"Again!"
"Why don't you try lifting 10 tons of metal and see how you like it?!" The young uchiha screamed at his ghost mentor, honestly, he was really tired with all of this.
"Do you want to be able to use genjutsu or not?" Sasuke asked casually as he watched Izuku's outburst with slight amusement, it reminded him of a certain knuckleheaded blonde.
"What does visual illusions have to do with mental training?!" Izuku felt like the weight above him would crush him at any moment, his palms were rather sweaty after all, thankfully that hadn't happened yet.
Sasuke sighed, "You really weren't listening to anything I said, were you?" Izuku started to open his mouth, but Sasuke cut him off, "Don't answer that, it was rhetorical."
"To answer your question again, you, for whatever reason, suck at any mental exercises beyond basic meditation."
"I resent that comment."
"Deal with it," Sasuke snapped back, "Anyway, if we can't get you to fortify your mind through the normal methods, we'll just strengthen your vision of your mind. Meaning, if you can visualize a stronger presence in your own mind, in theory, your mental defenses will become stronger for it."
"That sounds like some more chakra bullshit." Izuku panted from underneath the weight, his arms felt like noodles at this point, and his vision was tinged with black spots.
"Indeed, unorthodox scenarios require an unorthodox solution" Sasuke gave Izuku another once over, "Alright, go ahead and drop it, Hinata will kill me if I do more harm than necessary."
Izuku dropped the weight, using the small bit of energy he had to stretch and snicker, "Sasuke Uchiha, never did I imagine that a girl would have you so absolutely whipped."
Sasuke didn't deny it, simply shrugging and turning back to the one door in the large white room, his mindscape had been evolving as more seals opened up. Instead of the simple room with water covering the floor, it had extended beyond that, adding a house like section, and even this weird training room.
"You should probably wake up, who knows how long it's been outside…" Sasuke trailed off, and Izuku could see the gears turning in his head as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Isn't your first day of class today?" Sasuke asked, a small smile forming on his face.
Izuku paused, thinking back to last night's conversation with his mother, "You motherfucker!" Izuku hissed at Sasuke before jumping on him, attempting to jump on him may have been a more apt way to describe it, once again Izuku felt that odd shift as he and Sasuke switched positions and Izuku fell to the barren floor.
"Oi! Stay still bastard, I'm gonna restyle that emo hair of yours." Izuku jumped at him again, once again, missing.
"Ooh, you almost had me that time," Sasuke clapped, "You really should wake up though, I think I hear an alarm going off."
Before Izuku could retort with more harsh words, he saw Sasuke's sharingan swirl and flash, and the next thing he knew he was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. A quick look at the alarm clock on his phone did in fact tell him that he was going to be late.
He hopped out of bed, grabbing the uniform off of the back of the door and changing as quickly as possible, throwing on his red shoes and backpack, and with a hasty goodbye to Suna, he was out the door.
'You're still going to be late.' Anko's voice chimed in from the back of his head.
Izuku sighed, "Well, a little illegal quirk usage never hurt anybody."
'Uh, I think it's actually the opposite-'
"Nope, don't wanna hear it," He pulsed chakra through his system, taking it in for a moment. After he had gotten his grip on his control again, he channeled a bit more than a safe amount to his legs, "Alright, let's hope I don't tear anything again."
'I'm sorry, did you just say 'again'?'
"Not important," Izuku said as he took off down the street, as soon as he found a backstreet he changed directions to be out of sight of most people, he really didn't feel like getting arrested. Thankfully, he had memorized the map with directions to U.A. with the Sharingan, it had more than just combat applications after all.
Reaching U.A. was easier than he had anticipated, and for once the souls in his head didn't try to speak to him during the long stretch of silence. Not until they went inside and reached the large door to his new homeroom.
'Are they trying to show off, or are they compensating for something?'
Izuku groaned quietly to himself, "Anko, please." He whispered, and proceeded to push the door open. And was immediately met with multiple different students all chatting across the classroom. The most notable to him was Shinso, Jirou, Bakugou, and the blue haired guy from the exam.
Interestingly enough to him, was the fully invisible girl, or at least he assumed it was a girl based on the floating uniform. Casually, he activated his Sharingan, letting his eyes drift over her. While he couldn't see many fine details, he could see a small outline.
Slowly looking around the rest of the room, his eyes came to a stop on a particular sleeping bag, a familiar yellow sleeping bag.
"Shouta?" He asked while deactivating his Sharingan, getting a groan from the ravenette as he stood.
"I knew you'd notice me, problem child," his eyes swept over the rest of the class, all of whom had now quieted, "but the rest of you took too long."
He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "There are uniforms in your lockers down in the changing rooms, meet me out on the field outside."
Aizawa said nothing else as he left the room, Izuku hot on his heels, and Shinsou hot on his, leaving the rest dumbfounded for just a moment before they raced to catch up.
—
Izuku was the first one to the changing room, obviously, but was quickly followed by Shinsou, and Bakugou, and then the rest of his male classmates. While the rest of them, barring the only two people he knew in here, took their time changing, Izuku was already done by the time most of them had even started to change their clothes.
Bakugou gave him a small nod as he passed, which Izuku returned, glad that they were on more neutral terms after their fight. Izuku walked out onto the field to see that it was only him and Shouta for the moment, although a brief flare of his chakra showed that Shinsou was already on his way.
'What do you think the hobo's gonna do?" Anko asked from the back of his mind, but before he could even formulate an answer the voice of Hinata answered for him.
'You shouldn't call people hobo's, clearly the man lacks a proper sleep schedule." She said with a small chuckle, eliciting a similar action from Izuku that drew Shouta's attention, who was used to his random outburst by now.
Anything that Izuku thought about responding with was interrupted by the rest of his class coming out into the field alongside him. Each now dressed in the same uniform as he was, which in his opinion, was a rather ugly article of clothing.
'Oh no, he really is just like you Sasuke. He hates ugly clothes.' Hinata teased her fiance, getting a soft grunt in return.
"Today we'll be doing a quirk apprehension test so I can see where you're at." Shouta said calmly, and almost like he dreaded being here.
"But what about the assembly?" Someone off to Izuku's right asked.
"The principal sends his greetings." Shouta said sarcastically, "You'll have full range to use your quirks, you're not in middle school anymore. I want to see everything that you can do."
A girl with pink skin on Izuku's right laughed, "We get to use our quirks? This is gonna be fun!"
Izuku felt his tongue go dry as he heard that, along with his companions inside him going completely and unnaturally 'still'. Shouta and Izuku spoke in sync, "Fun?"
Everyone around turned to Izuku, seeing as it was odd for him to speak instead of the teacher. So when he spoke, they all listened with rapt attention, "Using your quirks is something you shouldn't take lightly, they can kill people, if you aren't careful. Being a hero isn't a game, it's a duty."
He knew he didn't have to lay it on so thick, especially not with a class of hero hopefuls, but he had seen Sasuke's world. He had seen the responsibility that came with having power, he didn't claim to fully grasp it all. He did, however, understand that having power meant he had a duty.
"He's right," Shouta said, drawing everyone's attention back to him, "Being a hero isn't about fun and games, it's a responsibility. And if I see that you don't understand that, I will make sure you never become a hero."
The others around him shifted uncomfortably, but no one dared challenge his words beyond what had already been said.
He nodded, satisfied, "Now, if you've all had enough of that, let's begin with the test."
—
The results of each test weren't that exciting or surprising. Izuku performed the best in most of the categories, but he had an advantage with his training so he was a bit of an outlier, with Bakugou, Jirou, and Todoroki right underneath him in the rankings.
The young Uchiha remembered hearing tales of Shouta expelling the last placing member in the tests, even expelling a whole class sometimes, but he hadn't even raised the threat at all.
"So does that mean he sees potential in everyone?"
He could feel Sasuke's displeasure in the back of his mind, "If everyone was tossed away as soon as they looked useless, Naruto never would have been out of luck, and the world would have lost its greatest ninja."
There was that name again, Naruto, coupled with Sasuke's immense respect for him, it was odd for Sasuke to talk about anyone like that. But besides the war and his part in it, Sasuke had rarely talked about Naruto.
He figured losing your best friend must hurt.
Speaking of friends, he was reminded of how Jirou had done in the test, and the odd way her quirk manifested itself.
What is her quirk anyway? Something to do with her jacks, then why is she so strong? And that light…
He continued to think up questions in his head that had no answers, at least until he bumped into someone, jarring him out of his thoughts. The one he bumped into though, as he left the field, could not have been anyone better.
"Hey green," Jirou Kyouka stood in front of him, seemingly unphased by running into him, "How're arms?" She asked, sending a pointed gaze at the bandages covering the burns from the Chidori.
He winced slightly, he had gotten enough scolding about Sasuke about it, "They're healing, it's my own fault their injured anyway." he chuckled, getting a raised eyebrow from Jirou, "No, Really, my teacher told me not to use that attack until I was stronger and I didn't listen."
He shrugged, "It's the price you pay for use that much raw power,"
Jirou looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. Just as Izuku was about to leave, she grabbed him by the arm. At that point they were the only two left on the field, just outside the door to the building.
"Wait for me before you leave, alright?"
He wanted to argue that he was going home with another friend, but remembered that Shinsou had other things to do that day after school, so he sighed and nodded before heading inside to change.
He took his time changing, being one of the last ones out of the room, and by the time he got back to the classroom to grab the packet on his desk only a few people were still there. A couple of his classmates, but the only one he cared about was Jirou, who was staring at him with an impatient look, which he laughed off sheepishly and followed her out the door after grabbing his packet and bag.
As they continued to walk, from their classroom to the exit of the building, and then to the street, Izuku only followed slightly behind. He wondered in the back of his mind if he should say anything, but he was beaten to it.
"You neve texted me," Jirou said suddenly, never pausing in her stride or to turn her head, while Izuku could only scratch his own.
"I wasn't sure what to say, you told me your name and number, beyond that I didn't know much." Izuku said sheepishly, knowing that it was a bit of a cop out, but he really didn't know what else to say.
"And you didn't think to text me and ask me what I was interested in?"
"Uh," at this point, the young Uchiha was floundering like a fish out of water as they continued to walk into the city, "Are you… into music?" He suddenly asked, immediately he, and all the souls inside him, face palmed in utter disbelief.
It got the opposite of what they were expecting, however, as Jirou suddenly laughed, a small chuckle that didn't last more than a few seconds. But to Izuku, it was like the sound of clear bells in the air.
"What gave it away?" She asked, turning her head to meet his gaze while the jacks hanging off her ears swayed like drunken snakes, "Was it these?"
Izuku would like to think he was rather slick, in his own mind anyway, but his response indicated the opposite.
"Maybe."
"Smooth kid, smooth." Anko deadpanned and he had to agree, this really wasn't is day.
Another laugh from Jirou made him sigh, and he finally realized that they must have been walking for awhile to end up deeper into the city like this, and for him to not notice that they had gone from walking almost single file, to being side-by-side.
"Where are we going anyway?"
"Just walking and talking," Jirou said simply, and based on how they seemed to have been just walking aimlessly for a while, he had no reason not to believe her. He pulled his phone out of his pocket quickly and shot a text to his mom letting her know he'd be home late.
They walked for a while, talking about little things, things that didn't matter in the grand scheme of life. Their families, school issues, friends, and hobbies.
"So you play instruments then?" He asked after she talked about her obvious love for music.
"Yeah, when I was younger it was anything I could get my hands on," She paused for a moment, "Now it's just whatever I have time for."
Izuku nodded, "I have my own experience with instruments, they have been rather… calming for me at times, but I'm sure that I'm nowhere near as good as you are."
"Do you make it a goal to try and flatter everyone you meet?" Jirou tried to fluster that ravenette teen, but luckily for him, he lived with Anko constantly in his head.
"Only the ones I think are pretty." He flashed a smile at Jirou and continued to walk as she found herself completely flushed and confused. She quickly got over it and shoved it to the back of her mind for later, and walked quickly to catch up with the now laughing Izuku.
So as payback, she punched him in the arm, hard.
Izuku yelped and rubbed at the spot she had struck, surprised that she had actually hit him as hard as she had. He still chuckled though, she was cute when she was frustrated, but IZuku knew he wouldn't try and make a habit of it.
His snarky comeback died on his lips as he felt a shiver roll down his spine and looked around slowly, trying to seem like he hadn't noticed anything. Sasuke had told him about people with Chakra who could be sensors, and he knew he wasn't them, but that didn't stop the odd feeling he felt clinging to him like blankets.
Jirou seemed to notice something was off about him, maybe he hadn't schooled his features as well as he had thought, "Are you alright? You're looking a bit pale."
"I think we're being followed." Izuku said calmly as they continued to walk, they had entered a park a few minutes back, and due to the sunsetting, it seemed as if most people had left for home, so no one remained around them.
That he could see at least.
Jirou stiffened next to him, something akin to fear entered her eyes, but to her credit she didn't stop walking, nor did she visibly panic.
"What makes you so sure?"
"My quirk," Izuku wasn't technically lying, but it wasn't the entire truth either, "and I've felt this feeling before and last time…" He trailed off, because he really couldn't remember the last time, only what took place afterwards.
Jirou nodded, but said nothing. Izuku, meanwhile, was trying to think of his best course of action in case someone was actually after him again. His mind kept circling back to one idea, and he really hoped that there was only one person following him, if there was even one at all.
"Looks like we're gonna have to cut our little date short," Izuku joked to try and relieve Jirou's fear, he stopped near the edge of the park, the street visible from where they both stood. HE turned to face her, putting both hands on her shoulders, "Look, chances are? Whoever is here is only after me, and not you," He whispered, "So you're going to leave, go home, and when you get there, send me a message."
He was clear, and concise, and Jirou heard a side of his voice that she didn't know he had. Something darker, something commanding and cold that did not belong in the boy's mouth.
"What if I don't hear from you? What am I supposed to do then?"
"Call the cops, tell them what happened, give me an hour after the first message, then message me again, if I don't respond after that, then you call them." Izuku lifted his hands from her shoulders and bowed his head slightly, and took a deep breath.
"What are you going to do, fight them?" She asked, Jirou hadn't known Izuku for an overly long time, but she wouldn't mind calling him a friend, and he was a good listener. She just didn't want to see him hurt.
Izuku lifted his head to meet her gaze and Jirou gasped, "I'm going to run like hell, don't come back for me. Now go."
Jirou suddenly felt compelled to listen, more so than before, so she nodded and left. Not at a fast pace, but a casual one, and as Izuku watched her go, he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Why can't he keep himself out of trouble?" He mumbled, and turned to where he knew his stalker stood, "You can come out now, it's just you and me, so let's not make this any more difficult than it needs to be."
A beat of silence passed, and then a smokey figure stepped out of the shadow with another behind him, a teen with dirty white hair, who couldn't have been older than Izuku. He narrowed his eyes, for he knew who that was, but did not voice himself yet.
"If you've come to try and take me away again," He growled, "It won't work, your lackeys failed miserably years ago, and you'll fail now."
The man of smoke raised his hands, "Peace, young one, we are well aware of what happened last time we tried to recruit you–"
"Recruit me?" Izuku snorted, "Is that what you guys call kidnapping nowadays?"
The other teen moved forward as if to say something, but the smokey man blocked his path, "My name is Kurogiri, and I'm sure you know who my companion is," He trailed off, allowing Izuku to fill in the blanks.
"Yes, I do," His eyes settled on the teen, "Tenko Shimura, his mother was from an offshoot of my clan, we're very distant cousins."
Izuku's shined and that ever clear noise of the Sharingan activating filled his ears, but now they were complete with three tomoe, and he shuddered. His shoulders stiffened and he stood straighter, "You took him when you couldn't get me, so tell me, why shouldn't I kill you where you stand?"
Kurogiri tilted his head made of smoke, and Tenko shivered, "Izuku Uchiha, surely a hero would not–"
Izuku held up his hand, his eyes a deadly calm as they slowly began to swirl and shift into something new.
"That's not my name…"
Creaking metal, a grunt, and a pained yelp filled the air.
"I'm not… Izuku Uchiha… my name…"
A red light pierced the night, and the world shivered in preparation of what was to come.
"…Is Madara."