You can never rebuild a shattered friendship exactly the way it was, but hopefully you can put the shattered pieces together and forge something new.
I do not own My Hero Academia, it is owned by Horikoshi
Chapter 10 - Picking up the Pieces
There was a tension in the air that Mineta noticed as he walked behind Bakugo with Midoriya. He knew that the two boys had once been friends, they knew each other from back when they were both still in diapers. Yet, their friendship had turned sour years ago. 'Why Izuku didn't just write him off I'll never understand, or maybe I do.' Ever since he'd been diagnosed as quirkless, Midoriya had largely been on his own. It was why he had no sense of self-preservation; it was why he understood what had been really going on in Mineta's life.
Bakugo was deep in thought about how All Might had chose Deku, 'Is my idea of what it means to be a hero wrong? What's more, Deku's real quirk had been stolen, probably before I'd ever met him... That's why All Might's quirk is more compatible for Deku than it was for All Might himself.' The reason he hadn't started fighting Deku right there, consequences be damned, was what the Number 3 Pro had mentioned, the Nerd's original quirk had been stolen, he hadn't been born quirkless after-all. Additionally, the Hobo hadn't been trying to appease his bruised ego, Deku genuinely needed a protector as he grew into using his new quirk.
Midoriya knew he was going be raked over the coals by Kacchan over this, the only thing scarier than a enraged shouting Bakugo yelling his 'DIE!' catch-phrase was a Kacchan that was this eerily calm. He knew Bakugo probably also felt like he was somehow less than worthy, while he knew All Might would say otherwise.
"I need to call the hag," Bakugo stated suddenly, he started dialing his mom's phone.
"Huh?"
"Hey mom, I'm taking Deku and Grape runt home, so I'll be a little late."
"What? Don't you..."
"WHAT THE...YOU KNOW WHAT HERE!" Bakugo handed the phone over to Midoriya, "You talk to her."
Midoriya nodded and waited for Kacchan's mother to take a breath, "Hi Aunt Mitsuki."
"Izuku, is that you?"
"Yeah, been a while, Kacchan is telling you the truth, it's something he can't go into, but you could say it's for class," Midoriya stated truthfully.
"You mean a class project..."
"Yeah, you could say that," replied Midoriya, which was kind of true given the assignment Rocky had given.
"Okay, tell Katsuki not to stay out too late."
"Will do, gotta go." He hung up and handed the phone back to Bakugo.
"I never could figure out how you manage to keep the hag from yelling at you," muttered Bakugo to which Midoriya just shrugged as they started walking up the stairs.
When they finally got to door of the Midoriya residence and Izuku started to use the key to unlock the door, Gran Torino opened it from the inside. "Took you long enough, Hot shot, got out of that meeting after you and still beat you here." He let them inside.
"We can't use our quirks like that," Izuku pointed out.
"Heh details," Torino waved them in.
"Hey Izuku, Minoru, Katsuki," greeted Inko setting down some tea cups.
"Hey Aunty Inko," Bakugo greeted as he took off his shoes and walked over to sit down at the table, "Okay, so if I've got this straight, All Might gave Deku...Izuku the quirk just before the entrance exams... Did you tell Aunty Inko the other stuff that came out."
"You mean the fact Hawks and Rocky will likely swing by tomorrow..."
"About the fact they suspect Deku's original quirk was stolen?" Bakugo asked.
"What?"
"It was news to Rocky too," Midoriya commented, "Remember how I told you they did all those tests on me mom?"
"Yes, you said that they gave you a clean bill of health..."
"Well that's true, they just didn't tell me this part till Hawks told me this afternoon."
Inko opened and closed her mouth, realizing that her son had only just found out about this and hadn't been keeping secrets from her again, "I see..."
"Apparently, Midoriya's brain activity scan shows that the part of the brain that normally handles the processing of a quirk is behaving as though he suffered from DQMS," Mineta chimed in, "However when comparing it to All Might's scan, All Might uses different areas of the brain to process it."
"I'm not following, how does that indicate his original quirk was stolen?"
"Grape runt is saying that the fact Deku's brain is using the same part of the brain that you and I use to process our own quirks, while All Might who was born quirkless doesn't, this makes them suspect that he was born with a quirk, but it got jacked."
"Like when?" Inko asked horrified, her son had been a victim all these years, and she didn't even realize it.
"If All for One was the one that did it, it would have only taken a few seconds," commented Gran Torino, "You have weak telekinesis, what does Izuku's father have?"
"He can breathe fire," answered Inko.
"Well it would stand to reason what was taken would likely be fire breathing, telekinesis, or some form of pyrokinesis," reasoned Torino.
"So you're the old fart that has been teaching Deku?"
"Oh a snarky one eh?" Gran Torino's face took on a feral grin.
'Oh great, now there are two of them...' thought Minoru and Izuku, as the tea was being poured.
"Okay so how did all of this start?" asked Bakugo.
"Well it all started..."
Bakugo cringed slightly when Inko looked ready to ream him over the notebook only she then looked horrified by the 1st sludge villain incident, one he hadn't known about. He understood why All Might had changed his answer, Deku had shown he did have the heart of a hero, but not the power. 'Would he have had the power if his quirk hadn't been stolen?' he wondered.
As Midoriya started talking about the training program, Bakugo just couldn't take it anymore. "Okay that training program is bullshit."
"But All Might..."
"The kid is right Hot Shot, it would have been better if midway through you were given the power then taught how to use what you could handle, then have you haul the garbage while using the quirk under supervision," Gran Torino commented acknowledging that Bakugo was correct. "But then Toshinori is a novice at teaching and could use the quirk right off the bat, and to be fair he did reach out for help from Sir Nighteye and Nezu."
"So who's the schmuck that Sir Crapeye wanted All Might to give the quirk to?"
"Mirio Togata," Izuku answered, "I've met him, picture All Might only cheesy to the extreme."
"Huh, I've met him in the halls," Torino commented, "The kid is a walking wardrobe malfunction. He also runs around screaming, 'Power...'like a complete idiot. If Toshinori had given that moron the quirk, I would have killed him myself."
"He wasn't that bad when I met him," Izuku commented, "Sir Nighteye on the other hand..."
"So what's that guy's quirk?"
"It's called permeation, it allows himtophasethroughsolidobjectseventheground..."
"Damnit Deku slow down!"
"It's a quirk that allows him to phase through solid objects including walls and the ground, however while out of phase, he can't use his senses either," Mineta spoke up. Bakugo nodded at this.
"Yeah I can see why he would be a bad choice..."
"Kacchan!"
"And you're supposed to be a walking quirk encyclopedia... This One for All powers up existing quirks, his would be a danger to everyone if super-charged."
"So you're not mad?"
"I kinda was to be honest until I calmed down," Bakugo admitted, he wasn't going to start yelling in front of Aunty Inko, or All Might's teacher, "The choice makes sense if All Might was really born quirkless. Besides I doubt you told your mom about some of the theories kids are coming up with."
"What theories?"
"N-nothing..." Izuku's face turned beat red.
"Apparently some kids think he's All Might's secret love child!" Bakugo exclaimed causing Inko and Minoru to start cracking up.
"I imagine one look at his room and the rumors would really fly," Minoru said gasping for air.
"This isn't funny, Inko you need to be especially wary, we know he isn't All Might's kid, but all it would take is some crackpot getting that idea and the two of you could be targeted. Getting back to about All Might being born quirkless, he really was, though he was strong enough to fake having a quirk," Gran Torino explained, "Bakugo, have you been feeding that rumor?"
"No, I said the rumor was stupid, I actually remember Deku's blood type is O-negative, and it doesn't match All Might's, remember the trading cards we got years ago, it had his blood type," Bakugo shrugged. 'Okay so All Might was an athlete,' Bakugo thought to himself, "I do have a question, since All Might didn't know all of this, why did he pick Deku?"
Inko looked as though she were offended, but Torino held up his hand. "That's actually a good question," the elderly hero looked thoughtful, "I'm guessing you're feeling like you may be doing something wrong." He sighed as Bakugo nodded, "Well you are a different type of hero than what Midoriya is looking to be, but I'll say not knowing anything else about you, it boiled down to the fact you were already incredibly powerful, and you have a undeniable drive to be the best, which is good. Now, from what I know from when All Might made his choice, it was because he already knew Izuku was smart, brilliant actually, he proved he had the will, the heart, and compassion, he had all the traits of a hero, except he didn't have the power. A quirkless hero is possible, but the physical training involved would have had to start when Izuku was in elementary. Even then, it is no guarantee, because I don't know how much of a natural athlete he would end up being. Having a quirk levels the playing field."
"So what you're saying is, that he didn't choose Bakugo or Mirio because they were already powerful, but Midoriya wasn't?" Minoru asked.
"Yes, and while Mirio Togata would be a more likely pick than Bakugo, and his quirk is only powerful because he has incredible fine control, Mirio still suffers from the same failings you do Bakugo," Gran Torino commented, "Neither of you have experienced the hardships of being on the other side of things. I'm not going to say Izuku is closer to being like All Might than you are though. I'd say you both have half the answer. Trying to be the best, always pushing yourself, is nothing if you don't have the compassion to go with it, by the same token having compassion alone isn't enough to be a hero like All Might, you have to push to be the best. Now saying that, I heard the two of you are a pretty scary combination when working together. So while the two of you try to surpass each other, try to keep it a friendly rivalry, so you two working together could scare the hell out of even the biggest villain. Especially given Izuku's analytical abilities, you're really good at it Bakugo, so is Minoru, but Izuku is still much better at it, even with minimal training, his problem is he needs to speed it up."
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," Bakugo admitted, "Anyways, given that your actions with the second sludge villain incident was the deciding choice, and what he told you that you couldn't be a hero previously, the choice makes sense. Also with those medical scans. It looks like he picked the only safe recipient to get the quirk. Anyways we need to go over what we did right and wrong in that exercise." The other two boys nodded.
Minoru watched in amazement at the two of them, there was still a tension there, a history that they were both trying to put behind them. However, watching them trying to analyze something was astounding that they often came up with similar solutions and could actually predict each other. "No wonder you picked him to be on the hero team," muttered Minoru.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bakugo looked at him ready to explode at him.
"It would have defeated the point of the exercise, you two can predict each other to the point it is scary. Midoriya seems a step ahead of you, but that makes sense, given he'd been through a stakeout and ambush operation, and we hadn't; but not by enough that he could relax..."
"He's kinda right, you're pretty good at a tactical level and reacting on the fly, a lot better than Todoroki anyways, if we're being honest about it," Izuku admitted as they were writing their papers, "Too bad Tokoyami and Jiro couldn't be here for the write up. Honestly though, Kacchan is better than Todoroki when it comes to fine control of his quirk."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Think about it, the precise explosions to twist and maneuver in air, the precise control of the blasts when attacking, you always held back during Middle School..."
Minoru realized at that moment that Izuku had let slip the fact he had been bullied by Bakugo, and yet it could have been a lot worse.
"You really could tell," Bakugo shrugged, "Yeah, I kind of did, it always seemed like you were looking down on me, but at the same time you were pretty much helpless, and it didn't sit well to just keep kicking someone that couldn't fight back."
"I've got a question," Minoru spoke up, "It may seem out there, but could the teachers at your old school have been encouraging kids to beat up on Izuku and to use your quirks on each other to create villains."
"It does sound out there, but given the stuff Hawks was asking us about, I don't think you're the only one thinking that's a possibility."
"Well, I can one up him on it then," Minoru commented, "What if it was an attempt to recruit you Izuku?"
"What do you mean? Kacchan would have been far more obvious."
"He means your notebooks," Bakugo replied to which Mineta nodded.
"I read through them remember, you systematically picked apart people's quirks and how to systematically cripple them," Minoru commented and Izuku looked ashamed of himself, "Look you didn't act on them, and it is a really out there possibility."
"Deku, I have a suggestion, get a different hero name," said Bakugo suddenly.
"I don't know, like what? I was originally looking at Green Might," Izuku admitted.
"Lame," muttered Katsuki, "Honestly Deku is better than that, what you trying to cross All Might with the Jolly Green Giant?"
"The who?"
"Fictional character for a Brand of canned vegetables in the United States," answered Minoru without looking up from his writing, "How about Bolt?"
"Isn't Kaminari Chargebolt?"
"There can be more than one Bolt," Minoru replied, "The Green Lightning Hero: Bolt."
"I'll have to think about it," Izuku answered after a moment, "I think my current hero name is a promise to myself."
"Just remember it will be harder to change your name after the Provisional License," Katsuki pointed out.
"You know maybe you should talk to Gran Torino about training," Minoru commented, "I think of our classmates, only you, Izuku, and myself, can pull some of his moves off for different reasons. You could also do some moves I can't, and Izuku can't pull off yet."
"That makes sense," Bakugo shrugged, "Considering the Hobo tasked me with keeping an eye on the 'chosen one'..."
"Please don't call me that," Izuku muttered.
"I should have an idea what his move-set is, so we don't run into each other."
The Next Day:
The Squirrel Hero had been right, watching Class 1-B stumble around on both sides was hysterical. At one point there was a brawl that somehow made it into a toy store with marbles everywhere and opponents on both sides were having trouble regaining their footing.
"There goes the copy reject," Bakugo snarked, "Wow didn't know he played with baby dolls..." Kaminari just cracked up laughing.
"Shoda watch out," Midoriya commented though of course Shoda wouldn't be able to hear him as he slipped and fell on the marbles.
Elsewhere, Tetsutetsu got embedded partway in the floor only to burst out of it and making a mess of things.
"You know, I don't feel so bad about how we did, it's like watching the keystone cops, it's freakin amateur hour," Kaminari commented.
"The who?" asked Jiro not getting the reference.
"What's with all the Mushrooms everywhere?" Hagakure commented.
"Looks like Mudman decided to take out the stairs..." Shoji commented.
"That's a really bad move considering he's on the hero team," Tokoyami commented.
Suddenly in a move that surprised everyone their teacher got some popcorn and sat down to watch. "Uh sir?" asked Ida.
"Are you taping this?" Aizawa asked, to which Rocky nodded, "Good, cause with all the comments Vlad has made about this class, I'm going to enjoy holding this over his head."
"Wow there went the new car on display," Kaminari whistled, "I hope it isn't real."
"In this case it isn't," answered Aizawa, "Though yeah there are definitely going to be some points lost for that."
"Teams were even for them weren't they?" asked Shinso.
"Not quite, it was 8 to 12 favoring the villain team," Rocky answered, "You know I was going to have you all do reports on what they did right and wrong... However, I'm not seeing much either side is getting right, and to be honest, I don't even know where to begin in this fiasco, so I can't have you write a report that I wouldn't have a clue where to begin."
"You going to call it?" Aizawa asked.
"Maybe I should."
"I think they should suffer for another few hours and they should all handle clean-up," replied Aizawa with a slight sadistic grin, "Okay folks remember midterms are coming up so I hope you've studied. Those that pass will be going on a summer camp retreat." Rocky cast a knowing glance at him, but chose to say nothing.
"Oh man with everything that went on during the internship, I didn't study," moaned Kaminari. Several other classmates also groused.
"I believe we can have a study session at my house, now what kind of tea would everyone like, maybe it should be in the lecture hall, or the banquet hall..."
'I really forgot how rich she is,' several classmates thought.
"Wait, what the hell?" Mineta stammered, "Okay that may make some sense since the villain team did it, but seriously..."
"How can you not be nervous about the midterm?" asked Sero.
"Cause, Ryukyu actually had me study for part of the time," Mineta replied, "I'm guessing Best Jeanist, Endeavor, and Hawks had their interns do the same."
"Yes, my father did make sure I spent some time studying for the midterms," Todoroki answered. Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Midoriya also nodded.
"The hell," Bakugo sputtered as the mall lights on the live feeds went out, "Okay, if they actually had a plan, this would be good, but it looks like they took out the lighting on accident."
"Is that the fire alarm for the mall?" asked Todoroki.
"I have a meeting to go to," commented Aizawa, "As much as I'd like to continue to watch this."
Staff Meeting:
"So good that you could join us," Nezu commented as Aizawa entered the room.
"I think the fuzzball has things in hand," Aizawa commented.
"We were discussing having the students take on teachers..." Nezu summarized what had been discussed so far.
"Okay so we're looking at students' weaknesses," Aizawa commented, "Certain groupings are rather predictable."
"It looks like I've got Sero and Mineta," Midnight chuckled, "should be fairly easy for me."
'Uh just keep telling yourself that,' thought Aizawa, "I've got Yaoyorozu, but the question is who I should have with her. Todoroki is an obvious pick, but another option would be Shinso, since I can knock his quirk out of commission and make it clear that he can't always rely on it."
"I guess I have Kaminari and Ashido," Nezu smiled, "for obvious reasons."
"I would recommend you take Shinso," Gran Torino said after a moment, "You're about the only one that can counter his quirk, have Todoroki and Bakugo go against All Might."
"Why not Midoriya?" asked Ectoplasm, "They don't get along."
"They're starting to work it out now and having them fight All Might may set them back," Aizawa answered.
"We'll have Thirteen take on Uraraka and Asui, Power Loader will take on Ida and Ojiro."
"I got the singer and the animal boy," Present Mic commented, "Don't like where I have to take them on though."
"Too bad, Koda needs to be able to use his quirk," Aizawa stated.
"You are seriously pairing Tokoyami and Midoriya, against me," Ectoplasm looked aghast.
"It makes sense, since I have Shoji and Hagakure," commented Snipe.
"I could take those two on, if you're chicken..." smirked Gran Torino.
"No, I'll take them on, this is about the provisional licenses isn't it?"
"Partially, however Midoriya isn't a good fit elsewhere," Aizawa commented, "Shinso throws a giant monkey wrench into everything."
"Pretty much," agreed Midnight, "A lot of us would have a hard time not reacting."
"I disagree," replied Nezu after a moment, "I would suggest Bakugo and Midoriya take All Might, Asui and Tokoyami take on Ectoplasm, Todoroki should be with Yaoyorozu."
"Okay where would you put Shinso then?" asked Cementoss.
"Switch Kaminari to be paired with Uraraka, and Ashido and Shinso will be facing me."
"Could Bakugo and Midoriya really take on All Might?" asked Midnight, "It should at least be possible for them to pass."
"Don't worry those two could pull it off," Gran Torino chuckled, "Not easily but they can do it." The elderly hero grinned almost in a sadistic fashion.
"Is it too late to trade you Ectoplasm?" asked All Might.
"Why you scared?" asked Ectoplasm.
"If I'm guessing that Gran Torino who has been training young Midoriya, is going to be giving a crash course to young Bakugo, yeah I'm terrified," All Might admitted.
"What kind of training did you put All Might through?" asked Snipe.
"Beating the hell out of him," Gran Torino shrugged, causing several teachers to do their best to move further away from the elderly hero, "I don't think it would be easy for them, and quite frankly you've gotten a lot better over the years."
"Well Gran Torino won't be one of the teachers that the students will be up against for obvious reasons," Nezu pointed out, "the restrictive weights would throw off his center of gravity and leave him unable to safely use his quirk."
There was a knock at the door, "Come innn.." called out Nezu cheerfully, and a shellshocked Vlad entered the room.
"Uh Cementoss you're really going to have your work cut out for you fixing the mall training area," Vlad began, "I apologize for the inconvenience my students caused."
"Not a problem."
"Well we can get on to what teachers are facing off with Class 1-B's students," Nezu commented.
U.A. Gym Gamma: (Late Afternoon)
Gran Torino stretched in front of Bakugo while Mineta watched off to the side since Midoriya had a class representative meeting to attend with Yaoyorozu.
"You're sure you still want to do this," Gran Torino asked.
"Bring it old man," Bakugo replied.
"Okay Minoru start us off."
"Okay... But you both have to stop if I call it right?"
"Just start us off."
"Ready... Start!"
Notes:
I figured Bakugo would handle things in a more mature manner if the reveal had happened differently. Also there would be a level of respect for Gran Torino, since he taught All Might. Additionally with how USJ was different and Midoriya and Bakugo were forced to work together, it enabled some respect for each other to be built up.
Thoughts on Midoriya getting a different hero name?
