I'm sorry this chapter came out late! I got kinda side tracked...
For this chapter, I did a little bit of world building- I apologize if reading this chapter becomes a little slow and/or dry.
Also, I've been editing my previous chapters, (UPDATE: Within the next few months, I plan to edit this story again from the begging.) so if you randomly decide to reread the story and think its a little different, that's why.
Like always, I'll have the optional Author's Note right at the end to clarify a few things.
I cannot thank you guys enough for all the support you give me, especially after all the responses from the last chapter. You guys are incredible.
I do not own My Hero Academia.
Recovery Girl stared at the child who had just shown up in her office, her fingers drumming menacingly along her desk as she did.
Izuku found himself unable to meet her eyes, his face already a vibrant shade of pink from embarrassment and awkwardness... and a little bit of fear...
Recovery Girl continued to bore her gaze into the slightly quaking boy, silently daring him to speak up first.
Said boy only continued to fidget and squirm under her scrutiny, unable to meet her eyes as he idly picked at the blood-cast on his left arm.
"So."
Recovery Girl took a little bit of pleasure from the way he flinched at her scalpel sharp tone.
"Not only did you break your arm again, but you were also rendered unconscious during your heroics class today."
"Ah, u-um, i-it was only-"
"Child. You. Were rendered. Unconscious. And yet, you did not come to see me afterwards. Do you know how I discovered that you had been rendered unconscious?"
Izuku vigorously shook his head in response to her question.
"Well, Midoriya-kun, I found out because one of Ectoplasm's clones called to inform me about it, right after he got done examining you. And then, Vlad King came to my office to inform me personally that that the same student who had cracked his skull against a cement wall while going well over 350 kilometers an hour the day before had just received yet another head injury!"
"R-Recovery Girl, I-I'm so s-sorry!-"
"And then!" She cut across him sharply once more. "I had not one, not two, but three of your classmates show up at my office to inform me of what had happened before homeroom had even started. One of them even offered to drag you in here for me!"
As Izuku stood there and processed that surprising information, Recovery Girl went straight for the throat. "So, Midoriya-kun, please explain to me why you- the one who actually received the head injury, the one whose head had been grievously wounded the day before- were the sixth one to mosey on in here after a full HOUR AND A HALF AFTER RECEIVING SAID HEAD INJURY! And while you're at it, explain to me why you are NOT MORE CONCERNED WITH YOUR WELL-BEING!"
As she expected, the boy didn't have an answer for her. He merely looked down at the floor in shame as he scratched the skin above his cast with his other arm. She let loose an irritated sigh, her fingers rubbing firmly against her temples in an attempt to calm herself down.
"…I-I didn't think it w-was that bad…"
Aaand just like that, her anger was gone. Well, most of it anyway. His meek voice carried those words with the innocence of a child who had no idea they did something wrong. Not that it was an excuse for his actions; on the contrary, that statement just revealed some previously hidden problems that needed to be immediately addressed by herself, Toshinori, and maybe a few other dependable people.
But that was to be a later project; right now, as much as it irritated her, she needed to be a medical professional.
"… Midoriya-kun. All head injuries are bad. Especially head injuries that happen after receiving wounds like yours from yesterday..."
She hoped off her chair and headed over to prepare the necessary machine she needed to further exam all of his injuries, muttering to herself as she worked. "Toshinori swore to me that you were a smart boy- a good boy- when he made you his successor. Apparently, he forgot to mention that his quirk wasn't the only thing you inherited from him."
Unable to hear any of her grumblings, Izuku stood as still as he dared as he watched the nurse move around with practiced ease.
He honestly didn't even think about going to see her after he was cleared for activity… And now, he felt a little guilty about not doing that, especially since two of his teachers and three of his classmates had shown up, for his sake, well before the thought had even crossed his mind…
The heartened emotions he began to feel in his gut tapered off slightly as he heard Recovery Girl let out a loud sigh; as he refocused his gaze, the heroine turned towards him once more and gestured towards the machine she had just finished preparing. "Well, come on over here, dearie. Let's get that brain of yours checked out. Afterwards, we'll take a look at your arm, ok?"
Izuku nodded fervently and quickly moved to obey, laying down in the machine she had just prepped. The machine in question was similar in design to what a tanning bed would look like, but the lights from the sensors that lined the inside were small and evenly spaced, each flashing with different colors. As the nurse gently lowered the lid, she kindly told him not to move and to prepare himself for high pitched chirps before she disappeared back behind her desk. After about five minutes of having his senses assaulted, she returned to open the lid, and then told him to go sit at one of the beds.
As he moved to comply with her request, she disappeared once more into her office to collect the results and came back with a small stack of papers on a clipboard. As she pulled up the chair next to his bed and sat down, she flipped through the papers with professional grace and studied the data in her hands before she broke the silence.
"Luckily, you only have a mild concussion. I believe you should recover by tomorrow morning at the latest, especially with the help of my quirk. But in the meantime keep your activity as light as possible. As light," she shifted the clipboard slightly to send him a gaze that made the hairs on his neck stand on end, "as possible. I will inform All Might myself about the stipulations I will personally set for the start of your training today, and possibly tomorrow. Do. Not. Breach them. Is that understood?"
"Y-yes Recovery Girl… I'm r-really s-sorry for not coming s-sooner…"
There was a small silence as Recovery Girl returned to studying the data on her clipboard. Then, with a resigned sigh, she spoke with a voice as gentle as a grandmother soothing her youngest grandchild. "What's done is done, Midoriya-kun. Just try to take better care of your health in the future, ok?"
"Y-Yes ma'am."
She flipped through a couple more papers, observing the film and files on them with interest, before she spoke up factually once more. "Well… your broken arm isn't anywhere near as serious as yesterday's injuries. That's a step in the right direction, at least."
Izuku's relief and elation at the new information was slightly hindered by his curiosity, and he cocked his head in confusion; did she already take his x-rays? As he eyed the machine behind her with interest, he suddenly recalled not wearing any sort of lead shielding. He also had his phone in his pocket, and the zipper of his uniform was definitely metal… so how had she been able to get an MRI of his head and an x-ray of his arm?
Before he could ask her any questions, Izuku felt a slight tapping on his knee. Turning back to the heroine, she motioned for him to sit closer towards the edge of the bed as she prepared the cast saw, changing out the blade so that it could cut through material stronger than plaster.
Immediately, Izuku moved forward, and as soon as she was ready the heroine carefully began her work with practiced hands.
Over the course of about seven minutes, the saw steadily cut through the blood-cast without so much as nicking the boy's skin. When the cast was finally ready to be peeled off, it was done over a previously prepared rolling table that had some sort of gel pad on top, which was covered by a couple of towels. She had the boy lay his broken appendage on the gel pad as she slowly peeled off the blood cast, and once his arm was fully free, she let the alternating coolness and heat of the gel pad do its work as she moved to deposit the cast safely into the bio-hazard bin.
Izuku took this chance to properly gaze at his left arm. His earlier assumptions had been right: the skin on his left arm also sported numerous pinpricks, just like the skin on his right. But even better, his forearm was only swollen and red, with a few odd bends throughout its length. It… looked like an actual broken arm for a change (albeit, a horribly broken arm) and not like the downright disastrous aftermath he had been suspecting. The unbidden thought brought a small smile and a distant look to his face.
"Is there something funny, dearie?"
Izuku jumped slightly as he remembered that he wasn't the only one in the room. "Oh! N-No, sorry Recovery Girl! I-I was just, uh… well, it's my arm… it looks normal…"
"… Riiight. Because breaking your ulna in three different places and your radius in two is considered normal. Maybe I should re-scan your head…"
"Ah! No no, I'm sorry, that came out… weird?" He broke off his comment when his eyes rose to meet the heroine's and he saw the comforting, teasing smile on her elderly face, the kind of smile that emphasized her understanding of what he meant.
When she was close enough, she reached out with a gnarled hand and gently patted his shoulder. "Just a joke, dearie, just a joke. Now, let's heal you up, ok? How does that sound?"
Without waiting for his confirmation, she gave him her signature granny kiss right in the middle of his broken forearm, and opted to heal all of his injuries as she activated her quirk. Izuku watched, mesmerized, as the soft green glow enveloped both of his arms; he saw and felt his bones realign under his skin as the puncture wounds of his flesh rapidly shrunk to nothing. Simultaneously, his head began to feel a little better than before and his thoughts also ran a little clearer.
As the green glow began to fade, he felt the side-effects of the heroine's quirk kick in, leaving him a lot more drained than he was this morning, but not so much that it would impede his new training in an hour or so.
Recovery Girl began her final examination to make sure that everything had healed up properly. After poking and prodding his arm and performing a thorough concussion test, she felt satisfied enough to finally discharge him, reminding the young man to come see her in the morning once more for a follow up. As Izuku bowed low to show his gratitude and to, once again, apologize for his lack of mindfulness, she waved him off and he began to head towards the door.
But right as he was about to step through the doorway, the heroine called him back one more time. Turning around, the young man saw the youthful heroine casually approaching him with a big bag of gummy worms.
"Here, have some gummies. For doing a better job today, dearie."
"Thank you, Recovery Girl!"
As the young man shoveled the candy into his mouth, bowed once more, and left for the train station, the elderly heroine's gentle smile slowly morphed into thoughtfulness. She headed back towards her desk, depositing her candy back in its usual place and picking up the clipboard with Midoriya's biological data as she took her seat in front of her computer.
Three clean breaks in his ulna, and two in his radius. For the average person, this would have been a horrible injury to have. But for Midoriya, this was scientific proof of progress, progress he had achieved in a single day. Yesterday, in his right index finger alone, he had eleven 'breaks' between all three bones. Today, he had not only cut that number in half, but the breaks themselves were just that: breaks. Not the medical nightmare of his usual injuries.
She continued to flip through her data, looking for the image of the same phenomena that she had found yesterday- the multitude of tiny cracks and tears in his skeletal and muscular tissue. It wasn't as pronounced today as it was yesterday, but it was still present in both of his arms.
She had found it peculiar the day before, but now that she was seeing it again, she theorized that whatever he was doing involved using a slightly higher percentage of power than what his body could currently handle.
Inwardly, she was a little torn.
On the one hand, this was reckless. One slip up, and his bones would shatter and his muscles would rupture just like they had many times before. The result would probably be worse, too, due to all of the forced deterioration they've been subjected to up until their breaking point.
But on the other hand… if he found a way to keep using this slightly higher percentage consistently, the tiny cracks and tears would be able to heal quickly in the bones and muscles. This would increase his natural strength, which would in turn yield more muscle mass, which would lead to an increase to the upper limit of his power.
If done right, this could expedite his growth… but after too many failed attempts, she theorized that his body wouldn't be able to handle the strain of One for All at higher percentages. It was extremely tricky business, and currently, he was unknowingly walking a very fine line.
She was half tempted to call him in her office under the pretense of daily checkups so that she could use her quirk on him for this exact reason. Lord knows that Toshinori was short on time, and anything that could help the growth of his successor would help him in return. But…
She knew that repeated use of her quirk would be just as detrimental as it would be beneficial. The immediate effects would only drain the boy's stamina, which could easily be replenished with sleep and food. But the more long-term and unseen effects would gradually make him severely malnourished, giving him a one way ticket to becoming comatose as his body cannibalizes itself just to stay alive.
Shaking her head and placing the clipboard on her desk, she decided to think about all of that later on. Perhaps over a strong drink.
Before she forgot, she needed to lay down the law as a doctor for the guardian of her patient. Hopefully, that smiling idiot would reinforce her rules; she'd be sure to give him a piece of her mind if he didn't.
The journey to Izuku's new training area was quick and uneventful for both of the passengers in the small white pickup truck. While the duo inside did make small talk throughout their thirty-kilometer ride, they mostly opted to travel in comfortable silence.
When they weren't talking, the young man chose to use this time to focus on completing his homework; during his train ride, he had dozed off a couple times due to the fatigue created by the school nurse, and he lost valuable studying time because of it.
If the pro was bothered by his protégé's silence, he didn't show it. But then again, Toshinori probably didn't even notice it in the first place, as he was lost in thought during the lulls of their ride.
Many thoughts swam around randomly in his head as the haggard blonde drove to their new destination.
Recovery Girl's rant had forced him to rethink how he would approach the first few days of his ward's formal training.
The new knowledge Izuku had shared about Vlad King's training methods made him unsure and uncomfortable in multiple ways, though he didn't show it; this was going to be a subject that would require some careful handling in the future.
And then having one of his students in 1A basically explain everything better than he ever could during his first day of teaching had been a humbling experience. So humbling, that he realized that he needed to start taking his teaching position seriously, which led to him buying a book right after class and trying to acquire a few tips and tricks before his ward had arrived on the beach.
His thoughts kept annoyingly cutting each other off, much like the traffic they were in. A part of him wanted the young man seated next to him to talk about something, anything, just to get his mind to shut up, but he didn't want to disturb the boy as he did his homework. So, taking a little bit of inspiration from his student, the pro tried to focus on his homework as well and began to mentally recite most of what he had just read from his new book. Hopefully, he would be able to put a little of what he learned into practice, just like Young Midoriya did today and the day before.
The thought of his ward's success spurring on his own brought a little bit of peace to the withered hero's mind as a small smile grew on his face.
As they got within a few kilometers of their destination, All Might began to break the silence.
"Alright young Midoriya, we're almost there! Do you remember why I chose to train you in Takoba in the first place?"
Izuku began to quickly put away his English homework as he eagerly looked around for the place that was to be the next step of his training with All Might. "Of course, All Might! All hero work starts with civil service, like volunteering and community work, and you felt that many heroes today often forget that little detail. And, Takoba was pretty out of the way and full of trash, so no one would have bothered us!"
"Excellent!" the hero shot him a side smile. "I'm glad you remembered! Because at this new place we're going to, you'll be reliving that same spirit of those ten months! And this time… you'll be using One for All as you complete your tasks."
Izuku only made some sort of excited squealing sound in response to his mentor's statement.
Unfazed by the boy's reaction, the thin man continued on. "This new place we are heading to use to be a modest tourist resort a few decades ago before it became condemned. In fact, this place was one of the reasons why Takoba had a horrible pollution problem in the first place."
"Woah! Really?" Izuku noticed that, although they had moved inland a little bit, the shoreline could still be clearly seen a few kilometers away in the distance. Recalling his local geography, he remembered that there were a few water themed amusement parks in the area, a couple of interesting museums, a five-star restaurant with a loooong waiting list, and the beach itself, all within probably three to four kilometers around here.
This resort is probably at the center of all these attractions. It should have been making lots of money… I wonder why it got condemned?
"Yes, my boy! The waters are murky and filled with waste from years of tourism and neglect. The resort itself hasn't been touched in years, and all it's doing is taking up space and collecting dust, garbage, and all other sorts of bad stuff. It's long overdue for a bit of remodeling, and you, my boy, are going to be doing just that as you train to get acclimated with your quirk."
"Wait, All Might… wouldn't that be considered trespassing?! Hold on, are resorts considered private or public property, or are they that grey area in-between? Don't we need permits for any kind of remodeling done to public buildings within city limits? And the beach has got to be considered public property, so I don't think I can train with my qui-"
"My GOODNESS you worry way too much, my boy!"
Izuku flinched slightly at the sudden loudness of his exasperated mentor.
"I already took care of all of that! I went on ahead and bought the resort and the surrounding area. No one is going to harass us unless they come in uninvited. And if they do come in uninvited, I do hope you can trust the number one hero to be able to handle it!"
"O-oh, s-sorry All Might… Wait, you already bought the area?!" Izuku said dubiously with bugged out eyes.
"Oh course!" The hero briefly shot him an odd look before he turned back to focus on the road. "Doing projects like this isn't exactly new for me. I'd have thought that you, of all people, would've known about that. Although… I suppose that if you don't know about my little projects, that's technically a good thing…"
"I know all about your charity work!" Izuku suddenly became defensive, and the need to prove his wealth of knowledge about heroes- particularly, this hero- abruptly became his biggest priority just then. "You're definitely one of the five hundred heroes in history to have ever donated more than sixty-five percent of your gross income to dozens of charities and non-profit organizations worldwide! Currently, I think you're only beat by a hero in Canada, a few heroes in India, that one family of Australian heroes, and, uh... that group of Nigerian heroes!"
"I'm not talking about the donations I've made to charities as All Might, my boy. I'm talking about the public and philanthropic services I've done as Yagi Toshinori."
After a brief stint of unexpected silence, the blonde sent a curious glance to his passenger, only to feel himself turn pale as he slowly turned his attention back to the road.
Currently, his apprentice had his phone about six centimeters away from his wide-eyed face as his finger rapidly swiped through multiple screens of internet, muttering 'yagitoshinoriyagitoshinoriyagitoshinori' like some sort of mantra as he did.
Have I really never told him my actually name? I feel like he's making this a way bigger deal than it is…
Awkwardly clearing his throat, the gaunt blonde spoke clearly to try to get the freckled boy's attention. "Tell me, young Midoriya, have you ever heard about the Detroit Rock City Homeless to Houses Initiative? Or the Handymen and Housewives Program in Nakano Ward?"
Izuku initially didn't respond, as his mind was currently tunnel-visioning on one thing. With a roll of his eyes, Toshinori reached over to give a solid whap to the back of his head; he repeated the question as the green haired boy rubbed his head and finally looked up from… whatever he was doing.
"N-no… what are they?"
Toshinori shared a secret smile with his ward as he gladly imparted to him a little bit of heroic wisdom. "Those, young Midoriya, are just a few examples of the public service projects I've founded and funded over the years whenever I'm not on duty as a hero. Obviously, I haven't been as active as I would've liked in the past six years… but nonetheless, they are a crucial reason as to why I have maintained my status as the number one hero for so long. You can't be the best, let alone be the Symbol of Peace, if all you end up doing is fighting crime and solving cases, my boy; you also have to help the community grow and prosper, both as a hero and as a civilian."
To say that Izuku was floored by the newfound perspective of his mentor's bountiful goodwill would have been the understatement of the year. He knew nearly every aspect and statistic of his famous heroic achievements- from crime fighting to approval rating- and was even more than knowledgeable about some of the lesser details of his career, like the number of charities he had donated to and the number of times he had headlined in Tokyo's leading newspaper.
But he didn't know a single thing about any of the projects and programs he had a hand in as a civilian. And that was something that needed to be fixed pronto.
I wonder if he could give me a list of all the cool things he's done like this?
"All Mi- uh…Ya-er… Which-"
"Either is fine, Young Midoriya. But if you call me Yagi, drop the -san. There's no need for that when we are bound by something thicker than blood, my boy."
Izuku flushed deeply and happily at the sincerity of his words, and was barely able to keep it together as he finally asked his question. "Y-Y-Yagi-sa-ir, what are these programs that you mentioned? The Homeless to Houses and the Handymen and Housewives ones? I've never even heard of them before now!"
Toshinori snorted quietly as his ward stumbled through his sentence, more than happy to indulge his curiosity. "Well, Young Midoriya, I founded Homeless to Houses while I lived in America. I was passing through Detroit when I noticed the staggering amount of impoverished people in the area, and… I wanted to do something about it."
"So, with the help of my friends, I came up with a plan. After I had bought some property and had it renovated, I opened it up first to those who didn't have a home and to those who were struggling to make ends meet. The goal of my project was to create some breathing room and to give them the chance to live a better life, and to do that, a place to live rent and utility free with cheap groceries available on the same block was essential. Even though I could only allow them to stay there for twelve months at the most, it was often more than enough to help them get back on their feet, especially with all the resources that I had made available for them to use, like job finders, coupon books, and free daycare within the apartments I owned."
"Handymen and Housewives, in contrast, was more of a communal project that myself and four other heroes came up with on our downtime. Basically, we had community centers built in multiple areas where anyone could walk in and ask for help with menial tasks around their house or within their neighborhoods, and they would be supplied with all the stuff they needed to do it with."
"We also hired a few teachers and instructors to give weekly classes on a bunch of stuff that many people seem to take for granted, such as budgeting, sewing, or even changing the oil in your car! Were you in need of a proper home cooked meal for a change? A few women and men would get together to make sure you got properly fed for a week. Is there a leak in your roof that your landlord is refusing to fix? You could learn how to fix it yourself, and if you were still unsure, you could ask for help, free of charge."
"All Might, these programs are amazing! Why haven't these been made public!? Does the Hero Public Safety Commission not know they exist?!"
Bewildered, Toshinori turned to the young man next to him. "Of course the HPSC knows they exist! Everything and anything a hero does is annotated into their records; that's literally a part of their job! But my programs as a civilian, as well as the programs of other heroes, are protected by law due to their connection to our identities." As the green haired boy nodded along enthusiastically, the blonde couldn't help but think Why the hell does a fifteen year old know and/or care about the HPSC?!
"Besides... making them public would cause them lose their legitimacy, Young Midoriya." Toshinori continued on, speaking simply as if it was the easiest answer in the world.
When he saw his ward's confused look, he added on, "Hopefully, you'll learn this whenever you start Heroic Ethics, but there is a substantial difference in our society nowadays when you do charities and public service as a hero as oppose to doing them as a civilian."
"There is?"
"Of course!" Toshinori was about to continue explaining, but then he noticed that their new training site had suddenly come into view.
Feeling a little inspired by his ward's genuine hunger for knowledge, he decided to try giving him some homework about the subject at hand, in the spirit of education.
"Tell you what. Do a little bit of research on Homeless to Houses and Handymen and Housewives, as well as a few other privately funded heroic projects. Shuzenji Chiyo's Healing Hands Project and Sakamata Kugo's Scared Straight Program are wonderful examples of philanthropic activities that aren't associated with the hero. When you get done researching those, compare them to a couple various world-wide charities that heroes generously and typically donate to. Once you find those differences, I'll be more than happy to finish this conversation."
"But for now… let's focus on your quirk."
Izuku, who had been more than excited to learn a brand-new side to the world of heroes, was taken by surprise when the blonde man next to him gestured ahead with his chin. When he turned to look, he felt his eyes widen in shock at the sight before him.
This… was going to be one very time-consuming project.
He couldn't see the entire project due to two reasons: the three meter tall fence before them that was supposed to keep people out, and the sheer size of the project itself, which was easily at least three good-sized city blocks wide by three good-sized city blocks long. From what he could see from inside the truck, there were multiple three-story buildings before them- a motel complex, maybe- as well as the tops of some carnival looking features in the distance. There was also another two-story tall building somewhere to their left from behind the fence but he couldn't quite make out what it was yet.
Izuku was brought out of his observation by the sound of jingling keys and the voice of his mentor. "My boy, would you be so kind to unlock those locks over there and let me in? I'd rather not park outside, where I can't see my truck."
As Izuku took the keys from his mentor and got out of the truck, Toshinori discreetly took the book that was hidden in the side compartment of his door- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Teaching- and hastily shoved it into his glove box, locking it before the freckled young man was able to open the gate.
As Izuku pushed the gateway open, Toshinori drove on through and parked in a spot a few meters away before shutting off his truck and getting out. As Izuku finished locking up the gates once more, he turned around to see his mentor hoisting a jam-packed duffel bag onto his shoulders from the bed of his truck.
The boy then rushed to his mentor and offered to carry the bag for him. "Oh, All Might, let me get that! And here's your keys back!"
"Are you certain, my boy? It's quite heavy."
"Of course!"
Izuku moved to grab the duffel bag right as Toshinori grabbed his keys… causing him to promptly fall onto his face as the sheer and sudden weight of the bag took him completely by surprise. Holy crap, what's in this thing?!
"Are you ok, Young Midoriya!?"
"Fine! I'm fine!" Izuku said a little too quickly as he struggled to get the bag onto his shoulder; after he finally managed the task, he gave his mentor a thumbs up and wore a forced smile. The hero eyed him carefully for a moment before he nodded to himself and gestured for the boy to follow him.
As the young man slowly walked behind his mentor, he took in everything he could about the unfamiliar place. He knew from the outside that this place was huge, but now that he was on the inside, he realized that this place was huge.
Currently, they were in a parking lot and heading towards what Izuku had assumed was the motel complex. There were already five empty ten-meter dumpster rental bins in the parking lot, and Izuku counted at least eight buildings, each three-stories high, that made up the complex. They were organized in two staggered rows of four each, with a central walkway between them that seemed to be an outdoor common space for the motels, complete with fountains, vending machines, two swimming pools, and a standalone building off to one side, probably a supply closet or a laundry room.
About a two hundred and fifty or so meters past the farthest motel buildings was where the huge strip of carnival attractions began, complete with souvenir shops, fair food stands, some festival game stations, and a Ferris wheel that Izuku, somehow, did not see from outside the fence. The entire strip stretched the entire length of the property, however long it was, with multiple buildings of various size. About an additional one hundred meters past the farthest carnival attraction lay the shoreline, the color of its water noticeably more than a little off, even from this distance.
Off to Izuku's left, about a hundred and fifty meters or so, was the unidentified two-story building, which under closer inspection looked like the remains of a restaurant. The name of the restaurant was faded and falling apart, so he couldn't quite tell what it used to be called. But, there was a big cartoon shark wearing an eye patch and a pirate hat off to the side of the building, so Izuku assumed it was some sort of fresh seafood place. There were also a few other buildings behind and around the restaurant in that general direction as well, but Izuku was too far away to actually see what they were.
Izuku followed his mentor to one of the closer motel buildings, where another, smaller chain-link fence circled around the motel's entire perimeter. As the blonde fiddled with the lock, Izuku couldn't help but ask one of the earlier questions he had about this place.
"Y-Y-Yagi-sa-sir! Yagi sir! Do you know why this area became condemned? It seems like a really nice place for a business…"
The blonde hesitated for a moment as he opened the gate for this fence and allowed his protégé to follow him through the area. When they were at the base of one of the motel buildings, he finally answered in an unusually somber voice. "It was a nice, family friendly place at one point of time. But… due to its popularity, its location, and its ownership... it quickly became a place where many families would lose a child or two. And sometimes a mother..."
"In this business, Young Midoriya, you'll come to learn that… whenever one crime is committed under such a lovely disguise, more are always sure to follow. Especially when said disguise has a privately owned pier in a body of water that leads directly to both the Philippine Sea and the East China Sea."
Izuku involuntarily swallowed after hearing the words come out of his mentor's mouth. Even though he knew that in the future, there was a good chance that he was going to have to deal with stuff like this on a frequent basis… a part of him still kind of wished he hadn't asked…
As they climbed up to the third floor of this motel building, Toshinori turned to address his pupil with a serious, yet confident smile.
"Needless to say, the police force and a few heroes were able to successfully shut this place down about eighteen years ago, but unfortunately, it still remains as the ugly souvenir of a dark time for this part of the country. I'm not entirely sure why no one hasn't done a single damn thing about this place during all this time, but I do know that the locals still suffer because of it, as this location is still occasionally used for nefarious deeds to this day. And that reason by itself is exactly why we are going to demolish every last building in this area, and rebuild it into something better for the community to use, my boy."
Even though he was a little winded from carrying the stuffed duffel bag up the stairs, Izuku couldn't help but return the smile with every bit of determination that his mentor had shown him. "You can count on me, All Might!"
"I know I can, my boy."
The two of them shared a quiet smile as Toshinori reached out to gently ruffle his green hair. Then, in an excited voice, he asked, "Are you ready to start your training, my ward?"
"You bet, All Might!"
The gaunt blonde gave him a smirk as they left the stairwell, replying, "Excellent," as he did and pausing to look at the object that was on the immediate other side of the wall. Causally, he approached it and rapped his knuckles along the surface, nodding to himself as he did. "I think this can hold up for a proper demonstration on what I want to show you... and even better, I think I got a few minutes left in my muscle form to show it!"
The hero, who was wearing a wind breaker much too big for him, suddenly bulked up and placed the vending machine onto his shoulder with as much ease as someone would carry a sack of flour. Turning around, he gestured to his apprentice to follow him once more with his usual larger than life grin. Izuku did so happily, his excitement growing more noticeable with each step he took to follow the now hulking figure of his mentor.
Eventually, they came to a stop halfway down the open aired hallway, and All Might placed the vending machine gently down onto the cement walkway. He then swiveled it around so that the broken glass of the machine faced outward into the open air, and he was left facing one of the faded, rust covered sides.
"Alright, my boy, go ahead and place the duffel bag by that door!" he pointed to the motel room door closest to them and Izuku quickly complied, silently relived to be free of the surprisingly heavy burden. "I'll start your first day of training by showing you something that you've already seen before. Coincidentally, this goes hand in hand with what I mentioned yesterday about momentarily raising your limit! Are you ready to learn, Young Midoriya?"
Rapidly nodding so much that he almost got a headache, Izuku hungrily watched as the hero readied a punch to completely destroy the poor vending machine in front of him.
And as All Might swung his meaty fist…
…absolutely nothing happened.
Sure, the fist connected with a soft thud, and the vending machine wobbled a little as it got pushed back a couple of centimeters, but… that was it…
It was like All Might had just... punched the machine like a normal person would…
More than confused, Izuku was about to say something when his teacher reared up his other fist to hit the machine.
This time, his fist left an imprint on the metal as the vending machine got pushed back about half a meter.
All Might took a step forward and swung once again. When his fist connected, the entire side that was facing him simply crumpled, making the machine look like someone had squeezed one half of a soda can. It was hit with enough force that it got pushed back about three meters this time, and its dilapidated shape made it teeter a bit before it finally fell down onto its good side.
All Might took the time to set the vending machine back up as normally as he could before he finished off the damaged food box. Even though he chose not to punch it this time, that didn't mean Izuku couldn't feel the raw power radiating from his hand, very much in contrast to the other examples so far.
As the hero simply placed his one hand on top of the machine, he squashed it down with his power as smoothly as a hydraulic press; a few springs and random broken pieces burst out every now and then as he gradually increased the pressure and continued to slowly push down on its entirety. The remains of the vending machine looked more or less as if someone had stepped on the soda can this time, with a random hand print on top of the broken heap of junk.
The hero turned to address his student, standing up and dusting his hand off as he did. "So, Young Midoriya, does any of this jog your memory? It's alright if it doesn't- the last time I did this was quite a long time ago; I wasn't even trying to demonstrate anything back then in the first place!"
The young man didn't even hesitate to answer since the memory was already at the forefront of his mind. How could it not be? It was one of the first things that All Might had shown him, in order to emphasize the point of bringing beauty back to the beach.
"The refrigerator from Takoba."
The hero's smile widened at his student's answer. "Excellent! I'm truly glad you remembered that! But anyway, this," he lightly kicked the flattened piece of machinery with his foot, "is basically what I meant when I mentioned you were momentarily raising your upper limit."
"… I, uh… I don't understand All Might…"
The hero gave a booming laugh in response to his successor's confusion. "Fantastic! Because that means that whenever you do finally understand, you'll be able to better apply what I just showed you in your own unique way, just like you did yesterday and earlier today. If I simply just told you the answer, it wouldn't do you any good at all, now would it?"
Apply what he just showed me? What did he just show me? Those were just punches of varying strength…right?...
"As you think on that little riddle, let's go ahead and get started! Follow me, Young Midoriya- this is where your formal training begins, my boy!"
As the hero moved towards the duffel bag, Izuku's mind began to was work tirelessly to try to solve the mystery of what he had just been shown. But before he could get too in-depth with his brainstorming, he saw the hero out of the corner of his eye crouch down to the duffel bag, open it up, and pull out two sledgehammers as he stood back up to face him.
"This time around, I think it'll be better if I demonstrate this in my normal form."
Without a second thought, All Might shrunk back down to Yagi Toshinori in a cloud of steam, a dribble of blood coming out of his mouth as he continued to hold one of the sledgehammers out for his protégé to take.
Izuku hesitated for a moment, caught off guard by what his mentor just said. As he quickly recovered and approached to take the item, he couldn't help his confusion as he wondered what he meant.
How on earth was All Might's normal form supposed to help him hone his quirk!?
Too mystified by the couple of abnormalities that had just happened, Izuku failed to notice his mentor open the door to one of the motel rooms and step inside until he felt something squishy and plastic hit his face. Shaking himself from his daze and embarrassment, he saw his mentor smirking at him before he pointed to the ground. "You might want that, Young Midoriya. It's going to get a little humid in here when we really start moving."
Izuku immediately bent down with a flush to pick up the water bottle that his mentor had thrown before following him inside the motel room, his own sledgehammer in hand. When he stepped in, he was taken aback by what he saw.
It was, plain and simple, a normal motel room of much bigger than average size. The room was worn down with age, and it was missing a few important items that made a typical motel room a typical motel room.
First off, the TV was missing, although that wasn't really a surprise. The air conditioning unit was also missing, as was the faucet for the bathroom sink, the mini-refrigerator, one of the queen-sized beds, a couple of those tacky motel wall art portraits, and a couple of wall sconces and desk lamps.
Oh, and the entire roof over this room was also missing.
As he was took in the odd room with incredulity, the hero signaled for his attention. Izuku hurried over to where he was at, which was the wall farthest from the door. As he moved towards him, Izuku couldn't help his curiosity as the words slipped out of his mouth. "All Might, what happened to the roof?!"
"… It's already been removed, my boy..."
"…B-but… why?!"
With a roll of his eyes, the gaunt blonde gave a short retort as his body suddenly began to move with the sledgehammer in his hands.
"That way we can do this, Young Midoriya!"
The young man watched in surprise as his mentor clumsily swung at the wall, more or less just throwing his hammer at it as his body stumbled to catch himself in the aftermath. Needless to say, the sledgehammer got embedded into the wall with a rather anticlimactic dull thud.
Izuku rushed forward without a thought, ready to catch and steady the hero when Toshinori swiftly waved him off with a smile as he straightened up unsteadily. "Did you see that, Young Midoriya? Did you see what I just did?"
"…Y-Yes?..."
The old man began to laugh at his confused expression. "Good! Now, watch me one more time, my boy."
Izuku watched perplexed as his mentor made himself comfortable for the following swing. But before his mentor could do anything, the boy noticed something that was probably hindering his mentor just a little bit.
"Oh, All Might, here, use my sledgehammer! Yours look like it's about to break."
Toshinori gave his ward with a sly smile. "So does yours, my boy. Or have you not noticed that yet?"
Confused, Izuku glanced down and became surprised when he finally realized that his own sledgehammer was also almost completely ruined. Looking up, he was about to ask if his mentor had any others when he saw Toshinori once again setting himself up to use his sledgehammer after he had yanked it out of the wall.
This time, as the thin man swung his hammer, the outcome became vastly different. The man had more control of his swing, more force seemed to be delivered with the tool, and when he hit, a decent sized half-meter hole had been created, revealing the room on the other side of the motel complex.
As Izuku took in what he saw, the hero once again turned to look at him with a grin, setting his sledgehammer down and leaning it against the wall. "Well? What do you think, Young Midoriya?"
Izuku… honestly didn't have the slightest clue on how to respond as his mind began to frantically rework all the mysteries he had just seen in his head. Unbeknownst to him, Izuku had accidentally started his mumbling habit as he tried to figure out… everything.
Obviously, All Might was using different techniques when he swung his hammer, but how does that correspond with One for All? Was it the amount of strength he used? Was it the way he moved? Does it link up with what he demonstrated earlier with the vending machine? He mentioned it would be better to show me out of his muscle form, so I have to think about all the possibilities and advantages his normal form would have that his muscle form doesn't, which honestly, I can't think of a single-
"My boy... you really are thinking way too hard about this."
Startled out of his contemplation, he looked up to see his mentor shaking his head at him in exasperation as he moved to the wall on their right side, readying himself to make another hole.
"Listen up, Young Midoriya. I will knock down the walls on right side of the room and the bathroom, and you will take the left side and the wall that I just made a hole in. Be sure not to go towards the front of the room, where part of the roof still remains; I don't want anything to fall on your head. Otherwise, Recovery Girl might flay me alive." He let out a dry chuckle as he swung at the wall once again.
"O-Oh… ok… B-but, Y-Y-Yagi-sa-a-n," the boy externally flinched- he was not used to being informal with anyone except his mother. After he cleared his throat, he hurriedly continued on. "Yagi, sir, I can handle the demolition by myself. Please, rest, while you're in that form!"
"I know you can, my boy. But my helping you is also an important part of your training, especially in the beginning stages." The skinny man paused to make another hole in the wall, right next to the one he had just made. "Now, quit thinking and get to work, Young Midoriya! Once you get your body moving, I'm certain it'll probably be able to fill in the blanks that your mind can't quite see yet."
"O-Ok, All Might… but, do you have anything better for us to use?"
"Sure don't!" Toshinori turned to smirk at his apprentice as he watched him become even more baffled.
"Ummmm… All Might… I-I don't want to... sound like a brat or anything… but, uh, why do we have such, u-umm…"
The green haired boy studied the sledgehammer in his hands intently. Izuku wasn't one to work with tools, but common sense told him that this sledgehammer and his mentor's were… cheaply made. And old looking, if the small portions of rust on the head were any indication.
Honestly, it looked like the type of sledgehammer typically found in garage sales and flea markets that were worth around 500 yen. They were the kind that, if you didn't abuse it too much and if you used it no more than ten times after you bought it, would last your entire life.
"Horrible tools?" the hero finished for him with a grin as he leaned on his own sledgehammer like a cane for a little bit. "That's an excellent question my boy! And I'll tell you the answer when you either figure out what I was trying to show you here, or, what I was trying to show you with the vending machine. Now, quit your yapping and get to work! We have some walls to destroy! Oh, and don't use your quirk yet!"
"O-Oh ok! Yessir!"
As the duo went to work, Izuku couldn't help but notice that his teacher was much more better at this than he was.
And that was while he was in his true form.
Izuku started out swinging at the left wall at a quick pace with everything he could muster, his motivation giving him all the energy he needed to accomplish his task. But after the first ten minutes, he began to notice that he was hardly making any progress. The holes on his wall were a respectable twenty or so centimeters across, but they were a joke compared to the holes his mentor had created. His numerous, staggering holes easily averaged at least half a meter to a meter in diameter.
Also, his mentor had completely knocked out a little less than a third of the wall he was working on already. In comparison, Izuku's wall simply looked like someone had fired a few cannonballs at it, with the surrounding Sheetrock and studs of the holes still somehow not falling down.
Izuku also began to realize that he was starting to get really winded, despite being in pretty good shape. Granted, he may have still been a little tired from Recovery Girl's treatment, but it shouldn't have effected him like this. This wall was… deceptively sturdy, and it was making him expend a lot more of his energy than he would have liked.
Yet, his mentor had maintained a steady breath this entire time, as if he was doing nothing more than power-walking through the halls of Yuuei.
About thirty minutes into this exercise, Izuku had to stop for a slight breather. His shirt was thoroughly soaked through, the air had become much more humid inside this decrepit building just like his mentor had warned, and his arms and back were aching something fierce, especially the one he had just broken a few hours prior.
As he took his breather, he grabbed the water bottle that his mentor had given from the nearby table and sat on the only bed in the room. Taking decent sips of water, he couldn't help but watch his mentor as he continued to break down his own wall.
His mentor was also sweating and had taken off the top of his windbreaker, but whereas Izuku looked like he had been doing nonstop sprints for the last half-hour, All Might simply had a small sheen of sweat on his forehead and arms. Izuku couldn't help but marvel out how easily he was going through the motions, how smooth each of his movements flowed together and how steady his breathing was. It was like opening a pocket watch and seeing all the gears work together without a single piece out of place, and it made Izuku truly appreciate the meaning of the phrase 'like clockwork.'
His mentor- his older, emaciated, gravely wounded mentor- was easily knocking out his wall as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to do, without hardly any effort. Idly, the boy couldn't help but wonder how the heck his mentor hadn't collapsed yet from all of the work he'd been doing.
"If you have time to stand around doing nothing, my boy, then you have time to keep swinging that hammer!" Toshinori gently chided as he once again swung his own to clear out a bit more of his wall.
"S-Sorry, All Might!"
Izuku tried to get back to work, but after a few more unsuccessful swings, he had to stop again. He had been doing this for a while now, and he wasn't getting anywhere. At all. His walls were starting to look more like Swiss cheese than anything else, and it was starting to frustrate him to no end.
The green haired boy forced himself to close his eyes and take a deep breath. As he did, he replayed everything he had observed and catalogued from his mentor during this exercise; there had to be something he was missing, something he wasn't doing right that left him struggling to do such a simple task. In his mind's eye, he watched how his mentor went about destroying his own wall. He watched as his mentor moved slowly through the exercise without hardly a single wasted effort. He watched everything, from the way he swung his hammer, from the cycle of his breaths, to how his muscles shifted with his movements-
Wait.
It suddenly felt as though Izuku had dunked his head in ice water. As he opened his eyes, he turned to observe his mentor one last time, to make sure that what he recalled in his mind was actually accurate. Seeing that it was, the student immediately went on to copy his mentor's stance and began to replicate all of the blonde's movements. He mimicked everything, from how he generated the power from his core, to the placement of his hands, to retracing the exact path of his mentor's swings, and even how he forcefully breathed out of his mouth at the end of each swing.
As Izuku did a couple of practice swings, he finally felt all of his movements come together to work together. The difference was staggering, and even though it may not have been the clockwork perfection of his mentor's actions, it was a far cry from what he was doing before.
Pausing one last time to make sure he got everything right, he swung his hammer at the wall using his newfound knowledge, and finally knocked out a hole at least two and a half times bigger than any of his previous attempts with a resounding WHAM.
The green haired successor quietly celebrated with a fist pump and began to knock out a couple more holes using the same exact technique.
He failed to notice the blonde predecessor pause mid swing to observe him, a toothy grin slowly beginning to form on his face. It looks like you're starting to finally understand, my boy. Well done!
After his next four successful swings, Izuku excitedly turned to mentor with a victorious grin on his face. "All Might! I got it!"
Toshinori had been sitting on one of the desks watching his pupil with an opened water bottle in his hand and a satisfied look on his face. In response to his student's excitement, he forced himself to keep his voice reserved, so as to not give anything away. "And what have you come to realize, Young Midoriya?"
"You're trying to get me to use multiple muscle groups at the same time, instead of just focusing on one area! And you're also trying to make me get used to shifting power more efficiently throughout my body!"
Oh, he's so close! So very, very close! Even if his answers weren't one hundred percent right, they were still pretty damn good! I think I'll cut him a little bit of slack though, and begin the next part of his training. Besides... I'm starting to get tired of swinging this damn hammer around…
Toshinori gruffly laughed out loud and clapped a couple times for his student in celebration. "My boy, that was an astute observation! And for that, I'll reward you by starting the next step of your training!"
The gaunt blonde slowly stood up from his seat on the desk; as he did, he picked up the hammer next to him and bulked back up into his muscle form. In his meaty hands, the sledgehammer now looked like a child's toy.
Izuku had been taking a sip of water as this happened; out of surprise, he nearly choked on the rest of his water as he quickly began to put it away, scrambling to get his own hammer and eager to see what was going to happen next.
"Young Midoriya, I believe you were wondering why I bothered to buy these crappy hammers, were you not?"
"I was, All Might!"
"Then watch me, my boy, and you'll find your answer!"
The boy watched with rapt attention as the hero, back in his muscle form and wielding his sledgehammer, approached the remaining portion of the right wall; while in his normal form, he had successfully destroyed a little more than two thirds of it, with the remaining third being shared with the bathroom wall. Without even going through the motions, he swung his hammer with an almighty CRASH and completely demolished what was left of his wall with ease, with a cloud of dust spreading throughout the room.
But… something about this scene was… odd.
While Izuku wasn't at all surprised that what was left of the wall had been smashed to pieces with a single swing, the effect was… lacking? Like, sure, All Might breaking a wall that's already broken isn't unusual in the slightest, and obviously the hero swung his sledgehammer so hard that it broke apart in the aftermath… But still…
Something was just… off, and Izuku couldn't quite connect the dots…
As All Might coughed a little and waved away the dust, he turned back towards his protégé and offered him one final hint.
"In that last swing, Young Midoriya, I was using five percent of my power."
As the pieces began to fall into place, the freckled young man's eyes shone with excitement and understanding as he looked down at his own crappy sledgehammer. His grip tightened on the tool as he quickly turned around to face his own wall, and his mind and heart raced away in a chaotic symphony.
"Is everything starting to make sense, my boy?"
"Yes! It all makes sense now, All Might! You're trying to get me used to using One for All at five percent while incorporating multiple muscle groups at the same time! And the cheap hammers are an easy gauge to measure the percentage of power since they break easily when too much force is applied!"
"And since they're cheap, I can easily replace them."
Izuku hadn't heard the hero approach, so when he eagerly turned to face him, he saw that the hero had already shrunk back down into his true form. Before Izuku could say anything, the blonde held up a hand to stop him from jumping the gun, wiping the spittle of blood off his lips as he did. "However, there is one thing I'd like to clarify. Instead of utilizing five percent, you're going to be using any percentage less than that."
"Use… less than five percent?..."
"Yes." Toshinori paused to wipe off a little more of his blood before he explained. "As I said before, you need to get acclimated to using your power. The goal for these training exercises that we'll be starting with is for you to be able to use lesser percentages of One for All without the risk of injury. Additionally, each of these sledgehammers is different-"
"Wait, each?"
"Yes, Young Midoriya, each. Did you… not look inside the duffel bag that you brought in?..."
As the boy shook his head in confusion, the blonde snorted into one of his hands. "The next time you have a chance, get yourself a good look inside it my boy. Anyway, each of these sledgehammers are different. Some may have been made with better materials, some may have rotten handles, and some may have even been poorly manufactured from the start. But because they're all different, they'll each have their own breaking point; some may break when you use three percent, while others may break when you use six. And part of your training includes adjusting your power to make sure your hammer doesn't break."
Izuku was caught off guard by the unexpectedly intricate plans that his mentor had come up with in a single day. But, then he remembered that this was the same guy who had designed his entire meal plan, work out plan, and sleep schedule for ten whole months in around the same amount of time. He was so stunned, that he almost didn't catch what his mentor had said after he had paused to take a few sips of water.
"Eventually, this training will also serve as a basis for what I showed you during the vending machine demonstration."
The hero pointed out towards the hallway with his thumb, where the pancaked item remained. "Have you had the chance to figure out what I was trying to show your there?"
"Ah… no, All Might, sorry. I've been focusing on this, so it, uh…"
"Slipped your mind?" the blonde asked with an understanding smile as he took another sip of water. "That's fine, my boy! We'll get there sooner or later. But in the meantime… you look like your raring to go with that sledgehammer." His protégé eagerly nodded along and Toshinori couldn't help but chuckle at his excitement.
"Well then, what are you waiting for! Give it a couple of tries, and remember: make sure to use less than five percent. And after you get a few successful swings in, we'll call it a day."
"But-But… All Might, I-I can keep going-!"
The hero laughed merrily at the sight of his apprentice's aghast face. "My boy, have you already forgotten? Recovery Girl restricted you to light activity. Even doing this is probably too much, but… after all your hard work today, both here and with Vlad King, I think it was well deserved."
"Now, go on kid, try it out! We're not leaving until you attempt it at least a couple of times!" He gently nudged his successor towards the wall to spur his enthusiasm on once more. "Go through the movements to gain some familiarity, and then once you're ready, add in a little bit of One for All."
Without any hesitation, Izuku eagerly went to meet the challenge head on. As he returned to the previous stance that he had copied earlier from All Might, he followed his mentor's advice and slowly, steadily went through the motions, making sure everything from his hand placement to his breathing rhythm was all in order. After he tested out his swings by hitting the wall for real a couple of times, he was satisfied with the results and decided it was time to apply One for All in a lesser state.
From his previous swings, he noted that the muscles groups he would need the most were his core, back, shoulders, and arms, in that order. From his previous swings, he knew that the rhythm of his breath helped to trace his path of power: breathe in, core, back, breathe out, shoulders, arms, rest, repeat.
He knew how to generate the power, the areas he wanted to use, the order to use them and the path in which the power should flow… but now, how was he going to connect them all together?
Squeak! Squeak!
As Izuku turned his head curiously at the sound, he found himself staring at a field mouse as it peered curiously over the wreckage on the floor about a meter or so away from him. But almost as soon as he saw the tiny creature, it scurried away into the remains of the wall.
Izuku didn't really think anything much about it, so he continued trying to find a way to visualize the transference of power through multiple muscles. But then, he heard the same squeaks as before.
Curiously, he looked around and saw that the mouse had made its way towards the pile of rubble on the floor about halfway between where he was and the farthest wall. After hesitantly looking around, it bolted for the next pile of junk a couple meters away from it and hid again. Izuku absently watched the tiny mouse for a couple more seconds as it repeated the same process a few more times, darting randomly between the oddly and unevenly spaced safe havens as it did. Eventually, it found its way to the other side of the room before Izuku finally lost track of the tiny animal.
As Izuku remembered that he was in the middle of doing something, he shook himself from his inaction and began to focus once more on the task at hand… but not before a random thought had crossed his mind.
For a mouse, it sure had a bizarre way of moving through the area… granted, it was probably just trying to find the safest route home, but-
Izuku's eyes widened at his sudden realization, and an idea began to quickly form in his head; at long last, a plan had finally come together.
Without wasting another moment, he set his stance perfectly and closed his eyes, firing up his mind and tightening his core as he did. And then, he began to imagine the egg in the microwave.
In his mind, he placed the microwave in his stomach and he forced his imaginary finger onto the lowest setting of the device. Absently, he noted how this tingly sensation was quite different from all of his other previous attempts, but forced the thought out of his head in order to concentrate better. Surprisingly, he felt the egg cooking both effortlessly and cooperatively this time around at his imagined percentage, far better than he anticipated...
...And then he pictured the mouse stealing the egg straight out of the microwave.
Breathe in.
The mouse took the still-cooking egg and ran.
It ran as fast as it could all over and around his abdominal muscles, before it began to scurry along every nook and cranny of his back, the egg continuing to cook the entire way as it was being carried. And everywhere the mouse ran with the egg, the boy felt his muscles contract with the power of One for All, each charged up muscle cumulatively adding to the boy's overall strength as they willing followed the path of the imaginary creature.
Breathe out.
Somewhere along the way, one mouse had become two, and each had a hold of their own still-cooking egg. Simultaneously, they scampered around both of his shoulders in wild circles before they suddenly shot down along the path of his arms, with the boy's muscles flexing accordingly as they followed suit.
The mice made a mad dash towards the imaginary mouse holes that hovered just above the middle of Izuku's forearms. Their timing was perfect, because right as the mice had safely made it into their own homes, their eggs had also completely finished cooking.
And then Izuku felt his sledgehammer strike the wall.
WHAM.
Izuku opened his eyes at the sudden impact and was surprised to see that a chunk of the wall the size of a small desk was missing when it hadn't been before. Hesitantly, he looked himself and the hammer over, and slowly, he felt his disbelief turn into delight.
He did it! He really did it! And even though his muscles were super sore and he had only used one percent, he did it without breaking himself or his hammer!
Izuku heard clapping behind him, and as he whirled around with a joyful look on his face, he saw his mentor sitting on the bed with a similar expression.
"Well done, my boy! Well done! Now, do it again, but faster this time!"
"Yes sir!"
Izuku happily obliged once more, copying all of his previous movements and visualizations. But this time, he aimed for three percent power.
It was a little harder to find the sweet spot between the tingling sensation of one percent and the explosive boiling of five, but nonetheless, he found it and let the mice do their work, cleaving out a king-sized bed portion of the wall out as he finished his swing.
The green haired boy felt the aggressive stinging of his quirk in the muscles he used, but he completely ignored it over the sheer ecstasy of success he was feeling. He giddily turned back towards his mentor to find an identical expression plastered on his face as he quickly stood up to approach him.
Clapping both of his hands on his shoulders and sporting the proudest grin on his face, Toshinori spoke proudly and loudly to the young man before him. "Young Midoriya, you have outdone yourself today! Truly, you never cease to amaze me. This has been a wonderful first day of training."
Izuku, still feeling the sharp sting in his muscles, suddenly became bashful in the face of such glowing compliments.
"I-It's really all thanks to you, All Might-"
"No, my boy. This," the emaciated man gestured towards the wall that was three fourths of the way torn down, "was all you. Your skill and your aptitude got you here; all I did was just give you a couple hints."
"T-Thanks, All Might…"
Toshinori felt a deep chuckle resonate within his chest, before he stepped away from the kid to ruffle his hair. "You did good, Young Midoriya. You did good. Now, let's get you out of here, yeah? You've worked hard enough for today, and I think you deserve ample time for food and rest."
As the gaunt blonde moved away to go put the duffel bag full of sledgehammers and water bottles in an out of sight area, he heard his protégé speak up hesitantly, yet eagerly, one last time.
"Ah, All Might? Can… Can I try one more attempt? Please?"
Toshinori froze mid-step with one foot out in the hallway, unsure how to answer.
On the one hand, he immediately wanted to say 'Hell yeah!' and sit back down to watch the kid pull off another spectacular achievement.
On the other hand, Recovery Girl had made it absolutely clear that he wasn't supposed to do anything too strenuous… and he was uncertain if he had already crossed that line a few times or not…
On the one hand, Young Midoriya hasn't been injured yet, so where would the harm be in letting him do one more attempt?
On the other hand, Young Midoriya hasn't been injured yet. Yet being the operative word…
Abruptly, the memory of his successor's broken body lying in Recovery Girl's office, as well as the reasons why he got that way in the first place, flashed through his mind, and he knew his answer. So, with a deep breathe and a kind smile, he turned to look his young, impatient successor in the eye.
"No, Young Midoriya. We're all done for the day."
"Awww… Ok…"
Toshinori couldn't help but gently laugh at his response. "Please, my boy, have a little patience. This is only your first day of training, and look at the strides you've made! I promise, after your body fully heals with a good night's rest, and Recovery Girl clears you of light duty, I'll let you practice to your heart's content- within reason, of course! But until then, let's rest a little bit, ok?"
"Ok…"
After the duo had cleaned up a little and had put away their duffel bag of cheap equipment, they found themselves leaving the abandoned motel complex in high spirits.
Soon, they made their way back to All Might's truck and began the journey home, their conversations light and colorful as Izuku asked for more stories about the hero's side projects that he never knew about. The hero was happy to indulge him, and before either of them even knew it, the truck had found itself at the end of Izuku's block. After expressing his thanks one more time, Izuku got out of the vehicle and headed on home.
A grateful smile grew on his face as he climbed the steps to his apartment, thinking about all the wonderful things that he had been truly blessed to experience today. From the new friendships that were forged, to the slow progress that he made... from gaining new knowledge about a subject he loved, to experiencing the pleasant feeling of knowing that people cared... he couldn't help but wonder what life had in store for him next.
The next day started out just as it did the day before for both Izuku and Vlad King.
Vlad King gave the kid instructions for quirkless training, he left to go take care of business, and then Izuku started his work out. After finding some jump rope, he decided to get his cardio going before moving on to work out his legs.
The only interesting thing that happened during that period of time was that some kid with wild purple hair had, at some point, walked into the exercise room with his gym uniform on, fully intending to work out as well. But as soon as he realized that he wasn't alone in the room, he turned on his heels and walked out the door. Izuku never even saw the guy, because at the time, he was way too focused on making sure his back didn't snap from all the weight on his shoulders as he stood up from his squats.
After he was done with his workout, he once again stopped by Recovery Girl's office per her request. The examination went smoothly, and after realizing that the young man had indeed properly rested, and had, in fact, taken it easy (from an objective point of view), she cleared him of his light duty status and promptly discharged him from her office with a big handful of gummy bears.
With a spring in his step, he headed to his homeroom to start his school day. Thankfully, his peers didn't swarm him like they did the day before and he also wasn't at the center of attention, but that didn't stop him from still receiving a couple of friendly greetings, to which he shyly returned. As he sat down in his seat, he couldn't help but appreciate just how different his life was now than it was a year ago.
High school was really weird that way.
Vlad King began the day by reminding them that they had battle trials this afternoon. He also informed those who had been subjected to his Soul Crushers that they were exempt from doing them today, as he rescheduled today's Soul Crushing session for next Monday.
Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened during homeroom and the normal class periods for the students of 1B.
Lunch, however, was… an unusual affair.
Itsuka and Ibara had been traveling around the cafeteria getting to know their fellow classmates when some sort of intruder alarm began to blare throughout the school, causing mass hysteria for everyone. Thankfully, they knew where most of the students of 1B were at, and the two class representatives had no trouble staying calm as they kept their classmates together for accountability. The only three whom they could not find were Togaru, Shihai, and Izuku.
At the same time that the two young women herded their classmates to an area with less pandemonium, there was an interesting occurrence on the other side of the building. Somehow, some kid had gotten stuck up on a sign above a very busy hallway, and had shouted at everyone to calm down; he then informed them in a serious voice that the intruder alarm had only been tripped by the media. It didn't take long for the word to be passed around, and soon afterwards, both the cafeteria and the school returned back to normal, with the class representatives of 1B continuing on with their meet-n-greet.
Before lunch came to a close, the students of 1B found themselves heading back to their homeroom at a quickened pace, the faces eager and their hearts excited for their next heroics class.
If what Vlad King Sensei had told them was true… then the one who was going to be teaching today's class would be none other than-
"IIII haaaaave… walked through the door, like a normal person!"
Him.
The World's Greatest Hero.
All Might.
1B's excitement skyrocketed as the great hero's presence enveloped the whole room, and every move he made was filled to the brim with confidence and charisma. His silver age costume gleamed with almost radiant energy, like the man himself couldn't do any wrong. That smile he wore was downright brilliant, and for the students of 1B, having that wide smile sent their way was like being caressed in warm sunlight.
As the great hero got to the front of their class, he began to put on a show for his students, flexing his muscles and inciting enthusiasm as he introduced their heroic exercise for the day with vigor. He then pressed a button on a remote that was left on the desk to reveal the twenty chrome plated briefcases hidden within their classroom lockers; the briefcases that contained their very own costumes.
"After you change, come on out to Ground Beta! I'll be waiting!"
"YES SENSEI!"
As the larger than life figure strode out of the room and all of 1B scrambled to get their own personal briefcase, there was one who did not.
While he was just as excited as his peers were, the reason he didn't go to collect his briefcase was because there was nothing inside it.
As the first of his classmates bolted out the door with their briefcases in hand, he reached down under his desk. Bringing the plastic bag to his chest, he squeezed it tightly and smiled fondly at the thought of the contents within, and the memories that were attached to them.
The memories of his mother, waving around the brand new spring-green jumpsuit as she cheerfully gave her congratulations.
The memories of his mother, looking so remorseful as she faced and admitted her regrets to say sorry.
The memories of his mother, looking him in the eye with all her love and determination and support…
Yeah… Izuku didn't need a cutting-edge uniform. Or an efficient one.
This one would do just fine.
As the last of his classmates left the room, he shook himself from his stupor and eagerly moved to catch up to them.
After all... he had some training to do.
Author's NOOOOOTTTEEE!
So... how's it feel to read 13k words just for Izuku to swing a hammer? XD
Seriously though, I don't know why, but this chapter just wasn't working out the way I wanted, so I apologize if the ending was a little weird. That's also the other reason as to why it took so long for this chapter to come out- I didn't want to submit some half-assed chapter, so I spent most of my time at the drawing board.
Now, allow me to clarify one thing I feel like a lot of people will ask. This thing with the mice that Izuku has learned is not this story's version of Full Cowl. It is the step between single area usage of One for All and Full Cowl. I'll let you guys interpret this however you want.
I know there wasn't a lot of character interaction this time around, and I do apologize for that. But, how did you guys like Recovery Girl and Toshinori in this chapter? Also, if you don't think All Might isn't cheesy enough to reuse the same exact opening that he did for class A, you're wrong.
Also, about Toshinori... so, I feel like him doing side projects like that is definitely something he would do to help ease the hearts of people around the world. And with his status as The Number One Hero, I think it's safe to assume that he has the fat wallet he needs to back them up- I mean, have you guys seen Might Tower?! And speaking of Might Tower, he obviously employs a lot of people in his agency, and they got to be doing something, so... why can't they be managing the projects he started? Anyway, the line I had him say about the difference between donating to popular charities vs. funding privately owned projects was put there on purpose, and once Izuku does his homework, I'll be sure to finish that conversation!
Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to Caellach Tiger Eye for that awesome review! And don't worry, I did not take the first part personally; in fact, I truly appreciated it! Constructive Criticism like that is what a writer needs in order to keep their own head out of their ass, and you most certainly delivered in that department! The fresh perspective you wrote out made me realize that there was a ton of things wrong with that chapter, and because of you, I was able to (hopefully) patch it up halfway decently. Thank you, again, so much for that review, and I hope to see them more in the future!
If you guys have any inquiries, give me a shout!
Thank you all again so much for the support you have shown for this story! Be safe, and I hope to see you guys in the next chapter!
