Chapter 20: Smoldering Flames
Izuku was the first person to move into the dorms. He hadn't actually left UA grounds since the blog post went viral; there were spare rooms in the main buildings for the staff to crash in. Apparently terrible sleep schedules were an occupational hazard, and the spare bedrooms were UA's way of encouraging their teachers to sleep in actual beds.
He wasn't sure if it ever worked, based on the amount of dust he'd had to clean when he first took over a room, but it was a nice thought.
Since he hadn't had much in his room at Aizawa and Hizashi's place, Hizashi packed it up for him and brought it over.
He was unpacked by the time his classmates started coming, and he went out to greet them out front. Aizawa wanted to go over things with everyone before letting them loose, so he'd asked them all to wait there.
They pounced on him immediately.
"Dude!" Kirishima said, slinging an arm around his neck and bringing him to the middle of everybody. "It's good to see you in person, man!"
"Yeah, you've had all of us worried sick!" Kaminari added.
"It's good to see all of you, too!" Izuku said.
Ashido jumped onto his back. "Ha! You can't ignore me now!"
"I would never," Izuku rolled his eyes. But he would absolutely deflect questions or answer indirectly to mess with her.
"Oi, you damn extras, get off him," Katsuki said.
Ashido listened only so she could jump onto him instead. "Blasty! You're not off the hook either! You never told us if you knew this whole time or not!"
"Yes, I knew," he growled. He futilely pushed at her to get off. "And of course we didn't tell you lame extras. That's the point of a secret."
"So," Asui started, putting a finger to her chin. "What do you want us to call you?"
"Izuku Midoriya is fine. The cat's out of the bag anyway, so it doesn't really matter."
"What about your father?" Todoroki asked, next to him.
Izuku jumped. One day he'd figure out how Todoroki could move so silently. "He's…a problem," Izuku admitted.
"Do you need us to go kick his ass?" Kirishima asked.
Scowling, Izuku threw up his arms. "I can't fucking find him to kick his ass."
"And none of you extras are going up against him," Katsuki added, which spurred some heated protests.
"No one is going after anybody," Aizawa's voice cut through them all.
They fell silent immediately.
Aizawa strolled up the steps so he could look over them all, doing a mental count.
All twenty of them were there. Izuku had stared hard at Mineta when he first arrived, confused at his existence. After the stunt he'd pulled at the summer camp, he'd been sure Aizawa would expel him.
Then he realized he'd never told Aizawa what happened. There hadn't been a chance before the attack, and then Izuku had understandably forgotten all about it. He'd have to grab Aizawa before Mineta settled in too much.
"Alright, we'll get this out of the way first. Midoriya has been using an alias to stay under the radar. We're still looking into how his cover was blown, and in the meantime he is not allowed off the grounds without my express permission."
Izuku frowned. That wasn't for his protection, that was so he wouldn't run off and play vigilante. That sneaky man was getting the whole class to babysit him.
"Don't pester him with questions about it, it's annoying." Aizawa went on to explain the dorms themselves before letting them loose to unpack and settle in.
Since Izuku had already shoved all his clothes in the dresser, he walked up to Aizawa and waited until everyone was out of earshot.
"You really don't trust me, do you?" Izuku asked.
"You just proved a week ago you'd run off on your own if you thought that was best."
He couldn't argue against that. It had been reckless to leave Hizashi behind, even if it had worked out well in the end.
"I don't even know where to go," Izuku said.
"That doesn't mean you won't figure it out when I'm not around to stop you. Hence the clear instructions to your classmates."
"No, I got that part," Izuku said bitterly. "Believe me, it was loud and clear."
"I'm trying to keep you safe. It'd be nice if you shared the same concern for your wellbeing."
"I'll be fine," Izuku stated. "My dad's power is pretty useless around me."
"What about everyone else he works with?"
Izuku scowled. Hiroki would go easy on him, he was pretty sure, and maybe a few others from when he was a kid. But if he ran into Gladius again, there wouldn't be any holding back.
"I know you have trust issues, but just this once, please trust the professionals to handle this."
He'd trust them as long as he had no leads to follow. After that all bets were off. In the meantime, there was one more thing he needed to talk about. "Speaking of trusting adults…"
Aizawa narrowed his eyes.
"Did you hear what Mineta did the first night at the training camp?"
Eyes narrowed further. "Explain."
"He tried to climb the wall between the paths to look at the girls. We were telling him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. Kota was posted between the walls and knocked him down before losing his balance himself."
"I heard Kota fell, but I hadn't heard why," Aizawa grunted. He dragged a hand over his face.
"He also makes most of the girls in class uncomfortable. I don't know exactly what he says or does to them, but I know they won't stand directly next to him if they can help it."
Aizawa frowned at that. "Well that's unacceptable. You all need to be able to rely on each other. Thanks for bringing it to my attention."
Izuku nodded and let Aizawa walk off. Hopefully, given Aizawa's track record with expulsions, Izuku had seen Mineta for the last time.
He wandered around the dorm after that, offering to help out where he could. Most of his classmates had it under control.
And then he reached Todoroki's room. All he could do was stare openmouthed at the literal renovation happening in front of his eyes. "Uh…do you need a hand?"
Todoroki wiped sweat off with his forearm. "I'm just about done, I think."
He already had a whole new floor down, and the stock furniture had been traded out with what Todoroki had brought from home. Most of it sat in the hall, waiting to be brought in.
"It's been like, two hours what the hell?"
Todoroki shrugged and pushed the desk back against the wall. "So is everything okay with you?"
Izuku shook himself out of it. He picked up a little table to bring in. "Yeah, everything's fine. Mostly, I guess." His mother being kidnapped was not fine, but he didn't want to go around talking about it with everyone.
Though, out of all his classmates, Todoroki would be the one person he'd feel comfortable sharing that information with. Katsuki didn't count, since he already knew and Izuku couldn't keep a secret from his best friend to save his life.
Todoroki took the table from him. "I know Aizawa said not to bother you with questions, but if you want to talk, I'll listen."
"Thanks. Everything is just…complicated right now."
Todoroki hummed, setting the table down. Without a word, the two of them continued to bring everything back into his room.
"Hey, do you know anything about dragons or their hoards?" Izuku asked. It was a long shot, but he had nothing to lose by asking.
Todoroki furrowed his brow. "Not really. Why?"
"Ah, just trying to solve a riddle. Don't worry about it."
Todoroki didn't seem convinced, but Izuku bade him goodbye and went to go check on Katsuki.
Katsuki had already finished his room and was lying on his bed with his eyes closed. "Haven't you heard of knocking?"
"Sorry, didn't think you'd be trying to sleep," Izuku said.
"I'm not. This is what relaxing looks like. You should try it."
"Looks boring."
"You're one to talk. I saw your room."
"Why were you in my room?" It wasn't like he had anything to hide, but it was still his room.
"I was looking for you. Your mom kept some of your old stuff, and we still had it so I brought it with me. Thought you might like some of it back."
Izuku paused. "When you say my old stuff…"
Katsuki grinned and opened one eye. "Your All Might merch."
"What?!" Izuku didn't wait for Katsuki. He sprinted back down the hall, nearly knocking over Kirishima with a glass of water.
Katsuki's laugh followed him, and possibly his footsteps, but Izuku wasn't really paying attention. He had a single-minded focus on getting back to his room.
His door had been left slightly ajar, and Izuku slammed it open so hard it bounced off the doorjamb. In the middle of his floor were two boxes. He ripped the first one open.
A dozen All Mights looked back at him. There were figurines, some old candy dispensers, a deck of cards. The second box had his old fleece blanket and stuffed All Mights.
He cried into an All Might plush.
"I knew there'd be waterworks," Katsuki said.
Izuku lifted his face out of the felt hair. "I didn't think I'd ever see any of this stuff again. They were just toys, you know? I can't believe Mom saved them…" He really did have the absolute best mother in the world.
He was the absolute worst son, but she was the best mother.
"They were important to you, of course she kept them. Not everything, I don't think, but the main ones."
"It's enough," Izuku said, sniffling. "This is more than I could have hoped for already."
"Well, come on, let's make this room show how nerdy you really are." Katsuki gingerly lifted one of the All Might figurines out of the box and set it up on the desk.
Izuku jumped up to hug him, still holding the plushie in one hand. "Thank you, Kacchan, for bringing this."
"Yeah, yeah, I was getting it out of my parent's house, no big deal," Katsuki grumbled.
Izuku squeezed tighter. "It is a big deal. That's why you did it. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now get off. You're getting snot all over my shirt."
He was not, but Izuku let go anyway.
Each piece Izuku pulled out of the box made him tear up with memories. He remembered getting all of these, knew exactly what they all were and why they were important. He spread the blanket out over his bed and put the stuffed All Might's up near the pillow.
At the bottom of each box there was another surprise.
Journals.
Ten of them, with the words 'Hero Analysis' written in various levels of childish scrawl.
His hands shook when he pulled them out. "She kept these, too?"
"You're going to cry again, aren't you?"
Izuku turned to face him with watery eyes and nodded.
No one else really understood how much the journals meant to Izuku, only that they were important. They didn't get how much time and effort had gone into all of these. He used to carry them around everywhere so if he learned about a new hero while he was out he could write about it as soon as possible.
His father even encouraged it for a while. Now Izuku knew it was probably so he'd be better prepared to take heroes down, but at the time Izuku saw it as his father supporting his dreams.
They meant so much to him.
And his mother kept them, even when she probably could only take so much into hiding, probably only had so much time to pack as much as she could before leaving their old apartment behind. Even when she didn't even know if she'd ever see him again. She'd kept all of this.
He was definitely crying again.
"Oh, come on, stop with the waterworks," Katsuki complained.
"I can't help it," Izuku sobbed. This was the first time in nearly three years that it felt like things could go back to normal one day, that there was a way to connect his future with his past in a positive way.
Sue him for getting emotional about it.
Katsuki shoved a stuffed All Might in his face. "You're ridiculous."
He clutched the plushie and his journal to his chest. Usually he tried not to think about how much his life had changed and how much he had given up, but lately little reminders like this kept popping up. He'd lost an entire life that night, and to think he was starting to get some of it back…of course he couldn't stop crying.
"Alright, are we done here? I'm hungry."
Izuku wiped his face. "Yeah, that's everything."
Katsuki nodded and stood up, brushing dirt off his pants. "Good. Let's go find some dinner."
"I'll be there in a few minutes," Izuku said. He looked around at the things Katsuki brought him again, emotions growing warm in his chest again.
"How are you not out of tears?" Katsuki mumbled.
"It's a gift," Izuku quipped.
Katsuki mumbled something else and walked out of the room, leaving Izuku to sit in the first room that actually felt like his in three years.
Xx
At three eighteen in the morning, Izuku was the first person to damage his room when he kicked his wall so hard he cracked the plaster.
He almost broke his foot, too, but looking at the cracks in his brand new room in the dim light of his bedside lamp, he knew where his priorities were. This was easier to focus on than his nightmare.
The dorms hadn't even been operational for a full twenty four hours and he'd already caused property damage. Aizawa was going to be so disappointed.
He traced the cracks. Objectively, he thought, it wasn't even that bad. Just a little dent in the wall. If he piled his blankets in front of it, no one would even know. Aizawa wouldn't be disappointed if he never knew.
Good plan. Izuku would simply never tell anyone, and it would be fine.
He dragged a hand over his face. A cold sweat left his skin feeling clammy, and he could already tell he wasn't about to go back to sleep. Ridiculously early or not, he was up for the day. Hopefully the images from his nightmare would fade away before training started later.
Hisashi stood next to Inko, mouth open and flames curling between his lips. Inko cried, pleading with him. Then she looked to Izuku, and her tears turned angry. "This is your fault. I loved you more than anything in the world, and this is how you thank me?"
Yeah, he wasn't forgetting that any time soon.
He grabbed the All Might plush and hugged it to his chest, falling sideways towards the foot of his bed and staring at his floor.
It wasn't like he wanted to leave his mother to Hisashi's mercy. If he knew where she was, he'd go after her in a heartbeat, damn the consequences.
"Your father said that when you're ready to be a family again, you'll know where to find the Dragon's hoard."
That was his only lead, a cryptic clue. The dark web had been useless towards solving it, and Dragon's operations had gone silent. That didn't mean his father was on vacation, it just meant he'd gone too far underground for his movements to be noticed. No one dumb enough to chat on the dark web was aware of his current plans.
He squeezed All Might tighter. You'll know where to find the Dragon's hoard.
That was where he needed to start.
He rose from his bed, leaving All Might behind, and booted up his laptop. He pulled out a fresh notebook and started writing while waiting.
The first page he tore out, only two words written on it in large print: Dragon's Hoard. He pinned that to his wall over his desk.
The next page he filled with what hoard could possibly mean: Family, money, his empire. The third was full of typical dragon lairs, from caves to riverbeds. He pinned these to his wall, too.
He spent the rest of his morning researching dragon legends, looking for different mentions of hoards. He wrote some of them down and added them to his wall. He wasn't sure how useful they'd be, but the more information he could find the better.
His next step would be to try and find connections between his father and where dragons hid their hoards, but it would have to wait until after training. He was running late as it was. The only reason he ate breakfast was because Katsuki shoved a protein shake down his throat as they walked to the gym.
Xx
The students were giving it their all, even after everything that happened. Aizawa was pleased with their dedication. The idea of an 'Ultimate Move' had inspired some impressive creativity, and he was happy to see the students pushing themselves.
The licensing exam wouldn't be easy. They were still only first years, and most of the other test takers would be second or third years. There would be heaps of difference in experience level, but if any class of first years could handle it, it was this one.
Lights flashed around the room from a variety of different quirks. Between Aoyama's naval laser, Hagakure's attempts to utilize her invisibility like a mirror in sunlight, Todoroki and Midoriya's fire, and Bakugou's explosions, he was starting to wish he could wear sunglasses. They would be in the way of his quirk though and could cost precious time if needed in an emergency.
But oh, was it tempting.
Actually, speaking of Midoriya's fire, since when could he do that? He just blasted a hole through a concrete wall with a fireball, and he looked entirely too pleased as he shook out blistered fingers.
Narrowing his eyes, Aizawa made his way over, neatly side stepping Asui when her jump went farther than expected.
"Sorry, Mr. Aizawa!"
"Keep practicing." That was what they were here for, to learn their limits.
Midoriya looked up at his approach, and his shoulders dropped. The kid looked exhausted, and Aizawa had already figured last night must have been a bad one for him. He was also favoring his right foot a little, and Aizawa was waiting to see if Midoriya would bring it up himself or not.
The blisters on his fingers were new. He'd been under the impression Midoriya couldn't burn himself with his own quirk.
"Seems like you figured a new trick out," Aizawa opened.
"Ah, yeah, I did. I can…make it hotter?" Why was Midoriya nervous right now? If he'd figured something out, he should be proud of himself. This was literally why they were here right now.
"Are you asking or telling?"
"Uh, telling." He was fidgety. Could be a response to the pain from the blisters, could be adrenaline from sleep deprivation, looked a lot more like lying.
"You don't sound sure of that," Aizawa stated. "Is there something I need to know? Like why your quirk is suddenly burning you?"
Midoriya winced, flexing his burned hand. "I haven't worked that out, yet. It's like, my quirk is stronger, it's easier to control, but it also flies out of my control so much faster. And I don't…" His brow furrowed, looking down at the blisters. "I don't know why it's causing backlash like this."
That didn't make any sense. Quirks didn't just level up like some kind of video game. If it was stronger, it should be because Midoriya worked to make it stronger, and he should still have control over it because he should be aware of every step making it this way.
Unless…well. He had been held captive by villains for an entire day, villains already known for experimenting with quirks. Maybe something else had happened that Izuku hadn't told them. He doubted Izuku would have left anything out on purpose, especially when Bakugou had still been missing, but it was possible he wasn't even aware of it.
This was going to be a problem. "Can you show me what you're doing, or will there be backlash?"
Izuku frowned. "I've been trying to throw weaker punches to avoid the backlash, but I'm not good at controlling the output yet. I'll try." He pulled his arm back, flames gathering at the tip of his fist from his bracer in one smooth motion, like he was able to actually create fire like Todoroki. Then he punched the air in front of him, sending the fire ball through the concrete and out the side of the building.
Aizawa peered through the three foot gap in the wall. These gyms were built to withstand a major beating, and Izuku had just melted a hole through it in seconds.
Not without consequence, if the hissing was anything to go by. The backlash had burned the entire back of his hand and singed his brace. And this was when he was trying to hold himself back?
"Well. This is an interesting development. Any idea why you're suddenly so much stronger?" Aizawa asked.
Izuku froze.
Damn. He totally knew.
"It's…it's been like this since Kamino." He wouldn't meet Aizawa's gaze.
"Did something happen that you didn't tell us about?"
Izuku bit his lip and shook his head, still avoiding eye contact.
Good to know he was just as bad at lying now as he had been when he was twelve and created his vigilante identity.
"Izuku, did the villains do something? You need to tell me if you remember."
Chewing his lip, Izuku glanced up at him briefly before dropping his eyes again. "I don't remember them doing anything. Doesn't mean they didn't, I guess."
That rung with truth, but it was so vague it could still be a lie.
Aizawa ran a hand through his hair. "We'll figure it out. For now, I want you to go to Recovery Girl. Have her fix your hand and give you a full check-up to make sure everything's in order."
Nodding, Izuku all but ran out of the gym.
Aizawa took a few moments to stare at the hole in the wall while his thoughts raced. Other than enhancing his quirk, there didn't seem to be any other side effects to what the villains had done. Hopefully Recovery Girl wouldn't find anything. But why enhance his quirk? How did that help the villains?
It didn't make sense.
Something crashed on the far side of the gym, and it was followed by several people yelling. Aizawa sighed and went to do damage control. Right now he had to focus on the rest of his students, then he could figure out how best to help Izuku.
Xx
"Again?" Recovery Girl asked, looking in dismay at the burns on Izuku's hand.
He rubbed the back of his head with his good hand and offered a sheepish smile. "I'll get the hang of it soon, I promise!"
"You had better. I won't keep healing self-inflicted wounds forever, you know." She pecked him on the cheek, and the burns faded into pink blotches. She smeared some burn cream over it and wrapped it in bandages. "I know you're going to go back out and continue training, so I don't want to deplete your stamina. But if you burn yourself again today, Mr. Midoriya, I will not heal it, understand?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he said.
"Good." She tied off the bandage and held out a jar of gummies.
Izuku took a purple one and rolled it around his fingers. "Um, Mr. Aizawa also asked if you could give me a quick check up?" If he wasn't positive that Aizawa would find out if he didn't go through with this, he wouldn't bring it up at all. But he wasn't going to look this perfect excuse in the mouth.
He'd thought for sure he was screwed when Aizawa started questioning his new ability. He wasn't good at coming up with lies on the spot, and he didn't have the slightest clue how to explain a sudden boost in strength. All Might was supposed to work with him on that, but he'd been busy dealing with his retirement and the endless media coverage about it.
"Whatever for?" Recovery Girl asked.
"Uh, he's just worried about Kamino." More lying. Somehow, he hadn't expected inheriting the Symbol of Peace's power to mean so much lying.
Recovery Girl huffed. "That man…I should give him a physical, heaven only knows the last time he had one…"
Izuku stifled a laugh.
"Very well. Let's do this quickly."
She made it as quick as she could and gave him a clean bill of health, minus mild exhaustion and strict orders to go to bed on time.
He promised and returned to his class just in time for lunch. Katsuki, Iida, Todoroki, and a few other classmates visibly relaxed when they spotted him at the gym doors. They must have noticed him leaving with burns, and then grew worried when he didn't come back when he should have.
Aizawa made eye contact with him, and Izuku gave him a thumbs up before his classmates converged on him.
Katsuki grabbed his wrapped hand and turned it over, inspecting it. "Did you burn yourself again, Deku?"
"Wha-that's incredibly rude to call someone that!" Iida reprimanded.
"He's done it since we were kids," Izuku said. "You can read part of 'Izuku' as 'Deku' so he calls me that when he thinks I'm being stupid."
Uraraka giggled. "Aw, Bakugou, that's adorable!"
Katsuki's ears reddened and he threw Izuku's hand down. "Shut the hell up!"
"Do you often burn yourself with your quirk?" Todoroki's eyes were locked on Izuku's hand.
"Ah, not usually, anymore. I did it a lot as a kid, and I'm trying some stronger attacks so I guess I just need more practice?"
Todoroki nodded. "Can I help?"
Izuku blinked. He'd thought of asking before, but since their quirks were so different he wasn't sure how much help Todoroki would actually be. Plus, he didn't want to distract Todoroki from his own training.
But if Todoroki was offering…"That would be great, actually, yeah," Izuku said.
"We'll work on it after lunch, then," Todoroki said.
Izuku couldn't wait that long. He sat next to Todoroki in the cafeteria and asked him all about how his quirk worked, barely remembering to eat. Todoroki had this shell-shocked expression at first, his answers slow and vague, but he settled down as Izuku kept asking and answered as much as he could.
There would be some differences to their approaches. The fact Todoroki could make fire meant he barely even had to worry about Izuku's current problem, but he had plenty of insights on what it was like to control massive amounts of flames, even if he lacked Izuku's precision.
"This is almost frightening," Uraraka stated.
"I…have to agree," Iida said. "How do you even think of some of these questions?"
"Huh? Oh, I don't know, they just seem like natural questions to me," Izuku said. He wished he'd brought a notebook; he was itching to write down everything Todoroki had said. Later he'd write down what he could remember, and he'd no doubt start writing about the rest of his classmates, too, if he had time.
Not that he'd have time. Every spare moment he had outside training he was going to spend looking for his mother. But eventually, one day, hopefully soon.
"He's always been a nerd," Katsuki said. "Always will be."
"Like you're one to talk," Izuku muttered. "You're higher than me in the class rankings."
The table giggled.
Katsuki glared at him and told him to shut up.