School assignments and family meetings.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 9: Izuku Shigaraki

Izuku yawned, leaned his head sideways and rotated his shoulder, still sore from his morning, and evening gym training. He'd have to check the instructions on the stretches again. He wasn't excited about feeling like this all day every day, but his father really wanted him to get fit soon so random criminals couldn't just grab him like they had that one time. With his studies and all the other training, he didn't have much free time left, but he was sure he could squeeze in more training than his father's plan required. He counted hours in his head and scribbled notes on his notebook, trying to figure what would be the most efficient use of his time. Father wanted him to improve his agility, so Izuku started wondering what would help with that most.

"Midoriya!" Ida stood up and turned to face Izuku, waving his arm. "You have been muttering the whole lesson. Stop that. It is distracting others and you should focus on the lesson yourself."

"That is enough Ida," the teacher commanded. "Midoriya, focus on the lesson. I don't know how your old school did things but here we don't think about other things in class."

"In my old school that was dependent on a person's quirk," Izuku answered, wondering how long they would keep treating him as the new guy. He had transferred months ago.

"The lesson Midoriya. Focus on it."

Izuku shut up and focused on his notebook the one with notes for the class. They were studying history and had just reached the point where people started being born with quirks.

"Now," the teacher continued, "as part of your grade you will do group presentations for the societal consequences of quirks appearing. I will assign the groups."

Izuku wanted to smirk. They were literally talking about his father's childhood. The only problem was explaining to his group where he found the information.

"Team Three: Tenya Ida, Izuku Midoriya, and Nori Uehara."

Izuku's face froze, staring forward when the last name was declared. It was bad enough to be in the same class with the girl that would have compared him to a chimpanzee just a year earlier. The idea of having to work with her made him think about his father's mention of a sudden accident. His hand shot up.

"You don't get to change your group Midoriya. Here we expect everyone to be able to work with everyone. Your topic will be the rise of organized villainy and the so-called emperor of villains who nearly ruled Japan."

Izuku would have fallen off his seat if he wasn't still so focused on who he needed to work with. A chair scraped against the floor as Uehara joined him and Ida. They stayed quiet until the teacher finished assigning groups and let them work for the rest of the lesson. Uehara was the first to speak.

"So, has either of you ever heard about this so-called emperor of villains?"

"I have read about a villain that created an army of followers when the societal order collapsed. I don't think his name was mentioned anywhere," Ida commented.

"That is because he only used the name of his quirk," Izuku said, speaking only to Ida, unwilling to even look at the third member of their group. "It was called All For One."

"How do you know that?" Uehara asked, sounding like she didn't believe him.

"I have a bookshelf full of notebooks on different quirks."

"And you complained about valuing quirks." Uehara raised her nose and managed a grin so arrogant Bakugo would have been left second.

"Being interested in quirks and valuing people based on their quirks are two different things. One gives you knowledge. The other just makes you a trash person," Izuku recited in tired tone. "Remember when you said that it is impossible to make a person quirkless?"

"Yeah, the whole idea is ridiculous."

"Not exactly," Izuku said, finally meeting the girl's gaze. He had to choose his words carefully. "There are lot of inconsistencies with any sources on All For One, but most sources from the time claim he could take and give away people's quirks. Many of people followed him because he either gave them quirks or took away ones they didn't want."

"Must have been pretty dumb people to have given their quirks away," Uehara said.

"Just because you only care about people if they have quirks doesn't mean everyone else does, and some quirks aren't any better than being quirkless even today," Izuku said. He was squeezing his hand into a fist under his desk.

"Especially back then when quirks were relatively rare. Imagine having a mutant quirk or hard to control quirk with side effects when people with quirks were seen as you see quirkless people."

"Fine, you're right. Being a mutant quirked freak isn't that much better than quirkless."

"So, do you think Ida is a 'freak' since he has a mutant quirk?" Izuku shot back. "How many people does this class actually have that you don't think lesser of because of their quirks?"

Izuku had never even raised his voice, but the people closest to them were already stopping their own discussions to listen in.

"It's not like they are quirkless," Uehara bypassed the mutant question. "Some of us just have better quirks. You should see it."

"Uehara, I still don't even know what quirk you have," Izuku deadpanned. He was tired of this and it showed. He couldn't even get emotional at her. "I doubt it will help with the assignment, so I don't care either."

"You two," Ida interrupted. "We have an assignment to complete. Can you show us the sources you got that information in?" Ida asked. Izuku tensed.

"Uh… probably. It has been a while since I ran into them. There are lot of old books of people describing their experiences after quirks appeared. I can look into it after school."

"Is there anything else you can think of we should look into?"

Izuku hummed a bit and looked away from his teammates, trying to think of something and remember both things he had heard from his father and what he had actually read.

"We should consider differences in how people saw these things compared to today. Like today people talking about that time talk about how many villains there were and call All For One the emperor of villains, but I don't think people at the time really used those terms. The clear heroes-and-villains system only appeared later. It was more about being vigilantes or criminals or," Izuku paused, "maybe revolutionaries.

At that both Ida and Uehara seemed confused.

"Lot of people tried to use the chaos to rebuild society the way they thought right, and things now are as they are because of who eventually succeeded at that. I think that would be a more accurate way to describe All For One than 'the emperor of villains'. People probably call him that mostly because winners write the history books."

"That could be an excellent point of view," Ida said excitedly waving his hand side to side. "How did people see villains before the term became common, and how the societal progress led to our current understanding."

"Yeah, something like that," Izuku said. At least Ida didn't disregard the idea straight away.

They mostly focused on the idea of how people viewed things and the structure of the presentation for rest of class. Izuku promised to get more information and got out of the class as fast as he could. It was the last lesson of the day, so he left and only stopped some distance down the street. Soon Ida walked out and started down the same street. He waited until Ida reached him and then matched the taller boy's pace.

"How do you feel about the idea of looking at the assignment from how people at the time would have seen it? Can you write about it without framing it in as a modern heroes-and-villains system?"

"Shouldn't we discuss this with the whole group? We are supposed to be able to work in teams no matter what we might think about the other members."

"No," Izuku responded.

"Excuse me?"

"I've spent too much time surrounded by shit people," Izuku said looking at the ground. "I tried being nice and making friends, tried to ignore them, tried to turn the other cheek. Let them mock and harass and do whatever they wanted without standing up for myself. It doesn't help. I only got away from them when I left. I am too tired of thar garbage to ignore it again, pretend it is not important, or work with people like that just because a teacher that has never experienced it says so. Don't you feel anything that she called you a freak?"

"Of course I do, but it is not our place to disrupt the class for personal reasons."

Like he hadn't already disrupted the same class.

"You want to become a hero, right?" Izuku asked.

"Of course."

"How are you going to stand up for people if you can't even stand up for yourself? If capturing a criminal would disrupt something in someone's life, if it wasn't polite or convenient to do in that situation, would you just let them go?"

Izuku's words left Ida silent, but Izuku felt like ranting a bit more. Something in Ida made him seem annoying enough to need a reality check while also feeling like someone that was safe to talk to. Part of Midoriya simply wanted to test him. Ida had been nice, he had only judged Izuku on his actions, but he already knew Izuku had a quirk without knowing what it really was. When Izuku continued his voice was much quieter.

"If you aren't going to stand up against what is wrong no matter what, don't become a hero. Someone WILL die waiting for you to help them. Having family members that are heroes doesn't make you one any more than a hero license does."

They kept walking in silence until they reached Izuku's house. Right at the gate he stopped and sighed.

"Sorry for venting like that. I'm just too tired of people like her to just take it. I'll try to look up the information for the assignment." He turned his back to Ida to get inside.

"Midoriya," Ida said, making him stop, "What happened to you?"

"Remember the second question people asked me on my first day? What I said before the teacher said I didn't need to?"

Izuku walked inside without waiting for Ida to remember and leaned against the inside of the door. He really needed to be more careful at what he said. Thinking of that he was reminded that he needed to find an excuse why he knew about All For One. He glanced at his palm where the little hole was hidden behind the tape and makeup. After a moment he headed to his room to do his homework in the little time he had reserved for it. Afterwards he headed down to the gym to prepare for the evening's training. Kurogiri showed up right as he was supposed to, but as Izuku stepped closer Kurogiri didn't immediately open a portal for him.

"Young Midoriya, your father has told me to take you somewhere else today. He has decided that it is time for you to meet someone before training."

Izuku raised his eyebrow and tensed up slightly. He had not seen many people with his father, just Kurogiri and the doctor who didn't really show himself. If his father was going to introduce him to someone else, he at least trusted Izuku, but what kind of person would this be?

"I still need to talk with dad also," he said.

"Of course," Kurogiri answered and opened a portal. "He is receiving treatment but will be in contact with us."

"Good," Izuku said and stepped through the portal. He looked around as soon as his head left the mist. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but a reasonably decent-looking, though windowless, bar was not that. He quickly focused on the only person that was already in the room, a light blue-haired pale-skinned man with a fricking human hand on his face. Izuku hoped for the best but got the feeling it was not fake, but a real human hand. The man's mere presence put Izuku on edge in a similar way to facing a Nomu in training.

"So, who is this kid Kurogiri?" The man asked in raspy voice.

"His name is Izuku Midoriya. Young Midoriya, this is Tomura Shigaraki."

The strange man looked down at Izuku, scratching his neck. Even though he had no weapons, Izuku got the feeling of danger from the man.

"Hel… hello," Izuku said, stuttering for the first time in a while.

"I don't like him," Shigaraki rasped and suddenly moved forward, reaching his hand towards Izuku. Thanks to his father's training Izuku stepped aside to evade the attack in time, but it turned out to be useless as a small mist portal appeared in the path of Shigaraki's arm. Behind the man his hand appeared from another portal mid-air. It swung in anger and touched one of the barstools along the brown wood counter. Izuku gulped as the stool turned into dust. One touch from this man and he would be dead, and he couldn't even see if the quirk was active as one could with his Dragonblade.

"This one is not for you to kill," Kurogiri reprimanded Tomura. "Master would be very angry if you did."

"Why would sensei care about some skinny kid."

"That is a very good question," All For One's slightly distorted sound came out of nowhere. After a few seconds Izuku spotted an empty computer screen and speakers. Shigaraki pulled his arm from the dark portal and Kurogiri moved to clean the pile of dust it left behind. Izuku's father continued: "But is that any way to talk to your brother?"

"Brother?" Izuku and Shigaraki said at the exact same time and with the same tone.

"Izuku," father started, "Tomura is someone I saved as a child shortly before your birth. I may have been more of an occasional sensei than a true father, but he is effectively my adoptive child. Tomura, Izuku is my long hidden biological son. You two should get along."

The two youths stared at the blank computer screen and then each other. Shigaraki started scratching his neck.

"You mean there is another Shigaraki?" Shigaraki asked. Izuku blinked, staring at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Shigaraki is the name I gave him. It is my original name. Midoriya was the identity I created," father explained.

"So, my name is made up," Izuku said, surprised with how much the thought stung.

"Aren't they all?"

"You know what I mean dad. Can I at least have the real name, Shigaraki, now?" Izuku asked. It took a while for his father to answer while Shi… Tomura kept scratching his neck ever faster.

"Here you can, but to the rest of the world you and your father must still be Midoriya."

"That's okay."

"Sensei, why are you doing this?" Tomura interrupted. "There wasn't supposed to be a player two."

"There wasn't, but things changed. Though it is not yet completely sure if Izuku will be… 'a player'. There are still choices he needs to make."

"So, I will still lead the League?"

"Yes Tomura. The League is yours regardless of his decisions. Depending what Izuku chooses he can do other things for this family business of ours. I would benefit from a representative to send in my name rather than the League. You two should still work together and help each other."

"Fine," Tomura rasped, "what can he even do?"

"You mean what my quirk is?" Izuku said already disappointed.

"Quirk, talent, skills, whatever, can you actually be useful to the sensei or are you planning to drag us down?"

Izuku stared at his adoptive brother for several seconds and slowly a wide grin spread across his face. Unlike students with supposedly bright futures at every school he had ever gone to, this creepy villain didn't just care about how he happened to be born.

"I think we can get along," Izuku said.

"You didn't answer my question," Shigaraki complained.

"I know a lot about different quirks and what they can do, dad and Kurogiri are teaching me how to fight, and I inherited dad's quirk."

"Sensei's quirk?" Tomura asked, staring at Izuku without moving for a while.

"Yes… I can take other people's quirks, though I have only taken two," Izuku said. Tomura continued staring at him for a moment and sat down on the closest stool.

"So, another boss fight for the heroes."

"Uh, probably not," Izuku waved his hands defensively as his smirk turned into an awkward smile. He too sat down a couple stools away from Tomura. Without saying a word Kurogiri pulled a bottle of cold lemonade from under the counter. It was even Izuku's favourite lemonade.

"It is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, you will not talk about Izuku to anyone Tomura, not even within the League," their father said as Izuku sipped the drink. "You should let him know what you can do too."

"I can destroy, I have trained to fight and destroy, my quirk can destroy anything I touch with all five fingers and my goal is to destroy what I hate."

"Like… what?" Izuku asked, once more uncertain on how to feel about the man.

"This whole cursed hero-dependent society where the wrong quirk is enough to destroy your life. Where people walk around smiling even surrounded by deadly quirks but abandon people with quirks they randomly choose to fear or just ignore others' plight because they think a hero will come. I want to bring it down and grind it to dust."

"Maybe we have something in common," Izuku admitted hesitantly staring at his drink, "but what then?"

Tomura looked at him confused, as far as Izuku could tell with a hand on the man's face, but instead of a clear question there was just a "huh".

"What are you going to do afterwards if you collapse the society? Do you have a plan or conviction for something? Not that destroying an entire society is something you can just do."

"Oh, then what would you do?"

Izuku turned his head to stare forward at the bar's shelves of drinks. After a moment of silence, he decided what to say.

"I think we feel the same about how this society is but destroying it wouldn't help anyone unless you can create a better one in its place. Honestly, I have never seriously intended or planned to do anything major to change the world, though spending time with dad has made me think about it more. I think I would want to change the society, not destroy it, force it to bend if that is what it takes. Maybe it breaks in the process, but even if change needs destruction, it should be to create something better. There is no point destroying for the sake of destruction, it should be a means to an end at least."

Tomura started scratching his neck again. Before he could respond or try to disintegrate Izuku again, their father's chuckle came through the speakers.

"You should listen to your brother Tomura. You still need to learn how to think more than one step ahead. Whether you manage to destroy what you hate, that alone will not take you forward or make the League more than a short-lived collection of thugs."

"Yes, sensei," Tomura said, his face visibly tense even under the hand. He might have also gritted his teeth together.

"You should take some time today to get to know each other. Unfortunately, I cannot run your trainings as usual today Izuku. The doctor wants to run some treatments today. I'll tell him to prepare for yours. You can spar with Tomura if you think you two aren't going to kill each other in the process."

"It might be t…" Izuku said and fell silent mid-sentence. "What do you mean prepare for mine?"

"I told you I would have him prepare a copy of the regeneration for you. Your body should have fully stabilized from your last acquisitions, if you feel you are ready."

"Regeneration?" Tomura asked. "You are giving him a quirk like that even though he hasn't yet done anything?"

"Yes."

"Why? I ha…"

"Because unlike you, his body can adjust to handle it without extensive modifications which the doctor isn't ready to do yet, unless you want to become a Nomu. Izuku should also be better able to supress the quirk when needed to hide it, at least once I am done with him."

His father's tone made Izuku shiver. Tomura stared at the screen for a moment before turning back against the bar counter and gesturing to Kurogiri. He muttered quiet enough that father might not have heard.

"Definitely a boss battle."

"Do you want to talk about anything else?" Their father asked.

"Yes," Izuku said quickly, then shrunk a bit, poking the tips of his index fingers against each other. He even looked away, even though he had only been looking at an empty screen. Kurogiri gave Tomura a drink.

"I was going to ask if you know anywhere where I might find information on, well, you."

"You need to explain more my son."

"We have a history assignment at school. My group has to talk about… 'the emperor of villains'."

"Well, that is a name I haven't heard in a while."

"I thought so. I need to know about those times for the presentation and find sources to explain why I knew about you in the first place."

"Sounds like you have been careless, tsk tsk tsk."

Somehow Izuku managed to shrink even further on the stool. His father hadn't reprimanded him like that before.

"Early level boss," Tomura muttered.