If anybody has been paying attention, yes I upped the chapter count on the story. I was writing ahead and realized that there was a chapter that I needed to break up and a few more events that were important to the story that weren't in my original outline. So, 30 is the new guess. We'll see if it remains or if I end up adjusting it more. :)
I am crediting 'Learning Curve' by pocketramblr and 'those hardest to love need it most' by DancingInTheStorm with most of the statistics/terminology I used when talking about quirkless people, although I did tweak it a little bit to better suit my story/headcanon. (Anyone who has taken a stats class more recently than I have, feel free to correct my math when you get to that point; I'm not at all confident that I did it correctly.) Thank you to both authors and I highly recommend both fics!
Also, there was a little bit of confusion expressed about the time frame in the comments, so to clarify, Izuku met All Might and subsequently All for One (in case you haven't figured out who ? is in the prologue) when he was twelve, not fourteen, so at this point Izuku has been in the League for three years. Hopefully that has become a little more clear since I've adjusted the summary for the fic, but here it is explicitly just in case.
He'd felt good that morning. Surprisingly good, all things considered. Sure, his old wound had throbbed a little bit more than usual, but it was nothing abnormal. Honestly, he had been downright bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to give the day his all, or at least as much as he had left to give. It was part of the reason he'd felt confident enough even to attempt all those rescues earlier in the day.
So how did things go to hell so quickly? How did villains figure out when to attack the USJ? How did a child, one that he'd thought was dead (one that he should have protected) become the leader of said villains? And how did the aforementioned child know that All Might was looking for a successor?!
It made him wonder what else the boy might know.
It made him wonder how quickly he needed to make a decision.
Toshinori groaned softly as he lifted his head, giving Uraraka-shoujo a once-over. His brave young student appeared unharmed, just slightly shaky as she opened her eyes and began to push herself upright. The pro hero sighed quietly in relief, slumping back against the ground, distantly noting with some pride how she immediately snapped her head towards Bakugou-shounen and Aizawa, more concerned for their welfare than her own injuries. It was just one more sign that Uraraka-shoujo would be a fantastic rescue hero some day. Or even a crime-fighting hero, if those earlier moves were anything to go by. Where had she learned that anyway?
"Bakugou-kun," she murmured, her voice soft and laced with worry, pulling him from his reverie. "I hope he's okay."
"Is Bakugou-shounen injured?" All Might frowned immediately, his heart racing slightly with his concern.
"Mm-mm. At least not physically. But I know that he was desperate to get here. Something about needing to save his friend. I didn't want to pry, but-"
A scream and an explosion cut her off. Yagi jumped, lurching upright in surprise and coughing up a spurt of blood in the process, searching desperately for the enemy-only to see Bakugou-shounen slumped to the ground, sobbing desperately, Aizawa slowly making his way to the boy's side. It was… shocking, to say the least.
"Ohmygosh, are you- A-All Might-sensei?!" Uraraka-shoujo screeched. Toshinori blinked in confusion, meeting brown eyes wide with shock and worry and more than a little disbelief. The pro hero felt a flicker of misgiving at that, glancing down to try to understand why-
Oh. Shit.
"Ah, right, I suppose I do look… different," Toshinori groaned, wiping the blood from his chin. "I know it's rather strange and I promise I'll explain later, but now isn't the time. In the meantime, I'd rather you didn't go telling your classmates about this."
"I… I suppose I understand," Uraraka-shoujo agreed hesitantly, fidgeting, her eyes still very wide, but she seemed to have mostly regained the bulk of her composure. "Are… Are you okay, All Might-sensei? Are you hurt?"
"Yagi-san, please," Toshinori sighed automatically, "at least in this form. No, I'm not too terribly-"
Another violent series of coughs, accompanied by another glob of blood and phlegm, cut him off, doing little to help his case. Uraraka-shoujo yelped in alarm, scrambling to find a tissue or handkerchief or something, but Toshinori wearily waved her concern away. "It's fine, it's fine," he mumbled, wiping his mouth on his already-ruined shirt. "Happens all the time; it's perfectly normal."
"Um, I'm pretty sure coughing up blood isn't normal All M- er, Yagi-san," Uraraka-shoujo squeaked back.
"Bakugou! Uraraka! Aizawa-sensei! All Might-sensei! You all alright?!"
Toshinori glanced up as Kirishima-shounen hurried towards them, worry etched in his face. He allowed himself a smile. Kirishima-shounen is such a good kid, coming to check on them, he thought. Then, just as quickly, Crap, he's gonna see me without my muscle form!
Before he could panic too much, Uraraka-shoujo shot him a glance, quickly rose to her feet, and ran to intercept the redhead, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards Bakugou-shounen, mumbling something that Toshinori couldn't hear, but the intent was clear by her classmate's reaction: distracting the boy and getting help for his other student. Kirishima-shonen's eyes blew wide, something like horror flashing across his expression, but then his face set and he nodded in determination, kneeling in front of his friend and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Bakugou? Dude, you okay?" he murmured gently, but still loudly enough for Toshinori to hear (the boy wasn't really the most subtle of individuals, not that he had any room to talk). The blonde didn't answer though, just remained staring vaguely into space, ignorant of the tears spiking down his cheeks. Perhaps he was dissociating? The redhead looked concerned but didn't press him.
"Kirishima, report," Aizawa grunted, looking dazed, but determined. "What happened up top?"
"Oh, right," Kirishima straightened up, turning his attention to his teacher. Toshinori decided to take advantage of the distraction to slip off of the plaza itself, instead sitting down beneath the lip and simply listening as his student continued. He didn't fail to notice that Uraraka-shoujo, when she saw him moving, placed herself so that she would block his escape from Kirishima-shounen's view. "The warp guy appeared before we could escape the USJ. Thirteen tried to use Black Hole on 'im, but he opened a warpgate to redirect the attack and destroy their armor, then he used his quirk again to scatter most of us around the building. But after that the guy just vanished. Mentioned something about needing to grab a guy named Deku before things got out of hand? Anyway, Satou and I worked together to pry open the doors and Iida ran to the campus to get help."
"So… Thirteen is…?"
"Recovery Girl said they'll be fine."
"Good. So… the other teachers…?"
"Uh, they arrived just a minute ago. They're searching for all the other students now. Most of 'em are still scattered around the building, but Kouda and Shinsou made it back on their own-oh, but Shinsou hurt his leg somehow-and Snipe managed to spot Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari. They look okay, but I think Kaminari kind of fried his own brain again…"
"Good. Good… Uraraka?"
"Bakugou-kun and I were both warped to those ruins, where we were attacked by a group of villains. Bakugou's quirk caused some debris to destabilize, but he got better at controlling his output over time. The villains were mostly low-level thugs, so it wasn't too hard to take them down even with the unstable footing. After that, we decided to come to the plaza to see if we could help. We weren't planning on engaging, but then that hands guy charged in and we decided that we had to get involved. I made myself float and Bakugou-kun launched me and… yeah."
"I see. In that case-" Toshinori heard a grunt and a gasp and quickly peeked up over the edge of the platform. He quickly saw that Aizawa had started to stand, but suddenly wobbled, staggering. Kirishima-shonen had quickly moved to support him, as did Uraraka-shoujo, who tucked herself under his arm and pressed her hand against his back, a faint pink glow shining from her fingertips, seemingly draining the color from her cheeks.
"You know what, maybe we should get you to Recovery Girl too, sensei," the redhead frowned. "You don't look like you're in great shape to be honest; you need to rest."
"Can't," Aizawa mumbled. Whatever lucidity he'd managed to maintain when questioning the pair of them seemed largely to have abandoned him now. "Not until my students are safe."
Okay… That was actually kind of sweet. And judging by the flustered smile on Uraraka-shoujo's face and the tears gathering in Kirishima-shounen's eyes, they thought as much, too. "So manly," the latter mumbled. "Come on sensei, let's get you up top so you can check on everyone yourself. Hey, Uraraka, you okay?"
"Yeah, I didn't really get hurt, just a bit nauseous from my quirk." She shot a quick look towards Toshinori, who nodded slightly, prompting her onward. "I'll take sensei to Recovery Girl. You help Bakugou-kun, okay?"
Kirishima-shounen nodded in acknowledgement, helping her to settle their teacher against her back before she started climbing the stairs towards the USJ entrance. Then he knelt by Bakugou-shounen once more, gently cajoling him to his feet and helping him stumble away in a daze.
Toshinori slumped back against the retaining wall, allowing his eyes to close. He could understand how the boy felt. It had taken him a while to recognize the young man as the quiet blond boy from Midoriya-shounen's funeral, but just then he could see it, just as he had in the aftermath of the battle training. It made him wonder if Bakugou-shounen felt the same way he did. If he blamed himself, too.
Perhaps he should talk to him.
Not right now, though.
"All Might? Are you here?"
Toshinori wearily raised a hand as he recognized Ishiyama-kun's voice. He could hear heavy footsteps, and a moment later his fellow teacher's boxy face appeared in front of him. "Are you alright, All Might?" he frowned, glancing him over.
"Yeah, for the most part. That… thing… managed to find my old wound. Dug into it pretty hard. But it's not as bad as it looks."
"You're covered in blood," Ishiyama-kun deadpanned.
"Well don't sugarcoat it," Toshinori grumbled. "I had to act recklessly or I'd be dead right now."
"Things were that serious?"
"Yeah. Those villains were powerful. Their leader couldn't have been older than our first years, but he was able to hold his own against Aizawa in a one-on-one fight. Sure, he was injured and exhausted at the time, but still…" But still, a quirkless kid managed to throw Aizawa like it was nothing.
"That's no small feat," Cementoss agreed, his eyes growing wide as he nodded ponderously, "but we can investigate the matter later. Come now. The students are being treated by the entrance. Let's sneak you to Recovery Girl's office, and she'll get you healed up in no time.
The blonde nodded wearily, internally wincing as he imagined the scolding the woman would give him. "I think I shortened my time limit again in that fight," Toshinori mumbled, grimacing against the sharp pain in his side as Ishiyama pulled him to his feet and led him towards one of the emergency exits past the squall zone. He was fairly used to the pain by now, though. Six years of constant throbbing did that to a person.
"It's unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Either way, your actions probably saved the lives of those students today," Ishiyama-kun smiled encouragingly.
Toshinori nodded absently, but he didn't really believe it. His thoughts were plagued by the memories of a day on a high rooftop, faced by a child with curly green hair and hopeful, brilliant green eyes after asking him one, piercing question, pleading and fretting and longing for a single, magical word-and a young man with narrow cheeks, his eyes a dull, flat jade, his smile mocking and lifeless, his words just as piercing as before, but for an entirely different reason.
You taught me when to cut my losses.
His actions were what put everyone in danger. If it weren't for him, that boy may have become a great hero, instead of a villain.
.oOo.
"So you've gone and done it again, All Might!" a creaky old voice groused. "You can't keep injuring yourself like this!"
"It's not like I asked that thing to attack me," Toshinori sighed, sitting up with yet another grimace as Recovery Girl entered the room. The old doctor's eyes narrowed on him; he could practically see the steam coming from her ears.
"That's not the point! The point is that you wore yourself to the bone this morning when you had a class to teach! I don't care if you're the Symbol of Peace; continue injuring yourself out of sheer stupidity, and I won't continue to heal you, understand?!"
"Yes ma'am," the blonde winced, appropriately chastened. Recovery Girl huffed, then set about her work, pulling off Toshinori's shirt and beginning to clean his reopened wound.
"How are you feeling, All Might?" a soft voice asked, and Toshinori glanced up as the school principal entered the room, his usually bright smile soft and worried and his beady black eyes lacking their usual calm, calculating gleam.
"I'll live," the pro hero shrugged.
"I'd hope so. I don't want to be the one explaining to Gran what happened to you."
"What the hell?! What are you doing here, Tsukauchi?" Toshinori gaped, spitting blood as another figure stepped in behind his boss.
"I've been assigned to investigate the attack of course," his old friend shrugged, smiling faintly as he stepped around an empty bed to sit down next to him. "This so-called League of Villains, according to the students. Apparently the villain with a warping quirk announced them as such, but we don't know much else."
"Which brings us to part of the reason why we're here," Nezu-sensei piped up again. "We hoped that you could give us your statement on what happened during the fighting in the USJ. Unfortunately the other teachers and I arrived too late to see much more than a vanishing portal, and Aizawa-kun wasn't exactly up to the task of giving his story when Uraraka-kun brought him up."
"Sure," Toshinori nodded, "but first, are the students, Thirteen, and Aizawa okay?"
"For the most part, yes. Thirteen-kun has been sent to the hospital with some severe lacerations on their back, but the doctors have reassured us that they'll pull through. Aizawa-kun wasn't terribly injured, but his stamina was too drained for Shuzenji-kun to use her quirk, so he was sent to the hospital as well. Among the students, no one had life-threatening injuries, but three were sent to the hospital regardless. The rest were exhausted enough that we opted to send them home rather than attempt to continue classes."
"On that note, it would seem that the enemy had some knowledge of their quirks, since all of the students caught up in the warpgate were sent to areas that they weren't entirely suited to handle," Tsukauchi commented, frowning worriedly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well to start, Asui-kun, Aoyama-kun, and Tokoyami-kun were all sent to the conflagration zone. They are struggling with mild burns and varying degrees of heat exhaustion-Asui-kun being the worst off-but they were protected from worse injury by Tokoyami-kun, whose quirk, though weakened by the flames, was able to hold the villains also sent there at bay.
"Hagakure-kun is fighting hypothermia and frostbite from the squall zone due to the nature of her costume. Todoroki-kun was sent there as well and he also has some symptoms due to overuse of the ice aspect of his quirk. However, since he has some natural measure of resistance to cold temperatures, she's by far the worse off of the two of them.
"Ojirou-kun was sent to the landslide zone on his own. He did very well against the villains he encountered despite the fact that he had no cover, but still took quite a beating when they eventually cornered him-Shuzenji-kun said that he was the worst injured of the students. He has a few broken bones, deep bruises, a concussion, and a significant gash or two, but nothing life-threatening.
"Kaminari-kun is suffering from quirk overuse, but he was able to successfully protect Jirou-kun and Yaoyorozu-kun from serious injury at the mountain rescue site, although they all had cuts and bruises.
"Kouda-kun is also relatively unscathed, largely thanks to the efforts of Shinsou-kun. The two of them were sent to the shipwreck zone, presumably because the water would limit the projection of their voices, and thus the effectiveness of their quirks. However, Shinsou-kun still managed to take control of a number of the villains and set them against each other with his quirk while he and Kouda-kun swam for shore. However, Shinsou-kun was bitten by a man with a quirk that gave him shark-like abilities and was nearly dragged into deeper water. Fortunately, Kouda-kun managed to kick the man in the gills before that could happen-he signed something about a dolphin suggesting that trick once.
"Bakugou-kun and Uraraka-kun were sent to the earthquake zone, where their quirks were limited by the instability of the ruined buildings, however their combat skills made up for those limitations. Of the students warped away, they suffered the least amount of injury. The rest remained by the entrance.
"As much as I despise their actions, I must commend the villains for the effectiveness of their strategy. All in all, we were very lucky that we didn't suffer any casualties."
Toshinori nodded as he processed this information, feeling simultaneously relieved and more tense than ever. "They likely got their information through the spy that's been sneaking onto campus," he muttered.
"You're referring to the battle training and quirk assessment incidents?" Nezu prompted, his smile turning grim.
"Sorry, just a moment," Tsukauchi interrupted, fishing a recording device out of his pocket. He pressed play, then, glancing between them, asked, "Now what was that about a spy?"
"During a battle training for this same class earlier in the week, one of our students noticed an intruder during the final exercise. Eyewitness reports match with the description of another individual seen observing the quirk assessment test that Aizawa-kun holds on the first day of class every year."
"If Bakugou-shounen, Shinsou-shounen, and Jirou-shoujo's descriptions of the intruder are accurate, then I saw him during the fighting as well. In fact, he appeared to be their leader. And sensei… I had my suspicions before, but I'm now certain that the intruder was in fact Midoriya Izuku."
Nezu's eyes narrowed. "I wondered if that might be the case following Uraraka-kun's comments at the USJ, but I will admit that this is an… interesting development."
"Hang on. Midoriya Izuku? You mean the suicide case from three years ago?"
"Yes. You're familiar with it?"
"Yeah," Tsukauchi frowned, looking slightly disturbed. "I was one of the detectives assigned to the case. How did you know of it, All Might?"
"I… I met the boy," All Might admitted softly, cringing at the memory. "I… said something that I maybe shouldn't have. Shortly after that, I found out that he committed suicide."
Tsukauchi looked startled. Nezu, of course, was unsurprised-he thrived on information. "How did the two of you meet? And what was it that you said?"
"I happened to rescue him from a villain attack. He chased me down after the fact right as my time was running out to ask if it was possible for a quirkless person to become a hero. I said no. Worse, I said that he should try to keep his dreams attainable," Toshinori recounted bitterly, his hands clenching around the thin blanket of the bed.
"You said that to an impressionable child?" Recovery Girl gaped at him, fury and sorrow burning in her eyes. "How could you be so cruel?!"
"I didn't mean to destroy him the way I did, but… I didn't want a defenseless child running into danger, either. At the time, I felt like I was saying what I had to," Toshinori defended himself, but the words felt hollow, even to him.
"Is this why you started your whole advocacy campaign? To assuage your guilty conscience over causing the death of a child?!"
"Not exactly, but… I'd be lying if said that wasn't part of it," the pro hero admitted. "You know I was quirkless myself before obtaining One for All, right?"
"Yes, that's part of the reason I'm so shocked you would say such a thing!"
"I… I just wanted him to understand the risk working as a hero carries. The danger. When he 'died', I felt like I was one the one who killed him. Even so, I was shocked that it had happened at all. That boy… he'd been so bright. So warm. I knew he'd been devastated by what I said, but I never thought it would make him suicidal, and logically I knew that such thoughts don't just come all at once; they usually take time to take root. So I started doing research, looking into the conditions of quirkless kids nowadays versus when I was a child, and the things I learned were horrible.
"Medically quirkless individuals make up about twenty percent of the population, but only about seven percent are functionally quirkless, without even a vestigial mutation. And that's just the world at large. Ninety-two percent of those twenty percent-to say nothing of the specifically functionally quirkless seven percent-are already older than twenty-five. That means Midoriya Izuku was one of the approximately eight percent of medically quirkless individuals or one of one point six percent of functionally quirkless individuals worldwide under the age of twenty-five. By contrast, I would have been one of about twenty-five percent of medically quirkless kids and fifteen percent functionally quirkless when I was his age, and there wasn't nearly as much of a social stigma then. Today, quirkless kids-in particular functionally quirkless kids like Midoriya-get told to commit suicide an average of two point seven times a month in school, and about seventy-six percent of them try it at least once in their lifetimes. In fact, only about fifty-four percent reach adulthood-that's part of why most quirkless people are older-and those that do are rarely able to find opportunities for higher education and employment.
"What I said to him that day was inexcusable; I'm not denying that. But I put that campaign together in the hopes of preventing it from happening again, by my hand or anyone else's." As afraid of the woman as he was, Toshinori forced himself to look Recovery Girl in the eye as he murmured softly, "Believe me, if I could go back and change it, then I would."
"The past is the past, I'm afraid," Nezu heaved a weary sigh as he laid a placating hand (paw?) on the doctor's arm. She grumbled, but otherwise didn't protest. "I'd thought that the circumstances of the boy's death seemed strange, but I will admit that this new development concerning Midoriya-that he is apparently a leader in this group of villains-goes far beyond my expectations."
"Honestly, it seemed strange to me too, especially since we never found a body, but there wasn't much we could do after we found the suicide note in his bag."
"Can you remember what it said?" Nezu prompted.
"Not off the top of my head, but there's a copy in his complete case file. Although, I remember that it did strike me as odd somehow…"
"Hm. Would it be possible for us to see it? Perhaps have it brought to a debriefing meeting tomorrow?"
"Sure. If Midoriya really is a part of this case, it may be an important piece of the puzzle."
"Yes, I would agree. Now, All Might, you were explaining to us what precisely happened at the USJ?"
"Right. I was heading to class late because of my-"
"Idiotic, overly-reckless hero complex?" Recovery Girl suggested with the acidity of a bottle of vinegar as she proceeded to wrap his wound. Toshinori-and Tsukauchi, he noticed out of the corner of his eye-grimaced at that, but at least she wasn't quite as determined to label him as the devil incarnate.
"Erm. Well, I met Iida-shounen along the way, and he informed me that the USJ was under attack, Thirteen had been injured, and Aizawa was defending everyone, but the students had been scattered through the facility. When I arrived, I found things much as he had described. However, almost as soon as I'd walked in, a monster with black skin and an exposed brain rushed me. It was all I could do to knock Satou-shounen out of the way before it crashed into me."
"That fast, huh?"
"The thing was insanely powerful," Toshinori nodded. "It hit my weak spot pretty hard, and it had some sort of regeneration quirk. But it also had shock absorption and likely super strength and/or super speed, at least according to the other villain present."
"You're saying it had multiple quirks?" Tsukauchi frowned. "But… Shouldn't that be impossible? At least now that…" He hesitated, glancing down at his recording device and pressing the 'pause' button. Once they were in the clear, he nodded to them.
"Now that All for One is gone?" Nezu finished quietly now that the danger of his words being caught on record had passed.
"Actually," All Might whispered, "considering everything I've seen and heard today, I'm no longer entirely certain that All for One really is gone."
Recovery Girl's hands flinched against All Might's side, Nezu's entire body stilled, and Tsukauchi's head snapped up from where he'd been writing on his notepad. "What makes you say that?" the principal asked cautiously. "It's not outside the realm of possibility that a single quirk with multiple side effects is responsible for the appearance of multiple quirks in the… monster, as you described it. Considering the quirks in question appear to be so different from one another, it does seem improbable, but not impossible. Take our young student Todoroki for example."
"Nomu's apparent multiple quirks is a part of why I'm suspicious, but the primary reason is actually something that Midoriya Izuku said to me before he disappeared."
"And what was that?"
Toshinori paused, frowning down at his scarred hands as Recovery Girl finished with his bandage, then stepped back so that she could frown up at him alongside Nezu. "He referenced my successor," All Might whispered, and he sensed all three of them stiffen. "Said something about how it was nice to confirm that I hadn't chosen one yet."
Tsukauchi released a long, slow breath. "You're saying… you think he knows about One for All."
"That's right," Toshinori nodded. "There are very few people in this world who know the secret. Aside from the three of you, just Sir Nighteye, Gran Torino… and All for One. Of those six, the only one I would suspect of telling anyone is the last."
"If this child was somehow able to sneak on and off of campus though, is it possible that he overheard a conversation between one or another of you?"
"Perhaps, but it's not exactly something we speak openly about. Besides, considering that we all know the secret already, it's not as though we would have been spelling it out for anyone to overhear," Nezu pointed out.
"That's true," Tsukauchi conceded, his brows furrowed with worry.
"But if All for One really is behind all this, then how should we proceed?" Recovery Girl frowned.
"I don't know," Toshinori admitted quietly.
"Well, perhaps we should first investigate this Nomu creature," Nezu suggested calmly, although the furrow to his brow-muzzle?-would suggest that he was anything but. "If we can do that, perhaps we can confirm whether or not All for One truly is involved."
"Agreed," Tsukauchi nodded. "I already have a team sweeping the surrounding area based on student descriptions of the creature."
"Very good. Now All Might, is there anything more you would like to tell us about recent events?"
Toshinori glanced towards his friend, who pressed 'play' on his recording device again and nodded. "Well, as you've apparently heard from the students, I battled the Nomu and eventually succeeded in throwing it out of the facility. After that, I had a chance to pay a little more attention to the ringleaders. One of them was observing my fight closely. He had blue hair and black clothes and for some reason appeared to wear hands all over his body as part of his costume, including one on his face, so I couldn't see it clearly. He was the one who ordered the Nomu to attack me, but he appeared to be at odds with the true leader, Midoriya Izuku."
"How could you tell?"
"And how could you tell that Midoriya was ultimately in charge?"
"Mostly the way that they interacted. Judging by the way he gave orders, Midoriya was definitely the one in charge, yet Tenko-as Midoriya called him-spoke to him in a manner reminiscent of a spoiled child. Plus when Midoriya gave the order to withdraw, Tenko ignored him completely and charged me instead. I don't know exactly what his quirk was, but it was obvious that he intended to kill me with it. If it hadn't been for Uraraka-shoujo, I would most likely be dead."
"What exactly did Uraraka-kun do?"
"Jumped into the fight in the nick of time. Judging by the explosion beforehand, I'll bet Bakugou-shounen played a hand in it, too. Either way, she came out of nowhere, grabbed the villain and took him to the floor without batting an eye. It was impressive, honestly, even if it was pretty damn reckless."
"This student sounds as bad as you," Tsukauchi muttered, not quite under his breath.
"Intriguing," Nezu-sensei mused. "So the villains fled after that?"
"Yeah. The warp villain created a portal and they just-"
A knock at the door gave them all pause. After a moment, Recovery Girl hobbled over to the door, opening it partway after Tsukauchi closed the curtain around All Might's bed. "Oh! Hello there, sweetie. Did you need something?"
"Um, is All Might-sensei here?" a familiar voice asked uncertainly. "I… I know that he was… um… injured in the fight and I… I just wanted to make sure that he's okay…"
"That's very kind of you, dear. Not to worry, he'll-"
"It's alright Recovery Girl," All Might called. "You can let her in. She knows." Tsukauchi quirked an eyebrow at him and Nezu sighed and smiled, but otherwise the two didn't react much. A moment later, Toshinori heard the door close once more and the privacy curtain was pulled aside to reveal a fidgeting Uraraka Ochaco.
"Hello, Uraraka-kun." Nezu greeted mildly, smiling. The girl seemed slightly startled to see him there, and even more so to see Tsukauchi.
"O-Oh! Hi, sensei!" she squeaked, clearly a little flustered. "U-Um, am I… interrupting something?"
"We were actually just wrapping up," Tsukauchi smiled, pressing the 'stop' button on his recorder and tucking it back into his jacket. "I was just getting All Might's statement on the attack."
"So… You know."
"About All Might's secret?" the detective clarified, smiling slightly. "Yes, I do."
"Detective Tsukauchi here is an old friend," Toshinori explained simply, smiling as her eyes widened slightly in understanding. "He's legit; I'd trust him with my life."
"That's quite the introduction," Tsukauchi outright laughed now. "And speaking of, I believe I owe you a 'thank you,' Uraraka-kun."
"E-Eh?!"
"All Might here was just explaining to us how you saved his life," Nezu smiled gently, although amusement sparkled in his eyes as the girl immediately flushed red.
"Wh-What?! N-No, you don't have to thank me for anything!" Uraraka-shoujo squawked, her arms flailing slightly as she floundered through her embarrassment. "I-I just did what anyone would do, you kn-know? A-And anyway, I couldn't have done it without Bakugou-kun."
"Stop encouraging the girl, all of you," Recovery Girl grumbled as she set about putting away her medical tools. "It was a reckless move. One touch from that man and she could have easily gotten herself killed!"
"True," Toshinori frowned, his hand drifting instinctively to his wounded side as he looked her in the eye. "I can't condone that aspect of things, but the fact remains that I'd be dead if you hadn't jumped in. Although I am curious-how did you know I needed help?"
Uraraka-shoujo's blush faded, her expression turning somber. "Honestly, most of it was because you stopped fighting. After you threw that… thing out of the USJ, you turned and just started talking. As Bakugou-kun put it, you're strong enough and fast enough that you shouldn't need to talk your way out of anything. But… there was also just this look in your eyes."
"A look?"
"Mm. Like the whole world had just come crashing down." Toshinori blinked at that, wondering what exactly she meant, but his student didn't elaborate. "To be honest, I wasn't sure what that creepy guy's quirk was, just that when he charged you, he did it with his hand stretched out, so I assumed that that's how he meant to attack. I know it was a gamble, but Bakugou-kun and I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."
"Impressive deductive skills," Nezu smiled, "but in the future, avoid going in blind. We're not quite sure what the villain's quirk was either, but judging by Aizawa-kun's injuries, I imagine it had something to do with disintegration."
Both Toshinori and his student paled at that pronouncement, and Recovery Girl tensed in her office chair. Tsukauchi looked grim, but not too terribly surprised. "O-Okay. Okay, I'll remember that," Uraraka-shoujo squeaked, looking a little shaky. "A-Anyway, um, I just… I wanted to ask you, All Mi-uh, Yagi-san… Are there any signs before you… shrink? Just in case I need to play distraction so you can slip away?"
Toshinori smiled slightly at the earnest light in her eyes. She really was going to be a wonderful hero one day. "Well, the biggest giveaway is that my body starts giving off steam, and sometimes I'll start coughing blood, like you saw in the USJ," he sighed.
"Okay. I'll keep that in mind," Uraraka-shoujo nodded. "Um… Could I… Is it okay to ask… What… What happened? I mean, the Symbol of Peace doesn't just get hurt like this, right?"
Toshinori glanced away, a familiar sense of fear roiling in his gut. It always felt that way when he had to tell someone the truth, but this time the stakes felt higher than ever before. All of the memories of the mistakes he'd made the last time seemed to press in upon him, of the way that he'd ignored a different bright, earnest, heartfelt child, focusing instead on his own pride and selfishness. And now here was another one, asking his story, watching him with cautious concern.
He took a deep breath.
It was different this time. This time, he wasn't explaining out of pride or fear. This time, he was simply trying to settle the fears of his student. "It was about six years ago now," he said quietly, gently laying a hand over the bandages to ward off the phantom pains. "I can't show you the scar, but it was bad. I lost my stomach and my left lung. I was able to continue doing hero work after a number of frankly debilitating surgeries, but only for a limited period of time, and that time has grown shorter over the years. Last I checked, I had about three hours a day. After the fight in the USJ though, I wouldn't be surprised if that time shrank a bit more." Not as much as if I'd already passed on One for All, but probably still by an hour.
Uraraka-shoujo's hand was pressed over her mouth. "I'm… so sorry," she mumbled around her fingers. "I know that probably sounds stupid, but-"
"I know," Toshinori chuckled weakly, humorlessly. "There's not much else you can say, is there."
"No, sensei," she agreed softly. A solemn sort of silence fell over the room as Uraraka-shoujo wrung her hands together, chewing her bottom lip in thought.
"Well Uraraka-kun, I believe it's time for you to be on your way home. I imagine that your parents are expecting a call from you," Nezu-sensei prompted gently. Toshinori frowned slightly at his boss's odd phrasing, but was distracted when his student lifted her head, nodding firmly to the principal, then looking up with her jaw set and eyes bright with determination.
"If I can help you in any way, please just let me know, okay sensei? Anyway, I'll see you in class." She then dashed from the room, leaving Toshinori blinking after her. Tsukauchi nudged him gently, quirking an eyebrow at him with a slight smile.
"What?" the pro hero frowned at his old friend, only to have Nezu's soft chuckle distract him once more.
"It would seem that Togata-kun might have some competition after all."
Toshinori blinked again, their slight smiles slowly sinking in.
Huh. Now there's a thought.
Outtake:
[Basically Snow White]
[Basically Snow White]: I don't think I thanked you for saving us before so thanks
[You]: don't worry about it
[You]:i not for you the shark guy woulf of got me
[You]: so tink were even
[Basically Snow White]: :) Happy to help
[Basically Snow White]: I still can't believe you know Sign
[You]: yeah it was nice
[You]: maybe we can use it in training
[You]: secret code and stuff
[Basically Snow White]: Yeah!
"Yeah Dad, I'm okay."
Hitoshi glanced up curiously as he heard the soft, tremulous voice. He glanced back from his seat just within the walls of the school, watching as his normally bubbly classmate made her shaky way towards the entrance.
"Yeah. Yeah, they're giving us the rest of the week off of school. No, I don't think…"
Uraraka paused, listening to someone on the other end of the line. Her expression fell, her smile faltering. Hitoshi frowned at that.
[You]: sorry g2g
[You]: ttyl
"I… I mean I guess I can try," Uraraka was mumbling as Hitoshi shoved his phone into his pocket. "I don't… I don't want to impose on anyone, though, especially where we don't know each other very well yet. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be careful. Mhm. I love you both, too. Yeah. Goodbye."
Uraraka lowered her phone with a weary sigh, snapping her phone shut and tucking it back into her skirt pocket. Hitoshi's frown only deepened when she raised a shaky hand to her face and scrubbed at her wet eyes.
"Hey, Uraraka," the boy called quietly, his deep voice carrying across the intervening space between them.
The girl startled slightly, her eyes snapping up to meet his. "Oh. Shinsou-kun," she greeted him, a little bit of cheer entering her voice. "I didn't see you there."
Hitoshi's frown only deepened. After so many years of pretending that he was fine whenever someone called him a villain or suggested that he use his quirk to get the teacher to bump up his grade, he could recognize a forced smile from a mile away. "Something's troubling you," he observed, a mixed statement and invitation. He'd long since learned that in conversations, people were generally more inclined to respond to him when he didn't phrase things as questions.
Not that Uraraka seemed to care either way, but old habits die hard.
Still, he was a little surprised when her smile cracked so easily, tears spilling from her eyes before she slumped weakly to the ground beside him. "Yeah," she mumbled. "I guess I'm a little shaken up by everything."
"Can't say I blame you. I think we're all a mess on some level," Hitoshi shrugged easily, his hand sliding almost unconsciously to brush against the new set of scars on his leg. "So that was your dad you were talking to."
"Yeah."
"I hope he's coming to pick you up."
"He… can't."
"He's working then."
"No, he and mom just live too far away, is all."
Hitoshi shot her a calculating look. "And yet you come here everyday."
"I don't… I don't live with them," Uraraka confessed, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "My parents live way out in the country. It's too far away to commute, so I'm renting an apartment on my own near the campus."
The indigo-haired boy stared at her long enough for Uraraka to start shifting uncomfortably, an awkward blush rising to her cheeks. "So to sum up," he said slowly, "you were planning on walking home alone to an empty apartment right after a villain attack where we as students were specifically targeted."
Uraraka's blush darkened even further. "Well… I guess that's about right, yeah."
Hitoshi gaped at her, absolutely aghast. "No."
"Huh?"
"No. Not happening," the boy repeated, pulling his phone back out and closing out of his messages (after noting Kouda's smiley face of acknowledgement) before pulling up his recent calls.
"Shinsou-kun?" Uraraka asked again as the call connected.
"Hitoshi? What's wrong?"
"Hey dad, I'm inviting a friend over."
"Huh?!"
"Well this is a surprise. Who is it?"
"Uraraka. She has an apartment near UA. I was hoping that we could swing by and let her pack a weekend bag."
"W-Wait, Shinsou-kun-!"
"Are her parents gone for the weekend or something?"
"She lives alone."
"… I see. Well, I guess that's alright. Nobody should be alone after what happened today."
"Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking."
"Honestly, your friend should consider finding someone to stay with long-term. It's dangerous to live alone to begin with, but especially now."
"I'll get her to talk to Aizawa-sensei on Monday."
"What am I talking to sensei about?!"
"That would probably be for the best. Anyway, I'll be there in a few minutes."
"See you, Dad."
Hitoshi lowered the phone from his ear as his dad hung up on the other end of the line, quirking an eyebrow at Uraraka as she stared at him, fidgeting and open-mouthed, positively daring her to protest.
"Shinsou-kun… this is too much," she managed eventually after what looked like several attempts to organize her thoughts.
"Like hell," Hitoshi snorted, turning his head back towards the entrance to watch for his dad's car. "If you're going to keep insisting on butting into my life, then you can't complain when I butt into yours."
Uraraka fell silent for several too-long moments. He could feel her eyes on him. It was disconcerting, and he found himself shifting awkwardly.
Was that too far? Oh gosh did I say the wrong thing? I mean, I guess I probably should've asked first-
"Shinsou-kun," the girl began, cutting off her spiralling thoughts, her voice oddly hushed, her hand slightly covering her mouth and her eyes wide with surprise and something else that he didn't quite know how to name when he risked a glance towards her, "is that your way of saying that we're friends?"
Hitoshi blinked at her. "Um…"
The brunette's eyes softened and she dropped her hand so that he could see her smile, considerably brighter and far more genuine than it had been before as she leaned over and gently knocked his shoulder with hers. "Thanks," she murmured quietly, and Hitoshi felt himself relax.
"Sure thing."
I really like the Shinsou & Uraraka friendship idea. She's just the kind of person that I feel would be super accepting of seemingly villainous quirks, and frankly I think Shinsou is the type to value and defend friendships in turn. :)
Anyway, next chapter is more of the fallout of the USJ, narrated by UA's cockatoo. :) See you then! Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!