Chapter 1!
New story from me that wouldn't leave me alone and I can do something quite different than what I have before.
I'm trying to involve more elements that I haven't used before so let's hope I can keep all the secrets I want to while also still sprinkling little hints in to be able to be caught on to.
As usual, enjoy and more notes at the end!
Chapter 1: A Broken Wing
*Kyoka POV*
Within the classroom, and with only twenty other people, it was easy for Kyoka to pinpoint who was making so much noise.
Midoriya's heart was incredibly noisy in comparison to any of their other classmates and the green haired girl herself was starting to tap one of the fingers on her left hand against her right bicep. As class went on, the other girl's restless heart only became louder and more abnormal and in Kyoka's opinion the generally unperturbed girl was starting to look bothered.
The strangest part was the sequence of emotions that the violet haired girl had been able to recognize from the greenette. Initially, at the start of her heart rate increase, Midoriya had been worried and gone to anxious before finally becoming excited. However, even if the green haired girl was excited, for whatever reason, she was digging the fingers of her left hand into her right arm. The violet haired girl suddenly noticed another spiking heart rate and found that Todoroki was growing anxious now and the girl even found his eye darting from his own notebook over to the greenette.
The current class had finally finished and even more confusingly, to most of the class and not just Kyoka, Todoroki, who everyone thought would just keep to himself, moved his seat over to sit at Midoriya's left. Between their own conversations, the 1-A students noted how Midoriya took her left hand and placed it on the white and red haired boy's arm as they sat beside one another quietly. Even more so, thanks to her enhanced hearing, Kyoka realized that Midoriya's accelerated heartbeat began to settle slowly. Both the greenette and dual haired boy subtly appeared relieved and the restlessness of Midoriya's body language was subdued as well.
Every few classes, the pattern would repeat of Midoriya's worry, anxiety, and then excitement before she was able to rest her hand on Todoroki's arm and she'd calm down and at the end of the school day the two left together with Midoriya still keeping contact with the ice and fire using boy. It was clear that a number of the students were curious about the two's relationship but since it was only the first day no one had gone outright and asked. The two students who didn't seem as if they could be bothered by anyone quietly kept the other company? Pair that with Todoroki and Midoriya being reserved in their own rights and that was easily enough to get the rest of the class's attention.
Todoroki stood out quite a bit by himself but in Midoriya's case the only thing that really stood out about her was that her entire left arm was bandaged up to just below her shoulder. Although, it was unclear as to whether the greenette was currently injured or was simply covering an old wound since she seemed to be able to move it alright albeit a bit stiffly. Regardless of the truth, Midoriya had scored in the upper quarter of the class during the quirk apprehension test but it hadn't looked as if she used a quirk during the time or at least no one could tell if she had.
If Kyoka had to be nitpicky about things that popped about the greenette then perhaps it would be her long hair that was braided down the entirety of her back and the slightly sharp but cautious gaze in her eyes and maybe even her similar height to Yaoyorozu. Other than those things though, the violet haired girl couldn't call the rest of Midoriya's appearance anything but around average.
Though she had to admit, she was a little more than curious about what Midoriya's deal was.
-break-
Kyoka only became more intent on observing the greenette as time went on.
The frigid green haired girl lived up to her image through her skills and was far more impressive than Kyoka could have imagined during their first day of hero training. Midoriya was almost inhumanly skilled all without showing any indication of quirk usage. In fact, none of the class save perhaps Todoroki knew what her quirk was yet because both she and the boy mentioned were too difficult to approach.
On the other hand, it was hard to even tell that she was a hero student by her outfit. It was so simple that on a first look you might think she worked in a field or something. Her hero costume basically consisted of a black one piece uniform that covered her legs and body, fitting black shorts, brown shin pads that were just above her laced maroon boots, and finally a green over shirt, that matched her hair, with the sleeves rolled and collar down to show a brown interior. As far as any other accessories, the greenette had a brown leather belt around her waist that kept two pouches, one at her side and the other behind her, and her right arm had a brown sleeve that covered her forearm. Then again, her appearance mattered little when she got to fighting.
Kyoka watched with the rest of the class as the greenette delivered another rounded kick that sent Bakugo tumbling down the hall. It was clear that the explosive blonde was outclassed and the fatigue seemed to be building up for the boy. No matter how many times he launched himself back at her the green haired girl avoided him completely and showed off incredible feats of flexibility and acrobatics to deliver kick after kick to him with the odd strike from her right hand. Although that was another thing that stood out, Midoriya obviously made little attempt to attack or defend with her bandaged arm. Every so often she would plant her left palm against Bakugo as she dealt a blow with another limb but she was very careful with her likely injured arm.
Completely having lost his temper, Bakugo made a beeline for Midoriya with his right palm back and sparking but the greenette simply pivoted on her front leg to move to the outside of the attack. With her left hand gently pushing the back of Bakugo's gauntlet, Midoriya spun her body on her pivoting leg while her right leg came up and swung around for a backwards spinning kick. The greenette's heel connected with the explosive blonde's head and he was smashed against the corridor's wall before slumping to the ground. Midoriya was about to go off and help her partner who had gone ahead but the blonde stirred, one of his hands going for the pin of his gauntlet, however the greenette swiveled on him instantly. Midoriya came around, the bottom of her right boot against Bakugo's face, and with the momentum from her turn alongside her own power, the greenette rammed the stubborn blonde straight through the wall.
With the blonde actually out, Midoriya wasted no time in rejoining her partner and putting Iida out of the exercise before winning but again she returned to Todoroki's side once the exercise was over. When the class finally finished, and Midoriya left the girl's changing room, the rest of the 1-A girls broached the topic.
"What do you think is up between Midoriya and Todoroki?" Mina, the most curious of them all, asked suddenly while the other girls peered over.
"You wanna ask them?" Ochako offered absentmindedly but the pink girl put her hands up.
"As if," she denied, "I'd be way too nervous."
"Just the thought of both of them staring down at me is enough to make me shiver," Tooru chimed in, the girls all sharing looks given the girl's invisible status, and Mina piped back up.
"They're definitely dating though, right?" the horned girl tried, practically convinced already.
"They don't really talk much even to each other," Tsuyu noted, adding in her own thoughts to the strange relationship, while Momo agreed.
"Whatever's between them is making them nervous when they're apart," Kyoka mentioned offhandedly and the others turned their attention to her.
"How do you know that?" Mina and Tooru pressed, both interested at the new bit of information, while Kyoka attempted to get them to back off.
"Ah," the violet haired girl balked, not wanting to seem like she was purposefully invading people's privacy, "sometimes I'm just messing around with my quirk and I accidentally picked up on their heartbeats," she admitted with a trailed off laugh.
"Perfect!" Mina cheered with a clap of her hands, "keep an ear out then will ya?" the pinkette told her and the musician shook her head.
"I don't think-" she tried but the pushy pink haired girl flashed a huge but sly smile.
"Come on!" she pleaded, the others also looking a touch expectant, "I know you're curious too!"
"Fine," Kyoka agreed reluctantly, "but only if I hear something by accident," she told them before sighing at having been roped into such a thing.
It wasn't as if it would be that interesting anyway.
-break-
There hadn't been much else that Kyoka had been able to learn when she had been so distracted by the events at the USJ.
Many of the students had been sent to different zones but thanks to Midoriya managing the dent the warping villain's metal body cover things did not go purely to the invaders' plans. Kyoka had thankfully been able to reconvene with a few other students near the facility's center but it was exactly in time to see Todoroki trap some kind of monster and Midoriya in thick dome of ice. The others had instantly protested but he only shouted at them to leave things to her, showing far more emotion than they'd ever seen from him, and only the violet haired girl had been able to pick up an unsettling noise from inside the ice. There was a moment before Todoroki used his flames to melt at some of the ice and Midoriya re-emerged unscathed, nodding to the boy that things were now fine. The rest of the attack was more of a blur as the staff took over but something else of note did come up while the class was being checked over.
Midoriya and Todoroki did not partake in their usual ritual.
The pair quietly spoke between the two of them but the greenette did not place her hand on his arm at all. A few of them wondered what the deal was there, some theories coming up but nothing worth while, but then the next day they were back to their standard routine.
Whatever, Kyoka was just going to ask Midoriya next time.
-break-
*Shouto POV*
"Is your quirk fine?" Shouto asked as the pair left school, no physical contact currently needed, and Midoriya nodded tiredly.
"I'll manage," she stubbornly proclaimed, "how about yours?" she worried back so he gave her a nod that he was okay.
Shouto was still only slowly getting used to using his fire but he did have Midoriya to thank for her assistance in helping him use his quirk. It wasn't quite right to say that they were just acquaintances but it also wasn't particularly accurate to say that they were friends. Shouto himself was too unfamiliar with such social aspects and Midoriya was far too guarded and to herself when it came to such things.
He and Midoriya had only met a few months back and the two of them had connected over a couple common points. First, their respective quirks had brought them each their own share of problems and secondly, their mothers were both at the same medical institution. Shouto quietly reminisced over how he and the greenette had gotten to know one another.
*flashback*
Shouto carefully reminded himself to not accidentally ruin the flowers.
There were many times in which he had secretly tried to work up the courage to visit his mother but her only ever got as far as the reception area before asking the staff to bring some flowers to his mother's room and tell her it was from one of his siblings. Over the course of his attempts, and today even, he caught sight of a green haired girl who also entered with flowers and a card. The girl had simply taken a seat a bit further down from his and he recognized the sight of her.
Someone trying to work up some courage.
The white and red haired boy had stared for a moment and was promptly caught by the girl in question. He didn't know what to say but instead the greenette spoke up first.
"Whose are yours for?" she questioned softly, knocking him out of his stunned silence.
"My mother," he replied simply, quiet and reminiscent, while the greenette nodded.
"Mine too," she revealed, her green eyes turning to stare forward blankly, and Shouto sat without another word as he processed his own thoughts.
It wasn't a few moments before a passing staff member perked at the sight of the green haired girl and shuffled over.
"From your father again Midoriya-san?" she asked with the greenette replying politely before handing the items over with a nod of thanks and a soft smile.
She, Midoriya, was about to take her leave but Shouto suddenly called over to her as her expression became blank.
"Are you sure?" he asked to her suddenly and the greenette, who undoubtedly knew what he meant, placed her hand on what he now saw was a heavily bandaged arm.
"Yes," she whispered, gingerly running her fingers along the wrappings, "because I'm the one who put her here."
*flashback end*
"I apologize for making you do this for me," Midoriya's voice sighed, snapping Shouto out of his musings, and the fire and ice user shook his head.
"I already agreed to this," Shouto answered back. "We've both had issues because of our quirks," he reminded but the greenette frowned a little.
"I know, but that I need to burden you every time and so often must be difficult," she reasoned, her eyes downcast, but the white and red haired boy stopped her.
"You've helped me more than enough Midoriya," Shouto replied, not wanting the person who did so much for him to feel this way. "Has it been worse lately?" he questioned and Midoriya gave an amused but loathing scoff.
"It's always been unruly, but yes," she admitted, "it's only getting worse."
Shouto didn't know what had exactly happened to Midoriya in the past but he did know that it had left her badly hurt both physically and emotionally. The usual care she took with her bandaged left and how her hand would tremble for a moment before resting on his arm told him enough without prying further.
However, he was also certain of Midoriya's strength.
-break-
*All Might POV*
"You still seem bothered friend," Toshinori noted, the detective across from him sighing, and his friend rubbed at his tired eyes.
"The information I gave you about the Nomu had more to it," Tsukauchi told him straight, likely exhausted from having to dig deeper than he thought, and the info caught the blonde's attention anew.
"What else could there have been?" he wondered, trying to think of just what they could have found their way into.
"It took a while to find things but the number of disappearances of certain people has been increasing," the other man revealed and Toshinori tapped a finger thoughtfully.
"Certain people," he repeated, having a slight idea what the detective meant but not being pleased by it.
"Ones that, for lack of better words, would be harder to notice went missing," Tsukauchi confirmed for him and the blonde leaned back while he pondered the situation.
"So the Nomu I fought was only a prototype then," he frowned, realizing the depth of what this meant.
"It's looking that way," his friend nodded, "not to mention that some of the heroes that may have been targeted by the Hero Killer were never found," he added on and Toshinori refocused his attention at the news.
"He's only left them dead or crippled before," the hero reminded, thinking of the other villain that had been causing terror, though Tsukauchi agreed with him.
"That's why I'm thinking that some of the missing ones may have been picked up by that man instead," he theorized, the implication unsettling the both of them, while Toshinori closed his eyes.
"We need to find him soon then."
-break-
*All For One POV*
"How are they doing Doctor?" the man inquired, curious about their little project.
"Many are growing quite well," he heard the doctor smile. "A few are even quite helpful in gaining more resources," he supplied, pleased by both the ability and the new subjects, and the old villain hummed to himself.
"And the one in particular that you were telling me about?" he followed up, wondering about how far they were progressing.
"My," the doctor breathed proudly, "that one is indeed quite special," he chuckled. "It's performing far better than I could have expected."
"I believe I'd quite enjoy seeing one of its data runs," All for One proposed and he knew the other man was more than willing to indulge him.
"I'll be sending it out momentarily," he revealed and a smile crawled onto the villain's lips.
"Then let's see just how amusing it can be."
-break-
*?*
Its features were completely concealed by the heavy cloak it wore.
Its attention was on the back of its fleeing target, the hero getting further and further from it, before a subtle crouching movement was made and it closed half of the distance in a single dash. The hero could hear it approach over their own ragged breaths and foolishly looked over their shoulder to what would be their final sight.
A great black and red shadow.
Notes and Stuff
As usual the power is going to be a reference to something else but not One Piece this time around. I am going to try to keep Izumi's quirk on the down low as it's quite important to do so but if you figure out what I'm doing then I'll be pretty impressed. This will probably lack Izumi's POV for a while until I get to a very specific point but I do have plans to use it quite a bit after said point. I fast tracked through some of the early events since there wasn't much that would have really happened there.
I updated a few other things alongside posting this so keep an eye out for those too.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!