Happy New Years.
The fish was really gross to look at.
Its glassy eye just stared up at Izuku looking at him, but seeing nothing. It laid on a platform that was pristine and sterile. It was static and was a large gash going down its body pulsed with blood and he had to actively swallow down bile.
"You need to get used to this if you want to be a medic. You'll see a lot worse soon enough."
"Yes, master."
Izuku looked up in surprise at his teacher's sudden appearance. How had she managed to sneak up on him? Her hair and clothes were very bright. She had the robe on for crying out loud. The red and white clashed against the subdued blue of the room they were in.
Had he been too squicked out by the fish or was she just that good?
Would he ever be that good?
"Your patient is dying."
"Sorry, master."
She was now holding a bottle of alcohol. Where had that come from? It smelt awful. Izuku shook her head. That wasn't important to him right now. What was important was saving this fish's life.
In two quick handseals, Izuku's hands emitted a soft green light. She pressed his hands to the cold and slimy surface of the fish. The blood and slime and mucus made his skin crawl, but it wasn't enough to disrupt her focus.
The Mystical Palm Technique was an odd technique even for her, him. It was a careful balancing act, but it never failed to amaze her when it did its magic. The gash slowly stitched itself up before after some time it was finally healed.
The fish sprang to life as it flipped around on the platform. He picked it up and ignored the slimy feeling long enough to put the fish in a tank of water. It swam around energetically from here to there and everywhere.
It was as if it hadn't been on the brink of death, if not beyond, just a short while ago.
Izuku looked up into the impressed brown eyes of his master.
"Well done, Sakura. I think you've gone as far as you can with fish and rather quickly at that."
Warmth spread through his, her, body at the praise. He was sure his cheeks were pinker than her hair right now. Thankfully, if his master had noticed, she didn't bring it up.
"Anyways, what do you love more? Bunnies or puppies?"
"Puppies, Lady Tsunade."
What did that have to do with anything? Plus, Izuku was sure he liked bunnies more than puppies.
"Alright," the older woman said after a swig from her bottle, "You're practising next on puppies. We need to get rid of your squeamishness. You can take the day off. I'm swamped in meetings."
The woman turned on a dime as she left. Her red and white robe fluttering behind her. There was writing on the back Izuku could barely make out the words. It looked like it said—
Izuku sat up with a gasp.
He clutched his head as a splitting headache came over him. His head felt like sharp daggers were being driven into his head from opposite sides. He rubbed his temples to rid himself of the pain and slowly he began to recover.
A few minutes later— he wasn't sure how many— the headache faded to an irritating throb that was much more manageable. That too faded away until all that was left was the phantom pains of what had been the world's worst-ever headache.
That had been awful.
Izuku sat back down on his bed only realising that he was in what looked to be an infirmary. From the little he could see of the outside, it looked to be the late afternoon. He must have been taken here after the exam.
He had a window to his left and a closed curtain to his right. The view of Musutafu from here was rather spectacular. The city was bathed in orange light as the sun began its descent. The beauty managed to distract him for just about three seconds.
Izuku hurt.
His body felt like one giant sore. His palms were sweaty, his knees weak and his arms were heavy. This was worse than anything he had felt thus far. He wasn't sure if it was all down to the UA exam or the... fever dream he had just had.
Calling it a fever dream didn't do it any justice either. Not really.
Once after drinking an energy drink, Kendou had given him, he had a dream about being a balloon. It was very cool and then suddenly frightening. It was nothing compared to what he'd just gone through.
No, this was different.
It was almost like he was living someone else's life. He'd barely felt like himself throughout it and it had felt too vivid and too real, somehow. He had felt the slimy scales of the fish and had smelt the alcohol the blonde woman was drinking.
Unlike many others which faded away almost instantly, this dream was still very clear in his mind. What could have brought it on? Izuku wasn't normally one to dwell on his dreams, but this was just different.
He, or rather the girl who he was seeing through, had used medical ninjutsu. Izuku had only skimmed the section in Hiruzen's scroll since much like the rest of the stuff on there, he lacked the means, control or power to go far in them.
He was aware of his current capabilities. The Academy Three, the Body Flicker, the Fatebreaker and rudimentary chakra and elemental control. Rudimentary was harsh on the Surface Sticking and Water Walking, but apparently, anyone could do that.
Anyone with chakra, that was.
In any case, Izuku knew what his limits were even as he tried to go beyond them. The exam was a prime example. After running the Fatebreaker for so long, his body had begun to ache. It wasn't just fatigue or his muscles being overworked either.
Looking back on it, the pain was focused on his limbs especially. Izuku had never had any sort of damage to his joints or ligaments, but he had a good understanding of the human body.
It was not normal for your knees to throb with pain with every step you took or for your elbow to click every time you moved it even a little. Clearly, the Fatebreaker wasn't an infallible reinforcement technique like he had thought.
At some stage, the reinforcement must have failed. Perhaps due to oversaturation or something, he wasn't a doctor. Or a chakra expert. No one alive was, really.
That being said it was clear the Fatebreaker wasn't the cure for what ailed him. Roughly 30 minutes until suffering ligament and joint damage was a ridiculously low bar. Especially for someone who planned to be number one.
When he had tripped and broken his ankle and laid in the dirt, it should have been the end for him and for the others in his Sector. He'd tripped over something. A gouge in the Earth from someone's Quirk or a stray robot limb or maybe even just his own feet.
He had tried to shield Momo from any more damage and he had succeeded. Somehow. Barely. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for him.
At those speeds with already damaged ligaments, joints and bones, a broken ankle was unsurprising. He should have laid in the dirt until the exam ended. He should have ended with no points and no hopes of
Maybe the robot would have ridden over him and Momo and crushed them for their failure to pass. At least, then they wouldn't have had to face the disappointment of the other competitors.
And yet none of that happened.
Instead, they had passed. They had passed because of Izuku. They had passed because Izuku healed debilitating injuries and then put the robot out of commission with one punch.
Izuku was stumped.
The pink chakra, the healing, the absurd strength and now the weird dreams. It was not a coincidence. Right? He knew random activation of techniques wasn't common for chakra users. And yet it had happened to him multiple times.
Once was a fluke, twice was a coincidence and three times was a pattern.
Izuku was already at three.
He had to figure out what it all meant once he got the chance. The coloured chakra, the new and inexplicable jutsu, had to mean something. Izuku was sure that the fruit had everything to do with this. He had obtained chakra unnaturally.
Did these symptoms come with the territory?
"Why do things have to be so complicated?" Izuku sank deeper into the admittedly comfortable bed, "I must have been someone awful in a past life."
Izuku's words had been intended for himself and himself alone. The last thing he had expected was for someone else to speak up.
"What makes you say that?"
Izuku sat up straight in his bed and he looked towards the drawn curtain. That was where the question had come from.
"I-Is someone there?" Izuku stumbled over his words a bit, "I can't see anything because of the—"
Izuku's words died on his lips as the curtain was drawn open revealing—
"Momo?"
Momo was laying in a bed identical to his. She was also sitting up, but her arm was wrapped in thick gauze. There were a few bandages dotted across her face that did nothing to take away from her intense stare. Idly, he noted that her hair was down from its ponytail.
"Why do you think you were someone awful in a past life?" Momo asked as if she hadn't just scared Izuku halfway to death, "Are you religious?"
"I-I was, um, just thinking about some stuff," Izuku said as he scratched the back of his head, "P-personal stuff. Sorry if I woke you up."
"You didn't."
...This was awkward. Of all the people to end up with him here, it had to be the one person, other than Bakugou, who hated him. She had a good reason to hate him at least. Perhaps, things wouldn't be so awkward if he hadn't destroyed her bag.
"W-Why are you here?" Izuku asked, trying to dispel the awkwardness in the room, "I would have thought you'd be home by now."
"I broke my arm and dislocated my knee," Momo said as she gestured to her bandaged arm and then to her leg.
Oh, right. That had happened on his watch, right?
"Sorry about that," Izuku said out of a mix of guilt and obligation, "I probably should have had you closer to the front. Or carried you. You were the only one still affected by gravity."
She seemed to stare deep into his soul like some sort of seer before she laid back on her bed. A rather heavy sigh left Momo as she stared up at the ceiling.
"It is not your fault. You'd done more than was necessary. If I had been paying attention then you would not have had to rescue me," Momo said and her tone sounded angry and disappointed but at herself more than anything.
Izuku wouldn't have expected anyone without a suitable Quirk to react to an attack at those speeds. Izuku had tunnel vision whilst running that fast and he had had the most stable journey of them all. Momo would have been thrown up and down and side to side like she was on a rollercoaster.
There was no way she stood a chance of seeing and then stopping the attack. That went for most people too.
"I suppose you're right," Momo said and Izuku felt his ears begin to burn, "However, I am not 'most people'. I need to do better. To be better. My carelessness almost ruined everyone's chances of getting into UA. If you had not intervened then I would have been the cause of forty failures."
Why was she being so hard on herself? Did she not know that her part had been just as important as the others?
"How did you do it?"
Izuku turned towards Momo at the question, "D-do what?"
Momo turned to face him and her face was set in a determined gaze, "You destroyed that robot with one punch. With the injuries you had, what you did was not possible."
This wasn't good. Momo would have seen everything since she was right there. Hell, the teachers would have seen everything too since the exam would have definitely been filmed.
Maybe he actually was a villain in his past life. Did he go around kicking babies, killing puppies and poisoning rivers? Nothing about chakra seemed to be simple. Absolutely nothing.
"It was my Quirk," Izuku said after a moment's pause, "I activated it not too long ago so I still don't know all of what I can do. So far, I know that it is a variant of a power-up Quirk."
That was as close to the truth as he would get. Revealing more to her would only cause more headaches.
"I see. Does it have a name?" Momo said nearly causing him to fall off the bed.
"A n-name? Uh, yes it does," Izuku floundered for a bit before inspiration hit him, "Chakra! Yes. I call it Chakra. What about your Quirk? It was pretty cool too!".
Thankfully, Momo took the bait. Any more questions about chakra and he was bound to trip up. There was something about Momo's demeanour that unsettled him.
Well, unsettled him more than the average girl did anyways.
"My Quirk is Creation," Momo said and despite himself, Izuku felt himself lean forward in anticipation, "I can convert the lipids in my body to any non-living object so long as I understand the molecular structure of the object in question."
That was amazing. And it sounded familiar. Really familiar. If Izuku weren't still a bit out of it, he'd probably remember why he felt this way. That barely mattered, though. It was an unreal Quirk.
"So that gun you were using was made by you?" Izuku asked, drawing a nod from Momo, "That's amazing...You must study really hard to remember what you can make! What limits do you have? Is it a one-to-one conversion? Or is it more than that? Less? Can you make something that isn't solid? What happens if you overuse your Quirk? Can your body handle it? Has it hampered your growth? Is there a size limit to what you can create?"
The barrage of questions left Izuku's mouth almost against his will. His curiosity possessed him for a few seconds. It washed away as he took in Momo's raised brows and open mouth.
Did someone have a hypnotism Quirk? This muttering was getting really out of hand.
The door opened, saving Izuku from himself. It swung open revealing an old doctor and Izuku immediately recognised her as Recovery Girl— a renowned doctor with a Quirk to match. She had a clipboard in her hands and she smiled at the two of them when she spotted them. Momo seemed grateful for the interruption as she tore her gaze away from Izuku. He noticed her begin to twiddle her fingers, but he put that aside as Recovery Girl spoke.
"Hey, you, you're finally awake," Recovery Girl said as she put her clipboard down and it took a moment to realise she was speaking to him.
"Me?" Izuku asked drawing a nod from the Pro, "How long have I been out?"
"An hour or two at most," she said before handing him a small bag of sweets, "That should recharge you for a few hours. You guys worked hard today. Izuku, you had no injuries, but you were unconscious when I found you. We kept you here with the other casualties to recover."
Casualties?
"There were only injuries," Recovery Girl said after one look at his face, "We would never let anyone die on our watch. It never has and never will happen if I have anything to say about it. Now, let me do a quick check-up on you, boy. The girl has already received hers."
Izuku fought down a blush after Recovery Girl's chastisement. Thankfully, the check-up was straightforward and he was given a clean bill of health.
"Everything appears to be in order," Recovery Girl said as she picked up her clipboard, "A nurse will help you with your forms and direct you to your belongings and transport. The school saw it fit to organise transport for the injured."
After the day he'd had, Izuku was glad he wouldn't have to take public transport as well. At this time, the roads, trains and buses were packed and he just wanted to get home as soon as possible.
The doctor left soon after that leaving just Izuku and Momo. His conversation with Momo had been interrupted, but he didn't feel like continuing it after his massive geek-out. He fiddled with the bag of sweets until Momo asked him yet another question.
"Have we met before?"
Izuku would have remembered that.
"Uh, I don't think so?" Izuku said as he looked at taller girl, "The first time I saw you was back on the path when I—"
—ruined her very expensive and very rare bag.
Izuku trailed off, but he was saved as two nurses walked in. Weirdly, they were in two different uniforms. It was the one in the more-worn uniform that walked to his bedside.
"Izuku Midoriya?" she asked and he nodded, "I've got your exit forms here. You just need to answer a few questions and I'll take where you need to go."
The nurse seemed tired which was probably a result of running around all day. Idly, Izuku wondered how many others had needed to take a visit to the infirmary. He was sure it was more than just a few.
He began to answer the questions and he took notice of the other nurse helping Momo out of her bed. Momo's leg was wrapped in a thick cast and she was helped into a specialised wheelchair by the other nurse.
Thankfully, neither of them took notice of him as he watched this happen. He answered all the relevant questions from the nurse, but he stalled on one of them as he caught the last of the other's nurse conversation.
"I should be able to get you out of this within a few days," the nurse said to Momo who gave a stiff nod in response, "Now let's go, Ms Yaoyorozu. Your driver has been here for a few hours now."
Ms Yaoyorozu. The same Yaoyorozu as those who owned the Samsara Resort and a plethora of other businesses, both hero and non-hero related.
He had —accidentally— destroyed the very expensive and rare bag of a girl from what was arguably Japan's most powerful family.
It was just his luck. Had he started a nuclear war in his past life or something? Maybe the 21st-century one. That one had the highest death toll. It had been short too. 2021 to 2021.
The door closed behind Yaoyorozu snapping him out of his daze. Izuku stared after her. Yaoyorozu was a lock to get into UA. What if they were in the same class? His mounting dread was cut off as the nurse gently nudged him.
"Are you okay?" she said before looking towards the door and a devious smile grew on her face, "Aw, are you sad to see her go? She is pretty. Are you in love?"
"W-what? No, I just—" Izuku blurted out causing the nurse to giggle at his plight. His cheeks felt red-hot and probably looked the same too.
"I'm just teasing you. You're too easy to fluster," the nurse said with an all-too-wide smile that made Izuku want to sink into the earth, "Let's go get your stuff. We cleaned your clothes too because we're just nice like that."
That was pretty nice of them.
Izuku followed the nurse out the room and he almost screamed as his feet touched the cold floor. Izuku was tough, though, so he just helped a bit and powered through the pain.
"Do you know that girl? Apparently, you guys were found close to each other."
"Not particularly," Izuku said to the nurse, "We were just in the same zone. We made a plan to escape that robot, but she got hurt so I went back for her."
"That's so heroic!" the nurse looked at him over her shoulder and Izuku felt the familiar burn of embarrassment come over him.
"What?! I would have done it for anyone! I promise!" Izuku said almost in one breath causing the nurse to giggle again, "She was also really hurt. I'm surprised she left so early."
Momo (or was it Yaoyorozu now?) had been in worse shape than he had been. He hoped he didn't make things worse with the tumble he'd taken.
"Her personal nurse has a Quirk similar to Recovery Girl's," the nurse said as they turned down a corner, "It looks a lot worse than it is. Her limbs are a bit weak, but honestly, she probably could have left with the other competitors hours ago."
"Really?" Izuku asked drawing a nod from the nurse.
So why didn't she?
Six Days Later — Kendou Gym and Dojo
Izuku walked out the changing rooms at Kendou's gym before making way for the stairs. It had been six days since the exam and also six days since he had last heard anything from Kendou. He had gone to the gym in the evenings, much like today, to see if she showed up.
She never did.
For the past week when he wasn't agonising over the results of the UA exam, he had kept up with his training. Takoba Beach was a viable place once more and Izuku had made considerable progress.
He wasn't sure if he was ready to fire off jutsu or anything like that, but it felt as though he'd gained a new level of control over his chakra. It wasn't an earth-shattering change, but it wasn't easily dismissed either.
It was a big enough difference that Izuku was feeling confident about trying out some basic elemental jutsu. Eventually. Although he wanted perfect elemental control before learning jutsu, it was a very likely possibility that he would need actual guidance and assistance to get there.
There were bound to be teachers and students and facilities at UA about elemental Quirks. They weren't exactly the same as elemental chakra, but he was hoping they were similar enough to make a difference.
As things were, Izuku had stopped at destroying metal objects with his chakra. He still hurt himself when he did it, though. Water and earth chakra didn't have all that much backlash.
As for wind, fire and lightning, all Izuku would say was that he had gained a new appreciation for modern medicine and creams.
In any case, Izuku had also gone to the gym hoping to catch sight of Kendou to no avail. He had spent hours trying to find her but to no avail. He had asked around too, but no one had seen her.
He reached the staircase and he was about to walk up them when he bumped into someone shorter than him. He caught them before they fell and he calmed down when he saw who it was.
"Thank you, Izuku," Mai the secretary said and Izuku carefully helped her to her feet, "I must be going blind! I didn't see you there!"
"It's okay," Izuku said to the elderly woman, "Have you seen Kendou, uh, I mean Itsuka? She hasn't been around for the whole week."
"I saw her just upstairs," Mai said causing Izuku to smile, "That girl is...something. Who smiles after getting punched in the face?"
That confirmed it. Kendou was here and she was in a good mood. That was great. Izuku had been worried she had gone underground because something had set her off.
"Thank you, Mai," Izuku said and he waved goodbye before going up the stairs.
That was who Kendou thought had given him bruises? She had to be over sixty years old.
True to Mai's words, Kendou was in a boxing fight with a tall man with red skin and four arms. The man unleashed a barrage of wild and ill-disciplined blows that Kendou managed to stay ahead of or block before her hand multiplied in size. The man had obviously never trained before and it was going to bite him in the butt.
Hard.
The impact was just as gruesome as Izuku had expected it to be. Kendou's uppercut ploughed into the man's chin so hard he flipped through the air. The man dropped like a rock and Kendou put her foot on his chest as she held a fist up to the sky. The small crowd watching the match traded money and barbs as people lost out on their bets.
The people who had bet against Kendou were suckers. Going head-to-head with her in boxing was like trying to hold your breath underwater longer than a fish.
It was a fool's game.
"Who wants some?" Kendou shouted at some of the others who were already geared up, "You want some? Come get some—Oh! Sorry, guys! I got to go!"
Thankfully, Kendou had spotted him and she walked out the ring as she rushed towards him. There was a chorus of lighthearted groans and boos that followed her, but that didn't seem to matter as Kendou just waved those off.
"Hey, Izuku!" Kendou said mustering some excitement despite her moderate exhaustion as she began to unstrap her boxing gear.
"Hi, Kendou."
"Are you ever going to use my name?" Kendou said as she got the last of her boxing gear off, "I'm starting to feel like we aren't friends..."
Izuku narrowed his eyes. He wasn't falling for that one.
"What?" Kendou said, bringing a hand to her chest, "Was it something I said?"
Izuku sighed, "Where have you been? You've been off the grid for like a week."
"My parents booked us a week-long trip to Kyoto," Kendou said as they began to walk towards one of the less-crowded rings, "My phone got destroyed during that battle with that elephant villain and Kamui."
Kendou's tone hardened at the end and Izuku, wise boy that he was, pivoted away from that rabbit hole.
"How did your exam go?" Izuku asked and thankfully Kendou seemed to cheer up at that.
"It went great," Kendou said a smile spreading across her face, "I got 77 points! The highest after me was like 30. At best! Those scrubs at the gate couldn't touch me. What about you?"
Oh, right. Kendou had almost caused a bunch of people to go after him...
"77, huh?" Izuku asked and despite himself, a smile spread across his face, "That is great. It's no less than I expected from you. You should be proud of yourself."
This was gonna be great.
Kendou stared at him for a few seconds, "You're being weird. Why are you being weird?"
"No reason," Izuku said as he climbed into the ring, "77 points is a really good score and I bet you'll get into UA..."
"But..." Kendou asked after he trailed off, "How much did you get? You beat me, didn't you?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny—" Izuku ducked out of the way of a punch, "What? Was it something I said?"
"I see what you're doing," Kendou said with a strained smile, "You're trying to get back at me. Fine, then. How about a bet? You beat me in a spar then you don't tell me your score. If I beat you then you answer all of my questions."
"That seems unbalanced," Izuku said as he watched Kendou put on her gloves," I was going to tell you about the exam either way."
Those were the ones that could grow with her hands. Not good.
"Fine then, no bets," Kendou said as she hopped out the ring and she threw him some combat gloves as well, "I just really feel like beating you up."
"Because I teased you?" Izuku asked and Kendou confirmed it with a nod, "You do that to me all the time!"
"I'm a hypocrite."
Izuku's body felt like a rhino had used it as a trampoline. Kendou was strong. Stupidly strong. A mix of genetics and exercise made her far stronger than she appeared to be. It wasn't a surprise she had destroyed so many robots with her bare hands.
Izuku gave as good as he got, though.
Izuku stepped forward and lashed out with a flurry of punches. Kendou blocked and weaved and parried them all, but he kept up with the assault until he connected with a wicked hook to her side.
He swung his foot out in a kick and it slammed into Kendou's flank. She let out a groan of pain, but then she made him pay as she delivered a clean jab straight to his face.
That was gonna leave a mark.
"Can I kick things up a notch?" she asked pointing to her gloves, "I want to see how far I can launch you from here."
Izuku's blood was pumping and despite the pain he was in, he was eager to actually use his chakra.
"Let's do it!"
With his recently improved chakra control, Izuku was able to activate the Fatebreaker without any handseals. It was something that came in handy as Kendou's giant fist suddenly loomed over him.
He rolled out of the way in a burst of speed. Chakra wafted off him like smoke from a fire and it was a rather apparent effect even under the fluorescent lights of the gym.
"Are you glowing?" Kendou asked her cheeks flushed red from exertion, "Is this your Quirk? It looks cool, but glowing won't be enough—"
She was cut off as Izuku's foot slammed into her face.
Kendou was sent rolling over the floor before the ropes arrested her movement. Her hands were a normal size again and she looked at him with a smile despite the bruise on her face.
"That was amazing!" she sprung up to her feet immediately, "My ears are ringing! Hit me again! Just like that!"
Who was he to say no to that?
This time Kendou was better prepared and she was able to stay just ahead of Izuku's strikes for the most part. He was a lot stronger now, though, so she had to keep her Quirk active all the while. They kept at sparring with their Quirks as they ignored the passage time
Izuku was able to get past Kendou's defences fairly often and he made her pay with crushing blows that were sure to leave tons of bruises in the morning. Unfortunately, Kendou got past his guard too and after a while, Izuku was pretty sure he'd rather take an explosion from Bakugou than through this hell of being thrown around like a pinball.
Speaking of which, Izuku blocked two punches from what were now normal-sized hands before Kendou punched him. Hard. With a giant fist. Izuku flew. He slammed into the turnbuckle in the corner and upon impact, all the air left his body.
That hurt. A lot. Izuku was pretty sure he could taste his liver.
"Call it a draw?" Kendou said looking exhausted as well as she deactivated her Quirk, "We've been at this for hours. It's already like 9 PM."
The clock on the wall said 9:42 PM.
"Yeah, I think that's enough for today," Izuku said as he let out a sigh, "We kinda lost track of time there."
They collapsed to the floor and laid down near each other in the ring. They were the only people still up here although Izuku was sure that the downstairs gym was jam-packed.
"That's because you wouldn't stay down."
"Neither did you."
"This is the first real action I've had in a week. You have no idea just how stressful weddings are especially when you're a bridesmaid."
Izuku turned to Kendou, "You were a bridesmaid? Like with a dress and everything?"
Kendou frowned at him, "Is that so surprising?"
Was this a trap? It sounded like a trap.
"No?" Izuku said and he frowned when he saw Kendou's expression tighten up, "I don't mean you'd look bad in a dress or anything! I'm sure you'd look great! Totally! I just meant you don't seem like the type to like that sort of stuff! Not that that type of stuff is lame or anything, but uhhhhh—sorry?"
Why were words so difficult? Where was the confidence and eloquence he had had during the exam? He could have really used some now. He hoped that Kendou's face was red from getting punched a lot and not red from being mad at him.
"Apology accepted."
Izuku let out a sigh. Of relief. It was usually a sign of frustration or exasperation when it came to him and Kendou. She really knew what buttons to push. It sucked. Kinda.
"You'd think so, but I'm usually pretty straight-laced," Kendou said and Izuku could not help the expression that came over his face.
"That's not how I'd describe it exactly," Izuku muttered and it was just loud enough for Kendou to hear.
"I heard that," Kendou said but there was no real heat to her tone, "For the most part, I am very disciplined. The product of years and years of martial arts and exercise. I only let my hair down when I feel super comfortable. Usually, that's with my family, here at the dojo or with you."
Technically, Kendou's hair was always up in a ponytail, but now probably wasn't the best time to joke like that.
He'd save it for later. Plus, it was unimportant compared to the rest of what she had said.
"With me? Why aren't you like this with more people?" Izuku asked Kendou, "You're great."
That was understating a lot. Compared to others his age and just in general, Kendou was great. A bit zany, but ultimately great. She was awesome compared to the others from his school.
"People are judgy," Kendou said as she looked up at the ceiling before turning to face him, "It's easier to just act normal around others than to be my usual self. Not all people are as...accepting as you are."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
And he was. Kendou was a lot more subdued than usual. She usually had enough energy to power Japan for a week, but that was almost gone now. It was weird seeing someone who had more confidence in her fingernail than he did in his entire body act like this.
"Don't be," Kendou said as she smiled at him, "You're a good friend. I don't have many of those— friends. You're probably my closest one. Ugh, sorry if this is too heavy. I think your punches did something to my brain."
"It's okay," Izuku assured her before adding, "Y-you're my closest friend too. Well, technically, you're my only friend, but still. I think I get how you feel. I only got my Quirk a year ago. All the students and teachers at my school thought I was a joke because I wanted to be a hero even without a Quirk."
He thought the attention from the Konoha would change things, but everything went back to normal after a few weeks. It almost hurt more to be within reach of normality only for it to be ripped away from you.
"They're stupid," Kendou said resolutely drawing his attention, "You're a bit shy, pretty dorky, ramble on a lot, your jokes need a lot of work and you're pretty secretive now that I think about it—"
"Thank you?"
"But you're also smart, hardworking, kind and really strong," Kendou finished before she pressed down on her cheek with her finger, "Side note, I think I might need to see the dentist after this. A few of my teeth feel loose."
Kendou thought that much of him? A warm feeling radiated from somewhere deep within Izuku. A year ago, he'd never thought he would have a strong 'Quirk', a strong shot at UA and a bonafide close friend.
It made him appreciate what he had just a little more.
"Thanks, Kendou," Izuku said feeling his cheeks burn up, "I feel the same. I'm not really good at the friend thing...or talking really, but I do value our friendship. You're violent and a little brash. You tricked me into buying a pretty expensive bottle. You're also arrogant and did I say violent already because—"
"If you want to spar then I'm ready to go. What do you say?"
Okay, that was enough teasing. She looked a little pissed. He was starting to understand why people lost to Kendou so much. Surprisingly, giant fists to the face hurt. A lot. Who knew?
"But," Izuku said as he held up a hand to placate Kendou, "You taught me how to fight for free for months. You're hilarious and you're so brave you were willing to fight off those burglars on your own despite being outnumbered."
Kendou covered her face with her hands and Izuku recognised it for what it was. Clearly, they were both quite bad at taking compliments. What else could it be?
It was actually pretty difficult to talk about things like this. Emotions never had been Izuku's strong suit. That being said, Izuku also found it relieving in a way to get these thoughts off his chest. It was cathartic on an almost chemical level.
"When we get into UA, no matter what class we're in, there's nothing I'd want more than to remain friends," Izuku said breaking the brief silence, "After all, you are my best friend, Itsuka."
They sat in silence for a while before Kendou spoke again.
"Itsuka, huh?" Kendou said with a smile so radiant it made Izuku look away from her, "What happened to Kendou?"
That was it. He was switching back to calling her Kendou. Most people would have let the name change slide, but then again Kendou was not like most people. That was her best trait in Izuku's eyes. Sometimes, it was her worst trait, though.
"You wanted to know how much I got in the Entrance Exam, right?" Izuku asked, completely ignoring her question.
Hook.
"Oh, right!" Kendou said, turning towards him completely, "How much did you get? 40? 50?"
"Higher."
"61?"
Line.
"Higher."
"62?"
"...Higher."
"75?"
Kendou's tone had grown from confident to worried.
Izuku smiled as he saw Kendou's face drop.
"Higher."
Kendou took a deep breath before tensing up, "77?"
Sinker.
"77? Hmm, I think I—,oh wait. Look at the time," Izuku said pointing to the wall clock, "I really need to get home! I'll tell you what. After UA sends us our results, we should go to a restaurant or something."
Before Kendou could respond, Izuku picked up his stuff and peeled out of the dojo using the Fatebreaker. It was only as he was halfway down the stairs that he heard Kendou scream after him.
"You sneaky little—"
The rest was lost to the wind as Izuku made it downstairs in record time. He deactivated the Fatebreaker before undressing and popping into the showers. As always, the water was scalding and it soothed all the aches he had in his body.
Izuku got dressed and he was about to put his sweaty clothes away when he saw Kage's mask inside his bag. A familiar want began to build inside him and it was only galvanised by the conversation he'd had with Kendou earlier.
He felt like he was walking on air after the heart-to-heart he had had upstairs and a large part of him wanted to gear up as Kage for one last time before retiring the mask for good.
His UA results would be delivered tomorrow, but Izuku was 99% sure he had gotten in. That being said the wait still filled him with a nervous energy that the sparring with Kendou hadn't quite managed to shake.
Izuku held onto the cool surface of the mask and he knew that his decision had already been made.
Just one more time.
There wasn't exactly a science to being a vigilante as it turned out.
Izuku generally just walked around the lesser-patrolled areas and waited for something to happen. Of course, walking around either as Kage or himself would draw far too much attention so he tended to stick to the rooftops.
Roof hopping was an exercise in controlling both his fear and chakra. The first time he'd done it, he had destroyed the tiles on someone's roof. He had left before someone could catch a strange man in a hood loitering.
Definitely not his best look.
He had told his mother that he'd be out a bit later due to training. Technically not a lie, this was training. He was gaining practical experience and he just so happened to help people while he was at it.
In any case, Izuku had been jumping from roof to roof for nearly two hours. The most he had done was interrupt an attempted mugging, but both the thief and the victim had disappeared into thin air as he had appeared.
He hadn't even been able to get a word out before they disappeared.
"All I want is a little crime. A hijacking here, an assault there," Izuku muttered as he sat down on a building opposite a very loud nightclub, "Is that so bad?"
Wait...Did he really just say that? That was awful.
"I don't think I can even blame that one on Kendou," Izuku said as he stared up at the sky, "Ugh, maybe I should have just—are those sirens?"
Thankfully, Izuku was stopped from going down that rabbit hole as a car blasted past down in the street below. The streets were full despite this being a dangerous time and place for pedestrians. The car ran a stop sign before taking a sharp turn.
Did he just conjure a high-speed chase?
The speeding car was quickly followed by two police cars. Their sirens wailing into the night. However, before they could take their turns, a hulking man appeared from nowhere.
He stood directly in the way of the cars and didn't seem fazed as they closed in on him. The brakes of the police cars squealed as they tried to slow down, but it was apparent to Izuku and the pedestrians down below that there wasn't enough time.
As it turned out, that didn't matter.
The man's body seemed to morph as strands of muscles grew out of his arm. The muscle fibres wrapped around the man like a giant armour and he raised his hands in a catching position before the first car slammed into him.
The man barely took a step back before he lifted the car with his hands. He spun before throwing the car where it had just come from. Unfortunately, this was right in the way of the second police car.
The second car tried to swerve out of the way, but it was still clipped by the other car. The second car veered off the road and it smashed into a storefront. The first car flipped a few times before coming to rest on its side.
The pedestrians were now going berserk as they tried to flee. Izuku slid down the face of the apartment and even through his mask, he could smell the stench of petroleum.
He landed on the street with a smooth jump, but he was barely noticed by the screaming crowds. The officers in the second car were the first to get out and they were woozy on their feet as they tried to close in on the obvious villain who still stood in the same spot.
Somehow, the people in the first car were in more danger. The fuel tank was leaking onto the streets and there seemed to be no movement inside the car. No one was moving to help the officers at all. In fact, the car was being given a wide berth by all except for one person.
Izuku could tell that the person was a man and he was worried that the man was suffering from a panic attack or something. It wasn't uncommon for people's flight or fight instincts to just completely fail them.
Izuku caught up to the man and he put a hand on the man's shoulder, "Sir, I'm going to need you to—"
Thank goodness, he was wearing his mask.
The man's face was marred by deep burns and piercings that gave him an intimidating edge. His black hair and cold eyes combined with all of that to make for a very unsettling aura.
"It's the face, right?" the man said with a wry smile, "I get that a lot. Since it's your first time, I won't kill you."
Izuku couldn't tell if he was joking which was bad.
Izuku settled into a stance as he took a few steps back. This was bad. He did not have his chakra rods with him and that cut down his effectiveness by a lot.
Izuku had a feeling he needed to pull out all the stops for this guy.
The man raised a hand towards him and Izuku gathered chakra ready to use the Substitution or Body Flicker at a moment's notice. He nearly lost control as he heard gunfire from the other officers.
A quick glance confirmed they were now engaging the man with the muscle control Quirk. It wouldn't end well if all they had were guns.
"Muscular is going to crush those guys," the burnt man said, "Eventually. He likes to play with his food. And speaking of food, you see that bar over there? It's right behind you."
Izuku didn't bite.
"It's more of a nightclub if I'm being honest," the man said his hand still pointed at Izuku, "It's one of many clubs owned by Miruko. You know her. The rabbit. Anyways, as you can see my face isn't exactly cover-worthy."
A bit of an understatement.
Izuku knew that this man was stalling for something, but he couldn't bring himself to attack. Intrinsically, his body just knew he would regret it if he did so. Unlike the other crooks he had fought, this guy was just scary.
"Anyways, they refused to let me in because of all of this," he said while gesturing to his face, "I get it, but that deeply and really hurt. What is it they say about revenge? It's best served hot?"
The man's hand moved a few inches up and away from Izuku. A blue wisp formed on the man's hand before Izuku felt the temperature of the street skyrocket. He threw himself to the ground and it was no moment too soon.
A beam of blue fire shot out the man's palm and into the nightclub. Izuku was laying on the asphalt of the road and it felt as though he was standing right next to a burning star. The flames weren't that bright, but their heat ate at Izuku's very being.
The nightclub and the buildings surrounding it were enveloped in flames and Izuku was about to go in when the man coughed.
"Before you go in, you may want to deal with this first," the man said and he clicked his finger causing a spark to fall down to the ground.
Izuku had to scramble back as the flames ignited the petroleum on the floor. Thankfully, none was on him, but it was with a heavy heart that he realised it led to the totalled police car. To his dismay, the officers were still unconscious.
"This is why you work in teams, rook."
The man then ran off and Izuku was frozen for a bit before he ran to the police cruiser. His body was on autopilot as he activated the Fatebreaker before ripping the car's door off its hinges. The flames were already pooling around the car.
"Oh, thank god," the officer said to him as blood dripped from his head, "The door was jammed. Can you—"
"Sorry about this."
"Huh—"
Izuku cut the man off with a distorted apology before he threw the officer out of the car and onto the road. The man rolled across the asphalt, but Izuku didn't care about that all too much.
He had to go deeper into the car to try to get the driver out. Izuku frowned as the seatbelt refused to give away. Izuku spared a glance at the flames and he frowned as he saw blue flames begin to envelop the car.
The temperature in the car began to rise and Izuku was thankful his mask filtered the worst of the putrid stench of burning fuel. Izuku tried one more time to disengage the seat belt, but the device held firm.
A lightbulb went off in his head. Izuku channelled wind chakra into his hand causing it to glow even under the light of the surrounding flames. Izuku felt his oxygen supply begin to dwindle as the car was enveloped by flames.
He ignored the cuts forming on his hand as he cut the seatbelt open. Izuku lifted the man onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry. Izuku wanted to leave through the other door, but a quick glance proved that to be impossible.
He now saw that the car was surrounded by flames on all sides. His entire body was slick with sweat and for the first time, Izuku noticed the smoke inside the car.
The fire had gotten inside the car.
In a burst of panic, Izuku channelled wind chakra across his entire arm and he sliced a large circle into the roof of the car. He kicked it off before dashing out of the car in a quick Body Flicker. Flames licked at him as he spread through, but luckily they didn't stick to him or the officer.
Izuku slowed to a stop in front of a crowd of panicked and disoriented people. A sea of cellphones was pointed in his direction and also at the burning building behind him.
"Hey could someone take him?" Izuku asked the crowd, but he received no offers. Idly, he noticed that a lot of the crowd were covered in burns which could have come from the other fire.
"I'll take him," said a woman with purple hair and red eyes and Izuku immediately handed the officer off.
"Thank you!" Izuku barely managed to get out before he turned to look at the burning building, "I've got to go!"
Izuku used the Body Flicker again to cross the street in an instant. He fought down his nausea before charging straight into the sea of flames. The heat sapped his energy and the flames ate away at him, but he ignored it as a litany of screams for help rushed over him.
There were men and women on the floor too weak to move and Izuku was frozen as he had no idea about who to help first. Thankfully, that choice was made a lot easier almost immediately.
Twin spouts of water spread across the entire nightclub extinguishing a lot of the flames right away. Izuku looked over his shoulder to see Backdraft controlling the waves of water.
Izuku picked up three people in rather awful shape before rushing for the exit. Backdraft barely glanced at him as he went by and Izuku was able to put the injured people down as they broke out into the open air.
He took many deep breaths as his skin was soothed by the cool night air. The people he had rescued mumbled words of thanks as Izuku carried them to where he had put the other officer.
As it turned out, a fire truck had made it to the nightclub with a supernatural speed which explained Backdraft's presence. There were also more experienced Pro Heroes and firefighters who were joining the rescue effort as they fought the surrounding towers of blue fire.
Naturally, all of this was now being filmed by onlooking civilians.
Izuku surveyed the damage and he was surprised to see the hulking man from before getting repelled by a shorter woman. The woman seemed to glide past his every hit before unleashing with a strong flurry of punches and kicks.
A powerful dropkick sent the big man sailing across the street and instead of continuing the fight, he rose to his feet and then jumped off into the skies in a random direction.
The woman did not follow.
"Miruko is impressive, isn't she?" Izuku turned to see the woman from earlier, "Here let me help you with these guys."
With her help, Izuku was able to set them all down one by one. The woman, seemingly very exhausted, stumbled, but she was able to steady herself with Izuku's help. Her hands settled on Izuku's hips and it was only because of the current situation that he was able to ignore that.
He set her down next to the officer he had rescued from the burning vehicle. The man looked him up and down a bit with a quizzical expression on his face. He was probably still out of it.
Izuku looked over his shoulder and he frowned as he saw the Miruko converse with the officer he had thrown from the burning car. He didn't think much of it until almost as one they turned and looked at him.
Oh, no.
"This is embarrassing since you saved me and my partner's lives, but I don't recognise you," the formerly unconscious officer said with some shame, "Who are you? Your gear makes it hard to tell."
"Uh, I'm—"
"A vigilante," the (formerly) helpful woman said as she sat down on the road, "He's Kage. The guy Kamui Woods has his panties in a—"
Izuku drowned those words out as the last of his adrenaline faded away. This allowed him to see. He saw the sea of phones following his every move. He saw the rescue heroes and Miruko stare at him with the latter beginning to walk towards him.
Had he gone crazy or inhaled too much petrol? What the hell was he still doing here? He was a noted vigilante in the aftermath of a villain attack on a very popular hero's nightclub. A cold feeling spread across his body as he met Miruko's gaze.
He had to get the hell out of here.
He disappeared in a powerful Body Flicker as he spread across the rooftops of Musutafu. He dropped his Transformation halfway, but he kept it up until he reached an alleyway near Kendou's gym.
He picked his bag out from behind a dumpster. He threw his mask inside and it was back to the rooftops again. Body Flicker after Body Flicker powered his body through the air.
The nightclub was over three hours while on foot and Izuku made it home in mere minutes. His window was open and Izuku snuck in once he saw the lights in the apartment were off.
He quietly walked over to the door and confirmed it was locked. He had his own key so it was good to know his mother had taken the precaution of locking the door.
Izuku made it back to his room and he shucked his clothes off almost immediately. His arms were dotted with burns that almost could have passed for sunburn. There were no blisters which according to a quick internet search was a good thing.
He just had to apply cold water to the burned area and that would be that. Within a few days, it would all clear up.
The other victims he had helped were not as lucky. Izuku had blocked it out in the moment, but their injuries had been awful. The burns had gone past the first few layers of skin to the sensitive flesh below. Izuku was sure that scars would be left behind and not just the physical sort.
If the burnt man had been inclined, Izuku would have suffered the same fate if not worse.
Enough was enough.
Izuku was done. He was not yet where he needed to be to help people. He had frozen twice because of his indecision. Looking back, he wasn't sure if the right choice had been made.
There were undoubtedly some serious casualties from the nightclub fire. Would it have been better if he had left the policemen to their fate and tried to help those inside the club?
Or would he have been caught in a stampede and trampled to death? Would the car have exploded if he had gone to the club and not helped the officers? The only reason it hadn't exploded was probably due to Backdraft's timely intervention.
The hero's fire agency was a long way away from Miruko's nightclub, but Izuku was glad they had made it when they had. He wasn't sure how badly things could have or would have gone if he'd been alone.
It was time to hang the mask up and focus on UA. He'd get the proper tutelage there and hopefully, he'd find a teacher he could trust who could help him master his chakra.
Suddenly, Izuku's phone let out a ding from within his pants. In his haste to get out of his clothes, he had forgotten his phone in his pants. He had taken to keeping it with him so he could call in help instead of asking victims to do so.
...He just kept forgetting to do so. The clothes under Kage's cloak were always similar if not identical to what he was wearing just in black. They were also bigger and so he tended to forget his phone was in there most of the time.
Izuku unlocked his phone and as he'd expected. There was coverage on the attack. Only one of the two villains had been identified. The one who had been getting ragdolled by Miruko. As it turned out, the man with the Quirk that manipulated his muscles was called...Muscular.
Fitting.
The man who Izuku had briefly encountered wasn't mentioned all that much. All that was said was that another villain had started the fire. Of course, these were all second-hand reports. The news on official sites was trickling in slowly. The heroes were probably still busy with first aid and rescue.
Izuku had no idea if the fire had been entirely suppressed or not.
Izuku knew that if he wanted to get better news, he had to hit the hero forums. As expected, there were videos, pictures and personal accounts that lined up with Izuku's experience of events.
More worryingly, there was ample footage of Kage. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise he didn't have his chakra rods with them. This incident was bound to catch Kendou's attention.
It was still weird that his best friend was a big fan of him albeit unknowingly. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation. If he ever even had it.
Surprisingly, the coverage on Kage was very positive. Most surprising of all was one of the police officers posting a video describing what Izuku had done.
It was the first time actual law enforcement had praised Kage.
"Don't let it get to your head," Izuku said as he continued to explore the forum, "You are done. Vigilantism isn't for you."
It still kinda went to his head.
Normally, Izuku would have stayed up for official reports instead of the often inaccurate reports from news sites. However, he was mentally and physically exhausted and coupled with his UA results coming later today, he was eager to sleep.
Izuku went to the bathroom and treated his burns with water and some antibiotic cream. They didn't hurt too much and he was sure they'd be mostly gone by the time he woke up.
Well, that more so if he was lucky.
Izuku got a bottle of water from the fridge before he walked into his room. His phone's screen was on catching his attention. He dismissed it as he saw a missed call from an unknown number.
It was probably a bot.
His phone beeped. Izuku immediately recognised it as his text app. He opened the app and he frowned as he saw the same number had sent him a message.
How did they even get his number? And at this time? What could be so important—
Izuku froze.
His chest tightened as he stared at the content of the message. His eyes flitted around the room in a panic before his eyes reread the message once more. Then twice more. Three times. Four. Ten. Twenty.
It stayed the same.
It was a picture with a caption underneath it. The picture was one of Kage carrying the unconscious club-goers he had managed to rescue. That wasn't important. What was important was the caption.
"I know your secret."
Author Notes:
Guys, we reached 100 reviews on FFN. Massive thank you to all of who you reviewed. We reached this a lot sooner than I expected.
A filler-ish chapter with a twist at the end.
I've settled on what Izuku's gear will be. That's for later and so the first OC competition is closed. A big thank you to all those who responded, you gave me food for thought.
Question of the Chapter: Outside of Izuku, who would like to get One for All and why?
I love hearing from you guys. I'm so happy so many people are following and enjoying the story as it goes along so thank you all very much.
There are status updates on the discord server so you'll be the first to know how far along each chapter is.