Izuku stared at the giant door leading to the class 1A classroom, an overwhelming sense of dread washing over him as he breathed in and out deeply in order to calm himself. It'd been days since the attack on the USJ, with Izuku healing in the hospital and resting at home. Besides his closest friend group and Jiro at the hospital, he hasn't had any communication with anyone else in the class. He was nervous of the things they would say, the things they would ask. It was rare for someone to have two quirks, but to have three? He had no idea how to explain that, or how to make it sound even the tiniest bit convincing. Thankfully, Bakugo was already in the class, so chances were he was already brainstorming some excuse that sounded mildly convincing.
He breathed in and out again before reaching for the handle. 'Let's get this over with,' he thought before sliding the door open, revealing that the rest of the class was already there, with most standing around in their own little groups or sitting in their desks. The idle chatter stopped on a dime as Izuku opened the door, all eyes turning to him, causing a nervous and cold sweat to start building on the back of his neck.
"Hey everyone… how's it going?"
"Deku!"
"Midoriya!"
"Class rep!"
Izuku had expected them to grill him about what had happened, or to stay away and treat him as fragile, like glass or a broken toy. He hadn't expected almost everyone to launch out of their seats and to him. He felt two people wrap him up in a hug, mops of pink and brown squeezing him tight. He was startled at first but hugged Mina and Uraraka back, listening to everyone saying how happy they were that he was back safe and sound and praising him for his actions back at the USJ. If it wasn't for him, there was no telling what the villains would've done to the rest of them.
"Welcome back class rep! Nice to see nothing can keep you down for long!" Sero said with a giant smile, wink, and thumbs up.
"Are you sure you should be here, dude? Maybe you should take another day or two off to rest," Sato said, his voice filled with concern.
"Midoriya, you were amazing! You were all like, block, punch, punch, uppercut! It was the most badass thing I've ever seen in my entire life!" Mineta exclaimed, trying his best to recreate Izuku's actions and almost stumbling and falling to the ground, only to be caught and saved by Shoji. The masked student extended one of his arms and formed it into a mouth, flying it closer to Iuzku.
"Glad to see you're back in one piece, Midoriya," Shoji said with a smile.
"Everyone! I, too, am glad and executed for Midoriya's safe return, but everyone should sit in their seats! Class starts in approximately 120 seconds! 119, 118," Iida continued to count down, annoying some but making others laugh.
"I do have a question though," Kirishima said, causing everyone's attention to turn to him and making Izuku feel queasy again. "That black stuff that came from your arm. What the heck was that?"
"Oh yeah! It was like Sero's quirk, but a lot cooler," Kaminari joked, gently elbowing Sero in his side.
"So mean," Sero cried, crouching and facing the corner like a toddler in timeout.
"I have the same question as Kirishima. Having two quirks itself is incredibly rare, but three? That's almost unheard," Momo said, with many of the others nodding in agreement.
"I, um, well, you see–" Izuku stuttered out, trying to think of a reasonable and not batshit crazy excuse.
"It's an evolution of his metal controlling quirk, idiot," Bakugo scoffed from his seat. He and Todoroki were the only ones who hadn't rushed to Izuku when he first appeared.
"How the hell does that make any sense?" Kaminari asked, confused.
"Idiot! There's metal in our blood. And certain quirks can evolve under serious stress. Deku's quirk evolved after that bird monster beat the shit out of him and he was able to use the metal in his own blood to summon those whip things. Shows how much you extras paid attention in middle school," Bakugo barked out harshly, hoping his attitude and demeanor would shut everyone up so they couldn't question his explanation.
Bakugo knew it was bullshit, Izuku knew it was bullshit, but nearly everyone else in the class muttered among themselves and came to agree with the explanation. Two students, however, didn't fully buy the reasoning, and while they didn't have any actual evidence to claim it was false, they both found it interesting that Bakugo would lie about something like this. The two students in question? Todoroki and Momo.
The answer seemed to satisfy the group as they nodded at the explanation. Quirks were weird like that, so a quirk evolving under stress seemed realistic. Very, very coincidental, since it bloomed at the second that Izuku had needed it most, but realistic nonetheless.
"All of you, please get back to your seats! Class begins in 20 seconds! You may continue with your questions during free time or after school in the group chat!" Iida shouted from the back, his hands chopping in the air. The students groaned, but knew the blue-haired teen was right. Izuku sighed in relief at Iida's outburst and smiled, shooting a thumbs up towards his friend as a thanks, causing Iida to nod back. The greenet went back to his own seat like the rest and patted Bakugo on the shoulder as a sign of thanks. The blond merely grunted in acknowledgement.
"Hey Tsu? Who do you think's gonna teach class today?" Ashido asked, causing many to think the same thing. Who was going to teach them today?
"No idea. Mr. Aizawa's still in the hospital recovering from his injuries," Tsu answered.
The class waited patiently for the bell to ring, and when it did, the door to the classroom opened. Everyone was surprised to see the mummified form of Aizawa standing in the doorway.
"Morning class," Aizawa said, his greeting muffled by the bandages.
"Mr. Aizawa, what are you doing here?" the class shouted in unison, surprised that their homeroom teacher had come in today instead of resting.
"Whoa, what a pro!"
"Mr. Aizawa! I'm glad you're okay!"
"You call that okay?"
"My well-being is irrelevant. We have much to do and you need to get ready for what's about to happen," Aizawa informed the class as he sat in his chair. The comment caused some to worry, interpreting his statement that they would participate in some more combat training, while others were more worried that they would have to do more written tests. "The UA sports festival is about to start."
"Yes!"
"Why would you scare us like that?" Mina, Sero, Toru, and Mineta shouted in unison.
"Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the villains sneaked inside the USJ?" Jiro asked.
Izuku agreed with her, although to be fair, the villains would be idiots to attack a stadium full of pro heroes and heroes in training. It'd be suicide, unless they had an army of Nomus.
"Yeah, they could attack once we're all in the same place. We'd be sitting ducks!" Mineta exclaimed in fear.
"Apparently, the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever," Aizawa sighed. "Plus, they're beefing up security compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all students at UA. It's not something we can just cancel over a few villains."
"Uh, I'm sorry, but why not? It's just a sports festival!" Mineta pointed out, and surprisingly, some of 1A agreed with the perverted grape baby.
"The sports festival is perhaps the single most important thing we'll experience here at UA. Pros from around the world will be watching us, studying us, and deciding who they want to take under their wing once it's over," Izuku said. "This thing can either make us or break us as future heroes."
"Fucking nerd."
"Language, Bakugo, and Midoriya's correct. Our sports festival is one of the most watched events in the entire world. In the past, everyone obsessed over the Olympic games, but then quirks started popping up. Now the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition, there's only one tournament that matters."
"The UA sports festival," Izuku finished for Aizawa.
"That's right. This is where we will get scouted by top heroes around the globe," Momo continued.
"Sure, unless you die!"
"She's right though, dude! After graduating, a lot of people join pro agencies as a sidekick! How cool is that?"
"Yeah, but that's as far as some people go. They miss their chance to go indie and stay eternal sidekicks. Actually, that's probably where you're headed. You're kinda dumb," Jiro said, causing Kaminari's left eye to twitch in aggravation.
A snort came from behind her, and Jiro turned to see Izuku trying and failing to stop himself from laughing. She smiled.
'So making fun of Pikachu makes him laugh. Gotta remember that. I… I like his laugh,' She thought before freezing. 'C'mon, not these thoughts again! Wait! Does he remember that kiss?' Her cheeks started to pinken.
Aizawa went on to back up what Izuku, Momo, and Kaminari had stated. He said joining an agency could get you greater experience and popularity, which is why the festival mattered. He continued by saying they only had a limited number of attempts, so they better not slack off on their training. After a few minutes, the bell rang, dismissing the class so they could continue on with their day.
As everyone started to leave, Izuku felt someone grab his wrist before he could leave with Bakugo. Turning around, the greenet was surprised to see that it was Kaminari who grabbed him. The blond seemed tense and nervous.
"Could we talk for a minute?" he asked. Izuku saw no harm and nodded before gesturing for Bakugo to go on without him. Bakugo nodded and left, leaving the two alone.
"Sure. Everything okay?" Izuku asked, worried. The usual energetic and joke-cracking blond was unusually quiet today. By now, he would've tried telling at least nine jokes to try and impress Jiro, and yet one hadn't left his mouth during homeroom.
"I-I wanted to apologize, for the USJ…" He trailed off.
"The USJ? What about it?"
"Well, after I went back to normal, Bakugo kinda said it was my fault that you got hurt. He said that those villains kidnapped me and used me as leverage against you, and you got like, really fucked up because of it," Kaminari said, looking sad and remorseful before he bowed. "So, I'm really sorry for screwing up and being useless! I-I hope you can forgive me!"
Izuku was surprised by the display, saddened that Kaminari had blamed himself for everything that happened, and angry at Bakugo for making the blond think this was all his fault. He would have to talk to his friend later about that.
"Hey, I don't know exactly what Kacchan said to you, but ignore it. I don't blame you for what happened, and I never did. I'm sure that the villains would've pulled some dirty trick to get the better of me, whether you were in your 'wheey' state or not. Whatever happened to me wasn't your fault," Izuku said as he placed a hand on Kaminari's shoulder, causing the electric blond to look up. "And don't call yourself useless either. You helped save Mineta and Tsu in the shipwreck zone; would someone who's 'useless' be able to wipe out, what, 50 something villains?"
"No, I guess not."
"See? So don't worry about what Kacchan says; you helped save the day back there. As far as I'm concerned, you're going to become a great hero in the future," Izuku said with a genuine smile, which caused Kaminari's tension to ease up a bit. "You better now?"
"Yeah… yeah, I think I am. Thanks, Class Rep."
"Of course, it's what I'm here for. Now c'mon, we better go before Kacchan gets into a fight or something," Izuku said, causing Kaminari to snort. The two entered the hallway, where they saw Bakugo and Mina glaring at one another.
"Oh look, a fight. And, guess who's involved?" Kaminari teased, causing Izuku to sigh.
"I can't leave him alone for even a second."
"You extras might as well give up in round one! There's only one person good enough to win!"
"I don't know, Sparky, Midori might have you beat. I'm putting my money on him!" Ashido said, causing the greenet to flush.
'Midori?'
"Just because you have a nickname for the nerd doesn't mean shit! I'll crush your damn boyfriend under my foot!"
'Boyfriend?'
"I'd like to see you try!" the pinkette shouted back.
"Can we back up, like, three seconds to when he called the class rep your boyfriend and neither of you denied it?" Kaminari exclaimed, his old personality coming back
'Well, that was fast,' Izuku thought. "I-I was in shock over the nickname she gave me! I'm not dating anyone right now!"
He wished he hadn't heard the multiple sighs of relief from around the room, but he had. And now he was confused!
"And whose fault is that, shit nerd? Just fucking date 'Sume so she'll stop texting me at two AM talking about how great you are!" Bakugo shouted, palms sparking quicker and bigger than before.
"Well maybe others want to date him! Ever thought of that?" Ashido questioned while crossing her arms. Izuku was about to reply to Kacchan before doing a double-take towards Ashido, his cheeks turning red.
'WHAT?'
"Then how about you all get with him!"
"Maybe we will!"
"Get to class, everyone! The 5-0's coming!" Present Mic shouted as he rounded the corner. As he ran past the class, they could see he was gripping a phone with a black cat phone case in his hands.
"Mic, when I find you, I'm stomping you to death!" Aziawa shouted as he, too, rounded the corner before seeing his class standing in the halls. "Why aren't any of you in class?"
"Run. Fucking run!" Izuku shouted before he and 1A scurried away to class as Aizawa continued chasing Mic.
(One hour later)
"You want to know everything?" Izuku asked as he sat down on the couch across from All Might, a cup of hot tea resting in his hand as it cooled.
After class, All Might had texted Izuku to come to the teachers' lounge where they could chat. The greenet, of course, had agreed to the visit.
"I've read the reports on what happened. I was greatly confused when your fellow students mentioned an energy comin out of your arms and wrapping the Nomu up. You weren't lying about having just one quirk before One For All, were you?" All Might asked jokingly, watching as Izuku shook his head.
"No lies at all, I swear. Quite frankly, I'm just as confused as you are," Izuku said as he sipped his tea.
"Tell me from the beginning what went on before I arrived. I know it may be painful, but I would like you to try at least. If it's too much, you can stop anytime," All Might said, speaking as calmly and gentle as possible. He knew far too well how events like this could affect adults; he could only imagine what it could do to a child.
"I'll try," Izuku sighed before staring down at his tea. "Everything seemed… grim. Aizawa was out of commission, the villain covered in hands was closing in on Tsu and the others, and I charged forward and knocked him away. I managed to get Tsu and the others away before Nomu charged me. That thing… it was a monster, nearly as strong as you," Izuku said, causing All Might to frown.
"As strong as me, you say?"
"Yeah. If it wasn't for my shield, I probably wouldn't have stood a chance in hell," the teen laughed bitterly, trying not to think of what could have happened.
"What next?"
"We fought. I-I don't know for how long, it was honestly all such a blur, trading blow for blow, a battle of will and attrition. It, hands guy, and the butler all came after me. They couldn't touch me, and I thought if I managed to keep going and distract them long enough, help would arrive. But… the hands guy got Kaminari and ordered me to drop my shield. He siced that monster on me before I could even blink," Izuku said, memories flooding back to him, his knuckles clenching and unclenching, something All Might immediately noticed. "That thing broke my bones like a toothpick and tossed me onto the ground. Then they—they started walking towards the others, and I could only imagine the horrors they were going to put them through."
"Midoriya, my boy? You're crying," All Might pointed out, stopping Izuku mid-thought. The boy stared at him confused and reached up, feeling his cheeks were stained with tears; he was too into his story to have noticed.
"Oh I-I'm sorry. It's just hard to remember all that stuff…" Izuku trailed off, wiping his face clean. They still haunted him, the thoughts of what could have happened if Black Whip hadn't activated or if All Might hadn't arrived when he did.
"Don't force yourself to relive what happened. We can stop if you wish," All Might suggested, not wanting to put his successor through any more pain. It saddened and angered him seeing Izuku like this. Teens should worry about grades, not surviving a villain attack or dealing with, what might very well be, PTSD.
"It's fine, I'm fine. I just need a minute," Izuku said, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. He breathed deeply for a few seconds to calm himself, trying to calm down and relax. "I felt angry, I felt desperate. I reached out to try to do something, anything, and then suddenly, an excruciating pain shot throughout my body. Black Whip activated and went crazy. t grabbed Nomu before, well you know." Izuku swallowed thickly, not wanting to remember what he did. The crunch and snap of Nomu's neck still rang in his ears. "That's when you showed up and I went unconscious. Nothing else happened other than my weird dream, or illusion, or whatever it was."
"Can you describe it? What happened in it?"
"This is going to sound crazy but, I… I spoke to a previous user of One For All in it," Izuku said, noticing All Might's shocked expression at the news.
"A-a previous user? A man or a woman?" the hero asked, hoping, praying, for a specific answer.
"A man," Izuku answered, noting his mentor's saddened expression, but he didn't question it. "His name was Daigoro Banjo, the fifth user of One For All, and the original user of Black Whip."
"I'm afraid I don't know much about any previous user besides my old master. What did he say to you?"
"He told me that the vestiges of the eight previous users were mixed into the 'core' of One For All! They're the memories and knowledge of their past selves, and have molded themselves to take the shape of their old bodies. They've been living inside of this power all along. He said the core is small, but holds the power of every previous user. They are cultivated into this core, which is the source of our strength. Even their quirks have been mixed in with One For All! Can you believe that?" Izuku said in excitement, returning to his old self as a grin stretched across his face.
"Hmm, I suppose that makes sense, given the original quirk of the first user," All Might muttered to himself. "Did he say how you unlocked Black Whip?"
"He said that through my determination, want, and desire to stop and capture Nomu and the others, I unlocked the perfect quirk for the job: his quirk, to be specific. His exact words, not mine, but I do agree with him," Izuku said, causing All Might to nod. "And, you promise you had no knowledge of this? Your master never told you anything?"
"I'm afraid not, my boy. This is completely new territory for me as well; in fact, I don't believe even my master knew about this," All Might said. "Truth be told, I think you may be the first user to ever experience this. How lucky!"
"That's one way to put it," Izuku chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. "I just hate not knowing why no other user, not even you, has experienced this. Or what other quirks I may unlock.
"I guess when one door closes, another three open," All Might said, equally confused. "I'll do some more digging and see if any heroes after him stick out. Perhaps we can narrow it down and figure out who he gave One For All to before he died? Or you can try asking him yourself?"
"Banjo has only contacted me once; I can't talk to him until he chooses, and who knows when that'll be," Izuku sighed. "Anyway, what did you—" Izuku's vibrating phone cut him off. All Might watched with interest as the greenet pulled it out before staring at the screen in disappointment. "Dammit."
"Everything all right, my boy?"
"Not really. I entered a contest to try and win concert tickets for Skillet this weekend, but I just lost to someone else."
"Tickets? As in plural? Were you planning on taking young Bakugo?" All Might asked, and became intrigued as his successor started to blush.
"Uh, no actually. I-I was planning on asking Jiro."
"Young Jiro, you say?" The pro had a teasing smile. "Are you two—"
"Changing the subject! This is me, changing the subject. Now uh, is this the only reason you called me in here?"
"No, I also called you in here to talk about the sports festival and how I want you to use it to make your debut as the next Symbol of Peace, but this is much more interesting. You know I haven't said anything to avoid embarrassing you, but I think you and young Jiro would make a great couple!"
"Please tell me this isn't happening."
"I think the correct term is that I 'ship' the two of you. Is that correct?"
"Whatever god is listening, please strike me down now," Izuku pleaded, causing the teacher to chuckle at his reaction.
"Please calm down, young Midoriya. I'm merely kidding… for the most part," All Might said. "But since we're talking about relationships and whatnot…your mother, are she and your father still together? Or...?"
"Wow, would you look at the time? I have to be… literally anywhere but here!" Izuku exclaimed as he shot up from his seat and dashed to the door before leaving, the reaction making the Symbol of Peace laugh once more. After a few minutes of laughing to himself, All Might finally calmed down and brought out his phone to dial a number. As he waited for his call to be answered, he puffed up into his muscled form so the person he was calling would recognize his voice.
"Hello? Yes, it's me. Listen, I need a favor."
(Lunchroom)
As All Might tortured and embarrassed Izuku, some of the girls of 1A weren't faring any better themselves.
"So… I might have said some things I shouldn't have. I will admit I only said them because I was in the heat of the moment, and I apologize… that you all can't handle your emotions as well as I can," Mina finished with a shrug, causing Uraraka and Momo to sigh while Jiro growled in annoyance.
"You're insufferable," Jiro said with a glare.
"Bakugo started it!"
"While true, that doesn't give you the right to say what you said. We're all training to be heroes; we can't be distracted by petty fights with our classmates, or by the idea that we might have a chance of dating someone we like," Momo informed the alien across from her.
"So you admit that you do like him!" the pinkette accused with a pointed finger, causing the rich girl to blush.
"I understand your concerns; we have too much competition. We have Kendo, Hatsume, and Shiozaki, and while they have the 'childhood-friend-turned-lover' advantage over us, we have the 'rich girl, rocker tomboy, literal sunshine, and flexible dancer' angles. But to better our advantage, I've devised a plan—"
"Look… I'm not saying we don't like Deku, but I am saying 'maybe we'll all date him' is a bit extreme, isn't it? I mean, how would that even work?" Uraraka asked.
"Polyamory: the act of several individuals agreeing to share one person. If we all like him and can agree to share, and if he likes all of us and agrees to being shared, wouldn't you want to go for it?"
"But seven people at once? C'mon Mina, even you know that's a bit much for anyone, even Green. It'd put too much strain on him, and some of us would probably be neglected or forgotten about," Jiro said bitterly, believing that she would be one of the ones neglected since she wasn't…'built' like the others.
"It's Midori! If he can fight a literal monster, I'm sure he could handle seven girlfriends at once!"
"That is the most 'apples to oranges' comparison I've ever heard," Momo said.
"C'mon guys! Don't you at least want to give it a chance?" Mina asked, causing the three to look uncertain. Their conversation was stopped as several pins were dropped onto their table, each clicking and clacking as they landed. They all had the same color scheme: half pink and half green, with the word IzuMei printed on them in rainbow colors with a white outline.
Turning around, the girls were surprised to see Bakugo, wearing a shirt and hat with the same colorings and word on it, and with pins in both his hat and shirt. He was, of course, flipping them off with both hands.
"I'm the captain of this ship! Don't fuck with us!" he hissed before slowly backing away, still flipping them off.
The three girls grimaced at the fire that sparked in Mina's eyes.
"Oh, it's on!"
(Later on: After school)
"I owe All Might so much," Izuku whispered to himself as he walked away from UA, a pair of tickets to this weekend's Skillet concert clutched in his hand. The pro had miraculously acquired two tickets for this weekend for him and Jiro, and of course he wouldn't say exactly how he had been able to get his hands on them. He had merely given them to Izuku and wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Hey Deku! Wait up!" he heard Uraraka shout. Stopping in place and turning around, he watched as Iida and Uraraka ran to catch up to him.
"Hey guys, what's up? Is everything okay?"
"Everything is ship-shape! We just wanted to ask you something." Iida said.
"You wanna come to the mall with us tomorrow? We haven't really hung out since, ya know, and we figured tomorrow would be perfect!" Uraraka said with a cheerful smile.
"What time would it be?"
"Early in the morning, around 10 o'clock! It would've been later, but my family and I must attend an event in the afternoon," Iida said.
Hmm, yeah, Izuku supposed that could work. He could hang out with them during the morning, come home after that to shower and get dressed, and then go to the concert with Jiro after that. Yeah, everything lined up perfectly.
"Yeah, sure! I'd love to go!" he said with a grin, happy to spend time with his friends without the fear of school or villains. Besides, it would be fun.
What the greenet didn't know, however, was just how much fun he was going to have this weekend.
Boom, chapter 19 down! We're close to being caught up with the previous rework! I've finished/rewritten another 3 chapters, just waiting for my beta to check them out!
This one is a mixture of new and old content, I left in the comedy because I love comedy. Hope you enjoyed!
Also, I have a discord server in case any of y'all wanna join! Just DM for the invite code since I sadly can't post them on FFN :/
I think that's it for now? Hope y'all are enjoying the story so far! See ya in chapter 20!