Izuku Midoriya stood in a white, pristine test room.
"Visualize being better than everyone else."
He stared down a researcher holding a notepad. Visualize being better than this man, Izuku told himself. They were supposed to be testing out King's Will, seeing and quantifying what its effects were. He'd used it once before purposefully, but that had been with vestiges of humans whose minds were already broken. Izuku didn't think that he would be as successful this time.
Izuku tried to activate his Quirk, but he could not grasp the essence of it. When he tried to picture being "better" than this man, his overactive brain naturally asked: what about you is better than him?
Minutes passed by with nothing happening.
A door to the test room opened, causing Izuku to look in that general direction. The faceless man, his sensei, had just come in. The chatter of the other researchers followed behind him, sounding oddly distorted.
"I'm sorry…" Izuku muttered, not wanting to disappoint the faceless man. "I can't activate it. I just start thinking too much."
"It's alright," the faceless man soothed him. "Here's a tip that I found helpful when learning how to use all the new Quirks at my disposal. Assign a feeling, a sensation, to the activation of the Quirk."
Izuku nodded, listening with rapt attention.
"For example, it can be balling your hands into fists," the man explained. "After your brain mentally connects the action of balling your hands into fists with the action of activating a Quirk, it'll be easier to use that specific Quirk. Are you following what I'm saying?"
"Yes, sensei."
The man grinned. "Eventually, you'll be able to activate your Quirk without having to ball your hands into fists, but it's a nice stepping stone to help you reach that point. And it'll help remind you if you ever, by chance, forget how to use a Quirk."
"So… associating the usage of my Quirk with a physical action or sensation will allow me to access it easier?" Izuku surmised, trying to understand. "But after I'm used to using the Quirk, the physical action becomes unnecessary?"
"Yes, good, Izuku!" the man praised. "Doing this, along with visualizing the key aspect of the Quirk, will help you immensely in beginning to use the Quirks that you've been given."
"Got it," Izuku replied. He could think of a few easy actions off of the top of his head to use to associate with a Quirk: clenching his jaw, his abs, or flexing his hands were among the easier ones to do. Maybe he could start by using those.
"Still, you know so much about this stuff!" Izuku said, gazing up at the faceless man with admiration in his eyes.
"Well, you come to learn these things when you're as old as I am."
"But you don't look old at all…?" Izuku trailed off. He imagined the faceless man as a child. "How old are you?"
The man laughed. "I stopped counting after the first century."
"Century?" Izuku parroted, trying to wrap his mind around it. When he failed to do so, he defaulted to asking the next question in his mind.
"How strong are you, sensei?"
The faceless man stilled. A twisted smile appeared on his lips. "Strong enough. Why ask, though?"
"Well, I'm fighting the others so that you can see who's the strongest, right?" Izuku said. After he received confirmation via a nod, he continued: "But, if you're as strong as I think you are, I can't be the strongest if I never fight you. So, I'm asking if you're strong now to prepare for when I have to fight you later on."
Silence.
Even the other researchers, who were barely paying attention, immediately grew quiet at Izuku's daring words. The faceless man, fortunately, recognized where this all was coming from: Izuku's pure childlike curiosity and drive to do his best. He innocently wanted to be the strongest, and he'd be willing to fight even All For One to prove that he was.
The faceless man laughed, loudly. He had not been this amused in a very, very long time.
A child, a child, had the balls to challenge All For One to a fight.
He decided to entertain the child's wishes for now. "If you prove to be the strongest amongst this batch, I'll grant you an opportunity to face me in a mock battle. But, be careful, Izuku…"
A twisted grin.
"I may be stronger than I look."
Unbreakable
To Become a Symbol
One of Japan's foremost news networks, Nippon Television, was airing a special segment to discuss the first years' performances at the U.A. Sports Festival.
Guest commentators along with the regular reporting crew all gathered around a round table to talk about the events that had occurred just hours prior. Notably, amongst the guests included the R-Rated Hero: Midnight, who'd refereed the three main events, and the rank six Shield Hero: Crust.
"So, who do you think stood out the most amongst the first years?" Jay, one of the TV station's people, asked. His co-host, Monica, looked like she was restraining herself from hitting him for asking such an obvious question.
"They all stood out in their own way," Midnight cooed, answering diplomatically. "Such adorable little kids, it made me so happy seeing them trying their best."
Crust, however, laughed. "Stood out the most? Is that a trick question? From the moment Izuku Midoriya opened his mouth and gave his opening speech, who else could it have been but him?"
He ignored the exasperated look Midnight sent him and continued. "His speed. His strength. His durability. All top tier, enough to even contend with some of the youngin's running around as pro heroes these days. His Quirk, whatever it is—"
"We have reports that it is called 'Not Sure Haha.'"
Crust sent him a quizzical look. "His Quirk is called… Not Sure Haha?"
Jay shrugged at him. "It's what our field reporters got when they questioned him."
"That sounds like a bad joke," Midnight said honestly.
Monica nodded in agreement, but then, she stopped her motion, asking, "Wait. Midnight, don't you teach him? Do you not know the name of his Quirk?"
For a moment, Midnight almost broke out into a cold sweat. Almost. Revealing One For All's existence to the world was Toshinori's call to make, and her respect for the rank one hero and everything that he stood for demanded that she feign ignorance on this subject. "Midoriya has always been quiet about his Quirk, so not even the teachers know that much about it. We just focus on helping him train it so that he can use it to its fullest potential."
"Well, regardless of what it is called, his Quirk is powerful," Crust continued. "Strong enough to blow Endeavor's son's ice to bits, resilient enough to withstand Katsuki Bakugo's fire attacks, versatile enough to capture others with those black rope thingies he's got. Hell, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he has multiple Quirks! Gahahahaha!"
A wave of laughter rang throughout the room. If one was listening closely to Midnight, they might be able to tell that her laughter was a bit strained.
"I think," Crust said, "that every hero agency's gonna send him an invitation to intern with them. They have to, after that performance. My agency did as well… I'm sorry, little rabbit." He chuckled to himself.
"Which one do you predict he'll join?" Jay asked Midnight.
The response came instantly.
"How am I supposed to know?"
.:.
By the time Izuku finally woke up, it was 3:34 PM. Unsurprising, given how he seemed to need sleep to recover from overusing his Quirks, and along with what happened last night…
Izuku ignored the flaming blush that crept up his face.
Brushing his teeth and quickly washing his face, Izuku quickly made his way to the common area of the dorm, eager to make himself anything to eat. He was starving! On the way, however, he was distracted by the images on the big, central TV that four of his classmates were gathered around.
The TV displayed the words: U.A. University Third Years' Sports Festival Tournament Finals. On one side in red were the words Mirio Togata, and on the other, in blue, were the words Nejire Hado. The two were locked in an intense game of cat and mouse, with Nejire flying around, spirals emanating from her feet, and occasionally blasting a chasing Mirio.
But Mirio, demonstrating incredible mastery with his Quirk, leapt and allowed the approaching spirals to harmlessly pass through him by becoming intangible. Quickly becoming tangible when he landed so that he didn't phase through the ground, he kept chasing her, knowing what Nejire's weakness was: since her Quirk used her stamina as fuel, all he had to do was wait until she exhausted herself.
Figuring out what Mirio's plan was, Nejire went for broke. With a sharp cry of "NEJIRE FLOOD!", the girl amped up her output to one hundred and blasted the earth before her with a flurry of energy almost as cataclysmic as one of Katsuki's Howitzer Impacts. A bright light enveloped the stadium and the TV screen, and when it was gone, only Mirio remained inside the boundaries. At some point, he must've leapt, gone intangible, and reached Nejire, grabbing her and flinging her out-of-bounds.
The ending of the match allowed Izuku to finally ask what was on his mind. "Where is everyone?"
Four pairs of shocked eyes turned and looked at him, unaware that Izuku was even there in the first place. Momo was the first to recover. "Ah, Izuku!" she said, unaware of the curious looks the others, Shoto, Minoru, and Mina, gave her. Well, only Shoto's was curious; Mina sported a smirk and Minoru was more outraged than anything else. "I was waiting for you to wake up. The rest of the class decided to go and watch the sports festival in person at the stadium, but Bakugo insisted that some people stay behind and make sure you were okay."
"Oh…" Izuku said, suddenly bashful. "Did he really say that?"
"Yaomomo paraphrased," Mina cut in. Then, in a rather spot-on impression of Katsuki, she roared, "'Oi! Some of you bastards stay behind to make sure that shitty Deku actually wakes up and didn't die or some bullshit last night.' Something like that."
"Well, thanks, everyone." Izuku bowed slightly. "I'm alright, though."
"You must be hungry, right?" Shoto asked.
As if on cue, Izuku's stomach rumbled.
"I'll go get you something to eat," the heterochromatic boy said. "I hope you don't mind cold soba. There was a lot left over."
Panicking, Izuku said, "N-No, Todoroki, you don't have to—"
"It is fine. Plus," he added, casting a glance at Momo, "she has some things she wants to say to you. Probably."
With that, he left to go get cold soba, leaving Izuku and the three others behind. Izuku turned towards Momo, who had a worried expression on her face. She said, "Izuku, are you truly alright?"
"You haven't been dicking around in your room all this time, right?" Minoru added before quickly being silenced by an elbow to the gut courtesy of Mina.
Izuku looked at Momo's earnest gaze. "Yeah, Momo. I promise, I'm okay. I just tend to sleep a lot when I use my Quirk a bunch. That and get hungry, I think."
Momo seemed to narrow her eyes and stare at Izuku, gauging whether or not he was lying. For a moment, she reminded him of his mother. Finally, she sighed, believing in his words. "You just had me—everyone worried, you know."
"Sorry."
"No, no, don't be. It was just a… baseless worry."
A beat passed.
"GODAMMIT ASHIDO, YOU'RE RIGHT!" Minoru suddenly roared, tears of blood pouring from his eyes. "I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CHANCE!" He sprinted off the couch and out the room, leaving behind two very confused students and a smug-looking Mina.
"Uh, Mina, what was that about?" Momo asked, looking at the girl.
Mina just shrugged. "I don't know. I just told him about how I think you have a crush on—"
Momo's actions were instant. Immediately, in under a second, she was on top of Mina, pressing down onto her from above and all but straddling her slim waist, hand held against her mouth. "Uhh, Izuku, I'm pretty sure Todoroki's soba is ready. Why don't you go check on him?"
Her tone left little room for denial. Still slightly confused at the turn of events but deciding not to spend too much time thinking about it, Izuku relented and left the two girls with a brief: "… alright."
After confirming his disappearance, Momo looked back at the girl underneath her, removing her hand. As soon as she did, Mina breathed, "Geez, Yaomomo, you should really buy me dinner first before shoving a gal down like this. But I don't particularly mind~"
Momo flushed and quickly got off of Mina, huffing, "Please don't say such unnecessary and untruthful things."
"Untruthful?" Mina repeated, putting a hand to her mouth. "I'm offended. Papa Ashido raised a devious girl, sure, but he didn't raise a liar~"
She leapt back on top of Momo, glomping her and rubbing her face in between Momo's chest. Momo, this time, let out a shriek and tried to push Mina off of her, but the smaller girl had a grip of steel for some reason. They wrestled around for a few minutes, Mina giggling all the time and Momo panting heavily in exertion. Sure, she probably could've made a taser and threatened Mina with it, but Momo didn't feel like the situation was that serious… yet.
"What are you guys doing?"
Mina paused in her attack and looked up to find Shoto and Izuku staring dumbfounded at them. The two girls' clothing was disheveled, hair messy, and both were slightly sweaty, painting quite the alluring and suggestive sight. Had Minoru been there, he probably would've gotten a nosebleed, but Izuku and Shoto just looked more confused than anything.
"Skinship," was Mina's short reply before Momo slipped out from her grip, still panting. "You guys are already done eating?"
Izuku laughed, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah… I kind of scarfed it down. I was pretty hungry."
"That's an understatement," Shoto deadpanned, causing the rest of the people in the room to look at him in abject shock before bursting out into sudden laughter. "What?"
"Nothing," Mina giggled. "Just didn't expect you of all people to crack that joke."
Shoto and Izuku sat down on the couch, the former tilting his head in confusion.
The four resumed watching the ending to the third year's Sports Festival, chatting about miscellaneous things. Fortunately for Momo's weak heart and fragile sanity, Mina ceased teasing her about Izuku, though she didn't stop shooting her aggressive eyebrow wiggles whenever Momo was caught looking at Izuku instead of the television. Curiously, after the awards ceremony, the camera lingered on Toshinori, who was typing something on his phone.
Buzz.
Izuku looked down at his own phone, spotting a few sudden texts from Toshinori.
All Might: hey, do you have some time?
All Might: id like to meet up and debrief
All Might: and go over your internship offers
Izuku quickly typed together a response.
Izuku: Sure! Where do you want to meet?
All Might: im tryna dodge the press, so my office?
Izuku: Got it. I'll be right there.
"Sorry guys," Izuku said suddenly, getting up from the couch. Momo, Mina, and Shoto glanced at him curiously. "I've gotta go meet up with someone."
"Got a date?" Mina teased. Momo tried not to be too obvious about it, but she was paying rapt attention.
Izuku shook his head. "A teacher wants to meet up with me."
"Boo. No fun."
.:.
Izuku stood, waiting outside of Toshinori's office.
He hadn't been waiting for long—five minutes at most—before his mentor in his muscular form showed up further down the deserted hallway. He was remarkably sweaty and panting like a dog, quickly ushering Izuku into his office with nary a word before deflating and returning to his normal form once the door was shut behind him.
"The press…" Toshinori said after a few shaky breaths, "are savages."
Izuku remained silent, watching the rank one hero gasp for air. The older man stumbled towards his chair and plopped down into it, gesturing for Izuku to join him in the opposite seat. As he did so, Toshinori lamented, "My body… it isn't what it used to be. It's exhausting to maintain my other form."
Admitting that seemed to take a lot out of Toshinori, and Izuku didn't know how to feel. Seeing his hero like this—a shell of his former glory—filled him with an indescribable emotion. It might have been pity, it might have been sadness… but that was just a small part of him.
An even greater part of Izuku was screaming: it is your time to take up the mantle.
"You won't have to, soon," Izuku reassured him. "I'll—"
"No," Toshinori denied. "Even if it's just for a little bit… a few short years… I still want you to have your typical college experience, your youth before the weight of the title Symbol of Peace is put onto your shoulders."
Izuku was momentarily stunned by Toshinori's words. "… thanks, Toshinori."
Toshinori smiled wanly at him. "Enough about that topic. We're here to discuss your internship offers."
"Right," Izuku said, watching Toshinori get up from his desk and walk over to a large box in the corner of the room. He opened it and dumped its contents out on the ground. A waterfall of letters poured out and spilled out onto the floor.
"There. Now… pick one, I guess."
Izuku stared, flabbergasted, at Toshinori. "Uhh…"
"Now I know there's a lot, so let me break down the types of agencies that you can look into. Big agencies teach you more about the technical aspects of heroism, like filing paperwork after busting a crime and whatnot. Those are typically rarely talked about aspects of being a hero, but they are very important nonetheless." Toshinori placed a hand on his cheek and closed his eyes, sighing.
"When you start out as a hero, you'll have to do all the paperwork yourself, but after you grow a bigger name and gather more resources, you can hire assistants or sidekicks to do the paperwork for you. Then, you can pretty much just focus your attention on finding bad guys and let others clean up after you. I remember the day I finally could stop worrying about paperwork… I drank myself silly that day, gahahahaha!"
"Uhm, Toshinori—"
Toshinori was so deep in his spiel that he might as well have been deaf. "Then, there are small agencies. While they may lack the prestige of large agencies, these agencies typically allow you to get a lot more hands-on experience out in the field. So, I guess the size of the agency matters for what type of experience you want to have. Oh, then there are disaster relief agencies, petty crime agencies, crime syndicate agencies, all types of agencies designed to bust a certain type of crime. You can patrol, do planned assaults on compounds—"
"Toshinori."
Finally broken out of his rant, Toshinori glanced at Izuku. "Ah, sorry. What is it?"
Izuku was staring at the mess of papers strewn out on the ground. "Why did you dump it all out onto the ground?"
A trickle of sweat flowed down the back of Toshinori's neck. "Ahahaha! Well, you see!"
He floundered in place for a second before he steeled his composure.
"It's about sending a message."
Izuku bit back the retort: what message?! He'd noticed it in the past, but sometimes, Toshinori was just a teenager at heart. Overcoming the urge to facepalm, Izuku asked, "Did any of them offer anything like an in person invitation?"
"An in person invitation? What do you mean?" Toshinori said, confused.
"Like offer to meet me in person to give the invitation," Izuku explained.
Toshinori hummed in understanding. "I don't think so. That isn't typically how these things work."
Izuku nodded, suddenly remembering Rumi's words: when you're thinking about which internship offer to accept, I just want you to think about who personally visited you and who just sent you a cold letter. I have an inkling that the person who personally visited you wants you to intern with her far more than the others.
"Why do you ask, though?" Toshinori looked at the boy curiously.
"I received an internship offer from Mirko in person," Izuku answered honestly. "She came to my dorm in order to give it to me."
Toshinori blinked. "Mirko doesn't do internships, though."
"That's what I thought, too," Izuku said. "But she seemed pretty serious about it, though."
Izuku stared at the mess of letters on the ground. "I'll go through all of them, but I think she was right." About what, Izuku did not elaborate any further.
Though, if Izuku was being honest, he'd already made up his mind before he opened up the first envelope.
.:.
After Izuku had left them, the group of three, Mina, Shoto, and Momo, became a group of two when Mina announced that she was going out for a run.
"Yaoyorozu," Shoto said, rising from his seat as soon as Mina left. "Can you help me wash the dishes? When I was there earlier, I noticed that Kirishima didn't clean up after last night. It won't be much work—we just need to put a few things in the dishwasher."
Momo smiled. "Of course, Todoroki."
She got up and followed Shoto into the kitchen. To his credit, Shoto's words were correct; it probably wouldn't take much effort to clean the dishes. As they got to work, Shoto started a conversation that Momo did not expect to have with anyone, much less the seemingly socially-indifferent Shoto Todoroki.
"So," Shoto started casually, "when did you get so close to Midoriya?"
Momo nearly dropped the plate that she was currently rinsing. For a moment, panic laced through her veins, but she endeavored to kill it quickly. "… what do you mean?"
"You have been calling him by his first name," Shoto pointed out simply.
Momo's retort died in her throat.
"Or am I wrong?" Shoto wondered aloud. "Are you not close to Midoriya?"
"N-No!" Momo denied vehemently. "I… I got closer to… him, during the sports festival."
"Oh, I see," Shoto said.
They continued to rinse the dishes in an awkward silence. Yet, as awkward as it was, Momo was glad for the respite. Any more from Shoto, and she would've—
"Yaoyorozu, do you like Midoriya?"
Momo bit back the shriek that traveled up her throat but didn't succeed in holding onto her plate. It dropped and fell with a loud, banging sound into the sink as she stared at Shoto with wide eyes. Fortunately for her, it didn't shatter.
"Where d-did you get that idea?" Momo laughed nervously, staring down at her soap-covered hands.
"I just always thought you did," Shoto explained. "I'm not trying to out you or anything. I was just curious."
Momo sighed, wringing out her fingers. "Why do you care?" she grouched defensively.
Shoto thought on this for a while, rinsing the plate in his hand and putting it in the dishwasher. "I may not look like it," he said, pointing at himself, "but I'm a hopeless romantic."
"What."
"That was a joke."
Momo resisted the urge to pull on her hair out of frustration. Since when did Shoto become a jokester?
"If what I think is right ends up being right," Shoto tried again, "I'm in your corner, Yaoyorozu. I'm rooting for you."
Momo fought the rising blush with everything she had. "And what exactly do you think is right?"
"That you have feelings for Midoriya," Shoto bluntly answered. "And, furthermore, he has no idea that you do."
Momo remained silent for a beat.
Then: "Am I really that obvious? First Mina, now even Todoroki of all people…"
"Well," Shoto offered, "I have known you and Midoriya the longest out of everyone here. And, I would like to think that I am quite observant."
Momo took a look at Shoto's typical impassive face and groaned. "This might be the worst kept secret I've ever had."
"To be fair, you aren't really trying to hide it," Shoto pointed out.
Momo stared at him with a mortified expression on her face.
"But I think that's a good thing for you," Shoto quickly added. "Midoriya seems oblivious to things like this. Any hints you drop would probably fly directly over his head. Direct attacks are probably more effective on him."
"Direct attacks…? Like what?"
Shoto stroked his chin. "Well, to quote Mineta: 'each boy has his own fantasy.' Might I suggest that you show up in his room dressed in nothing but an apron? That's pretty direct, and he should get the message. Probably."
The idea of her doing exactly what Shoto had just suggested briefly popped up in her mind. Her, dressed in nothing but an apron, appearing before Izuku in his room, crawling up to him, giving him a generous view of her cleavage, his warm hands running up and down her body—
Momo covered her flaming face with both her hands and bit out, "That has to be a bad joke. Right… Todoroki? A. Bad. Joke?"
Shoto remained silent for a moment before answering: "Yeah… it was just a joke. Haha."
The fake laugh wasn't enough to fool anyone. "You were being serious."
Shoto contemplated which answer he should give. Since he had been called out, he might as well tell the truth. Honesty was the best policy. "If you want results, that would be one of the quickest options. He denies you, you know he's not interested. He gives you a yes, you know he's interested. Simple math. One plus one is two."
"Oh yeah, simple, except…" Momo couldn't hold it in anymore. "whAT ABOUT MY SELF DIGNITY? HE'LL THINK I'M SOME MAJOR SLUT IF I DO THAT!"
"Look," Shoto said, raising his hands in surrender, "I was just offering a fast solution to your problem. I'm sorry if I offended you."
Hearing his apology deflated all the indignant anger Momo had been feeling up to that point. "No, don't be sorry. It's just—hearing those types of things, imagining them… it's bad for my heart."
"Yaoyorozu, you have a heart condition?" Shoto said, alarmed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know—"
"It was just a metaphor, I don't actually have a condition."
"I'm not sure that's what a metaphor is. I could be wrong, though."
At this point, as Momo stared at Shoto's impassive face, she wasn't sure if she was being trolled intentionally by this man or not.
"But, I think you should do something, too," Shoto said, continuing as if nothing was wrong. "I think a few girls in class are interested."
"Yeah…" Momo glumly said. Ochaco and Tsuyu, for sure. The former was a bit embarrassed by it, still, but the latter seemed ready to jump Izuku at any time—not that she blamed the frog girl. In a perfect world that Momo controlled, the things she would do to Izuku…
She shook her head to clear them of the embarrassing thoughts that suddenly popped up. The mere thought of holding his hand, walking around, made her face heat up. Damn, she had it pretty bad. No wonder Shoto of all people picked up on it.
"Do you even know if he's available?" Shoto asked out of nowhere.
Momo tapped her chin, deep in thought. That had… never been something she considered before. What if, after all this internal fussing she had, Izuku was… taken by someone else?
"N-No…" Momo stammered, trying to hide how badly Shoto's words shook her. She wasn't fooling anyone, though.
"Well, ascertaining that should probably be our top priority." Shoto casually said.
"Yeah, I guess tha—wait a second." Momo paused, picking up on something that he'd said. "Our top priority?"
"I'm in your corner, Yaoyorozu," Shoto repeated himself. "This is now officially a team effort." He pumped his fist.
"I didn't ask for it to be one," Momo retorted, pouting.
The boy smiled, breaking his expressionless facade. He seemed to be enjoying himself greatly. "Too late. We are in this together. You and me: Operation Capture Izuku Midoriya's Heart and Make It Boing Boing Flutter—"
Hearing those words come out of Shoto Todoroki, resident ice statue, made Momo laugh out of sheer amazement and absolute horror. "Please stop. You're destroying every perception I had of you."
Shoto's mouth resumed its impassive state, but the sparkle of mirth in his eyes didn't fade. "Either way, I am now officially Team Momo. I expect weekly reports and updates."
Momo stared at him, hard. "I genuinely can't tell if you're joking or not."
"We do a little bit of trolling," Shoto shrugged.
"What."
.:.
Rumi was doing her… uhm, research (definitely not stalking) of Izuku Midoriya.
The vast majority, like ninety-five percent, of articles that she found online were about his performance in the U.A. Sports Festival. Clips of his explosive finish against Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo were shown along with his opening speech. She'd already seen that enough times to the point that she could probably recite bits of it from memory.
But she was starting to get bored of these clips and articles speculating about the boy's Quirk, the so-called Not Sure Haha. She doubted that was the actual name of his Quirk, but there have been weirder names for Quirks out there. No, she was interested in the exceptionally rare, the other five percent of articles about him that had nothing to do with the sports festival.
There was an incident at the U.S.J., but that whole event was strangely underreported, as if U.A. wanted to hush up something about it. All that was really known to the public at least was that villains attacked the U.S.J while Class 1-A was running a training exercise there, and they all made it out safely while the villains were all detained save for one or two of them. U.A. hadn't allowed the press to interview any of the students, so what had actually happened there was something that wasn't privy to public eyes.
Pre-college Izuku was an even harder subject to pin down, but after some reverse image searching and fortunate clicks, she found a few more Izuku articles. One was a side note in a magazine about heroics a few years back, stating that All Might had once again saved the day from a slime villain that managed to evade capture. Izuku looked a lot younger in the picture, but the green hair was pretty hard to miss. He was staring up at All Might with stars in his eyes, having just been saved by the hero.
Izuku also had won a few mixed martial arts tournaments in his highschool days, although she only gleaned that information from a short phrase in a Mustafu newspaper: local highschool boy, Izuku Midoriya, wins his fourth gold at Aldera High's Featherweight MMA Competition. So the boy had solid background knowledge in martial arts. Rumi would have to test that at some point.
The next bit of information was found on a local heroes website lauding a mysterious man for cleaning up Dagobah Municipal Beach Park pretty much single handedly. Now, she wasn't one hundred percent sure that the blurry image actually depicted Izuku since the person in the image had his back turned towards the camera, but the green hair convinced her that it was actually him. Anyways, asking him about this would be easy. Did you, or did you not, clean up Dagobah Beach?
Easy… that is, if he took her up on her internship offer. If he didn't… Rumi preferred to not think negatively.
The final thing she found was the most interesting, and it took a good couple of hours and random clicks to dig up. A missing persons alert, about a decade or so ago, displayed pretty much the exact spitting image of what Rumi imagined Izuku to be like when he was a little kid. It even had the text, Izuku Midoriya, showing up underneath it.
But what was strange about this was that she didn't find it in any official database, newspaper, or source. Instead, she found it in someone's old, very old F*cebook post, praying for the safety of the children listed. Children that she didn't recognize, like Kouzuki Shiba, Himiko Toga, and Sayaka Unayana, also appeared as missing children alongside Izuku.
And what was strange was this: when she tried searching for Izuku Midoriya missing to see if there was a hit on any official site, she got none. It was almost as if someone had gone and done a clean wipe of the subject matter.
Very curious.
Rumi was startled out of her thoughts by her private cell phone ringing. Quickly looking at who it was—probably her mom or something just checking in on her—she was intrigued to see that it was from a number that wasn't registered under a contact. Crossing her fingers and hoping for the best, Rumi answered the phone and brusquely said, "Who is it?"
"Oh," the other person on the line squeaked. "I-It's Izuku Midoriya. Is this Rumi Usagiyama?"
Jackpot. Although the phone distorted the voice a bit, Izuku's voice made Rumi do a fist pump out of sheer joy. Her leg even started bouncing up and down in excitement. "Yessir, yes it is. Why are ya calling, and why is it because you've decided to accept my offer?"
"I—" Izuku started, then the line fell silent as he pondered what she'd just said. "… you're right. I am calling because I want to learn how to be a real hero from one of the best. So, i-if you'll have me, I'd love to accept your offer."
Stars filled Rumi's eyes. "Shit, that's all you had to say! What made you decide on lil' ol' me over some bigshot agency?"
She asked that mainly to fuel her own ego, but she was genuinely curious why Izuku had picked her. If he were seriously thinking about his future, an internship at a top agency would likely be able to get him started and propel him through the ranks.
"What you said…" Izuku started, "it registered with me. It really did. Learning to be a hero, away from paperwork and publicity stunts… I want that, too, but what you said about super strength struck a chord in me."
"Go on," Rumi prompted when the boy fell silent.
Izuku's next words were slow, unsure. "My Quirk… it has a lot of facets to it, some of which I completely do not even know about. So I want to master the parts of my Quirk that I can master, and I feel that the best person to learn that from is someone who also has experience in that subject matter."
"Well," Rumi grinned, "you've certainly come to the right person! After all—"
She paused.
"Wait, wait, wait. The you, of the sports festival… that wasn't you going all out? There are still parts of your Quirk that you don't know about?"
The voice on the other side was quiet. "Yeah. It's complicated. Let me see if I can get permission to tell you about it."
Get permission? What the fuck? Rumi thought.
"… what?" Rumi asked intelligently, cocking her head to the side.
There was some hushed whispering on the other end of the line, as if Izuku was murmuring something to someone else, before the boy finally responded. "Can you come to U.A. on the first day of our internship? Tosh—All Might would like to meet with you and talk to you in person."
She stuck her finger in her ear to clean it just in case she was hearing things. "I'm sorry, but… what?"
"All Might would like to—"
"No, no, I heard you." Mirko gripped her forehead, trying to get a grasp of the situation. "What does All Might, the rank one hero mind you, have to do with all of this?"
Izuku sighed. "It'll make a lot more sense when you hear him speak. I promise."
"… alright."
It was not alright.
"Anyways," the voice from the phone said, "I just wanted to call you to tell you that. W-When should we meet for the internship?"
Her head was still busy thinking about the mystery of Izuku's Quirk, but she managed to answer with: "Monday, after your classes end. I'll meet you at U.A. and hear what All Might has to say about your Quirk."
"Great, See you then!" Izuku sounded genuinely excited, which inflated her ego only slightly. "Goodbye."
With a goodbye of her own, Izuku hung up the phone. Mirko stood there for a moment, relishing in her personal victory of stealing the proverbial golden egg of the batch, before her head quickly switched to what was bothering her: Izuku's Quirk.
Just what was up with this kid's Quirk? And why, of all people, was All Might, the top hero, involved in it?
So many questions. Mirko knew she was definitely going to have difficulty sleeping tonight.
.:.
"GIRL'S NIIIIIIIIIGHT!"
A chorus of girl's night sounded off around the room. The Class 1-A girls were all currently gathered in Momo's fancy room, all dressed in their pyjamas. Though it was still too early in the day for them to be in pyjamas, Mina had suggested it as a way to get the girls in the mood for a "girl's night", whatever that meant—Momo didn't know.
"What are we having for dinner?" Tsuyu asked, patting her slim belly.
"Hmm~ what are we feeling tonight?" Mina hummed.
"Mexican!" Toru said cheerily.
Kyoka frowned. "As long as there's no beans. Trust me, ladies, you wouldn't want to be in a small room with me after I've had beans to eat."
A wave of laughter and faux ews rippled around their circle, but it was all in good jest with no malice behind it.
"Sushi?" Ochaco suggested, earning an emphatic yes, that works from the crowd. "'kay, good. Do you want me to just order for us?"
"I've got an app for sushi," Tsuyu offered. "I'll order it on there."
"Get it delivered and I'll pay you for it," Mina said. After Tsuyu finished selecting the meals for the girls, she showed everyone else and the rest of the girls all offered to split it. "I'm kinda feeling too lazy to get dressed and go out. We can convince one of the boys to pick it up once it's here. Kyoka, mind asking Kaminari to pick it up for us?"
Kyoka looked at Mina's shit-eating grin and frowned. "No. There's nothing going on between us."
"Sureeeeeee," Mina said slyly, rolling her eyes. "Tsu, have you placed the order?"
"Does the pope shit in the woods," Tsuyu responded flatly.
"What."
"She means yes, right, Tsuyu?" Ochaco said, looking at their friend fondly.
A nod. "Ribbit."
"How the fuck am I supposed to know that?" Mina sighed, slumping over before perking up again. "Anywho! While we wait for our food to arrive, I thought that we should revisit an old topic."
"Ooh, which one?" Toru said, excited.
"Well, a while ago," Mina began, looking at Momo with a smirk, "our brave, fearless leader Momo offered her power to help us figure out the Quirk of one of our fellow classmates, Izuku Midoriya."
A few heads nodded as they eagerly looked at Momo, who paled slightly under all of their attention.
"So, Momo," Mina said, folding her hands, "what have you been able to gather?"
Momo hadn't been ready for that line of questioning.
Sure, she'd been able to gather that he'd received his Quirk from someone. And, although Izuku hadn't explicitly said it himself, Aizawa-sensei had called Izuku All Might's successor. Those two bits of information, when placed together, meant a lot.
But, along with that memory, came the inevitable memory of what else he'd said to her: you will become a great hero. The moment that she realized that she'd fallen for Izuku Midoriya and all of the memories associated with that assaulted Momo like a freight train, causing a slight red hue to rise to her cheeks.
"I haven't been able to gather anything, sorry," Momo said quietly, still reliving that memory, that moment where she'd discovered her very first love.
"Bummer," Mina frowned. Then, she said, "You guys think his girlfriend knows?"
Momo paused to consider the question.
Then, as she truly processed what Mina had just said, her brain functions stopped.
… shE SAID WHAT?
"Hold on a moment," Momo said weakly, "what did you just say?" Ochaco, who seemed as flustered as Momo was, nodded intensely.
Mina sighed and spoke again slowly, as if she were explaining elementary math to a grade schooler. "I said, you guys, as in all of you, think, as in brain function think, his girlfriend, as in lover, person that he's dating, knows?"
"Midoriya has a girlfriend…?" Ochaco said in a crushed tone of voice that probably would have been the exact way that Momo would have said it.
"Oh, that." Mina rubbed her head of floofy pink hair and said, "Well, I heard some girls from Class 1-C talk about how one of their own, I think Himiko… Togata? Toga? Anyways, some Class 1-C girl and Izuku kissed after he introduced her as his girlfriend. I'm surprised you all haven't heard about it, actually. Been traveling through the school like wildfire. Well, I just heard about it when I was out on a run, so…"
Well, that was one way to ruin Momo Yaoyorozu's day.
Well, to be more accurate: ruin wasn't the right word. "Take a big fat steaming shit on" was probably more spot on.
It was like Momo had been feeling such a euphoric high, almost, after she figured out for herself that she liked Izuku, and now, the truth sent her spiraling to the ground in line for a cataclysmic impact with the dirt where maggots like her deserved to crawl and live. It fucking sucked. Momo was too shocked by the abrupt news to even begin feeling emotional—instead, she just felt hollow on the inside.
God damn fucking emotions god fucking damn it, Momo thought, her mood rapidly worsening.
But then, light at the end of the tunnel came in the form of an unlikely declaration:
"I won't let that stop me," Tsuyu boldly said. "I don't care if it's just me, or if it's a harem situation like in those manga—I'm getting me some Midoriya ass."
"Tsu!" Ochaco cried, smacking her friend lightly on the head. She looked torn between condemning her words and full heartedly agreeing with her, and, to be honest, Momo was leaning towards the latter.
You know what? Momo thought, eyes narrowing in determination, Tsuyu's right. I will not let that stop me. Relationships… they aren't permanent things, right? Giving up just like that… that isn't the Yaoyorozu way!
Well, being mature and dignified… that was the Yaoyorozu way, actually. The Yaoyorozu way had nothing to do with giving up.
Fuck fuck fuck! Momo screeched in her head, almost grabbing and massaging her temples. Almost. Not giving up, that's… that's the Momo way! Yes, I can work with that.
Izuku was just something she didn't want to give up on. Definitely not to this Himiko Togata or whatever character.
Yeah, okay. She didn't exactly have a plan, but Momo wasn't planning on giving up. She could start from there.
"Well, I've definitely ruined the days of several ladies," Mina said apologetically, desperately searching for a change in topic, "so… when's that fucking food coming, eh, Tsu?"
Tsuyu glanced at her phone. "Should be two minutes. Arrives at U.A.'s main entrance."
"Kyokaaaa," Mina begged, "ask Kaminari to pick it up for us?"
"For the last time, there's nothing going on between us."
Kyoka took one glance at Mina's despondent look and sighed.
"I'll go, since you obviously don't want to."
"Yayyyy. Thanks Kyo-Kyo."
"Please never call me that again."
.:.
Izuku, having just finished his daily workout after meeting with Toshinori and calling Mirko, checked his phone after showering to find that he had a few texts from Himiko.
Himiko: izuuuu
Himiko: i wanna c u
Himiko: Date. Night.
Himiko: Date. Night.
Himiko: Date. Night.
Himiko: !This trade offer is non negotiable.
Smiling fondly at his phone, Izuku typed out his reply.
Izuku: Sure, what would you like to do?
Himiko's response was instant, as if she'd just been staring at her phone.
Himiko: food. Im hubngry
Himiko: my treat
Izuku: Alright, but I'm not letting you pay. Where should I meet you?
Himiko sent him a bunch of frowning emojis before telling him that they should meet up at U.A.'s main entrance. Quickly sending her an affirmative, Izuku slipped into a nicer set of clothes—polo, khakis—and immediately headed toward their meeting spot.
When he neared the spot, he saw Himiko standing there, leaning against a lightpost. She was dressed in an oversized sweater that just served to make her look more adorable, in his opinion, and a short skirt with thigh-high socks. That combination… was lethal, Izuku decided. Cute and sexy.
As he wondered whether he should sneak up on her and surprise her or not, she seemed to sniff the air and instantly snap her head towards him, breaking out into a wide, cat-like grin.
"Izuku~" she sang, spreading out her arms and waiting expectantly for him.
This is a change of pace, Izuku noted. Instead of running up and glomping him, she was waiting for him to come to her. Deciding to comply, Izuku closed the distance and hugged her, a faint red blush on his cheeks.
"Hi, Himiko," Izuku said, feeling warmth fill his chest as he held her smaller frame in his arms. She squirmed a bit, settling in a comfortable position before squeezing the life out of him. Her slender body was deceptive; Himiko was strong.
"Hello there. Had a pleasant night?" she whispered directly into his ear, causing Izuku to shiver involuntarily.
"Y-Yeah," Izuku murmured, evasive. "It was p-pretty good."
Himiko pouted. "I'd have thought that sucking your dick would earn a higher grade than 'pretty good.' Looks like I'll have to do better next time, then."
"Himiko!" Izuku said sharply, a flaring blush rising onto his face. He rapidly glanced around him to double check that no one had heard her. To his relief, there was no one in the immediate area.
"You were pretty pent up, too. Are you taking care of your needs, Izu?" Himiko asked. Her tone was light, innocent, but the devilish look in her eyes was everything but that. "If not, I can relieve you."
"… Himiko," Izuku managed, burying his head into her shoulder to hide the ferocious flush to his cheeks. Images of the night washed over him, reminding him of things that he really didn't want to think about in public: Himiko, between his legs, her lips sealed around his cock, gazing lovingly up at him as she…
She giggled, enjoying the reaction she was getting out of her Izuku. He was just so, so cute. "I won't use my mouth next time, Izu." Squeezing her breasts together, she pressed her mouth right up against his ear and asked, sultrily, "Hey… next time, won't you—"
Before she could escalate the situation even further, Izuku did the only thing that he could think of that would silence Himiko. He kissed her, chastely, earning a muffled, throaty noise from Himiko as her words were stolen right from her mouth.
As he pulled back, he got to enjoy the lovely view of a blushing Himiko. Well, Himiko always seemed to have a red hue to her face, but Izuku liked to think that, right now, Himiko was blushing harder than she usually did. She grumbled something about how surprise tactics weren't fair, but her wide grin betrayed her true emotions.
Looping her arm around his and snuggling into his side, Himiko started, "So. Where to?"
"There's this new barbecue place I've been wanting to try," Izuku replied. "Wanna do that?"
"Whatever you like," she acquiesced, gripping his arm tightly.
As they walked, Himiko began telling him about her classmates' reactions to him and the first years' sports festival. Truth be told, she hadn't been paying attention to them at all until after Izuku visited her in the stands. After that, she was pretty much interrogated by her female classmates. Are you really the Izuku Midoriya's girlfriend? How did you two meet? How long have you guys been dating? She humored their questions, mostly out of sheer boredom, but she shut up instantly and paid attention when Izuku showed up on the field before them.
"You should've heard them squeal when your shirt was burnt off," Himiko commented blandly, watching Izuku out of the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction. As she expected, Izuku was turning into a ripe tomato.
"I-I didn't do it on purpose," Izuku said, burning a hole into the ground with his gaze.
"I know you didn't," Himiko quickly replied, squeezing his arm. "They were just being a pack of horny fangirls—not that I can blame them," she added, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Giggling, she continued, "But after the finals, when your shirt was burnt off by that blonde kid, they all wanted to jump you."
And I wanted to kill them if they tried, Himiko thought darkly, but she refrained from saying that out loud.
"My shirt wasn't the only thing that got burnt off," Izuku said suddenly, stopping his gait. Turning to face Himiko, he said, "The bracelet was also destroyed. That—I don't know. It makes me pretty upset that I was stupid enough to wear it to a fight like that. I'm glad that they didn't allow me to wear that mask you got me… it probably would've just been burnt off as well."
"Izuku, it's not your fault," Himiko said gently. It's that fucker Shoto Todoroki's fault, she reminded herself, and he will pay. "And, like I said: we'll get another matching pair, yeah?"
Izuku nodded glumly. "The sentimental value, though…"
"Oh? And what was the sentimental value?"
"It was your birthday, and it was also the first time you… told me that you loved me," Izuku mumbled, but Himiko caught every word of what he said. "It was very special to me."
Izuku's words lit a fiery pit deep in her stomach. Her Izuku was so unbelievably fucking damn cute and sweet, it hurt her to think about sometimes. God, to think that someone like him was all hers—
Before she could go off on a tangent, she calmed herself. They were very much in public, and while Himiko herself didn't give a damn when and where she jumped him, she knew Izuku cared.
Well, teasing him was always a good option.
"Very special, huh?" Himiko repeated, staring at Izuku. "Was last night something very special as well, or—"
The noise that Izuku made caused Himiko to burst out into laughter, squeezing his arm even tighter. It was a miracle that Izuku still had blood circulating to his hands.
"I…" Izuku suddenly began, looking furtively at Himiko before glancing up at the sky. "I want to…"
Himiko watched him, patiently waiting for him to get his words out.
"I want to return the favor."
Himiko's face instantly turned a darker shade of red than her usual countenance. Return the favor… that could mean so many things, and Himiko's mind was in the gutter already, so her thoughts instantly turned towards the dirtier side of things, even if that probably wasn't what Izuku meant. He probably meant something like take her out for dinner or something like that.
But, Himiko grinned slyly, it's worth teasing him a bit about it.
"Return the favor could mean a lot of things, Izu~" she sang, looking him in the eyes. "What exactly do you mean by—"
"As in I'd like to go down on you."
Time stopped.
Himiko blinked, mouth hanging wide open. Her steps had paused as her brain froze over, and she knew that her face's color matched Izuku's: a deep, dark red. Good God, the skies above, the azure heavens, it wasn't often that Izuku came out and said something like this, and while Himiko was in no way opposed to this side of Izuku, her heart wasn't ready for things like this.
"Oh," Himiko said simply. Before Izuku could open his mouth and start apologizing, she quickly added, "I… would like that, too."
They resumed walking, a strained silence stretching out between the two. Surprisingly, it was Izuku who broke it: "I can't promise that I'll be any good, since I've never done anything like that before, but I'll try my best, and I think that's all I can offer… plus, I think that the important thing is—"
Himiko shushed him with a finger to his lips before he could start ranting. "I'm sure you'll be fine."
It was kind of odd for them to be talking about it like this. No—very odd, Himiko decided, but she found it kind of charming: Izuku's forthright nature, his earnestness, she loved every bit about it. She wouldn't have him any other way. He was perfect for her just the way he was.
Himiko truly, unconditionally loved him.
It was scary, actually. Izuku could be the biggest asshole on the planet and Himiko was sure that she'd still love him. He could lie to her, cheat on her, hit her—she'd love him all the same.
The time they'd spent together in that living hell… in her most desolate hour, at her very lowest, at the point where things were just the worst that they could be… he showed her kindness. He showed her compassion when no one else would.
And that was all it took.
To spend her days with him like this, away from all of his schemes and nefarious plots… to be free of such stupid designations such as hero or villain… it was her greatest joy. They could be normal humans, not weapons.
But this short, precious time was limited. Every day, she feared for the day when All For One would figure out that Izuku possessed One For All. He was only taking things slow, allowing them their idyllic college life, because he was focusing resources elsewhere. Assuming that All For One still didn't know about One For All's existence within him, Izuku was a priority, sure, but one that they could afford to take their time with. The moment that he found out what Himiko had been withholding from them, everything else would be dropped and all of their efforts would be put into obtaining Izuku at any cost.
It was probably inevitable, but Himiko was determined to put all of her efforts into delaying the arrival of that date.
It would be great if Izuku could forget about heroics and just join them wholeheartedly. But she'd spent enough time around Izuku to know that his love for being a hero wasn't something surface level like that. The man genuinely wanted to be a hero from the bottom of his heart, and Himiko wasn't sure if All For One's indoctrination could change that. It would take a master manipulator and some dumb luck to convince Izuku otherwise… but if there was someone who she'd christen with the title Master Manipulator, it would be All For One.
She wondered how much the heroes—All Might, specifically—had told Izuku, or if they even knew about his past. Himiko guessed that they hadn't told him much of anything, because if they had, Himiko was sure that Izuku would go to her first and tell her about it. If they didn't know about his past, then that was fine, but if they knew and didn't tell him…
Himiko grinned.
That type of mistake would fall under the dumb luck category, no?
"What's got you smiling like that, Himiko?" Izuku asked suddenly, rousing her from her thoughts.
"Hehehe," Himiko laughed breathily. "Just thinking about you~"
Izuku's blush was so precious.
.:.
"Alright class," Shota Aizawa said sleepily, yawning in the process. Mondays never worked well for him. "Today we're going to do something that'll have an impact on the rest of your heroic careers."
The class listened with bated breath.
"You're going to decide your hero names," their teacher said in a monotone. "Wooooo."
That caused an uproar of excitement amongst Izuku's classmates. Many of them had been waiting for this day, after all! A hero name was akin to choosing a new name for oneself, and the importance of this was not lost on the young hero wannabes.
Shota noticed a hand raised and shushed the classroom with a single glare. "Yes, Bakugo?"
"Can I be Demon King Murder Explosion God Overlord?"
"Rejected."
A tch noise escaped Katsuki's mouth. "How about FLAME KING OF THE SEVENTH HEAVEN EXPLOSION SAINT OF MURDER? All caps, all bolded."
"I'm not sure if you're joking with me right now or something," Shota deadpanned. "No, you can't."
"Why not?"
"There are several problematic elements to it, but," here Shota sighed deeply, lamenting that he had to explain this to a college student, "your hero name can't contain 'murder' in it."
"Damn PC culture," Katsuki groussed.
"This has nothing to do with PC culture and everything to do with basic common sense," Shota snapped. "A hero, who does heroic deeds, should not have murder, a crime, in his or her name. Before you give me a splitting headache worse than the one I already have, how about we do this. Take some time to come up with an appropriate hero name," he stressed, eyeing a frowning Katsuki, "and then we will have each individual present it to the class. Odds are, if you're embarrassed to present your name to your classmates, it probably wouldn't be a good hero name to use in public."
After telling them that they'll have fifteen or so minutes to decide on a preliminary name, Aizawa rolled up into a nearby sleeping bag to take a quick nap.
The classroom was mostly silent, though a few people whispered their name ideas to their nearby classmates just to run it by someone first. Izuku, however, remained silent and sat at his desk, twiddling his thumbs. To be honest, he'd already decided on his hero name a long time ago, and since it wasn't something egregious like Demon King Murder Explosion God Overlord, he was pretty sure that it would be alright.
When time was up, Shota woke up like clockwork and the person in the first seat, Yuga Aoyama, went. "My hero name will be…" he paused for dramatic effect here, "the Shining Hero: Can't Stop Twinkling!"
A fitting name, Izuku thought, clapping politely as Yuga went on to explain why he named himself that. After his turn was up, Mina went on to name herself Pinky. It was a simple name, sure, but Mina gave good reasoning for it: "It'll be easy for the kids to remember! I'm pink, my hero name is Pinky, bam. Match made in heaven, I'll tell ya."
The names went on, each having something to do with either the Quirk or the person. Tsuyu named herself the Rainy Season Hero: Froppy, Ochaco went with a play on the word "gravity" and named herself Uravity, and Mashirao literally had Tailman be a part of his name.
When it was Katsuki's turn, he gave a surprisingly tame, "Dynamight. Might spelled M-I-G-H-T."
Sometimes, Izuku forgot that Katsuki used to be as big of a hero nerd as he was. It was a good name, though, and it showed how high Katsuki's aspirations were. With a name like Dynamight, it would inevitably draw comparisons to All Might, which is something Izuku was pretty sure Katsuki wanted.
With his short statement out of the way, Katsuki sat down, and next was Izuku in seat No. 18. He stood up, squared his shoulders, and took a deep breath. He only said one word:
"Unbreakable."
It wasn't a magnificent speech or anything, but those watching Izuku at that current moment knew, deep in their guts, that this was a remarkable event, the beginnings of a world-class hero. It was something that, they knew, fifty years down the line, they would be able to look their children in the eye and say, "Yeah, I was there for that."
"Why 'Unbreakable?'" Shota asked shortly.
"Because that's what I believe a true hero should be," Izuku said. "A hero might take a hit, might get hurt, might get injured, might face setbacks, but true heroes never let that keep them down. They bounce back. They might bend, but they'll never break."
Thinking for a bit, Izuku added, "In the future, my dream, no… my goal, that I will achieve, is to become the rank one hero."
Silence met Izuku's declaration.
"When I'm there," he continued, "I want people to look at me and think, 'that is a man who has never been broken.' I want to be an inspiration to the next generation, to inspire kids to become heroes just like I've been inspired in the past."
Izuku took a breath and said:
"I… want to become a symbol. A symbol that says, as long as I am standing, there is hope."
"Well, you'll have to work hard to get there," Shota commented blandly, hiding his true thoughts behind a curtain of calm.
"I will," Izuku pledged, bringing his fist to his chest.
He sat down, prompting the next person, Minoru, to stand up. Enraged, he shouted, "How the fuck am I supposed to follow that?"
As Minoru kept on raging, Shota took a moment to think for himself. What Izuku had said… if he believed in what he said and told no falsehoods, Shota could not see how any indoctrination All For One instilled within Izuku still existed. Maybe it was like Toshinori had feared and that reminding him of his past powers would trigger something, but Shota had difficulty believing that the man who had just said that could return to being an agent of evil.
Of course, Shota had no idea how powerful All For One's indoctrination was, but he'd rather risk it and tell Izuku about his powers and his past in a safe, controlled setting like at U.A. than run the chance of him finding out in the field. Of course, this whole thing was ultimately up to Toshinori, but Shota made a mental note to go and tell Toshinori his thoughts on the matter.
Nothing good could come from hiding the truth from Izuku.
And the truth shouldn't be hidden from Izuku in the first place. Shota wasn't one to be impressed easily, but he'd felt Izuku's resolve through his words. At first, Shota had been upset that Toshinori had essentially stuck a potential sleeper agent on his hands, but now, he just wanted Izuku to know the truth.
Becoming a Symbol of Hope, being Unbreakable…
Shota sighed.
He was going to have a long talk with Toshinori.
Some notes:
1. Sorry for the long time between updates! I got a summer internship, and I was too tired from that to write on most days (said it was 9-5:30 but was more like 9-8 most days). I'm going back to school in a few days, so I'm not too sure what my update schedule will be like and I won't make any promises I can't keep, but I'll try my best to update regularly.
2. Shoto's becoming a really fun character to write. He's squarely in the Team Momo camp. I'm just gonna say it now—there will be no Shoto/Momo. Think of them as Vitriolic Best Buds from TV Tropes. Purely platonic from both sides.
3. This wasn't really a plot important chapter, save for him accepting Mirko's offer, but I enjoyed writing the Himiko/Izuku and Momo/Izuku moments. Don't give up, Momo! I know finding out about Himiko and Izuku like that is tough, but hang in there!
4. Mirko's gonna find out some stuff from All Might, Aizawa's going to give All Might some thoughts… poor All Might, that's two difficult discussions next chapter~
5. From the very beginning, I named this story "Unbreakable" because I wanted this Izuku's hero name to be Unbreakable. Kinda reminds me of Invincible, come to think of it. Have you guys seen that show?
6. Thank you all for reading and for the reviews, favorites, and follows! Be sure to leave a review so I can get your thoughts on the story so far! It really means a lot.