Unbreakable

by himiko senpai

Izuku grew up thinking he was Quirkless, and gaining One For All should've been his first time acquiring a Quirk. It wasn't. With strange abilities popping up left and right, it forced him to realize that someone like him... he wasn't born with the Quirks he possessed—he was created with them. Eventual OP!Izuku, MultiQuirk!Izuku.

15. Promise Me

Izuku Midoriya scratched his cheek as he watched his sensei.

"Sensei, I hope you don't mind me asking, but…"

Izuku paused.

"Why don't you have a face?"

He had always wondered about this. Sensei's face—or, what used to be his face—was now comprised of a sinister-looking swirl of scar tissue that started from his upper lip and extended all the way to the back of his head. It terrified him at first, not just because it looked the way it did but also because he couldn't tell what the older man was thinking without facial cues. Now, however, Izuku liked to think that he could tell if his sensei was pleased or unhappy by either looking at his mouth or judging from his tone of voice.

On the other hand, his sensei turned to look at Izuku. After judging that the young boy's questioning was more in line with childish curiosity than malicious intent, he answered, "I had a… scuffle with someone a few years ago."

Izuku blinked. "They must have been really strong, then."

"I will admit that I was caught off guard," his sensei conceded. "His strength, his power was several levels above what I thought was possible. As shameful as it is to admit this, I barely came out with my life."

Izuku tried imagining someone stronger than his sensei and found it difficult to accomplish.

"However, that was a mistake that I made because I got too arrogant," his sensei told Izuku. "Things had been going too well, and I'd gotten complacent. They say that success breeds complacency for a reason. Suffice to say, I will never make that mistake ever again."

Izuku found himself curious about one thing. "How did he beat you?"

His sensei sighed. "Really digging into my old wounds, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry," Izuku murmured. "I just wanted some reference, for…"

When I get to challenge you in the future.

His sensei caught on to the unspoken words, and a chuckle escaped his mouth. He reached out a hand and patted Izuku on the head. "Don't worry. This is something that I must reflect on. Really, the reason that I lost was because I was unprepared. Had I been more alert, more ready, perhaps the outcome would have been different."

Another sigh. "Because of that, my face became like this. Even with regenerative Quirks, some parts of my body are ruined beyond repair." He pointed at his face. "This happened because my head was dragged through about six blocks of concrete. Not a lot of fun, I must admit."

Izuku could only gaze on in amazement.

"But I got some good shots in, here and there," sensei said, cheering up a little. "He came out of it damaged as well, but I think I came out worse. If I really want to fight someone now, I even have to put on a mask to help with breathing."

"I bet you look really cool in that, though."

The faceless man laughed. "Probably. But, to answer your question: I was surprised by his speed and strength. That's how he beat me. I mean, it's a bit hard to keep up with someone who can cross half a kilometer before you even finish blinking."

Izuku frowned. "There really are people who can move that fast?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

Both of the two remained silent for a moment.

Izuku looked up at his sensei. "I'll work hard, then."

All For One smiled—though, it wasn't his usual sadistic smirk or sarcastic grin. It was a genuine smile, almost like one a father would give to his child.

"Please do."

---

Unbreakable

Promise Me

---

The three villains approached slowly.

"Remember what I told you," Rumi whispered to Izuku, flexing her fingers.

When they were training, Rumi had designated three modes for Izuku: Safe, Control, and Limit Break. Safe mode was him utilizing One For All and Chrono Force in tandem to ensure that, no matter what he used, he wouldn't break any bones. Safe was essentially the same as using fifty percent of One For All paired with Chrono Force—completely safe for Izuku, physically. Safe was to be used in daily patrolling and typical criminal takedowns. As long as he used Safe when fighting weaker villains, it also ensured that an incident like the U.S.J. would never happen again.

The next step up was Control. The difference between Safe and Control was that, if Izuku used Control too much, he might end up breaking a few bones. It was the same as using one hundred percent of One For All while paired with Chrono Force: it might last three, four usages, but Izuku ran the risk of just obliterating his bones if used too much. Control was to be used against strong villains, but because One For All's power was still being restricted by Chrono Force, it shouldn't result in any deaths.

The final mode was Limit Break. It was basically unrestricted One For All at full power. This mode, as Rumi liked to call it, was Izuku's "ace up his sleeve," only to be pulled out when everything else had failed. Since its usage also harmed Izuku and incapacitated him in some way, it wasn't to be used unless absolutely necessary. This mode… if used against a weak villain, there might not even be a corpse left behind.

Izuku had just wanted to call it something else, but Rumi was so excited when she told him the designation of the names that Izuku just bit his lip and nodded to agree with her. He found it hard to disagree with her when she looked up at him with eyes full of pride like that.

"They may have multiple Quirks," Izuku warned, having personally fought one of these abominations at the U.S.J. "Scratch that—they definitely have multiple Quirks."

Izuku quickly analyzed them to gather some information. One of them had wings as its most prominent feature, while another's fists slowly morphed into massive, hammer-like appendages. The one in the middle, the one that seemed like a leader, didn't have any outstanding physical adaptations, but its sheer size and height set it apart from its fellow compatriots. While the other two were around six feet tall, the middle villain was easily two feet taller than even that. It was at the point where it had to remain hunched over while on the train.

"We can't go all out here," Rumi whispered-shouted at him, earning dissatisfied looks from the other three villains. "There's too many civilians in the immediate area."

The tallest one looked like it wanted to file a complaint regarding the words that Rumi just used, but it ultimately shrugged, as if saying screw it. Its limbs ignited, bursting into dark, murky flames that coated its arms and legs. That signaled the start of their battle.

For a moment, combat was pure chaos. Izuku was not used to fighting in such a cramped environment, and it seemed that Rumi was not used to it, either. Even though he was using Safe mode, there was not enough room for Izuku to maneuver as he usually liked to. After all, they were still within a train carriage.

After being elbowed by Rumi who was in the midst of throwing a punch, Izuku sprinted forth and tackled the tallest villain. As he wrestled it to the ground, Rumi nimbly dodged a wild swipe from the hammer fist villain and kicked the winged villain, who could not really use its strength of flight on the inside of a train.

"Izuku you dumbass he's on fire!" Rumi shouted in one breath, swinging around one of the poles and kicking the hammer fist villain in the back of the head.

Izuku, trying to wrestle his way on top of the flaming villain, found it much more difficult than he anticipated. It was incredibly strong, not quite on par with the one from the U.S.J., but it still gave Izuku trouble even though he was in Safe mode. The fire also was not doing him any favors, but that was manageable with Chrono Force active. He quickly shouted back, "I'm fireproof!"

Rumi almost paused mid combat. She bent backwards, dodging another wild swing from the villain with hammers for hands. "Of course you are," she grumbled under her breath. "How could I forget?"

Izuku finally ended up on top of the flaming villain as Rumi kept the other two occupied. As he began raining punches down on the villain's head, the villain caught his right hand, enveloping it in flame. Izuku shot Blackwhip at it from his left side in an attempt to get it to release his hand, but as he did so, the villain beneath reared his head back and brutally headbutted Izuku, causing the hero to be stunned for a brief moment.

The three villains took a hold of this opportunity. The hammer fisted villain dove at Rumi in an attempt to tackle her, and the rabbit woman just dodged while muttering, "Hands off, creep." But, as she did so, she failed to take into account the winged villain's actions. The villain with wings tackled Izuku as he was stunned, and together, the two flew out of the hole in the train, disappearing beyond a few buildings.

Before Rumi even had a chance to react, the tallest villain leapt up from the ground and swung on her, arms fully aflame. Unlike Izuku, Rumi did not come equipped with fire nullification superpowers, so she paid it the respect it deserved and dodged a healthy distance away from it. Even then, she couldn't get that far, mainly because they were still in one carriage of the train.

The hammer fist villain tried to catch her with a haymaker swing of its massive arms, but Rumi was agile enough to duck under it and, in one fluid motion, return the blow with a scissor kick to its jaw and cause it to stumble backwards. She leapt back from the flaming fists of the other villain, putting as much distance as the cramped environment allowed.

In the brief reprieve, Rumi momentarily wondered if she should be worried about Izuku, but after like, two seconds of thought, she decided that perhaps it would be more appropriate to be worried for the poor villain that dragged Izuku out into more optimal fighting conditions for the kid. Plus, she had her own problems to worry about—

A bright light from the hole in the train was the only warning before the inside of the carriage was swamped in flame. Rumi avoided getting burned by taking cover behind the door to the next carriage, and the other two villains were seemingly flame resistant, not having been bothered by the sudden attack at all.

A triumphant voice identified the perpetrators of the attack. "ENDEAVOR AND HIS SON ARE ON THE SCENE!"

From beyond the flames, a beaming father and miserable-looking son emerged, jumping into the train. "No need to worry!" Endeavor announced, cackling. "For it is I, the emperor of fl—"

"Danger fucking close, you shit-eating dickhead!" Rumi roared, appearing from beyond the charred door. Rage filled her eyes. "Not. Everyone. Is. Fireproof!"

"Oi! Don't curse in front of my son!"

Shoto shook his head at his dad's antics. "I told you that you shouldn't do that."

"No harm, no foul," Endeavor dismissed, turning on the two villains. "Glad we arrived in the nick of time. Worry not, little rabbit, because we—"

"Less talking, more kicking their butts," Rumi darkly said, a visible vein popping on her forehead. "Oh, and," she added, "fire towards the front is okay. No civilians there—they're all behind us."

"Glad to hear that," Endeavor grinned. "Now, Shoto, what we talked about—"

Ignoring the mid-battle coaching session that Endeavor was giving his son, Rumi leapt forward and started attacking the villain with hammer fists. She rained a barrage of kicks, each swifter than the last, in an attempt to decipher its weak spots. It seemed that, due to its hammer hands, it could only ever attack in broad, cumbersome swings. All she really had to do was bait out an attack and retaliate.

As the taller villain moved to help its hammer-fisted teammate, a much more carefully-aimed plume of fire stopped it dead in its tracks. While it didn't seem to damage it much, it prevented the villain from moving to distract Rumi.

With a single-minded focus on beating the villain before her down, Rumi pressed the attack, drawing out more and more careless swipes from the villain. Their battle was a dance where Rumi continuously whittled down its defenses before going in for the finishing blow. The words of Endeavor coaching his son on how to use his fire side was washed out, and for a moment, all Rumi could hear was the sound of her own breathing. And then—

A clumsy, lackluster final attempt from the hammer fist villain to catch Rumi was dodged, and she delivered a crushing, brutal roundhouse kick to the side of its temple. Just from the way the villain's body went completely rigid after the blow connected, it was evident that it had been knocked out cold.

She quickly directed her attention towards the other three on the train. The fire attacks Endeavor was teaching his son were not working. They were holding the villain at bay, as it could not advance towards them, but they were not particularly harming it, either.

"That one's probably fireproof!" Rumi yelled, watching it get bathed in a jet of flames from the younger Todoroki.

Endeavor roared back, "How do you know?"

"I dunno, maybe because it was already on fire when I was fighting it before?" Rumi said sarcastically.

"Eh," Endeavor shrugged, "we can beat it with more fire."

Fortunately, it seemed like the son was much more receptive to suggestions than his father. Thinking quickly on his feet, Shoto instantly switched to ice. The previously hot train carriage suddenly chilled as a torrent of frost extended from his arm and captured the tallest villain, temporarily overpowering the flames on its limbs and extinguishing them.

Not needing a more obvious "go" signal, Rumi delivered an easy kick straight to the villain's temple. Since it was being held still, Rumi did not have to worry about aim or other things—she focused only on power output, aiming to administer the deadliest attack in her arsenal. The kick was so powerful that it shattered the ice that was holding the villain down, and it slumped over, unmoving.

Their battle seemingly over, the three relaxed their stances.

"Thanks, kid," Rumi said, giving Shoto a thumbs up and the father a withering glare. "And as for you…"

"I'm expecting a thank you, as well," Endeavor said, grinning. "After all, it was my agency that received the distress call—"

"I might have thanked you, but," Rumi stressed, pointing an accusatory finger at him, "you nearly roasted me to death."

Endeavor repeated his words from earlier. "No harm, no foul."

Rumi felt like her brain was going to hemorrhage at any moment now. Endeavor's blasé attitude really pissed her off. "Listen here, rank two—"

That managed to get under Endeavor's skin. "Hey, it'll be rank one soon—"

The two feuding heroes were interrupted by Shoto letting loose a blast of flame. As their attention turned towards him, he spoke.

"Shouldn't we, I don't know," Shoto deadpanned, "tie them up or something?"

"It's fine," Endeavor answered him. "They're out cold. When the bunny kicks you like that, you typically don't—"

The two villains sat up, unnaturally. They looked like they rose from the dead, and green smoke began to pour out of their mouths. Before the three heroes could even react, the smoke shrouded them and, after a small pop! noise, vanished into nothingness. Where there were two massive beasts moments before, only thin wisps of green smoke remained.

Rumi blanched. "Uh, what the fu—"

"Hey!" Endeavor curled two hands around Shoto's ears. "Don't curse in front of my kid."

Shoto snorted, annoyed. "I'm not a fucking child."

.:.

A little while earlier, Izuku was tackled by the winged villain out of the hole in the train and taken for a joyride through Hosu.

At first, it was hard for him to strike back against the villain, so he ended up using Blackwhip to tie the villain's wings together and send them plummeting to the ground. They ended up crashing into a busy street with many cars on it, narrowly avoiding a bus that honked and swerved out of the way.

Izuku got up and stared down his foe. Isolating him was… probably the wrong choice for the villain to make, as Izuku was certain that, in a one on one fight, he would not lose.

The two's landing caused a ruckus, and as they stood in the center of the street, people began driving off or exiting their vehicles in order to find shelter. The winged villain quickly continued the attack, flying at him from above.

Now that he was not constricted by the walls of the train, Izuku's combat potential grew drastically. Still, he barked out a quick warning to all of the civilians that were still in the area, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, it's not safe here. Please evacuate the premises!"

Watching people around him continue to scurry off to find shelter in buildings and get off the street, Izuku barely had time to react. Right after his words, the flying villain swooped down at him. Releasing three strands of Blackwhip at it caused the villain to do a barrel roll, skirting around the strands of darkness. Izuku quickly retracted the strands, watching the villain flip around and begin to approach him from the sky.

Izuku allowed it to get in close, dodging its swipe by side stepping to the left. With a burst of speed, under Safe mode, he delivered a blow to the passing villain's spine, hammering it down to the ground. Before it got a chance to get off the ground and fly off, Izuku shot two strands of Blackwhip, one from each arm, and held its wings down.

This villain wasn't particularly strong—nothing like the one that he'd fought at the U.S.J., but Izuku couldn't afford to be careless.

As it was belly-down and had its wings pinned to the ground, all the villain could do was buck wildly as Izuku grabbed one of its wings protruding from its back. Amping up his arms to the limits of Control mode, Izuku grunted in pain as he snapped its wing like a twig, causing the villain to open its mouth in a voiceless shriek. It was actually significantly easier than he anticipated—maybe the bones in the wing were not of the same thickness and sturdiness of normal human bone?

It began to buck even more wildly, and Izuku had to unleash two more strands of Blackwhip to tie it up and keep it pinned down. Mercilessly, he began to rain down blows on its head from above it. Even though he was using Safe mode to do this, the blows were still heavy, and Izuku didn't even relent when the villain stopped flailing.

After all, when someone went down before him…

He had to make sure that they could never get back up.

Izuku blinked, stopping his onslaught. Slowly, he got off of the downed villain. Where had that thought come from? It wasn't the first time he'd thought that. Shaking his head, he decided that there were better times to think about these types of things.

The sounds of shallow breathing told him that it was still alive, but it was in poor condition. He mentally tried to picture the route back to the train, where Rumi was most likely still fighting, but if he were being honest, he completely lost his sense of direction when he was fighting the villain in the sky. As he went to—

FROM BEHIND!

A chill went down Izuku's spine, and a sharp, stabbing pain in the back of his head alerted him to… something. He whipped around, staring down a seemingly deserted alleyway.

Slightly confused at the lack of a threat, Izuku pondered over what to do. The stabbing pain had never led him incorrectly—it was always present when he was about to be attacked. Whatever that was, it was lethal enough for Izuku's warning system to go off. That warranted an investigation.

With one final look at the downed villain with wings, Izuku ran off down the alleyway after yelling at the civilians in the area to get somewhere safe. As he ran under Safe mode, he almost didn't notice when his foot stepped in a liquid of some sorts. Stopping suddenly, he realized that he had stepped in blood.

Worried, he followed the trail of blood on the ground and rounded the corner, finding—

"Oh, come on."

"That's my line," Izuku retorted, taking in the sight before him. Hero Killer: Stain and a badly injured but seemingly barely alive pro hero bathed in the lone light of the dingy alleyway. The pro hero… wait, was that Native? Izuku recognized the pro after one glance at the feather on his head.

Stain swiped his katana, causing the blood on it to splatter against the ground. "I really hoped that you wouldn't notice me, but… oh, well. I did say that we'd meet again. I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

He straightened up, rising to his full height rather than his usual hunched-over frame. "Is it destiny that we met here? Or fate? The decisions that we made separately led us to meeting here, again. Are we just—"

Izuku held up a hand. "I'd rather we not debate philosophy this time."

"I found our last conversation enlightening," Stain told him. "Enlightening in the sense that it just further cemented my desire to kill you."

"That's…" Izuku grappled with what to say. "… good for you?"

Stain nodded, and the two looked at the downed pro hero. Lacerations, methodical and precise, decorated Native's legs and arms. While there were no cuts on his torso, the cuts along his legs might have struck a major artery. There was a lot of blood.

"Yes, very." Stain readied his katana.

Izuku was still worried about the pro hero laying by Stain's feet. "Not going to use hostages this time?"

Stain grinned. "He's already as good as dead."

A thousand thoughts roared into Izuku's mind at his comment, but he voiced only one of them. "At least now you'll have nothing to hide behind."

Stain scoffed, and right when Izuku thought he was going to say something, Stain flung three daggers at him in rapid succession. As Izuku instinctively moved to dodge, Stain swung his blade forward at lightning speed. He leapt out of the way under Safe mode, but Stain pressed his advantage, raining blow after blow onto Izuku's body.

Thanks to Chroono Force, Izuku was able to tank the hits without actually getting injured. Mentally, however, it felt like he was dying from a thousand paper cuts. He extended strands of Blackwhip in an effort to slow Stain down, but the villain just shredded through his strands like they were butter. Whereas all the villains he had fought before were strong, but slow, Stain was the exact opposite. The Hero Killer was fast—inhumanly so. Even to Izuku's sharpened senses, the man was a blur, and his sword techniques were probably unmatched.

Stain kept on using the walls of the alley to aid him with dodging Izuku's attacks, jumping off of walls and doing flips like a circus acrobat. Izuku could do the same, but it made Stain incredibly hard to land a clean blow on. Izuku had to get rid of that advantage, so he started leading Stain towards the entrance of the alleyway.

As Izuku leapt at Stain, the swordsman dodged right and landed a slash of his blade directly at Izuku's neck. Had Chrono Force not been active and fully pulsing through Izuku's body, he would have been decapitated. Thinking quickly, Izuku attached a strand of Blackwhip to the side of a dumpster and flipped it over, spilling its contents. Plastic and metallic waste spilled out into the alleyway, making it harder for Stain to maneuver, but more importantly, providing Izuku with ammunition.

When Stain dodged backwards to avoid the flipping dumpster, Izuku shot as many strands of Blackwhip as he could and attached it to bits of metallic waste, flinging it up in front of Izuku. Instinctively flexing his hands, he visualized opposites and sent the waste propelling forward towards Stain like bullets.

Even at his close range, Stain's superhuman reflexes allowed him to dodge the random projectiles. But, Izuku had achieved his primary objective: get Stain off balance. Amping his legs up to the limits of Control mode, Izuku leapt forward and successfully managed to tackle Stain. The two were sent barreling out of the alleyway by Izuku and spilled out into the street, thankfully still devoid of driving cars. The flying villain's body was still lying there in the middle of the street, and a few civilians had emerged, videotaping the villain's body.

When Izuku and Stain appeared from the alley, shouts of panic came from the civilians, though the ones with their phones just switched to recording Izuku and Stain's fight. Before Izuku could politely ask them (or, perhaps more accurately, scream at them) to get somewhere safe, Stain nearly wrestled his way out of Izuku's grip. This caused Izuku to hold on with his right hand as, with his left, he sent a few strands of Blackwhip to grab and rip off a nearby car door and send it flying into Stain's head.

A dull THUNK! sound reverberated through the street, and as Stain was briefly stunned, Izuku reached back and punched him in the head under Safe mode. Repeatedly. Four or five blows later and Stain was out like a light. He controlled his urge to make sure he never got back up and stood up, surveying the situation.

Stain, lying on the ground in front of him. The flying villain was slowly stirring, beginning to get back up. It looked like it was regenerating a bit—the wing Izuku had broken before was looking a lot healthier than its previous condition. Cursing himself for his carelessness, Izuku shouted at the nearby bystanders. "There's a critically injured hero down that alley—please attend to his wounds and call the emergency services!"

As two women and one teenage boy began to move in that direction, Izuku followed up with a, "Thank you so much! I'll take care of—"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

An ear-destroying noise just erupted from the flying villain. Izuku blinked, stunned for a second by the sheer volume of the noise.

The monstrosity had just shrieked so loudly that he was surprised that his eardrums didn't break. No, shrieked wasn't the right word. Upon closer inspection, the sounds came from four holes along its neck, and it vibrated at irregular frequencies with green smoke pouring out of them. He turned to look—

BEHIND YOU!

Izuku's instincts kicked in and he dove to the right, avoiding being struck by a hair. He quickly rolled and got into a combat stance, eyeing what had nearly just run him over: one of the villains that Rumi had been fighting—the tallest, bulkiest one, the leader, with green smoke wafting off of him. Ice quickly filled his veins as he considered the implications of what its presence meant: was Rumi somehow defeated?

He wasn't given respite. The third member of the monstrous trio emerged from a murky, green vortex at the intersection of the street, lackadaisically batting away empty cars over with its hammer fists as it approached. It didn't seem to regard any of the other humans who were—wait, why were people still here? Izuku felt a strange emotion rear its head within him as he realized that there were still some people in the vicinity recording the whole thing. The sounds of a helicopter above barely gave him time to prepare before a blazing, white light focused on Izuku, Stain's unconscious body, and the three other villains.

Izuku caught a person filming the whole encounter some forty feet away. Raising his voice, he yelled, "Get out, now! It's not safe here—"

TO YOUR LEFT!

FROM THE FRONT!

DODGE LEFT!

DODGE RIGHT!

ROLL BACKWARDS—

A sudden overflow of information split Izuku's mind in two, and he instantly acted, ducking and diving to the left. Two of the villains missed their attacks, but the third's hammer fist cleanly caught Izuku in the chest. Even though he had Chrono Force activated, it still hurt like hell, and he was launched like a ragdoll some twenty feet away by the creature's raw strength. Izuku bounced on the ground before crashing into the side of a car.

Izuku wasn't given respite. Immediately, alarm bells began to go off in his mind, warning him of the potential danger. He got up and immediately formulated a plan of action. The situation was looking grim, and he may have to pull out and utilize his final mode. Not yet, though, he told himself.

Grasping the car behind him, he drew out all the strength he could while in Control mode and threw it at the nearest winged and tall villains. As it crashed into them, he noticed that they weren't knocked back by it at all, meaning that they probably caught it somehow, but it bought Izuku the time that he needed.

Amping up his whole body's output to the limits of Control mode, he dashed forward, surprising the remaining hammer fist villain with the sudden surge in speed. It didn't even get a chance to block before Izuku sent a roundhouse kick right into the left side of its body. The instant his foot made contact with its body, it was sent flying to the right, crashing through the glass of a nearby store far out of vision.

Although his body was screaming in agony to protest what he'd just done, Izuku hadn't broken anything just yet. He immediately moved to attack the remaining two villains, but they had already recovered from their shock at having a car thrown at them. One of them—the winged one—flew up into the air as the other one, from the ground, sent the car hurtling back at Izuku. The fire on its body lit portions of the car aflame.

Izuku flung the car out of the way with Blackwhip, dimly aware that it caused a small explosion where it landed. As he ducked under the blow of the flaming villain on the ground, the flying one simultaneously tackled him from the air. It wasn't an attack that he could dodge, and it sent him flying off to the side into another abandoned car.

The winged villain quickly leapt on top of him. It was about to start pummeling Izuku, but the boy thought quickly and stretched out his right hand. A few strands of Blackwhip latched onto the side of an overturned car. Izuku immediately redirected the strands and, like a slingshot, slung it into the side of the villain. It managed to block the attack at the last moment, but it still succeeded in distracting it just long enough for Izuku to wiggle his feet out from underneath the villain and kick it in the chest at the limits of Control mode.

The blow sent the villain flying back to the other side of the street, crashing into a brick building and gouging a hole into the side of it. The immense mental pain told Izuku that he was at or nearing his limit—anymore, and he would probably end up breaking himself.

As he made that self-assessment, his foes did not idly stand by. The winged villain emerged from the rubble of the brick building, shaking off dust. The hammer fist villain appeared from the ruined storefront that Izuku had previously kicked him into, while the tallest villain just stood there, menacingly, blazing into flames.

He was going to have to eliminate one of them from the equation to make the fight easier. As things currently stood, Izuku was beginning to feel fatigued from constantly having to dodge attacks. The three villains were decent at working together, which made it all the more difficult for him.

"So… what about a good one on one fight?" Izuku suggested, hoping that his words would buy him some extra time to recuperate. "Three on one is kinda unfair, no?"

The three villains stared at each other, coming to a silent agreement. The tallest, bulkiest one quelled the flames on its limbs, whipped out his notebook from a chest pocket, and ferociously scribbled something on it, his dark, leathery hand dwarfing the pencil it held. All the while, Izuku practiced deep, controlled breaths, looking to regather as much energy as possible.

It held up the page where it had scribbled something down.

Normally, it would be. But you are not even going 100% on us. That is unacceptable.

It turned a page and scribbled in a manner that Izuku now realized was furious.

Reichi can tell that you're still holding back. When he summoned us, he told us. That is unacceptable. Unacceptable. Unacceptable.

The word unacceptable was written four more times, and the final one was underlined two times and written in all caps. Izuku swallowed, his throat dry. Reichi must have been the name of the winged villain, and that strange shriek that it produced must have been some sort of Quirk that was used to summon or teleport the other two villains to his location.

So forgive us. In order to get you to take this seriously, we cannot afford to just attack you one at a time.

Izuku was surprised at the depth of emotion that he could feel from this veritable beast before him. He felt equal parts shame and rage, all from a being who couldn't even speak. It took the notebook back and scribbled one final sentence:

We have our pride.

The notebook disintegrated when the flames along its arms reignited.

Well, so much for that plan. It seemed that they could tell that Izuku wasn't going all out, and their "pride" forced them to engage him in such a manner that would draw out his full power. That "pride" of theirs outweighed their normal desire for a one versus one. It was almost like they were offended, furious that Izuku wasn't taking them seriously.

He thought, I mean, if that's what they want…

Izuku didn't notice it, but a sharp grin slashed through his features.

His brain started adapting for this new scenario. Fortunately, it seemed that, while they had tough bodies, none of them seemed to have a type of shock absorption or nullification Quirk that the villain from the U.S.J. had. The flying villain seemed to possess some type of regeneration Quirk and summoning Quirk in addition to its wings, and the other two, aside from their distinct features (one being size and the other being the hammer fists), did not appear to have any particularly troubling Quirks like that villain from the U.S.J. Sure, the taller one had fire dancing along its arms and legs, but it was not anywhere near Shoto or Katsuki's fire from the sports festival. Nothing suggested that, if Izuku went all out, they would not fall.

Izuku thought of an idea, but it was risky. There was no guarantee that it would work, even if, logically, it should. If he could apply One For All and strengthen his Blackwhip, then he should be able to apply it to Chrono Force, as well.

They all seemed ready to resume their sortie. Though, this time, Izuku would be meeting them with his full strength.

As the villain with hammer fists sprinted at him, Izuku leapt forward and met him halfway. The action took the villain by surprise, and Izuku unloaded a pure, unrestricted one hundred percent uppercut into the villain's jaw. The speed and power of the blow, magnitudes higher than everything Izuku had outputted so far, caught the villain completely off guard. His fist smashed into its chin and sent it flying, propelling it up and backwards where it crashed into the side of a concrete building hard enough to form a crater in the wall. It fell down to the ground and slumped over, unmoving.

Immense pain racketed Izuku's right arm, which he had used to perform the blow. The other two villains—the flying one and the leader—stared at him in abject shock, temporarily halting the flow of the fight.

Izuku could not let this opportunity go to waste. He stared at his decimated right arm. Irregular lumps poked out under the skin, areas in which he'd fractured bone, and his wrist was bent at a terrifying angle. Visualize reconstructing, not healing, he recited. Except, this time, pump One For All in, mix the two Quirks. Visualize reconstructing with all the power of One For All behind it.

With a few cracks and snaps, his arm reconstructed into its usual form, this time much faster than the other times that he had used Chrono Force. At the U.S.J., when he used Chrono Force, it had taken four, five minutes to completely regenerate his hand. Here, it took four, five seconds.

While there was an absurd amount of pain in the initial process, the moment the last bone clicked into place, there was… nothing.

It was blissfully unpainful.

Izuku closed his hand into a fist but he couldn't feel anything. Not even the fingers on his own skin registered.

It was like he lost all sensation in his right arm.

A dangerous grin began to surface on his face.

The rest of the fight was brutal, decisive, and quick. Once Izuku decided to unleash his full potential and utilize Limit Break, the two remaining villains did not stand a chance. While strong, they did not seem as suited for a physical fight with a person wielding super strength as the one at the U.S.J. had been.

Perhaps these villains with multiple Quirks were designed with a particular objective in mind? After all, it wasn't every day that someone could run into someone as physically strong as Izuku, and so, it could have just been a poor matchup for them.

As Izuku was thinking about this, he ran forward using Safe mode but then unleashed a vicious Limit Break haymaker with his right arm directly into the upper body of the tallest villain. Although the blow was very obviously telegraphed and the villain saw it coming from a mile away, the increase in raw speed prevented it from reacting quickly enough to dodge, and the enormous power behind the attack obliterated its defenses. The two meaty, flaming arms that it threw up to protect itself were snapped in half, and the villain was crushed into the street, tumbling and rolling until it hit the side of a building, unmoving.

The final remaining villain, the one with wings that was apparently named Reichi, seemed to sense that it could no longer win in a fight against Izuku after seeing its two companions wiped out with a single blow. In the four seconds it took for Izuku to use Chrono Force and reconstruct his devastated right arm, it took off, flying into the sky.

But Izuku was not about to let his prey go so easily.

From his left arm, he shot out two strands of Blackwhip that trailed after the fleeing villain. When they finally wrapped around the villain's ankle at a height of around thirty feet in the air, Izuku forcibly retracted them and sent Reichi downwards, slingshotting the villain back to the cold, hard earth.

Before it could even get a chance to recuperate, Izuku was in front of it, raising back his left arm and swinging it, this time in Control mode rather than Limit Break. Contrary to the blissful lack of pain and sensation in his right arm, using Control mode was always extremely painful. It was more than enough force to knock out the exhausted villain, and Izuku could tell that this particular villain wasn't as suited for combat as the other two—maybe it was geared for reconnaissance? The flying ability, Quirk to communicate over long ranges, and power to apparently summon its compatriots seemed to suggest so. Though it did have regenerative capabilities, so Izuku gave it a few extra Control mode punches just to be extra safe, stopping when the bones in his left arm painfully broke.

Cursing under his breath, he visualized reconstructing and used Chrono Force to mend his ruined left arm as he stood up.

Izuku took a look around at the carnage that he had caused. There were two monstrous villains lying on their sides near building walls that they had been launched into, and the flying villain—Reichi—was crumpled over before him. They weren't moving, and Izuku hoped that they were unconscious rather than… dead. Stain was also lying on the ground right around where he'd left him. About a dozen cars were flipped over, but those cars were luckily empty.

Sensing that the fighting was over, curious people began to emerge beyond the ring of overturned cars, some still holding phones and videotaping the whole event. There were a few people cheering for him, and some even recognized him, pointing and whispering excitedly to the person standing next to them.

Izuku… didn't know what to do in this situation. Was he supposed to leave? Was he supposed to smile and wave?

Fortunately for him, he did not have to make that decision. With a roar, Endeavor and Shoto arrived on the scene, with a very worried-looking Rumi in tow.

"Where are the villains?" Endeavor bellowed, looking around wildly. "Where—"

"They're already taken care of," Rumi answered him quickly, eyes scanning the scene and washing over Izuku. She was able to quickly grasp what had happened, but she had this… strange look on her face.

The rank two hero cried, "What? Are you kidding me? Oi, kid, you didn't leave some for us?"

Shoto sighed and facepalmed at his father's antics. He walked up to where Izuku was awkwardly standing and just said, "Yo. Good work."

"Thanks," Izuku smiled. "You, too—"

A sudden, overpowering aura cut off his words. Startled and thinking that another fight was going to break out, he turned around to find Stain, up on his feet and stumbling forward. His mask had fallen off, revealing his grotesque, noseless visage.

"You… you false heroes!" Stain roared, voice piercing the heavens. For a moment, everyone was shocked speechless, though the reasons differed. Izuku was just shocked that the man could walk after what he'd personally done to Stain.

"Hero…" he continued, "'hero' is a title that should only be given to those that do great deeds! In this society, polluted with fake heroes, the word itself has lost its true meaning. Criminals, who wave their power around without facing consequences, people who act like heroes… but are only money worshippers…!"

Stain extended his arms towards the sky and continued his proselytizing. "I'll make things right. I'll continue to stain my hands with blood. Until the world realizes its mistake, I will continue to appear. Now…"

The Hero Killer turned and stared directly at Izuku.

"COME ON!" he demanded. "Just try and stop me, you fakes. I will only ever be stopped by a true hero—"

"Oh, shut it."

Izuku, amongst all of the heroes cowed by Stain's maleficent aura, was having none of it. He quickly moved up to the villain and punched him under Safe mode, since he was already, at this point, about to pass out on his feet.

The Hero Killer was knocked out instantly, falling over so that his chest was hitting the concrete road and his butt was hanging in the sky. It was almost comical, the way he fell over.

Rumi snorted, smiling as if she found something funny. "Well, that was awfully anti-climactic. Could've let him finish, Izuku. He may have been on to something."

Izuku turned to face her as she sauntered up to him. "I mean, what he was saying was absolute—"

He blinked, stumbling, tripping on flat ground.

Rumi's voice, which came from so close to him, felt awfully distant. "Izuku! Izuku, you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I feel…"

The world wobbled.

Izuku felt something deep within him attempt to kick in and offset the sudden, immense fatigue that he had, but even that wasn't enough. His vision blurred, and his bodily functions failed him as he stumbled forward. He was about to crash into the ground before Rumi leapt in front of him and captured the young man in her arms.

The last sensation that Izuku felt was two, very soft somethings squish his cheeks before falling into the abyss.

.:.

"So."

All For One stood at the center of the underground room, staring at a prostrated Tomura and Kurogiri, as Dabi watched them disinterestedly off to the side. He pointed at the TV and said, "Why do I see three of my Nomus in Hosu?"

The two men didn't answer. Rather, they couldn't—the suffocating aura squeezed the air out of their lungs, not even allowing them to breathe.

Tomura gritted out, "It's not Kurogiri's fault. I forced him to comply."

"That still doesn't change the fact that he aided you," the faceless man intoned, sighing. "Well, whatever. I like to be results-oriented, but I cannot deny that the reason why someone does something is important, as well. Therefore, his punishment will be less severe."

He turned towards Tomura, drawing out two Western-styled swords out of a black void using one of his many Quirks, Sword Creation. "Look at me, Tomura."

The unrelenting pressure lifted, and Tomura looked up at his sensei. Instantly, the two swords were driven with incredible strength through his thigh and calves, effectively pining Tomura to the ground. Tomura sucked in a breath at the sudden violence, but he didn't let out a whimper or another sound despite the sudden pain.

"Now, answer my question." All For One pushed one of the Western swords deeper into the ground. Was it a testament of his raw strength that he was able to pierce solid concrete with a sword like it was butter, or was it an indication of his effectiveness at using Sword Creation?

"I wanted to use them to kill Stain," Tomura finally answered, taking deep and controlled breaths. The swords in his legs did not help him much with that effort. "He insulted our organization, he spat on me—on all of us. It would have boosted our infamy if we came out and claimed that we were the ones who took out Stain."

All For One seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Your reasoning isn't wrong, but it's also not right." He peered at Tomura's face, two eyes meeting sunken skin. "What's the real reason?"

Tomura almost laughed. He was a fool to think he could slip by his sensei like that. "I just fucking hate him," he answered honestly. "He pissed me off."

All For One sighed and backed away from Tomura, leaving the two swords pining him to the ground. He said one word, and that word was more damaging and damning than him brutally sticking two swords into his legs.

"Disappointing."

Tomura could see Dabi holding back his laughter in the corner of the room. Damn that asshole, Tomura thought bitterly. Because of Dabi's infatuation with his family and their sensei's understanding of it, the master and student got along swimmingly, unlike the sometimes turbulent relationship between Tomura and All For One.

"Well, whatever. This is salvageable. If the Nomu you sent were on the same caliber as the one we sent to the U.S.J., I might be a bit more upset, but fortunately for us, the three you sent were a part of the weaker batch." All For One perked up, and Tomura could almost hear the gears turning in his head."We make some calls… get some newspapers to say some unfortunate things about our Izuku…"

This time, Tomura saw the lightbulb going off over his sensei's head.

"A teensy bit of psychological warfare. If we can make him feel even a tiny bit bitter about being a hero, all the better for us."

All For One clapped his hands, grinning.

"Oh, sometimes I truly feel like an evil genius."

.:.

Izuku blinked awake slowly, adjusting to his new environment.

He was lying on something hard but warm. A hard pillow, perhaps? A heady, sweet scent overflowed his senses, and he instinctively placed his left hand on what he was lying on in order to push himself up.

A voice from above him. "Whoa, you've gotta treat me to dinner first before pulling moves like that."

What.

Izuku tried to get a better look at what he was lying on, but two hands immediately blocked him.

"Even I'll be embarrassed if you stare there that intensely, you know."

Rumi's voice. From above him. But… why?

Holy shit.

Izuku realized what was going on.

His head was currently in Rumi's lap. Her long, white hair draped over them like a curtain, creating an oddly… intimate setting, and her hands were blocking Izuku's view of her privates. Of course, she was clothed, but he realized that, when he was trying to push himself up, he had grabbed her inner thigh by mistake.

Izuku slowly got up, off of Rumi's lap, and presented himself in dogeza on the ground. "K-Kill me now, please."

"Pfffffft. No thanks," Rumi grinned, letting out a sharp bark of laughter. "I was wondering what your reaction was going to be. I was guessing you'd become a spluttering mess, but this is pretty close. I'd give it a three out of five."

Izuku didn't realize it until now, but his heart was racing. It wasn't like how it was when he was with Himiko; rather, it was more like the pounding heart of prey being chased down by an overwhelmingly superior predator. He felt like a sheep to Rumi's lion.

"You look like I just killed your pet cat," she said. "Lighten up. I put you there to begin with, so don't worry about a thing. I shook the press, too. You should've seen them—absolutely ravenous things."

At the words, Izuku looked around. They were in a—thankfully—empty park. Rumi had somehow managed to get them away from the press and all the commotion while carrying an unconscious Izuku, and she was currently sitting on a park bench. He turned back to look at her, and he was met with a triumphant grin.

"So," she continued, smiling savagely. There was a glint of something wicked in her eye. "How were ya enjoying my lap pillow?"

Izuku choked on his own spit, causing Rumi to laugh in response. He took a moment to breathe and calm his reddening face. Sulking, he looked down and replied quietly, "Too muscular to feel good."

It was a feeble attempt to respond wittily, but it wasn't his true opinion at all. Rumi's thighs made for the perfect pillow. It wasn't like she was actively flexing them, and while it was firm, the material of the leggings was soft and Rumi was warm. If he were being honest, he would like to have her legs traded for his pillow at U.A. She smelled nice, too, but when Izuku thought that, he sincerely considered if something was wrong with his head.

He couldn't tell her his true thoughts for two reasons: one, because he felt like admitting that would be letting Rumi win, and two, he had a girlfriend, and he didn't know how she'd respond if he told her that he was face down in the lap of a ranked pro hero. Was this something that needed to be reported? He didn't know. Better to be safe than to be sorry.

Rumi snorted. "Not bad. I almost laughed."

She patted the seat on the bench at her side, wordlessly gesturing for him to get up and join her. As he did, Rumi asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Can't feel my right arm."

"Ha ha. Funny joke," Rumi mocked. Then, her eyes narrowed. "Wait. Don't tell me you're being serious."

Izuku looked her in the eye. "One hundred percent."

She grabbed his right hand with hers and squeezed tightly. Izuku answered her silent question with, "Nope, nothing. Just a faint sensation of the warmth of your hand."

"How romantic," Rumi scoffed, releasing his hand. Her expression turned dark, and with a frown, she added, "Any idea why it's like that?"

Izuku answered honestly, "Yeah. When I… well, obliterated my arm by going into Limit Break mode, I healed it by adding One For All to Chrono Force. Plus side: my arm was reconstructed in four, five seconds. Negatives: I can barely feel anything."

He opened and closed his right hand and then did the same with his left. The sensations were worlds apart.

"Wait, hold up," Rumi said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's sounding like you can use One For All to boost the strength of your other Quirks."

"Something like that."

Rumi outright sighed. "That's a whole other rabbit hole. Damn, kid. I think… your potential is pretty much limitless."

Hearing that from Rumi made him warm inside. "Thanks, Rumi."

"But," she added, holding up a finger, "I don't want you to destroy yourself before you even get started. So, please, if it doesn't get better by tomorrow, I want you to get it checked out."

Izuku nodded. "Okay. I promise."

Rumi visibly perked up at his words. "But, we'll figure that shit out tomorrow. For now," she smiled at him, a much kinder one than she usually wore, "we go home and rest. No use pushing yourself too hard. You did a good job. Stain, those three villains… I'm proud of you."

Izuku smiled back at her, a sense of accomplishment swelling in his chest.

"Thank you."

Right now, sleep sounded like the best thing in the world to Izuku.

.:.

The next day, Izuku woke up to Eri poking his cheek.

"Uhguah," Izuku mumbled, blinking sleepily. "What's it, Eri?"

The girl held his phone and handed it to him. She said slowly, "Um… it's been making a lot of noise, so it woke me up. I thought it might be something urgent."

She looked despondent at having woken Izuku up, so he gently smiled. "Thanks, Eri. Maybe something happened…?"

As he looked at his phone, he noticed notifications from a huge selection of people. The class group chat had been popping off, and he received a few individual texts from Himiko, Momo, an unknown number, and even his mom. Izuku's smile immediately became a frown as he unlocked his phone and read the texts from the class group chat.

Eijiro: bro midoriya ur on the news

Eijiro: holy fuck u toOK DOWN STAIN?

Denki: wait r uou kidding me?

Momo: What?

Eijiro: peep this link:

The link sent him to the front page of The J pan Times, where a video of him fighting the three grotesque villains and Stain was shown. Although it was just filmed on a smartphone, the video quality was clear enough to see Izuku's face. It followed him all the way up to Izuku utterly defeating the three monstrosities, Stain's short speech, and Izuku knocking Stain out.

Izuku scrolled down the webpage, reading the comments. What the hell was that bum Endeavor doing? one of them read, while another person wrote: kid fights better than most pro heroes. He returned to the group chat, quickly skimmed the next few texts, and focused on one that Katsuki had sent.

Katsuki: yo fuck the guys who said u shouldn't have done this

He included a link with a title that sent Izuku's gut plummeting to the bowels of the Earth. It read, Should we really be praising Izuku Midoriya when his actions were technically illegal? Izuku immediately clicked on the link, and each word he read, the sicker he felt.

… people are forgetting that Izuku Midoriya is not a licensed pro hero, nor does he have a Provisional Hero License. What the, and I must emphasize this, college student did yesterday was technically an act of vigilantism. He endangered all of the nearby civilians with his reckless actions…

Katsuki: i cant even believe that theyre allowed to publish bullshit like this

Eijiro: the press suvks ass dude

Momo: This is outrageous!

Katsuki linked another article. This time, it didn't go after just him:

… to all the supporters of Izuku Midoriya, I'll say this. The law is in place for a reason. Pro Heroes must get licenses so they can be held accountable. Look at all of the damage that Izuku Midoriya's reckless actions have caused in this act of blatant vigilantism. Who's going to pay for the damages? If he had a Provisional Hero License, which grants permission for people to act as heroes in emergency situations, his actions already would have been barely acceptable, yet he does not even have that.

Some say that he was acting under the orders of Pro Hero Mirko. Firstly, I doubt these claims have any weight behind them. Mirko has never taken on an intern or worked with an agency throughout all her years of being a hero, so why would she start now? And even if, on the off chance, she did take Izuku Midoriya on as an intern, she should share some of the blame for letting her intern go ballistic like that. She should be held accountable…

He was relieved to see some comments linking a video of him and Rumi on the subway train together before they started fighting the villains, thus nullifying the article in some aspects, and a clip of a thankfully alive but permanently crippled Native talking about how Izuku saved him from Stain. Even then, it still left a bad taste in Izuku's mouth.

Mina: huh. Somew ppl are just objectively wrong, and thats that.

Katsuki: this rlly jus makes me hate humans more

Momo: The nerve of some people.

Momo: It's so discouraging that, even when we do the right thing, we can get blamed for things like this.

Momo: Honestly, these articles that I'm reading simply lack professionalism.

Momo: It's almost like someone paid these people to say bad things about Izuku.

Mina: !? (O.O)#!

Momo: It's just… disgusting.

Momo: I've never been this disappointed in society as a whole.

Mina: geez, yaomomo is really riled up

Tenya: As much as I hate to say this, the writer's right: the law is in place for a reason. Although I do not believe that Midoriya broke any laws, he just needs to say and prove that he was acting under another Pro Hero's orders.

Katsuki: how do i dislike a text again

Izuku flipped through his other texts. First, he responded to his mom, who texted him out of concern for his well being. Next, he went to Himiko's single text.

Himiko: dont let them get to you.

Izuku: Thanks, Himiko.

As soon as he sent the text, her reply came in:

Himiko: ofc

Himiko: but, see? I knew u wouldnt lose

Himiko: b proud. fuck everyone else

Himiko: and if u need cheering up just ask ;)

Izuku: Thanks, I really appreciate it. Just the thought is enough to cheer me up.

Izuku: I still have my internship today. I'll talk to you later.

Himiko sent him a kissing face emoji, and he smiled. She could always bring a smile to his face, no matter what. He quickly opened Momo's text, reading through it quickly. It was a long, single paragraph text about how he should ignore the papers, how he did not really do anything wrong, and how she suspected that something was going on behind the scenes for so many prominent news outlets to be featuring the same story from the same perspective.

He thanked her for her thoughts, smiling at Momo's kindness. She had really pulled through for him, multiple times, and the brunette proved to be an amazing friend. He wished that he could do more for her in the future.

After that, he navigated through his phone to open the unknown text. The sender of that text quickly identified herself as Nejire Hado, and her bubbly personality was even translated over to her texts.

Nejire: izukuuuuu!

Nejire: i heard u took down stainn! O_O!

Nejire: Not bad, for a first year. Hahaehahahaea

Nejire: but srsly, dont worry bout everything else

Nejire: smthn similar happened my freshman year

Nejire: provisional heros license should fix things

Izuku texted her back, thanking her for her thoughts and advice. She replied almost immediately, saying: "Lolololol u text just exactly like i imagined u would."

To be honest, he was surprised Nejire got a hold of his number, but he appreciated her words nonetheless. With her words came the wisdom of someone who was once in his shoes, and her advice was very helpful. As he was about to shut off his phone, it vibrated four times. Reopening the application, he saw that Rumi had just texted him.

Rumi: so i think we should prolly take it easy and lay low for the next few days

Rumi: ua suggested that we do so. Pretty much a direct order from the rat

Rumi: said that theyll handle things. You wont get in trouble, dw

Rumi: in the meantime, i was thinking we could take Eri shopping for some new clothes?

Izuku: That sounds good, I'm sure she'd love that. Where do you want to meet?

Rumi: uas fine. See you in half an hour?

Izuku replied, agreeing to the time. He turned towards Eri, who was silently watching him, and asked, "Hey, Eri, do you want to go out shopping with me and Rumi?"

The small girl tilted her head. "Why would we go shopping?"

Izuku smiled at her. "To buy things for you."

Eri blinked, once, twice, and then her face began to slowly turn red. She didn't smile, but she buried her face into Izuku's shoulder and nuzzled him affectionately. Izuku just patted her on the back before looking back at his phone's news feed.

A video titled: Izuku Midoriya: prodigy or just psychotic? popped up on his feed, and Izuku watched the first ten seconds of it. The thumbnail showed him grinning savagely as he fought the three other villains. Izuku sighed and turned his phone off.

Perhaps he could benefit from an internet cleanse.

.:.

"Yo, Izuku, Eri."

Rumi wasn't dressed in her hero gear at all. Instead, she was dressed casually, much like last night. Rather than a t-shirt, this time, Rumi wore a large, white hoodie that actually managed to somehow cover her ears (though there were still two suspicious bumps on her head), and her legs were covered by dark gray leggings. Izuku momentarily wondered if all the leggings that Rumi owned were purchased from the same company.

"Oi." Rumi lightly kicked Izuku in his shin. "Earth to Izuku, do you copy?"

Izuku took a moment to respond. "Yeah, copy, copy."

Rumi frowned, studying the boy in front of her. Deciding that there was a better time to say some things, she turned towards the little girl that was holding Izuku's hand. "And how have you been, Eri? Has Izuku been treating ya well?"

The girl nodded intently.

"Good," the pro hero smiled, turning back towards Izuku. "How ya feeling?"

Izuku flexed his right hand. "Still can't feel much in my right arm. Better, but still not much."

"Get that checked out. Today. When we get back," Rumi admonished. Her tone left little room for counterargument. "You could have seriously damaged the nerves in your arm."

As Izuku nodded, Eri held out her hand towards Eri. The small girl took it after a few moments of trepidation.

"With us holding hands like this, we almost look like a family," Rumi snickered. "Fortunately, I'm incognito at the moment, so the press shouldn't be that bad."

Izuku shuddered for a moment. If the tabloids saw them like this, both Izuku and Rumi holding Eri's hands, they'd have a field day with their wild speculations. It didn't help that Eri and Rumi's hair colors were similar. Rumors would certainly begin flying.

He could already see it. Top ten ranked hero and her secret family! Izuku would die if a tabloid like that got printed—whether out of embarrassment or Himiko getting to him first, he did not know.

Making idle chit chat, they walked out of the U.A. campus, got on a train, and traveled to the shopping district. Rumi stopped them in front of a large complex with the gleaming words Keiyaku Mall written on its front facade.

"This is the one that I go to when I'm in the area," Rumi told them, grinning.

Izuku nodded. "It certainly looks pretty big."

As they walked into the crowded mall, the group attracted a few curious glances and even some looks of recognition, but that was all for Izuku. Rumi somehow managed to escape notice even with that shoddy disguise. Fortunately, no one came up to them.

"Eri," Rumi began, squeezing her small hand (which she had not let go of once), "whatever the light touches, whatever you see that you want—it's yours. Just say you want it, and I'll pay for you."

Izuku panicked a little. "A-And me, too! I'll pitch in, so feel free to—"

Rumi huffed. "As if I'm gonna let some broke college student pay. Use that money for your tuition, Izuku. Plus…"

Rumi grinned smugly, holding up a platinum credit card.

"Mama's gone to the bank."

After that, Rumi led Eri to different stores for different apparel. Izuku had let go of Eri's hand, but he was still following them closely, making sure that Eri could always feel his presence. Every few steps, she'd look over her shoulder to make sure that he was there.

Eri was first taken to an athletic apparel brand store, and funnily enough, Izuku spotted the leggings that Rumi always wore on display at the very front. So they are all from the same shop, he mused, watching Eri select a pair of dark red leggings for herself.

Next, they went to a fancier high-class shop. Glittering jewelry was out on full display, and Izuku found himself staring at necklaces for women. Idly, he wondered if any of these would look good on Himiko. The tight-looking necklace with a reddish gold moon pendant would probably look amazing on her, but when he checked the price, Izuku hurriedly put it back. He wasn't sure if his bank account had even a third of what the price was.

He turned back towards Rumi and Eri. The former was watching him with a gigantic grin on her face, as if she'd just caught Izuku with his hand in the cookie jar. Rumi pestered him, "So, why are you looking at chokers for girls?"

He remained silent for a moment, deciding how to say his next few words. "My girlfriend might like something like this," Izuku finally answered.

Rumi, out of nowhere, slapped him on the back with her free hand. "Attaboy! I'm gonna be honest, I didn't think you had it in you!" The sudden loud noise made Eri jump.

Izuku wasn't sure whether or not he should feel offended by her statement.

"But, wait…" Rumi eyed him suspiciously before clamping two hands on Eri's ears so she couldn't hear her next few words. "I thought you said you were a virgin."

Urk. A strangled noise came out of Izuku's throat. "… well, I am."

"How long have you two been dating?"

Izuku glanced away from Rumi, knowing that the words about to leave his mouth were damning. "A f-few years."

Rumi remained silent, but it was more painful than if she'd started laughing at him. When he dared to look at her again, he found her gaze was full of pity.

"It's okay, Izuku," she said sagely, hands still firmly clasped around a confused Eri's ears. "It's alright if you're a late bloomer."

Izuku couldn't even fire anything back because it was completely, utterly true. Himiko had always made it very known to him that she was down for more than what they had been doing, but Izuku had been too nervous to take her up on it. Rather than the typical boy who hid his nervousness during his first time by going gung-ho and overcompensating, Izuku was more the type who just shied away from it in general.

"Yeah," was his pathetic response.

Rumi removed her hands from Eri's ears and said, "Well, do you love her?"

Faced with the unexpected question delivered in Rumi's typical straight-shot style, Izuku could only let out an embarrassed, "Y-Yes. I do."

The pro hero hummed, regrabbing Eri's hand so naturally that they truly seemed like mother and daughter in that moment. "Well, I'm not gonna tell you to rush or anything, but it's best to do something sooner rather than later while you still have the chance. You can think that you have all the time in the world only to have it ripped out underneath your feet."

Contained within that advice was an unfamiliar sense of self-loathing. Izuku wondered who the advice was really for: Izuku or Rumi herself.

They walked in an uncomfortable silence before Eri's eyes suddenly lit up, and she let go of Rumi's hand to run forward and inspect a cute gray shirt. As Eri did that, Izuku looked at Rumi out of the corner of his eye.

"You, uh…" Izuku faltered. "Want to talk about it?"

Rumi sighed. "Sorry. I got too personal for a second there. It's…"

It's just, I usually only really talk to people for hero-related business. I typically don't talk to a lot of people normally like this, so shit slips out at random moments. Sorry. As if she could admit that out loud to him.

"No, it's totally fine. You said that you were my mentor, and that I should rely on you, but I want you to do the same. Rely on me, I mean," Izuku offered, keeping an eye on Eri. "So… if you want to talk about something…"

Rumi took a few moments to contemplate before sighing slightly. She turned to stare at him before glancing away. "This is the story that I heard from a friend of a friend."

Neither of the two really believed Rumi's words, but she continued, regardless.

"This person wasn't really anything. She was hotheaded and a fucking moron, and worst of all, she was pretty weak. So weak that she couldn't even place in the top rankings of her college's sports festival. And, as a result, she wasn't scouted by many pro heroes, nor was she offered many internships." Rumi's voice was surprisingly bitter for allegedly talking about someone who was a friend of a friend.

Then, as if remembering a bad memory, Rumi snorted derisively. "This girl only received three offers. One from rank two hundred thirty-seven, another from rank three hundred forty-nine, and one final one from a rankless no name. And do you know which one I—ahem, she picked?"

Ignoring her temporary slip, Izuku hazarded a guess. "The no name?"

"Bingo. Can you guess why she did it?"

"Uhhhhh," Izuku combed his mind, "because the no name would provide valuable experience that perhaps a ranked hero would not be able to?"

"Spoken like a true honors student," Rumi smirked, but then the expression slipped off her face. "But no, you're incorrect. The idiot chose the unranked pro hero because she—"

Rumi looked up at the ceiling of the store as if recalling a specific image.

"Because she was just too fucking attractive."

Izuku blinked once, twice. "… oh."

"The rankless pro hero had visited my friend of a friend personally a few days after the sports festival to extend an invitation," Rumi recalled, a faraway look in her eyes. "Y'know, this person was feeling pretty shitty and worthless. But then, this bombshell of a babe shows up, in person, and tells her, you were very impressive. I sense great potential in you. As idiotic as it is, how could that person not latch onto her like she was a lifeline?"

Izuku began to wonder if this story had a point, but regardless, he patiently waited for Rumi's long-winded story to reach a conclusion.

"A week," Rumi spat derisively, "a week was all it took for this idiot to develop a massive crush on the pro hero. I mean, how could I not? I—"

Rumi coughed suspiciously.

"I mean, she spent seven days in close proximity to one of the hottest chicks she'd ever seen. And that's, like, totally an understatement. She was gorgeous. I mean, the type of gorgeous that would make you stop on the street to stare. Not to mention the pair of absolute beauties that she had on her chest—"

The more Rumi spoke, the more she described the chest of this mysterious no name hero, the more uncomfortable Izuku got. He didn't even know there were this many words that could be used to describe a woman's breasts. Thankfully, Eri was too absorbed in looking at t-shirts and probably too innocent to even begin to grasp the words that Rumi was using. Probably.

Finally having enough, Izuku raised a hand to partially cover his red face. Rumi noticed this, and her description of the bountiful hills and fruitful valley slowly petered out as she waited to hear what Izuku had to say. "So… sounds like this person quite liked the no name hero?"

A somewhat pained expression overcame Rumi's face. She looked like she swallowed something nasty, and the muscles on her face scrunched up.

"Yeah," she said despondently. "But… remember when, early in this internship, I told you something along the lines of there's no value in a dead hero?"

Izuku, beginning to figure out the direction this conversation was going, could only remain silent.

"The no name hero died. She went and fucking died on me," Rumi snarled, not caring to hide who this story was about anymore. "Some real suspicious stuff. Dead Kaina, dead heroes, dead president of the Public Safety Commission. A damn massacre, all covered up. Not even a fucking body to bury her with. I tried for so many years to get to the bottom of it, but there's no answers—only more and more questions."

Rumi must have been pretty riled up. Generally, she made… somewhat of an effort to not cuss in front of Eri, but she was just ripping f-bombs and dropping nukes like no tomorrow. Sure, Eri was doing something else right now, but it wasn't like she was out of ear shot.

"It happened so suddenly," Rumi continued, staring up at the ceiling as they stood there. "It was like All Might suckerpunched me with a United States of Smash. Shit hurt. All I was left with were some random fucking words she'd mentioned to me offhand when we parted."

A bitter memory washed over her. The sun had been setting, casting the sky into a gorgeous collection of reds and oranges. They were arguing over something stupid—well, more accurately, Kaina had been teasing her, calling Rumi cute and flirting nonsensically, and Rumi had been getting too flustered to come up with a good comeback. Their interactions were typically like this: Kaina pushing her buttons and teasing her, Rumi acting like a stupid moron.

They were going to split up for the day, and the last words Kaina had said to her were: "Ay, whatever happens, promise me this one thing. Make this shitty world better."

What did Rumi see in Kaina's eyes at that point? Was her mentor frayed at the edges, was there a hint of madness in her gaze that Rumi could not see? Did she know that she'd be dying that night when she said those words?

"It just sucks because… I don't know." Rumi sighed. "She had a pretty twisted view on society and heroes, and I definitely picked up on some of that. Kaina—she always warned me to not work for anyone, to be a hero for yourself and the people that you help, and not for some corporation or organization. She warned me about losing sight of what I became a hero for. Did… did she…?"

The rabbit woman trailed off, and Izukujust watched her, silently . The next few words that came out were vulnerable, raw. "I… don't think that I'd be where I am today without her."

Before Izuku could say anything, Eri bounded back towards them, holding an adorable gray shirt with a snowman on it. Rumi bought it for her without any hesitation, and they moved on to the next store without touching on the subject any further. Rumi didn't seem like she wanted to continue the discussion, anyways.

After some time had passed and they finished window shopping at the fifth store, Eri's stomach grumbled. Rumi let go of her hand temporarily to go and check what time it was, and all three of them were surprised to find that it was around 1:15 in the afternoon.

"Some lunch?" Izuku suggested, and the two girls with him both nodded enthusiastically.

As Izuku held Eri's hand on one side and Rumi on the other, the three made their way to the mall's cafeteria. Just when they were about to get in line for some shoyu ramen, Eri suddenly flushed bright red.

"Um…" she hesitantly said, face growing redder and redder.

Izuku stopped walking, and Rumi paused on the other side of her. He smiled kindly at her. "What is it, Eri?"

Eri stared at the ground. "I need to go use the toilet."

"Smart," Rumi remarked. "Clear up some space for ramen. You've got a good head on your shoulders."

The praise just caused her face to grow an even darker shade of red. Rumi led the trio towards the bathroom and let go of Eri's hand. She stared, hard, at Izuku, seemingly waiting for something.

"Go on," Izuku said. "We'll still be here when you come out. I promise."

Seeing her hesitate, Izuku held out a pinky finger. Eri understood what he was going for and wrapped her own pinky around his. Apparently satisfied, she nodded and turned around.

"She seems to like you a lot," Rumi observed, watching her scamper off into the bathroom.

Izuku couldn't help it; a broad smile formed on his face, "I'm glad for that. She also likes you a lot, too."

Rumi grinned, but it was quickly replaced by a contemplative look. "Hey, Izuku…"

She turned towards him. "Have you seen her smile yet?"

Caught unaware by the question, Izuku gave it some serious thought before answering. "Now that you mention it… I don't think I have."

The rabbit woman remained silent. A frown had crossed her usually harsh features, making her seem a great deal more unapproachable than she usually was.

"We've gotta make it happen," Rumi said resolutely. "I want to see her smile. I want that kid to be happy."

Izuku nodded. "Same."

"No shit," Rumi snorted. "If you'd disagreed with me there, I might've beaten your ass."

Izuku looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Might've?"

"I hate saying this," Rumi admitted, "but I'm not sure if I can pull it off. Beating your ass. So, please, Izuku—"

She looked him dead in the eye.

"Never put me in a position where I'd have to make that decision."

Izuku smiled at Rumi. "I won't."

"Good."

Eri returned from the toilet, and the three got their ramen. Contrary to her size and sleek frame, Rumi was a big eater, and Izuku… well, the less that had to be said about how much Izuku ate, the better. During their meal, Izuku suddenly remembered that there was something that he had to do. He placed his chopsticks down and looked at Eri, who noticed him staring at her almost immediately.

"Eri," Izuku started, pondering over how to phrase things, "about your future…"

A frightened look crossed over her features, and Izuku held out a reassuring hand and put it on top of hers.

"It's up to you to decide," Izuku said. "You can either…"

"With you," Eri decisively said, interrupting him.

Caught off guard by her uncharacteristic demeanor, Izuku blanked on what to say, allowing Eri to speak up.

"I don't care what it is. I don't care what I have to do." Eri's hand trembled a bit, but her voice remained firm. "I want to stay by your side."

Both Izuku and Rumi were at a loss for words.

"So p-please…" she whispered, voice finally breaking, "don't leave me."

Izuku swallowed. "Of course… I'd never leave you. But U.A. might… not be keeping you with altruistic purposes in mind. Are you okay with that?"

Eri's blank face told Izuku that she did not exactly understand what he had just said—the word altruistic probably flew directly over her head. But, even then, she stared at Izuku and clearly articulated in a slow, sure voice, "Yes. Wherever you are, I want to be there."

Her eyes, which were usually downcast and shy, now stared at Izuku with an uncharacteristic vigor. Seeing such resolution from the girl, Izuku could not help but sigh. If he were being honest with himself, he wanted to keep Eri at U.A. or, at least, somewhere close, but to subject a young girl to Nezu's whims seemed… wrong to him.

But, as Izuku looked at her, all he could see was the face of someone that had made up their mind. Unhealthy dependence or attachment or whatever it was, he could not reject it. He could respect the fire in her eyes.

"If you're really fine with that," Izuku relented, smiling gently at Eri, "U.A. would be more than happy to have you. I don't know if you'll keep on living with me, but I'll be close by, no matter what."

She nodded, suddenly flushing and looking down. In her usual, trembling tone, she murmured, "I-I want to be as close to you as possible."

Rumi let out a weird noise, a mix between a squeal and a laugh. "You better treat her right, Izuku, or else I'll come lookin' for a fight."

"Of course," he said, patting Eri's head.

"Of course."

.:.

On a nice, private beach, the Symbol of Evil enjoyed the pleasant weather as he laid on a beach chair.

In his hands, he toyed around with a phone, looking at the plethora of articles he had ghost-written about his creation, Izuku Midoriya. He watched—or, perhaps more like he "sensed," but that was mere semantics by this point—the videos of Izuku thrashing the Nomu and Stain. It was a shame that Tomura had wasted three perfectly fine Nomu, it truly was, and perhaps the only bright side to the situation was that All For One could see Izuku's skills.

The green electricity that arced off of him… oh, it was just such a dead giveaway for his family's Quirk. The green tint was perhaps original, due to Izuku, and he could even use Blackwhip. It was interesting to see that Izuku could utilize some of the previous One For All users' Quirks, but All For One didn't see all of them manifested yet. He didn't even quite know about all of them, himself.

It also seemed like he couldn't use all of the Quirks that All For One had given him. Regenerator was probably always running, and All For One thought he spotted Chrono Force's usage. There were no signs of Shadowsneak, King's Will, Electromagneta, or Hydro Cannon, which was a shame.

Izuku was decently strong. The stupid little hero school had been training him well. But…

He could be so much better.

All For One sighed, turning off his phone and lying back in the beach chair.

If talking about potential… Izuku was at like probably fifteen, twenty percent of his overall output right now. All For One would have to train him well once Izuku returned to him. It might be a slight setback for him once All For One took One For All back, but Izuku was resilient and already had tons of other Quirks that he could play with. Even if, on the off chance, All For One couldn't take One For All from the boy…

Well, he had a plan for that.

All For One would end up reunited with One For All, no matter what.

That was a promise he'd made to himself a long, long time ago.

---

A couple of notes:

1. Thank you all so much for reading and for following and favoriting this story! This summer has been busy—hopefully, I'll be able to update more during the fall. Please let me know what you thought about this chapter with a review or directly PMing me!

2. I hope I was able to convey Izuku's modes clearly. Basically, Safe = nerfed One For All + Chrono Force, Control = 100% One For All + Chrono Force (Izuku breaks bones after 3-4 uses of this), and Limit Break = unrestricted 100%.

3. I just wanted to point out that the Nomu at the USJ was designed specifically to counter All Might, which is why it was a tougher fight. These three Nomu, while strong, weren't designed with that in mind, so Izuku is able to overcome them alone.

4. For those of you itching to see more Stain, this isn't the last time we'll be seeing him in this series. I have plans for him.

5. We are creeping nearer and nearer to the EventualOP!Izuku that I was talking about in the summary. He's realizing that he can apply One For All to boost the output of his other Quirks…

6. Man, I can't wait to write Lady Nagant and Rumi's interactions when the former finally appears in the story outside of a flashback. Because, trust me, that's going to happen.

7. Rumi and Izuku's dynamic is really fun to write. But, don't worry Momo and Himiko fans, they will appear in the next chapter. We're returning to school for the next few chapters for their final exams.

8. All For One is going to be reunited with One For All. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~