Chapter 5: Eye of the storm

A/N: You could say this is a boring chapter but it is one of the main chapters of the entire story because all the relations are going to spring up from here.

"That should be enough for today. Go and have some rest. We will train at night again. Izuku, you have to pick up the pace if you want to get fit for One for All. Watanabe, I want you to study up on the human body. While your X-ray vision will give you your opponent's weak points, you still need to know which places are fatal and which aren't" Yagi said.

Watanabe and Izuku nodded, "Thanks, Yagi-san. Bye!" Both of them called out as they left for home. Yagi waited until both of them had left his sight and then decided to go to UA. He still needed to sign a few papers before he could become a teacher at UA and maybe he could ask Nedzu if he wanted to help his students.

Yagi had a quick lunch and headed straight to UA. He smiled politely as Present Mic gave him a wave and walked on till he reached Nedzu's office. He knocked on the door, "Come in," Nedzu's voice called out. Yagi popped his head in the door and greeted, "How are you doing, Nedzu sensei?"

"Good, good. The question is whether I am a rat or a bear? The answer is I'm the principal!"

"You are never going to stop doing that, are you?" Yagi chuckled, shaking his head.

"But it's such a good icebreaker!" Nedzu replied

"To a stranger, it will just be awkward," Yagi replied dryly.

"Hmm, perhaps you are right. But I still like to introduce myself like this. The reactions are fun to see. Here are the papers you need to sign," Nedzu said and handed Yagi the papers.

"Thank you, Nedzu sensei," Yagi said as he took out a pen to sign them. Nedzu waited patiently for Yagi to finish. Yagi handed the papers back after signing them and only then did Nedzu speak, "Congratulations! You are now officially a teacher of UA!" Nedzu said, "Would you like access to the students list now to see who you might want to pass One for All to?" Nedzu asked directly.

Yagi started sweating, "Oh shit! I didn't tell anyone except Tsukauchi that I have passed on One for All to a successor. What do I do? What do I do?" Yagi berated himself.

"Uhhh, not now," Yagi replied.

"Ah, so you have decided on a successor," Nedzu replied knowingly.

"H-how did you know that?" Yagi nearly screamed. He knew that he couldn't possibly keep the secret from Nedzu but he thought he couldn't figure it out immediately.

"The real question should be what Gran Torino is going to do to you. I assume you haven't told him yet considering I myself didn't know?" Nedzu asked.

Yagi sunk in his seat, "No, I haven't told him yet," he said quietly, "He is going to kill me, isn't he?" Yagi asked rhetorically.

Nedzu didn't bother to reply at once. Instead, he slowly set the tea to boil, allowing the silence to strike more fear into Yagi's heart on what his old teacher might do to him, "The fact you have to ask that question baffles me. The real question is whether he will choose to punish you more if you delay the question. But enough about that, you will have enough time to choose your options afterward. Right now, I want to know more about the green-haired boy you have chosen as your successor,"

"How did you figure that Izuku is my successor too. You might have understood I got a successor because I didn't immediately want the student list. But how did you figure out about Izuku!?" Yagi demanded.

"Oh, so his name is Izuku?" Nedzu asked as he handed a cup of boiling tea to Yagi and took one for himself. He took a few quick sips before continuing, "After the sludge incident, you seemed rather interested in Izuku. To an unsuspecting observer, it might seem the Number 1 hero was simply checking whether the victim was hurt. But as someone who knows about your secret, it was clear to see that you were paying close attention to him as you wanted to choose him as your successor. Given that, he doesn't;t seem to have a physical quirk but still jumped in to save his friend, it was quite obvious to realize that you were impressed by his hero-like behavior. However, the possibility you simply wanted to check up on him remained. So, I didn't say anything straight away. However, your stuttering and profuse sweating when I asked you about a successor proved me right." Nedzu finished as if he had just casually asked how the weather was.

Yagi gaped, "...Why am I even surprised?" he asked no one in particular.

"Now, I remember you saying, 'How did you figure that Izuku is my successor too'. What did you mean by 'too?'"

Yagi sighed resignedly, "Nothing gets past you does it?" Nedzu simply smiled back in response. "Fine, might as well get over it," Yagi resigned, "So my successor, Midoriya Izuku has a cousin, Hattori Watanabe. From what I know, his father lives overseas and, after the sludge incident, thought that his aunt, uncle, and cousin should move closer to them to give them some company. Watanabe managed to figure out many things about Izuku including the fact that I was being trained by him. He saw that he had set an alarm early to train for me. Izuku passed it off as going for a run but when he asked to tag along, Izuku panicked, and Watanabe connected that since I seemed interested in him after the sludge incident, I must be training him,"

Nedzu frowned, "While it is a good deduction, it seemed to have been made on many baseless arguments. It was really lucky that his guess was right. While his deduction that he was hiding something would be a good deduction, the fact that All Might himself is training him from such a short clip is a far fetched deduction unless he had some extra information."

"Uhm, that may be because he did have extra information. Actually, that is one of the reasons I am here," Yagi replied.

"Do tell, Toshinori,"

"Well, Izuku is quirkless," Yagi said.

Nedzu's eyes seemed to brighten up, "He was bullied," he stated. Yagi nodded, "Watanabe knew that. When Izuku panicked, he realized that he was not actually going for a run. Since he didn't have any friends and his parents would obviously not send him to do something at 5, he knew that he was doing it because he was asked by someone who he trusted. The only one to fit that built was a pro hero but Watanabe knew a random hero wouldn't take a sudden interest in him. A pro hero would only be interested if quirks are similar but since Izuku is quirkless, it didn't make sense. However, he knew that I was interested in Izuku after the sludge incident so I was probably training him. Since my quirk is unknown he thought that the most logical option was that somehow I could pass on my quirk,"

"That is indeed an excellent deduction," Nedzu said calmly on the outside but inside he was screaming in excitement, "I HAVE TO MEET THIS KID!" "But what did you want help with Toshinori?"

"Oh, it seems Aldera allows students with stronger quirks to bully those with weaker ones and they don't keep it on their record so they can become heroes. They use them almost as a stepping stone with those with strong quirks. Young Izuku..." Yagi swallowed, "Young Izuku was a victim of quirk-induced bullying at his school. Right now Tsukauchi is handling the case and gaining evidence to charge them with child abuse and negligence,"

"Hmm. There is surely more to this? For example, why is Aldera only being charged now, why not before?" Nedzu asked.

"Izuku believed his bully, Katsuki Bakugou was capable of changing and did not report him because the teachers never believed them and instead gave him detention. His mother was close friends with Katsuku's parents but none of them knew about the situation so Izuku chose to keep it like that. It was only because Watanabe confronted Katsuki that their parents came to know about it,"

Nedzu was seething with anger. While many might say he is just an animal, he still does have emotions. Many people forget that animals are capable of feeling emotions. Nedzu himself was discriminated against for being an animal with a quirk that made him smarter than humans. It was why he had launched efforts to gain quirk discrimination laws. So it was obvious that he should be feeling angry. Keeping his emotions in control, he asked, "How did Watanabe let their parents know? I don't think Izuku would have let him tell them directly,"

Yagi scratched his head. He didn't want to give Watanabe's secret away but Nedzu had kept his quirk secret so he decided to tell him, "Watanabe has an eye-color changing quirk. I know it seems useless," Yagi said seeing Nedzu's shocked look, "However, in actuality, it also gives him the ability to change his vision. For example, he can change between X-ray, infrared vision etc. I think he can switch between other visions too but he hasn't told me of them. In his old school, he used to be bullied for having a 'useless' quirk but he beat them up in self-defense after they confronted him outside school because the teachers were punished them inside school. Anyway, when Katsuki used his quirk which releases explosions from his hand, he used his X-ray vision to dislocate Bakugou's shoulders to disable him from using his quirk. Bakugou ended up breaking them though, because he still used his quirk."

Nedzu smiled sadistically as Yagi finished. His interest in Watanabe just seemed to keep growing, "Shame, I can't seem partial due to being UA's principal. I would have loved to meet him. He has immense potential and talent. I thought he might have an intelligence quirk actually. What about Izuku? Is he smart too?"

"Considering he has numerous analyses on many heroes, yes, I think he's smart. His analysis to defeat Endeavour itself was terrifying considering its simplicity," Yagi shuddered. Nedzu sat up more straight, "What did he write?"

"He argued that all buildings nowadays have fire extinguishers for safety and they are not monitored. So, he could just take one off of each floor and fire them on Endeavour to stop him from using his quirk,"

Nedzu nearly facepalmed at the simple, yet hilarious and undoubtedly effective plan, "Was that the only plan?"

Yagi shook his head, "I had no intention of reading any more after that particularly disturbing and simple plan,"

"Do you think both the cousins actually have intelligence quirks? They don't manifest physically so..."

"I don't think so, Nedzu sensei,"

Nedzu seemed to think before replying, "Are you sure?"

"I-i think so," Yagi replied.

"Does anyone else in their family have an intelligence quirk?" Nedzu asked. Yagi's eye twitched, "I didn't map his entire family tree, did I?" Yagi said. Nedzu seemed unsatisfied but moved on, "So, is this the entire story?"

"Yes, as far as I remember," Yagi replied, "Now I think I should get on to what I want your help with,"

Nedzu nodded, "Sure,"

"Watanabe coaxed Izuku to help take down Aldera themselves too and I think their plan would be better with your help,"

"And what is their plan?" Nedzu asked.

"They plan to coax the public and media to their side," Yagi replied. Nedzu sat up straighter, clearly interested in the plan, "Go on," he said simply as if withholding some of his observations.

"I'll just tell you the fine-tuned version after I helped complete their plan. Normally, Aldera would have been made to pay huge fines after they inevitably lose the case,"

"Obviously,"

"Yes, but they are aware that Aldera will go back to its ways after the case. They will fire some of the staff but no one is there to ensure that they aren't rehired. The media also won't be too interested in a 'small' case against a school after a complaint from only one student's guardians. So, they want to write an article to shift public opinion to their favor. They know the public won't care too much about quirklessness because they aren't aware of the problems they face or that they even exist in the younger generation. So, they want to tie quirk-discrimination to being quirkless by saying that in the end, discrimination against quirkless is also a form of quirk-discrimination. They want to use the fact that people still remember the chaos from your debut, promoting quirk-equality, and use it as fuel to spark outrage against such behavior towards the collective quirkless population. I have instructed them to do this before news of Aldera's case spreads so that people automatically call for harsh punishment against Aldera. Even if the court doesn't assign a post-case regulation panel to regularly check up on Aldera, many normal citizens will do so. As there are already many watch groups against quirk bullying and child negligence and abuse, Watanabe believes that the judge will choose a harsher punishment under pressure from the public, and the fact that the entire media will be following the case closely will stem any attempt at cover-ups. Izuku and Watanabe plan to use the media's power to destroy Aldera's reputation. Izuku also believes that if the article is good enough, other schools will also be independently investigated, and even if Aldera is not shut down due to child-negligence, parents will no longer want to send their children there and the school will effectively shut down." Yagi finished and let out a deep breath.

Nedzu was quite stunned at Yagi's explanation of the plan. If Yagi wasn't explaining the situation so seriously, he would have thought he was playing an elaborate joke on him. Watanabe and Izuku both seemed to set high expectations and interest for him and immediately afterward, they had passed his expectations multiple times, something very few had accomplished, "Did they settle on what they wanted to include?"

"Like I said, they are planning to start writing it with emphasis on quirk-discrimination and then tying it to being quirkless,"

"Hmm, alright, I will help them, but not personally. Have them send it to you and then send it to me. I have no doubt they will enroll at UA and I can't be seen helping them as the principal. The media would accuse UA of favoritism."

Yagi nodded, "I will go then. Goodbye Nedzu sensei."

"Oh and tell them I will update myself after editing and adding info where needed. I know the best times to post, and have them use codenames, it's for the best, or they might get targeted." Nedzu said as he waved him goodbye.

Yagi nodded and left. As the door closed Nedzu smiled sadistically, he said he would add info but not how much. Oh, he would have fun with this article, especially if Izuku and Watanabe wrote as good an article as they planned. He cackled sadistically he immediately went through all the damage he could do with this article. Outside, Aizawa and Yagi were having a chat when Nedzu started cackling loudly in a purely-sadistic tone. Aizawa glared at Yagi, "What did you do that is making the damn rat cackle so sadistically?" he asked menacingly.

Yagi put up his hands, "He hasn't done anything so bad... yet," Aizawa glared at Yagi as he walked off. He really wanted to just go home and sleep under a blanket with his cats until whatever Nedzu planned to do blew over. Aizawa sighed. He knew that whatever Nedzu did would be inevitable. Some of the teachers had gathered hearing Nedzu cackle and were looking at Aizawa questioningly. Aizawa shrugged and left too, leaving a confused and terrified staff.

1 week later

Inko had readied dinner and was going to call Watanabe and Izuku when she heard relatively loud, secretive whispers coming from Izuku's room. She decided to eavesdrop a bit:

"Yagi-sensei told that he'll give it to his friend and he will post it for us," Izuku's voice rang out faintly.

"But, I want to meet the guy who's helping us. Even if Yagi-sensei says he is the best choice for this and will make sure it works," Watanabe's agitated yet low voice replied.

"Are you saying you don't trust him?"

There was no reply but Izuku spoke again, "Thought so," Inko decided to enter the room then, "What are you two up to?"

Watanabe nearly jumped from his seat, "Uhm, nothing Aunt Inko, nothing at all."

Inko looked at them suspiciously, "I don't believe you but you boys won't care about what I say. Just don't get hurt."

Watanabe gave his aunt a thumbs up, "We are not going to get hurt for this!"

Inko sighed, she was assured through Watanabe's promise that they wouldn't do anything significant, "Come for dinner then. Natsume is out shopping, so it's only you two, Ryuzen and me. Izuku nodded, "5 minutes mom," Inko nodded and closed the door on her way out. After she had left, Izuku turned towards Watanabe, "Liar,"

"What do you mean," he said in an astonished tone with a pleasant smile.

"She thinks we aren't going to do anything big, so she doesn't have to be worried. If this article goes big, do you have any idea how huge the chaos will be?" Izuku asked his cousin. Watanabe shrugged, "I did strongly imply that we aren't going to get hurt. The chaos won't end up with us being hurt since we are using codenames.

"Hmph, I am the one who wrote the entire thing!" Izuku declared.

"But it was my idea!"

At the kitchen table, Inko came and sat down and gave Ryuzen a concerning look, "I think those two are up to something again,"

Ryuzen sighed, "I would be more terrified if Watanabe hadn't cooked up an idea to get back at Aldera or something. It probably won't be very significant though, they are still kids. We just have to help them if they get into too much trouble."

Inko nodded feeling more reassured. Only later would they realize, how terribly wrong they were.

A/N: Please leave a favorite follow and review.

Next chapter, the chaos starts. Muhahahaha!