Mirai Sasaki glared at the cell phone sitting on his desk. The phone hadn't done anything, no, but the Pro Hero was upset. 'I should just call him...' He thought. 'He'd be delighted to hear from me, no doubt.' All Might had tried to contact him a multitude of times over the past few years, yes, but he had always let the phone ring. It was more a matter of principle at this point. If Yagi wasn't going to listen to his advice, his warnings-
Was he really about to break his silence for something that wasn't worth it? Tsukauchi was right, in a sense. The girl wasn't the best fit for One For All, without a doubt. There were dozens, if not hundreds of more viable candidates. Mirio Togata, of course, was among the top ones. Sir Nighteye had trained the boy himself, had glimpsed the child's spirit and potential... If Toshinori was looking for soul, he needn't look further.
He didn't agree with the plan of arresting her to prevent Yagi from giving her One For All, but... Yagi was very insistent once he made up his mind. Mirai didn't know if there was any other way to stop this particular exchange from happening. Unless...
All Might would never force the girl to accept. So, if she didn't want it... It was still dreadful. But... It was far better than Tsukauchi's plan of arresting her, and it didn't go quite so terribly against his spirit of upholding justice.
He just hoped Yagi would forgive him afterward. He dialed the detective's number.
Izumi huffed as she gathered her wits. Shoto Todoroki was a hell of an opponent to fight. So far, he hadn't been able to catch her, but that's because his massive ice attacks took time to make, and he was having trouble multitasking. Still... The teen glanced to her left and to her right, both sides carrying massive glaciers... She was running out of places to run.
That meant it was time to go on the offensive. She dashed forward and hopped off of one of the solid glaciers. Todoroki stumbled back, obviously not expecting her to come at him so fast. Then, Izumi made a mistake. A relatively minor one. She aimed for Todoroki's left side. He had only been using his right side and his ice all fight, so Izumi almost forgot that he could make fire with his right side. A blanket of heat appeared, and...
It disappeared. Izumi's strike landed, tossing the peppermint-haired boy backwards and out of the ring. There was applause from the class, all dressed in their hero costumes. It was Heroics Class, after all. Izumi stalked over to Todoroki, glaring as she offered him a hand up. The boy grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. Venomous green eyes stared into apathetic turquoise and gray eyes. "You were going easy on me," Izumi accused.
"No." Todoroki's answer was curt. "I do not use my left side in combat."
If anything, Izumi's glare worsened. "Why? Think you're that much better than us?" Todoroki scoffed, but didn't answer. Some emotion seemed to have snuck into his irises, but the girl couldn't place it. "Whatever." Izumi turned around. "Good fight, I guess."
"A wonderful display of sportsmanship," All Might applauded, in a different hero costume than the first day of class. "That dethrones Young Todoroki, and makes Young Midoriya the new Queen of the Hill. And next is..." All Might peered down at the list in his hands. "Young Bakugo!"
"Finally, some action," the ash-blond boy scoffed. "Better give me a good warmup, extra."
Izumi reentered the ring. The glaciers had already melted, courtesy of Todoroki. "I've heard the school infirmary has fluffy blankets." She heard an intake of breath from the sidelines, and turned to see Eijiro and Denki barely holding their laughter in. She rolled her eyes. Bakugo didn't respond to her jest, though. Instead, he just narrowed his eyes and settled into his fighting stance.
From what Izumi could tell, his fighting style took inspiration from All Might, but combined it with massive maneuverability. The boy was not to be underestimated. 'And, for some reason, he knew my parents...' The thought threw Izumi back into her bad mood as she prepared to spar, too.
"Ready... Go!" The teacher shouted. Immediately, both sides rushed into action. Bakugo was starting out early with his Quirk, using explosions to gain speed. Izumi had started off sprinting, but had to slow down due to how fast her opponent was approaching. She dropped low into a spring kick, hoping to launch the boy upwards, but he instead flew around her with an explosion and hit her in the back with his Quirk.
Izumi was tossed across the ring, but didn't fall out. She righted herself quickly, springing to her feet. The boy was on her in a moment, throwing another attack that she had to roll out of the way of. If she remembered correctly, his Quirk was based off of... sweat? He was already starting to sweat, although the steam rising off of the ground due to Todoroki melting his glaciers hindered it somewhat. That meant that his Quirk would only get stronger as the fight went on.
She sprang to the side as Bakugo flew past her, and then pulled him back with all ten fingers of her Quirk. He came flying back towards her, but he was already righting himself in the air in order to face her head-on. 'Well, can't have that.' Izumi thought to herself. She used four fingers of Repulsion on the blond's left arm, sending him spinning out of control, and then landed a solid kick to the teen's stomach, halting his momentum.
Izumi planted her foot on the boy's chest. "Wanna surrender?" She offered. In response, he only growled. He raised his right arm, but the green-haired teen reacted quickly, forcing it back down using her Quirk. Then, the left arm. It was repeated. Now, she was using both hands of her Quirk to force him down, as well as her foot on his chest. "If I were you, I'd surrender."
A sneer passed Bakugo's face. "Good thing I'm not you." The ground under him exploded as he used his Quirk under him, sending Izumi flying. She righted herself in the air, executing a shaky flip and landing in a crouch on the ground. She heard someone say something from the sidelines, but ignored it. She sprinted forward, and Bakugo propelled himself using his explosions. At the last second, Izumi jumped, ending up over the boy.
She reached out to use Repulsion on him in order to send him to the ground. What happened instead, though, was Bakugo launched himself to the side, instead causing Izumi to use Repulsion on the ground, sending herself upwards instead. It was an unfortunate downside to Attraction/Repulsion - if she tried to use it on something too sturdy, the effect was applied to her body instead.
Bakugo smirked, holding up one of his arm gauntlets. "If they designed this the way I wanted, this should've been storing up my sweat all fight. Which means, when I pull this pin..." Izumi gaped in shock. That kind of blast could kill her!
"Young Bakugo!" She heard All Might yell. "If you use that attack against a defenseless opponent, I will-" Bakugo pulled the pin. In a burst of desperation, Izumi yanked at his foot while falling, sending him off balance. The shot went wide, exploding into the roof. A few pebbles fell, but the structure held. Izumi landed on the ground harshly, getting the air knocked out of her.
"Damn," Bakugo spoke, not sounding disappointed at all. "Good thing I have a second try." He aimed his gauntlet at Izumi, but she was ready this time. The focused her attention on the small pin that seemed to be the activator for the support item and tore it off with Repulsion. It hit Bakugo in the face, giving her time to right herself as he blinked. She was breathing heavy. This was a much harder fight than expected, and she had already had pretty high expectations. The ash-blond growled as he processed what happened.
The green-eyed teen dashed in, hoping to end the fight as quickly as possible. Bakugo hopped back, tearing his gauntlet off of his arm and tossing it at his opponent. She dodged out of the way, but was thrown off-balance by the massive explosion that occurred as the boy detonated it. The tip of her glove was caught in the blast, but protected her hand somewhat. Her hearing was definitely impaired, though, and the naturally-gifted boy sensed it like a shark smelling blood.
He grinned, showing his teeth, and his eyes narrowed. He came in again, going low as he propelled himself with rapid explosions. Izumi immediately saw him preparing to do what he had done at the start of the fight, but a sudden thought occurred to her: 'He's far too smart to do that again,' she told herself. Which meant... She took a chance. She whirled around the opposite way from the direction that the blond had come from last time, and was proven right as his shocked red eyes widened as she tracked his movements and grabbed him by the arm and flung him over her shoulder. There were only two problems with the move.
One: She wasn't concentrating. And two... the tip of her right glove had burned off. Both students were still for less than a second, and it could've been attributed to the stun from the massive throw. Bakugo rolled and jumped back up, and then tensed. He started moving, and then stumbled. Izumi took advantage of the mistake, pulling him towards her and then pushing him out of bounds. She felt terrible as she saw the shock and confusion in the boy's eyes.
"Brilliant!" All Might clapped, but the rest of the class stared, shocked beyond belief. Finally, one person started clapping, and it was quickly followed by more and more people. Izumi rushed over, pulling Bakugo up quickly. They hardly paused at all, but the boy still seem shocked. He pulled his hand free from Izumi's, his breathing shallow and his eyes wide as he stared at his hands. He held his breath for a moment, and a few small sparks fluttered out of his hands as Izumi stepped backwards. The teen breathed a sigh of relief, the cockiness coming back to his eyes, although his breathing was still uneven.
"You... got lucky... extra..." He huffed out, then made his way back over to the sidelines slowly. Izumi much preferred the egocentrism to how scared the boy had looked.
"Next up, Young Midoriya versus-"
Izumi held her hand up, stopping the Pro Hero. "Actually, I'm pretty tired... Would it be okay if I stepped down?"
All Might nodded. "Of course, of course! In that case, it will be Young Ashido against Young Yaoyorozu!" The two girls took to the stage, one more energetic than the other.
"Let's give the others a good fight," Momo smiled.
Mina giggled. "After what we just witnessed? Let's just hope we don't bore them to tears!" Both girls laughed, smiling at each other. What followed was a much slower-paced match, and definitely not as destructive. It ended in a win for Mina after she cornered the older girl and then forced her out of the playing field. Izumi allowed herself to rest a little as Kirishima and Kaminari constantly tried to get her to talk.
"Your fights were crazy!" Kirishima exclaimed. "I can't believe how strong you are!"
Denki nodded, laughing. "Yeah! You went up against two of the strongest guys in the class and absolutely demolished them!" He agreed easily.
Izumi laughed tiredly. "I wouldn't say absolutely demolished them... I'm barely able to stand at this point, and if I hadn't gotten lucky with Bakugo loosing his footing, he probably would've beat me," she admitted. 'If I hadn't accidentally taken his Quirk... I would've most definitely lost, and that's not acceptable.' The green-haired girl grit her teeth. She needed to be stronger. Fuck, she needed to be stronger. A soft voice spoke up in the back of her head. 'You could always accept All Might's offer-...'
Izumi shook her head, causing the people around her to look at her in concern. "Are you okay, Midoriya-san?" Ochaco's voice came, filled with concern. Izumi turned towards her and smiled.
"Yep! Just thinking about what I could've done differently during the fight..." Izumi laughed, hoping it sounded genuine. The brunette seemed unconvinced, but let it go.
"Really?" Kirishima asked. "You seemed like a total powerhouse during that entire thing; I don't think I could've done any of that," the boy chuckled, ruffling his red hair.
"Well, of course not," Izumi reasoned. Seeing the boy's face fall slightly, she added on hurriedly, "But that's because you're looking at how I did it! If you were in that scenario, you would've reacted in your own unique way with your Quirk, probably in a way that I couldn't imagine!" She pointed out. The boy quickly brightened.
"Hey, yeah, you're right!" Kirishima smiled at the girl, who returned it, but quickly went back to her own thoughts. 'I won't take his Quirk. I don't deserve something that... that... wonderful.' Her mind filled in the space against her will. She wilted at the thought, but found that she couldn't argue against it. She was just some sneak-thief who had somehow convinced someone good that she wasn't worthless. There were so many better candidates for the Quirk.
She was silent for a few moments, until Denki started talking to her. "Hey, Midoriya?" She perked her head up. "Wanna come hang out and get boba after school with us?" He questioned. Izumi considered it. Today was her off-day for training with All Might...
"Come on, Midoriya-san!" A high-pitched voice chipped in. That was Hagakure-san, someone Izumi had desperately wanted to talk to. "It'll be fun!"
"Alright..." Izumi reluctantly gave in. "Is boba expensive?"
"... eh?" Denki stared at her. "Have you never had boba before?"
Izumi frowned. "No. I don't even know what it is, to be honest."
"It's a drink-"
"It's got fish eggs in it!" Kirishima cut in, snickering, making Ochaco roll her eyes.
"-that does not have fish eggs," the girl continued, "but it's pretty sweet and definitely really yummy. I'm honestly shocked that you've never had it before, considering how popular it's getting!"
Izumi shrugged. "I never really had money to spend on luxury items up until recently. Anything that wasn't essential wasn't on the table, ya know?"
Ochaco smiled sadly at her. "Yeah, I get that. But your parents never took you out for it, as like, a treat or something?"
Izumi was silent, staring downwards. After a second though, she seemed to snap out of it, giggling sadly. "Ah... You could say my parents never really bought too much for me." The rest of the group just sighed, stating how much of a tragedy was. They, of course, had no reason to think twice about what she was saying.
The same could not be said, though, for the white-and-red-haired boy overhearing the loud conversation.
Izumi checked her phone. She was using it for directions to the café, but she was most definitely lost. She was still in the middle of the mall, and she couldn't find a directory anywhere.
"You seem lost," a voice commented to her left.
The girl smiled without looking at the man. "No, I'm just waiting for some friends." The man twitched twice, finally gathering Izumi's attention. "Oh, Detective Tsukauchi-sensei!" She greeted as she finally turned. "I didn't realize it was you."
"I'm off the clock at the moment," the dark-haired man replied easily, shaking the girl's hand. "And, it's not a problem. I could probably guide you to wherever you need to go, I come here decently often."
"Oh, that'd be awesome," Izumi smiled. "It's a place called..." she peered down at her phone. "Café de Tea."
"Oh!" Tsukauchi nodded. "Yeah, it's on the upper level to the east," he pointed. "Actually, if it's not too much of a bother, I was hoping I could talk to you on your way there."
Izumi nodded slowly. "Somehow, I feel like this isn't a genial chat, but sure." They started to walk. "So, what can I help you with, de... Sir?"
"Well, a few things." The man sighed. "I was originally going to rush into this, but after giving it a bit of thought I figured I should talk it over with you first." Izumi tensed. This probably wasn't good... "I know you have the Quirk All For One." Izumi gulped.
"... Alright?"
The detective peered at her, as if trying to read her. "I would like to know how you got it."
The teen shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Well..." She thought about lying, but remembered it would be useless. She sighed. "If you know about my Quirk, then you probably know about the man named All For One."
Tsukauchi nodded seriously. "Did he offer you power? Money? Revenge? Is he having you do something as a task or favor?"
Izumi blinked. Finally, she realized what this was about. She couldn't help herself, a chuckle broke out. "No, no, no, and no." The detective did not twitch for any of the questions, and he stumbled, surprised.
"I..." He cleared his throat. "I seem to have been making a few incorrect assumptions, and I apologize, Midoriya-kun." He breathed in deeply. "Toshinori has been my friend for many years, and all I want for him is the best. I was..." He coughed, embarrassed. "I was under the belief that you might've been here under your father's orders in order to obtain One For All."
Izumi sucked in her breath. "All For One is not my father." She said it with no malice, no anger. Just pure fact. Tsukauchi twitched, but allowed her to continue. "He may be my birth parent, but it takes far more than blood to be considered family."
The man was silent for a moment. The shop was just a couple dozen paces ahead of them now. Finally, he spoke again. "I understand what you mean. I also..." He breathed in deeply. "I know that Yagi intends to pass One For All on to you. Do you think you'll take it?"
"No," the girl spoke without a moment's hesitation. "I don't deserve it. There are far too many people better qualified for that position than me. I'm..." She was reminded of her thoughts during Heroics Class that afternoon. "I think that a Quirk- a duty like that should be passed on without a bit stronger of a thought."
The detective chuckled, and smiled down at the girl. "I think I'm starting to see why he likes you so much." He fished something out of his pocket. "This is my card, with my number. If I can't answer for any reason, it'll be redirected to my secretary. I owe you a favor," he steeled his gaze slightly, "as long as you're not doing your vigilantism anymore." He held the card within his fingers, seemingly waiting for an answer.
Izumi bit her lip and grinned. "I'm not doing illegal vigilantism anymore. Helping Aizawa-san with patrol though, and using my Quirk when given permission, though..." She shrugged.
"Hah," Tsukauchi smiled, sliding the card into her hand. "Well... I'm glad you're starting to work on the side of the law now, Midoriya-kun. I dislike vigilantism, not only out of principle, but also because it can sometimes cause more harm than good. Getting guidance is a much more productive way to help people." He smiled and stopped walking, leaving Izumi to stop as well as she realized that they were at the café. "It was... very good to talk with you, Miss Midoriya. I hope you enjoy your time with your friends." He walked off, giving the surprised teen a small wave, which she returned after a few moments.
She turned around and headed inside the café, greeting her friends. "You're late, Mido!" Kirishima teased.
"Yeah, gomen," Izumi apologized. "I got a bit lost."
Denki chuckled. "Yeah, this mall can definitely be a bit of maze. Sometimes, I swear it's on purpose."
"Not on purpose," Mina rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. "You guys just don't come here enough!"
"Who was that, Midoriya-san?" Ochaco questioned, causing Izumi to blink out of her thoughts.
"Oh!" Her green eyes peered down at the card in her hand. "A... new friend, I think."
"Haha! Only you could get lost and somehow make a new friend while trying to get to the other side of a mall," the pink-skinned teen teased. "Now, are we getting boba or what? We were waiting for you, Midoriya. Didn't want you to miss out on this godly nectar~"
Izumi chuckled. "Yeah, let's order! You guys will have to tell me what's good."
"I'll make sure to order extra fish eggs for you," Hagakure teased.
Izumi did her best to focus on the girl, the shimmering outline barely, barely visible in the warm lights of the café, and laughed. "Yeah, yeah..." She thought about it for a second. "They're not really fish eggs, right?" The group laughed together.
Izumi enjoyed the afternoon. For the first time in a while, she could genuinely say that she felt like a normal teen. It would be the last time in a while, too.