Chapter 47:

"Fucking finally some time to relax." Katsuki laid down on his bed while Mirko was furiously knocking on the bathroom door.

"Oi! Hurry up! I'm taking a bath next!" She yelled at Trish, who was still in the bathroom after two hours. Good thing he called dibs and finished after ten minutes.

"I'M STILL WASHING MY HAIR, YOU HAG!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING HAG?! I'M ONLY 25!" Mirko snapped at Trish. Katsuki figured it was finally time to get out of the apartment and wait outside. He found a nearby chair and pulled out his phone. He started texting his group.

murderousIntentions[MI] RIGHT NOW opened a memo on board BOTANY CLUB

MI: I am annoyed already.

repentantRecluse[RR] RIGHT NOW responded to the memo

RR: Is your hand okay, Katsuki?

MI: Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me too much. You're not my mom

RR: Yes, but I am your friend and your club president.

RR: I trust Mirko is not giving you too much trouble?

MI: She wouldn't if she didn't bring that redhead shit ass from Shiketsu

MI: The one that could easily piss off Deku

lecherouslyGuilty[LG] RIGHT NOW has responded to the memo

LG: a hero with a hotter head than you and someone from scotland

LG: you are screwed, metaphorically speaking

headbandFan[HF] RIGHT NOW has responded to the memo

HF: you gotta be careful man i heard mirko got one hell of a kick

HF: who knows if it could lob your head across the city

RR: There is no need for concern, Yosetsu. I trust Katsuki could handle them just fine.

MI: Damn right I can

LG: yeah just don't let that trish girl touch you, okay

MI: Don't goddamn worry. I know how dangerous that bitch is up close

HF: tell mirko she owes me money

HF: you know how much it costs to repair a greenhouse

HF: a lot

MI: Fine but don't expect her to actually pay for it

RR: I will make her.

LG: see? this is why i think bakugou has a crush on you

MI: Shut the fuck up

MI closed the memo

"You can come in now! I'm fully dressed!" Trish called out to him from inside their shared room. He wonders why Mirko just couldn't get two rooms.

"Cheap ass hero." He stopped just in front of the door. "If you're actually not dressed just to fuck with me, I will throw you out the window."

"I am dressed! Sheesh." Trish shouted back. Katsuki sighed and opened the door. Trish was actually wearing decent clothing. "See? I'm dressed. Unfortunately."

Trish's slasher grin shined bright just as Mirko got out of the bathroom. With Katsuki in front of them. "Mirko isn't."

"YOU FUCKING SHIT!" Katsuki instantly slammed the door close and stayed outside. Mirko was confused about what had happened. It's not like she'd smack her intern over a prank by Trish. Speaking of Trish…

"Oi, you two better play nice. You're here to learn how to fight. He's here because he fights well." Mirko pointed at Trish. She dressed up quickly and called Katsuki back in. He was still very pissed, but she noticed him trying to hold himself back from trying to beat the shit out of Trish. "Okay, I have had enough of this. You two? With me now, on the rooftop."

The two were confused, but followed her, anyway. The elevator ride was too silent for their taste. She picked this place specifically because it caters to heroes and their needs. The rooftops are designed to be combat training grounds. When they got to the top, she saw the place changed under her specifications. A simple arena with walls to stop anyone from falling to their deaths.

"Combat training between the two of you. Burst Damage, try to go easy on Lady Rage." Mirko said. She explained to them the rules. The winner is decided by a knockout or when one of them says they give up. Katsuki and Trish smiled at the chance to beat the other up. "Oh, I forgot, no quirks."

Mirko smiled when Trish instantly deflated. The rabbit hero pulled out gloves from her pocket and handed it to Trish, who hesitantly wore it. "You can still use your steel chair, Trish. I'm not gonna leave you to the sharks unarmed."

Trish picked up her chosen melee weapon and walked into the arena. About fifteen meters in front of her was Katsuki, stretching and warming himself up. "Ready yourself, bitch. I'm the fucking champion."

"Oh, screw you." Trish snapped back at him. When Mirko blew the whistle, they began circling each other. The two of them are just waiting for each other to make the first move. Trish knew if she moved first, Katsuki would easily counter her mo- "Ah fuck it."

Trish unexpectedly threw her steel chair at him. Katsuki was caught by surprise by the move. It didn't really bother him, as he just caught it before it could hit him in the face. It was a big mistake as Trish hit him with a jump kick, causing the chair to still hit him in the face. It didn't take long for her to pick up the chair and pin him with it. "Who's the champion now, asshole?"

Katsuki was a little impressed that she managed to take him down. It's not gonna happen again. Winner is decided by a knockout or when someone quits. He will not quit.

"You know, Ibara once taught me how to make some pork stew. The sour kind, of course, the one that calms the soul." He started talking.

"What?"

"Well, first, you need to chop up the ingredients and seasoning, that's a given. The secret to the good sourness of it, however, is the tamarind. You better have high-quality tamarind when you make one."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Trish tilted her head in confusion, not knowing why Katsuki would suddenly start spouting bullshit.

"Of course, while you do that, you heat the pot and put some cooking oil in it. Separate the onion layers and then add the pork belly. It's recommended you also chop the pork, by the way. Just to get that good flavour into every part of the main thing. You add in a couple of sauces, and finally, the water. No doubt, it has to be clean water. Now the vegetables you can add here can vary, really. I prefer adding some leafy stuff in there myself. I also like to add a little bit of spiciness to it, which is why I add those chilli peppers. Now for the leafy stuff, when you finally add the leafy stuff, you gotta turn the stove off and let the rest of the heat cook it for you. Get what I'm saying? Anyway," Katsuki, knowing Trish has now let her guard down, swept her with one kick. She's Scottish, so it'll take over ten years to make her say she gives up. He didn't take any chances and put her into a sleeper hold. She didn't tap out, but she eventually passed out from suffocating. The match was decided, and he won. "You left yourself open, you idiot."

"That settles that." Mirko jumped down into the arena to check on Trish. She seems to be fine. The rabbit hero pulled out smelling salts from her pocket and waved it near Trish's nose.

"Huh?! Whu!? I'm awake. Awake. Wait a minute. You bastard, you choked me!" Trish accusingly pointed at Katsuki, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Bitch, you're not gonna give up, so I had to knock your ass out without injuring you." Katsuki explained himself to Trish. "Also, that fucking kick hurts, you know!"

He pointed at the bruise from where he got hit full force by the steel chair. She made that weird sound of annoyance. The one you'd usually hear from someone you don't like when you talk to them.

"Okay, that ended faster than I expected, but what else can you expect from unarmed combat? Putting the both of you back there with quirks allowed would just be me sending Trish to her death." Mirko said while trying to figure out. A metaphorical light bulb lit itself up above her head. "Fight me! Quirks allowed!"

"Oh, now you're asking for it." Katsuki smiled rabidly, waiting for a chance to get a crack at another hero. Trish was less confident as she had been around Mirko longer. "Don't get in my way, shitty brat."

"Shitty brat? Let me remind you of who knocked you on your ass a minute ago."

"Who lost said fight a minute ago?" Katsuki snapped back at Trish, much to her chagrin. The two grumbled as they both walked to the opposite side of the arena while Mirko stayed back in her position. The rabbit hero did some stretches first before going into her battle stance.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Mirko jumped at them.

Back in Shiketsu…

"And that's the gist of it." Murray finished his plans on getting recruited by Nighteye for an internship at Izuku. It was a lot for him to take in. Child's blood being turned into a weapon, Murry being a Yakuza, Overhaul and all that other crap. This is way more insane than it should be. "Yeah, I know. It's crazy, homes. I tried getting her out myself, but it just ain't possible."

"Okay, well, there's that. Any other thing I need to consider?" Izuku asked Murry, not wanting to get any more surprises. The smoker shook his head. He can't think of anything more that needs to be said. Other than the fact that he's now technically part of some secret government hit squad with Izuku's ex, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Ay, I'll be counting on you to put in a good work, aight homes?"

"I'm more worried that Nighteye will take you in over me." Izuku admitted to Murry. The smoker has useful information that Nighteye would have loved to have. From what Izuku heard from Gran Torino, All Might and Nighteye had a falling out. It's very unlikely that he'd accept Izuku just because he had One For All.

The worry continued over classes when he was barely concentrating on anything being said. He almost wished Trish was there to distract him by finding a new way to piss him off. Almost. If he could guess correctly, Trish was getting her ass beat now by either Bakugou or Mirko. Maybe even both. Then there's what Camie said months ago. He's not sure of what she said, but he swore he heard it right.

A day passed by. There aren't any classes on the weekends, which is now an opportune time to meet with Nighteye. It didn't take the two of them long before reaching Nighteye's agency building.

"Okay. Here we-" A blonde guy's head suddenly went through the doorway and completely scared Izuku before he could even finish his sentence. He accidentally punched the door open before apologising. "Holy shit. I'm sorry, man. You just caught me off guard. Oh man, this is already fucked. I-I fucked up, Murry."

"Ayo, calm your shit, homes." Murry lightly chopped him on the forehead.

"Don't worry, that usually happens when I greet people. My name's Mirio, I'm a third year student from UA." He closed the door behind them while putting up a 'It happened again' sign on it.

"So you're the guy who beat up my friends from UA?" Izuku asked him. Mirio laughed it off with a hint of confusion.

"Which one?"

"Class 1A."

"Oh, those guys? They're pretty good. That girl with the zero gravity gig knows how to fight dirty." Mirio recounted the times Uraraka has attempted to kick him in the balls in one match. She didn't go down quick either, timing herself to flow with his punches.

"I'm so proud." It happened offscreen, but Izuku totally taught her that during summer camp. She was pretty good at fighting dirty too, mentioning something about creating her own style to work with.

"Anyway, Sir Nighteye told me to expect two guys. Based on his friend's description, a whippersnapper with a crappy green haircut and a jerk-ish attitude, and a chain smoker with a sword. You definitely look like a jerk and your friend over there is currently smoking something that I don't want to know of."

"Hey, I don't have a crappy green haircut!"

"Sorry, dude. You had a green haircut, so I had to deduce it to that. Also, I don't think you're a jerk. I've seen bigger jerks than you." Mirio tried to console Izuku of his crappy haircut. Murry was too busy chuckling at the entire situation to say anything. They eventually reached Nighteye's office, and Mirio stopped them from entering. "Before you enter, here's some advice: try to make him laugh. That'll be helpful."

The two boys nodded and took a deep breath. Mirio opened the door, informed Nighteye that they were here, and then got out of their way. "Good luck!"

"We have to make him laugh?" Murray whispered to Izuku while pointing at Nighteye, who was giving them a serious glare. He's not confident that they would succeed.

"Trust me, I got this." Izuku rubbed his face for a bit, confusing Murry and then he suddenly looked like All Might.

"Pffft, what the fuck is that shit?! HAhahahahahhaha"

"No, no. You're doing it wrong." Nighteye finally stood up and got way too close to Izuku's personal space. He grabbed the hero-in-training's face in an attempt to fix his All Might impression. "The wrinkles should be here, here, and there. The dimples are off by three centimetres."

"Well, both of you failed at comedy, so I'm inclined to not let you in. Well, not SpiderStorm. Smoses have too much important information to let go." Nighteye held his chin while speculating. The two could tell that he was weighing his options. "Hmm, we already have two sidekicks and one intern. One of you is important, and the other was a request from Gran Torino. Very well. I've decided." Nighteye walked back to his table and pressed a button on it. "Lemillion. Come in here for a second."

"What's the matter, sir?" Mirio entered the room with a smile on his face.

"I would like to see what these two can do. Why don't you spar with them?" Nighteye asked Mirio, which the latter immediately agreed to. Nighteye then pulled down the lever in the room and all four of them were instantly sent down to a training area. "SpiderStorm, and Smoses, please go to the opposite end please. Mirio, get yourself ready."

The two classmates shrugged at each other before picking up one of their gear. Izuku with his steel soles and gloves while Murry picked his katana and uzi. Izuku was visibly nervous if his UA friends' description of Mirio's quirk was accurate. He already told Murry about it on their way to the opposite end. He admits Murry might be the only one able to defend against it, but even he had limited fuel. "We're ready, sir."

"Excellent. Begin." Nighteye simply said. The two didn't waste time to go on the offensive, with Izuku rushing through the room in two seconds, coming at Mirio with a flying kick. As he expected, he passed through it. What he did not expect was Mirio's clothes falling off him.

"What the angling fu-" He did not have time to shout in shock as Mirio had uppercutted him in the abdomen. He was lucky he had nanomachines to protect him from most of it, but that shit still hurt. It didn't take long for him to recover and stick to the ceiling, thanks to his gloves and shoes.

"Ay, behind ya, homes!" Murry exclaimed while slashing at Mirio. His sword also passed through. Mirio went in for another punch, but Murry was barely able to turn into a cloud of smoke, completely avoiding any form of damage. Mirio smiled and simply sunk into the ground, confusing Murry. It only took a mere second before Mirio launched out of it and kicked Murry in the sides, launching the smoker across the room. It wasn't enough to take him out, but it hurts a lot. "Shit, homes. You hit real hard. Just not as hard as my friend."

"Thanks. By friend, you mean that guy at the ceiling?" Mirio pointed upwards just as Izuku tried to hit him with an axe kick, which immediately passed through Mirio. Mirio countered with what would have looked like an eye poke, causing Izuku to flinch only for the hand to pass through him. He followed up with a punch to the stomach. The fake out was enough to distract Izuku from using his nanomachines defensively, taking the entire hit unprotected. That definitely knocked the wind out of him.

"Oh, not that guy, homes." Murry raised his uzi and began firing at Mirio, with the bullets passing right through him.

"Whoa, are those rubber bullets?"

"Can't have me killing people accidentally, right? I'm much more careful with my swords." Murry said. Mirio had already predicted that Murry was only buying time and was trying to condition him by explicitly not aiming for his legs. He made a mental count to three before sinking into the ground again, exactly as Izuku was about to hit him with a leg sweep.

"Shit, homie, he read us like a book." Murry told Izuku, who was disappointed that their plan didn't work. Izuku also counted to three before turning around and leaning back, avoiding a punch from Mirio.

"You tried to condition me and you adapted quickly! That's so cool." Mirio praised Izuku, causing him to unexpectedly blush from the genuine compliment.

"Yeah, well, I think you're awesome." Izuku was not lying. Mirio could take on him and Murry at the same time. He could tell that Mirio was holding back. "I think you should stop holding back. This might take us all day. Can't really waste Sir Nighteye's time, right?"

"Oh, you're right. Sorry, sir!" Mirio briefly glanced in Nighteye's direction. Izuku took the chance to kick him again, but as expected, it did not work. That made Mirio chuckle though as he punched Izuku again, this time in the face. It sent him to the ground. He went for Murry next, who lasted a lot longer, but eventually ran out of cigarettes to fuel his quirk with. "You lasted a lot longer than Class 1A."

"Ugh, that's only because someone already told us what it is. It helped a bit, knowing what your quirk is, but I'm still trying to figure out a counter. Don't even think about telling me!" Izuku groaned while saying all of that, feeling the pain on his face again. That is going to leave a bruise. Murry was not any better. Mirio accidentally hit him in the balls when he meant to aim for the abdomen.

"Okay, well, that's enough. Smoses, welcome to the agency. SpiderStorm, come with me, we need to talk." Nighteye commanded, which Izuku instantly followed. Once the hero was sure that there was no one listening in the room, he spoke. "Frankly, I think Mirio is the better candidate for One For All."

"Oh…"

"He deserves it more than you."

"Oh…" Izuku was speechless. He did not see that coming. Or maybe he did. After a moment of silence, his head began aching. "Gah!"

"Hmm? What is happening? Was his punch to…" Nighteye's worried voice was quickly blocked out by the voice in his head.

"I've had enough of this asshole's shit." It was the voice of the first user.

"Kira? It's been a long time since you-"

"Yes, we've been busy with an issue of One For All. I'm gonna knock you out for a bit."

"You could do that?"

"Only now. Anyway, lemme borrow your body and all that shit. Now, SLEEP!" Izuku's body went limp as it fell to the ground. Nighteye quickly rushed to the student and was ready to call out for medical attention when Izuku's hand slapped away Nighteye's hand. When he spoke, there was a different voice. "Hello, you little shit."

"Who?!"

"Long story short, enough power finally happened and now, I, the first user of One For All, and probably the other users, can now temporarily borrow Izuku's body. Get it? Took a while." The voice coming from Izuku explained. Nighteye stared at Izuku's eyes, but they were colourless and unblinking. He was now inclined to believe that this was not a prank. "Now, here's the thing: we choose who we want to choose. Mirio might have been good, I admit, but I like this kid. Reminds me of my brother before he went ape shit and power hungry. Wanna know why All For One went ape shit and power hungry? He was a bitchless cunt. Izuku here? Well, he got no bitches as well and probably never will, but he has friends. Girlfriend if he pushes it."

"Regardless, I think-" Nighteye tried to defend his point, but the first user held up his hand to shut him up.

"If you gave it to Mirio, he would have died young. We liked Izuku, sure, but his original quirk is also a bonus. Telekinesis on a molecular level will be incredibly helpful to fix a long time issue."

"What do you mean that Mirio would have died young? Was he fated to die in battle?" Nighteye asked, readying himself for the worst answer.

"Not exactly. I mean, he still could. But this is more about the matter of quirks. The body can only hold so much, and well, One For All is a lot. It does not have the same benefits as All For One. The only reason Toshinori was able to live until now was because he was originally quirkless, which made him the perfect vessel for One For All. Most of us only figured that out recently while discussing in the depths of Izuku's subconscious. Perhaps, if I can boldly say, in the depths of his very soul. A quirked individual will eventually die young because One For All is many quirks squeezed into one."

"That is…" It Took Nighteye a while to process this information dump. "He needs to know this."

"Yes, you'll be helping him so he WON'T die young. He needs to master his quirk if he wishes to live past 30."

"Thirty?!"

"Yeah, our 6th guy died at 40 just before passing it to Nana."

"This is concerning… However, telekinesis quirks are obviously not my specialty."

"Yeah, well, if you can't figure it out, then you'll probably have to find someone who could help. Maybe a medical professional with knowledge of human biology? I don't fucking know. I just don't want this kid to die, okay? Also, be sure to inch this entire information to him slowly. It doesn't have to be today. Best to tell Toshinori or Gran Torino tho." Without warning, Izuku's body fell limp again. Nighteye could catch it this time. He instantly regained consciousness.

"Whoa, that was weird. He really took my body, didn't he?" Izuku asked Nighteye, who nodded grimly. "...He didn't say anything weird, right?" Nighteye helped him to his feet and gave him a chair.

"You might want to sit down." Nighteye suggested to him. Not liking where this is going, Izuku sat down. It was a slow conversation, but Nighteye was able to tell him everything as gently as the hero could. "That's about all of it. The important details, at least. The situation seems grim, but I am ready to help you and take you in as my intern."

"One moment." Izuku sighed heavily. He looked around the room for an entire minute before finally spotting the trash can. He stood up, walked over to it, and then finally vomited. After doing so, he was hyperventilating now. Nighteye was instantly beside him, instructing him how to do deep breaths.

"Deep breaths. Breathe in while counting to five and then breathe out while counting to five."

"I'm gonna… I need to talk to Camie."

{- To Be Continued...

See that? He was quirkless in the original, and that means he doesn't have to worry about One For All's fatal flaw.

Bakugou: Did you plan all of this out? From his molecular control?

No. This shit was pure luck and coincidence on my end with a possibly viable way to deal with the problem of One For All's flaw. He's still gonna need help though, to keep himself stable while doing the process. He's not gonna instantly figure it out. This is what he gets for skipping biology classes.