Chapter 24: Who are you?
"Turn right here." At Eri's command, Izuku took a sharp turn, making sure to hold the girl on his back steady, and entered a side street.
Eri confirmed again on her phone the path and nodded, even if Izuku couldn't see it from her position. As they were going to a place neither had been before, she decided to be the navigator and guide the way from the comfort of a piggyback. Izuku was fine with that, as compared to his regular workouts, a run with Eri's comparatively little weight on his back wasn't enough to even break a sweat.
"We're ten minutes from the hospital."
Izuku looked over his shoulder to his apprentice and smiled, "Let's make it in five." Getting an excited nod from Eri, he sped up.
The reason for their trip to a hospital in another prefecture was because Shoto had invited them for, as the bichromatic boy said, "something really important".
He didn't give details, but Izuku promised he would be there anyway.
Eri came along for the simple fact Inko was dragged by Mitsuki to a girls outing. The way she said that told the little princess that it was better run before she got roped into it too.
Izuku was fine with that, he liked to spend time with Eri and it also presented the perfect opportunity, "Surprise Magic Quiz! What are the three principal defensive magics?" The young Keyblade Master had come with the idea of his Surprise Magic Quizzes to make sure Eri was learning. It basically consisted of him making questions in random moments to try catching her off guard, but his apprentice was always more than ready to make Izuku proud.
"Barrier, Reflect and Aero." Eri answered without a second of hesitation.
"Right! What are the two primary healing magics?"
"Cure and Esuna!"
Izuku laughed, "Great! What is the name of the purely Light offensive spell?"
"Pearl!" Eri punctuated her response by casting said spell up. The orb of Light flew up before bursting into glowing particles.
Izuku's eyes shone, his little princess was a genius of magic on par with what he remembered of Aqua, "Yes, you got a perfect score!"
Eri threw her arms up in victory, "Yay!" Both Izuku and her laughed joyfully.
"They grow up so fast." Nana dried an inexistent tear, "One moment they're breaking their bones on a giant robot, the next they're teaching their own kids how to make miracles."
Izuku pouted internally, 'It was one time! And I got back at those oversized piles of scrap!' He was broken out of his complaining by a tap on the shoulder.
"Izuku."
"Yeah?"
Eri shyly glanced at the armor piece he always wore, "Can I get an armor too?"
Izuku hummed, she did work hard on her training so… "On your birthday." The girl instantly perked up and cheered.
"Izuku, no."
'Izuku, yes.'
"Guys, help me here." Nana tried to appeal to the ancient ones' wisdom. A male voice that seemed to come from far away answered her.
"It's not a weapon and it's extra protection in case anything bad happens. Let the kid have fun."
'I really should meet everyone in there.' Izuku directed his thoughts to the occupants of his heart.
"We are planning on making an official meeting and stuff. It's just that you are so ahead of schedule we're having trouble keeping up." Nana gave a mock annoyed huff, "Don't worry, though. It shouldn't take too long."
'Okay then?' Izuku really should be more informed about the things happening with him, but when did he ever?
"Take a left. That's the hospital street." At Eri's guidance, they finally reached their destination.
Waiting at the entrance of the hospital was Shoto. He saw Izuku approaching and raised his hand, greeting, "You came."
"Yup. And I brought Eri too."
The girl waved but didn't make any movement to stand by herself, "Hi."
Shoto waved back, "Hello." He gestured at the doors, "Let's get going."
Izuku nodded, "Sure, but what are we doing here exactly?"
The youngest Todoroki gave a small smile, "After the festival, I decided to come visit my mother. Before I never had the courage to, but I finally felt brave enough to try." His retelling of events earned Shoto blinding smiles from Izuku and Eri.
"That's great!"
"Yes. And that's the reason we're here." Shoto guided him through the hospital hallways, trading a nod with some nurses on the way, "I told her you were the one that beat some sense into my head; looking back now, I see how much I needed it, so my mother asked if she could meet you."
"Oh." Izuku blinked, "Wait, right now?!"
"Yes."
"We're going to meet mama Todoroki!" Eri cheered, "Is she nice?"
Shoto gave a soft smile, "She's the best."
Nana sniffed, "They're so pure. I'm not crying! You're crying!"
Izuku sniffed, 'I know.'
They arrived before the waterworks could start. The door was simply marked with a Todoroki in a sign; beyond that, it was indistinguishable from all the others.
"Ready?" Shoto had the mind to ask.
Eri hopped down, and Izuku made sure his belts were aligned right. Both nodded, "Yes!" Shoto opened the door and entered, Izuku and Eri behind him.
Inside the room, facing the window and tending to a bouquet of fresh flowers, was an older woman with pure white hair. She turned at the sound of the door, a smile only a mother seeing her child could have adorning her face, "Shoto, good to see you again, and you brought company."
"Yes. This is Izuku, who I told you about, and Eri, his…" Noticing he actually didn't know exactly what the relationship between them was, Shoto could only vaguely wave his hands between them.
Izuku, for his part, could only shrug, "Apprentice." He decided to go with the simplest, even if the word carried more meaning than most people could imagine. Bowing slightly to the woman, he greeted her formally, "It's good to meet you, Todoroki-san."
The woman giggled, even more so when Eri copied Izuku, "Don't need to be so formal, after everything you did for my Shoto, Rei is fine."
Shoto nodded, "I expected him to do that anyway."
Izuku turned to him, "Hey! I know how to be respectful." He pouted.
"I know. It's just that you'll probably be friends with everyone in the hospital by the time we leave." Shoto held his chin in thought, "What was the phrase? Friendship is inevitable?"
Izuku sighed and slumped, "Et tu, Shoto?"
The boy in question blinked, "What?"
Rei laughed alongside Eri, "Are they always this lively?"
The girl nodded, "Ever since they tried to blow each other up at the festival. It was amazing! But Izuku was more amazing!"
The rest of the afternoon was spent with Rei knowing more about the boy that helped her son free his heart from the chains his father, and even her, caged it with.
—
Shigaraki ripped another page, Decayed it, and threw the remains in the trash. Picking a new pen, as the last had just run out of ink, he tried one more time.
From behind him, Vanitas chuckled, "Really, Handsy? You're making a sales speech?"
Shigaraki growled, "It's a recruitment speech. If I want better troops, I need to pass my charisma checks." He started to write again, only to not like the very first line and rip the page from the notebook he was using, maybe the twentieth in on the painful process of convincing people to do what you want them to. Sighing, Shigaraki glared over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be out there looking?"
Vanitas waved him off, "Kurogiri is handling it, and I just came back from another stock run." The masked boy grumbled under his breath, "Stupid world with its stupid rules."
"We have to find him. We're already behind."
"If you're worried Izzy Wizzy is going to leave you in the dust, don't." Vanitas gave a cruel laugh, "He's hurrying to get back what he lost, and he's not even close to that."
That actually picked Shigaraki's curiosity, "What do you mean?"
"Let's just say that even Light's favorites can't get away scot-free." Vanitas shook his head, "And he had one of them with him too." He spat the words, disgust evident in his voice.
"What the hell does that mean?" Shigaraki growled.
"Don't worry about that. It just means we know one of the seven is here, probably why the old coot is here." Vanitas shrugged dismissively, "Or not. It's not like it changes anything."
Shigaraki glared at the masked boy. Vanitas was throwing pieces he knew Shigaraki didn't know how to put together. Even then, the leader of the League of Villains committed them to memory. He would have time to solve the puzzle later, now he needed to focus on his current quest.
—
Izuku turned off the lights and got back on his bed. Eri claimed his side as her resting ground, causing him to smile, "Goodnight, little unicorn."
"Night." She answered sleepily, taking only a moment to be out like a light.
Izuku chuckled and closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him.
Izuku cracked his eyes open, blinking the blurriness out of them. He saw a familiar but different sight. He was sitting on a wooden throne in a room that seemed to exist in the void. It and eight others formed a circle. In each, a remnant of a past hero sat.
"Look who decided to wake up!" Nana smiled from her seat, "Sorry for the mess. We didn't have time to tidy the place up."
A man grumbled from another chair. He was large and muscular, with a square jaw, small dull blue eyes, no eyebrows, a bald head, and a very short beard.
The man was wearing dark leather clothes, golden stylish goggles, and a bandolier. The leather jacket he was using had yellow shoulder pads.
"If you hadn't wasted all the time on these damn chairs, maybe we could've finished the rest of the room."
Nana huffed, "Shush Daigoro!"
All Might, the aspect of him connected to One For All, tried to appease his seniors, "Let's calm down, I'm sure Young Izuku doesn't mind."
"I don't." Izuku supplied, "I'm actually more curious why you guys used the Organization XIII idea of a throne room."
From his place, the Third pointed to the man at his side, who actually reminded Izuku of Katsuki. He had short, spiky hair, a large scar across the front of his face, and wore a combat jacket with a large black collar. He also had a pair of gauntlets on his arms.
"Chief here decided to steal the idea."
"Shut up."
Nana sighed, "Don't mind the Second. He's like a cat. He needs to warm up to you."
The Second growled, but another one interrupted him before he could voice his opinion.
He had short, white hair that parted away from the base of his forehead, thin eyes that slant slightly downward, and two scar-like cracks stretching from the left side of his forehead down to his chin. His clothes were haggard, with the hoodie having its right sleeve ripped and his pants looking worn.
"Save it for later, we called him here for introductions and were on the clock." The man nodded to Izuku, "Welcome Ninth, I'm Higake Shinomori, the Fourth."
"Hey." Another one said, a fairly short man with short, dark hair parted twice away from his narrow eyes.
His clothes consisted of a large jacket with numerous straps and buttons, and a high collar that obscured his mouth and nose. Accompanying it are dark, fairly-baggy pants and large white hiking boots and his forearms were wrapped in sports tape.
"I'm En." He made a simple introduction and waved to Izuku with a smile that the boy responded in kind.
The last person in the room, a young man with a sickly and malnourished appearance and a weak body, cleared his throat loudly. He had white, messy hair that reached his shoulders, his bangs only slightly obscured his bright green eyes. He was dressed in simple clothes, wearing a white shirt and dark pants.
"As the plan was thrown out of the window, I'm just going to introduce myself. Hello Little Nine, I'm Yoichi Shigaraki, the First user of One For All."
Izuku, even with everything that just happened, still had the capacity to recognize the family name of Yoichi. Even then, his focus was on another thing, "You're the person that created… all of this." He waved around to convey what he was referring to.
"If you mean our brotherhood, then yeah." Yoichi chuckled.
"Wow."
Nana snorted, "Don't let him fool you Izuku, First here is as big a dork as you."
"Hey!" Both dorks pouted at her.
"I rest my case."
Yoichi sigged, "Moving on. We called you here to explain what you did at the festival, and we really need to hurry if we want to have enough time for it." That snapped the other users out of their goofing around, seriousness taking over.
"Huh, what did I do?" Except for Izuku, who only got confused.
The Second facepalmed, "You gotta be- You reached Singularity kid!"
Izuku blinked, two times, then three, "You mean like in that theory that says quirks are exponentially becoming more powerful, and one they will reach a point the human body won't be able to keep up?"
En shook his head, "Yes and no. The quirks will evolve when they reach that point, forcing the body to evolve too."
Daigoro nodded, "And you're on the first step. One For All reached Singularity, now you are gonna reach Singularity."
Nana threw a chalk she got from somewhere on Daigoro's forehead, "You're going to reach Singularity someday, but that's still a ways away, don't worry."
The Third nodded, "And that's when things will get fun. Until then, you have to be careful with what you do with One For All." He laughed, "Don't want a repeat of what happened when you used my quirk on the last match of the festival, eh?"
Izuku shuddered from the phantom pains on all of his body, "Yeah."
Toshinori looked Izuku in the eye, "You will be able to access the quirks of the past users stored in One For All with time, but that doesn't mean you can lag behind on its main aspect." He stood up, the younger form of the great hero, from when he was nothing but a man with a dream and a chance, still cutting an imposing image.
All Might kneeled before Izuku and held his shoulder, "Keep improving, Izuku. I know one day you will surpass me and all of us."
The words brought the boy close to tears. With a wet smile he nodded, "I will, I promise!" It was all he was able to say before the dawn of a new day called him back to the waking world.
"Make us proud, Little Nine." Yoichi said to the bright green star that flew away.
Izuku, still dazed from the night before events, stocked his backpack on autopilot. Eri at his side made sure he didn't put the Ethers under the Potions, and that he didn't mix them with the Panaceas.
"I think I got everything." He made a quick count and nodded.
"Do you really have to go?" Eri asked, holding Izuku's sleeve.
The boy kneeled to look her in the eyes, "Yes. Don't worry, it'll be only a week, and I'll call everyday."
"Promise?"
"Promise!" Izuku offered her his pinky finger. Eri locked hers with it and smiled.
Getting up, Izuku grabbed his bag and made his way to the door, where his mother was waiting. She gave him a hug, "Good luck out there. Be careful, okay?"
"I will. See you soon mom." With a last smile and a wave, Izuku left his house behind. Walking down the familiar path he always took, his mind once again started to wander.
What has changed with Singularity? Beyond the obvious, as he could feel Fa Jin stocking up in energy at each step he took and Float making him feel lighter. Izuku had experimented a little after Recovery Girl gave him the green light to go back to training.
He could use Fa Jin fine, if you didn't count the fairly big risk of him blowing up. Float was another story. Izuku could light himself up enough to jump three times as high, and he could glide slowly, but full on flight was not possible. The reason? He couldn't power it up enough yet. To test that hypothesis he entered Second Form and with the twenty percent he could use then, Izuku flew.
It was liberating and wonderful and everything Izuku remembered and more. Both those quirks were a huge power up for the Keyblade Master, but there were more still.
"Hey kiddo, don't worry. When you get ready for the other quirks we will tell you, and now you're not in mortal danger or doing something incredibly stupid, or both, we can help you with them." Nana gave him one of her trademarked ghost headpats.
"First, not stupid, unorthodox. Second, thanks Nana, and everyone too."
"Don't sweat it kid!" Daigoro's voice came from a deeper part of Izuku's heart.
The boy hummed, "I still didn't get his full name."
Nana sighed, "Yeah, sorry, we have to organize these meetings better. Next time."
"Sure, now I better hurry, can't get late to my internship!"
—
"Now listen here." Aizawa got his class attention. The twenty students, each with their bags and suitcases containing their new and improved hero costumes, stood before him in a line on the train station. "You all will be representing U.A. out there, so don't do anything that would reflect poorly on the school."
"Yes sir!" They answered, most copying their class representative and doing a salute.
"Good to see you understood. Now go."
"Wait!" Izuku stopped his friends from dispersing, "Remember guys, any question you have about the upgrades, just call me or send it on our group chat. And if anyone is in mortal danger, just send the location."
"Deku, you're probably the one that will end up in danger." Katsuki huffed.
"When I do, I'll send mine." Izuku was honestly fine with it being a question of when and not if, because that meant he would make the most of his internship.
"That's not a good metric." Nana deadpanned.
'Shush.'
Class 1-A traded some last goodbyes before starting to take their trains. Izuku still had one more message to deliver, and even if his target tried to slip away, the key bearer didn't let Tenya run off.
Grabbing the speedster's shoulder, he spoke even if his friend didn't turn back, "Tenya, I know it is hard, but you are not alone. If you want to talk, rant, or scream, we are here for you, all of us."
The youngest Iida looked at his friend, a fake smile plastered on his face, "Thank you, Izuku-san." With that, he walked away.
"You think he will be fine." Ochaco, who had followed after Izuku with the intention of helping speak with Tenya, only to give up seeing the response he gave, asked the green-haired boy.
Izuku took a deep breath, "That's strike two, next time I'm punching him."
Ochaco blinked, "Is that… really necessary?"
"It worked with Shoto." Izuku pointed out.
"True." The pair yelped in surprise, they hadn't realized Shoto was there.
"Don't scare us like that!" Ochaco pouted while trying to calm her drumming heartbeat.
"Sorry."
Izuku calmed down and turned to the boy, "And I'm also going to punch your dad if he tries anything."
Shoto nodded, "That's fair. Warn me first, I'll take some pictures."
"Sure!"
Ochaco blinked, "I think I'm missing something."
Izuku and Shoto traded a glance, "Don't worry about it." They said at the same time.
A train pulled over. Izuku checked the line and grinned, "That's my ride! See you later, guys." He waved and rushed to the train doors.
Izuku could barely contain his excitement, he would stay at a real hero agency under a pro!
—
"Am I in the wrong place?" Izuku asked himself. Others couldn't fault him, as before the boy stood a dilapidated building that seemed ready to topple over at the first strong breeze.
"Nah, that's Gran's place alright." Nana's confirmation didn't dissuade Izuku's concerns.
"Is there something with old people and rundown buildings or is it just my luck?" To be fair, Merlin's house wasn't that bad, or at least the visions Izuku had of it weren't.
"Both?"
Izuku nodded, "Both is good."
"Kid, relax. Do you trust me?"
"Always," Izuku answered without hesitation, earning him the ghost sensation of a half hug. He could almost see Nana standing at his side.
"Good, then grab a stick!" Izuku did. Nana told him what the boy should do.
With a last deep breath, Izuku opened the front door of the building, which wasn't locked, just like Nana said. Inside the dark room, lying facedown on a red puddle with meaty bits straying from under his form was a short old man in a white and yellow hero suit.
Izuku blinked, then he recited his lines, "Is he dead?" He approached the body and poked it with the stick he picked outside, "Yeah, he's dead."
The man's head shot up, "I'm alive!"
"Oh, he's alive."
Both kept staring at each other for a long second, trying to maintain their blank faces, then they cracked. The two laughed in the real world while eight other voices guffawed inside Izuku's head.
"Okay brat, that was a good one. But didn't you think to check if I was really hurt?" The man asked when he finally stopped laughing and got back up.
Izuku pointed at the mess on the ground, "You aren't. That's ketchup, not blood. Also, you shouldn't waste food like that; you could have used one of those red gardening hoses instead of sausage links." He frowned at the cooking ingredients on the floor.
"And who said we can't eat that anymore? Wash it, and it'll be good as new."
"Gran, don't you dare!"
Izuku smiled, "You're right!"
"No, he's not! Don't encourage him, Izuku."
"But let's leave the talk of food for later. You can call me Gran Torino." The man, Gran Torino, formally introduced himself while cleaning the mess on the floor.
Izuku bowed, "Nice to meet you! I'm Izuku, Midoriya Izuku."
Gran Torino turned to him, stared Izuku in the eyes for a second, then made a senile face and asked, "Who are you?"
Izuku blinked, confused, "What?" The sound of two facepalms only he could hear rang out.
"Here we go again." Nana and the Vestige of All Might groaned at the same time. That only caused Izuku to become more confused.
Gran Torino shook his head with a smirk, "Forget it. Now, what do we have here?" He opened Izuku's suitcase. The boy did a double-take; he had the case in his hand a second ago. Looking at the costume inside, the man nodded in approval, "Not bad, not bad at all. Suit up and power up One For All. I want to see what you can do."
Izuku hummed in concern, looking at the living room with its worn furniture, "Are you sure we should do this here?"
Gran Torino, for his part, huffed. Taking a deep breath, the retired hero launched himself, zipping through the room before crashing on the wall behind Izuku. The boy turned to see the man with hands and feet buried in the concrete.
"Did I stutter?"
Izuku grinned, "Well, all right then!" He dashed to his case and snatched it up. Diving inside the first room, he saw, a guest room from its looks. Izuku opened it again and gazed at the fruits of Mei and his' hard work.
Izuku's hero suit, version Beta. Putting the suit on, the young hero got a quick look at himself from a standing mirror in the corner of the room.
The costume was composed of a green jumpsuit complemented with a mouthpiece, black shoulder guards, and gauntlets, with wrist bracers marked by golden buttons, red lines running along the sides from his shoulder to his knees where dark shin guards rest. And of course, his signature red shoes, reinforced with metallic soles, and crossed belts, now red utility belts locked by the silver heart symbol on a cross, and his shoulder armor completing it. All of it was made with various Synthesis materials, like all of his friends, and with half a dozen surprises hidden up its sleeves, both metaphorically and not.
Smiling at himself, Izuku turned back to the door and powered up Full Cowling. Bolting out of the guest room, he blitzed between every surface on the wider living room like a viridian bolt of lightning. The young hero crashed into the wall opposite of Gran Torino, who was still on his perch.
"Took you long enough."
"Was making sure all the surprises Mei and I made weren't going to explode, at least not now."
The old man shook his head in mock exasperation, "Kids these days, with their costumes full of bells and whistles. In my time, anything that wouldn't let a bullet pass through you was more than enough."
"That's one of the things it does too, hopefully!" Izuku smiled, "But it also does this!" He ripped his right arm out of the wall and stretched it, aiming at Gran Torino. The wrist guard expanded to cover most of his hand while Izuku armed his finger for a flick, the digits glowing light green, "Magic Force: Aero Smash!"
Izuku flicked, and a condensed mass of Aero magic crossed the air. Gran Torino had to push his body out of the wall with all his strength to dodge in time. The orb of magical wind hit the wall and burst, generating a localized whirlwind that tore the concrete out of it.
"Test one is a success! Now, let's get into it!" The young Keyblade Master summoned Heroes Rising and threw himself at his mentor for the week.
Gran Torino barked out a laugh, "Looks like the brat has energy, let's see how long it can last!" They threw themselves at each other in a duel of speed that could only be described as two pinballs trying to beat the other one. And the battle promised to be a long one.
—
Fumikage put on his new garments. The base didn't change much compared to his original costume, but the cloak he now adorned was a mystical creation of wonderful and impossible proportions, at least to those that were not his friend and class representative.
The bird-headed boy traced a hand over the pitch black material and smiled, "As promised by our bright leader, the stars are within our reach."
Dark Shadow manifested and phased through the cloak. Cackling impishly, his darker self exclaimed, "Imagine their faces when you burst out our moves!"
"Let us not keep them waiting." Fumikage, no, Tsukuyomi marched out of the guest room he now occupied and made his way to his mentor.
With a whistle, the man nodded, "Looking good, kiddo."
"Thank you, Hawks-sensei."
The man, the number three hero of Japan, raised his hands in defeat, "Stop with the sensei business, will you?" Straightening his jacket and visor, Hawks waved at Tsukuyomi with a scarlet wing, "C'mon, we're going up."
The hero guided his intern to an elevator that led them straight to the roof of his agency. Up there, he still ascended more, a beat of his wings letting Hawks look over the whole city from his perch on a radio tower.
Tsukuyomi wasn't outdone. Dark Shadow united with him, covering the boy in Darkness. With a leap, they saw themselves beside Hawks.
"Not bad, but not enough. You know why I offered a spot to you?" Hawks asked, leaning into the steel structure of the tower.
"To try digging up information?" Dark Shadow snapped after separating himself from his lighter half.
"No… that too, but not only that." The man shrugged in a 'what can you do manner' before finishing, "It's because you're a bird, and I think you shouldn't be trapped on the ground."
Tsukuyomi stared at the man blankly for a long, uncomfortable minute. Then, he laughed. Both of them laughed.
Halks watched as the serious kid and his living quirk wheezed, "Okay, it sounds a little stupid saying it out loud, but it's true."
They got themselves under control, enough for Tsukuyomi to answer, "Oh, do not mistake our reaction, you are absolutely right on your assessment." He looked at the city, at the sea of stars that covered the earth, "However, you should not worry, for a certain someone already opened our eyes." Tsukuyomi turned to his mentor with a smile on his beak, "The night sky is ours!"
With that heartfelt declaration, he tilted back. Enjoying the panic striken face of Halks for a second, Tsukuyomi let the pull of gravity take hold of him. For but a moment, he dropped down the side of the building. In a second, they would forever remember as their first true taste of freedom, both sides of Tsukuyomi opened their wings.
They soared up the skies, the dark wings of jet black feathers made from Darkness itself pushing them further and further up. In the middle of the dark skyline of Tokyo, with only the bright silver moon and a stunned Hawks as a witness, The Hero of the Dark Night, Tsukuyomi, braved the horizon for the first time.
—
Mashirao ducked another sweep of a leg, jumped up the snap of a bone whip, and stopped the charge of a wall of horns with a perfectly executed throw that sent his opponent to the ground, hard.
If it could be really called that, his new costume was sure coming in hand. What was before a simple white gi now was a miracle that could send the economy crashing, or at least that was what Mashirao thought. The exterior appearance's only change was a fluffy fur cover on the neck section, but on the inside, a complex array of colorful plates offered the young hero the protection of full steel armor with the comfort and freedom of movement of cloth.
Beyond that, Mashirao, no, Tail Man, had still to test all the list of functions that came along with the costume. Literally, there was a front and verse page with a list of things his costume did.
That would have to wait, as his exercise of the day on his chosen agency was to fight three opponents with mutations alone.
"I would like to warn you all, my class rep is completely insane, and I have come to learn that it's contagious." He taunted his adversaries with a serene smile, "So you better try harder."
Tail Man would have sparred with every single person on the agency by the end of the day, and more than in one time, he was victorious.
—
Toru, or as of now, the amazing Invisible Girl, was beside herself in joy. Her new suit, present from her friend Izuku who was quickly climbing the ranks of the best person in the universe, at least in her opinion, was awesome!
The silvery white bodysuit fit her perfectly, and using a lot of magic stuff, it could turn invisible too! And a lot of other things! It had a note saying how he used his magical crystal thingies to make it work, but who cared about that?! It was magic!
Now with that part covered, pun very much intended, Invisible Girl could focus on the other thing Izuku helped her with. With some elbow grease, a little luck and a pinch of insanity, which was their class shtick by that point, she would have a big surprise for when they get back to school.
—
Momo traded a slightly nervous look with Itsuka. Looking back at their chosen mentor, Uwabami, whose three serpents she had in her hair stared at them as she checked herself in a hand mirror, the ginger asked, "I'm not sure we follow."
Momo nodded in agreement to Itsuka, "Wasn't you that offered us an internship?"
Uwabami chuckled, "Yes, but why did you two accept? I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one that sent an offer."
Momo hummed, "Right, well… you are a support and rescue hero focused in urban areas, so I'm sure you could teach us a lot about it." She then sighed, "But the main reason was because my friends said I needed a 'confidence boost' after I beat myself over the festival." The girl blushed while admitting.
Itsuka grasped her shoulder, "And you shouldn't be down, you did amazing!"
Uwabami put her mirror down, stood up, and smiled, "My dears, I know exactly what you two need! Follow me." She turned and walked away from her office, making the two girls hush after her. When Uwabami was done, those two would be queens.
—
Shoto stared his father in the eyes, as he had been doing for the last ten minutes. To be fair, he was gathering his courage to say what he needed.
Unfortunately, Endeavor decided to break the silence first, "Shoto, why are you here?" Because even while he had sent the offer, Endeavor was sure his rebel son wouldn't have accepted it.
"Because I have to tell you something." Taking a last deep breath, the young boy once again dreaming of becoming a hero spoke the words he needed to set his heart free once and for all.
"I'm not you."
That line sent Endeavor back to U.A.'s stadium, with a green-haired boy half his height glaring down and the flame hero as if he was the lowest scum of the world.
Shoto instantly felt lighter, but he wasn't over, "I was never you, and I will never be like you. I am my own person." Sighing, he decided that if he was already that far, he could go all the way, "And I'll be a better person than you. But you are a hero while I'm still not, so teach me how to be one."
Honestly, Shoto had to give it to Izuku, watching his father fuming while glaring at him wasn't half as scary as his friend could be. Actually, it was kinda cathartic? That was quickly becoming his favorite word.
—
Izuku dodged a boot to the face and closed in on Gran Torino with his Keyblade wound up. The old hero saw it coming. With a burst of his quirk, he shot up and left Izuku midair.
Izuku tried using an Air Step to get some distance, but Gran Torino came crashing down onto him before he could run. The old man drove his boot in the back of Izuku's head and then into the floor.
Gran Torino picked up his walking cane and sighed, hopping off of the kid's sprawled form. He was too old for that.
"Ouch." Izuku's voice came out muffled from having his head planted in the ground. He fixed it by shooting back up, "Again!"
"Sorry kiddo, but I'm not that young. Besides, we have been on it long enough."
At Gran Torino's words, Izuku looked at the window and saw it was already dark, "Oh, oops? I kinda lost track of time."
Gran barked a laugh, "Not only of time, didn't you realize?"
Izuku blinked, confused. Looking around, he didn't notice anything different, but when he looked inside he instantly spotted it. He was using more of One For All then when he started, and without any discomfort whatsoever.
14%
Not a great increase on the great scheme of things, but to Izuku it was a world of difference.
Gran Torino laughed, "You're not that bad brat! You have the basics down, so now you just have to go over them again and again until you're almost dead! Try not to die though." The man's grin only grew as Izuku didn't have the same reaction as a sane person to his words.
He didn't flinch, didn't groan, didn't gulp. No, he smiled.
The brat was what they in the industry liked to call bat shit crazy. That was good, for only someone not right in the head could be brave and stupid enough to fight the world itself, and with a bit of luck and a bunch of hard work, he just might win.
Done! No, I'm not letting this chapter get 9k words long.
So yeah, the gremlin child met the gremlin grandpa (may god have mercy on All Might's soul)
if you're asking why I'm not posting a chapter for my other fics, blame the people on discord, I sure do.
discord . gg / 7FTcaKbV2a