A/N: Hey all, been a while. I know I said a while ago I'd update by the end of July, but that just did not work out. Nothing bad happened, just busy and kinda forgot. But here we are with a little update.
Dsman: Thank you for your comments! Glad you left them!
A friendly dude: Thank you too! Good to know this is still being seen here and there and liked.
Yuka's humming barely reached from the kitchen into the living room, yet Rin could make out every note and pause. There was nothing worth watching on the television and his master had instructed him to stay at his "mother's" place until further notice. With nothing better to do he had zoned in on the woman's tune from the next room over.
"Rin, do you have any preferences for lunch?"
He was snapped out of his mild stupor and thought it over. "I'm not picky; anything works for me," was his response. The woman did not start humming again, so Rin picked up the television remote and skipped through the various channels for the fourth time of the day.
He could feel the boredom seeping into his bones and numbing his senses. But the universe decided to throw him a bone and he paused on a channel doing a special on All Might.
In truth, it was nothing actually special; everybody and their mother and the family pet knew All Might's infamous smile and his undefeated record. But Rin knew the record was not as clean as the public suspect. He recalled a short conversation with Sensei where the battle between the two came up. Sensei delved into the fight and the near-fatal injuries both parties had received, spilling much more information than Rin was accustomed to him giving out.
Suddenly, the feature focused on the number two hero. Enji Todoroki, better known as Endeavor, had solved yet another case. There were also quick mentions of his children, especially a Shoto who was expected to attend UA.
"I might want to keep an eye on him," Rin thought to himself.
Whatever the speaker was going to say next was cut off by the quiet sound of mail being pushed through the mail slot on the front door. Rin was on his feet and picked up the letters so quick he could hear the faint sound of footsteps walking away. He quickly skimmed the first piece, which was an advertisement for a local store, then flipped to the next piece; a letter addressed to Yuka, then the third, which had an unmistakable stamp with the UA logo in the upper left corner.
"Mail," he said aloud to the other occupant, opening his letter as soon as he placed the rest on the kitchen counter. Two slips of paper were inside, as well as a small metal disk. The moment he placed the disk on the counter, it came to life. A hologram half the size of the television sprung up like a firework and revealed Present Mic.
"Heyo Little Listener, it's ya boi Present Mic here, lettin' you know you made it into UA! Congrats kid, just look at your scores!" The boisterous man turned his back to the camera that had recorded the message as another hologram within the hologram lit up behind the teacher.
"You did awesome on the practical! Second place with sixty-four points! It's been a hot minute since I saw a score that high!"
Rin looked instead at first place; Bakugo had eighty-three villain points. He had expected that; the explosive teen always had been a natural combatant.
"But of course, what would a hero school be if we didn't pay attention to heroics?" A second column appeared next to the villain points, and the rest of the screen adjusted to make room for the new information. "Wowza! Thirty-nine rescue points too! You're pretty good at this! Anyway, I gotta record a few more messages, so I'll leave you here and see you again in class. Keep up that 'Plus Ultra' attitude, kiddo!"
The hologram blipped away, leaving just the metal disk on the counter. Rin skimmed through the papers that had also been in the envelope.
"1-A, classes start at eight in the morning, student ID cards will be handed at the front gate on the first day…I'll be back."
The green-haired teen pulled a designated burner phone from his pocket and sent a quick message to a contact labeled "Kuro". Moments later, a familiar purple-black gate opened in the kitchen, shimmering as one would expect from a break in the physical realm.
Yuka waved as Rin stepped through the portal and into his sensei's den. The man sat as he always did, looking down from his giant chair that seated his seemingly enormous frame.
"Ah, Rin. What brings you by?" the eyeless man questioned, but Rin was almost certain he already knew.
"The mission is going as planned. I made it into class 1-A of UA. I'm sure that soon we'll be able to move forward," Rin stated precisely. Right to the point, something he had learned was best when relaying information to the faceless man.
"Very good," the man offers. "The doctor has some tests to check your progress. While he does, I have something to tell you."
The old man that always seemed to be by All For One's side approached Rin's side and showed the teen a syringe. Rin nodded and rolled up a sleeve, barely reacting when the needle poked into his flesh and drew the blood the doctor needed.
"You see, Rin, people are not designed to handle multiple quirks," All For One started. "Nearly everyone that has received multiple quirks has fallen into a mindless state. The strongest of wills and sharpest of minds simply cannot compensate for the toll extra quirks take on the body."
"But why is that? Many quirks aren't even related to the mind. Shadow Burn does nothing to alter the way my brain works, nor does Endeavor's Hellfire. Kamui Wood's and Mount Lady's quirks only alter their physical beings but have little to do with their minds outside of simply activating their quirks. And even so, what about you?"
"Very good questions, my boy. Truth be told, there has been little conclusive research on the subject, mostly due to the fact that All Might and I alone possess the ability to pass quirks to others. As for your second question, it is common knowledge that quirks tend to give their hosts failsafes. As you mentioned Endeavor, his body is inhumanly resistant to fire and heat. I too was given such a failsafe simply by being born with my quirk. But have you considered yourself yet? You already have Shadow Burn and Adaptive Regeneration after all."
The notion hit Rin like a punch to the face. Why was he not like what Sensei had described?
"You see, Rin, you were, and still are, a new experiment." All For One looked behind his student and into the shadows. "Nomu, approach."
Steps that shook the floor came from behind the teen. Emerging from the darkness was a monster unlike Rin had ever seen. He had watched television shows where heroes fought off beasts and creatures of all kinds, but this thing that towered over him was entirely different.
Because it was real, and staring at him with dead, dead eyes. There was no light or darkness to be seen within the Nomu's soul; just a void that obeyed orders mindlessly.
"This is a prime example of what multiple quirks can do to someone. Of course, the Doctor and I have made some further modifications, but the point still stands."
Rin shivered at the idea of turning into the Nomu. Living a life without even living; soullessly trapped in his own body.
"But you are special. You see, 'Shadow Burn' as you call it was not your first quirk. I gave you a little protection in the form of a mental fortification quirk I took decades ago. It does much to keep the effects of multiple quirks at bay."
Rin forced his eyes away from the hulking abomination that stood mere steps away from him. "Why are you telling me this? Are you threatening me with the knowledge of what you could do if I betrayed you? Or are you warning me of what could happen if I ask for too many quirks? Or is there an entirely different reason?" Rin tried to keep his voice firm, but a hint of a tremble made itself known.
"Knowledge is power, Rin. My reasoning is not of importance at the moment. Just remember this and keep up your hard work. Kurogiri will send you back now."
An all too familiar circle of purple and black appeared, and Rin walked through it silently, landing back in Yuka's kitchen with only a few steps.
"How was the meeting?" the woman asked, unperturbed by the sudden reappearance of her "son".
"Weird. I'll be in my room," Rin replied quickly, walking away as he spoke. With a turn into a short hallway followed by another turn through a doorway, Rin was in the bedroom he was given at Yuka's residence. He quietly shut the door and sat on the bed.
He could not help but feel off from his Sensei's words; the man had told him things very few already knew of, but this time was different. Every other time had been to help him understand the circumstances of his situations, be it to prepare for future missions or answering questions he was willing to answer.
The near fatal injuries All Might and All For One had dealt to each other, the nature of All For One's quirk, everything up until now had been related to Sensei's mission to kill All Might or the purpose Rin would serve.
But this? Rin still could not determine if he had been threatened or warned. It was entirely possible his master had simply wanted to inform him, but something about that possibility did not seem to fit.
The next day, Rin found himself wandering a mall. He had requested a quick trip to grab some supplies, which Sensei had quickly granted. Despite his best attempts, the meeting from the previous day stuck at the front of his mind. The music he was playing helped a little.
Not too much had been added since his last trip. There was a pretzel cart just outside a sporting equipment shop that had not been there last time.
"A bit too much salt," Rin muttered after taking the first bite of a salted pretzel. Despite the abundance of salt, it tasted good enough for him to shrug and go back for another taste.
The only things he needed were hair dyes, protein bars or mixes, and maybe some bandages. Adaptive Regeneration had almost fully accustomed itself to the damage he usually took, but putting a bandage on here and there would help keep up the illusion of not having said quirk.
The few stops and purchases he made went by without any problems. Not that he was expecting any but he never knew with the occasional villain running around.
Stepping out of the doors and into the bright light of day, Rin picked a direction and started walking. He was in great shape from all the training he had received from various mentors, but it felt good to just walk without any distractions. For half an hour he just walked, taking note of interesting passersby.
Eventually the monotony started to set in and he figured he should head back. With a quick duck into a older looking convenience store and a little surveillance for camera blind spots, he was able to call Kurogiri for a quick portal back to the bar.
A/N: I know this was short, but I had most of the draft in here for a while and wanted to get it out. I'll try to make the next one longer to make up for it.
Leave a comment if you could, they really let me know this is getting attention. Like always, have a good day and I hope you stick around for the next chapter.