Izuku swims a lot. He wears his sunglasses at night. Ochako uses her head. And Recovery Girl is already .

(Early chapter because I was just that darn excited and ended up writing more than I normally do for a single chapter, oops. Anyways, enjoy! )

'Water?' Izuku's sleep-addled brain questioned, before it hit him. He panicked. It was dark, as if it were night, and underwater in the dark he couldn't see anything. Desperately he began spinning around in every direction, looking for some light, some indication of the surface of the water, something to tell him where to go or how to get to air. Air! He needed air, he was holding his breath, he…wait. He…wasn't holding his breath.

Izuku's panic paused as his analytical mind took over. He realized he'd had his mouth open the entire time, his panic causing him to breathe rapidly and yet he felt fine? Nothing in his lungs, nothing in his mouth, he could breathe without issue. This had to be a dream, that was the only solution. That or some sort of Quirk, but dream seemed more likely since he just fell asleep. Taking a moment to calm himself, he tried to look around again, this time without the panicked motion. After a moment, he finally spotted a glimmering of light in a direction.

He began swimming towards it, finding the movement almost too easy. He enjoyed swimming normally and thought he was decent at it, but he felt like he was moving far faster than he ever had before, as if the resistance of the water simply wasn't there. As he swam, the glimmer he saw became brighter and brighter, until he could finally see the surface of the water, refracting the glow from above and scattering it across the surface above.

He swam as fast as he could, desperate to try to understand what was going on and to get out from under the surface. As he neared it, his hopes rose, giving him a final burst of speed to breach the surface. Instinctually he took a deep breath, even though he hadn't had breathing issues prior to that he simply couldn't help himself. Eyes closed, he rested for a moment, laying back against the water and floating gently to try to calm his racing heart.

After a few minutes, he took stock of his situation. He was floating in some form of liquid (he was starting to doubt it was water), and as he looked around he could see almost nothing. Everything was pitch black on the horizon, only the light from above granting him any vision. Daring to glance up, he was nearly blown away by the vision above him.

Where he expected to see the moon and perhaps some stars, or clouds, instead he was greeted by a massive glowing orb, predominantly green colored but with sparks flying about it of a myriad of other colors…white, yellow, purple, red, gold, and blue, all spiraling about it. Sometimes they seemed to fly into the green orb, the orb flaring into that same color for a moment, before appearing once more outside of it as the orb returned to the radioactive green shade that it was before. This orb seemed to be the only source of light around, illuminating as far as Izuku's eyes could see which was…not a lot.

Although…he narrowed his eyes in one direction, almost feeling like he could see something that way. Something inside him felt compelled to head that way, and though he remained concerned, he figured he may as well find out where this was taking him. He was still pretty sure this must be a dream of some kind, since the last he remembered was falling asleep and this place clearly was no place on Earth, so he assumed the dream would end when it was supposed to. He may as well see it through.

He swam for what felt like an hour, the tug getting progressively stronger and stronger. It wasn't until he'd been at it for at least ten minutes he realized he wasn't feeling tired at all, and decided to kick up his speed to his maximum, zipping through the liquid surrounding him. As he went, his mind cataloged the strangeness around him…how the liquid wasn't moving, as still as possible beside the disturbances he was causing, how he didn't actually feel wet from it, almost as if the liquid was simply sliding off of him and his clothing.

But as he neared what he felt was the hour mark (not that he could remotely tell time, much less the idea that dream time matched real time), he finally spotted something in the distance. As he got closer, it became visible to him a tower seemingly made of cracked and marred stone rising out of the water, a set of spiral stairs following around the outside of it, the end of them dipping into the water, a convenient place for him to reach. At the top of the tower it seemed to expand outward, some sort of platform visible up above, but not something he could see what was up there.

'Well, may as well see what's up there,' he thought to himself. When he reached the base of the tower, he clambered out of the surrounding liquid and began to trudge up the steps. It wound along the tower, a simple stone stair with no railing that made him feel a sense of vertigo when he looked over into the placid, black liquid down below, it having calmed down and returned to a perfectly smooth obsidian looking surface once he exited.

As he neared the top, he noticed a sound, the first sound that he hadn't been responsible for. It sounded like…voices? The low murmur of voices got louder and louder as he went up the stairs, his steps slowing involuntarily as he felt a creeping sense of dread. Was this dream a nightmare? He'd had his fair share, so it wasn't something he was unused to. Being used to it didn't mean he liked it though.

He took a deep, bracing breath and decided to just…deal with it. Better to just face the nightmare and have his nap ruined so he could get out of it than cower here. Although for a nightmare this was weird, he had a lot more control than he normally did, and it wasn't like he was normally cognizant of his dreams to begin with. This was a very weird dream, but still…best to deal with it.

As he crested the final set of stairs, he finally could see the entirety of the stone platform. A series of throne-like chairs were arranged in a circle, nine of them at his hurried count. His gaze was stolen from them though to the seven, no wait, eight figures within said circle.

The first he took note of was the one most different from the others, a towering figure made of yellow flame. It was the least solid one he could see, but something about it reassured him, reminded him of someone he trusted. However, it simply stood there, almost unmoving, it's glowing white eyes gazing upon the others before it.

Next his gaze was pulled to the trio in the middle, a pale, slender, white-haired young man who appeared to be arguing with another two men…one with short blonde hair with a massive x shaped scar on his face, and the other with a long ponytail pulled back, his forehead covered in a black bandana.

A tall, quiet looking man with a large scar running down through his left eye to his lower lip was quietly observing, his arms crossed as he cast his gaze over the arguing trio. Next to him was a shorter, bulkier man with large shoulders and an open vest, snickering as he murmured something to the quiet man next to him.

Seated in a chair was another man, a high collared jacket hiding his lower lips and short cropped dark hair upon his head. He had his legs pulled up, resting one arm over his knee as he looked almost bored at the happenings, occasionally glancing up to the one feminine figure in the room.

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking exasperated, a white cape falling from her shoulders, her black hair partially pulled back in a bun. Large yellow gloves covered her hands, the same one gripping her hips as she glared at the arguing trio in the center. It was her who first noticed Izuku's approach, her eyes going wide in recognition and shock while he remained confused.

Swiftly, she turned back to the figures in the center and raised her voice to say something but was drowned out by the three in the middle. Gritting her teeth, she pulled off her gloves, shoved her fingers in her mouth, and gave an ear-piercing whistle, causing the others to all turn to look at her.

"Look over there you idiots," she said, exasperation clear in her voice. All seven turned to look at Izuku, the greenette losing all sense of bravery and now feeling like he should have just not approached the tower and stayed in the water.

"...well. This is…unexpected," the white-haired man spoke, his voice thin and wispy.

"...the fuck kinda dream is this?" Izuku muttered to himself.

"Okay. Okay. Let me get this straight," Izuku said, rubbing his temples. "You are the past holders of One For All, including Toshinori, who is over there somehow even though he's alive unlike the rest of you," Izuku pointed at the figure made of flame in the back, which gave a small wave in response. "And for some reason, you can talk to me, but not to anyone else before?"

"We could appear, but nothing so concrete at this, no," Yoichi, the one who identified himself as the First, said.

"Then why now," Izuku whined. "I have enough to deal with, I don't need to be haunted too!"

"Kid, chill out, it ain't a bad thing," the Fifth, identified as Daigoro Banjo, interjected.

"And why are those two refusing to look at me?!" Izuku exclaimed, pointing at the only two who hadn't introduced themselves (although by process of elimination he could figure out they had to be wielders two and three somehow).

"Because they are children," Seven, known as Nana Shimura, said in an exasperated tone.

"We're both older than you, Seven," the one with the ponytail growled, still refusing to turn around from where he'd faced away once they noticed Izuku.

"Which gives you less of an excuse to act this way!" she shot back.

"...It's nice you're defending me but calling them children still doesn't explain why," Izuku pointed out.

Yoichi ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry Nine. They are from a different time period and tend to be more critical of newer wielders."

"Yeah, they give us shit too," Daigoro added.

"...but if you're the First, aren't you from that time period too?"

"Well, yes, but our experiences were very different. Give them some time, I'm sure they'll come around."

"HAH!" one of the two shouted in derision, both still refusing to turn and look at him.

Izuku rubbed at his temples again, his headache (how did he get headaches while dreaming?) somehow getting worse. "Okay, whatever, moving on…what is this place?"

"Well, the orb in the sky is One For All," En the Sixth spoke up for the first time since introducing himself.

"Yeah…got that. But what's with the weird lake? And this tower? And why did I wake up somewhere in that lake and have to swim here?!"

"Well, the tower is the manifestation of, well, where we vestiges stay," Yoichi said calmly. "As for the lake…that's your Quirk, Nine."

"...what?"

"The energy you live off of, that's what the lake is. As you theorized, One For All did have an impact on your Quirk, but while it is a source of power and strength, it does remain separate from the energy you absorb," Yoichi explained, keeping his tone calm and level.

"Why is it so…so…placid? It always feels so active, like it's pushing against my chest!"

"Well, you're sleeping," Nana pointed out. "It mirrors your mood, like most Quirk's do. If you're feeling anxious or upset, it will react like you are and become more turbulent."

"Oh so it's always going to feel that way," Izuku muttered quietly. Considering he spent most of his life either anxious or upset in some fashion, it seemed like it'd always be disturbed unless he was asleep apparently. But as he considered the complexities of his Quirk, a sudden thought popped into his mind.

"Wait, do you know how it impacted my Quirk?" Izuku asked hurriedly, his inner Quirk analyst nature coming to the forefront.

"A little, but not the whole thing yet. You gotta experiment to see, we can only see the connections, not how the connections impact the usage," Nana replied.

"Damn," Izuku muttered, disappointed.

"Be honest with yourself, would you have been happy if we had all the answers, or would you prefer to figure them out on your own?" she asked, grinning.

Izuku flushed slightly, his shoulders hunching. "Y-yeah I guess I'd rather figure out the details myself…"

"However, that's for your Quirk. As for One For All, we do intend on helping you with that, because otherwise, you're just going to get hurt."

"Oh. Um…okay. So…what do I have to do?"

"Well, it isn't entirely different from what you do to activate the power up effect from your own. Spread the power evenly across your body. As far as we can tell, it appears to have supplanted that earlier ability since their activation mechanisms are so similar. But it does appear like you need to keep following the concept of it flowing in and out," Yoichi explained.

"But keep the percent you use low kid. You're in good shape, but Eight spent four decades adding power to it, so it's more powerful now," Daigoro said.

"What's the point if I can't use it at its best though?" Izuku asked.

"We're not saying stick to a low percentage forever. We're saying to build up your ability to handle more over time. Besides, it's best to start there. You don't want to punch someone with the full force of One For All if they can't take the hit. Learn to use the weaker percentages and move up to the stronger for more dangerous foes," Nana replied.

Izuku thought about that, thought about what he'd seen All Might do and flinched instinctively at the thought of hitting a normal person with a Detroit Smash. Okay, they had a point about starting smaller and working his way up.

"You'll need to work that out on your own though. We can speak to you here, but One For All hasn't settled in enough for us to speak to you outside this shared dreamspace," Yoichi gestured to the platform they were standing upon.

"So…you can't watch me all the time?"

Daigoro waved his hand back and forth. "We can, we choose not to, not unless something pings with the hermit."

"What?" Izuku blinked in confusion.

"My Quirk, Danger Sense," Fourth, the one called Hikage, spoke up. "Even as a vestige, it's active for me, and I can tell when you feel like you're in danger. Eventually, you should be able to access it yourself."

"Wait, what?" Izuku choked.

Yoichi rubbed his forehead. "Hikage, we were going to ease him into that over time!"

Hikage shrugged. "I see no reason to not inform him of everything."

Yoichi sighed and turned back to the frozen Izuku. "This current transfer of One For All pushed it over the edge into its Singularity stage. I assume you've heard of the Quirk Singularity theory?" Izuku simply nodded, not entirely sure where this was going but having enough of an idea he didn't want to interrupt. "Well, we've reached a point like that. Over time, you will gain access to the Quirks of the past users. Well, except Toshinori's since he did not have one, and the stockpiling power is mine as is. So, six more."

"...every day I wake up and think it can't get any worse and it somehow does," Izuku deadpanned.

"You're asleep, so that statement doesn't work here," En interjected.

"Not to mention you can't pretend you haven't been happier these past few months!" Nana chimed in, grinning widely.

"How would you know that? I've only had this Quirk for…like an hour or something!?"

"Three hours and seventeen minutes," Hikage said.

Izuku stared at Hikage, idly wondering if he was somehow more pedantic than Izuku was. He dismissed that after a moment to continue his line of questioning. "Fine, whatever! Either way, you haven't been here long enough to know!"

Daigoro rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well, you see, we…err…well see, we kind of get to see your memories when you get the Quirk?"

Izuku stared blankly at the man, blinking slowly. He turned to look at the others one by one, his gaze studiously blank as they all either avoided his gaze sheepishly or matched it, unconcerned by his reaction. Izuku took a deep breath.

"Fuck," he muttered. "Well…fuck," he repeated himself. The fiery figure of Toshinori's vestige stepped over to stand beside Izuku, laying one hand on his shoulder and squeezing in such a familiar, comforting fashion that it nearly brought tears to the greenette's eyes. Izuku quickly rubbed at his eyes and took another deep, bracing breath. "Okay. Okay, I'm okay. That's not ideal, but I can handle it."

"We're not going to judge you, Nine," Yoichi said warmly. "Well, except for Two and Three, but they don't count."

"Fuck you too First," the short haired one said, although there was no venom in the voice.

"Oh come now, we get you don't like Pro Heroes and such, but no reason to take it out on the kid," Nana said, the earlier exasperation back.

"Ugh. Okay, I'll say this now so we don't have to say it a-fucking-gain. Nine, our problem with you has nothing to do with all that stupid guilt you're carrying around. We have a higher body count than you do by a metric fuckton. So don't go getting stuck in your head about that. We have other issues when it comes to Eight's choice. Got it?" The ponytailed one turned just enough to meet Izuku's eyes, a half-hearted glare in them.

"Y-yeah, sure. Okay," Izuku muttered, his gaze falling away from the vestiges searching gaze. With a 'hmph', the vestige turned back to the wall, going back to ignoring Izuku's presence.

"My point stands. We're not judging you, I promise you," Yoichi said into the silence that fell.

"Why not? You…if you saw, then you understand, don't you?"

"Not really. Looked like an accident to me," Daigoro shrugged. Izuku gaped at him.

"I wouldn't be so flippant about it, but he is correct, Nine. Childhood Quirk accidents can be devastating, but that is rarely if ever the fault of the child," Hikage said.

"Plus it was definitely that asshole's fault," Nana chimed in. "If he hadn't been some creep who was getting off on hitting kids with lightning bolts, none of that would have happened."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to him? Was he ever apprehended? Your memories aren't clear on that." En asked, tilting his head to the side.

Izuku shook his head no slowly. "No…no one has seen him since, but I don't think I ki-ki-...got him. Everyone who was…lost, that day, left…um…left…"

"No need to struggle to explain, Nine. We understand what you're trying to say," Yoichi gently cut off his stuttering attempts at answering the question."

"Izuku…if you're going to be stuck in my head, I'd rather you just called me by name," he said quietly, still not meeting anyones gaze.

"Very well, Izuku it is," Yoichi smiled softly, although the effect was lost on the young man as he kept his gaze locked on the stone floor beneath him.

A small rumble shook the platform, sending ripples expanding outward from the tower's base. "Wh-what is that?" Izuku asked, eyes going wide in worry.

"You're waking up, it seems. Looks like our time is cut short. Just remember what we said about being careful and using small amounts at first."

"Oh and, I'd get some sunglasses for now," Nana said with a pained smile.

Izuku went to ask another question, but the entirety of the world rumbled once more and he found himself yanked out of it, the tower, the orb, the lake all vanishing before him as he snapped into alertness, practically leaping up from the spot he'd been laying in. Unfortunately, Ochako had been leaning over him as he did, and the two smacked their heads into one another with a loud yelp of pain and confusion.

"Fuck," he hissed as he held his head.

"You said it," Ochako groaned, having partly fallen backwards and was now laying against the arm of the couch.

"Geez Zu, trying to kill Cheeks just for being nice enough to check up on you, what a guy," Katsuki remarked with a wry grin.

"Oh shove it," Izuku muttered, his eyes still closed as he rubbed at his forehead. "Someone call Toshinori, we have to talk."

"Oh, can you feel One For All now?" Himiko asked eagerly.

"Something like that," Izuku muttered. He lifted his hand off his head and began to open his eyes, but instantly yelped and slammed them shut again as a blinding flash of light seared into his eyes, making his headache a dozen times worse. "Fucking hell someone shut off the lights!"

"Um…the lights are pretty dim, Izu," Ochako said, worry evident in her tone at his reaction.

Izuku paused for a moment, before remembering what Nana had said and groaned. "Oh…dammit. Kacchan, can you go get one of Auntie's sunglasses? I…I think something changed."

Katsuki arched an eyebrow at the prone greenette, but shrugged. "Yep, on it. Fangs, mind giving Toshinori a call and letting him know we need to see him?"

"Aye aye captain!" Himiko said, saluting as she pulled out her phone.

"Anything I can do to help?" Ochako asked quietly, laying her hand over Izuku's and gently squeezing.

"If you could find something for headaches I'd love you forever," Izuku muttered, not noticing what he actually said as he rubbed at his temples. His closed eyes missed how Ochako's eyes went wide and red creeped up her face, how Himiko's grin expanded like the Cheshire cat, at how Katsuki managed to hide his snickering behind his hand as he was stepping out of the room.

"Oh, um, y-yeah, sure, I'll go find some!" Ochako stammered out, practically leaping off the couch and dashing towards the medicine cabinet in the first floor bathroom.

Himiko giggled as hit the button to dial Toshinori, the sound reaching Izuku's ears and making him wonder why she was, but dismissing it as another fresh wave of pain shot across his skull, feeling like his eyes were melting out of their sockets.

"Okay. This is…manageable," Izuku muttered, rubbing at his temples again as he managed to squint, the sunglasses helping dim the bright lights he was seeing somewhat. After having quickly downed the pills Ochako had given to him (and why she was acting so weird was something he wanted to ask her about when he didn't feel like his entire brain was trying to escape from inside the prison that was his skull), his headache was, at the very least, tolerable enough to actually open his eyes.

And now that he could see, he was able to finally make some guess as to what was going on. The lights he was seeing were coming from the three teens in the room with him, powerful glows that seemed to shine from underneath their skin.

With Kacchan, it was a brilliant orange color that seemed to almost pop beneath his skin, most prevalent on his hands but circulating throughout his entire body. Ochako had a pink glow running through her, her fingertips shining orbs of pink that led small threads of pink up her arms and throughout her upper body, down to her abdomen and up her neck into her head. Himiko's glow was nearly her entire body, a roiling, bubbling, shifting yellow that seemed to almost strain against her skin, like it was trying to escape at all times.

Izuku glanced down at himself to try to confirm his suspicion and yep, there it was, a brilliant green glow even without his Quirk active, the brightest spot smack dab in the middle of his where the organ that held his energy was. But now, he could see another glow, one that shifted through the colors just like the orb he saw in his dreamspace had, that one glowing as bright as the sun just below the green one he was somewhat familiar with.

Just to check, he ignored the questions the other three were asking him and went to the door, opening it and looking outside, just to see if he could see other people. Though the street wasn't too busy, he could spot a few people around. The ones he recognized were awash in colors…dark red, navy blue, deep brown, etc. But strangely, anyone he didn't know were all a simple soft white.

The glow still presented itself differently, sometimes concentrated in their hands, sometimes in their feet or chest or not concentrated at all, but in each case, it was a soft, glowing white, with little to no details. He focused on the first person he saw with an obvious mutation, a young man walking down the street with a long, slender, scorpion-like tail and started considering what his Quirk was.

As he started to work through it, noticing the stinger at the end of it that was tightly capped with some sort of metallic device, the slight hunch in the man's gait which implied a different hip bone structure, the slight sheen of chitinous substance appearing on the man's bared wrists, the white glow shifted, changing, turning to a deep, vibrant purple.

"Holy shit," Izuku murmured to himself, blinking rapidly beneath the sunglasses. A rough hand gripped his shoulder and practically yanked him back through the open door, a clearly annoyed Katsuki slamming the door shut behind him as he spun the greenette around.

"Izuku, fucking answer us!" he growled in the other boy's face, the two girls behind him both mirroring his annoyed expression.

Izuku blinked, trying to come to terms with what he was seeing, able to actually see the way the orange glow within Kacchan's body was beginning to pop and sparkle more than before, at the same moment those sparks appeared in the blonde's hands.

"I…I think…I think I can see Quirks?" Izuku asked as much as answered, confusion evident in his voice even as he said it out loud.

"...what?" came the deadpan reply from Katsuki. Izuku shrugged and opened his mouth to speak, but a rapid fire knocking on the front door interrupted him. Ochako stepped over to open the door, the skinny form of Toshinori in the doorway standing there, breathing heavily.

"What's going on? Himiko seemed concerned when she called? Young Midoriya, are you alright?"

"Oh boy," Izuku breathed. "Okay. Um…you might want to sit down for this…"

Toshinori's jaw was slack, his entire expression so confused and almost in pain that part of Izuku regretted saying anything. From the moment Izuku had said the name 'Nana' he'd witnessed every ounce of strength vanish from Toshinori's form, the hero looking more like a lost child than a grown man at that moment.

"Y-you…you saw…Nana?" he managed to get out, struggling.

"Y-yeah," Izuku replied, wincing.

Toshinori gulped, his shoulders hunching as he spoke quietly. "H-how w-was she? Was she okay? Did she look okay? Was she happy? Was she-"

"Yo, chill, give Zu a chance to answer," Katsuki cut off Toshinori's increasingly frantic questioning. In a mirror to the gesture the older man had often done to encourage the teens before, Katsuki placed his hand on Toshinori's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It wasn't sitting well with Katsuki, witnessing the great hero All Might looking so lost and hurt. It bothered him, a lot if he was being honest.

He'd accepted a while ago that Toshinori wasn't infallible…the wound he'd suffered proved that before. But these past seven months his respect for the man only grew, how he remained such a beacon to people, a hero who always won no matter what the odds, even with his injury. And he knew, intellectually, that everyone had things that hurt them, that upset them. But witnessing it before him, with the man he looked up to more than anyone save his own father…he didn't know what to do to help, so he did the best he could and tried to show his support, even while trying to reconcile the insanity Izuku was now spilling.

"She looked good, Toshinori. She's very pretty," Izuku tried to reassure the older man.

"Yes. Yes she was," the blonde replied quietly. He took in a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and looking up to meet Izuku's gaze with a steely look of his own. "Alright. That is enough of that. I should not be so surprised you were the one to see her and the other holders…you always impress me. I am just more impressed now, and I am even more confident in you as my choice."

"I think it would have happened to whoever you gave it to, Yoichi said it's because it hit the Singularity point due to the transfer," Izuku protested.

"Perhaps, but I still believe in you and what you can accomplish. Seeing them so soon is a sign, of this I am sure. Let's discuss what else you spoke about, and especially this new 'vision' you seem to have. You say it seems like you can see Quirks, but unless you know details it is only a white color?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah. I think I have to know the details of how it works for it to start gaining color, and then it seems to give me more…insight into it? Like…I can see how Kacchan's Quirk actually runs throughout most of his body, not just his hand, and I think that means he can run it through his system?"

"Wait, what? Holy shit…what if I can explode from all over? That'd be fucking badass," Katsuki pondered, his grin growing as he contemplated the thought.

"I don't know if that's a good idea though!" Izuku protested. "It's…like, the thing I see implies you can but also that it can hurt you if you do it. Your arms are reinforced against your explosions but not all of you are."

"Yes, let's hold off on experimenting with turning you into even more of a walking bomb than you are," Ochako deadpanned.

"Tch. Fine. But I'm not forgetting this, this sounds fucking cool," Katsuki muttered.

"Wait…if that's not something from One For All, then…that's been part of your Quirk this whole time. Is that why you thought I could use other peoples Quirks when transformed?" Himiko gasped.

"Huh," Izuku replied thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling in contemplation. "Maybe this was always part of my Quirk and it was only when One For All integrated with me that it became so much more obvious."

"Well, that'd explain those headaches of yours then," Katsuki remarked.

"Maybe," Izuku shrugged. "It's weird with you though, Toshinori…like, I see the same color-changing orb that I saw in my dream and in my chest, but it's much dimmer and seems to be slowly draining."

Toshinori nodded solemnly. "Yes, a visual indicator of the remaining embers of One For All within me. It is interesting you'll be able to see it fade. If I may ask a favor of you, please do keep me in the loop with how far it's fading. I can better prepare for my retirement this way, haha!"

"Um…yeah, sure, okay," Izuku said.

"That said, it would probably behoove us to figure out how to manage it…chronic headaches and eyestrain is likely not good for you. Either another support item, or perhaps there is a way to turn it off? Have you tried seeing if you can…well, disable the effect?"

"Worth a shot, I guess," Izuku muttered to himself. He closed his eyes and focused on his Quirk, trying to see if he could somehow find the mechanism that was controlling this new vision of his. Since he didn't have any eye mutations he knew of, he was pretty sure this wasn't directly related to his eyes so much as that was where the sense was being used. Especially as the colors didn't make sense, unless he took his own biases into account. He was pretty sure what he actually was doing was sensing a form of energy (that of Quirk's), and his subconscious was showing it to him through his eyesight and relying on his own thoughts of what color that Quirk would be.

It was the fact that a color didn't occur until after he puzzled out what the Quirk was that clued him into that. So if that was true, he should theoretically be able to turn the sense off, or at least, make it so it was dismissed, like how people could ignore background noise in their everyday life. He tried to follow the path of his Quirk through his body, following the channels he'd slowly been able to sense over time how they functioned and how well they could channel his Quirk. Using that as a basis, he figured he could follow the 'sense' that was showing him this and turn it off, or at least make it fade into the background.

Now that he thought about it, now that he witnessed how his mind had turned his Quirk into some sort of lake or sea, he decided to keep with that metaphorical reality. Concentrating, he could see it before him, and like the vestiges had warned him, while awake it was no longer placid. The surface was covered in waves and roiling currents, a constant motion that he could feel mirrored in his chest. It was almost hypnotic, how he could feel the pulses in time with the waves surging across the surface before him, how he could actually feel the currents tugging and pulling across his body.

He dove into it in his mind, swam deep down, seeking, searching, scanning for anything that indicated one of the powers of his Quirk hidden underneath the energy. And there, there, he could sense something. A spherical bubble, whirling and spinning beneath the surface, a swirling sphere of water that pulsed, ebbed, and flowed. That was what he was looking for. He could see a current spiraling off of it, carving through the lake towards the stone tower he'd witnessed before.

He followed it, moving incredibly fast now that he knew he was within his mind, no troubles traversing it. And yes, there, it swirled about the bottom of the tower, deep under the surface, far deeper than he had initially been, almost as if it intended on grasping it and crumbling it into the lake. Izuku could only assume that the tower must also be the link between his Quirk and One For All, which explained why it seemed so supercharged if it was causing him headaches. He could see other currents wrapped about the tower, spiraling off into the distance…other aspects of his Quirk, he figured.

Now to figure out how to make it turn off without destroying pondered for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders mentally. Maybe just moving it? This was his mind after all, could he just…detach it? Or perhaps he could just lessen the control it had…hmm. Izuku focused on the current, all his mental strength pushing against it, trying to slow it down, to bring the current to a less drastic and fast speed. He could feel it slowing down, lessening, still there but far less drastic. Just to check, he spun it back up, letting it whip itself into a frenzy once more, and in no time it was back to full strength. Assuming he was right…this was how he could call upon it at will.

Experimentation requires verification, he thought to himself. He pushed the current back again, slowing it down, and allowed his mind to fade back into his body. His eyes flickered open, the sunglasses still firmly in place, but no longer did he see the glow. He focused, calling upon the current again and wham, the light was back and he winced. Swiftly he shoved it back down again, breathing a sigh of relief as it faded and he reached up, snatching off the sunglasses.

"You got it?" Katuski asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I can turn it on and off now. Pretty cool," Izuku grinned to himself. He was starting to enjoy this, enjoy finding the little twists and turns in his Quirk. Something he'd avoided his entire life, but now he was actually…having fun.

"Well done Young Midoriya!" Toshinori exclaimed, slapping the greenette on the back. Izuku jolted forward a step, turning to give a playful glare at the taller man who chuckled in response. "But that said, I think it's time we got you testing out One For All. Let's head over to UA, Nezu has already set up a training ground for you! And Chiyo is there as well in case something goes wrong."

"That is not encouraging, you know," Izuku deadpanned. Toshinori simply chuckled again and led him and the other three teens out the front door.

"Okay young Midoriya, remember what the vestiges told you. Let's start small and work your way up. Feel the core of One For All within you and channel it, just a little bit. You have to feel it," Toshinori said, as they stood a few meters away from where Izuku stood in front of a series of punching bags, Principle Nezu and Recovery Girl also part of the observing group.

Izuku took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing on the orb he remembered floating in the sky. Ignoring the pulsing energy in his chest, he chose instead to reach for the burning sun, grasping it firmly and pulling on it. Remembering the words of the vestiges, he only grasped at a little. Easiest way to do it was to work in percentages, so he thought starting at ten percent would be fine, right?

He exhaled, letting the energy flow across his body like he would with his Quirk and holy shit, that was a rush. His entire body felt electrified, a surge of power unlike his Quirk and yet still felt familiar, somehow. His eyes snapped open as he glowed, red lines criss-crossing his body where his channels ran, a moment later vanishing as green lightning began to sparkle around him, crackling with energy.

"Woah," Himiko said appreciatively, the other two teens mirroring her awestruck expression.

"Alright, that looks pretty badass," Katsuki said. He nodded once at Izuku. "Punch the thing, I wanna see what you can do now."

Izuku nodded, turning back to the punching bag in front of him. Designed specifically to take on super strength Quirks, everyone was pretty sure it'd survive since he wasn't trying to pull an All Might and go full out changing the weather with a punch. He squared up, planting his feet firmly and wound up, pulling back his fist and keeping his breathing under control. In, and out, throwing his fist forward. It slammed into the bag with a loud thud, the bag rocking backwards, the metal chains holding it in place shivering but not cracking.

Katsuki let out a low whistle. "Damn, that's a hit. What percent was that?"

"Figured I'd start small, ten percent seemed reasonable enough," Izuku replied. He shook his hand out. Recovery Girl immediately stepped forward and grabbed his hand, examining it closely with narrowed eyes.

"Any pain? Anything feel off?" she demanded.

Izuku shook his head. "Just the sting from hitting it. I didn't think to wrap my knuckles first."

Recovery Girl sighed. "Well, I can't fault that, I didn't even mention it either. If you're going to try again, let's get them wrapped properly. Better to be safe than sorry."

"Yes ma'am," Izuku replied, accepting the bandages from her and wrapping his knuckles. Taking a moment to bounce in place, he rolled his shoulders. "Okay. I'll try for twenty percent now?"

"A big leap, but go for it young Midoriya, I have confidence in you," Toshinori replied. With another deep breath, Izuku reached to the orb once more, pulling on more to try and grasp the twenty percent he wanted to go with. The green sparks around him intensified, glowing slightly brighter and appearing more often, but otherwise he felt fine. He repeated his prior steps…planting his feet, pulling the strength up from beneath and swung.

"Owch," he said, wincing as the bag shot backwards, the metal chains holding it cracking under the force. He gripped his hand, rubbing at it with a pained expression on his face.

"Let me see, let me see," Recovery Girl had almost appeared at his side as if by magic, turning his hand back and forth and examining it closely. She poked and prodded at his hand, watching his reactions and humming thoughtfully to herself. "Hmm. I can't be entirely sure without equipment, but I don't believe you broke anything. Perhaps a few microfractures, but even if you didn't, it's clear twenty may be a little too much for you right now."

Izuku shook his hand out as soon as she let it go, nodding along in understanding. "Okay…um…let me try fifteen then?" She looked up at him seemingly, before nodding.

"Alright young man, but punch with your other hand this time. I'll heal you afterwards just to be safe, but it's best we not drain your stamina beforehand."

Izuku nodded again, swiftly letting some of the power from One For All drain away until he held what he thought was about fifteen percent. Taking his stance again, he threw a punch with his left. This time, the pain was just the normal sting of knuckles meeting a solid object, the bag rocking back but still staying connected to the chains (although they weren't looking that great).

"Okay, yeah, that seems to be safe. It doesn't hurt!" Izuku said, grinning widely.

Recovery Girl grabbed his right hand once more and planted her lips on it, the wash of her healing removing the remaining pain as Izuku wobbled for a moment, feeling his vision go blurry for a brief second.

"Oh, whoa. Okay," Izuku muttered as he regained his balance. He glanced down at his wrist where the meter was, noticing that the bar was noticeably smaller than it had been before, probably about five percent drained away.

"Yes, my Quirk drains the stamina of people when I heal them. If I healed someone too exhausted, it's plausible it could kill them. That is why you cannot come to be reliant on my Quirk, young man. Or any of you!" Recovery Girl stated, as she turned to give her best nurse glare to the other three teenagers. Even Katsuki knew better than to annoy the nurse hero, and nodded along with the other three.

Toshinori clapped his hands. "Well, that settles it then! Now that we have made sure young Midoriya can handle this, we're going to have to examine the impact on his original Quirk and work on getting him better with One For All. But that's not all my young trainees…you must also work on your mind. You have three months to prepare for the exam, both the physical part and the scholastic part. Let's get you four home and get you started on the final phase!"

Izuku clenched his fists, letting the lightning sparking fade away as he breathed deep. This was it. The final steps to his new start, the last stretch before he got to the next phase of his life. He exchanged a glance with his friends…Katsuki, the brother who had always supported him…Himiko, the fun and quirky woman who'd helped him rediscover what it meant to just enjoy things…and Ochako, the kind and yet fierce woman who had made sure he never got too stuck in his own head, that he could finally maybe accept a nice thing said to him or two…He was ready for the next step.

Finally I end the pre-UA arc and next chapter we'll step into the Entrance Exam! And kudos to the two commenters who figured out why Izuku was under the water in the last chapter! And yes, Izuku is started at a higher percentage, but as I have expressed before, not only with the students be more powerful in this story, so will the villains. Also, he's three years older in this particular AU, and much more solidly built due to having been training physically with Katsuki his entire life. So he's much more fit to use OFA at the moment, although he's still going to have his growing pains. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed!