AN: Long time no see! I had most of this written for a while, but figured I might as well post a chapter just to let you know I'm writing again. Updates will follow no fixed schedule since I'm juggling a couple stories at the moment. I've found it helps me stay fresh and interested in writing. That being said, know that chapters are coming even if they aren't as fast as before.
Enjoy the chapter!
Unnatural Healing
oooOo Katsumi oOooo
Katsumi sighed, doing her best to tune out the rest of the class 1A's idle chatter. Deku had gotten an extra day off to recover from his injuries, with the unfortunate side effect of leaving her alone with nothing to act as a buffer between her and the rest of her... peers. Just thinking the word gave her heartburn... He'd left her to the fuckin' wolves.
As if he actually needed the time off anyways… Katsumi could understand the reasoning behind the allowance, it made sense on paper, after all. Normally it could take years to adjust to the loss of a limb. But Izuku was anything but normal, not to mention possessed a quirk that had proven able to cover for the weakness better than anything Katsumi had ever hoped for. She just knew he'd spend the day training with that quicksteel prosthetic of his.
The rest of Katsumi's class, however, were all expected in their seats the first thing the next day.
The truth behind All Might's ominous proclamation the previous day had been obvious once she and Deku'd had a chance to count back the days. But with everything that had happened since they'd started attending UA, it wasn't surprising that she'd forgotten such a detail.
Of course it was the fuckin' Sports Festival.
Every damn year, the nerd dragged her in front of a TV to watch UA's infamous annual event.
Well… dragged might be a bit of an exaggeration. Seeing some of the hero world's up and coming heroes before they went pro was always good for a bit of entertainment. But Izuku in particular was always obnoxiously invested in the event.
To think that they'd all be fighting in it themselves in just a few weeks…
"Everyone! Morning homeroom's about to begin! It is imperative that we all remain vigilant in the absence of our beloved class rep! Please take your seats!"
"Dude, you're the only one not sitting..."
A low growl built in Katsumi's throat. How Deku tolerated that clown's absurdity was anyone's guess, but Katsumi could at least appreciate the respect Engines showed her… boyfriend in his absence.
Aizawa strolled through the doorway as if he wasn't covered head to toe in bandages. Katsumi flinched at the reminder that they'd all been fortunate enough to never even fight the monstrous creature head on. Only All Might had the power to subdue the beast.
And soon enough, so would Deku…
Aizawa ignored the various comments about his health bringing up the subject of her thoughts a moment later, regaling them all with a brief history of the UA sports festival in his dull monotone.
The rest of 1-A'd apparently had a similar lapse in memory as she and Deku. They'd all been so distracted by the blistering pace of life since the beginning of the year, such a normally momentous event had gone overlooked.
Though, how some of these idiots could think It'd be canceled for something a routine as a villain attack she had no fucking clue. Did this purple midget live under a rock before coming here? It was practically the event when it came to amateur competition.
"The nations top heroes will all be watching, right?" Yaoyozoro commented. "They'll be there as scouts!"
The blonde one leaned forward in his seat, "They'll be looking hire us as sidekicks after we graduate! That's how it's done, right?!"
Katsumi scoffed derisively. "Career extras like you'll be there for more than just a few years, Pikachu."
Jiro snorted loudly. "Ahah, she's got you pegged! The legendary sidekick, Jamming Whey!"
Kaminari made a show of his crocodile tears as several others joined in on the laughter.
Aizawa's drawl cut through the chaos. "Naturally, you'll gain valuable experience and popularity if you're picked up by a big-name hero. But your time is limited, show the pros what you're made up here, and you'll make futures for yourselves."
Katsumi's eyes darted to some of the more skilled members of the class.
"The Sports festival only occurs once a year," Aizawa continued. "This is the first of three chances, if you're hoping to become a pro, this is an opportunity you can't afford to miss.
oooOoOoOooo
"Hey, Katsumi-chan. Pssst! Katsumi-chan"
"What is it, round face?"
Uraraka pouted, her rosy cheeks appearing even more prominent with the motion. "You ever gonna call me Uraraka? No! Ochako, I'm gonna get you to call me Ochako if it's the last thing I do!"
Katsumi grinned inwardly, tossing her notes into her schoolbag and flinging it haphazardly over her shoulders. "Keep telling yourself that, round face."
Katsumi'd could admit that she'd grown a bit fond of the bubbly brunette. But it would take more than tolerating her to earn that kind of recognition.
"How's Izuku-kun been doing? Recovery girl hasn't let any of us visit him while he was recovering…"
Katsumi sighed. Wasn't that a loaded question… Deku was probably fine, but Katsumi couldn't help but hesitate to say so. She had a feeling it had more to do with her own guilt than Izuku's opinion on the matter.
He'd made his opinion on the matter clear, but words could only do so much. "He's—"
"W-what's this?!"
An absolutely massive crowd of students filled the hallway outside class 1-A. Most of them staring judgingly at she and Uraraka, being the lucky two to come out first.
Katsumi really didn't have time for this shit.
Engines beep-booped his way over to the doorway. "Do you fellow scholars have some sort of business with our class?"
"Yeah! What are you doing blocking our doorway? I won't let you hold us hostage!" Grape drink shouted.
Katsumi stared down at her tiny classmate wondering, not for the first time, how he'd managed to get out of the USJ alive… Why couldn't fucking Tomura have taken his hand…
"They're under the idiotic impression that we were lucky to be ambushed by villains." Katsumi hissed. "It makes us interesting, and with the sports festival coming up, well… it makes us a target."
Her eyes darted between some of the gathered students, none of them able to meet her gaze for more than a split second.
What a joke.
Fodder, all of them…
The rest of class 1-A had gathered at the door by this point, the students in the back peeking over those in the front to see all the commotion.
"Jokes on you though," Katsumi said airily. She tilted her head, a feral grin splitting her lips, "You shoulda been watching out for me before all this villain bullshit. Congratulations! Now you know what an elite looks like."
Katsumi strode forward, her grin widening as the crowd began to part before her.
And they wondered why she had a bit of an ego…
"It's true." A lethargic voice cut through the mutters of the crowd. "We came to get a look at the famous class 1A, are they all so modest?"
Who the hell was this giant motherfucker?
The boy towered over most of the other first years, his wavy lavender hair adding to his already impressive height. Aside from the purple bags that appeared to be permanently etched under his eyes, he was ordinary with no obvious indication of his quirk.
He came to stand before her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Gotta say, I'm a little disillusioned if this is all the famous hero course has to offer. Didn't they say there was some super talented class pres or something…" He glanced over to Engines, "Is that you, big guy?"
"That is incorrect!" Iida said, chopping his hand through the air. "Our most respected class president is still recovering from his injuries!"
"So even the leader himself can get away with ditching… If that's the kind of mindset the gifted have, then maybe taking a spot in the hero course won't be as hard as I thought…"
Katsumi's hand slowly curled into a fist, a hot anger broiling under the surface. Did this fucker just walk up to their class and dare trash on Deku?! For being more of a hero than any of them? Disgusting.
"Hey dude, take that back! Midoriya probably works harder than all of us!" Pinky shouted from their classroom. Maybe she could have some rice next time…
Skeletor continued his dispassionate speech. "Depending of the results of the Sports Festival, they might consider transferring us to the Hero Course. There's more of us biding our time in general ed than you'd think…" He turned away ominously. "This'll be the perfect chance to knock you off your pedestals.
Consider this a declaration of war."
Katsumi'd nearly lunged after the floofy-haired fuck but found herself unable to gain any traction Uraraka lifted her with a single hand a few inches off the ground.
Her eyebrow twitched in irritation. "The fuck is it with everyone picking me u these days?! Lemme fuckin kill him, round face! He's practically begging for it!"
"If Izuku was here, would he have let you get away with that?" Ochako asked innocently.
Katsumi ceased her fruitless struggles, falling limply in the shorter girl's grip.
The answer was no, of course… She knew that. Besides, this way they'd have an audience to witness the beatdown she'd unleash on that pompous prick!
"I'm cool, I'm cool," she hissed. "Put me down."
Ochaco obliged, falling into step as they made their way back to the Heights Alliance dorms.
oooOo Izuku oOooo
"I'm gonna roast that fucking asshole!"
"Katsumi-chan! Slow down!"
Izuku watched on, twirling a pen with his silvery left hand as the resident students of heights Alliance finally returned after a long day of hero studies. He'd thought Katsumi might have been able to make it through one day without pissing someone off. But in this case, it seemed to be the opposite. Who'd gotten her so riled up?
Izuku let the pen clatter to the tabletop, earning the attention of his returning classmates.
"H-hey guys, it's Midoriya!"
"Yooo! Good to see ya up and at em, Midoriya!"
"We were worried, kero."
Iida slashed an arm rapidly through the air. "I had no doubt that you would be making a full recovery, Midoriya-kun!" He stomped up to Izuku, proudly gesturing as if presenting a game show prize.
"Well… as full a recovery as I could manage, I suppose." Izuku frowned slightly at his quicksteel arm, the rest of his quirk floating languidly overhead.
"Whadduya mean?" Mina said, slipping into the seat to his left. "That's just your quirk, right? What's wrong?"
"Aizawa mentioned you withstood the might of the monster sent to kill All Might," Tokoyami said, leaning against the common room wall. He leveled a raptor-like eye towards Izuku. "He also mentioned you sustained injuries to your left arm… considering the fact that our sensei was well enough to return to school, yet you were not…"
Izuku saw the realization come over the faces of some of the more quick-witted members of his class.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're too clever for your own good, Tokoyami?" Izuku said, smiling at the raven-headed young man.
The boy in question closed his eyes contemplatively. "A comrade in arms should not be forced to bear such a burden alone."
"W-will you be ok, Midoriya-san?" Yaoyorozu asked, fiddling with his uniform in worry.
Izuku smiled as reassuringly as he could at the tall beauty. "It's not a problem, Yaomomo."
"A-am I the only one whose missing something here?" Mineta asked hesitantly. "The mood in here totally tanked all of a sudden." Kaminari, Sero and a few of the others who were more slow on the uptake nodded in agreement.
Izuku wasn't the biggest fan of the shortest of his new classmates, but he truly appreciated the boy injecting a bit of levity into the situation.
He wasn't quite sure if moving past the shock of losing a limb so quickly was a healthy reaction, but then again… How many others who'd experienced the same tragedy had a quirk that could act as a suitable replacement almost immediately. The trauma could hardly be considered on the same scale.
Izuku certainly had plenty of work to do fine tuning his dexterity with his quicksteel prosthetic, but he'd hardly have to relearn how to live his life. For day to day activities, what would be a crippling injury to a normal person would be an inconvenience at best.
But not everyone would see it that way.
His mother certainly hadn't.
His ears were still ringing from the hours it had taken to calm down the distraught woman when she'd visited earlier that morning. It was a prime example of words often being insufficient to overcome human emotions. Hopefully, his classmates would be more understanding.
Izuku detatched the tendrils of quicksteel that fixed the appendage to his forearm, ignoring the gasps that echoed over the quiet of the common room. The metallic hand separated completely, revealing the twisted stump of his wrist for all to see. The injury looked like it was months old rather than days, a testament to the healing powers of Recovery girl. But even still, the wound wasn't pretty, and Izuku wasn't exactly comfortable with it.
For a moment, all was silent.
Izuku subconsciously prepared himself for the mocking taunts he'd grown used to in his time before UA. Despite logically knowing his new classmates were nothing like the future criminals that had infested his previous school, he couldn't help but expect what he was conditioned to.
His self-doubt was shattered as a familiar hand slipped into his own. Izuku's jade eyes darted to Katsumi as she settled into his right side. She purposefully avoided his gaze, pink dusting her cheeks as she inspected the walls of the common area.
"That's… Midoriya, dude… That's so freaking manly!" Kirishima cried, staring at the quicksteel model as it hovered in mid air. "It's like a pirate hook, except a hundred times cooler!"
What…
"You're sure it doesn't hurt, Midoriya?" The disembodied hot pink bracelette that shook around waist-level told him the source of the voice, but Izuku was still trying to wrap his head around this response.
Jiro poked him in the shoulder lightly with her jacks. "That is kinda rad, Midoriya."
He should have trusted his new friends… They'd fought off the threat together after all, even if they weren't all in the same place.
Only Todoroki hadn't offered a comment on Izuku's injury, instead choosing to stand off to the side with an unreadable expression on his face.
It wasn't as if he disapproved of what was being said.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Izuku hadn't seen Todoroki socialize with a single person in their class outside communicating to complete objectives for practical assignments. The fact that he had hung around at all rather than retreat to his room proved that he had to care a least a little.
Right?
Izuku made a mental note to make more of an effort to talk to the youngest Todoroki when he got a chance.
"Alright, Deku, I hope you're done slackin the fuck off. We're back to morning spars starting tomorrow, We've gotta' get that shitty hand of yours back into fighting shape."
Well… he'd planned on doing that anyway, but something gave him the idea that Katsumi was focused on something other than prepping him for One for All.
"Skeletor won't fucking know what hit him!"
…
Skeletor?
oooOoOoOooo
Izuku ducked to the right as Katsumi blew past him with a flying knee. The combo of sharp strikes she followed up with were each met with a sturdy forearm block. Izuku whipped out a kick that whizzed past her chin as she leaned back, following up with a left-handed swipe.
The timing was off.
Katsumi sidestepped his strike with fluid grace, swinging a knee into his exposed torso. Izuku let out a hiss of air as the blow connected with a solid thud.
She winced, just like she had every time she'd exploited the unrefined movements of his left hand. But she'd never hold back for something like that.
Izuku smirked through the pain. Katsumi'd probably consider that the greatest insult of all… But either way, he'd never learn if she ignored obvious openings in his guard.
That didn't make the bruises throb any less.
Izuku hopped over Katsumi's attempted leg sweep, lashing out with his right foot the moment he landed. The kick struck true, briefly breaking her guard.
Izuku didn't hesitate at the opportunity. He rushed the shorter girl, ducking low into a right hook to her liver.
Which she blocked with a raised knee… but the elbow he struck out with afterwards slipped right through, slamming into her and sending her tumbling across the mat.
It had been three days since Aizawa had announced to the rest of the class of the impending sports festival, and four since All Might had enlightened him to one of the greatest secrets of modern society.
"Fuckin finally you're getting some hits in, nerd, I was getting worried you'd turned into a fuckin wuss for a second." Katsumi rolled over backwards, landing lightly on her feet. She hopped lightly from foot to foot, strafing slowly across the mat
She'd been relentless in their constant sparring, general hero studies taking a more free-form approach in the weeks leading up to the Sports Festival. The students were split up to work independently with different teachers interchanging to oversee their progress.
For the first time since school had begun, the sensei responsible for general studies in the hero course were given a more hands-on role to perform.
However, due to their own reliance on technical fighting ability, he and Kacchan's overseer hadn't changed.
Aizawa watched on with a narrowed eyes.
"Midoriya… you're obviously on the right path when it comes to regaining your previous proficiency. It's good to see you being so rational about all of this… Keep practicing." His eyes snapped to Kacchan. "Bakugo—"
She narrowed her eyes at their sensei…
"—language."
"You fuckin' kidding me, Eraserhead?!"
He leveled a blank stare at the girl. "I rest my case."
"W-wow." Ojiro said from the sidelines. He was one of the few students who had remained with Aizawa. "You're like a force of nature, Midoriya… and I had no idea Bakugo was so disciplined… she's always so…"
Izuku nodded in understanding, there were those words falling short again.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean, Jack?! Hah? Don't just trail off like that!"
Katsumi wasn't amused.
"Settle down, problem child," Aizawa drawled. "We've got work to do…"
Had Izuku imagined the smile their sensei just hid in his scarf?
oooOoOoOooo
Izuku flung quicksteel orbs of varying size at Katsumi as she seemingly danced through the air.
He knew his job was to act as a glorified pitching machine, but he couldn't help but be entranced by the sight.
Katsumi had long since concluded that sustained flight was a pipe dream at this point, but she'd obviously found the next best thing. With enough practice, minute blasts of a carefully applied force from Katsumi's bare feet could be used to change the explosion-user's trajectory in midflight.
It wasn't the first time he'd seen her attempt to air walk, but it was the first time she'd shown any sort of proficiency.
"You've been holding out on me, Kacchan!" He called, kicking globs of quicksteel out of the main mass floating before him. They rocketed towards Katsumi's evading figure, missing by a hair as she flipped head over heels contorting her body out of the way.
"A girl's gotta have her secrets!" Katsumi grunted, blasting the last glob of quicksteel out of the way with a backhanded palm. She came sliding to a halt in the dirt, heaving with exertion.
So many repetitive explosions obviously came with a risk of self-harm over extended periods of time. But still… this was amazing. Izuku never got tired of the way Katsumi turned her so obviously destructive power into such a multifaceted ability.
"Can everyone fly these days?" Uraraka said in awe of the other girl.
"Nah, you just picked the best of the best to hang out with, Round face!" Katsumi strolled up to Izuku, grinning up cockily.
Her workout clothes may have been easier to move in, but the capris sweatpants and sports bra were a more deadly weapon than her fists. At least to Izuku. The sweat that clung to her toned midriff, glistening in the afternoon sun did things to him he'd rather not mention. The distraction was enough to derail his line of thought, at least until Uraraka elbowed him with a giggle.
"Earth to Izuku!
"R-right…" He said, shaking his head.
"Somethin caught your eye, nerd?" Katsumi
He grinned. "A while ago, yeah."
Katsumi glanced away, tossing her bag over her shoulder.
Uraraka squealed with joy. "You guys are so freakin' cute! I'm so freaking happy! The tension was killing me…" She fanned herself dramatically.
"Yeah… me too," Izuku sighed. "Ready to go back?"
"Sure, nerd."
"Yup."
oooOoOoOooo
"Increasingly frequent accounts of villain attacks have been reported in multiple cities surrounding the Musutafu region. Analysts speculate that that the culprit is a single assailant targeting heroes in isolated areas out of the public eye.
We at Herowatch urge civilians and heroes alike to avoid traveling alone, particularly in areas-"
"What was that?" Izuku asked, strolling into the Heights Alliance common room.
The décor of the room certainly showed more western influence than some of the more traditional designs preferred in their country
Momo and Jiro sat at one of the leather couches arranged around the large central coffee table. The taller of the two girls still hadn't changed out of her school uniform despite class having ended several hours previously. Though, she'd at least lost the tie and untucked her blouse.
Momo sat with perfect posture, surrounded by towers of books that seemed to contain a myriad of subjects. Upon closer inspection, Izuku realized many of them concerned subjects relating to chemistry and physics. It made sense considering the limitations, or perhaps the unlimited nature of her quirk.
Jiro, on the other hand, lounged to her left, clad in a lose tank top and shorts, exposing the pale skin of her shoulders and legs to the air. She idly flipped through the channels displayed on the holographic display dominating the majority of the southern wall.
"Eh… some news report…" Jiro said dismissively. "Some guy's goin' around targeting heroes or something, they've been trying to track him down for a while now…"
Katsumi trailed into the room behind him, tossed her workout bag onto an empty couch and headed straight for the kitchen. "Sounds like every fuckin' villain ever…"
Izuku nodded. "Fair enough, I suppose getting attacked by villains is an occupational hazard, huh…" He flexed the metallic digits of his left hand, admiring the way the chandelier overhead reflected off the material.
"It's not just that he's attacking heroes… he's hunting them." Yaomomo dropped her pen to the table, adjusting her reading glasses imperiously. It must have been convenient to never have to worry about lost glasses… Then again, Yaoyorozu certainly didn't seem like the type that would be careless just because she could replace lost items instantly.
"Makes sense that he's staying out of Musutafu then… fuckin coward." Katsumi tossed a cold bottle of water across the room, Izuku snatching it out of the air with his left hand effortlessly.
Momo nodded thoughfully. "I've heard mixed reports from different stations, but they all seem to agree that he only attacks isolated targets in minor cities. Like he's afraid of more densely populated areas." She turned to Izuku as he collapsed into one of the other couches. "It would appear that your skill is improving, Midoriya." Momo nodded towards the bottle clutched in his quicksteel hand.
"It was fortunate that I'd already had so much practice with a coating of quicksteel over that hand…" Izuku said, twisting the cap off the bottle. He tipped his head back, guzzling the ice cold water, reveling in the refreshment after a particularly intense day of training.
Even after the more physically oriented lessons during school hours, he and Katsumi had been practicing for another few hours after class. They'd been sure not to skip out on their normal exercises, but the majority of the time had been spent acclimating himself to his new appendage.
The added complexity of manipulating an entire hand, instead of molding a coating over an already-existing body part had taken the better part of the weeks leading up to the Sports Festival. Every day that Izuku spent going through the motions, his left hand became easier and easier to maintain subconsciously.
At this point in time, a mere two days before the event itself, the quicksteel prosthetic was becoming more and more lifelike by the minute. It was as if whatever controlled the telekinetic aspect of his quirk recognized the inherent need for that particular construct, allowing it to remain stable even in heightened states of emotion.
Izuku had certainly had his doubts when he'd first woken up, despite his show of confidence, that he would ever regain full proficiency on that side ever again. But despite its imperfection, Izuku was still content with the progress he'd made in the little time he'd had.
But that brought to bear another problem.
Namely, seeking out All Might to receive One for All.
Izuku had seen the man in the halls of UA several times since he'd revealed the secret of his power, but had never had the opportunity to sit down with him.
It was no wonder the hero seemed to move about the school like a ghost despite his normally overwhelming presence. All Might must have been traversing the halls in his true form ever since they'd come to UA this year. But when you weren't looking out for him, such a frail man, despite sharing such similar features to the famous hero, simply blended into the crowd.
A warm body settled into the space beside him, breaking Izuku out of his tumultuous thoughts. Katsumi pressed a protein bar into his chest, leaning into him seductively. "You're thinking too loudly, nerd. I could hear you all the way in the kitchen."
Izuku grinned down at her, peeling open the granola without breaking eye contact. "Is that so unreasonable, Kacchan? We've only got a few more days until the Sports Festival… it's not exactly your average school competition."
She grinned devilishly, flopping along the length of the couch and propping her bare feet in his lap. Izuku's hands went to work seemingly of their own accord, gently massaging the tender flesh. Her arches were always particularly sensitive after using explosion from the soles of her feet.
Izuku's eyes snapped up at the sound of a squeak, realizing a second later that such casual affection between non-siblings wasn't exactly the norm…
Yaoyorozu was writing furiously once more, studiously trying to ignore he and Katsumi as they lay together. Judging from the atomic blush lighting up her face it wasn't going so well. Izuku let out a small laugh as the woman's glasses began to fog up.
"S-so w-what's the deal with you two anyway?!" Jiro stuttered out, peeking at him through her fingers. "Are you guys like… together?" The rocker girl's ear-jacks thrashed around her head, their normally pale skin tone flushed along with the rest of her face.
Izuku glanced down at Katsumi wondering what exactly she wanted him to say, only to find that she'd flung an arm over her eyes as if that would absolve her of all responsibility to the outside world.
Well… that's how she wanted to play it then it was up to him, right?
Izuku grinned widely, "Yeah, but it's still a bit new to us."
The tip of Momo's pencil snapped against the page of her notebook as her eyes snapped equally quickly between he and Katsumi. "Truly? With the way you two are together, I would have guessed you were highschool sweethearts."
"The fuck, Ponytail? This ain't some shitty romantic comedy!" Katsumi said, sitting up.
"You really don't hold back when you speak, do you, Bakugo-san?" Momo said hesitantly. "Though I can't imagine anyone changing that about you…"
"Who'd want to?" Katsumi grinned. "I'm the shit." Izuku wasn't sure if the way she could deliver such a line without any hesitance was impressive, or narcissistic to the point of absurdity.
"I can think of a couple of our previous sensei that may have had a word or two to say about it," Izuku mused, resuming his massage.
Katsumi flopped back into the couch with a groan. "They were all too fuckin scared of upsetting 'the prodigy'" she scoffed. "That was a school of extras if I've ever seen one."
"I dunno," Jiro said with a grin. "Something tells me Aizawa sensei wouldn't think twice about layin down the law if he really cared to."
Izuku nodded in agreement, "Something tells me he has higher priorities than monitoring Kacchan's profanity, lucky for her…"
They all chuckled companionably, Katsumi scowling up at him but unwilling to risk him ceasing the motions of his dexterous fingers.
"I gotta say, Katsumi…" Jiro sighed exaggeratedly. "You're livin the life, free massages whenever you want? That's pretty sweet, no?"
Momo's eyebrows rose minutely. "You should have said, something. I wasn't aware that you were sore as well, Jiro-san." She folded up her notebook, placing it back on the table and turned to the shorter-haired girl.
The flush that had just died down from earlier returned in full force to Jiro's cheeks. "I didn't—I mean… I wouldn't be opposed to it… if you wouldn't mind…"
Katsumi grinned at Jiro smugly. "Not so easy to stay on that fuckin high horse now, is it, Lobes?"
"Sh-Shut up!"
oooOoOoOooo
"Am I the only one who thinks this is a fucking stupid idea?"
Izuku rubbed his head tiredly, trying not to agree with Katsumi's assessment of the situation. But as Izuku stared down All Might holding out a single, golden strand of hair plucked from his own iconic bangs, he was having a bit of trouble rationalizing the request to himself.
"Nonsense, young Bakugo!" All Might called, whipping the strand through the air as he gestured wildly. "Trust me, I assure you this is the most palatable option for all…"
Was he really supposed to believe that this was the way the legendary quirk One for All was passed down? Would a blood transfusion not do the job? Well… considering All Might's blood type wasn't compatible with his own that option wasn't really viable.
But still… there had to be an easier way. "I… suppose the DNA explanation makes some sense." Izuku hedged.
Katsumi leaned against the table of the private room they'd borrowed for their rendezvous with All Might. The blue and white UA gym uniform stretched against the muscular curves of her figure, momentarily distracting Izuku.
"Yeah, that is fucking gross, but also not what I was talking about…"
Izuku scrunched his brows curiously, not quite understanding what she was getting at."
Katsumi sighed, lowering her eyelids as if her were being particularly dense. "This power you're passing on, All Might, it can't be easy to control, right? Why exactly did we wait to do this shit until half an hour before the Sports Festival starts?!"
All Might nearly flinched at her narrowed gaze, shrinking down into his true form. "I can't say that was my personal experience with One for All," he said, scratching his chin lightly. He turned to Izuku, sticking out the hair once more. "The power manifests in a way unique to each holder, what better way to find out how than trial by fire!"
Izuku grasped the hair with trepidation, already feeling a lump in his throat. But power only came to those who were willing to work hard… This was merely another facet to that belief…
He somehow managed to choke the hair down, though not without significant effort.
"I… don't feel any different." Izuku said curiously, looking down at his mismatched palms.
"Well of course not, my boy! I'd be more surprised if you could digest something in an instant, these things take time!"
"Fan-fucking-tastic," Katsumi drawled. "So not only will the nerd have no practice with it, but it'll show up randomly in a couple hours?" She barked out a mirthful laugh. "I can't wait to see this."
"Eh…" Izuku mused, trying to scrub the taste of All Might's shampoo from his tongue. "What could go wrong?