Izuku, which meant that Izuku was okay. That realization was what finally calmed him enough to press the call button, because if Izuku was fine then he could deal with whatever other news they dropped on him. The sooner he dealt with this, the sooner he would be able to leave the hospital.

The process of dealing with the doctors was more drawn out and tedious than he had expected. They asked him questions over and over again, gauging his awareness, how much he remembered from the attack, whether he could move his arms, if he was having trouble thinking. They never once asked about his eyes, and the longer they avoided the subject the more concerned he felt he should be.

The rundown of the extent of his injuries was, to put it mildly, a lot. Skin and muscle deterioration in his arm from the villain's quirk. Fractures in his face and skull. Concussion. Blood loss. The list went on, and Aizawa tried to carefully take note of everything, but it was the longest he had been awake for since he had been admitted into the hospital and his energy was starting to run out.

They were waiting to tell him something. Even if he couldn't see them, he could hear it in their voices and the quiet conversations they had in the corner of his room as though his hearing had been affected in addition to his sight. He could guess what they were waiting for though, and he couldn't stop himself from relaxing the moment he heard Hizashi's voice down the hall. He may tease his friend for his volume at times, but Aizawa could always know when Hizashi was near.

There were startled cries as Hizashi burst into the room. Aizawa could feel him march straight up to his bedside, his voice wavering as he said, "Shouta. Kept me waiting long enough."

The smile hurt, but it was worth it to hear Hizashi's laugh. "My sincerest apologies." The words came out hoarse, but he didn't cough through them anymore. Hizashi hadn't been at the hospital when he got the call Aizawa was awake, which meant that Izuku wasn't at the hospital anymore either. Having Hizashi with him, knowing that Izuku was okay, Aizawa felt the tension he had been holding since he woke up release for the first time.

"You can't do this again, Shouta. You can't." Hizashi's hand squeezed his shoulder, and Aizawa knew that it was only the bandages that kept him from tackling him in a hug.

"I'll try by best," Aizawa answered, knowing that was the best that he could offer at the moment. One of the doctors cleared her throat before Hizashi could argue the point.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, "but there is one last point we need to discuss." Hizashi squeezed his shoulder as Aizawa nodded. He was so tired, and now that Hizashi was here he felt like he could actually sleep without the influence of whatever medications they had given him. He needed to hear this first though. Rip the bandage off so that he could figure out how he was going to deal with whatever bad news she was about to drop on him.

"Aizawa-san, as I am sure you have been able to tell from the bandages, the damage to your eyes was extensive. Luckily, we were able to repair the much of the damage that was caused by the repeated trauma you experience. The fractures in your face and skull have almost entirely healed, but the actual damage to the nerves was a little more complicated. Your sight will return in time, but it will not be overnight. It's going to be a process, but I have already been in contact with Recovery Girl as she is on file as your primary doctor. She has been informed of the steps that will need to be taken once you have been discharged from the hospital."

That didn't sound too bad, Aizawa thought. He had been sure that his vision would be permanently affected by what had happened, but that couldn't have been all that she wanted to tell him.

"I'm sensing there's something you are worried about telling me?"

"I have it on file that your quirk is related to your eyesight, so we ran some additional testing," the doctor continued. "I'm sorry, Aizawa-san, but the probability is high that you will never be able to use your quirk again."