A/N: Edit finished 4 August 2018. Beta provided by Kylekatarn77.
Chapter 3
It was the ice-cold towel being applied to his forehead that woke Izuku. His eyes flicked open and when his head drifted right, he watched, confused, as his mother broke into tears. "Oh Izuku," she wailed, leaning over to hug him close. "When Mr. Yagi arrived with you in his arms, I was very worried. He told me what you did and while I'm disappointed you pushed yourself so hard, I'm also proud." She released his sore and aching body, sniffling back her tears, and smiled. "He left you a letter, which I placed on your desk. Feel free to read it once you feel better." She leaned over, kissed the towel on his forehead, and scuttled out of the room.
I hope she makes katsudon. I'm so hungry and that sounds amazing, especially after finishing All Might's test. He sat up and looked around his room. I really hope he didn't see my room. I might not be able to look him in the eye for a week if he has. On his desk, just as his mother had said, was a letter. It was a crisp white with a gold seal. Izuku stared at the letter, bed sheets clenched in his hands. For a few moments, he considered remaining in bed and opening the letter later, when the soreness from his last push early in the morning passed. His gaze remained on the letter as he thought back on what little he had spoken about with All Might. Was the hair a joke? Did he leave it in there? How does consuming his hair pass along the quirk? Is it the DNA or does the hair appear when he decides to pass One for All on? Will he continue to be All Might as he claimed or will the worst come to pass and he'll lose his connection to his quirk? Could me swallowing the hair make him lose his powers sooner?
Izuku knew there was only one way to answer his questions. He swung out of bed and crossed his room with a trembling hobble. Sitting down with a sigh, he opened the envelope. A folded letter and a small plastic bag fell out. Inside the bag was the same thick hair All Might had offered to him right before he had passed out. Instead, he opened the letter and snorted at the massive, blocky hand that consumed most of the page. He read:
DEAR YOUNG MIDORIYA!
IT IS I, ALL MIGHT, WRITING TO YOU LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! THIS LETTER IS TO CONGRADULATE YOU ON YOUR SUCCESS AND TO EXPLAIN HOW TO GAIN MY QUIRK! AS I SAID, YOU MUST CONSUME MY HAIR! MY QUIRK, ONE FOR ALL, TRANSFERS FROM VESSEL TO VESSEL THROUGH THE CONSUMPTION OF DNA. IT WILL TAKE TIME BEFORE YOU CAN USE IT, BUT FEAR NOT! I WILL OVERSEE YOUR TRAINING. NEDZU HAS BEEN KIND TO OFFER THE USAGE OF A U.A. FACILITY FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE. I HAVE YET TO CHECK IT, BUT I SUSPECT IT WILL WORK SPLENDIDLY. IT JUST HAPPENS TO BE INBETWEEN YOUR RESIDENCE AND YOUR SCHOOL!
YOUR MENTOR,
ALL MIGHT
Beneath All Might's message was a second one, written in a neat, tiny script. Izuku was surprised by a second message, but read it with the same interest as All Might's:
To Midoriya Izuku,
As U.A. High School's primary nurse and a close friend of Yagi Toshinori, best known as All Might, there are some facts about the quirk "One for All" that you should know. As you become more accustomed to your new quirk, All Might will slowly lose his ability to use his until he reaches a point where he is, by every understanding, quirkless. This is due to his injury at the hands of the most dangerous villain we know of rather than the transference of the quirk One for All, so please do not worry. I hope you already know much of what I have written, but he was always so forward looking that he passes over these types of details. It is well known at U.A. just how the youth view him, so please do not blame yourself when he is forced to retire. While I cannot deny the transference will weaken All Might, it is insignificant compared to what happened to previous inheritors.
For now, I recommend that you only focus on trying to feel the power of your new quirk until you begin your training with All Might. A diet and exercise routine will be mailed to your place of residence before your first training session, which I and those members of the staff of U.A. who know about One for All will oversee.
Yours,
Shuuzenji Chiyo
Recovery Girl
The letter slid from his grasp as Izuku processed what he had read. All Might will be training me! I wonder how long until I'll be able to use Detroit Smash like him! Oh, I probably should come up with new attack names and… He paused and realized how little he had done in terms of his own identity as a hero. He grabbed the stack of six journals – he had finished the fifth one a month into his beach training and number six was filling faster than the past ones even as his handwriting improved – and flipped through them. In none of them was there a costume design or a list of possible hero names. I've been so concerned about how others use quirks that I never considered what hero Midoriya Izuku would become.
He leaned back so he could look at the blank ceiling. His fingers rolled with a haphazard rhythm as he entertained hero names. Kid Might? All Might Junior? Ugh…I can't use any of those. I want to be able to connect myself to him, but those make me sound like some weird fan boy or clone. And I know nothing of combat and the quirk is rather destructive, so I'll need to protect my limbs… Izuku leaned forward in a moment of inspiration and almost slammed his forehead into the desk. Opening his sixth journal, he flipped through to the last page and began to sketch. He soon had a rough sketch of a man wearing a costume with a utility belt around the waist, gauntlets that stretched from the fingertips to the elbows, and knee high boots with thigh supports. Other details, including colors, could wait as he tapped his pencil at the page's top.
"Izuku, are you feeling better?" his mother asked, opening the door. She looked from the bed to the desk where Izuku was at and smiled. "Toshinori told me that when you woke that you would only be a few hours from having a quirk. Is it true?"
Izuku smiled, dopey and confused. After a moment, he blinked and turned to the plastic bag that was inside the envelope. He held it before his face. All Might will start becoming even weaker if I eat this, but if I don't then I may not be ready to inherit the role as the Symbol of Peace when he retires. His fingers opened the bag and he pulled the hair out. He took two long breaths, put the hair into his mouth, and swallowed.
His mother shouted, "Why are you eating a hair?" Meanwhile, Izuku's face twisted. Why would a hair be sour? I didn't even chew it!
"I…I ate the hair so I could receive his quirk," Izuku said, his face twisted by the persistent sour taste.
His mother nodded, his expression uncertain about what she had just heard. "Well, there's some katsudon ready for you to eat. I got a call from that nice principal about your training. The facility is between here and school, so walking there and coming home should be simple."
Izuku stared at the rusting factory, frowning. His mother had finally relented and handed him the address before school the day of his first session. He was now doubtful of every statement it was between home and school, given he had spent nearly an hour searching for the facility. While technically on the route to school, the address was for the loading bay and not the front gates. He was excited to learn how to control his new quirk. It had taken several attempts, but the sensation of One for All coursing through his body was now as familiar as breathing. His attempts to access his quirk became successful when he discovered a second message from All Might on the back of the letter: WHEN YOU ARE READY, CLENCH YOUR BUTTCHEEKS AND SHOUT 'SMASH!'
The shock of the quirk's power filling him had lead to him nearly jumping through his ceiling and the two apartments above. As such, Izuku was wary of touching his new quirk. The warnings of negative side effects had stuck with him and the benefit of Recovery Girl overseeing his first training session reassured his decision to withhold from using One for All, beyond feeling it course though his body. I should be thankful I never tried to move while doing so. I was so jittery with raw power that I'd likely snap several bones just sneezing or moving my toes. He had been terribly sore and fortunate that he didn't have classes the day after he first touched his quirk. Yet the sensation of One for All and the power it had could become intoxicating. No wonder they were so picky about who could succeed All Might. If this power fell into a villain's hands, they could topple the government and our society of heroes.
Sighing, he crossed the street, went up a concrete staircase, and knocked on the only regular door in sight. Tired black eyes regarded him for a moment before the door was unlocked. It swung open and Izuku stepped inside. He watched the tired man close the doors and grinned. "It's good to see you again, Eraserhead."
Eraserhead sighed. "Just call me Aizawa, Midoriya. U.A. doesn't want any of this getting out into the public. Between the public and their frantic worrying whenever All Might hasn't been spotted in several hours, the voracious media, and treacherous villains, you would only paint a target the size of Mount Fuji on your back. Only those related to pro heroes receive any formal training before entering a school like U.A. and given your record as being quirkless, the school doesn't want to field the questions that'll come from these sessions becoming public knowledge."
"Uh…okay then, Aizawa. Are you just here to watch the door?"
Aizawa ignored the question and led Izuku into the facility. The rusty exterior soon gave way to off color white tile on all surfaces. Covered lights hung from long cables, illuminating the room's center. Toshinori stood there in a shirt and dress pants a few sizes too large. His blue eyes watched Izuku approach.
"I will take over from here, Aizawa," Toshinori said. "Please join the others watching from above."
Izuku frowned. Above? He looked up and saw that Principal Nedzu and several pro heroes he assumed were U.A. instructors stood on walkways above them. Amongst them was a short, old woman wearing a white medical coat. She leaned on a cane, focused on him in a way that reminded him of the quirk test he had gone through at age four. That must be Recovery Girl. I'll have to thank her for her message later.
"Well, Young Midoriya!" Toshinori began. "Are you ready to begin your quirk training?" The words were strange to his ears, but Izuku could help but smile.
"Of course! I've felt One for All's power several times, but I haven't used it yet. The warnings I've received make me…nervous."
"Understandable." Toshinori flexed and filled his clothes with muscles. All Might's booming voice filled the room. "Now before we begin with your training, you should understand that it might take a while before your body is able to withstand and control your new power. Thus, you should do your best to regulate and contain it. We don't want it to burst forth uncontrollably. For now, I would suggest limiting yourself to five percent of what you feel. Less would be better, but I understand how difficult it can be at first."
Izuku nodded, staring at his right hand, clenched into a fist. "It's like microwaving katsudon. Too much energy or too much exposure can ruin it."
All Might nodded, although with a confused look upon his face, and stepped aside. He held out his arm and said, "Let us see your first attempt, young Midoriya! I want to see how much and how well you can control One for All!"
Ignoring the murmurs from above, Izuku nodded. The floor before him opened and a punching machine rose. He waited for it to stop before taking in a deep breath, pulled back his arm as it filled with One for All, and threw a punch.
"SMMAAAASSHHHH!" Izuku shouted as he nailed the machine. The metal surface warped around his fist for a moment before shattering into a hundred chunks of sparking metal and electronics. He let his arm fall to his side and panted from the effort. That was the moment a terrible pain shot up his arm, as if it was a window broken by a ball being thrown through it.
His eyes followed All Might's concerned and worried frown. There was a moment as Izuku stared at his red, mangled arm before he screamed, hoarse and frightened.
It was only after his arm was fixed via Recovery Girl's quirk – he would deny for years that he hadn't felt a little burst of happiness when the stern yet kind woman kissed him – that Izuku's terror abided. He watched with a nervous fidget, as Nedzu lectured All Might about proper teaching methods. After that, he was allowed to return to training with one extra safety measure: Aizawa would erase his quirk if it threatened to destroy one of his limbs.
"Now that you have rested, let's try something smaller." All Might opened a bag that he had been given and pulled out an orange. "For this, you are to apply One for All to only your right index finger. Your goal is to poke ten holes without injuring your finger."
Izuku nodded as he took the orange. I need to contain One for All even more. Even if I only use a tiny fraction of the power, it should be enough to finish. He stared at the finger All Might had told him to use and watched as it glowed, his quirk filling it with power. His other hand slowly guided the orange onto it, until his fingertips blistered from the fruit's acid. He hissed as he removed his finger from the orange and stared, flabbergasted, at the injury. All Might approached, frowning, and looked at his finger.
"That is strange. I have never seen One for All react in such a peculiar manner, but then nearly every injury training with this quirk has been centered on broken bones and not skin irritation." Recovery Girl checked his injury, healed him, and Nedzu took over as All Might released his muscular form.
"Until further notice, it would be best if you met with All Might three times every other week. Please continue the orange exercise at home until the next session in two days. I would recommend that you move faster than you did today. Hopefully that will prevent the issue with the orange's citric acid." The white rodent nodded to Izuku and departed with the gathered U.A. instructors. They all made Izuku nervous, especially since none of them had reacted to either of his short training sessions with anything beyond whispers and worried stares. To be sent home after fifteen minutes and less than a minute of using One for All was disappointing.
Thus, Izuku's training continued in a similar manner. Every other week, he would meet with All Might, Aizawa, and Recovery Girl at the facility. His only goal was to stop injuring himself whenever he used One for All, something that All Might continued to claim would come with time. Beyond his official training, he continued to strengthen his body. While the nature of his injuries decreased in severity, he had yet to land a single blow that didn't injure a finger, his whole hand, or the entire arm. More often than not, his attempts were stopped by Aizawa's quirk. Even when he would channel it elsewhere, he was frustrated by the fact he continued to struggle in reining in the quirk's overwhelming power.
It was on an early spring afternoon two years after Izuku Midoriya accepted One for All that his first true breakthrough occurred. During the past week, he had been thinking about the variety of scenarios that he had been placed in while attempting to control his quirk. While he no longer suffered from serious injuries, there was a block on his capacity to use more than two percent. There's one thing every test and scenario have in common: I've never tried punching a real person. With that thought, he had asked All Might about it.
"Ah, good question, young Midoriya. I hoped you would be able to control One for All before throwing you into a live combat scenario. It appears I was wrong."
"So?" Izuku asked, probing for more.
"Then you must punch me!"
Izuku blinked, dumbstruck, before shouting. "What do you mean punch you? I can't do that, you have that terrible injury and you've been spitting up blood for the past month and…" He spiraled into a buzzing mess of mutters as the three heroes watched on. His training included tightening his analytical abilities and he found that mumbling and muttering aloud helped to better focus his thoughts.
"I can withstand it," All Might said as he laid a hand on Izuku's shoulder, quieting him. The boy flinched before his eyes met his hero's.
"O…okay then," he said. Taking a step back, he filled his right arm with his quirk, threw a punch, and hit All Might's muscular form. As Toshinori was surrounded in a plume of smoke, Izuku's right arm didn't break. He stared at it, resting against his mentor's chest.
"You did great, Izuku." The boy found Toshinori's smiling face and couldn't hold back the tears threatening to spill. He rubbed them away when his mentor ribbed him about crying so much.
"I…I'm so happy I've reached this point," Izuku said. "I had become worried I would never be able to truly control my quirk…and that I would fail you – "
"You could never fail me," Toshinori said. "You have proven yourself time and time again, proven that you were the right choice." He straightened, his gaunt form more scarecrow than hero. "Yet I must warn you. Our training will grow more intense. Your slow progress led me to ask one of my mentors to aid you. I don't know if you are familiar with Gran Torino, but he is and always will be a better teacher than me."
Izuku frowned. "There's a goal you have for me, isn't there?"
Toshinori nodded. "By the time you enter U.A., you will be able to control a quarter of your power instinctively."