Chapter 4: Life At Soumei
By 7am Izuku managed to fill up the truck, although he was completely exhausted by the end of it. He rushed over to the changing hut and used the showers there before getting into his uniform so he could rush off to the train station to get to school.
When he got to the front gates he ran into Tenya Iida. "Hurry up Midoriya! You'll be late! But no running in the halls!"
"You'll be late too Iida if you don't use your quirk!" Izuku responded with a smirk.
Iida let out an accusatory gasp. "I would never use my quirk without permission. If running through the halls is a sin, using my quirk to jet across the halls would be a supreme act of villainy! By the way Midoriya, you look like you are about to fall on your face. Are you sure you don't need to go to the nurses office?"
Izuku gave Iida a guilty look, "I've been up since 4 in the morning…"
This caused Iida to look at him wide eyed as they were "fast walking". "What kind of training could you be doing at four in the morning?"
Izuku put a finger to his chin and looked up pondering on how to answer without revealing that he was getting trained by All Might and that would certainly upset Iida and make him jealous because who wouldn't want to be trained by the Number One hero himself? He decided on a partial truth in the end.
"I'm helping clean up this beach that has a bunch of trash dumped on it. By picking up and moving all the trash I'm working out all sorts of muscle groups, and I'm exercising my telekinetic abilities in the process. Oh, and I also learned that my ability to heal my plants also allows me to heal myself to a certain extent." That last part came out unexpectedly as he was starting his famous mumble, but stopped abruptly when he realized he revealed that his latest secret, and this caused Iida to jump in shock.
"You can heal yourself?!" Iida exclaimed in sheer shock and awe.
"Hey. No yelling in the hallways." Izuku chastised Iida and with a smirk of satisfaction he made Iida turn red and start to sweat out of embarrassment. "And don't go blabbing about it. I didn't mean to tell you, I just got caught up in one of my mumbling phases okay? I would really appreciate it if this didn't get out. I hope you understand but I really do not appreciate all the fawning attention from all the girls in this school because I have three quirks as it is. I can't go a day without walking these halls without a girl approaching me and hinting that they would want to go on a date with me, just because I have multiple quirks. Could you imagine what they'd ask me if they found out I could heal injuries?"
"Of course, I understand Midoriya." Iida said bowing his head. "As someone who clearly isn't straight…"
"Woah!?" Midoriya gasped turning a vibrant shade of crimson at these words. "What gives you the idea that I'm not straight?! Seriously? What's your problem Iida?" Iida then turns to him with a look of embarrassment.
"I'm sorry if I have offended you Midoriya. It's just that no straight man would turn down so many beautiful women who look like supermodels approaching them with the clear intent of courtship." Iida began but Izuku interrupted him.
"Listen Iida. These girls are only asking me out are vain and have no personality, and they are only giving me the time of day because I have multiple quirks. They think I'll be a super famous hero one day and will get really rich so I can buy them expensive stuff. I don't want to date anyone like that. I want to date someone who isn't interested in money or fame or the fact that I have multiple quirks. Okay? Also this is my last year here. Pretty bad time to start dating someone when we are going to have to go our separate ways in a year. Plus the torment I'd have to put up from my mother... She loves nothing more than to embarrass me sometimes, and she never understands that I don't like that. She would ask thousands of questions about every tiny annoying detail about our relationship. I don't want to have to deal with that... In the end, I am NOT one of those perverts that wants a harem. What I want is a girl who appreciates me for who I am and doesn't act fake."
This caused Iida to look even more embarrassed as they entered their classroom and Iida quickly apologized before they got to their desks right as the teacher walked in, only sitting down once the teacher took the podium.
"Now as much as I would love to keep everyone in this class, you will all be leaving Soumei in about 10 months time come February of next year. Now I have forms for every single one of you. I want you to all write down the three high schools of your choice that you want to get into so the counseling department can get started on your applications."
The class proceeded normally, but Izuku found out that he had a hard time paying attention to what his teacher was saying. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the other students.
"Midoriya!" Izuku jumped to attention when he was called out.
"Yes sensei?" he responded.
"Is everything okay Midoriya? I feel like we are losing you." Izuku blinked a few times and then responded that he was perfectly okay but his teacher wanted him to remain after class. Once everyone had filed out, (Iida was the last one to leave the room) Izuku walked up to the teacher's desk.
"Midoriya what is going on with you? I know you were involved in that villain attack a couple days ago. I think it may have affected you and your performance here in class, do you want to see if the school can arrange for you to have a therapist?" his teacher asked him
"No sensei that won't be necessary. My mother offered to get me a therapist right after I came home from the attack, but I don't need one. I'm afraid my lack of attention and performance was due to my new training regimen. I managed to get a tailored made workout routine and schedule for me, but the downside of it is I have to get up earlier than I'm used to and I'm just not fully adapted to my new schedule." Izuku explained.
"I see." His teacher mused, putting his elbows on his desk, and interlocking his fingers. "That would most certainly explain your lack in ability to pay attention to what is going on in class. I did indeed see that UA was your first choice in school to go to on your application you gave me at the start of class. You want to be a part of the Hero Course am I not wrong?"
"Well yes sir. That is my eventual goal." Izuku said sheepishly with his trademark cute grin. "That's why I'm working my butt off right now. In order to get into UA. I can't make my dreams come true if I don't put the effort in can I?"
"No I suppose not, but you need to be careful Midoriya not to push yourself too far. Even heroes have their limit. I don't want you to break yourself-"
"But sir if I don't push myself beyond my limits. How can I grow?" Izuku interrupted. With his eyes a bit wider in a sign of subtle protest. Looking down at his professor. Also pausing realizing he had just interrupted his sensei. Something that was heavily frowned upon at Soumei, and now he felt guilty and a tad bit afraid. His professor however took it in stride.
"Listen Midoriya. While it is true that one gets stronger by going beyond their limits. Like tearing their muscle fibers so they can come back stronger. To do it to such an extreme is dangerous. I understand you are doing everything in your power to get into UA. You also need to think about being careful about your time here at Soumei. You are here for 10 more months and you need to make sure you are able to continue your studies here. If you don't graduate from Soumei you will not be able to go to UA. Understood?" His teacher said with his fingers pressed together staring down Izuku.
"Yes Sensei." Izuku said bowing his head, his teacher then dismissed him.
When he walked out of his classroom he found that Iida was waiting for him outside the door. "You aren't one to wait around when it is lunch time Iida. You normally scarf down your food and then head to the library to get homework done before afternoon classes."
Iida pushed up his glasses and then they give off their characteristic flash as they both start walking down the hallway, Izuku keeping up a very fast pace because One: he was very hungry and could scarf down an entire three course meal at this point, and Two: he wanted to get back at Iida for his comment earlier before class by walking at such a fast pace it was almost considered running, but not actually running so he couldn't yell at him for running in the halls. "Midoriya, you should really consider toning down your training. You were barely able to pay attention in class. You were spacing out the entire time. You won't get into UA if you don't do well these 10 months until the entrance exam!"
"Hey no shouting in the Halls Iida." Izuku smiled, and this made Iida turn red and Izuku thought he could see steam come from his ears as they entered the cafeteria and got into line to get their lunch.
The food as Soumei was great, thanks to it being a private academy and not the local public school. Luckily there were numerous options that matched All Might's diet requirements.
"At least I won't starve for choice." Izuku thought to himself as he got in the slow moving line to get his food. Soon he made his way to his favorite table and sat down. He was surprised when Iida sat down across from him.
"Don't you normally sit on the other side of the hall so you can yell at people who are trying to cut in line Iida?" Izuku mused, his rice in his chopsticks halfway to his mouth.
"Yes, normally I do. Cutting in line is a despicable act that should not go unpunished!" Iida said in his robotic voice and his arm making chopping motions, this caused Izuku to give a cute half smile. "But today I decided to sit with you instead." He went on in a far more normal, non-robotic tone. "I figured that if you are also planning on getting into the UA Hero Course, I should get to know you a bit more."
"I guess I can understand that." Izuku stammered. As much as he had fun poking fun at Iida for his assumptions earlier, he was still a very socially awkward person. It was something he couldn't help. Even around his friends, although for the past several days he had been wondering if they just wanted to be his friend because he had multiple quirks.
He started thinking about that more and more ever since he saw how the heroes reacted when he told them he had three quirks. He began to suspect that he didn't have any true friends. Every single one of his friends had constantly praised his quirks and how cool they made him. Had he been blind this whole time? Could Iida be his first true friend?
"Yeah! We should hang out more often!" Izuku replied with a smile on his face. He also gratefully he managed to keep these thoughts internal and not go through one his muttering phases.
That lunch period was the first one where he noticed that Iida didn't actually go to the library to get homework done early. Izuku managed to get through his after lunch classes with more concentration now that he had more food in his stomach. He'd have to eat his breakfast after his workout if he hoped to pay attention after his morning workouts with All Might.
"Midoriya?" Iida called, and Izuku turned around. "Don't you normally head to the greenhouses once school is out to look after the plants?"
"Yeah I normally do, but as you know I'm following a new training routine specifically designed for me you see." He replied in his normal stuttering shy manner with his hand rummaging through his hair.
"Ah I see." Iida responded pushing his glasses up as they were slipping again. "You know, I'm worried about this routine, it is leaving you unable to pay attention. Please don't tell me you aren't planning on working out again right now Midoriya?"
"Well yeah… I sort of am." Izuku replied sheepishly, looking down slightly at the ground. Next thing he knew Iida had place a hand on his shoulder and was looking the young boy in the eye. It was at this moment that he noticed Iida had an extraordinarily strong grip.
"You know, are you sure that this 'personalized' routine for you is actually well thought out? It left you exhausted and unable to function during this morning's classes. I can understand dietary restrictions, but there must be a limit to your workouts. Asking you to work out twice a day is going a bit too far." Iida responded calmly.
"Oh I'm sure this routine is great for me." Izuku protested, "Besides, I have a…" he didn't want to admit All Might himself was supervising his training, but if he didn't include him somehow in his explanation, he was positive Iida wouldn't leave him alone because he was set on being his friend. "The man supervising my workouts happens to work at All Might's Hero Agency! And he is also reporting back to All Might who is making changes to the routine as needed. This all started after the sludge villain attack, All Might himself was impressed of how I dealt with the situation, so he had his friend find me and help train me when I told him I planned on going to UA. He also told me it would be a shame if someone like me didn't get into his Alma Matter."
Iida's face turned from worry and concern to a mixture of approval and shock, the sudden change was rather alarming to Izuku. "All Might is involved in your training!?"
"Woah! Woah! Iida calm it down!" Izuku panicked. "Why are you screaming to the world that All Might is training me!?" Izuku could feel is heart beating like he ran a marathon out of panic and could feel his face blush full of color. "And can you take your hand off my shoulder, please? It hurts a lot."
Iida took his hand off of Izuku. "My apologies Midoriya! I had no idea I was causing you pain. And I'm sorry for shouting. I should've been more careful."
"Thanks Iida." Izuku responded quietly. "Anyways I really need to get going. I have to make sure I'm not late." With that Izuku and Iida parted ways and Izuku rushed off towards the train to make it to Dagobah beach to meet up with All Might.
"Hello there Mr. Yagi!" Izuku called out as he ran up to All Might, "I saw on the news that you saved 12 people and resolved 4 separate incidents today!"
"That I did Young Midoriya. Now I need you to fill this truck right now." All Might responded, which just wiped Izuku's enthusiasm within a second. "Not only that, I want you to use your Telekinesis quirk to try and crush the trash so you can fit more of it in the truck!"
"But All Might I only did that to a can of orange juice that one time!" Izuku immediately protested with a look of absolute terror on his face and he immediately fell to the ground in panic. This caused All Might to laugh as he took pictures of Izuku in his state of abject terror.
"You'll never go plus ultra if you don't push your powers beyond their limits! Your version of One For All will be FAR more powerful than whatever I could do!"
"WHAAAAAAAT!?" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Yeah, One For All gets stronger every time it is past from user to user. You'll be stronger and more powerful than me one day. You need to make sure your body is ready for the barrage of energy." All Might responded laughing. "However, if what we learned about your third quirk is true, then it makes me think you could be ready quicker than the original 10 month timeline we set out on."
This caused Izuku to look up at his idol with a look of complete confusion. "I'm not sure where you are getting at Mr. Yagi. Sure I healed myself without intending too, and it was just minor scratches and all." Izuku paused and then a feeling of sheer terror came upon him. "Oh my God! You aren't suggesting that I severely hurt myself!?"
This caused All Might to panic with shock. "Oh goodness no Young Midoriya! I would suggest nothing of the sort!" He then put his hands down back to his sides and calmly walked up to Izuku. "No, what I'm suggesting is the way you make your plants grow. You can make them grow way faster than nature intended. Normally it takes an awfully long time for vegetables to grow from planting to harvest time. Yet, you are able to shorten that cycle to that of a week. Now plants are living things just like you. Perhaps you might be able to use your quirk on yourself as a cheat code. Speed up your training. Not only that, if we prove it, we can make One For All as an excuse for your third quirk and work it into the explanation. Plus you'll have to update your quirk registration with the government when it comes time to apply to UA. You'll have to do it no matter what because you found out recently that your third quirk allows you to heal yourself, regardless of gaining One For All."
Izuku looked at his teacher with a mixture of awe and understanding, and then they got into their training. He began by concentrating on himself, focusing his mind on his muscle groups and noticing a slight silver tinge to his skin when he was doing so. When it came to his Telekinesis, after much effort he was able to crush and compact something objects the size of your standard chair you would find in an office and, by sunset he managed to fill the truck.
"Now Midoriya my boy." All Might started, "You noticed perhaps that I didn't have you use your fire quirk yet during these training sessions." Izuku nodded silently in understanding. "I decided that it was unwise to use your fire quirk in public. One, we don't want to start a major incident that the police wouldn't take kindly to. Setting all this trash on fire at the beach for one. Two, we just need a safe place to practice your quirk because it does need development in order to be used safely. Now, I've spoken to Backdraft who was at the Sludge Villain attack as well, and thus he remembers you. He was quite impressed with your abilities in putting those fires out. He has agreed to let us borrow his training facility for you to train your fire quirk."
"WOW! That is awesome All Might!" Izuku responded, his eyes bright. "But All Might…" Izuku's face falling a tad bit. "Does he know about All for One or your non-power form?" This caused All Might to look serious at Izuku
"No he does not know about One for All, it is imperative that he does not learn of it. That is why we must be incredibly careful if we have to discuss it in his presence." All Might said in a voice more serious than Izuku had ever heard from the man. "However, we may have to let him know about my weak form because I doubt I'll be able to maintain my power form for the time necessary for your training, especially if it is after school when I've done most of my hero work."
With that Izuku Midoriya headed on home. He was still in his workout clothes and remembered to spray on some deodorant before heading on the train so as to not disturb the other passengers. However, that didn't go to plan which was clearly evident as everyone kept his distance from him. He was hoping to see Hiro again on the train, but he had no luck. He got home and heard the same call for him to shower barely before he got his shoes off. He washed up and got changed, and his mother sat him down at the dinner table.
"So how was school honey?" Inko said, doting on her son. Izuku began to chow down at a rapid pace because he was absolutely starving. He eventually paused.
"I made a new friend today." Izuku responded and then went back to his food with earnest.
"That's great news Izuku!" Inko cheered, really happy for her son. "What's their name? What are they like? Is this a girlfriend? Or perhaps it is a boyfriend? I won't judge you at all and love you all the same."
"MOM!" Izuku stammered with food in his throat causing it get stuck in his throat, causing him to choke for a bit, his face began to turn purple and this resulted with his mother having to rush around the table and pull a Heimlich maneuver on her son. After his airway was cleared he rubbed his throat and chest for a couple minutes, before he spoke again, his voice cracking and a bit out of pitch. "Why would you say that mom? Why would you ask that? First Iida, now you?!" He felt his eyes water and an extremely uncomfortable feeling started to go in his chest that had nothing to do with the choking incident.
"Well you see son. Young boys your age start to get certain feelings for people. I mean I have no problem who you bring home, just as long as they don't stay the night or you don't sneak out in the middle of the night to go to their place…" Inko pattered on in a WAY too cheerful voice with what appeared to be a sinister grin from Izuku's standpoint.
"MOM! Please! I don't know what you're talking about!" Izuku said his face a deep shade of red that contrasted shockingly with his green hair. His face looked like a Christmas ornament.
"Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about? I thought we had "the talk." I could've been mistaken and thought we did it. I know we have the books in the living room…" Inko prattled on, and it was clear that her smile from Izuku's perspective was PURELY sinister and villainous.
"No Mom! No Mom!" Izuku's face turning if even possible, even redder. He was thinking in the back of his head that he hoped the sludge villain would come bursting through the front door and he would welcome it as a grateful distraction. "We already had "the talk" we have no need to have it again. I'm 100 percent positive and sure that we do not need to have the talk again."
"Okay, only if you say so." Inko replied still with that silly grin of hers. Izuku privately thought she was upset she didn't get the chance to torment him again and give him a "surprise quiz" and "diagrams to label" again. "So, tell me about this Iida friend of yours."
Grateful for a return to a normal subject, Izuku felt like he could finally calm down. "Well his name is Tenya Iida, and he is a bit of a bookworm, very strict, loves to follow the rules, and sometimes acts like a robot." The rest of the evening went without event, to which Izuku was grateful for it being uneventful given the conversation that went down at dinner.
The next few months were relatively normal. He started training at Backdraft's facility once a week to work on his fire quirk. He got particularly good at putting fires out, and while there he learned to easily switch between his Telekinesis quirk and his fire quirk. Also, while there he learned to shoot fire balls from his palms. He took fun in changing the color of the fire balls, he even got them to be multiple colors, settling on green for it was his favorite color. In addition, he managed to produce a wall of fire and a flamethrower from his palms, but both were rather weak and lacking in the punch department. However, what he really wanted to work on was a pair of flaming wings so he could fly like the Pro Hero Hawks, but that was proving to be extremely difficult for him, and the means to do it were eluding him. He could make the wings solid, but he couldn't learn how to control all the feathers and the concentration involved was too much for him, his wings often dissipating as he fell on his face or his concentration wasn't strong enough.
It turns out All Might was right about his third quirk, using it on himself caused his muscles to grow at a far more rapid pace than it was intended. As a result, All Might had to completely reorganize the training schedule. All in all, it was almost Christmas when he managed to clean up the beach, and he mastered the ability of healing minor injuries to himself. When it got to the week before Christmas, he ran to the beach and met up with All Might.
"Young Midoriya!" All Might said with pride turning into his muscle form "Look at what you have done! You have cleaned up this entire beach in a time frame that surpassed my wildish expectations." He beamed down at Izuku with unmistakable pride in his eyes. "Now it is time for me to fulfill my end of the bargain." He plucked a piece of hair from his head. "Now with this I bestow One for All onto you."
Izuku blinked at the hair and stared at it blindly. After what seemed about thirty seconds, he asked "What am I supposed to do with your hair?"
"EAT THIS! You are supposed to swallow it!" All Might exclaimed frustratingly "You have to have a piece of my DNA inside of you. That's how it works. Would you rather have me force you to consume my toenails?"
Izuku gulped with visible disgust at the mere mention of All Might's toe nails and took the hair from All Might. He stared at it for a few seconds before putting it in his mouth and with great difficulty swallowed it. This whole ordeal grossed Izuku out to the core. "So that's it? I have One For All now?"
"Yes, you do my boy!" All Might responded proudly. "Although what you have is a tiny glimmer to what I have, but it will eventually burn into a mighty inferno of power that'll surpass what power I have. It'll take a few hours, so come meet me here at sundown and we'll try and put the power to the test."
With that Izuku ran off home to relax since he didn't have school today. He got back before his mom woke up and managed to cook her breakfast. "Izuku!" She exclaimed at the breakfast spread he prepared for her. "I thought you'd be off training by now."
"I got the day off for today." He said giving his mother a loving smile to which she returned with a hug. "I'm going to spend the day working on my brain instead of my muscles instead." And so, he spent the entire day in his room working on his studies. He not only had to pass the practical exam, but also a written exam as well.
It was about 30 minutes till sundown that he left to go to the beach. He felt no different in his body, even though All Might said he should have One For All now. When he got to the beach, he saw All Might there in his skinny form, but also there was a short elderly woman next to him as well. That's when he recognized her… "Recovery Girl! You are here! You are one of the best healers in the world!"
"Pipe it down sonny." She mused; her expression unchanging. "I'm merely here as a favor for Toshi you see."
Izuku then looked at All Might, then back at Recovery Girl, and then back at All Might, and repeated the process many more times. "Yes, Young Midoriya!" All Might exclaimed turning into his muscle form. "She knows all about One For All as well. She is my doctor after all." His next words were in a more serious tone however. "You'll most likely be heavily injured, because to understand and measure what percentage of One For All you are using, you must know what it feels like to use it at 100%"
This caused Izuku to gulp, and fear started to seep through his body. His legs started shaking, his eyes went wide, and… he felt like he was about to pass out. He had never willingly injured himself before. "Okay…" he gulped.
"GOOD!" All Might exclaimed, rather a bit too enthusiastically in Izuku's opinion given what that his mentor was instructing him to deliberately hurt himself. "Now I want you to go to the water's edge and use One For All at 100%"
"Okay then…" Izuku slowly paced to the water and stood there. He then eventually turned to All Might, and slowly stuttered as he asked the question that was on his mind: "How do you turn One For All on and off?"
After a very awkward moment of silence All Might yelled out: "You have to feel it my boy! Call upon it."
"Ummmm… Okay?" Izuku blankly replied turning again to face the ocean again. He stood there for a bit staring at the darkening sky. He slowly raised his hand and in his mind he began calling for something, and that is when he felt it. He felt an overwhelming amount of power course through his body. He did everything in his power to concentrate the power in his arm through instinct because he sure as heck did not know what he was doing. He pulled his arm back and released it forward letting lose on the grip of power with an all mighty: "SMASH!" The resulting punch parted the ocean way far out into the distance, and he was on the beach wincing in pain because he had just broken his right arm. It took his entire willpower not to swear, especially in front of All Might and Recovery Girl.
Next thing he knew All Might and Recovery Girl were right beside him. "Dear me Toshinori. You told me what to expect, but I didn't expect this. I'll heal you soon sonny, but first I want you to try and heal yourself first, Toshi has told me you have the ability to heal yourself and there is no better time to practice that ability than right now. That is also really the only reason I came out here. Healing quirks are rare and it is a treat to see a new on in action. Also, I won't be able to heal you all the time, and I have my limit on how many times I'm willing to treat injuries like these." Recovery Girl went off.
So Izuku wincing in pain, took his left arm and placed it on his right. He did everything to try and clear his mind and fill his entire body with positive emotions. He thought of how his arm felt before it was broken, tried to picture that in his mind. A gold aura surrounded both of his arms, and after a while the sparkly gold aura faded away and Recovery Girl walked forward to examine his work.
"Looks like you did a good job for someone who isn't used to using their healing quirk on themselves." She mused "You are very lucky; I can't use my quirk on myself." She gave Izuku a small wink and smile. "You managed to clear up all the bruising, repair all the damaged blood vessels, but there are still some bone fractures that you were unable to fix." Next thing he knew Recovery Girl had used her quirk on him and he was back to normal although exhausted.
"Thanks Recovery Girl." Izuku said very thankfully. "I've been reading up on how the body works and about several numerous injuries and how they are treated in preparation in case I got more than scrapes and bruises during my training. And now I feel really tired right now…"
"Healing takes energy and stamina." Recovery Girl cheerfully replied. "Nothing can change that. You will find you'll tire yourself out if you heal your own injuries. When I use my quirk, my stamina isn't affected, only the patient's. It is also good you took the initiative to read up on how injuries are treated. Such knowledge is commonly vital in the use of healing quirks."
And with that, Izuku had used One For All for the first time. All Might told him that he won't have any training for him till the New Year, although if things work out he may have a surprise come Christmas.
It wasn't until Christmas Day that Izuku heard back from All Might. He had just finished cooking a of fried chicken for him and his mother. A load of other people went to this famous fast food restaurant to buy fried chicken for Christmas dinner, which was an odd tradition in Japan, but a tradition none the less. However, Izuku thought he could cook a better meal than any fast food restaurant could dream of matching. As he was taking the last pieces of chicken out of the oil, he got a phone call. It was from All Might. He turned around and noticed that his mother was within ear shot and answered the phone.
"Hello there Mr. Yagi." Izuku said calmly as he picked up the phone, and he noticed his mother turn around and look at him. "Hey mom, could you please look after the chicken as it cools down, I'll be taking this phone call in my room."
"Sure thing Izuku." His mother replied excitedly. However, his mother gave him an odd glance that made Izuku uncomfortable. Izuku made it to his room and then sat down and addressed All Might.
"So Midoriya! I'm not just calling to wish you a Merry Christmas!" All Might exclaimed on the phone, causing Izuku to recoil and yank the phone away from his ear.
"All Might! You are going to rupture my ear drums and I'll have to use my quirk to fix them!" Izuku shot back into the phone. Afterwards there was a few moments of silence.
"Sorry about that Young Midoriya!" All Might responded a bit more quietly, but still quite loud for his comfort levels, so he decided to keep the phone further away from him than he normally would. "I have an old friend who'll be visiting for the New Year. It is my old teacher." Something now seemed off about All Might's voice, he seemed… afraid.
"All Might… are you alright?" Izuku replied nervously, "Why are you talking like you are afraid?"
"Oh, I'm not afraid at all Young Midoriya." All Might responded in a voice that made it clear that was a down right lie. "It's just, that I happened to write to my former teacher and I mentioned that you were able to surpass my fitness routine faster than I expected, and he wanted to give you a few lessons."
"That's sounds awesome All Might. But still, why are you sounding like you are scared of your former teacher?" Izuku asked with genuine curiosity, what about this man could scare All Might?
"Oh, I told you there is absolutely no reason to be afraid." All Might grumbled.
"You are completely, and absolutely pathetic at lying All Might." Deku grumbled
"Just be at the beach on the first of the year okay?" All Might responded and then hung up. With that Izuku wondering what was waiting for him at the beginning of the New Year. He left his room and went back to the kitchen.
"So how was the conversation with your girlfriend?" Inko mused with an evil smirk on her face. This caused Izuku to jump in shock.
"It wasn't my girlfriend mom." Izuku sighed, his mother was making that joke every time he got off the phone. He seriously didn't know how she kept finding it funny anymore. "It was my trainer. Now stop trying to tease me."
"Izuku," Inko grinned, "I'm your mother, it's my job to tease my son."
With that Izuku let out a sigh and placed the food on the table, not knowing how he was going to get his mother to understand that he didn't like to be teased. Before the two sat down though, they left a plate of fried chicken in front of a picture of Izuku's father. The mother and son stood next to one another in silence. Christmas was Hisashi's favorite time of year, and fried chicken was his favorite food. Inko then placed an arm around her son as she began to cry. At times she could be just as emotional as her son.
It was like this during every Christmas, it was always a sad time for the Midoriya household. No matter how much they tried to put cheer into the day, the memory of Izuku's father always seemed to come upon them.
However, as they dined on homemade fried chicken, a handful of kilometers away, a young Hiro was not having such a wonderful Christmas night. In fact, he would give anything to have to endure Izuku's teasing…
