Izuku felt wet?

That couldn't be right. Sure, he was on a beach with his dad and he had been sweating a lot today, more so than he had in a long time. He chalked that up to his new power usage. But they were far from the actual bay and he was pretty sure the sweat would have evaporated by now.

But he definitely felt wet, along with an odd warmth, distant and strange, but familiar at the same time. The wetness was only on his backside and back.

'Tide might be in? It's only a couple of inches deep,' he thought to himself.

He groaned as he rolled over, splashing the liquid around him as his arm fell to his side. He opened his eyes, and blinked at the bright light. Flashes of green and gold crossed along the black water that surrounded him. He looked up to see a star above him. His mouth opened in awe as he watched the swirling currents of plasma and heat roll around the ball of golden and green light.

"Hey kid."

The voice made him jump. He sat up quickly, looking around for the source, only seeing the black liquid stretching out in all directions.

"Hello? Who's there?" he called out hesitantly.

"A friend," the voice responded. The liquid started to rise in front of him, slowly forming a slightly humanoid shape, more details sliding into view as the liquid drained off of the person.

He stared into the eyes of the person in front of him, jet black hair and white cape gently moving in a non-existent breeze. A woman.

She looked familiar for some reason, but he couldn't place why. He definitely felt at ease around her, so she probably wasn't dangerous.

"So... you are the ninth bearer?" the woman asked with a slight head tilt and knowing smile on her face.

Izuku cocked his head to the side but didn't take his eyes off the stunning woman in front of him. Her hair was styled like his mother's, but pure black instead of forest green. Her muscular forearms and legs rippled as she walked closer to him. Her smile never faltered, only drawing his eyes in more.

She stopped in front of him and held out her hand for him to take. He grasped it firmly, but before he could pull himself up, he was pulled up by her incredible strength.

"Sorry, but... who are you?" Izuku said, his stare continuing.

She laughed, her smile stretching a little further.

"I am the seventh bearer of One for All, Nana Shimura."

Izuku blinked. "Seventh bearer," he said slowly, turning the concept over in his mind. "So my dad-"

"Toshinori was eighth, yes," Nana said, interrupting him. "He passed his power onto you."

She chuckled lightly, a sound that Izuku immediately enjoyed hearing. "It's funny though, with you being his son. Not only did he not follow my advice and settle down, he passed his power onto his son. Under different circumstances, I would say that was a bad idea, but it seems that this was actually a better idea."

She turned to look up at the star above them, "Your power is very unique, Izuku. One for All helped create it, and so it was able to latch onto your power easily," she said, turning back to look at Izuku. "The capacity to store energy in its raw form, and the ability to release it in a controlled fashion. Your quirk is exactly what One for All needed," she continued.

"One for All," she said, waving her hand out in an arc, gesturing to the black liquid around them, "is an amalgamation of quirks, emotions, and wills. The culmination of lifetimes of fighting and inheritance, building itself up until it could overcome All for One. Both the quirk and the man who wields it. But until now, we've never had enough power, nor had the ability, to truly finish them off."

Izuku cocked his head again, "All for One... Dad hadn't mentioned him."

Nana frowned slightly, "In due time then. What you need to know is this: he is devious, deadly, and dangerous beyond anything you can imagine. Before you can even hope of beating him, you will need all of the help you can get. And you still have so far to go before your own journey is over."

She smiled brightly, placing her pointer fingers on the corners of her lips and pulling them up, making her smile wider.

"Be sure to smile brightly through all of it, and remember this: We are always here for you. Even when all else fails," she said.

A large ripple passed through the liquid, making both of them look down.

"It's almost time," she said, looking back up at Izuku, "Before I go, I will leave you with this."

Nana began to rise off the surface of the liquid a couple of inches, and floated towards Izuku, reaching out with her hands to grasp his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug.

Izuku sighed as he felt calm wash over him, her motherly hug soothing his spirit. Nana squeezed him tightly and then pulled back to stare into Izuku's bright green eyes.

"One for All is many quirks in one, fought with and built over the years. With you," she lifted her right hand and placed it on top of Izuku's head, patting it gently, "We now have the power to use all of them. Here is the first," she said, resting her hand on his head. "May Happiness make you light, to Float amongst the stars."

She smiled broadly as Izuku felt a surge of power flood through him, electricity arcing between him and the liquid.

His eyes rolled into his head as he felt the power spread, the surge unlike anything he had felt before. And then, it was gone.

He opened his eyes, shaking his head, but didn't see Nana anywhere around. He glanced up at the star, streaks of green and gold racing across it, and then back down at liquid below him.

"Not sure what that was..." Izuku mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, yawning widely. A wave of exhaustion hit him suddenly, his body falling towards the liquid as he fell asleep.

His body descended towards the liquid, stopping for the briefest of moments before settling into the pool beneath him.

'Pounding head… Cold ground… Feels niiiice…'

The ground was wonderfully cool and coupled with the hot sun beating down on him, it was perfect. He could sleep like this forever. But then he felt wet again, and his clothes were sticking to him, the unpleasant sensation roused him from his unconsciousness. He blinked his eyes open and saw his father looking at him with concern.

"Izuku? How do you feel?" Toshinori said, reaching out for Izuku's shoulder and pulling him up as Izuku pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"I'm fine. Tired. Hungry . But fine," Izuku huffed, looking himself over and then up at his father. "How long was I out?"

"About thirty minutes. Take it slow; you need to relax and rest," Toshinori said, patting Izuku's shoulder gently.

"Dad?" Izuku asked, looking down at his hands. "I, uh… well… something happened while I was out."

Toshinori looked surprised but didn't say anything, letting Izuku continue.

"Well, I'm not sure how to describe it, but I saw Nana. She… well, she told me about One for All, All for One, and then did something to me," Izuku continued, looking up at his father questioningly.

"You...saw Nana…?" Toshinori's eyes went wide, "You actually saw her? What did she say?"

"Uh, something about how One for All has more power now, and that my quirk is what it needed to be able to beat All for One," Izuku shook his head as he finished, "And I think she did something to One for All, but I'm not sure what. Anyway, it was strange."

Toshinori was contemplative for a second, placing his hand on his chin. "Well, I have no idea about you seeing Nana, but if I had to guess, perhaps One for All hijacked your quirk for more power. Or maybe your quirk started to feed One for All. Either way, it seems that you are fine now. As for All for One, that's a conversation we will be having later. I was hoping to train you for a while before I told you about that, but the cat's out of the bag now."

Toshinori's brow furrowed in concerned contemplation. After a second or two, he shook his head, "We'll get there soon enough. Anyway, that was quick thinking on your part." He gestured towards Izuku with his hand, "Very clever using my power to overwhelm your quirk."

Izuku grimaced, "It was all I could think of," he said before sadly glancing at the sand around them, "I saw the energy drain from the area, and felt the hunger for more. It was desperate. It's scary. Will that happen again if I use too much power? If it does, how do I stop it?"

Toshinori shrugged, and smiled softly, pulling Izuku in for a hug. "That is something that we will work on together. For now, I'm proud of you, son. You did well." Izuku smiled broadly into his father's shoulder as he enjoyed the comfort of the hug before Toshinori pulled back.

"Come on, then. Let's get lunch, and then we'll do some more training," Toshinori said, standing up and holding out a hand to Izuku.

"And, uh, don't tell your Mom that I had to hit you," he finished, rubbing the back of his head, a nervous smile on his face.

Izuku laughed as he grabbed the helping hand and pulled himself up to his feet.

Lunch was at a small restaurant nearby. Mirai joined them and listened carefully as Izuku and Toshinori explained what had happened. Izuku stuffed himself with as much food as he could get his hands on, the hot pot being refilled four times at his insistence. Even after the bill had been paid and all three of them were walking back to the beach, Izuku's stomach growled loudly and he felt another pang of hunger.

'Hopefully, that's not the new norm.' He rubbed his stomach as it churned through the large meal.

After a rest on the benches at the beach's entrance, and a good conversation with Toshinori and Mirai about life at UA and what he could expect in three years, Mirai left, citing a new lead on one of his cases, and wished Izuku good luck. As Mirai left, Izuku followed his energy signature and was pleasantly surprised to see a cool purple shade attached to Mirai as he drove away. He thought about it, but then reflected on what Nana had said. Perhaps this was part of One for All giving him access to new abilities. He would need to do more testing with his energy sense.

He turned back from watching Mirai leave and started taking stock. He felt good, he felt energetic, though still hungry. He would need to eat again and soon. His energy levels were low, but not dangerously so.

He stopped for a second. He could actually feel his energy level. He could tell that he was lower than he wanted it to be, but it was enough to get some work done. But not knowing exactly what it was at was sort of bothering him.

'I should look into ways of monitoring my power levels. Maybe some sort of meter or scouting device. Food for thought.'

Toshinori walked back up from the beach after leaving Izuku to rest a little while longer.

"Alright, my boy, how do you feel?" Toshinori asked as he approached the bench.

Izuku bounced up off the bench and onto his feet, ready to go.

"I'm good. Lots of energy. What's next?" he said, excitedly. A dark thought of using too much power trickled into the back of his mind, but he pushed it back, too eager to care.

"Next is the main event!" Toshinori said exuberantly, "You are going to activate One for All and use it to power a punch!"

He gestured for Izuku to follow him, and they navigated through the maze of trash until they reached the bay. In front of them was a lonely fridge that sat a couple of meters in front of the water.

"Oh look, it's your old friend, back to get revenge," Toshinori said, turning to look at Izuku with a smile, "You know what to do."

Izuku smiled back and nodded. He squared up against the fridge and closed his eyes, reaching deep.

He focused, immediately feeling the pull, but it was much stronger this time. He pulled the power up from his core. It paused in his chest, resisting. Izuku faltered for just a second before he pulled with all of his mental strength. He felt it click, and then the dam burst. A colossal amount of power was dumped into the river of energy that flowed into his chest and his shoulder, creating a large green ring that encircled his upper arm, spinning rapidly.

He opened his eyes, looking at the fridge. Smiling, a green glow behind his eyes, he started to run towards it. After two long strides, he flashed forward, and willed the energy into his arm as he cocked it back, fist clenched tight.

The ring of light, before the transfusion of One for All, a simple halo of white light, was now a neon green circle of sunlight and static. It traveled down his bicep, into his forearm, and settled into his knuckles. His fist connected with the fridge and emulating his father, he yelled "SMASH!"

The energy was released into the metal plating of the appliance, and there was a huge flash of bright light and an ear-popping sonic boom as the shockwave burst backward.

Izuku blinked.

The fridge was just… gone.

The sand in front of him was cleaved into a 'V' that extended deep into the water.

The water had parted down to the ocean floor, sand and rock were shoved aside, cleaved or both. Izuku could just make out the waves crashing back together near the horizon as steam ebbed off his body in thick clouds.

Toshinori stood in disbelief looking at his son.

'What on Earth have I created?'

Shoko Todoroki considered herself a very neat and organized teenage girl in all things, except when it came to her bedroom. This meant that while her closet was jam-packed and organized by season and color, her bedroom floor was a disaster zone of clothes, plushies, and other miscellaneous items strewn about chaotically.

That was just the way she liked it. It was perfectly contrasted to her twin brother, who was borderline obsessive-compulsive with his cleaning, taking a dust strip to his entire closet at least once a week and making sure that his underwear was pressed and folded so it fit neatly in the drawer.

Their parents had tried to find some explanation for the reason that the twins were different in so many ways. Shoko huffed as she read over the report from the quirk specialist for the fifth time. Her father's latest attempt at understanding their powers had been a wonderful time. Not only was her ice less powerful than Shoto's, but it seemed that her fire was less powerful too.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"It's open," she said softly, tucking away the report and sitting up on her bed.

The door opened, and Fuyumi, her eldest sister peeked around the door carefully.

"Hey, 'Ko. Um, I'm about to make dinner. Any requests?" she asked, watching her younger sister cautiously. Fuyumi could tell when Shoko was in one of her moods, and boy, was she in one now.

"Soba," Shoko said shortly, throwing the papers onto her desk harshly.

"Soba?" Fuyumi said, a small knowing smile popping on her face.

"Soba," Shoko repeated. She turned away from the door and Fuyumi, wiping her cheek of what were definitely not stray tears.

It was so frustrating to her. She pushed and she pushed, and Shoto was still better. Her parents were better. Ochako and Katsuki were better. She hated it. She hated not having their strength. She wanted Izuku's strength. He never stopped. He was strong enough for anything.

"Well, okay then. Give me a couple of minutes," Fuyumi said, closing the door as she turned away down the hall.

The rest of the day had been grueling for Izuku, running across the beach, picking up materials, melting them down, and dumping the recyclable scrap. The first attempt with his newfound power was still cooling down in a pile of sand, the white-hot steel truck rims turning the sand around it to glass as it sank.

He had to turn down the power immensely in order to continue slagging the metal safely, using barely a trickle of his power for plastics. The plastic chair he had attempted to melt after the steel rims stood as testament to the necessity of control. He looked to the small pile of blackened carbon residue, currently billowing wonderful smelling smoke into the air. His focus at this stage was paramount, as any slip up really could be a disaster if the chair was any indication.

He continued until his father walked up, keeping his distance from the heat.

"Excellent work, Izuku. You have really improved since lunch. But I think that's enough for today," Toshinori looked back over the beach and nodded.

"I think you'll keep working on the beach until it's clean, in addition to your dojo training. I'll work on getting heavier weights for you, as One for All will increase your strength as well," he continued, walking towards the beach entrance, gesturing for Izuku to follow.

Izuku set the cube of steel he had been processing down and followed after his father, glad to finally be done for the day. He was exhausted after hours of pushing his power and his stamina to their limits. He was glad to be finally going home.

They left the beach and walked back in peaceful silence, Izuku too tired to start conversation and Toshinori in a contemplative mood.

At the halfway mark, Toshinori slowed down a bit and spoke up, "Izuku, my boy, there is one more thing that I need you to work on." Seeing Izuku's wary glance, he chuckled and put up his hands defensively.

"It's not more physical training, I promise," Toshinori said with a smile, "I need you to build yourself a support network. You, of course, have me and your mother, but you need to have a select group of people that can help you. One for All is your secret now. Yes, eventually, I will burn through the last embers I still have and soon enough, the burden of One for All will be entirely on you."

Toshinori patted Izuku on the back as he continued, "You should tell one of your friends about it, so they can share this burden with you. And before you interrupt," he said as Izuku opened his mouth, "trust me on this. Keeping this a secret from everyone and not having help is far worse than someone close to you knowing. There is a very real possibility they will get hurt for knowing, but it is guaranteed that you will hurt them more by keeping it a secret."

Izuku looked surprised and closed his mouth. He thought for a second, "I guess I never thought of it like that," he said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"You obviously shouldn't go around telling everyone, but having friends that can support you is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Share the burden, lighten the load," Toshinori said.

Izuku nodded, his mind settling on Ochako and Katsuki at first. Katsuki would probably be pissed at him for accepting a power boost. But Ochako would be supportive and helpful. She was the nicest person he knew, besides his own mother, but still. She was awesome.

Having made up his mind, he looked at his father and smiled.

"Good," Toshinori said, turning back to the walk, "Oh, and be sure to get yourself a good support technician, like David is for me," he said, "Hm… it's been a couple of weeks since I last heard from David. I should check in with him."

Izuku pondered his father's words some more. A support tech would be helpful, especially with the energy meter idea he had earlier. Knowing when he might hit his threshold would be really handy, especially so he could prevent his quirk from overdrawing power.

"Hm… Overdraw. Good name," he muttered, "just need a source of power to prevent…Oh!"

The lightbulb clicked on again.

Ochako's phone chirped, letting her know that she had a new text. She put her pencil down and stretched her fingers as she reached for her phone, immensely glad for the interruption from her mathematics homework. She wasn't bad at it; on the contrary, she was really good at math, but it was dull and boring.

Flipping open her phone, her face lit up with a smile as she saw the message was from Izuku, listed as 'Zuku in her phone. She had co-opted Katsuki's ironic nickname for Izuku years ago without realizing the meaning at first but eventually it stuck and she had Izuku's blessing.

She read the message, a simple question about meeting him on the roof of the apartment complex, a frequent meeting spot for the group of friends when they wanted to be alone and talk.

She sent her reply in the affirmative and stood up quickly, grabbing her hoodie and sandals, walking to the door.

"Going upstairs, Mom!" she called back to her mother in the kitchen, who was currently making dinner.

"Dinner in an hour! Don't stay up there too long," the reply came back, but Ochako was already halfway out the door.

She looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and not spotting anyone, she stepped up to the railing. Their apartment was on the fourth floor, the Midoriya's was on the third and a couple of units to the left. She took a breath and touched her hands together, pushing her quirk into herself. She felt the weight of the Earth's pull disappear from her body and kicked off the railing.

Soaring up to the roof silently, she could feel her stomach start to churn during the steady ascent before she released her quirk, landing deftly in front of Izuku, who had a big smile on his face. He watched her catch her breath and adjust her clothes.

"Hi Ochako," he said with his wide smile that made her stomach turn off a bit. He needed to stop doing that.

"Hi 'Zuku," she said softly, smiling back at him, trying desperately hard to contain her blush. Ever since the previous day, images of him fighting had been running through her mind, the strength and determination he had shown made her feel funny.

"Thanks for coming up," Izuku said, gesturing for her to sit next to him on the wicker chairs in the sitting area. The sky had been steadily getting darker, and the first of the stars were starting to appear, practically begging them to watch together.

They settled into the chairs and sat in silence for a couple of seconds.

"So what's on your mind?" Ochako asked, looking over at him curiously. He was staring up at the sky, eyes bouncing around the dim stars before they fell to look at her own.

"Well, I'm not sure where to start, so I guess I'll start at the beginning," Izuku said, turning back to look up at the stars.

Ochako rotated herself in the chair to face him more. Whatever he had to say must be important. He looked nervous, almost... scared?

Izuku sighed heavily, "Basically, Dad gave me his quirk so now I'm his successor to fight one of the strongest villains in the world, and I have to keep it a secret until I'm ready to face him. Dad's quirk gave me a massive power boost, and if I'm not careful and use too much power, I could cause serious damage, even kill someone. I need to eat a lot more than I used to, even though I was eating a lot already. I think I can see peoples' energy signatures because you show up as bright pink when I focus on you, while my dad is a soft yellow. Also I… I'm rambling..." He took a deep breath and looked over at Ochako, "Sorry."

Her mouth was open, eyes wide, her face showing a great stunned reaction. She blinked and closed her mouth.

"Well… uh… okay…" She blinked, taking a moment to process the torrent of information Izuku had just trusted her with. "Pink?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him curiously.

Izuku chuckled and nodded, "Bright pink."

She thought for another second. "Huh… Cool."

They ended up spending most of the evening on the roof, just talking. Izuku went over everything he had been told and discovered in detail, with Ochako occasionally asking questions, mostly for clarification. She sent a text to her mom midway through, letting her know she would miss dinner, but otherwise, she had kept her focus on Izuku. So much so, that she was surprised to see that it was almost eleven at night when she next checked her phone.

"It's getting late," Izuku said as he stood up, stretching out from sitting for so long, "Sorry for keeping you up."

Ochako stood up as well, and stretched lithely, briefly enjoying catching Izuku glancing at her exposed midriff. She shook her head, and smiled, "It's not a problem, 'Zuku. I'm happy you trust me enough to share your secret with me." She bounced over and hugged Izuku tightly around his chest, smiling into his shoulder as the warmth of his muscles seeped into her.

She pulled back, a wide smile on her face, "Just let me know whenever you need to talk again."

She looked up at him, the bright smile on his face making her stomach turn again. Had he always been that tall?

"That makes me really happy, Ochako. Thank you," he said grinning from ear to ear.

She nodded, and turned to leave, her eyes sweeping down him as she turned. The gap between his shoes and floor almost slipped past her. She stopped and looked back at his feet in surprise.

"What is it, Ochako?" Izuku asked, concern creeping into his voice.

"Uh, 'Zuku? Since when can you hover?" she asked, gesturing to his feet.

He looked down, and suddenly realized his feet weren't touching the ground anymore.

"Huh. That's new."