SYMBOL

CHAPTER 007 – PROMISES

Darkness. That was all he saw everywhere he looked. It was so dark that he couldn't even see himself, having raised his hands in front of him to try and feel if something was ahead of him. Wondering where he was and how he got there, the young man decided to try and find a way out. Taking a few steps forward in the pitch black area with his hands in front, no sound came from his walking. That drew his curiosity but kept his focus on moving forward.

Continuing on in the random direction he chose, he tried to remember what had happened before getting here. He remembered going to several stores to buy things he needed for UA. He remembered several people he met and how he helped them out. He remembered Eri and his fight with the Yakuza leader. But he didn't remember how he got to this particular place and that was getting on his nerves. That and along with his bumbling around in the dark, made him become annoyed and frustrated. What's going on?! Why am I here?! Where is here?! Questions kept popping up, one after the other and he had no answers to any of them. He became so frustrated that he just snapped. "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!"

As if waiting for him to ask that, a sudden white dot appeared in the far distance in front of him. "What's that?" he asked to no one in particular. Having no other point of reference to follow or choice for that matter, he decided to head towards it. As he traveled closer to it, the white dot was becoming brighter and also growing a little larger. And due to the light being given off, he was able to finally see the outline of his hands in front of him. But something was off. He couldn't tell what exactly just yet, since he was still far from the ball of light but he pushed on.

After closing in more, he was able to see a little more clearly and noticed his hands were transparent. His eyes widening in shock, he came to a sudden stop and stared at his hands. Looking down at himself, he saw that his entire body was also transparent. "W-What's happening t-to me?" he asked out loud to himself. Unable to come up with an answer, he was about to start freaking out when his gaze landed onto the ball of white light once more. That has to be related to this! If I can reach it, maybe everything will be fixed. Decision made, he composed himself and made his way to the light. Moving quicker than before, he hurried to it while somehow hearing the loud beating of his heart in his ears.

When he finally reached the ball of white light and stopped about arms length away from it, he was surprised to see that it was the size of a basketball. "What is this?" he asked again to himself. Moving his still transparent arm to it, he closed in on the light and when he was a few inches away, he stopped.

Hesitating in touching it, he didn't know what it was and what might happen. Taking in a deep breath before exhaling it out, he told himself he had no other choice and followed through with his action. Resting his hand on the white ball of light, he tensed up for a second but then relaxed when nothing happened. All he felt was just pleasant warmth from it. Tilting his head with his hand still on it, he became confused. I thought something would happen if I touched it. What's going on? Am I going crazy or something?

He would've become lost in his thoughts but then the ball of white light pulsed suddenly. Retracting his hand away from it quickly out of instinct, the young man was startled and took a few steps backwards. But then he suddenly stopped moving, with his eyes locked onto what started happening in front of him.

A line of bright white light shot from the ball diagonally upwards a good distance away and it connected to a newly appearing ball of bright blue light. Except this one was much larger than the first. Another line of light, this time colored bright blue, moved from the second ball while also moving diagonally upwards. It connected to a third ball of light that was colored red and this one was several times larger than the second one.

Once again, a line of red energy erupted diagonally upwards and it traveled an even farther distance and connected to an enormous ball of light green energy that dwarfed the first three. Still the pattern continued, with a line of light green energy going diagonally up to a massive ball of orange light.

At this point, the young man had raised his gaze up and turned his body to follow the energy is it continued going upwards in a somewhat circular fashion around him. And from the orange ball of light, another line of orange energy shot out. But this time it traveled horizontally to the side a good distance before connecting to a suddenly appearing vast ball of purple light. It was large enough to easily hold several of the orange balls of light. And yet again, another line erupted sideways, colored with purple energy and traveled a respectable distance until it hit an incredibly gigantic ball of pink energy. From this one, another line shot from its side covered in bright pink energy and the young man followed it as it traveled a great distance until it connected with an astonishingly colossal ball of yellow light.

The young man was absolutely dumfounded over this latest one, since it was so huge compared to the rest that the only reference that would make sense to most would be comparing a pebble to a mountain. He thought the pattern ended since nothing happened for a few seconds but he was wrong.

For another line of energy, colored yellow this time, shot directly up from it and the young man had to completely crane his neck upwards in order to follow where it was going. After going up a very far distance, the yellow line of light connected to a suddenly appearing ball of dark green light that was as impressively enormous as the previous yellow ball of light. And yet, the young man was able to notice something even from his spot underneath it and being so far away from it after staring at it for a while.

The dark green ball of light grew a little larger.

Eyes widening and his jaw dropping, he turned around and lowered his gaze back towards the very first ball of white light that was the smallest out of all of them. The second his eyes landed on the white ball of light, it pulsed once more. Turning his gaze to all the different lights in the order they appeared, his mind was filled with many thoughts. Until all of a sudden, realization dawned on the young man after he counted how many balls of light there were. For when he counted out nine of them, he remembered what All Might had told him when they first started his training two years ago; he would be the ninth person to wield the quirk 'One For All'. And these balls of light with their differences in size were most likely displaying the amount of power of the quirk between its previous wielders due to its stockpiling energy over time characteristics.

All of that plus him being transparent in this area started making sense to him and yet he couldn't believe what it meant. "Oh my god…am I inside One For All itself?" he asked himself in a whisper.

Immediately after his question was said, feminine laughter that was pleasing to his ears echoed throughout the area. Looking around wildly for the source, he couldn't see anything else except for the balls of light. The laughter ended before a woman spoke. "Toshi picked a smart one. And adorable too. Don't you agree?" Her voice was as pleasant to hear as her laughter and he wanted to see who it belonged too, wondering who she was. "C'mon everyone. Time for the party!"

After she said that, eight of the nine balls of light moved. They shrunk in size and maneuvered to be in front of the young man in a half circle. The ninth one, the dark green one, didn't change its shape or move from its spot, remaining high above them. A few seconds later, seven different people appeared out of thin air right in front of him. Each of them was transparent like himself and he could vaguely see their body's outline but he could see their faces. Besides that, each of them had their respective balls of light right in the middle of what would be considered their chest. Three of the seven had smiles on their faces while the other four kept their expressions stoic.

"You…you're…the previous users of One For All…right?" he asked them.

Smiling even wider, the only woman out of the group gave him a thumbs up. "That's right Izuku!"

"How…how do you know my name?" he asked her in surprise.

Chuckling, the woman gave him a teasing look. "Come now, you should know how with that brain of yours. I mean, we've been able to watch everything with front row seats after the day you ate Toshi's hair. And after all, we're bound by something greater than blood."

A thought crossed his mind and his eyes widened. "Hold up! You mean you're alive inside One For All?!" he asked them. He moved his gaze across them until it landed onto the yellow light where his mentor should've been but there was no one. "No…wait…if All Might isn't here and he's still alive as far as I know…then that means…" Turning to look at the seven again, a sullen look formed on his face. "…you're dead, aren't you?" he asked her.

Softly smiling with her eyes showing a flicker of sadness, she nodded. "You are a smart one. Yes. We've all passed on."

"I see…" He trailed off when he thought of something. "Wait, does that mean…I'm…dead too?" he asked in a whisper, fear filling him and his heart beating a litter faster.

"No, you're still alive Izuku," she replied back gently and he let out a relieved sigh. "It was a close call, to be honest. But you were able to pull through. With a little help of course. From both outside and inside," she explained vaguely, a bit of a smirk on her face.

"I…guess I understand," replied Izuku, deciding to just accept things and think about it later. Turning his gaze towards the others, he had another question he wanted to ask them. "So, if I'm not dead, and you've passed on, what does that mean? How are you here? Why am I here?"

"We, who you see in front of you, are merely remnants of who we were," spoke up the man from the first ball of light and Izuku turned to face him. "Part of the soul that lingered behind because of One For All. We've been waiting a long time to see who Nana's…" He gestured to the woman. "…successor would choose to pass our legacy to. My name is Yoichi Shigaraki and I was the first. I'm happy to finally meet you, Ninth."

Izuku's eyes widened at hearing his name, remembering something that his mentor had told him regarding the history of One For All. "You were his brother…and you stood up against All For One so long ago…but it didn't go well huh?" he asked in a sullen tone.

Yoichi nodded with a small smile. "Yes and it didn't go well at all, but even if I was able to go back, I'd do it again." Izuku was about to say something else but then Yoichi raised his hand. "I'm sorry Ninth, but we don't have long. It takes a lot for us to maintain a connection with you at the moment. That's why most of us are being quiet to maintain it." Yoichi gestured to the four who were still sporting their stoic expressions. Izuku looked at them more carefully and it was then that he noticed how they were concentrating, with their brows slightly furrowed and staring off into the distance. "It'll become easier as you and One For All continue to adapt to one another."

"Adapt?" repeated Izuku in confusion, turning back to look at the first user. Yoichi pointed at his and the old users transparent bodies and then to the young man. Glancing at his transparent hands, he made the connection. "Oh, right…"

"Yes, you still have a long way to go," remarked Yoichi and Izuku looked back at him. "But you're doing remarkably well. And we have something important to tell you."

"Okay but how come All Might never mentioned talking with you?" asked Izuku.

"Because we were never able to meet with him like this," answered Yoichi.

"What?!"

Seeing him stunned and knowing he wanted to ask a lot of questions, Nana decided to interrupt him and explain things as quickly as she could. "We have many theories about that Izuku but we're not sure." A confused expression formed on his face but she continued on. "The one thing we keep going back to is that One For All has become so powerful while changing several times to adapt to its next user and the user to it, that we think that it has evolved…"

"Evolved?" repeated Izuku.

"Yes, evolved. We think that's part of the reason why we're able to meet with you like this and why you were able to use Daigoro's quirk." She gestured to one of the men beside her who was rather tall with a bald head. He grinned when Izuku looked at him and Nana kept talking. "We believe that besides the ability to stockpile power within each person over time, One For All had also adapted to us by being able to assimilate each of our quirks into it. But it wasn't able to allow its current user to have access to them because it wasn't strong enough yet or ready yet."

When she stopped speaking, the one she introduced to Izuku a moment ago began speaking. "But now, we believe that it's become so strong thanks to All Might allowing it to stockpile its power for so many years, that it can spread some of its extra power towards the quirks its assimilated and have them finally be able to be used by another person," started Daigoro, going quiet for a moment since he was organizing his thoughts to explain further.

But he was interrupted by Izuku when he was about to continue. "But if that's the case, how come All Might wasn't able to use any of your quirks?" he asked.

"I was getting to that! You should learn to be more patient," chastised Daigoro with an annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry!" apologized Izuku as he bowed to him.

Nana smacked Daigoro upside his head. "Hey, be nice! You can't blame him for being curious! Shit, we all are!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever," replied Daigoro as he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, that's only part of what we think it's about. The other part we believe is because of will and desire. Your will and desire to be exact."

"My…will and…desire?" questioned Izuku, becoming even more confused.

"Yeah," answered Daigoro with a nod. "All Might never desired for anything more than to be powerful enough to become a symbol for the people. So all he really needed was peerless strength and speed. And honestly, he didn't need more than that to accomplish everything he did. Especially since he was able to adapt to One For All right from the beginning and use the massive amount of stockpiled power," explained Diagoro with Izuku listening to every word with rapt attention. "When he decided to pass it on to you and you accepted, you trained for a long time to be able to receive the quirk. But even then, you weren't able to fully adapt to One For All right off the bat because it had become almost too powerful. You had to start small and right now you're only able to use five percent of its full power until you fully adapt to it. But, that's where we think things get a little crazy…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Izuku.

This time, Yoichi decided to continue the explanation. "Since you weren't able to fully adapt to One For All immediately, and you had become involved in a life or death situation, One For All adapted to you and your needs as it responded to your desire to save that little girl no matter the cost. As a result, it gave you the most appropriate quirk that it had assimilated into it that would help you reach your goal," stated the first user, gesturing to Daigoro this time and when Izuku looked at him, he grinned again.

Yoichi adapted a pondering position with his right hand stroking his chin before he continued. "And it is most peculiar of how it happened." Izuku returned his sight back to him as he listened to him. "Usually, from what we've seen with us, the user has to adapt to One For All to be able to use its stockpiled power entirely. And One For All only adapted to the user by assimilating their quirk to it and storing it among other things. But with you, it's different and not just because you didn't have a quirk of your own. You still have to adapt to it to become more proficient and use more of its power, yes. But from what we're seeing, One For All is adapting to you in a different way than usual. This time, it's adapting to your will and desires."

Izuku had a dumbstruck expression form on his face. "One For All…is adapting…to that?" he asked, raising his gaze to look at the dark green ball of energy that was still floating high up above them all.

Nana smiled and when she started talking, Izuku lowered his gaze to her. "At least, that's what we believe. We mentioned how One For All is constantly growing and becoming more powerful and how its finally able to allow its user to use the quirks it has assimilated with because it can finally empower them. But we also believe that it responds to incredible willpower and desire." Her smile spread further on her face. "And that's where you come in Izuku. Your will and desire to help others no matter the cost is absolutely astonishing. It's honestly incredible how strong it is because we believe that's what's making something as powerful as One For All heed it!"

Yoichi started speaking again after Nana finished. "And we have no idea what's going to happen Izuku," he remarked, making the young man return his gaze back towards him. "All we can say, with almost one hundred percent certainty, is that One For All is fully adapting to you and your desires and it'll probably even allow you to use the rest of our quirks within it in time. And the other thing we're almost sure on is that it is still evolving, still becoming stronger and that means it has almost limitless potential. Imagine that; almost limitless energy and power to do many things. And it's up to you as to how you use it and that will change how it adapts and evolves further. The possibilities could be endless. For all we know, it could even become sentient in the future…"

To say he was absolutely shocked to hear all that was an understatement. Izuku couldn't speak or move and he was filled with many thoughts. Forcing himself to focus on what was happening instead of becoming lost in them, he took in a breath and exhaled. "Almost limitless potential…limitless power…constantly evolving…fully adapting to me as well…possible sentience in the future…I'll be able to use all of your quirks too…endless possibilities…I…I don't know what to say…this is crazy…"

"Don't worry. We'll have more time in the future to talk some more. Perhaps next time you'll have adapted better to One For All for the other users to speak with you too," said Yoichi with a small smile, glancing at the four other users of One For All before facing the young man again. "And we'll figure things out together. You're not alone, Ninth."

"That's right Izuku. You're not alone. We're here with you. We'll always be watching over you," said Nana before her radiant smile took on a teasing glint. "Of course we won't spy when you're taking care of personal things or when you finally find yourself a girlfriend. I promise when you fool around with her, I won't let them peek. But I will. Just a little."

He would've been blushing up a storm if he wasn't transparent right now. "That…that…" But he did sputter in shock over what she said.

His reaction to her teasing made Nana let out that wonderful sounding laugh of hers. "Oh c'mon, it's nothing to get all embarrassed about. We've all gotten intimate with someone we cared deeply about. Some of us even messed around here and there," said Nana casually with a large grin as she glanced at a couple of the men near her, who promptly looked away but maintained their concentration on the connection between them all. Izuku was about to start sputtering again when Nana faced him once more and spoke. "Izuku…"

Her tone was suddenly serious and it snapped him out of his ordeal. "Yes?"

"Tell Toshi I'm sorry for pushing him away in the end. Tell him that he was everything to me after giving up my family. Tell him that I loved him. Please. You'll tell him, right?" asked Nana, her words covered with a sullen tone.

Izuku felt horrible hearing her sound like that but he agreed. "I will Nana."

A soft smile appeared on her face. "Thank you," she replied back and he smiled a little in return.

"Hey Ninth…"

Izuku turned to face Daigoro. "Yes?"

"I should've mentioned this before, but better late than never. Now that you've used my quirk once, you'll have access to it anytime you wish to use it. It's a versatile quirk and it's useful in many different applications." Lifting his hand, he had his quirk appear. Several small tendrils of black energy danced over his open palm as they stretched and arced around, moving about as if searching for something. "It's become supercharged and changed into something far greater and stronger thanks to One For All so make sure to practice with it. And be careful because one thing that hasn't changed is that my quirk also responds to great emotional stress. You understand?" asked the former user in a serious tone.

Izuku's expression turned serious as he locked his eyes with Daigoro's. "I do," he said simply and an image of a frightened little girl cowering due to the Yakuza leader flashed in front of his eyes.

"Good. Practice with it every chance you get. You'll be amazed at all the different ways you can use it. And that was before it was supercharged by One For All. So keep it up and experiment with it." Izuku nodded and promised he would practice with it every day. "Alright then. I have no more to say. Good luck."

The first user took a step forward, drawing Izuku's attention to him. "We promise we're with you and we'll drop in on you every now and then whenever we can. Once you get more proficient, you'll be able to visit us as well if you choose to. Never give up alright? We believe in you Ninth," stated Yoichi.

"Thank you everyone for the support. I promise I'll do my best and I'll never give up!" replied back Izuku and the three of the seven nodded while the other four remained unmoving. A few seconds passed before he rubbed the back of his head. "So, ah, how do I leave here?" he asked them.

Shaking her head while chuckling, Nana moved forward. "You should know how, but I'll help you this one time for free. Next time you're gonna have to pay for it if you still haven't figured it out," she said while walking towards him and stopped right in front of him.

Izuku felt nervous over her words and the way she was looking at him but didn't turn away. "Um, pay?"

Her smile turned into a teasing smirk. "Yes. Pay. You'll find out later." Without waiting for him to say anything, Nana raised her hand and had her index finger hover an inch away from his chest. "Don't forget to tell Toshi. Do your best Izuku and remember that you're not alone. You'll do great. Just follow what you've always followed; your heart." And with those final words spoken, Nana pressed the tip of her index finger against where Izuku's heart would be on his transparent body.

The moment she touched him there, Izuku's vision began filling with a bright white light. Everyone there was beginning to vanish and the balls of light were disappearing as well. The last thing he saw was Nana's happy and proud look as she vanished too before the light just completely covered his vision…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beep…beep…beep…

A steady beeping sound was the first thing that assaulted his senses as he slowly awakened. With each passing second, he was able to notice a lot more things as he continued to gain consciousness. He could feel multiple cords and wires snaking all over his body. Some sort of object was strapped to his head over his mouth and nose. A moment later he realized it was an oxygen mask since he could feel the tips of it barely inside his nose with oxygen being sent through it into his nose. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell that the area he was in was really bright but didn't know if it was due to lights, the sunlight or combination of both. His body felt very sore and he could feel a dull, lingering pain on his right side.

Feeling the pain made him remember what he went through recently with the Yakuza leader. In turn, that also made him remember the little girl that he tried to protect. Her image appeared in his mind, sporting that frightened expression on her face that made him become filled with multiple different feelings. Eri…what happened to her? I remember All Might got there before I passed out, but where is she? Is she alright? I have to find out…

Opening his eyes suddenly, he had to shut them back closed immediately due to how bright the area was. Slowly trying once more and then blinking a few times, he adjusted to it. Slowly turning his gaze to the left where the beeping was coming from, he found the medical equipment that was monitoring his vitals. Shifting towards the right, two empty chairs along with a small rolling table that had empty plates along with a water pitcher on it greeted him. Behind those was the room door that was closed. So I'm in the hospital. I wonder how long I've been here. I'll find out later. I need to find out what happened first and make sure Eri's alright.

Feeling an intense thirst all of a sudden that also reminded him of how weak he felt, the young man's eyes locked onto the pitcher. Okay, water first and then find out what happened. Wanting to reach for it, he was about to raise his right hand towards the pitcher since it was nearby. But he wasn't able to because there was a weight on it that he just noticed and he had no extra energy to use to go against it. What the...why can't I move my hand?

Moving his sight downwards, what he saw made him raise his eyebrows in surprise. A small little girl with bluish silver hair was snuggled around his forearm, hugging it tightly with her back against his right side. He couldn't help but have a slight smile form on his face under the oxygen mask. Eri…so she's safe. Thank God. I guess that's one less thing to worry about it. But, is she alright? After that horrible thing she went through because of that Yakuza leader… Sudden stirring from Eri made him stop his train of thoughts and he focused on her.

Murmuring a little as she slowly started to awaken, Eri rubbed her cheek against the arm she was hugging, enjoying the warmth it gave off. A few seconds later, she raised her head and let out a small yawn. Rubbing her eyes with both hands, she ignored her long bluish silver hair as it fell in front of her face. Finished with that, she moved her hair away so she can look towards the room door and saw that no one was there. They left again… She didn't know what to think or feel about that, since a part of her was glad that they weren't here because she didn't know or trust them. Even with them behind kind to her, Eri couldn't bring herself to open up to them. Looking down towards the floor, Eri thought about what she went through the last couple of days.

Those thoughts led her to remember what happened back at the alley and who came for her. The only one who had ever done anything for her. Izu… Turning her head, her eyes widened in surprise over what she saw. The one who had fought to save and protect her was awake. He was looking right at her and she could tell that he was slightly smiling even with the air mask thingy covering his nose and mouth.

Seeing her become frozen with wide eyes, Izuku decided to say something. "Hey Eri-chan…"

Though his throat was dry and his voice came out in a soft coarse tone, she could still feel the kindness in it and that made her react. "Izu!" she cried as she practically dived onto him and hugged him as tightly as she could, with her short arms barely reaching to his sides. "Izu!" she repeated his name and kept repeating his name as she kept her tight hold on him while crying.

"It's okay Eri-chan…it's okay…" Ignoring the pain that flared up on his side that she unknowingly caused him, he focused on the little girl instead. Doing his best to calm her down, Izuku summoned the little energy he had to move his arms around her carefully so as to not hurt her or bother her. Rubbing her back gently while constantly telling her that everything is alright, it took a while until she finally calmed down enough so he could talk to her. Her shaking stopped but he could still hear her sniffling. "Eri-chan…everything's okay now."

Hearing him say that made her look up at him with tear filled red eyes. "I'm s-sorry…"

"Why are you sorry?" asked Izuku, confused over what she just said.

Her lips trembled. "I-It's my f-fault that you g-got hurt," replied Eri in a whisper with her eyes filling up with tears again.

Slightly shaking his head, he kept his eyes on her. "No, it's not Eri-chan. You didn't…"

"It is!" she said, interrupting him and he went silent. "I ran away…and…you g-got hurt! I'm s-sorry! H-He was right! I'm a-a…c-curse! I…"

"Eri!" snapped Izuku with a little more force in his voice but made sure to keep his tone from being covered with anger. She went quiet at once with multiple different feelings filling her but the two that were the most prominent was fear and sadness. "Eri-chan…" started Izuku, this time with a much softer tone of voice as she kept her eyes on his. "Please don't ever say that. Whatever those…bad guys…said you are…they're wrong. You did nothing wrong. And you were right for running away. You were right for trying to save yourself. And it's not your fault what happened to me. I'm training to be a hero and even if I wasn't…I'd still try and help you. Because you deserve to have a chance at a real life. And I'm the one who should be sorry for not stopping him sooner. So don't say that about yourself. Okay?" said Izuku, trying to have her understand that she did nothing wrong.

Eri couldn't believe what he said. She felt so many things from his softly spoken words and she didn't know how to process it. But there was something she had to say because she couldn't keep it within herself. "B-But…I-I'm bad…"

"Eri…you're not bad for runnin…"

"I'm b-bad! I made s-someone disappear!"

"Eri…" Izuku gave her a concerned look. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

Fear filling her again, Eri could barely speak. "I-I…made m-my…dad…disappear…my q-quirk first…" Starting to cry again, she let out tears and then hugged him again. "I d-don't…why…can't…bring b-back…m-momma left…" Her crying intensified and Izuku tightened his hug with one arm while using his other hand to rub her back gently. "He…c-cut me…hurt me…a lot…s-said…cursed…b-blood…use…m-me…weapon…s-stop q-quirks…"

Hearing her say all of that while stuttering and crying her heart out, Izuku understood what she was trying to say for the most part. As a result, he felt immense sadness fill him along with anger over what she went through. A sudden desire to find the Yakuza leader and pummel him into the ground arose within him that shocked him. But he quickly pushed it down and refocused on the little girl. He wanted nothing more than to make it so Eri would never feel like this again at the very least. Knowing that this was a delicate situation and whatever he said or did next could have significant effect on her, good or bad, Izuku had to be careful how he handled this. Thinking quickly on how he should properly respond to this, Izuku came to a decision.

Raising the hand that was rubbing her back, he placed it softly on top of her head and gently caressed her head through her hair. "Eri-chan…it's okay. It's not your fault. You're just a child. You did nothing wrong. You had no control with your quirk. A lot of people don't know how to control their quirks when they first appear. The ones who were supposed to help you, didn't. It's their fault for abandoning you. And those who hurt you, they're the ones who are bad. Whatever they did to you is wrong. And they'll go to jail for it. But you're strong because you kept going. You have nothing to be sorry about. And don't worry, I'll always do my best to protect you and help you," he said before becoming silent after saying all that. Izuku continued comforting Eri by rubbing her back and head affectionately while allowing her to let it out until her crying slowly stopped.

When she finally let out all the tears she had, Eri sniffed a few times before she looked up at him. "You p-promise?" she asked him in a slightly high pitched whisper.

Removing his hand from her head, he grasped the oxygen mask from his face and removed it. He felt he didn't need it anymore and realized it was one of the easier to remove models earlier. Plus, it was obscuring his vision slightly so having it off would allow both of them to get a better look at one another. "With all my heart, Eri-chan. I promise it's not your fault, no matter what anyone says. And I promise that I'll always do my best to protect you and help you," said Izuku, repeating his words to her while smiling at her.

Hearing him say that again, but clearer this time since his voice wasn't muffled anymore, Eri once again couldn't believe it. All of the suffering, pain and abuse she experienced had made her become so depressed that she thought that she was destined to a life of that. Until she took a sudden chance to escape to run for her life. And that led her to bumping into a person who she believed didn't exist. She never believed that there was someone who would care about her. Who would protect her. Who would listen to her and try to make her feel better. Who would make her feel safe when he was around. Who made her want to stay with him. But she was wrong. And she was never before so happy in being wrong about something until this moment.

Unable to say anything, Eri did the only thing she could think of doing. She hugged him again with all the strength she could muster. Izuku hugged her back and the two just stayed like that for some time in comfortable silence. Feeling safety and comfort while hugging him and being hugged back, Eri didn't want those feelings to ever go away. Izuku felt relieved that he was able to help her somewhat and though he had a lot of questions and things to think about and plan, he decided to worry about those later. Right now, he focused on making sure Eri was alright.

After a little more time passed, the door to his hospital room opened and both Izuku and Eri turned their gazes to it. A short somewhat plump woman with green hair walked in. After taking a few steps, she stopped, frozen over what she saw. Until a moment later when her brain seemed to finally process what she was seeing. "Izuku!" she cried out loudly and shot to him as quickly as she could.

Said young man shifted Eri over to his left side to allow his mother some space for he knew one of her signature hugs was coming. And before he knew it, his right arm and his face was wrapped up in her loving embrace. "Izuku! My baby! I'm so happy you're finally awake!" cried Inko happily with many tears rapidly flowing down her cheeks.

"I'm alright Mom," replied back Izuku with a muffled voice since he was speaking into her shoulder. "I'm okay. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere. So please calm down. Plus, I think you're scaring Eri-chan," he said, having noticed how the little girl was shaking slightly against his side.

Hearing her son, Inko reluctantly separated from him while wiping away the tear streaks against her face. Moving her gaze towards Eri, she gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Eri."

Not knowing what to say or do since she hadn't really interacted much with the woman, Eri simply remained quiet. But she did move closer against her savior's side while hugging his arm tighter.

Inko's smile widened at that. "I think Eri's found her security blanket," she commented, making Izuku smile and shake his head.

The young girl gave a slightly confused expression before she looked around a bit. After a few seconds, she looked at her savoir. "Izu…I don't see a blanket…" she said in a whisper.

Her words made both Inko's and Izuku's heart clench at her reaction and words. "Oh you sweet child," started Inko softly, making Eri look at her. "What I said…it was a figure of speech."

"Huh?" A clueless look formed on her face that made her look even more adorable.

Both mother and son had a hard time as they forced themselves not to go 'aww' like most others would have at that moment. Instead, Izuku kept himself calm while Inko attempted to explain. "Well, it's a metaphor." Eri still looked confused. "What I mean is that you had snuggled up against Izuku to feel safe like how someone would feel safe by wrapping themselves up in a blanket. That's why I said that Izuku is like your security blanket. That's a metaphor or figure of speech. Does that help you understand?" asked Inko gently.

Eri didn't say anything at once but kept her eyes on the older woman for a bit, thinking about what she said. She then looked at Izuku and tilted her head again a little. "But…Izu isn't a blanket…"

He couldn't help it anymore and Izuku started chuckling while Inko also giggled. Seeing them laughing, Eri believed that they were making fun of her for not understanding. Her eyes became watery and her lips trembled as she started sniffling. Noticing that, Izuku quickly stopped and Inko copied him a split second later. "Hey, don't cry. We weren't laughing at you," said Izuku softly as he hugged her with his left arm and started gently caressing her head again through her hair with his right. Eri didn't sob but she kept sniffling.

Taking that as a good sign, Inko decided to try to get involved as well so she could get comfortable with her too. "He's right sweetie," she added as she sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed. Extending her right hand forward, she too started comforting Eri by rubbing her back. "We weren't laughing at you. We just realized how stupid we are for thinking you would understand when you had no one to teach you," explained Inko kindly.

Eri at first felt horrible, thinking that they, especially Izu, thought she was stupid for not understanding and were making fun of her. And she was also at first startled and scared when his mom reached over to touch her, thinking she wanted to hurt her. But thankfully, she quickly realized that wasn't the case. And his mom wasn't trying to hurt her at all. Instead, she was trying to make her feel better. She might not understand still what they were talking about, this 'figure of speech' or 'metaphor' thing. But she did get that they were laughing because they had made a mistake.

Even though Eri understood that now, she still felt scared and unsure. And that made her say something. "Y-You…really mean that?" she said in a whisper while still being comforted by both of them.

"Of course Eri-chan," replied Izuku instantly, his tone of voice making Eri look up at him with her big doe like eyes. "My Mom and I will never do anything on purpose to make you feel bad. Remember what I promised you?" he asked her and a couple seconds later, Eri barely nodded. "Good. Because I meant it. And I'll say it again. I promise it's not your fault and I promise to always protect you and help you. And I also promise that I'll do my best so you never feel as bad as you did in the past. Okay?" he told her.

"And I'll make those same promises," spoke up Inko, making both Izuku and Eri look at her. "Whatever my son Izuku said, I'll promise the same. I only ask this of you, Eri dear; will you give me a chance? Will you give us a chance?" she asked her.

Eri's mouth fell open in surprise over her words before turning to look at Izuku and seeing the same soft smile on his face that was on his mom's. She then hung her head, making her hair cover her face again. She couldn't believe it. Not only was Izuku promising her and telling her he'll do what he can for her, but so was his mom. And both of them sounded like they were telling the truth since she had never heard anyone else talking with those soft yet serious tones in their voices.

Eri had many thoughts go through her mind over all of that and she was becoming overwhelmed. Especially when an image popped up in her mind that made her become filled with fright. It was of the Yakuza leader who had hurt her countless times, making her shake in her spot and she was about to start crying again, believing she could never be truly free. Until she felt a warm hand come to rest on top of her head and gently rubbed her head. Having felt that a few times already and enjoying it every time, it allowed her to break free from that feeling as a new image formed in her mind. And it was of Izuku standing in front of her, facing the bad guy with the beak face and shielding her from him.

It was then that Eri finally understood. Though she was still scared and still had many problems that she would have to learn to overcome, she at least knew two things. First was that Izuku wasn't lying and would protect her like he did before and she could trust him fully. And the second was that even though she barely interacted with his mom a little, she felt that she could be trusted too. Even if that trust with her was far less than with him currently, she could still give them both a chance for she had a feeling that they were being genuine. And she didn't want to give up on the chance for a much better life than what she had lived so far. She realized all that, even at the young age of six years old.

With those new feelings and decisions made within her, Eri raising her head and looked at Inko before turning to Izuku with her watery eyes. They were about to say something when she cut them off. "Thank you!" Hugging Izuku around his neck, she tried to hug him as tightly as she could to show how much she appreciated what they were saying.

Glancing at his mom, who was smiling and letting out tears of her own, Izuku returned his attention to Eri and hugged her back with a smile of his own. "You're welcome Eri-chan. I'll always be there for you. No matter what. I promise."

Inko reached over and rubbed Eri's back once more. "I promise too Eri. I'll do whatever I can for you." A short while later, with the three of them on the same page for the moment, they continued talking a little bit to get to know Eri and she her. And Izuku finally got some water in the process.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rhythmic clacking sounds of wood hitting tiles echoed in the hall as a short, elderly nurse walked through it. Recovery Girl had just recently finished checking on a few of her more critical patients and was now on her way to check on another one of hers. It was mid afternoon and though she was tired, the pro heroine decided to check in on him first before taking a break.

While making her way to his room, she thought about everything regarding him, his injury, how lucky he was that it wasn't fatal and how he seemed to be recovering far quicker than normal. Though they had made huge advances in the medical fields these past several decades, it was still difficult to handle some of the more complex and delicate injuries. Even with some of the rare healing quirks at their disposal, one of which was hers, very few things were absolute in these lines of work. And yet, this particular patient was recovering without much issue.

Wondering why and how, Recovery Girl had some guesses to the answer. But the one hypothesis that made the most sense was that he was damn lucky due to a combination of several things lining up and happening in his favor. The concrete spike barely grazing his organs and tearing off most of his side instead. Adrenaline keeping him from falling unconscious until All Might reached him. Being brought to the hospital at once. The operation to remove the spike and 'fix' his injury being a success. And there were a few other things that she couldn't quite explain with mere words. But she had a suspicion that part of it had to do with the quirk that was passed on to him.

Letting out a sigh, Recovery Girl decided to let go of trying to find an answer to this mystery for several reasons. The first was because she knew that sometimes, there was just no explanation for things. The second was that she didn't have much free time to spend worrying about things like that. And thirdly was because it seemed that one of her biggest theories was being proven again; that the quirk 'One For All' and all of its users, especially the current one, were crazy and defied all sense of reason, even when compared to other quirks and people.

Reaching the room where the one who was both the current user of 'One For All' and her patient, she could hear a muffled feminine voice and she mentally prepared herself. Having to deal with an upset mother and a frightened young girl several times already was very draining even though she was used to doing that countless times throughout her career unfortunately. I'm seriously getting too old for this. I need a vacation. Finally ready, she grasped the door handle and walked in as she spoke. "Hello Inko dear. How's everythi…" Trailing off and going quiet over what she saw, Recovery Girl stopped in her tracks with her eyes widening in astonishment.

Expecting to see a sullen mother letting out tears while speaking to her comatose son or even a young girl hiding from her as she tried to connect with her, she wasn't prepared for what she saw instead. For the scene she walked in on was the young man wide awake and actually sitting up on the hospital bed. The young girl was leaning against his side while sitting on the bed near his mother. And said mother was holding one of the young girl's hands. All three of them stopped what they were doing and had turned to look at her when she walked in.

Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds. Until Recovery Girl snapped out of her stunned state and moved quickly towards him. "How the hell are you awake right now?!" she asked with slight anger, some frustration and much curiosity coating her tone of voice, not even giving him a chance to reply as she kept talking. "We were supposed to wake you up tomorrow afternoon if everything was fine! You're a full day ahead of schedule! And you look alright! What kind of sorcery is going on here?! How is this possible? Was there any illegal thing done? Any quirk usage? Who helped you? What did you…"

"Chiyo-san…" Hearing her name made Recovery Girl stop and turned to look at Inko. "I know you must be extremely interested in how he's awake and doing just fine right now, but you're frightening Eri-chan. Please do calm down and we'll try to find out together," advised Inko kindly.

Moving her sight onto the young girl, the elderly nurse noticed how she was clutching onto the young man. Eri had let go of Inko and turned to Izuku. "Yes, you're right. I apologize for my outburst," said Chiyo, regaining her senses. "I'm sorry little one for my behavior. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was merely shocked to see young Midoriya awake already." Seeing her not react to her, Chiyo moved on towards her patient, knowing when not to linger on something or someone. "We're gonna have a nice chat later on young man." Izuku nodded, not even attempting to argue with her since she did kind of scare him. "So, how long have you been awake?" she asked him.

Izuku glanced at his mom before facing the nurse and shrugged slightly. "I don't know. More than an hour though. Maybe two or more?"

"Two or more?! Why didn't you call for me when he first awakened?" asked Chiyo as she looked at Inko.

Inko gave a sheepish look with a small smile. "Sorry, but I had walked in and found him awake with Eri just like you did with us. And I was so happy that I just forgot about everything else," she said truthfully.

Recovery Girl let out another sigh. "Understandable but now we wouldn't be able to record things accurately. This could've helped others in similar cases."

Both Izuku and Inko looked down in shame. "I'm sorry." / "I apologize."

Shaking her head, Chiyo moved to the medical machines that monitored Izuku's vitals. "No point crying over spilled milk. Let's just check on you and make sure everything's alright. And hopefully I don't see you like this ever again young man." Wishful thinking when it comes to the users of 'One For All', thought the elderly nurse sadly.

"I'll do my best Recovery Girl," replied Izuku.

"Good. Now let's see here…" Looking over the information that the equipment displayed, Recovery Girl was surprised over what she saw. What the…this can't be possible. How can these be so different from the last time I checked? Keeping a neutral expression on her face, she moved around the bed and stopped on the right side of the bed. Inko got up off the chair and made space for her. "Now, I just need to check your wound. We might have to redress it if necessary."

Izuku nodded, turning his gaze towards the little girl. "Eri-chan, can you go to my Mom? Just for a little bit? You'll still be here in the room. I just don't want you to see it. Okay?" he asked her gently.

Eri looked at him with fear. Sure, she was warming up to Inko little by little, but she didn't want to leave from his side yet. Shaking her head, she then pressed her face against his side and clutched his hospital gown tightly. "Please…"

Unable to force her or come up with something else, Izuku relented. "Alright. You can stay. Just keep your eyes closed. I'll let you know when it's safe to look. Can you do that for me?" he asked her. Eri nodded and kept her face buried into his side. Turning his head towards the two women in the room, he found them giving him peculiar looks. "What?" he asked them.

Both women didn't respond but merely gave small smiles in return. "Alright, move your blanket for me along with your hospital gown," requested Recovery Girl.

Izuku complied, moving the blanket away with his free hand. He did the same with the gown, flushing slightly as he did so since he was embarrassed even though he was wearing undergarments. A large circular bandage that was covering much of his right side was revealed. Both he and his mother were surprised over the size of it and wondered the same thing; just how badly was he injured?

Moving closer, Chiyo set her cane against the bed and raised both hands towards the bandage. "This might sting with the sticky parts. Don't blame me though," she said, working to lift the bandage from one end. Taking a little while since she was trying to be careful, Chiyo was finally able to do so. And when she did, she was once again astonished, causing her mouth to fall open.

Expecting to see the end results of his surgery that involved grafted skin across his entire right side, all she found instead was a circular scar the size of a baseball. How…just how…what the hell?! It should've taken longer for him to wake up. And it should've taken him even longer to recover from his injury…the surgery he went through had a much bigger area affected than just this! He should have mangled skin over his right side! Not just a small scar! How is this possible?!

Doing her best to remain in control, Recovery Girl lowered the bandage back down and secured it onto his side once more. Once done, she raised her gaze back up towards Izuku, glanced at Inko for a second and then returned to looking at him. "I'm gonna be up front with you; you're recovering much faster and better than I ever thought you would and I have no clue in hell as to the reasons why."

Hearing her admit that made Inko let out a gasp and Izuku was startled. "W-What does that mean?" he asked with slight fear.

Shaking her head, Recovery Girl kept her gaze locked onto him as she grabbed her walking cane. "I don't know. I truly don't. All I can say is that everything is pointing to you being as healthy as a horse. I knew that you'd recover but not like this. And you definitely needed more time…" Chiyo trailed off when she caught Eri lifting her head from Izuku's side and barely turned to look at her. The expression on her face made Recovery Girl think of something. "Eri dear, do you have an idea as to what happened?" she asked the little girl.

Both Izuku and Inko turned their heads to look at the little girl. Becoming frightened over their collective gaze on her, Eri started shaking, thinking that they were mad with her. "I-I…I'm sorry. I couldn't c-control it. It…was s-so fast and the r-red eyed man st-stopped me after a s-second yesterday when he a-and the skinny m-man were h-here..." Starting to cry again, Eri turned to look at Izuku. "I'm s-sorry for using m-my cursed quirk on you! Please d-don't hate m-me!" she said, crying harder before hugging him again.

"Eri-chan…" started Izuku as he hugged her back, with them all understanding that somehow Eri was part of the cause for his quick recovery. "I could never hate you. You don't have to worry about that. And even if you can't control it, your quirk helped me. We don't know how, but we'll figure it out together."

Hearing him, she lifted her head and looked at him while still sobbing. "R-Really?"

Giving her a gentle smile, he wiped away her tears softly with his thumbs. "Really. You're quirk isn't a curse Eri-chan. It's a blessing. It helped me didn't it?" His smile grew as he watched the realization dawn on her within her eyes and her crying slowed down. "I promise that I'll never hate you and I promise that you're quirk is a blessing. We just have to figure it out and we'll do that together. Alright?" She started at him for a few seconds before nodding rapidly several times while more tears escaped her eyes and then she hugged him tightly once again.

Inko and Chiyo couldn't help but be moved by what they witnessed happen in front of them. Until Recovery Girl decided to leave the room so she could gather some more facts. What she heard the little girl say made her understand some things and now she had a few more pieces to the puzzle that is Eri and the Yakuza. I have to let Nezu know about this too. It should help with the data I already sent him. Perhaps we can find out what Eri's quirk is sooner rather than later. And I still need to talk to Midoriya but I'll do that later with that big buffoon to see if this might also have something to do with 'One For All'. And why didn't that idiot tell me he was here yesterday with Aizawa? Speaking of him…

Her thoughts ended as she reached the room door and turned back towards the young man's mother. "Inko, have you called to let that buffoon know that Midoriya is alright?" she asked.

Turning to face her as she started speaking, Inko reddened when she realized she hadn't done that. "Oh, no! I even promised to let him know if anything changes!" Reaching for her phone that was in her coat's pocket, she pulled it out and started dialing. "Oh, I hope he's not mad or anything," she wondered out loud.

"Don't worry Mom. He won't be," assured Izuku, having comforted Eri enough that she calmed down and was now sitting next to him again on the bed with his arm wrapped around her.

"I hope so. I usually try to keep my word when I say I'll do something," said Inko, listening to the rings on her phone. A few more was heard before it went to his voice mail. "He's not answering…"

"He must be teaching class," stated Chiyo. I don't know if I'd call his methods teaching though…

"That's right, he did mention that today would be his first class taught," remarked Inko. "I'll just leave him a message."

"You do that dear. I have some more patients to check on." And a certain diabolical hybrid to contact. Opening the door, she walked out while saying her last words for the moment. "If anything changes, call for me. Immediately and don't forget this time."

"Will do," answered Izuku for his mom, while she left a message. He watched as Recovery Girl left and closed the room door behind her. Shifting his gaze to his mom, he then turned to Eri sitting beside him. "So, you hungry Eri?" he asked her. Looking up at him, she nodded. "Alright. Let's tell Mom and we'll get some food. Do you know what you want?" he asked her. Shaking her head, he thought of some things. "Well, how about some katsudon?"

"What's that?" asked Eri.

"You've never had katsudon?" he asked her and she shook her head, showing a sad expression. "Oh. In that case, we'll tell Mom that's what we want. It's one of my favorite foods and it tastes great. I'm sure you'll like it," said Izuku, his decision made of what they should eat. Eri nodded, feeling a little better that he wanted to share his favorite food with her. Maybe she'll like it too! Izuku moved his head to his mom as she hung up the phone. "Mom, can we get some katsudon?" he asked her.

Inko faced the two before letting out chuckle. "Of course the first thing you want to eat is katsudon. Alright, I'll go get us some."

"Thanks Mom," said Izuku with a smile.

"You're welcome. Just promise me that you won't get her hooked on it too."

Though he blushed a little over her joke on his obsession with the dish, his smile remained on his face. "I can't promise that," revealed Izuku, making his mom laugh as she left the room while Eri give her savior a confused look over what he just said.